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Esther Ijewere

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#MONDAYMOTIVATION: FOUR THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE CHOOSING A MENTOR

Mentoring is a two-way street. I actually do quite a bit of work in the mentoring field–I am a mentor, I have a mentor, and I help train people to be good mentors. Your career is part of your life, and great mentoring changes you deeply, not just the way you work. Here are four tips for mentors and mentees alike:

Look for clues of success
Successful people are successful for a reason. People who have achieved greatness in an area of their lives are typically using great strategies. And these people tend to make excellent mentors. So when looking for a mentor, look for the clues of success. Think about what is important to you and the things you want to achieve personally and professionally. Do you want to be a better businessperson, mother, leader, yogi, speaker, writer, etc.? Start to look for people around you who exemplify the skills you want to acquire.

Mentoring goes both ways
To be sustainable and healthy, mentoring must be a two-way street. Both parties need to give 110% to the relationship. This ensures that the mentor and mentee continually learn from each other. Give as much to your mentor (or mentee) as he or she gives to you. And if you are looking for a mentor, actively seek out ways to add value to their life as well. Understand what matters most to them and find ways to contribute.

There is no one-size-fits-all
No one can (or should) guide you in all facets of your life. I actively seek out different mentors in a variety of areas in my life such as fitness, finance, public speaking, etc. For example, I’m expecting a baby girl, so I reached out to mothers and daughters and asked them to share their wisdom with me. Identify growth opportunities in your life and think outside the box.

Change your definition
A mentor is someone whose life or work you value and admire, and whom you think might be a good guide. These days, a mentor can be any age, in any field, so stop thinking of a mentor in traditional terms. Too often we limit our mentors to those “above us.” Don’t let a persons age, title, or experience pigeonhole your thinking.

 -Camille Preston

source: Fortune Insiders

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“WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY, THE TECH INDUSTRY IS THE FUTURE” – KIKE ONIWINDE

Kike Oniwinde is the Founder and CEO of BYP Network, a platform for black young professionals to connect with each other and corporations. She has a BSc (Hons) Economics degree from the University of Nottingham and a MSc Management from the University of Florida. Kike is also a Great Britain javelin thrower who received a full track and field scholarship to study in Florida. Her past work experience includes working in sales in Fintech and front office at major investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Citi.

The idea of BYP Network came after Kike studied abroad and met talented black students. Once back in London, the lack of diversity in the workplace coupled with low opportunities to meet others in the city; prompted the idea. BYP Network has since hosted thousands of black professionals in the past year and a half in London, England with plans of international expansion. The platform has thousands of downloads and has led to Kike winning multiple awards. She has been named as a Sky Woman in Technology Scholar gaining a $33,000 grant and full backing From Sky Corp. She also won the Founders Forum ‘F-Factor’ Competition beating 200 applicants along with winning the New Entrepreneurs Foundation pitch contest. She gained over $50k in funding and was featured in the Sunday Times (A national UK paper).

Kike is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, University of Nottingham Hall of Famer and was once named as one of the top five black students in the UK. She credits her growth mindset, big vision and tenacity for her current successes.

According to her ; “The plan is for BYP Network to be the go to platform for black professionals who want to connect locally and globally to create new businesses, friendships and careers. Representation is important and I believe this platform will empower the black community. I’ve benefitted significantly, as I connected with my American Co-founder, Adrian Claudius-Cole through BYP Network”.

The young entrepreneur whose story went viral globally shares her inspiring journey with me in this exclusive interview.

Childhood Influence

My childhood prepared me for what I do now in many different ways. I’ve only ever known hard work whether through academics or sports. What I’ve mainly learnt is the importance of perseverance as good and bad times are very cyclical. I’ve failed so much but I keep going because I’ve learnt it always pays off.

 

Meet Kike!

I am 25 years old, I’m from East London, I was born to British-Nigerian parents, I am a Libra and I have a huge desire to change the black narrative. I want to help black people around the world through technology. I am super enthusiastic – borderline naive – but it fuels me to just keep going and to ask the right questions and to stay curious.

Inspiration behind your brand BYP Network

The inspiration is simply from meeting a lot of talented black professionals along my journey, especially whilst I was a student at The University of Florida. There, I had a strong desire to meet as many black professionals as possible and to connect, so we could raise our aspirations and be around future leaders. The hope is to help the black community form the right jobs and new businesses, and just to change the black narrative by being role models to the younger generation and ensuring we don’t get left behind.

Being a  world economic shaper and  recipient of several grants

I’m very humbled that I’ve received these grants and that I’m seen as good enough to be seen as a world economic shaper. Especially when I go to meetings and I’m surrounded by so many incredible young people who all have a desire to make a difference in the world. It makes it feel like I’m on the right path and the universe is aligned with my desires. It’s more a signal that I’m doing the right thing rather than an accolade to myself. I’m just excited to keep going forward and see what I achieve.  

Challenges

Starting a business is very difficult, it poses a lot of different challenges. There are a lot more lows than highs but when the highs happen, they’re amazing. It’s not for the faint-hearted and my years of being an athlete have helped me as sports and business are very similar. Both take dedication and resilience, especially bouncing back from multiple failures. The challenges are yet to come but I’m excited by them, because once I overcome them, something amazing will come from this.   

Leaving the banking sector for Tech

The tech industry is the future. Tech is so exciting and I can use my creativity and my economist skillset to drive change within the industry. Tech connects people on a grand scale, and I’m so happy to be in this area. I hope it inspires others to join the industry, even if they don’t have a tech background.

Greatest Reward

I’m pleased with everything that happens along the journey. The reward is understanding I’m on the right path – whether that’s winning a pitch competition, or people downloading the app, or getting media attention. That’s the greatest award. My greatest award was finding a Co-Founder through the BYP Network platform – that showed me that my idea  behind setting up the platform was right, you really can find other talented black professionals and it works! 

BYP  in 5 years

Being as big as LinkedIn! We’re known as the ‘Black LinkedIn’ and I believe it will be a billion dollar company. It’s a new vertical, we’re targeting the black professional, and there are millions of us who aren’t catered to. We want to cater to them, we want to help them develop, and we want to show them that we’re a body who cares about their development , and through the use of mentorships and corporations, it could prove a world solution. It’s not exclusivity, but inclusion by combining so many elements. It’s a billion dollar company, but also one which makes a positive impact. I’m excited for the hard work and looking back and thinking “wow, here we are at 5 years old”.

Not giving up

I never feel like giving up but whenever things get hard, I have this funny saying where I say “I quit”. I say it in business and sport almost every day.  But, the truth is, I’ll never quit and I always keep going.

My Inspiration

I was inspired by some of the stories I heard from people in the tech industry.  Lots of social platform stories inspired me.  I felt like I had great ideas for the black community that nobody had tapped into. I thought, “why can’t I be as successful?” . In the black community, we don’t see many role models who inspire us to aspire higher so I looked to tech company founders who motivated me to want to do well. 

Reception since we started

The reception has been amazing from the get-go. When we launched our first ever event it sold out with barely any social media. Since then we’ve grown to a global community with a lot of interest from corporates for diversity and inclusion. The reception has shown me that BYP Network is needed and has already helped make thousands of connections. I look forward to our growth and the continue support from the community. 

 

I am a woman of Rubies

I have the ability to build something from scratch, to be bold, strong and confident, and to walk forward in my pursuit and purpose. I understand that I can break boundaries and there’s no reason why BYP can’t be great, or why I can’t be great. I want to change the black narrative. I feel compelled to go forward with this mindset and this business. 

Due recognition for women in Tech

I think that one thing I’ve learnt is, we know there’s not enough women in tech (or many male-dominated industries), and there aren’t many black people. We, as women, have to go in. We have to be strong and face the knockbacks, and people saying horrible things. You have to build yourself up and keep going. One thing I’ve learnt from my experience of working in tech is people will only give you recognition if they want to. As long as you’re satisfied with yourself and you’re achieving, it doesn’t matter. Keep breaking down barriers even when people are closing doors on you.

 Advice to young women who want to go into tech

Just do it! Don’t be afraid. Use your creativity,  and hire someone to do development if that’s not your field. We need more women in technology, and technology is the future!  

 

 

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“I TAKE EVERY CHALLENGE AS A STEPPING STONE TOWARDS GREATNESS, I NEVER GIVE UP”- DEFUNKE ADEWUNMI

Adefunke Adewumi, the founder of Black Diamonds Support Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports and empower women especially widows and single mothers, she is well known in the slums giving hope, medical, wellbeing and educational support to indigents children, across the country. She speaks against domestic violence, rape, child abuse and molestation.

Her popularity soar high with her annual outreach, tagged “Project 5000”, a project she kicked off after the death of her philanthropist mum who died seven years ago. The initiative went viral on Facebook when she fed 5000 indigents children during Christmas and also supported them with basic school needs

The single mum of twins who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Guidance and Counselling from University of Ado Ekiti and Master’s of Arts in International Relations and Strategic Studies from Benue State university Makurdi also works with an oil and gas firm in Lagos, and also into Fabrics Retailing.

Defunke is passionate to see both children and adult live their potentials to maximum capabilities, she shares her story with me in this exclusive interview.

Childhood Influence

My childhood prepared me because I grew up seeing my late mother, Funmilayo Adewumi, as a philanthropist who cared for indigent children, widows, orphans; feeding them, taking them off the street by providing shelter for them and sponsoring them in school. She ensured that I parted with most of my things (food, shoes, cloths, bags, toys etc) to give to the less privilege and other children that cannot afford it. She denied me the luxury of life, it used to be painful initially but I got use to it. Christmas period is a carnival of sort because my mother will gather those street kids to organize party for them and make them feel like every other children.

Black Diamonds Support Foundation
The foundation, was a legacy foundation, that was established to continue from where my late mum stopped, however, she limited her philanthropy gestures to her local community, we took a step further to be a foundation that impact the lives of the less privileged, especially, women, children, the foundation has six active departments, namely: WATARA: Walk and Talk against Rape and Abuse, Project 5000 kids: Feeding indigent 5000 children during festive periods
Slums/Shanties Outreach, Medical Interventions/Emergencies, Pick A child Project/GirlChild Education Sensitization and Support for Teenage pregnant mums/babies

Inspiration behind “Project 5000”
Project 5000 was inspired after my mother’s death 7 years ago and for the first time in so long there was no party for the children. My family has been used to feeding and caring for the poor in our immediate community, so I decided to continue doing what she does and even more. I started small and ever since inception it has been growing yearly, the initial number was 500 kids and later 1000 kids. Last year I took a bold step to increase the number to 5000 indigent kids which includes the homeless, orphans and the vulnerable and it was a huge success.
Project 5000 kids is not just about feeding the children, though they were fed twice due to the long duration of the event. The children were given free medical care, school materials – bags, books, stationeries, cloths and even scholarships. It was a carnival atmosphere with lots of music and dancing to make it a memorable experience.

Who and What inspire me
The lifestyle of my late mother that I grew up to know, giving and volunteering in her philanthropic causes inspires me. Picking an homeless child inspires me, seeing an indigent child doing well in school, seeing a sick indigent child been well. Hoping that all children have equal access to quality education, free health care and total wellbeing for them to achieve their potentials without any hindrances.

WATARA -Speaking up for victims of Rape
It is an on-going project and a department under Black Diamonds Support Foundation. The meaning of WATARA is Walk And Talk Against Rape and Abuse, we are in 15 states in Nigeria at the moment. What we do basically is to speak against rape that has been in the increase in recent past, we counsel victims of rape through our counselling unit with experts and professional counselors. We also provide support for victims to get justice by facilitating arrest, detention and prosecution rapists. WATARA has since August 2017 embarked on sensitization walk all over major cities in Nigeria, this campaign has also being taking to schools to sensitize children to be aware of ways to prevent being a victim of rape and abuse. What we plan to do for year 2018 is to open up more counselling for rape vicitms, get justice for them by prosecuting more perpetrators of rape victims and bring them to book.

Challenges of running my foundation
Getting financial aid and material aid supports in ensuring success in our events, Archaic dangerous cultural norms , Patriarchy system of the indigents that forbids the girl-child education, Repeated Trainings and sensitization on health, education and general safety of themselves and children, and it seems they are adamant on their old ways of lives/mentality

Black diamonds support foundation in five years
We hope to have covered all the states in Nigeria and almost all West African countries; Benin Republic is in the pipeline at the moment. In 5 years time we hope to have our Homes for victims of rape and four skill acquisition centre for widows, the indigents, and the teenagers who used to live on the streets. We hope to have completed our home for the street babies, children and teenagers ( which include, a block of flat, a school and a well equipped clinic for them). Then the Project 5000 would have been established in the six regions of Nigeria as well as other departments the foundation is known for.

Women in advocacy and development
We are been misconstrued of our intention to meet other people’s need. People rather see us as competition meanwhile we ought to be collaborators. Some even believe we are trying to take over the responsibilities of the government. Genuine advocacy is that we are not been discourage by what people say or think but we really know what we want to achieve and we set out to achieve them. Whether we are been appreciated or not is not the main thing but ensuring that we succeed in any advocacy we set out to do.

Giving up
Yes. There are moments I feel overwhelmed, about the enormous work that is out there that we have to do, even though I know we cannot “save the world” but the fact that I consciously know there is much to do out there and little resources to get them done,, makes me cry and almost throwing in the towel, but this happens in the spur of the moment, next moment, am up again, and ensuring, gearing up our selfless volunteers, that we cannot give up now.

Being a single mom and working two jobs’

This is where I know that we carry so much strength in us, that we do not ever know, prior to my mum’s death, if I was told I can do all these things, I will scorn such a person. My inner strength came to play when I realized that all these; my job, my kids, my passion are all important to me in fulfilling purpose, I handle all with grace, and my mantra: Whatever will be be, taking each day as it comes, and making the best use of my time. To add to the list of my daily schedule, I run an online bridal asooke business as well.

Being a woman of Rubies
I am priceless, I take every challenge as a stepping stone towards greatness, I never give up. No setbacks,hurdles can stop me, once my mind is made up to do what I want to do for humanitarian purposes.

To those who are hopeless…
Never give up, pick up whatever you think you have failed, be it education, relationships, career, whatever, give it another shot. We Only fail when we accept the failure.

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“IT’S MY DESTINY TO DEDICATE MY LIFE TO HELPING THE VULNERABLE AND UNDERPRIVILEGED” – MODUPE OZOLUA

Modupe Ozolua

PrincessS Modupe Ozolua is an American-Nigerian philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Body Enhancement Limited, which pioneered cosmetic surgery in Nigeria in 2001 and aesthetic lasers in 2007. In 2003, she founded the non-profit organisation, Empower 54, which offers humanitarian programmes to underprivileged women and refugees. Princess Ozolua is active in rehabilitating women and children survivors of Boko Haram insurgency in North Eastern Nigeria, through self-employment and education for the children at the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps.In recognition of her philanthropy, Princess Modupe Ozolua has received many international awards and recognitions, including an award from the internationally-acclaimed magazine, Elle. Elle Magazine, South Africa, has also featured her twice for her entrepreneurial achievement as a leading “African Female Boss” and also as one of the “50 Women Changing Africa”. She shares her story with Esther Ijewere

Childhood Influence
My natural inclination towards business originated from my late mother, who was an entrepreneur to the core and owned many successful businesses during her lifetime. As a philanthropist, I come from a famous family known to be very generous to those in need. That’s how we all are. So, my passion for helping the underprivileged is no surprise to my family and friends.

Pioneering Cosmetic Surgery in Nigeria
When I started Body Enhancement in 2001, the reception was absolutely wonderful because everyone, both men and women, were thrilled to know they could improve areas of their bodies they felt uncomfortable with. Of course, some people misunderstood what cosmetic surgery was and felt it was a conflict with our valuable African culture and religious beliefs. They didn’t understand.

I did not preach against our culture or religion. Neither did my business. I am from a very traditional and religious family. My parents hailed from two Edo royal families. How could I ever encourage anyone to turn against what makes us a people? My parents and family members would have lynched me! Despite the few misconceptions some people had, the overall response was wonderful and till date, people contact my office for services. I closed Body Enhancement Limited in 2014 to focus more on my philanthropy through Empower 54.

Inspiration behind your initiative, Empower 54
When I created Body Enhancement Limited in 2001, it opened my doors to people that needed both cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries. It also made me globally known as the contact point in Nigeria for plastic surgery. In 2003, a couple came to my office seeking reconstructive surgery for the wife who had severe burns and lacerations from a fire accident. Unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to pay for it and narrated how they had made numerous appeals to wealthy individuals for financial assistance but to no avail.I found it very disturbing that no one agreed to help the woman. Then, the husband suddenly, said: “Madam, why don’t you help people like us? When you speak, people will listen.”It’s My Destiny To Help The Vulnerable And Underprivileged
Immediately they left my office, I called the Head, Plastic Surgeon in Beverly Hills and told him I was starting a non-profit project to help underprivileged people and I wanted him to put together a team of surgeons to come and help people for free in Nigeria.

Rehabilitating women and children survivors of the terrorist group, Boko Haram
In 2014, a friend from Adamawa State pleaded with me to look into the IDP crisis in the state. We went to visit North East states to see first-hand what was going on. To get a proper brief on what was going on, we didn’t only visit the IDP camps, we also took the risk of going into rural communities that were destroyed by Boko Haram. Back then, only some villagers and military personnel visited those areas. Humanitarian organisations were too scared to go there because those areas were still under the attack of Boko Haram insurgents.
Our tours enabled us to truly understand the extent of damage done by Boko Haram, and we then decided to focus on two things: Getting the children engaged through education, both in the camps and rebuilding some schools destroyed in rural communities as there were still children living in those places; and empowering the women to start small-scale businesses because we saw many young women, some 30-year-olds, with 12 children!


Testimonials
Majority of IDP camps have schools established for the children. Testimonies? There are too many but I always fondly remember a little girl, who was born with a cleft palate and was one of our beneficiaries during our first humanitarian programme in 2003.Prior to her coming to us, her palate had been operated on twice by other doctors, but it always relapsed. After we performed her corrective surgery free. It did not relapse and she began speech therapy.
Years later, her parents surprised me by bringing her to my office to say, hello! She had grown and looked so beautiful in her native attire. When she saw me, she ran and hugged me. I was shocked! I asked her if she remembered me, and she said: “Yes, I remember you! It was you that saved my life!” I immediately started crying, held her close and I thanked God for using me as an instrument to help that young lady lead a normal life like everyone else.


The narrative of the helpless people at the IDP camp
When people hear the acronym IDP, they assume they are all illiterates and poor people that lived in rural villages. Unfortunately, that’s not so! Some of these IDPs are doctors, teachers among others They were successful businessmen and women that owned large farms, houses and companies. Some of those children are extremely intelligent and had excellent grades in school before they were all displaced by Boko Haram.
If Boko Haram attacks Abuja today and we all flee to Lagos or neighboring states, leaving our homes, cars, clothes, businesses, among others, what does that make us? It also makes us IDPs because we would be internally- displaced. If we flee to Cameroun or Chad, we automatically become refugees.

Governments doing their best
Having to tackle insurgency and manage IDP camps is not something the Federal Republic of Nigeria ever thought it would experience. It’s not easy for any country to maintain IDP or refugee camps because of the many challenges involved, especially financial implications. Considering this is the first time we are facing such a huge security and socio-economic disaster, we are learning as we go. I think the Federal Government, NGOs and state governments are doing the best they can.

Challenges
Our biggest challenge is finance. Empower 54 isn’t a personal foundation such as the Bill Gates and others that are largely funded by the billionaire founders. Even the Bill Gates Foundation receives millions of dollars in donation! So, people should please be more compassionate and respectful because it could be any of us in those camps.

Your other projects?
We have some wonderful ongoing projects that we haven’t gone public with. So, I cannot share them with you just yet. However, since I personally led the joint evacuation of the malnourished children from Bama to Maiduguri for treatment, the Federal Government has declared malnutrition a national epidemic with one in every three children suffering from malnutrition. We had to tackle the issue of malnutrition beyond risking our lives to evacuate children from high-risk zones for treatment.Although very expensive, Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic-Foods (RUTF) has been medically proven to save lives of malnourished children and with extremely limited funds, we came up with a solution.This prompted the creation of an Empower 54 campaign to eradicate malnutrition in Africa with our goodwill ambassador being His Imperial Majesty, Oonirisa Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife.
We have now successfully established a small-scale RUTF production facility in Nigeria to produce free RUTF for malnourished children. It is sponsored by the Australian government and International Monetary Fund (IMF). With donations received, we will produce and distribute to malnourished children all over the country for free. That is why we need donations. How can we save lives without money to execute these projects? Please, donate to Empower 54. We are doing great projects with every penny we receive and we can do so much more with your support.

Reward
The greatest rewards I have received for being a philanthropist are: “God bless you. Thank you!” When people tell me they had no hope before I came to help them, that God sent me to restore their faith in humanity and they voluntarily pray for me and say “thank you”. What greater reward do I want? I’m sorry, but I don’t know any greater reward than that.

Never giving up
No and yes. No, in the sense that being a philanthropist is my calling. It’s my destiny to dedicate my life to helping the vulnerable and underprivileged. So, I can’t run away from that. Yes, in the sense that there was a project that verbal attacks we received made me to almost shut down all our humanitarian activities in Nigeria. But when I looked at the pictures of the beneficiaries, I knew I couldn’t do that because our obligation was to help them, not the people trying to create negative distractions.

Those who inspire me to be better
My family is my greatest inspiration, especially my late father and my son. I was a daddy’s girl. My father’s approval and love meant the world to me, and till date. Wanting his approval still puts me in check. When I think of what my 22-year-old son would say about anything I do, I quickly check myself, because I want him to be proud of me always.

The fact is everything I do affects a lot of people. I might not have really realised that when I was much younger, but I sure do know that now. I am a very family dedicated person and very close to many members of my extremely extended family.

Being a Woman of Rubies
Hmmmmmmmmm….Why don’t you tell me? (laughs). But what I do know is what makes me a woman that has gone through various stages of life and is getting better by the day. I was married at 21. I was a dutiful wife, pregnant with my son, running a home, taking care of a husband and running my first business in America. I had my son at 22, divorced at 23 and I have raised my son singlehandedly since. At 27, I returned home to Nigeria and pioneered cosmetic surgery, which put Nigeria on the global map as a destination for plastic surgery in Africa. At 30, I started an NGO, which was the first to provide free reconstructive surgeries for the underprivileged in Nigeria. Between then and now, I brought the first aesthetic laser machine to Nigeria among other things. I have been appreciated in my birth country, Nigeria, and many other countries in the world, both for my private business and philanthropy.Through it all, I have watched myself evolve over the years into a woman I’m proud of and I know I am getting better daily with the right people guiding and advising me.

Dear Woman,
Hold your head up! There is nothing wrong with working hard for success, but never be desperate for fame. Fame comes with a price and most times, you end up paying with your peace, happiness and pains, when you are slandered and painted as who and what you are not. Today, you are famous and you are celebrated by all, tomorrow, it’s going to be someone else. Don’t allow your self- worth to be based on others’ perception of who you are. Identify those that genuinely love and care about you, hold them close because as you get older, you will discover such good people are rare to find. Know you, be you and do you. Remember that, and you will be okay!

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I DECIDED TO QUIT BANKING AT THE AGE OF 40 AND START MY OWN BUSINESS – OLUWATOYIN EDUN

Oluwatoyin Edun is the Group Managing Director of Fusion Group Limited. She graduated from University of Ibadan with a B.sc degree in Political Science and holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Business School Netherlands.
She started her career at Eko International bank in 1999 then proeeded to FSB International bank and joined FCMB in 2005
In 2012 her portfolio was enlarged with the inclusion of commercial and retail activities covering 10 branches of the bank in Ikeja and its environs where she was designated the zonal head. Based on her initial goal to quit at the age of forty she decided to take a bow from the banking sector in 2014 to pursue her dream. She later became the Director of finance for the Akiwunmi Ambode Campaign Organization for Lagos State.
She shares her  grass to grace journey  in this inspiring  interview.

I grew up prepared to fly in the world
My childhood was full of optimism about the future. I grew up wanting to be a lawyer but
later on I met a Professor of Political Science who influenced my decision to study Political Science, however that is totally different from what I do today. This has taught me that it doesn’t matter where we start from, eventually with our aspirations and as we go along, meet people, interact and deal with issues of life, we will end up at the destination that God has prepared for us. But in terms of academic background and upbringing, I will say that I had enough preparation for the role I am playing now because I was academically inclined as a student and also attended good schools; I was focused very on education with a determination to excel at everything I ever did. I believe I was adequately prepared to fly in the world.

Toyin Edun
I am the first of five children (4 girls and 1 boy). I grew up in Ibadan where I attended Bodija International School, Queens School Ibadan, International School Ibadan and i graduated from the University of Ibadan with a Second Class Upper division in Political Science. I fell in love with the Banking Industry during my University days and this led me to choose a career in banking. I started my banking career at Eko International Bank from the Human Resources department, proceeded to FSB International Bank and thereafter, Metropolitan Bank Limited. I later joined FCMB in 2005. While at FCMB I started as an Assistant Manager and rose to the position of Assistant General Manager having worked in different departments of the Bank. I retired from Banking at the age of 40 to start my own Real Estate and Hospitality business. I bought into a family business in 2015 where I became a Director and subsequently took over the operations in Real Estate and Facilities management, and also expanded our focus into co- working space with the setting up our Virtual Hub. I also have a keen interest in Tourism and hospitality and I have done quite a lot of work in hotel management, short letting as well as consultancy for the hospitality and tourism sector. Currently, I run a group called the Fusion Group with subsidiaries in South Africa and United Kingdom.

Inspiration behind Fusion Group
While in the banking sector, I realized that I had a flair for Real Estate and got inspired by my own personal experiences especially when I was buying my own home for the first time. I realized that I was very much interested in every detail that went into the home. I got really interested in Construction and at that point, I decided to make what was just a hobby into a profession and business. By the time I decided to quit banking at the age of 40, I started to plan my exit and the first thing that came to mind was for me to pursue business in the Real estate sector which got me buying into a family business that was already into facilities management and to expand the scope to do everything else around the real estate business. I am very passionate about space; I love spaces whether it is your home space, your office space, your hotel space etc! I believe a space tells a lot about the personality of the person so I always like to add a personal touch from designing of partitioning, structuring of space, colour scheme, the furnishings and the management of space. Spaces in general fascinates me and I believe that is what has kept me in the business till now coupled with being a passionate person that does whatever I have to do extremely well.

Biggest risk ever taken as an Entrepreneur
The biggest risk I have taken as an individual is to leave the known for the unknown i.e. to leave the banking industry, where I had everything going for me and to launch out to try to do business and I’ve not had a day’s regret since I took that bold step. In the real estate space and in hospitality.

Challenges
We started the business at the time when Nigeria was just going into the recession and this really affected a lot of our projections, our business started off on a very slow note, we did not have the kind of clientele that could afford our services so the sluggish start was sort of troubling but we found our way around it and we were able to understand what the market could absorb and packaged our services to attract international organizations who could understand and afford our value proposition and also wanted to come into Lagos, Nigeria to do business. The other challenge was the power issue ,The third challenge is People. We have had our fair share of human resource challenges with staff turnover.

Balancing the business and the home front
I will say this is the popular problem of every working woman and therefore not peculiar to running a business. It is the same challenge I faced when I was still in paid employment. Once you are a working woman, you have to balance the home front with your career. I understood where I was going and I developed a working template, thus I have structured my home in the most efficient manner. I have always had highly professional carers to support me with raising my kids and happy to pay the premium in order for me to focus on my career. I also structured my timing to accommodate quality family time which is the most important thing to me but also ensuring that it does not affect work.
I also made sure that I took out time to attend every important event in their lives, every important school event, every important exam and all of that. Yes, it meant me staying up longer hours and keeping awake trying to juggle all the balls but I believe that once one is organized and you are committed to something, you will always find a way to make it work. Life is all about planning

Tell us about your other project and activities?
Our other projects include our interest in tourism and hospitality. We have started doing some work with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC). We are also doing some work in short-letting across the continent and the UK. Also, preliminary work is going on in setting up our hospitality school which is a passion for me and I believe has to be done quickly. This is a cause I am committed to in order to boost the quality of services in the hospitality and tourism sector and we are working towards achieving it. It is also my way of giving back to an industry I love so much as unfortunately many Nigerians do not seem to understand the true value of customer service. The focus is to train future employers and employees for the Nigerian Hospitality Industry. This will help the industry grow, reduce the unemployment in Nigeria as well as help to grow the Nigerian economy as a whole.
We also have interest in Infrastructure maintenance under facilities management and we are currently doing some work on some transport infrastructure deployment and management. At the same time, we are looking to expand our co working space, the Virtual Hub by setting up another branch in Lagos and opening one in Abuja. These are the projects we have on the front burner right now.

Fusion group in five years
I see Fusion Group growing in leaps and bounds. Our five year road map is to consolidate our efforts and investment in real estate, in hospitality and tourism as well. We would be developing our own estates and also operating our hospitality school within that period. I see Fusion Group becoming about a $100M dollar franchise within the next five years.

Giving up is not an option
My personal mantra in life is to learn to focus on winning so much that I forget how to fail. Therefore giving up was never an option. I am naturally resilient and tenacious. Challenges bring out the best in me. Like I said, I left banking in 2014 and I knew there was no going back so I always knew I had to keep forging ahead no matter what life threw at me. I must confess that I have had my fair share of daunting challenges and there were times when i felt really overwhelmed but my trust in God sustained me.

Who and What Inspire me to be better
The things that have inspired me to be better at what I do are within me. The desire to excel, the passion for service and the willingness to learn from every experience. I believe that how you do anything is how you do everything.
The person who inspired me to be my best was always my Sister , Dr Adenike Aiyedun , she was also my very first business partner. She gave me a lot of push and support as well. She always saw it in me that I could thrive and excel at business and she was the first to give me her support when I decided to leave the banking industry. She always nudged, assisted, coached and prayed for me. She always reminded me that I have everything that I need to succeed and encouraged me to follow my dream.

Being a woman of Rubies

First, I want to say a shout out to every woman out there who is trying to make a difference in the world, to her society and her family. I believe that I am one of those women. I did not mention at the beginning but I was raised by a single parent and my Mother taught us the value of hard work and why it was necessary for me to able to fend for myself and people around me. Hard work, Dedication, Commitment, Loyalty and Passion were all those words I heard from my mum right from when I was little and those values have positioned me for who I am today. As a person, I believe I mentored a lot of people whilst I worked in the banking sector, I raised a lot of other women because
I believe as women, we must hold and raise ourselves up, we must be able to keep each sister going and I believe this I have done so much of and will continue to do. I also believe that I collaborate very effectively with men in such a way that we all achieve results together.
I believe that as a mother, I have done a whole lot to raise children to understand values, morals and important ethics of life. So in terms of what qualifies me to be a Woman of Rubies, I believe in my personal life, I have been able to showcase that. In my business life, I have conducted myself as a woman of rubies. somewhere. In terms of achievements, to God be the glory; I have been able to record my moderate achievements across board. I believe all this qualify me as a woman of rubies.

Final word for female entrepreneurs in Nigeria and women in general
You need to be very confident, you need to first identify your dream and goal and be committed to it and remain very confident in what you do.
I will tell you for free that you will be intimidated by situations, by people and by the opposite sex as well. You are going to feel like you are at your dead end at different times and feel like you are being taken advantage of. You also have to be upright, integrity is everything in business and you should be known for what you do and be known for what you say.
As a woman, you should never give up and never feel we are second rate to anyone.

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NOTHING GIVES ME MORE JOY THAN TO POSITIVELY IMPACT A SKILLFUL WOMAN – OMOLARA SANNI

Nothing gives me more joy than to positively impact a skilful woman – Omolara Sanni

Omolara Sanni is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, with a MBA (Entrepreneurship and Small Business) from OAU, Ile-Ife. She’s undertaken verifiable MOOCs with Coursera and Shaw Academy including – Creativity, Innovation & Change (CIC), Creative Problem Solving, and Digital Marketing. In 2014, Omolara started a crusade to nurture and promote home-grown Craft entrepreneurs via her blog – www.multicreativeme.com. Since then, she has gone on to rally a collective of over 6000 creative folks in an online crafting community – African Handmade Forum. Here, artisans and designers enjoy support, showcase, and free training opportunities.
Omolara is an enthusiast of all initiatives targeted at the crafts, artisan networks, micro business growth, and the creative industry as a whole. She shares her inspiring story and passion for the creative industry in this exclusive interview.

Growing up
Far back as primary school, I remember my Mum, a teacher, buying a kongo each of sugar and Omo detergent for my sister and I, so we could tie them in small portions and display in her hair salon. The stylists would help us sell while we went to school and we would rush to the shop on our return to count the money made as well as the remaining wares. It felt so exciting and important to be in business. LOL

At the end of each cycle, we got the profit while Mum would recycle the capital to get another batch of sugar and Omo for us.
This was my introduction to business and I remain grateful to my Mum for teaching us early. I toed the business line all through to University, selling stuff from time to time and making hair at some point. I also worked as a stylist at her salon anytime school was on break, and that formed my first contact with Customer management. Haha!

Inspiration behind Multicreativeme and handmade Nigeria

It was while serving as a youth Corper in Kwara state, that a visiting corper taught a handful of us how to make beaded jewellery and pouches, bags etc. I was so excited! This was in 2004/05 when beadmaking/weaving was just becoming a thing.

I have always loved designing and I caught on very fast, so much so that after our trainer left, I became the ‘madam’ that others came to learn from. I was so passionate about crafting that I would travel to unfamiliar Lagos and find someone to drag to the market so I could buy materials and then return to Kwara. Pretty exciting times!
Thereafter, I ran my own beading shop in Ibadan after NYSC; selling jewelry and training students, until I got a job… then 6 years later, I was out of job. I returned to crafting and picked a few more skills but now, I wanted more. So I looked out.

The craft sector I saw was loaded with potentials and the most precious raw talents, but it was in disarray, only few of the crafters and artisans were really making any profit.. so how do we make significant impact? Business skills were lacking. I decided to start a blog that would rally other crafters and provide them with helpful and developmental resources – Multicreativeme.com.
Then, as our community grew online, the need for an exclusive platform to sell handmade items online came to the fore. We needed to sell online but crafters were tired of having their handcrafted products compared with mass-produced factory products on marketplaces. And that is how www.handmadenigeria.com came into existence.

Being an Alumni of Daystar Leadhersip Academy
DLA taught me a lot about being a balanced leader. Beyond that, the Daystar’s culture of excellence has rubbed off on me, both in life and business – I would rather not do it at all than not do it well (give it my best shot) and this has nothing to do with starting small! I started small. my ultimate takeaway from DLA is that the Value that you give always comes back to you – thus when I only had the blog, I kept on dishing value to creative entrepreneurs (yeah, I had a few throw it in my face) even though I earned no income from it yet. Today I have income streams from skills that got honed doing that.

Why I chose the creative world
What can I say? The creative world is my world; I am fascinated with creativity in others and I love to create with my hands too. Creativity should be encouraged in every child because it comes with resourcefulness, a life skill that means you cannot get stranded.

Another reason is the Craft sector is somewhat of an underdog in a Nigerian creative industry that sparkles with music stars and block buster movies, but we are rising steadily. Yes, the recession did us good because local content received some long lost attention. A lot of corporate organisations have seen the need to support home-grown businesses and we have been welcoming them on our platforms. We need to consider how well the crafts are doing in developed countries and realize that we have what it takes here too. Like, have you seen some of the fashion accessories on our marketplace? Wowza!

What and who inspires you?

The Holy Spirit. Since I knew God in my high school days, I have felt a deep seated desire to live an impactful and extra-ordinary life. I remember thinking that it would be through my song ministrations, but well, that didn’t work out. Haha!
Now, I am driven to help make craft businesses highly profitable and sustainable. I want crafters, designers, and artisans in my network to grow significantly and be able to make a living from what they make with their hands.

Greatest Reward
That would be the testimonies of crafters that my content and activities have inspired with results. When I get tired, those keep me going. I was a finalist at the 2017 Wimbiz Impact Investment Competition; didn’t win. I have also been finalist in a seed funding competition and though I didn’t get the money, I felt greatly encouraged and validated.

Challenges

Hmm. First is the high costs of power, data and hardware procurement. Besides that, a lot of creatives have lethargic attitudes towards managing their online stores, inventories and all; I’m just grateful for my team – we work round the clock on some days managing both sellers and buyers. Thirdly, Nigerian buyers still have a propensity for offline transactions, even on a platform like ours and while this isn’t exactly a challenge, it does stretch our limited workforce.

Perception of women in the creative industry
Yes, I believe that limits only exist in the mind for women of this generation. Thanks to the MDGs and SDGs, we have seen a lot of women-targeted empowering initiatives, I almost started to feel sorry for the men, but Hey! We’ve had it coming a very long time.
A lot of women in the industry have stepped up too and are making us proud. But of course, we still have the hobbyist designers, who are yet to understand the business of their craft.

Handamade Nigeria!
Handmade Nigeria is an online marketplace for quality fashion and lifestyle accessories made by indigenous designers and crafters.We promote the handmade culture and facilitate smooth and secure transactions between buyers and sellers onsite, while providing quality control.
Another of my initiatives is a 6000+ support group for crafters on Facebook called African Handmade Forum. There we run free business trainings and generally support each other.
Giving Up
Several times oh! I have spent money on social media ads that yielded nothing, burned the midnight oil many times and ended up feeling drained. There are days it seems I have done all I know to do… Thank God that those moments pass, then the dream and the giver of it keep me going.

Being a Woman of Rubies?
I am passionate about lighting other women’s candles with mine. Nothing gives me more joy than to positively impact a skilful woman.

Final word for women who are thinking of going into the creative industry

Niche up and don’t be all over the place.
Then you must pay attention to the business side of things before you get in deep. Creatives are passionate folk and it is quite easy for them to run into unprofitability and frustration when bills don’t get paid, even though you’ve been very busy doing your thing diligently.

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BEING A WOMAN DOES NOT LIMIT YOU IN ANYWAY – IFEYINWA JACINTHA, FARMER & AGRICULTURAL ADVOCATE 

Ifeyinwa Jacinta Eze, founded The Green Generation Initiative in 2011 with a seed funding from ExxonMobil. The Agricultural Advocate, Educator, Scientist, and a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum holds a Bachelors degree in Soil Science and Land resource management from the Obafemi Awolowo University and a postgraduate student on food security at the Business School Netherlands. While setting up “The Green Generation Initiative” she worked  as Supply Chain at AACE foods between 2013-2015, facilitating at least 1,500 farmers to supply indigenous spices and grains to the processing factory as well as access to storage and finance.

Ifeyinwa Jacinta Eze’ work has made significant contributions to improving the livelihood of smallholder farmers in Nigeria. With over 8years of experience in agriculture, business and management, her unparalleled success as an educationist propelled the organization in training teachers and students in practical vegetable production skills. Today through Funding under the MicroVeg project from Global Affairs Canada, over 120 schools on climate-smart agricultural practices have set up gardens in two geo-political zones of the country.

Jacinta is the co-author of the book “School Vegetable Garden Manual for Secondary schools”, a practical and inspiring book for the younger to love agriculture that is funded by the MicroVeg Project. On pro bono basis, she advocates for the inclusion of children, women and youth in agriculture, Jacinta has also been a guest speaker in many agricultural workshops and conferences both locally and internationally. She shares her inspiring story in this interview.

Childhood Influence
My childhood was full of flowers and vegetable gardening. At home, my dad grew all kinds of vegetables and flowers. He also always had a small poultry he kept all the time, rotating different kinds of birds. Even when we moved houses, he took his farm with him. The only thing that changed was that we started from scratch to build a new garden. It wasn’t funny when I was a kid because these activities always stole into my playing time, and Daddy would never allow me join my friends until I was done with my lot. And then high school time, I had this fantastic agric teacher  (Mr Muhammed at FGGC, Oyo) that used scientific names of crops to make jest in class. He would say things like: “Look at your head like Carica Papaya.” This means “look at your head like Paw-paw. His style of teaching was so humorous that it captured my attention to knowing most of the plant names by heart, and then practical agriculture on the field in school became my best time as it just felt like home, before I knew it, growing plants became a lifestyle. Little did I know that I was being prepared for the future, that i would grow up to become an advocate for quality agricultural education, production and sustainability

Meet Jacintha

Am popularly called “Bose Elefo” by rural vegetable farmers as vegetables is my key expertise and that’s what I talk about everywhere I go. I am a social entrepreneur, a trainer, educator and promoter of sustainable vegetable production, marketing and consumption. I am a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum (WEF)-Lagos Hub, a fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD). I am an advocate for quality agricultural education and a strong believer that this will bring a transformational change for the next generation of agricultural experts and enthusiasts. I have 8 years experience in farmers engagement, rural development and youth empowerment. Everyday, what keeps me going is more engagement with women and youth for agricultural development.  I hold an MBA in food security from the Business School, Netherlands and a Bachelors degree in Soil science and Land resources management from the prestigious “Great Ife”

Inspiration behind The Green Generation Initiative 
While I was an undergraduate at Great Ife, I noticed a trend among my colleagues, medical and biological science students were regarded as the professional students with bright minds. Every session, I watched most of my colleagues struggle to change their courses “trying to cross from agric to health or biological sciences” departments until they got tired. So I started a personal research into finding out factors responsible and among all of them, what stood out was poor foundational skills. Many undergraduates had little or no direct encounter with agriculture before Uni, they saw no future with their studies and couldn’t wait to just graduate and do something else with their lives. I could say categorically that at least 50% of my colleagues in my set (B.Agric) are into other careers today. So when these findings became crystal clear to me, I sought ways to bring a solution to this. And when I got an opportunity to present my ideas (a platform that will boost young people engagement with agriculture from early education years to increase their interests, help them appreciate agriculture and prepare them for the challenges ahead), I did and in 2009, I won the firstprize on the Womenterprise Awards funded ExxonMobil Nigeria through Ideabuilders Initiative. The seed funding that came with the Award helped me establish school gardens in 6 chosen schools in Lagos and since then its been growing. Now through the work, we have trained as at today, teachers and students on practical agriculture skills in 123 schools in 2 geo-political zones in the country.

 



Challenges

A lot of times I receive unexpected looks and judgement. Many people hardly believe I can hold a hoe talk more of talk about agriculture because of my looks, light skinned and fragile looking. It’s only after several encounters that they believe I know what I am doing or talking about. It’s not been an easy time over the years, I must say. I have worked myself to the bone proving myself.

Poor Motivated teachers: Some teachers have low motivation to drive practical agriculture, they feel like its an extra burden. Its hard to sustain gardens in such environments when the leader isn’t passionate about it. So what happens is that after we have handed over the project to the school, they do not take care of the garden, and it usually ends there after we handover school projects to school



Co-authoring the book “School Vegetable Garden Manual for Secondary schools

The manual is a must-read for every school. It holds practical step –by-step guide for growing green leafy vegetables from planning for the garden up to harvesting the produce of 3 kinds of vegetables. The techniques also show environmentally smart techniques for production like the use and application rates for biologically derived insecticides to reduce/prevent insects invasion. It was fully sponsored under the Global Affairs project: MicroVeg so it’s not for sale.

Other project and activities

Our scope covers sustainable development through intensive collaboration with young people interested in agriculture, support and train smallholder farmers in climate smart technologies, land resource management, biodiversity conservation, agricultural entrepreneurship and nutritional education.

We are working with a Global Affairs Canada sponsored project to disseminate technologies to 21,000 farmers on Vegetable production technologies and innovations. This is in partnership with Osun state University and other partners like the University of Manitoba, Canada and University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Obafemi Awolowo University and University Of Parakou, Benin republic

We have also had successes in training rural women on integrating fresh vegetables into confectioneries. We linked over 200 farmers in Ogun and Ekiti state to receive over 30 million naira which they fully repaid back and this is bridging the gap between finance institutions and farmers

To increase youth engagement and empowerment, we launched “Grooming Leaders For Agriculture” also called GLA in 2017 creating a platform for young people interested in agriculture to sharpen their skills, develop their career path and grow. 
We match young people with mentors (professionals) sharing similar careers and also give hands-on training on vegetable production and agribusiness skills. We are using this to help fast-track their careers, expose them to opportunities and help them become better positioned. We now have 35 young people in the program. Read more..www.glainitiative.org

Greatest reward you have ever gotten for what you do?
My greatest reward isn’t in awards or funding. It has been in building people. The day I started receiving reports that our GLA volunteers had started adopting schools. I felt the best feeling in the world. Do you know what it means to see yourself replicated in others. You know if I were to die today, am certain that the dream will not die. The vision of reaching the younger generation and preparing them for the future is rolling and will reach every corner of Nigeria and this has been my greatest reward.  

Where do you see your brand in the next five years?
A hub for professionals working together and shaping agribusiness that is moving forward the agenda of food security and wellness for all in Africa


Was there ever a time you feel like giving up?

No. Thankfully I haven’t. 

Who and what inspire you to be better?
I have quite a number of people who stand out in inspiring me in my journey. They constantly keep at it and ever encourage me to keep being better: Prof Clement Adebooye, Lucy Kanu, Ndidi Nwuneli

Being a Woman of Rubies

I am a woman of rubies because I am living my life for the sake of the next generation. I am playing my part in contributing to the next generational leaders in food security, we cannot afford to make the mistakes our father made and have the same challenges we are facing today. 

Final word for young women all over the world?

Do not just live your life waking up in the morning, cleaning, cooking, serving or watching TV. Live a purpose-filled life, a life that leaves a positive legacy in your family and community. Your being a woman does not limit you in any way, if you cannot find energy within you to pursue this, find the right support group that works on this and collaborate with them to create that impact that’s needed. We need all women working together to make our world better. All women have this ability, lets use it wisely. 

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My Experience with Sexual Harassment Inspired Me to Launch My Modeling Agency – Juliet Ezeigwe

Juliet Ezeigwe is a Blogger, Vlogger, Model Coach and Scout, Content Creator, Speaker, Budding Producer, Publicist and a Women and Girl Child Advocate and TV host. A graduate of the Federal Polytechnic Idah, Kogi State, where she studied Science Lab Tech, final year student of Olabisi Obasanjo University(Part-Time), studying Mass Communication.

Alumni of Paradigm Initiative and CVL young entrepreneurs. Jules is not only passionate about modelling but envisages a modelling industry where we have just smart and Top Notch Models, away from the negative opinion people have about modelling and she has been using her platforms to advocate for this, She recounts one of her personal experience as a model, when the director of a modelling agency asked her to go to his room and take off her clothes, to ascertain if she was good for the job, and how she declined the offer with tears in her eyes and made up her mind at that point to have her agency devoid of sexual harassment and high respect for models.

She also has a deliberate interest in advocacy for abused women and girls, which makes her organize both online and offline events to help educate people on abuse. She is the convener of #HelpAnAbusedWoman, My Child, My Hero, Youngster Support Initiative, and the Walk against Abuse. The serial entrepreneur and advocate shares her story and journey so far in this interview.

Childhood
My childhood inspires what I do today, especially in the area of women and child advocacy. Growing up in Ajegunle, where we hear and see the constant beating of women by their husband, boyfriends hitting their girlfriends and a lot of sad tales of little girls getting raped by men old enough to be their fathers. I remember us going into our new neighborhood; I saw a lot of teenage girls get pregnant outside wedlock, I was really surprised, and I went about asking people why it seems young girls get pregnant here. The answers they gave made me cry. Poverty, rape, lack of personality development etc, and then I resolved to start up my NGO called Project F.A.W.A.

 Meet Juliet Ezeigwe

I am Ezeigwe Juliet Chioma, the first of 2 amazing girls to my parents. I loved and longed to be a model since when I was a teenager because I loved the girls that modelled for the Orange drugs company then, but unfortunately for me, I stopped growing tall after secondary school. Lol! For a long time, I was angry with myself, so I decided to give it a trial again in the year 2015, and that was when I thought I made the mistake of my life, which made me who I am and becoming.

I had put my picture on the Sun Girl page, and I got a lot of offers from people, to model for them. But the one, I can’t forget, was when the director of a modelling agency, asked that I go to his room and take off my cloth, so as to ascertain if I was good for the job. I declined the offer, looked at him very hard with tears in my eyes and said, give me 2 years I would have my modelling agency devoid of exploiting young ladies and guys. 2 years down the line, I am living that dream. I love travelling, talking, writing, teaching and inspiring people, especially young ones with my story. I think, I am a social media addict, but the beautiful thing is that I make money from it.

Inspiration behind Da Jules Media
The inspiration behind it, was when I attended entrepreneurship training at Paradigm Initiative, I went there like every other person that attended, but one of the facilitators did something for us on that day. He asked that we write down what we would love to achieve in the next 5 years, I wrote mine down, and today I am doing practically everything I wrote down. We were formally Da Jules World, but alone the time, we gained clarity and today we are Da Jules Media. I will say the inspiration behind the brand is to discover empower, celebrate, and encourage small business owners and models, with a deliberate interest in women and girl child advocacy

What Modelz Hangout is all about…
Modelz Hangout is an annual event, organized by Jules Modelz Academy where Aspiring, Upcoming and Professional models from all walks of life come together to discuss and share their experiences, peculiarities and the unique challenges they face in the industry. During this event, we have speakers, facilitators and panelists who take these models through the journey of Modeling, Fashion, Health and Fitness, Etiquette, Self Discovery, Personality Development etc.
As the name implies it is a hangout where models connect and get useful information and insights on how to take their career to the next level. I plan to go into filming and areas of producing and writing scripts.

Challenges
One challenge I face most importantly is getting funds to run the business.  Seeing that we are just new to the business, lots of people may not trust us enough to get models for their brands. One challenge we are currently facing is getting sponsors for the production of our short movie.

What sparked my interest in advocacy
Hmmm! What sparked my interest is the environment I come from., the fact that I was sexually abused as a child and I don’t want anyone to experience abuse. Another incident I remember vividly while growing up was when an Okada man raped three old girls in his compound, I was devastated, and it brought back ugly memories. There and then, I resolved to be a voice for abused women and children.

Projects and activities

I do a lot of projects, and the beautiful thing is that I am so passionate about them all.
Jules Modelz Academy:  We are fueled with the Paroxysm to Discover, Groom, Empower, Promote and Celebrate young talented models, bringing out the best in them, and providing them with bigger platforms to exhibit their talents. We also celebrate and promote Modeling Agencies/ Fashion Shows/Events. Our projects under this are. Modelz Hangout, Modelz Meet and Greet, Modelz Day Out, Teens Modelz Academy and Jules

Project F.A.W.A:  is a nonprofit organization that is aimed at making a world-class piece that captures the Emotions, Minds and Heart of people, to make an impact in our world living systems through lending our voices to humanities that are victims of abuse, in other to alleviate abuse to its minimal and affect a change in our society. Our projects, include, The Survivors, My Child, My Hero, Help an Abused, Woman and Walk against Abuse.

I am currently working on The Consequences (A short movie). This is a story about abuse, and how it affects society.

Greatest reward
That should be the love I get from people on a daily basis. People that come to my inbox, and tell me how I inspire them. Recently I have been soliciting help from my friends on Facebook for the movie, after our principal sponsor, backed out. The love and words of encouragement I get from them before and after helping are rewarding. It means they value me and all I stand for.

Where I see my business in five years
In five years, I envisage seeing Da Jules Media as the topmost digital, media and modelling company in Africa. I also envisage empowering top-notch models all over the world.

On giving up
Yes, I have. A lot of times. Most times, I just ask myself questions like, who sent you. Can’t you just leave this thing and go get a proper job? I have been depressed too. But then, I remember why I started and keep moving.

What and who inspires me

Yahweh is my first inspiration. My family comes second and then all the models and lives that are tied to mine do inspire me. The fact that I see my models doing things they love and enjoy inspires me.

I am a Woman of Rubies
I am a woman of Rubies because I Empower, Inspire, Motivate, Promote and Celebrate young women. I am a woman of Rubies because I don’t give up. I don’t see failures, I see feedback

Final words of advice

Don’t wait for the perfect time to start.  Start now and get better. Start small, but never remain small. “Imperfect Execution is better than Perfect Procrastination” (Steve Harris)

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