A LIFE LESS ORDINARY!

from First Time Buyer February/March 2023

20 QUESTIONS Coralie Phelan With

Peter Komolafe is a financial expert, financial coach and TV personality whose personal journey is the driving force behind his passion for helping people. In 2020 he founded Conversation of Money on a YouTube channel, and runs a weekly podcast. Since the launch they have gained over 1.8 million views and downloads. He talks to Lynda Clark about his incredible life, his career, and offers some excellent advice to first time buyers

If I say I was "blown away" after hearing Peter’s life story it would be a complete understatement. His fortitude, bravery and resilience is quite incredible. Peter’s parents came to England from Nigeria in the 1970s to study and work. He was born in 1979 but they already had three older boys and they felt they just couldn’t look after him. At that time, it was common for people to advertise in the newspaper for foster parents and when he was three months old he was fostered to a family in Hastings. He only got to see his parents once a year for two weeks in the summer holidays, but his life with his new family was very good and they treated him like he was their own.

By the time Peter was eight, his father had moved back to Nigeria and he was told that his father had booked him a flight to visit them so that he could get to know his brothers. Peter thought he was going for a couple of weeks but once there, they told him he wouldn’t be returning to England or his foster parents.

He said, “I was so young but I had to get a plane all by myself to Lagos and when I arrived there were some people holding up my name to take me to the place where my family lived. It was pretty scary! I had no idea that it would be 10 years before I went back to the airport to fly home. I was so unhappy and I didn’t want to speak Nigerian and always insisted that my parents spoke to me in English. It was hard because I looked the same as everyone else but somehow I was different. I was targeted at school and I just couldn’t adjust to the culture. All in all, I just didn’t want to be there. I never had any contact with my English foster parents either but I never forgot them.”

He finished his schooling and did well in science and physics and because Peter suffers from sickle cell anaemia his father wanted him to train to be a doctor to research the condition and hopefully help to find some sort of cure. Eventually, after two long years in limbo between applying for university and potentially coming back to the UK, his father cobbled together enough money for a plane ticket.

Peter was very excited about the prospect of returning home and his father told him his flight would be in a couple of weeks but then a few days later he came home from work and told Peter that actually the flight was leaving in two hours. “I was in shock and had to quickly pack a bag with a few things and my dad gave me £50. It all happened so fast that I had no time to really think things through. I never had a plan of what I was going to do. I knew I was heading to my foster parents' address but had no idea if they still lived there or had moved. It wasn’t until the plane started its descent that panic started to set in.”

Peter never saw his father again and when he arrived at Heathrow he got a train to Hastings and found the house where he used to live. “It was about midday when I got there but nobody was in and I had no idea what to do. It was October and chilly but I sat in the alleyway by the side of the house for hours waiting for them to hopefully come home. Luckily a neighbour saw me and recognised me and explained that my foster family were at work and would be back soon. I was very happy to see them again but things had moved on and although they took me in for a couple of months they couldn’t offer me a home for longer. Of course, the £50 my father gave me had run out so I had no money and I looked so young and helpless. Shortly after leaving my foster parents I became homeless and slept on the streets. I was desperate – I had no money, no family and no friends but most importantly I had no permanent address, so I couldn’t get a job and I couldn’t claim any benefits.

“When you are on the streets you become very suspicious of everyone, but one night I was sleeping on a bench when a complete stranger spoke to me and said I would freeze to death if I stayed there. He offered to take me to his parents’ home and promised they would be happy for me to stay. I had to trust him as I knew I couldn’t survive for much longer. They welcomed me into their home and I started to try to turn my life around. The trouble was I had got into some serious debts and I was in trouble. When I was homeless I went into survival mode and had no choice but to issue cheques that I knew would bounce and the police started to make enquiries!

"Finally, because I had an address, I could get Jobseekers' Allowance, which helped a lot, but they insisted I apply for a job. They told me I had to go for an interview at a building society and if I refused then I would lose my allowance. I had no choice, so I tried to make myself look scruffy and wore jeans, trainers and a leather jacket, which is obviously not what they would expect you to wear. The lady who interviewed me was very nice and we are still in touch. She said she wanted to give me a chance as she saw something in me and offered me the job even though I explained I had racked up so many debts.”

He started as a cashier in the Portman Building Society which is now Nationwide. As he was good at talking to people and very good with figures he prospered. He then moved up and became a sales consultant for them and eventually moved to NatWest where again he did very well. In 2012, Peter decided he should move to London. He wanted to progress and had always had a dream of working in Canary Wharf. He had no degree though, and he thought it would be useless, but he was approached by a recruitment consultant who had seen his CV online. They told him they might have the perfect job for him and it was based in Canary Wharf!

“I always watched The Apprentice on TV and remember the rolling shot over Canary Wharf and the pointed roof of One Canada Square. On the recruitment day, I turned up 20 minutes early to make a good impression but there were 25 other people already there who were more qualified than I was. So, I was shocked when eventually I found I had got the job – it was my dream come true and it was on the 50th floor at One Canada Square, right in the heart of Canary Wharf!

"I worked very hard and eventually after five years was on the executive team of a Fortune 100 company. I started on £28,000 a year as a telephone consultant and quickly learned that the guy who I was supporting on the phone was earning over £100,000 a year. I thought to myself that I was being a mug and I could easily do his job. I think I have a great deal of resilience which stemmed from my childhood and a spirit of never giving up. Eventually I left as I qualified to be a financial adviser in 2017. I always wanted to help people and advise them on what you can do with your money.”

Then in 2020, Peter founded Conversation of Money on a YouTube channel and did a weekly podcast. “I wanted to share my knowledge and break down what is a very complex subject into easy-to-understand language. I gained so much experience and understanding during the 15 years I was working that I wanted to have conversations that I would have loved to have had when I was in my 20s. Since the launch they have both gained over 28 million impressions and over 1.8 million views and downloads. “I am passionate about sharing the knowledge I gained through my career and the personal lessons I learnt along the way.”

Peter was approached to appear as a financial expert on Channel 4's Secret Spenders and is a regular contributor on Lorraine on ITV. He contributes to news stories with GB News, The Express, The Sun, The Times and the BBC World Service He also appears on Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 every Tuesday.

He bought his first home, which is a four bedroom house on three floors. “It’s not my dream home but it’s got enough room if anyone wants to stay and it’s a great start. There is also plenty of space to work which is good too." He has some sound advice for first time buyers, “Speak to a mortgage adviser to get a clear picture of what you can afford. Get a good idea of what you actually want to buy and what location you want. If you can live outside of London you will find that properties are much more affordable. Get a Lifetime ISA and also be realistic about how much you can save for a deposit. Take each stage in bite-sized chunks so you don’t get overwhelmed and you will make more progress than you think, if you are disciplined.”

Peter’s story is inspiring to say the least. Looking back at his erratic upbringing and desperate times, it’s amazing that he is so warm and passionate about sharing his knowledge and helping people – his future is looking very bright indeed!

Website – peterkomolafe.com Instagram – peterkomolafe YouTube – Peter Komolafe