Nigerian publisher and mindset stylist Dr. Tewa Onasanya hosted a fireside conversation on mindset change at The Hut Restaurant in Kigali on August 26, 2026, drawing about 50 attendees, including a delegation of staff from Access Bank Rwanda who took part in an accompanying mindset-styling training session.
The evening, part of Onasanya’s Rule Your Mind Tour, saw her invite Barbara Umuhoza to join her as a guest for the fireside conversation on clarity, self-belief and intentional living.
Onasanya, founder and CEO of Exquisite Magazine and creator of the Rule Your Mind mindset-styling methodology, organised the Kigali stop as part of a wider effort to bring the tour previously staged in Lagos alongside her Mindset Leadership Initiative into new African markets.
“Success should not cost us our peace. We can be ambitious, accomplished, and still create lives that feel as good as they look. When we rule our minds and convince ourselves first, we become unstoppable,” Onasanya said.
Access Bank Rwanda took part as the event’s official Employee Wellbeing Partner, sending a group of its staff to attend both the fireside conversation and a dedicated mindset-styling training session.
A representative of the bank addressed the gathering on the importance of capacity building around mindset styling for its workforce, framing the partnership as part of the bank’s broader investment in staff wellbeing and explaining the bank’s reasons for backing the initiative.
During the conversation, Onasanya outlined her concept of “mindset styling” — the deliberate shaping of thoughts, beliefs and internal narratives that influence day-to-day decision-making.
She has developed the concept through her book Rule Your Mind: How to Style Your Mind to Live the Life You Desire Intentionally, first published in 2018.
Onasanya told participants that a lack of clarity, rather than a lack of ambition, is one of the central struggles many people face today. She encouraged attendees to distinguish between having a thought and accepting it as fact, urging them to become more intentional about the beliefs that shape their choices.
As her guest for the fireside chat, Umuhoza engaged Onasanya on questions of self-belief, workplace pressure and the difference between visible success and personal wellbeing, drawing out reflections on themes from both Rule Your Mind and her more recent title, Convince Yourself First.
The Kigali event follows the formal Lagos launch of both books earlier this year alongside the Mindset Leadership Initiative, positioning mindset and clarity within a broader leadership conversation that Onasanya has been building across African markets.
