First licensed armless pilot, Jessica Cox, has the unique ability to fly planes with her legs and she is certified to fly an ERCO 415-C Ercoupe which the Federal Aviation Administration has designated a light sport aircraft.
Read these awesome facts about Jessica Cox.
1. Jessica was born February 2, 1983.
2. She lost her arms as a result of a rare child defect and has not used prosthetic arms since she was 14.
3. Jessica Cox graduated from the University of Arizona in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in communications.
4. Jessica Cox flew in a single engine airplane for the first time via Wright Flight in 2005. Cox earned her pilot’s certificate on October 10, 2008, after three years of training, and is qualified to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet. She received her flight training through an Able Flight scholarship and soloed under the instruction of Parrish Traweek
5. She can drive a car, fly a plane and play piano – all with her feet.
6. In 2012 Jessica married Patrick Chamberlain, her former Taekwondo instructor.
7. In 2014 Cox competed in the 40 mile segment of El Tour de Tucson.
8. In 2015 Cox published an autobiographical self-help book, Disarm Your Limits. in order to inspire people to overcome their own challenges through the lessons she has learned in her life.
9. Jessica Cox, 34, now travels around the world as a motivational speaker, using her life as an example of what one can achieve if one wants it enough.
18 years old Sophie Obomighie is a student of human anatomy and a budding software developer, Her story went viral on Facebook few weeks back when one of her mentors shed more light on her achievement. She is also the Brand partnership Development Manager for Girl Lead ; an enterprise involved in training girls with the aim of encouraging more girls to venture into tech and entrepreneurship. Sophie also values volunteerism and female education.
In April 2017, her team came second at NASA space apps challenge in Benin, a feat that also brought her into limelight. In her words “I am still growing and still a student so I believe my story is still being written. I believe that at the time of my graduation, I would be invaluable to the biomedical engineering/technology sector. The young tech enthusiast shares her story with me in this exclusive interview.
Growing Up
My childhood prepared me in many ways for what I do now. I am blessed with parents that are innovative, broad-minded and hardworking all of which reflected on the decisions they took on behalf of my sisters and I as regards choice of school and other activities. I grew up with my Mum actively volunteering for the society of Saint Vincent the Paul among other commitments. She is presently the international twinning coordinator for Africa. I’d say I learnt how to volunteer from her. My dad was and still is very involved with my sisters and me. He tries to be as available as possible which has contributed to my increasing self-esteem, self-worth and self-knowledge. The elementary school I attended, Trinity Foundation School and Dominican nursery and primary school, encouraged extra-curricular alongside academic excellence. I was involved in ballet, African Dance, swimming classes etc and still topped my class. My secondary school; Regina Mundi Girls’ Secondary School also contributed in that we were trained in our spiritual, intellectual and social aspects, hence, coming out ready to take the world. I am presently studying human anatomy in the University of Benin and that story is still being written. I also had an early exposure to computers. My dad once got me a laptop in primary 2 as a gift for topping the class. That was my first major exposure to computers outside computer classes in school. My sisters and I always assisted my mum in typing and creating excel sheets on her laptop. It was an exciting experience for us. My mum also enrolled us for computer trainings during the holidays. These and the friends I had and have contributed and are still contributing to what I do now.
The “GirlLead “ Initiative
The Girl LEAD project is a Social enterprise founded by Dr. Enodiana Augustine on November 2016. We are a group of like minded and innovative individuals who are causing groundbreaking change in our environment and the world at large by our actions and words. Our mission is to empower girls of college age (15-24) with entrepreneurial and technological skills to develop their potentials and enable them in their unique capacity to change the world positively. We believe women are nurturers by nature. The major reason why women in our immediate environment do not contribute substantially to technology and solving world problems is because they don’t have the required skills to do that and even when presented with the opportunity to do so, they do not still do much usually because of societal stereotypes they have come to accept especially in places like Edo State my immediate environment where girls travel overseas in search of greener pastures and I’m sure you know the story that follows. We have broken that status quo and are raising university girls to be changemakers by equipping them with the needed skills. We have had 2 sets of bootcamps now and aim to continue training more girls. I am presently the Brand and partnership manager for the GirlLEAD. I am in charge of sourcing for sponsorships and partnerships.
Gathering momentum at 18
I’ll like to say that one of my intention is to make beyond the classroom activities a norm for teenagers and youths in Nigeria. That being said, I am usually driven by different things. I get very excited when I fix bugs while programming. I also enjoy volunteering because I know I learn a lot of things through it, I get to network with people and it makes me very happy. I also treasure self development as I am aware that I can’t give what I don’t have. Long term, volunteering and self development benefits both myself and the people I come across. I am also innovative and usually have a lot of ideas and I am satisfied when I am able to bring those ideas to life. The fact that my actions will inspire others is also a great push. Lastly, stories of people that have done things I want to do also push me to do more.
What and who inspire you?
Different people for different areas of my life. My parents inspire me by their actions and words, my sisters even though still young, inspire me to do more. Many of my friends inspire me too by their actions and words. I have very awesome people as friends. I also inspire myself too. My team coming second at NASA space app challenge in April 2017.
Other Achievements
The NASA Space Apps challenge Benin regionals was a wonderful experience for me. . My team which consisted of Chudi Nwanna, Stephen Alexander Gabriel, Caleb Ikhuohon-Eboreime, Philip Obosi and I with Stephen as team lead coincidentally all students had to really work for the few days we had to complete our project. We built a repository of space terms that would enable a layman contribute substantially to space tech advancement. There is a lesson here. At that time, I did not have as much technical skills as I do now but I didn’t give that as an excuse to not participate. Eventually, I contributed more than I thought I could. Most of the excuses we have in our head don’t hold much water. Sometimes, it’s just us being lazy. We eventually qualified for globals but didn’t go so far due to insufficient votes. My family and friends and those of my team mates did a splendid job in contributing votes. I am grateful for that. The regional organisers also did a great job of bringing it to Benin because many of such events are not usually extended to Benin. Recently, there have been more of such events and startups even having headquarters in Benin. One of such is Mobicure the makers of Omomi maternal care app whom I interned with some time ago. Since I am a biomedical student, I realized the best way to balance the two was integrating it, the reason why I interned with Mobicure. It was another wonderful experience I had.
I was also a student ambassador for a Canadian based Medical tech company called Figure 1. It’s basically an instagram for medical students. A wonderful implementation of technology to the medical field. I was recently on the panel of judges for Aiesec Benin chapter’s slush with mac hackathon.
Greatest Reward
Recently, the GirlLEAD project won an award on Kampus tv. That was an indication to me that we were being noticed and were contributing substantially to our environment. I also recently got access to some very strong networks mainly because my mentor pushed me out to the world. I am happy to be making her and others proud.
Challenges
Epileptic power supply and the terrible internet access is a major problem I have. As a programmer, I usually need these for my work . At the end I still can’t give myself that excuse so I make do with what I have.
For GirlLEAD, we had a problem of convincing girls to participate, a problem I experienced first hand. Many of the girls I approached could not See themselves succeeding in tech careers hence, were uninterested in participating. The girls we have trained so far have served as tech evangelists both by words and actions to other girls.
Projection in five years
In the next 5 years, I see myself surrounded by more females in technology having influenced many of them to pursue tech careers. I also see myself contributing substantially to the software development sector as related to my course of study/area of interest . I have a global mindset and local perspective hence, in 5 years, I would have contributed substantially to my immediate environment making myself world class, hence my country. I would also at that time have concluded my undergraduate studies and started my research work in biomedical engineering which is part of my long term goals.
Do you think women in Tech have been given enough room to soar?
Yes they have. Being a woman in tech ( Using freelancing as a case study), you have more advantage to succeed reason being that you’re a minority, everybody wants you especially when you know your onions. You become invaluable. But there is a problem. Society is wired to prevent us from going far in the tech industry and any other male dominated field. We have to spend time learning how to cook, tidy the house, take care of the home etc. That is normal, it is our duty but the problem comes when girls are told to learn how to bake and boys are told to play video games hence exposing them to technology. It’s stereotypical. Why can’t they both learn the 2 or either of them but not assigning which is for who. You can be a great mum or caterer or fashion designer as a female and still find a way of implementing technology to it. We should understand also that technology is not limited to programming alone. We have graphic deisgners, technical writers, mechanical engineers, etc.
So I’ll say yes Women in Tech have been given enough room to soar because you are the only one who can give yourself permission to succeed amidst all the challenges you face. You owe that to yourself. Your actions should make so much noise that would inspire others to venture into such fields.
Other projects and activities
I am a fellow at WAAW foundation ( Working to advance STEM in African women), Uniben Chapter. It’s one of my volunteering activities. We go to secondary schools to train girls with hands-on engineering skills in energy, robotics, programming etc. I attended a 4 weeks bootcamp organized by WAAW foundation called shehacks Africa. Due to the fact that I facilitate sessions at girllead, I believe it’s important I develop myself as I can’t give what I don’t have. I was also a participant at a summer bootcamp last year called Impact labs. It was organized by students and graduates of MIT and Harvard. We were taught a lot from innovation to design process, arduino programming, rloop ( Elon Musk’s transport system) etc. I personally gained some skills as the group scribe for my team like teamwork, patience, documenting building process, hardwork etc. I am also a member of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental students Uniben Chapter and we usually organize annual rural outreaches. Bottom line, the ability to multi task and survive under pressure have helped me succeed.
I have also worked on a few side projects.
Giving Up
Many times. It’s very rare for ladies in fact youths generally with my kind of background to do things I do hence sometimes, I get negative responses from a few people but I have come to the realization that I am the only one that can give myself the permission to succeed. Managing all I do with my studies has also not been a bed of roses but the higher I go, the more clarity I acquire which eventually helps me in succeeding in my medical science career, programming career and volunteering activities. Having mentors and role models has also been of great help.
I am Awesome, I am a Woman of Rubies
I am a WOR because I am aware of how awesome I am and embrace that awesomeness. I use my influence to bring about positive change in the lives of others. I help others embrace their awesomeness too by means of mentorship and inspiration by my actions and words. I am a WORrior because I handle setbacks with elegance and amplify my strength.
Final word for young women who want to go into Tech
Never be deterred ladies. You have too many opportunitites to facilitate your success hence, you have no excuse. The world is waiting for you to build that app, learn that programming language or work on that website and trust me the world is not very patient. If you don’t do it, someone else will so why not fail and stand up again. You might say you’ve attended trainings and unsure if where to start from. I’d say you should find a problem in your immediate environment and solve it using technology. Do enough research on the best language or skill you need and get to work. You’ll eventually find your footing thereafter. As a programmer, you usually have to start from the top then down meaning you eventually take time to learn the basics or principles of a language having being exposed to it or having worked with it. You don’t necessarily need to be a programmer. You can be a data analyst, graphic designer, technical writing or even be in charge of project management. Go out there and break the ceiling!!!!!.
Ngozi Opara, founder of Heat Free Hair. The DC-based Nigerian entrepreneur is a leading provider of 100% virgin hair extensions designed to perfectly blend with a woman’s natural hair texture or curl pattern. By empowering women to embrace their natural textures through an innovative approach to protective styling, Ngozi is changing the face of the beauty industry. Heat Free Hair has once been selected as the 3rd place winner in She Leads Africa‘s annual pitch competition.
Read excerpts from her interview with She Leads Africa below;
Who is Ngozi Opara
I graduated from North Carolina A&T State University with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Keeping with my field of study, I worked as a financial analyst once I graduated although I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I opened up a small hair studio in DC to tend to clients after work each day.
Prior to opening up my own business, I worked for eight different entrepreneurs to gain experience in business ownership and management. My interest and passion for the world of natural hair sparked from being natural myself, as well as working as a manager for natural hair care industry lead, Carol’s Daughter.
What inspired her to start Heat Free Hair
I owned a hair studio in Washington, DC. For a while back in 2011, 90% of my customers were using extensions to protect and grow out their hair. A majority of them also wanted to transition to free their hair of chemical processing and wanted to be natural.
When I noticed that during their transition with extensions they were reaching tremendous success in hair growth, but inherently experiencing breakage from heat on the portion of their hair left out, I felt like I was becoming an agent in one of the many issues surrounding black hair care, breakage.
I started thinking that there had to be some type of way for women to wear extensions as their protective style of choice, while also protecting all of their hair. Thus, the initial idea for Heat Free Hair was born.
How she started her entrepreneurial journey
I started to really save up for the launch of my business and budget my living expenses. I did this by keeping my personal expenses at a minimum while I was trying to reach my goal.
To get in the right mindset and gain motivation, I started to read a lot of success books and attend different conferences in order to learn, as well as to network with like-minded people. I used my savings from my finance job to launch the business & lived completely off of the money I earned doing hair.
How she prioritize what to spend the money raised on
At first I needed people to believe in something they hadn’t seen so I invested in good images of the product and a website. I didn’t have enough to fully stock the product so I initially offered it for preorder and eventually kept investing back into the business’ inventory.”
One thing she knows now that she wish she knew when Heat Free Hair launched?
There really isn’t anything I would go back and tell myself. I really do believe I was where I needed to be in life when I needed to be there. I learned the right lessons at the right time and because of that, I can stand comfortably and happily where I am today.
Obstacles along the road I traveled served as building blocks and I’m truly thankful for my journey and the development of my business.
Olubunmi Ajai (Jopa’s daughter), is a campaigner against domestic violence (DV), she also fights for the emancipation of women from the shackles placed on them by harmful cultures and traditions.
She is a blogger, Influencer and founder of GREENLANDS HAVEN FOUNDATION, a NGO that helps victims of domestic violence with emergency shelter and financial empowerment in the form of loans, grants and skills acquisition.
A former Domestic violence victim herself, she uses her experiences to teach other victims that they have the strength to leave the abuse and live fulfilling lives through her campaigns on social media, using the hashtag #LeaveTolive, which has now become a movement. Olubunmi is also an author and amazing mom .
She shares her journey with Esther Ijewere in this exclusive interview .
Childhood Influence
My childhood did not prepare me for my advocacy. I grew up in a happy home. My father and mother were happily married till my mother died on her 46th birthday. I did not grow up knowing about Domestic Violence in anyway as my father respected my mother and my mother reciprocated the respect. I grew up in a sheltered home, what you would call an ‘ajebutter’ home.
My parents came to England in the early 70s to school and left me and my two younger sisters, Yemisi and Seun, to be with our maternal grandma. Before then, we had been living in my paternal grandfather, Papa Idunmota’s house and I grew up with a lot of family around din those first few years. Then, when my parents came to England, we moved to Maami’s at Surulere where it was just us three, Mammi and our step grandfather, Papa Macauley, Herbert Macualey’s son. That was such an idyllic time of my life.
Most people who grew up with their grandparents will attest to this – grandparents spoil their grandchildren! I had an idyllic childhood but when my parents came back in the late 70s, I was brought up in a stricter environment. My mother was the shouter and beater while my dad was the quite disciplinarian.
I actually did not set out to do advocacy in DV. My initial NGO was set up to help indigent Cancer sufferers with their medical bills but it was difficult setting up a pool of fund. What I then started doing was to do fundraising here in England for charities that has to do with Cancer treatment.
My DV advocacy was a spur of the moment action. Yet another DV victim had been killed in Nigeria and it was trending on social media. I got tired of the talking and no action. From my experience, I knew that one of the factors that makes victims stay on is that they have nowhere to go.
A lot of families will not take back their abused children as it is ignominy for the victims, usually women to come back home. For example, the Yoruba concept of ‘dalemosu’ – meaning someone who has lived with a husband and comes back home is highly discouraged. So, with the help of my Facebook friends, we raised N1m in one week and with that, we rented a flat at Ajah to be our first shelter. We then went on to have other shelters in Ibadan, PH, Abuja, Iju and Sur-lere.
We also tackled another thing that shackles victims – finances. A lot of victims, usually women are financially independent on their abusive husbands. It is pertinent to state here that abuse is not gender specific. A man may also be abused by his wife but our society discourages men from speaking out so, we have very few cases of men reporting that they are abused. The abusive husbands would have initially told the victim to not work or even barred her from working. In some cases where the woman works, some abusive husbands insist on being the custodian and spender of the woman’s money.
To eradicate this financial dependency, we gave loans and grants for business set up. We also trained victims for free in things like sewing, make up artistry and set them up by buying them sewing machines and make up kits. We now hope to set up a formal skills acquisition centre in Lagos where various skills can be learnt.
Being A Domestic Violence Survivor And Advocate
I really cannot remember the exact moment that I decided to start speaking out about my DV experience. I evolved. When I left my ex, I did some soul searching and realized that I was responsible for some things that happened to me. One of which was that I was responsible for having accepted the abuse. I resolved to never be a victim again and to be the kind of woman that a man would not be able to abuse.
Part of that involves being assertive. I have evolved over the years from being a timid woman who accepted abuse by all, not just her partner but also her friends to being an assertive woman who gives all in a relationship and walks away when that is not reciprocated by the other person in the relationship.
Olubunmi Ajai
What And Who Inspire Me
Jane Tomlinson. She was a cancer patient who had been given the death sentence of having just a few weeks to live. She defied the odd and in the few years that she lived after that sentence, she did herculean tasks that healthy people could not do, to raise money for cancer related projects.
Oprah Winfrey. For her humanist approach to life.
Creating The #LeaveToLive Movement And Identifying With The Plight Of Victims
Ah… I have had to sort of caution myself as I became so invested emotionally in what these victims were going through. More often than not, the victims stay on after I and my team would have put things in place to help them so, I now, I try to rein my emotions in. I get a huge feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment when I help or hear that a DV victim have left their abuser. My advocacy is actually not totally altruistic as I do get a sense of pleasure and fulfilment in knowing that I have been instrumental in a DV victim leaving to live.
Greatest Reward
I have not yet gotten my greatest reward. My greatest reward would be that when I die, it would not just be my family and friends that would miss me. I want to be like Dorcas of the Bible. When I die and the whole world feels my absence, that would be my greatest reward.
Culture As A Challenge
Our culture. That is the greatest challenge that I have. Our Patriarchal culture. Timidity is also another challenge that I have. A lot of victims don’t know that they have the strength to get up and leave the abuse in order to live a great life. And of course, funding.
Where I See My Organisation In Five Years
I have registered a company limited by guarantee here in the UK. It is a kind of charity. In five years, I see myself being involved in anti DV activities here in Britain and in Nigeria. I see the NGO having a permanent structure for the skills acquisition.
I see the NGO being an employer of labour and a source of labour for these victims and also helping them to be employers of labour too. I see the British charity and the Nigerian NGO working hand in hand with each other to bring financial independence to DV victims.
Social Media As a Domestic Violence Awareness Tool And The Role Of Government
I am glad that with social media, a lot of awareness has been created but there is still a long way to go. A lot of victims don’t have access to SM and don’t have the awareness of DV issues. I want to do a documentary series to be aired on TV in Nigeria showing real life victims like me who have left the abuse and gone on to have great lives. CULTURE still shackles victims.
The government, through it’s various commissioners of women’s affairs and of culture need to embark on a sensitization project to sensitize members of the Nigerian society about the dangers of living with an abusive partner. The government also needs to provide emergency shelters for victims such as the one that the British government provided for me when I fled.
Grants should also be made available to victims to enable them be independent financially. Victims, especially female victims also need to know their rights. A lot of women don’t know that it is only the courts that can grant custody, that custody is not automatically given to the man, and that the child’s best interest is what the court looks at. A lot of women are terrified of losing their children and thus stay on in the abuse for the sake of the children
Skills Acquisition Centre And Other Projects
Like I said, I want to set up a skills acquisition centre, starting with Lagos, and then spreading to other states in Nigeria. I also want to work with the social services here in England to help DV victims, especially those of ethnic minority origins.
Giving up, never an option
No. Never. I do feel overwhelmed and wish I could do more than I am currently able to do but I have never felt like giving up. Infact, answering this question is the first time that I will be thinking of that as it has never even occurred to me. Like the singer sang, ‘we’ve only just begun’
Inspiration behind my book “Leaving to Live”
The book is called ‘Leaving to live’ and it is about how I left my life of abuse and went on to live a full live. It is a memoir and it serves two purposes. 1- that is to let people in abusive situations or even any sad situation know that they possess the strength to change their situation. If I can do it, so can they. The other purpose is to raise funding for my project – the setting up of the skills acquisition centre. The book is a honest account of my life with my ex, accepting my faults, working on them and how I then turned around my life by changing my behaviour to be able to earn respect ad find love and joy again.
Being a Woman of Rubies
I am not one for blowing my own trumpet so, I would like to leave that to the reader to decide if I am worthy to be called a Woman of Rubies or not.
Final Word For Women Who Are Presently Going Through DV But Are Afraid To Break Free and Speak Up
Please know that you have the strength to get up and go. Don’t give any excuses. Don’t stay for the kids. You deserve to be happy. Your kids deserve to be in a happy environment. If your enemy died of the abuse, your kids might be shunted around or abused. Stay alive for your kids. Stay alive for you. You can do it. Leave to live.
Just as in most parts of the world, Africa has its (unfair) share of people who still think women have no business being in sports. However, most women who believe they have a chance in the industry are waging a war against this mediocre group by participating in sports either as professional players/athletes or administrators.
It might be hard to conceive, but 10-year-old Jessica Quachie from Liberia is indirectly fighting the good fight by playing football and helping change perceptions through it.
(Photo: BBC)
Quachie was born in West Point, Liberia’s biggest slum community where she started playing football at the age of six. Speaking with BBC, she said playing with boys gives her energy, and it was in one of the street matches with boys in the neighborhood that she was spotted by the Monvrovia Football Academy.
In 2015, the academy took her in as a pupil and trainee. She quickly became a diamond in the rough, not minding that an overwhelming majority of the trainees in the academy are boys. In addition to tournaments in Liberia, she has played with boys in international competitions, like one in Abidjan which had football agents and scouts from 11 European clubs in attendance.
(Photo: Monrovia Football Academy)
Although she won’t be joining any foreign club now due to FIFA’s ban on international transfers for players who are under 18, Quachie has had the privilege of showing off for scouts from Manchester United and AS Monaco.
Now able to read because of the education she’s getting through the academy, she’s working on becoming an excellent player. She also wants to make it clear that women can participate in sports and excel in them. Say whatever you will, Quachie is bent on achieving this through a career with her dream club, Real Madrid.
Among African countries, Nigeria is one of two major countries with strong potential to harness the opportunities and meet the challenges that the global economy could provide. It is impressive how Nigerian women are now breaking the ceilings and working hard to help boost the economy of the country. Female entrepreneurs in the country are not just making names for themselves, they are also going places, getting recognised internationally and flying/ raising the Nigeria’s flag internationally! Yes, they are breath of fresh air!
In no particular order, we bring to you list of Top 10 Nigerian Female Entrepreneurs going places and making Nigeria a global name. Check out the list below;
Tara Fela-Durotoye, founder of House of Tara
Tara Fela Durotoye is a Nigerian-born lawyer turned Africa’s leading beauty and makeup entrepreneur. She started House of Tara at the age of 20, from her living room, whilst an undergraduate at university back in 1998. She’s since gone on to launch Nigeria’s first ever bridal directory in 1999, and in 2004 she opened the country’s leading beauty academy. Today, Tara has over 3,000 reps spread across Nigeria and 14 stores to her name and she is steadfastly dedicated to realising her vision of building a globally respected beauty company of African origin. Tara remains an inspirational role-model and mentor to make-up artists and aspiring beauty business owners across Africa.
Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife TV
Mosunmola Abudu, known as Mo Abudu, is a Nigerian talk show host, TV producer, media personality, human resources management consultant, entrepreneur and philanthropist. She has been described by Forbes as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman”. She has also been listed on Business Insider‘s Top 100 business visionaries creating value for the world. She is the only African on the list with a ranking of 56 on a list of 100 people from all over the world. As the head of one of Africa’s most successful new media ventures, the Nigeria-based television network EbonyLife TV, endeavors to tell real African stories and change the conversation around the continent.
Deola Sagoe, founder of Deola
Deola Sagoe, founder of Deola is the leading lady of African haute couture fashion from Ondo State in Nigeria. Deola has been at the cutting edge of high fashion since 1989 and became the first black woman to present a collection at AltaRoma, Rome’s celebrated fashion week, back in 2004. Her globally appealing style has earned her an enviable clientèle that ranges from Africa’s first ladies, to society girls like Lydia Hearst, top model Alek Wek, and famous personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith. Deola, a mother of three, studied at the University of Miami and University of Lagos and earned a Masters in Finance and Management. She was appointed Nigeria’s representative to the United Nations World Food Program ‘Catwalk the World: Fashion for Food’ with the goal of raising money towards halving the number of hungry people in the world, particularly children, by 2015. Deola frequently exhibits her couture collection at Cape Town Fashion Week and has been an invited guest of New York Fashion Week in the past.
Olajumoke Adenowo, founder of AD Consulting
Olajumoke Adenowo, founder of AD Consulting, is a Nigerian Architect, Speaker, Radio Host, Philantropist and Author. CNN has described her as “Africa’s Starchitect”. She has been featured in the World’s foremost Architectural Journal; Architectural Record and has spoken on several platforms including the Global Women’s Forum and Harvard Business School (African Business Club). Olajumoke also hosts a Syndicated Radio show on Leadership called “Voice of Change”.
Adenike Ogunlesi, founder of Ruff ’n’ Tumble
Adenike ‘Nike’ Ogunlesi is the founder of Ruff ‘n’ Tumble a leading designer, manufacturer and retailer of designer children’s clothing in Nigeria. Nike started out modestly in 1996 selling the clothes she made from the boot of her car and in bazaars. Today, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble is an instantly recognisable brand in Nigeria and has a reputation for being one of the top manufacturers of children’s clothing throughout West Africa. Ruff ‘n’ Tumble successfully caters to the unique fashion sense of today’s youngsters, from new born to age 16, happily mixing indigenous lifestyle trends with an international appeal.
Uche Eze Pedro, Founder of BellaNaija
Uche Eze Pedro (born Uche Eze on July 26, 1984) is a Nigerian blogger, writer, social media expert and entrepreneur. She is the founder of BellaNaija, an online entertainment, fashion and lifestyle magazine. In 2014, she was named in Forbes list of “30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa”. BellaNaija.com becoming the go-to lifestyle, entertainment and fashion portal in Africa. Her website has established a loyal following amongst the young, cosmopolitan, upwardly mobile set in Nigeria, with over 1 million unique visitors and 9 million page views each month.
Kofo Akinkugbe, founder and CEO of Secure ID Nigeria Ltd
Kofo Akinkugbe is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd. She is a highly respected African business leader who has become a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. SecureID is world-class manufacturing company with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. Her company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.
Dr Ola Orekunrin, founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria
Dr. Ola Orekunrin is a medical doctor, helicopter pilot and the healthcare entrepreneur founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria, West Africa’s first Air Ambulance Service. She’s dedicated to bringing trauma care to the most remote parts of Western Africa and her company, an air ambulance service based in Lagos, is doing just that. She was motivated to start the company after her younger sister tragically died whilst traveling in Nigeria as a consequence of their being no medical air service available to transport her to hospital. Ola graduated as a medical doctor from the University Of York in the UK and is a member of the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine. Ola currently resides in Lagos, Nigeria where she is considered a national expert of disaster medicine and pre-hospital care. Her company has been featured on various local TV and radio stations as well as the BBC and CNN.
Omoyemi Akerele, founder of Lagos Fashion and Design Week
Omoyemi Akerele founded the Lagos Fashion and Design Week in 2011 and is also founder and artistic director of Style House Files, the organising body behind the annual four-day fashion showcase. Style House Files is a Creative Development Agency that primarily focuses on the advancement of the Nigerian and African Fashion Industry. Omoyemi is widely regarded as a driving force behind the burgeoning Nigerian fashion industry. She helps brands gain essential international exposure through presenting showcases at Pitti Immagine in Italy, and through Lagos Fashion and Design Week.
Olatorera Oniru, founder of DressMeOutlet
In Nigeria’s rapidly growing fashion retail marketplace, Olatorera Oniru and her new online retail platform are on a mission to contribute to the growth of local manufacturing in the areas of fashion and health & beauty in the country. Dressmeoutlet.com is Nigeria’s foremost retailer for high-quality fashion products, health & beauty products and home-goods. With over 1,000 products to shop from, the platform retails various sophisticated styles from premium designers globally. Dressmeoutlet.com is very strongly focused on quality, with business processes built to ensure that customers experience quality, uniformity and excellence. Dressmeoutlet.com retails the best selection of products sourced locally and internationally, ranging from dresses to shoes, and health to beauty products. Customer service is optimal as the platform ensures each individual customer gets the dedicated service they want.
Thirteen years ago, Theresa Kachindamoto worked as a secretary at a city college in Zomba, a district in Southern Malawi. It had been her job for 27 years. The youngest of 12 children, she was born into a family of chiefs — Malawi’s traditional authority figures — but she never expected to become a senior chief to more than 900,000 people. But when the chiefs called, telling her to pack her bags and come home, she did. She had been chosen as the next senior chief.
She was shocked when she saw girls as young as 12 with babies and teenaged husbands, and after her coronation rites, she was soon ordering the people to give up their ways and terminating underaged marriages.
Chief Kachindamoto (Photo: AJEnglish)
A 2012 United Nations survey found that more than half of Malawi’s girls were married before the age of 18, especially in rural areas where parents are eager to get girls out of the house to ease their financial burden. It ranked Malawi 8th out of 20 countries thought to have the highest child-marriage rates in the world. Last year, Malawi’s parliament passed a law forbidding marriage before the age of 18. But under the customary law of the traditional authorities, and the constitution, Malawian children can still marry with parental consent.
Early marriage wasn’t the only practice Chief Kachindamoto was against, she also banned sexual initiation rights and sexual camps. In these rural areas, parents also send their underaged children (as young as age 7) bound for marriage away to camps for “kusasa fumbi” – which means cleansing. Reportedly, at these sexual initiation camps, the girls are taught ‘how to please men’ by performing titillating dances and sex acts.
Newly-initiated children are now regarded as adults after being initiation at camps for several weeks. (Photo: News24)
Some children “graduate” only by having sex with the teacher. Others return home untouched, only to be preyed on by a local “hyena” — men hired by parents to take their girls’ virginity — or by prospective husbands to impregnate them. In a country where one in 10 people have HIV, these rites of passage — which rarely involve the use condoms — are sentencing girls to a lifetime of trauma, and, in some cases, early death.
One in five Malawian girls is a victim of sexual violence, as is one in seven boys, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. And a lot of Malawian traditions promote sexual abuse within the family. If a girl’s aunt or older sister falls sick, she can be sent to look after the household, and in some cases will be expected to have sex with her uncle or step-brother.
Chief Kachindamoto has faced a lot of pushback. Many parents did not want to hear her pleas to keep their girls in school or her assurances that an educated girl would bring them a greater fortune. The common response was that she had no right to overturn tradition, nor, as the mother of five boys, to lecture others on the upbringing of girls.
Children at a school in Chimoya where mothers’ groups campaigning to end child marriage say parents refuse (Photo: Hannah McNeish/Al Jazeera)
Realising that she couldn’t change the traditionally set mentality of parents, Kachindamoto instead changed the law, by getting her 50 sub-chiefs to sign an agreement to abolish early marriage under the customary law and annul any existing unions in her area of authority.
And when she learned that child marriages were still taking place in some areas, she fired four male chiefs responsible for these areas. They returned months later to tell her that all marriages had been undone. After sending people to verify this, she hired the chiefs back. She then drew community members, the clergy, local committees and charities together to pass a bylaw that banned early marriage under the civil law.
Over the past four years, Kachindamoto has broken up more than 850 marriages and sent all of the children involved back to school. She often pays for, or finds other sponsors to pay for, the schooling of girls whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees.
In East African business circles, few entrepreneurs shine brighter than Njeri Rionge. One of Kenya’s most successful and revered serial entrepreneurs, Rionge has co-founded multi-million dollar companies in quick succession. She co-founded Wananchi Online, a leading Internet service provider which has gone on to become East Africa’s leading cable, broadband and IP (Internet-based) phone company. Wananchi has become immensely successful, so much that it has raised close to $60 million in growth capital from a consortium private equity firms. She also founded Ignite Consulting, a thriving business consultancy; Business Lounge, Kenya’s leading startup incubator; Ignite Lifestyle, a health care consultancy; and Insite, one of Kenya’s most successful digital marketing outfits. She now divides her time between homes in Nairobi and Toronto where she runs her diverse business concerns.
Read excerpts from her interview with Forbes, below:
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane. When did you start your first business venture, and what was it?
As a twenty year old, my first business involved selling yogurt to the International School Of Kenya and Loretto Convent Musongari High School over their 10am and 4pm school breaks. I sold the yogurt from the car trunk which belonged to a friend of mine with whom I had partnered. We picked up the yogurt from a farm in Limuru (a town in Kenya) at 6 am and returned back every second day for more stock. Throughout this period I was employed as a hairdresser with a clientele consisting largely of high net worth individuals. Recognizing yet another opportunity, I traveled to London on a regular basis using discounted courier tickets to purchase re-sale luxury merchandise which were not available in Kenya at the time. I sold this merchandise to my clients.
You seem restless. Why do you keep creating companies serially rather than just sticking to one, and milking it for all it’s worth?
I create companies serially because I believe that Africa is the next economic frontier and we must build indigenous organizations that will support this growth.
Of all the companies you’ve built, which was the most challenging and the most fun?
Wananchi was a roller coaster ride in which we sought to challenge the assumption of regulators, the government officials and competitors that the Internet was not only relevant for the elite. Ignite has been the most challenging but Wananchi Online was the most fun of them all. I am now focused on my Nairobi and Toronto business locations for the wholly owned companies. Ignite Consulting has had a long development process which has taught me the true benefits of project management, performance management and time management without which a consultant can easily go-out of business. On the other hand, it is important to manage timely exits and succession. I intend to hand over the businesses to business drivers to take them to the next level through a management sale or recruitment of a CEO.
Style: “Portrait B&W”
What have been the biggest impediments you’ve encountered in all your years of doing business?
The greatest impediments I have encountered personally are managing the brand value and promise of each brand while building a business. The Internet and social media present great opportunities to quickly communicate developments, changes in activities and interests. If these communication pieces are ignored or not managed they tend to bring about confusion within organizations and with their customers. The rules of engagement have shifted and yet much of our organizational cultures remain rooted in outmoded styles of operation that have little relevance in a globalised market place.
What was the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business?
When you’re in business you are responsible for the good, the bad and the ugly, pay attention at all times and take responsibility for all that you and your organization does throughout its tenure.
What is your philosophy in business and in life?
I judge myself based on my performance vis-à-vis today’s challenges and opportunities. I am passionate about growth in others and myself. I am humbled and gain enormous strength from the many young dynamic people I have had the privilege of working with over the years. Success for me is defined by increased value – not simply financial rewards. This is still to be tested in this phase one and the follow up phases.
In a nutshell, what is the most important piece of advice you’ll give to young, entrepreneurial inclined individuals out there- particularly the ladies?
Ladies, it’s like learning to ride a bike or driving a car. You need only to believe in yourself, trust your gut feeling and develop a clear plan or strategy, keep it simple and implement that plan step by step with courage, conviction and love above all. Ultimately be open minded and flexible to change course when needed and listen to your customers.
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.
For all those who experience the challenges of sensitive skin, hope is at hand from Botanical Wares (Pty) Ltd, a Lesotho woman-owned company inspired by its founders who needed to find a skincare and cosmetics solution for themselves and their families.
Lioness of Africa chatted with founder, Ntsoaki Mabejane in Lesotho find out more about the cosmetic brand.
Botanical Wares(Pty) Ltd…
We produce organic cosmetics and refined petroleum jelly. Our lip balm is made of beeswax, propolis and prickly pear cactus extract. We also have a body cream made from the same ingredients as our lip balm and we have named it Waxeline. Our refined petroleum jelly is enhanced with the extract of prickly pear cactus and propolis too. All these products are the first of their kind.
Inspiration
My partner, Miss Mpona Semoli, and I have daughters who had very sensitive skin when they were infants and this was very frustrating for us. So we decided to make our own organic products that would suit their skin and all skin types. When we saw the good results we achieved on the skin after making samples, we decided to start the business.
Products and services…
Our products are organic and in producing them we are also not harming the environment. The ingredients and their benefits are as follows;
Propolis – this fights acne, rashes, pimples and reduces burns; it is a natural antiseptic and preservative; and it rejuvenates the skin.
Beeswax – this helps to calm and soothe the skin; it is a good source of Vitamin A, which exfoliates the skin giving it a new young look; it soothes temporary itching caused by dry and/or sensitive skin; It is antiallergenic, thus it is easily tolerated by even those with reactive skin; it soothes skin and helps heal wounds; when applied to the skin, beeswax forms a protective barrier that helps protect it from environmental assaults, while also holding in moisture and reducing dryness. It is known to have both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities which make it good for sensitive dry skin, minor infections and reduction of irritation; it promotes the retention of water in the skin; and finally, beeswax has a natural honey fragrance that always leaves the product with a pleasant, light aroma regardless of other added fragrances.
Prickly pear cactus – this detoxifies, moisturizes and protects the skin that has lost its luminescence over time and has begun to dry, and the dull appearance due to the amount of toxins encountered everyday; the plant is cold tolerant and can protect the body during times of stress; it is rich in vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Potassium (Vitamins A and C are important vitamins that play a role in protecting and repairing the skin while also supporting the production of structural proteins thus supporting the skin’s shape).
Her team…
Botanical Wares is owned by two young single mothers. Miss Ntsoaki Mabejane is the Managing Director, whilst Miss Mpona Semoli is the Chief Executive Officer. We do all the production and packaging work ourselves, as we just started the business in April 2017. We have outsourced a marketing team which also takes care of our branding. We also outsource a harvester for the cactus that we use in our production.
Her entrepreneurial journey….
Our parents did own some businesses but not anymore. We actually resorted to entrepreneurship after being unemployed for a very long time. After the conception of the business idea we struggled a lot in finding funding to start our business. We only got as far as registering our company and producing the few samples in hand that we could not even sell to generate money. Our big break came when we were chosen as one of the Bacha Entrepreneurship Project (BEP) beneficiaries. This is an initiative by Basotho Enterprises Development Corporation (BEDCO), Standard Lesotho Bank and Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) that awards funding to the best three business proposals from unemployed Basotho graduates. Not only has BEP given us funding to start our business, these three cooperates are always there to assist every step of the way. This is how we got to know about the Lionesses of Africa….thank you Standard Lesotho Bank!
