Building a Business Around Joy: How Joy Ofodu Turned Creativity into a Company
By the time Leavey alum Joy Ofodu founded Enjoyment Endeavor in 2021, she already understood something many creatives spend years learning: creativity becomes sustainable only when it’s paired with strategy.
Today, Ofodu is the CEO of the Bay Area–based entertainment company, which sits at the intersection of comedy, storytelling, and community. Through original productions, branded content, voiceover work, and live experiences, Enjoyment Endeavor has grown into a thriving creative enterprise - one that has partnered with Fortune 500 companies, amplified Black-owned businesses, and built a highly engaged global audience drawn to joy, humor, and authenticity.
As a creative executive and voice actor, Ofodu has produced and starred in more than 100 branded content projects, collaborating with brands including Netflix, Disney, Dove, Warner Bros., Meta, and AT&T. She has also performed voiceover work across animation, games, film, and national commercial campaigns. Across platforms and formats, the throughline remains the same: imaginative storytelling designed to connect. Under her leadership, Enjoyment Endeavor has built a powerful direct-to-audience presence, cultivating a community of more than 300,000 followers and listeners.
Before founding Enjoyment Endeavor, Ofodu spent more than four years at Instagram, where she rose through brand and integrated marketing roles. Working at the intersection of creative, product, and data, she helped shape global campaigns and go-to-market strategies - experience that sharpened her understanding of how brands scale with both intention and precision.
That clarity of vision didn’t happen by accident. While building her career as an independent creator - balancing acting, filmmaking, and digital content - Ofodu made a deliberate decision to strengthen the business foundation behind her work. She enrolled in Leavey’s MS in Marketing program, completing the degree online while continuing to grow her creative career and company in parallel.
“When I was applying, I thought a master’s program would be intimidating and overly complex,” she said. “But it turned out to be exactly the right amount of challenge.”
For Ofodu, the program’s structure proved critical. As a founder and working creative, flexibility wasn’t a nice-to-have - it was essential.
“There was no other program I saw that allowed me to choose exactly the kind of marketing classes I wanted, on my schedule and my time,” Ofodu said. “Being able to work independently and still engage deeply with the coursework made all the difference.”
What proved most valuable, however, was how immediately applicable the curriculum was to her day-to-day work. Rather than separating theory from practice, Ofodu found herself integrating new concepts directly into the growth of her business.
“I could leave a virtual class, open another tab, and apply what I was learning right away,” she said. “Whether it was understanding what makes someone engage with a message or building a marketing plan to launch a product, it all translated directly to what I was building.”
That real-time application became formative. While enrolled in the program, Ofodu was actively developing the framework for Enjoyment Endeavor - testing ideas, refining positioning, and building confidence as a business owner.
“I would close my laptop after class and start working on my business plan,” she said. “That’s how Enjoyment Endeavor came to life.”
Just as impactful was the way the program reshaped how she approached data, analytics, and decision-making - areas she once considered outside her creative comfort zone.
“The MS in Marketing forced me to confront my fear around numbers and data,” she said. “It helped me realize that I was entirely capable - and that those skills didn’t diminish my creativity, they strengthened it.”
That mindset now informs how Ofodu leads her company. Enjoyment Endeavor operates with both heart and disciplined execution, combining humor and imagination with intentional growth, strategic partnerships, and audience insight. The company produces original series like Dating Unsettled, which has been praised for its vulnerability and cultural resonance, and continues to expand through live events, international tours, and brand collaborations.
At the center of it all is Ofodu’s belief that joy itself can be a serious business - one capable of healing, connecting, and building community at scale.
For Ofodu, the MS in Marketing wasn’t about changing her direction; it was about sharpening it. By pairing her creative voice with business fluency, she built a company designed not just to entertain, but to endure.