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In Fashion June 18, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Temilade Adegbite Is Impacting lives In The Society By Making Shoes For School Kids Who Cannot Afford One

Shoes perform the dual function of making a fashion statement and protecting our delicate feet from dirt and dust. It is without doubt that I say that everyone loves great shoes that both look good and feel great.
Sadly, for many school kids in Nigeria, having such shoes is simply not an option, and when it is an option, it is a luxury for them. The desire to make a remarkable impact in the lives of these Nigerian school children, coupled with intense passion for making beautiful shoes led Temilade Adegbite, an entrepreneur shoemaker to launch Right Legs shoe business.

Temilade who didn’t come from an entrepreneurial background was inspired to launch into entrepreneurship due to her personal problems with finding shoes that fit her big foot. As she grew older, it became a challenge as it became more difficult getting the designs she wanted for my size. She found out through a survey she carried out that a lot of other people face her dilemma and she acted on the thought that prompted her into learning shoemaking craft and produce designs that are inclusive of all sizes.

Temilade sees building a business that produces bespoke shoes for customers as a means to contributing to the society at a social impact level, using her expertise to produce shoes for those kids that don’t have and cannot afford them.

This is why the goal of Right Legs is centered around catering to big-footed customers and supporting poor kids with good footwear to wear to school. And as a standard policy, 5% on the price of every set of footwear bought by customers goes towards the making of school shoes for kids that can’t afford to buy them.

Beyond the profit, her greatest satisfaction as an entrepreneur comes from being able to solve the problem of access to footwear in different sizes. Another satisfaction comes from being able to create great shoes from raw materials, producing something that is both beautiful and practical and that everyone wants on their feet.
Temilade also enjoys the pleasure of creating shoes for Nigerian future leaders.

Her personal experience is the best piece of advice she can give to every intending business owner, it is simply:

Find the need and solve the problem.

In Inspiration June 23, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Zuwaira Ikharo Shuaib Is Helping Mothers Ease The Joy Of Motherhood By Providing Them With Natural Baby Care Solutions

Often the most successful brands and products are created out of a personal experience or a market need. For Zuwaira Ikharo Shuaib, she was inspired to create her business and product range for both of these reasons with the birth of her triplets and the need to find great natural skincare products for her new arrivals.

When you are a mother to triplets, you have first hand knowledge of just what babies need when it comes to natural skincare, and that is certainly the case with Zuwaira Ikharo Shuaib, founder of Amal Botanicals Baby Care who has a wealth of personal experience, essential consumer insights into what moms want for their delicate babies, and the passion to create a brand that can deliver.

Start from where you are and have a bigger outlook of where you want to be.

Amal Baby Care products are made from natural ingredients which have anti-inflammatory properties and have been tested and proven to relief dry skin, eczema, cradle cap, diaper rash and other skin inflammation, especially in babies.

Coming from being a chartered accountant and tax administrator to becoming an entrepreneur has been a very interesting journey for Zuwaira who has zero background in entrepreneurship. She had to learn entrepreneurship and is still learning on the never-ending journey. With entrepreneurship, Zuwaira has had to do lots of things and have been afraid and alone. With lots of mistakes on the journey from sourcing wrong machines to wrong purchase of raw materials leading to big loss for the company in millions, but she survived it all and pulled through.

She finds utmost joy and satisfaction in caring for other babies just like how she cared for her beautifully born premature triplets and helping other mothers ease the joy of motherhood by providing them with Natural Baby Care Solutions.

The simple entrepreneurial advice that has helped her scale through the initial hurdles of her business is “start with what you have no matter how little. Start from where you are and have a bigger outlook of where you want to be. Continue to put in the work daily and reinvest into the business.”

In Inspiration June 23, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro Is Bringing Positive Changes To The Lives Of Rural Women In Nigeria And Ghana Through Her Social Entrepreneurship Business

Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro is a Computer Scientist turned Social Entrepreneur. She is also the Founder and CEO of MitiMeth, an award-winning Social Enterprise transforming waste and building livelihoods through the transformation of water hyacinth, typha grass, banana bark, coconut shells and bamboo culms into useful, aesthetic products.

Her passion lies in rethinking, designing and producing unique home décor, art décor, gifts, stationery, baskets, fashion accessories, dining-ware and rope from these environmental menaces and agricultural residues.

Achenyo discovered water hyacinth which has been a persistent aquatic weed infestation problem in Nigeria and saw that as an opportunity to practically express her message on converting waste into something beneficial. It wasn’t difficult for her to choose crafts because it requires less capital to start and the technicalities involved are minimal. She thought it was a wise move to start small, have physical, marketable products and have economic proof that would serve as motivation to people who want to learn how to transform the waste in their environment to substantial and beneficial products.

Along the entrepreneurial journey, set realistic expectations. Disappointment is a given and so are detours. Being resilient and agile are essential attributes to have as an entrepreneur.

With over NGN17M in wages transferred to 100+ home-based Artisans, MitiMeth is impacting lives and the environment for good and has received recognition and favourable coverage from organizations

They have received accolades including the 2015 Tony Elumelu Foundation Award, the 2014 Cartier Women’s Initiative Award, the 2013 YouWIN Award, the 2013 Local Raw Materials Content Award.

As an entrepreneur, Achenyo has learned several valuable lessons on the journey to significance and impact at MitiMeth. Here are some of the valuable lessons:

For those who want to embark on the entrepreneurial journey or who are already on the journey, weigh your options carefully. Think through them, reach a decision and stick with it. Know your risk tolerance levels and take a calculated risk. Be confident and just do it! You do not want to look back several years down the line and wish regretfully that you should have done it.
Prepare for the journey. Research the idea, solicit advice as to the potential of your business idea from as many sources as possible: friends, family, colleagues, business associates, or any industry specialists you may have access to. Map the trip (write a business plan, apply to incubators, join network organizations and events, embark on professional development and training, “give-away” services and sample products, form partnerships, assemble the right team).
Enjoy the journey. Pace your business and don’t run ahead of yourself either due to peer pressure or ill-informed advice. Don’t drive more miles than your business is capable of handling.
Refuel along the way and don’t allow your tank to get dangerously low. Retreat every now and then to rejuvenate. Self-care is important. Make stops along the way to make sure you are still on the right track (take stock and evaluate the business to ensure you are meeting objectives and you are working towards the vision and mission of the business).
Celebrate your achievements.
Know that there’ll be unanticipated diversions along the way (like a change in government policy, a recession, a pandemic etc). Identify those potential threats to your business (your SWOT analysis) and devise ways to mitigate the impacts. Don’t panic or get overworked about the diversions. Make the most of the “distractions”. Focus on the positives by making lemonade out of lemons!
Take it all in.

From inception to date, MitiMeth has trained over 400 women from communities across Nigeria and Ghana to make eco-friendly home décor and lifestyle products from these natural fibres. She is passionate about creating employment opportunities through sustainable textiles and accessories from renewable materials.

In Food June 14, 2021 By Women of Rubies

The Musonda Sisters Put Zambia On The Global Map With Their Indigenous Chocolate Company

Passion is one of the key ingredients to building any successful business and brand. And, in the world of artisan chocolate making, it is one of the Savanna Premium Chocolate brand’s strongest assets, thanks to founders Chiinga Musonda and Lynn Musonda Phiri.

Chiinga has previously worked in banking with JP Morgan Chase and UBS in NYC. Most recently, she worked with the scientific publisher / information services provider Elsevier in The Netherlands. She also has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and in Computer Science from Smith College in the USA.

Lynn, the second half of the company, previously worked for the Zambia Telecommunications company. She is currently pursuing an MBA in International Business and has a BA with honors in Business Studies with Marketing from University of Greenwich.

These two sisters have a tracked record of different previous work settings, but nothing beats the passion which drove them to produce chocolates. The pleasure they derived from eating chocolates right from childhood and also the joy on the faces of loved ones when gifted chocolates were enough to fuel their passion and kickstart the journey.

Today, we have Savanna Chocolates because two sisters in love with chocolates decided to recreate the standard in Zambia.

As expected from an Indigenous manufacturing company, the duo absolutely love the support they are getting from the Zambian community. Chiinga and Lynn learned pretty quickly that this is not about them manufacturing chocolate in their beloved country, Zambia but that they are building a Zambian brand and the people want to engage with the brand in help to make it the best it can be.

The invaluable feedback received from their community has helped them improve in packaging designs and even in the chocolate flavors.
The excitement they get when their customers purchase their products and then share their feedback on social media cannot be contained as these positive feedback in turn motivates them to keep improving their products.

Chocolate letters, a product of Savanna Premium Chocolate

They take pride in the fact that their chocolates are made from carefully selected single origin cocoa beans to preserve the flavors of the country of origin. They are constantly improving on their chocolate making process to ensure that consumers get premium quality chocolates.

What makes their chocolates different from others is that they sell handcrafted chocolates and chocolate products that are made from natural ingredients with no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, and no preservatives.

“Start before you are ready”. If you have a business idea, don’t wait until you feel you are ready. Just start and with every step that you make, it will become clear what you need to do and you will learn what needs to be done. The product or service may not be perfect in the beginning but you can keep improving as you build. By starting you will get invaluable feedback that you need to grow or make adjustments to your idea. The more momentum you build the more you will see your dream become reality,” are their final words to women who have a business idea they’re afraid to launch.

In Food June 14, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Gladys Kgorane Is Helping People Eat Healthy by Providing Fresh Farm Products To South Africans

Gladys Kgorane is the founder and owner of Caleb’s farm in Potchefstroom, South Africa, a niche agri business that supplies farm fresh products, eggs, free range chickens, sheep packages and pork packages for its customers.

As a family oriented entrepreneur, Gladys is married with three children, she started her farming business on her smallholding back in 2013. Today she has seen it grow substantially from those early days, and now supplies 30 trays of eggs daily to customers, in addition to a wide range of farm fresh meat and fresh vegetables.

The love of farming and providing farm fresh products inspired her to start Caleb’s farm. Caleb’s Farm, supplies farm fresh products, eggs, free range chickens, sheep packages and pork packages for our customers. They also provide fresh cut processed vegetables which are ready to go into the pot.

As part of their service, they offer a fresh produce supply service for the catering of funerals and weddings, and also for households and companies, starting with 1kg packages through to 10kg packages or larger quantities as required by our customers.

Her company’s premise is to save customer’s time while still maintaining quality of products.

Gladys’ passion lie on being a solution which is why she launched her farm to solve the problem of unhealthy feeding. In her own words, “My journey has been full of challenges, but the dream has always been to be the solution, and that has been my inspiration. To feed the nation.”

While other people chase after profit as an entrepreneur, Gladys’ most satisfaction as an entrepreneur comes from her being the solution to poor feeding habits in her country. She aspires to expand her farm and go into commercial farming sometime in the future.

Gladys is one resilient and determined woman which is shown in her advice for up and coming women entrepreneurs.
“Start with what you have and know that giving up is not an option,” is Gladys’ piece of counsel to every intending entrepreneur.

In Fashion June 14, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Kulukaya Sadiki Is Making Impact In Malawi Through Sustainable Fashion

The fashion sector is one of the most important sectors from a job creation and economic contribution perspective, and for Kulukaya Sadiki, founder of Glo-Ray Designs Sustainable Studio in Malawi, sustainable fashion is key.

Her business approach is to incorporate fabric recycling and reuse into the production process to create timeless fashion pieces with minimal environmental impact.

Kulukaya Sadiki is a Sustainable Fashion Designer, Humanitarian and a Marketing Strategist by profession.
She selected as a Young African Leader for the ‘Leadership in Business’ cohort for her business skills by the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a USA program in 2020.

She started her sustainable fashion business in 2017 after realizing that it is possible to make a difference within the community and environment using an important aspect of humanity which is clothing.

Her clothing brand focuses on recycled and rejected fabric to create timeless trends thereby delaying disposal and minimizing fabric pollution. She works in the market with women fabric suppliers, inspiring them and empowering them with business knowledge.

Kulukaya is also the Founder and Chairperson of a registered non-profit organization called ‘Ladies of Influence’ which focuses on sustainable development in Malawi through humanitarian effort with the main focus being the girl child.

She launched into entrepreneur after learning from her late father who was an entrepreneur who had a studio with over 20 employees. He instilled a spirit of determination and resilience in all his children. He encouraged them and told us to go out and become whoever we wanted to be.

In 2011 Kulukaya joined her sister in her IT venture because it felt that her sister was the best person to mentor and prepare her for the business world and more.
She learned from her sister how as women we must work twice as hard to claim our place in the business world. Through her sister’s entrepreneurial venture, she learnt how to work for every penny.

Kalukaya started her business while she was working with her sister.
In her words, “Growing up in the environment I did, my entrepreneurial journey was inevitable.”

As her entrepreneurial advice to women who are planning to launch a start-up, she said:

“I know that life feels like an uphill when you look at the distance between where you are and where you want to be. I know there are voices pulling you from every side, some are encouraging and others are distracting. Invest time in knowing who you really are, so your NO will be firm and your YES will be particular.”

“Choose your circle carefully because this is one important aspect of self-development, move with the driven and ambitious. At the point you are now, I have been there before and I am still there in some parts of my life but child, God did not create us on earth for mediocrity.”

“You are special and the world needs you to use every gift you have to make it a better place. Fear is nothing but a feeling, it gets smaller with each step you take to climb up to your dreams. You are different because God chose you, you are special just the way you are.”

“Rise up and act on your dreams, don’t let the world drown your voice but speak up where you need to and be the one who raises a generation of fearless, driven, ambitious and action oriented young people!”

In Inspiration June 14, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Kofo Akinkugbe’s “SecureID” Smart Card Is Marketing Africa To The World

Kofo Akinkugbe, CEO of SecureID Is Marketing Africa To The World With Her World-Class Smart Card Technology And Digital Security Recognised globally for her entrepreneurial success story and strong business track record, Kofo Akinkugbe is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd a market leader in smart card technology and digital security.

SecureID is a world-class manufacturing facility with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. This company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard.

Kofo is one of Africa’s thought leaders in the subjects of entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector.

After serving in the Nigerian Youth Service Corps, Kofo started her career in the banking industry, working with International Merchant Bank Plc and Chartered Bank Limited. She remained in the financial sector for over 12 years until 1997 when she left to start Interface Technologies, a security management and biometrics technologies company.

With a mathematics major, and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde, she successfully ran Interface Technologies Ltd. (ITL) for nine years, before establishing SecureID Nigeria Ltd., an offshoot from a small department in Interface Technologies and the first VISA certified plant in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kofo is a business leader who recognizes the power of innovation as a vital factor for business success, something she not only encourages in all her employees at Secure ID, but in the many business conference speeches and presentations she gives around the world.

As the chief executive of SecureID, which is still a relatively young firm creating MasterCard and Visa and operating in 16 African countries, Kofo is an excellent example of a chief executive that is building a successful company based on innovation.

Create a working environment that encourages creativity. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

Kofo urged business owners to build capacity that will sustain the creativity, that is, developing the capacity of employees. She however cautioned against engaging only family members, urging the need to employ people with untapped talents.

She said: “We need to create an environment that would drive creativity. Do not be afraid to test new things.”

Her company has succeeded by thinking ahead, developing a product that was not yet in demand at the time it was being developed.

She added, “We must be creative, ensuring we are a step ahead of competition,” also stressing the need to make it a company policy to encourage employees to be creative and to track returns on investment based on staff creativity.

She asked, “How effectively do you measure and track the returns on your investment. Does the way you innovate reflect your vision and appetite for innovation. Encourage staff to be innovative, do things innovatively.”

Today, Kofo’s company, Secure ID, is Nigeria’s leading Smart Card Manufacturing and Personalization Plant; providing comprehensive end-to-end payment, identity management and digital security solutions for the financial services sector, telecommunications, government, education, healthcare and private enterprises.

Located in Lagos, the company is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard, and operates a world-class production plant employing best practices and international standards.

The company’s client base spans over five (5) African countries and is the leading EMV certified card plant in West Africa, one of 6 in Africa and a member of the elite club of only 80 such companies in the world. It’s vision is to be Africa’s leading smart card solutions provider specializing in payment, e-identification and security solutions company.

Her simple entrepreneurial advice to anyone who is planning to launch something new but is holding back because of lack of funds is this, “once you have a good plan and a good concept and you work through it, the funds will always come.”

In Inspiration June 14, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Sarah Boateng Is Investing In Girls Education Across Africa Through IGEA

British-Ghanian Sarah Boateng is a winning social entrepreneur investing in the education of girls across Africa.

She was recently named as a 30 under 30 change-maker. Through her experience working at the United Nations and other international development organizations, she created IGEA Enterprise which has a mission to support girls in rural communities in Africa achieve their educational potential

The 25 year old advocate who grew up in south London is a Psychology and Special Educational Needs Masters graduate.

She founded Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA), a non-profit organisation with a mission to deliver projects that support the quality education of girls in rural parts of Africa.

According to Sarah; “Our aim is to eliminate all barriers blocking girls in Africa from accessing quality education. These barriers can be physical, such as illness, menstruation, distance from school, or mental, such as cultural taboos and the social peer pressure that that creates on the individual. As we are currently at the beginning of our organisational journey, we are focusing our efforts on just one of these barriers to start with – period poverty.

Growing up, my own mother would often talk about her struggle to remain in education. Born and raised in rural Ghana, she left school at the age of 12 to sell oranges on the side of the road. It turns out she couldn’t afford menstrual products, and as a result she missed a large amount of school. As she wasn’t able to keep up with lessons, it made more sense for her to leave education completely and instead focus on making money to help support herself and her family.

Sarah has always believed that education is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people’s future, and the best solution for reducing poverty, catalysing economic growth and increasing individual income.

We celebrate Sarah for making lemonades from the lemons life threw at her, with her lived experience.

Thank you for touching lives and intentionally investing in Girls.

In Career Gems June 8, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Blessing Okagbare Sets New 100m Meet Record in Slovakia

Nigeria’s track queen Blessing Okagbare ran an impressive 10.98 seconds to win the 100m women’s event at the P-T-S Meeting in Samorin, the Slovak Republic. Blessing Okagbare’s winning time was a Meet Record.

Okagbare’s win was a historic feat as no woman has ever run under 11 seconds in the competition held in the Eastern European country. She was pleased after dipping within 11 seconds for the third time this season.

An excited Okagbare hinted that she was delighted to be the winner and also honoured to be the first woman ever to run under 11 seconds at the P-T-S Meeting.

The seven time Nigerian 100 metres champion ran 10.98 seconds to win in the race, smashing the 11.09 seconds meeting record set in June 1983 by Czech Republic icon, Jarmila Kratochvilova.

Blessing Okagbare Sets New 100m Meet Record in Slovakia

Okagbare broke the 11 seconds barrier for the first time in her career at the Crystal Palace Aviva London Grand Prix in London, on the 14th of July 2012; where she ran 10.99 seconds. In 2013, she broke 11 seconds thrice with two of them in a historic fashion. She started the season with a huge but wind-aided to 10.75 seconds in June at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, USA

Fast forward to 2015, Okagbare broke 11 seconds six times, her most in a single season and made it to the 100m final at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing, China.

She ran her first sub-11 seconds of the season at the USTAF invitational in Eugene, Oregon in April before scorching to a 10.90 seconds season’s best at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha, Qatar last week.

This feat marks the 21st time Okagbare has run under 11 seconds in her career.

Congratulations are in order.

In Inspiration June 8, 2021 By Women of Rubies

Tracy Batta Is Helping People Achieve Their Fitness Goals With Smoothie Express

Tracy Batta is the Cofounder of Smoothie Express. She holds a Masters degree in Communications Engineering from Swansea University, U.K. and a BSc. degree in Physics with Electronics from the Bells University of Technology, Nigeria.

The journey to Smoothie Express started in 2014. As a young lady trying to maintain an ideal weight, Tracy Batta got on a smoothie detox routine by blending fruits to make smoothies that served as meal replacements. In a short period of time, she discovered that it was challenging maintaining her detox routine as the process of making the smoothies was often tedious and time-consuming. Realising that this was not a problem peculiar to her, she partnered with her friend Omowunmi to launch the idea as a viable business.

With a united and strategic mindset, Omowunmi Akande and Tracy Batta raised $10,000 from their savings, built a website, bought a motorcycle for deliveries and established Smoothie Express. Smoothie Express started operations in March 2015.

Smoothie Express is a healthy food and beverage company that supports healthy living by providing clients with healthy meals in the most convenient and affordable way possible. Smoothie Express offers an extensive menu with a wide range of over 30 different flavours of smoothies including Salads, Sandwiches, Parfaits and Ice teas to satisfy a variety of tastes.

Tracy Batta is a contributor to The Guardian Newspaper. She gives valuable business information, inspires and motivates small businesses in Nigeria.

Being among Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 youths is no small feat but Tracy Batta shows no signs of slowing down. She plans to grow Smoothie Express to become an international brand with locations across Africa by 2025.

We ceebrate you Tracy Batta! Thanks for keeping us fit!