Career Gems Archives

In Career Gems November 2, 2017 By Women of Rubies

BILLBOARD’S 2017 WOMAN OF THE YEAR IS SELENA GOMEZ!

Award-winning singer and actress, Selena Gomez is Billboard’s 2017 Woman of the Year. The announcement was made in a statement on Tuesday by the president of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, John Amato.

“Not only is Selena soaring on the charts, but she continuously inspires young women everywhere to be authentic, give back and to not be afraid to use their voice.”

“She is never afraid to speak her mind and has used her platform to advocate for the needs of others. We are thrilled to be able to honor her as our Woman of the Year,” the statement said.

The singer will be honored with the award at the Women in Music dinner at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood on Nov. 30. The event will be held in conjunction with the release of Billboard’s Women in Music issue and also honor the most powerful female executives in the industry.

Over the years the American singer dominated the charts with Top 40 hits including “Bad Liar,” “Fetish” (featuring Gucci Mane), and “It Ain’t Me,” a collaboration with Kygo that became one of 2017’s biggest international hit songs with over half a billion streams since its release.

Selena Gomez will join an all-star cast of the previous Woman of the Year honorees including Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Pink, Katy Perry, Fergie, Beyoncé and last year’s winner, Madonna.

In Career Gems November 1, 2017 By Women of Rubies

AWIEF 2017: MARY OLUSHOGA, FOUNDER OF AWP NETWORK WINS EMPOWERMENT AWARD

Mary Olushoga, Founder of the African Women Power (AWP) Network won the empowerment award at the recently concluded AWIEF conference, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa. AWIEF, which stands for the Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum is a Pan-African initiative and platform created to bring attention and focus to the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit the African woman possesses while exploring obstacles that may stop her from breaking down barriers and prevent her from reaching her maximum potential in society.

Irene Ochem, Founder of AWIEF states,

“entrepreneurship is indispensable to the economic development of a nation and innovation is a key factor for business growth. Having an innovative approach creates more opportunities for business success. Entrepreneurship when combined with innovation creates a powerful tool for unlocking potentials that will foster the financial and economic empowerment of the African woman. We are indeed delighted and honored to present this award to Mary Olushoga for her work towards supporting and empowering the African woman.”

In Career Gems November 1, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

Nollywood Actress Nse Ikpe-Etim Is Taking Her Talents To Hollywood

Best known for her roles in Nollywoodblockbusters such as Fifty, The Meeting and Phone Swap, Nse Ikpe-Etim’s talents are about to be exposed to an even wider international audience.

She is set to star alongside Oscar nominee, Eric Roberts and other popular actors in upcoming political drama Lone Star Deception. Directed by Don Okolo and produced by Nkem DenChukwu, the movie tells the story of a politician, Stuart Sagle (Eric Roberts) who is leading in the race for Governor of Texas. A fling he had with a prostitute threatens to derail his campaign, which puts a second candidate, Tim Bayh (Anthony Ray Parker) into play, and Tim finds himself as the first black gubernatorial candidate in Texas’ history.

It is not typical to have Nollywood actors in Hollywood movies, and following Genevieve Nnaji’s role in Farming alongside Kate Beckinsale, this is another big win for Nollywood. We hope that this pushes the entire film industry to strive for even more growth.

The movie is set to be released in the US by August 2018. We don’t know if or when it will show in Nigeria but we will keep our ears to the ground.

Source: Kobini

In Career Gems November 1, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

Active projectile empowers 100 women with training, seed grants

The Award winning organisation, Active Projectile, recently held the maiden edition of its Women Empowerment Programme, which was free for women of all levels and backgrounds.

Held at the Royal Event Centre, Obafemi Awolowo Way Ikeja, Lagos for one week, it featured a round-up online training on setting financial goals and the need to have a business plan, facilitated by Mrs. Sodeke, a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, the creative director of Every Wear and Accessories and the founder of Indispensable Woman Academy.

Participants also got soft skill training on entrepreneurship, building self-confidence and health and safety tips from the director of the group, Adesola Oyinloye-Ndu and Femi Dasilva of Safety Record.

The women were also taught various skills such as make up artistry, gele tying, crocheting, introduction to cloth beading and stoning, introduction to sewing, tie and dye, making of coconut oil and so on.

A WhatsApp group has been created to accommodate 20 women who are being targeted for support with seed grants and further training.

Future projects of the organisation include commissioning of a permanent vocational centre for skills acquisition to include vocations in science and technology to learn coding and Robotics across Nigeria, with Lagos as the headquarters.

The founder Oyinloye-Ndu said it is her hope and dream to train about 1000 women in various vocations across the country over a period of five years and at no cost to the participants.

Lagos DSVRT, GabLotto, Funtuna Water, Safety Record and Busy Bees Travels Deals supported the event and the next session will take place December 18 to 20, 2017 in Lagos. It would be a two-day free baking training for 100 women with a one-day family funfair.

In Career Gems October 30, 2017 By Women of Rubies

RIHANNA CHANNELS EGYPTIAN QUEEN NEFERTITI FOR VOGUE ARABIA

Rihanna wows on the cover of Vogue Arabia as she channels Queen Nefertiti on the cover of the mag.

The 29-year-old singer had on Nefertiti’s iconic blue headpiece for the shoot. She also modeled a striking reptile print jacket and in another shot, she had on a semi-sheer embellished dress, which she paired with a sophisticated blue coat.

The incredible shoot channeling one of Egypt’s most-celebrated figures was done by Greg Kadel.

It is believed that the shoot was inspired by Rihanna’s tattoo of Nefertiti, who ruled Egypt alongside her husband Pharaoh Akhenaten, almost 3,500 years ago.

Rihanna channels Egyptian Queen Nefertiti for Vogue Arabia

Despite her reign dating back thousands of years, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti remains one of the Middle East’s most beloved icons. She was known for her unmatched beauty, and had a very active role in the country’s political sphere. It is believed she gave mankind an early lesson in women empowerment.

Speaking about the exciting shoot, Vogue Arabia editor Manuel Arnaut said: “We are dedicating the issue to strong and dynamic women who are changing the world.

“Rihanna, our cover star, is one of them. Not only is she one of the most successful pop icons ever, shaping the entertainment industry with her powerful tunes and unique sense of style, she is also an advocate for diversity.

“With a crown designed by Faeth Millinery, Rihanna pays homage to this unforgettable queen, who still reigns as one of Ancient Egypt’s most celebrated figures.”

In Career Gems October 30, 2017 By Women of Rubies

READ HOW DESHONJNLA SHONNI WAS TOLD BY HER DOCTOR TO TERMINATE HER PREGNANCY AND TREAT CANCER BUT SHE CHOSE TO DEFY ALL ODDS

In October 2016, 40 year old DeShonjla “Shonni” Peterson found a lump in her breast and shortly after, on November 22, 2017, she got diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer which was during breast cancer awareness month.

Fastword to the day she was scheduled to have a double mastectomy, DeShonjla discovered she was pregnant! Left with two choices, her breast surgeon suggested she terminated the pregnancy and treat the cancer or continue with the pregnancy and delay treatment.

DeShonjla and her husband Kevin made the decision to protect their unborn child. So they kept the pregnancy.

Talking about it in one of her blog post, she wrote: “If I choose to start chemo today, I risk something possibly harming Zoe . While there are plenty of chemo babies out there, there isn’t enough evidence to support me risking any additional part of her health.”

At week 20 of her pregnancy, on April 7, DeShonjla had a single mastectomy.

In her words: “If I did the bilateral and with reconstruction my baby would be under anesthesia for close to 5 hours and I couldn’t risk that so I went with the lesser of the evils and only had one removed”.

On Monday the 31st of July 2017, DeShonjla welcomed a healthy baby girl, Zoe Jade. Talking about her new baby, she said: “I couldn’t be more ecstatic to meet her”

Talking about her experience, DeShonjla said:

“Vulnerable is one of those things that I never wanted to be. Vulnerability always equated to weakness to me. Any vulnerability was calculated to make myself feel and look more human. Now as I sit today, transparent in my thoughts and emotions about this journey I feel nothing but strength and relief from my vulnerability. I feel beautiful in this space.”

Her Instagram post is below

logan2kelsi

DeShonjla has since started chemotherapy after she was able to nurse her daughter for about three weeks.

culled from fabwoman.ng

In Career Gems October 28, 2017 By Women of Rubies

OMONI OBOLI PRAISES GOD AS FIRE ENGULFS HER HOUSE

Actress and producer, Omoni Oboli, took to her Instagram page on October 27, 2017 where she posted a video of the burnt section of the house. She said the fire started after the source of power in the house was restored and smoke was noticed coming out from one of the air-conditioners.

“Since after the series of incidences that happened earlier in the year, I sometimes have panic attacks so my darling ever dependable @tomesadeoye abandoned her room and has been sleeping in mine. I’ve been nursing a very bad cold for days so I took night nurse to enable sleep.

“Power went off at some point in the night and Tomi who usually can sleep in heat, got uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep. I on the other hand didn’t notice because I was in a drug induced sleep. Around 5am, power came back on and Tomi happily fell asleep. She hadn’t slept for long when she started perceiving something, she opened her eyes to see the AC engulfed in flames. She screamed at me to wake up. I saw the flames and screamed ‘The blood of Jesus’. Ran into the bathroom to get water but I didn’t think I was fast enough, so I abandoned it cos I realized the AC is right by the door and if it gets any worse, I wouldn’t be able to leave the room.

“I told Tomi to call the editor (I have an editing suite in my home and we are editing WOS so the editor moved in) she screamed his name and he came rushing upstairs. We all ran downstairs to get the fire extinguisher, couldn’t operate it and proceeded to turn off electricity from the circuit breaker. Tomi went back up and screamed that the fire was a lot worse. Idris (the editor) and Paul (my gateman) started carrying buckets of water and soap upstairs. By this time, they couldn’t even get into the room because the fire was too much.

“They started pouring water from the door. I want to say that we definitely had angelic assistance because in less than 10 mins, they put out an electrical fire with water and soap! I know God sent His angels. God has been too good to me this year! I’m so unworthy of His grace upon my life. I’m so unfaithful yet He remains faithful! I bow before your majesty my Father. All that I am, all I will ever be, I give to you Lord. Thank God for our lives. If we had woken up just 3 minutes after we did, we would not have been able to leave the room. #ChildOfGrace #GodIsGood,”

In Career Gems October 28, 2017 By Women of Rubies

”STOP STRUGGLING WITH WHAT IS NOT YOURS SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MAKE IT BIG” -MIZWANNEKA

Mizwanneka, hair boss and entrepreneur has taken to her Instagram page to address business owners to step up their game in order to see changes. She also admonished them not to go into a business if they do not have passion for it.

See her IG post below:

In Career Gems October 26, 2017 By Women of Rubies

OMOTOLA JALADE EKEHINDE, CHIGUL, JOKE SILVA, LAND NEW ENDORSEMENT DEALS

Nollywood actress and philanthropist, Omotola Jalade-Ekeheinde, alongside Chigul, Ali Baba, and Joke Silva, are now UNSDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) Brand ambassadors and advocates of goal one,which is : End poverty in all its forms everywhere .

See photos below:

In Career Gems October 26, 2017 By Women of Rubies

MAKEUP ARTIST, TENNYCOCO, REVEALS THAT SHE STARTED BLEACHING HER SKIN AT AGE 19

Nigeria based makeup artist, and business woman, Teniola Kashaam popularly know as Tennycoco has revealed how she started bleaching her skin at age 19, in a new IG post. She also went ahead to talk about how she now regretted her decision and urge people to love themselves and be comfortable in their own skin.
See her post below;

tennycoco

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