Interviews&profile Archives

In Interviews&profile January 8, 2018 By Women of Rubies

#PROFILE| MEET NJERI RIONGE, ONE OF EAST AFRICA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR

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.

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.

Learn more about Njeri Rionge at www.njeri-rionge.com

Credit: Forbes

In Interviews&profile January 6, 2018 By Esther Ijewere

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.

In Interviews&profile January 3, 2018 By Women of Rubies

MEET NTSOAKI MABEJANE, FOUNDER OF BOTANICAL WARES (PTY) LTD, AN ORGANIC COSMETIC BRAND

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!

Contact or follow Botanical Wares

FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL botanicalwares@gmail.com

Source: www.lionessofafrica.com

In Interviews&profile December 30, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

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.

In Interviews&profile October 31, 2024 By Esther Ijewere

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)

In Career Gems December 18, 2017 By Women of Rubies

MEET VIOLA-NUELA ECHEBIMA, FIRST LAW GRADUATE FROM UNN WHO ALSO BAGGED A FIRST CLASS AT THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL

Viola-Nuela Echebima is the first class Law graduate from the University of Nigeria who also finished with a first class at The Nigerian Law School to emerge as the Best Graduating Student.

The pretty lawyer was among 4,294 candidates called to the Nigerian Bar on Tuesday, December 12th.

She is one of the 28 candidates who bagged a First Class after the August 2017 bar examinations.

In Interviews&profile December 16, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

THE CHIGOZIEM EMEREUWA STORY: FROM LOSING HER ENTIRE FAMILY IN AN ACCIDENT TO ACQUIRING PHD

In August 2001, Chigoziem Emereuwa lost her entire family in a car accident that claimed the lives of all her siblings and parents, The beautiful graduate with Phd in Pure Mathematics from University of Pretoria didn’t let that deter her from pursuing her dreams.

She went back memory lane on the fateful day that changed her life forever and said “I only remember being in the back seat, playing a travel game with my sister and then waking up in the hospital” ,my life switched from one moment to the other, I didn’t even get the chance to mourn properly as my aunts and paternal family made sure I wasn’t alone.

The part-time Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa shares her touching yet inspiring story and what kept her going in this interview.

Childhood

I loved my childhood, it is one of those times in my life I can’t stop talking about. It was filled with lots of activities, I played soccer, I climbed trees, I rode bicycles, I did a lot of outdoor activities and I also watched a lot of cartoons and movies. During school times, I played a little less because I had to go to school, do my homework and a little schoolwork afterwards. However, during the holiday, my mum wouldn’t register my siblings and I for holiday lessons because she believed that our brains need to rest, so we had all the time to do all the things I mentioned earlier. In a nutshell, that part of my childhood taught me that relaxing and taking a break is just as important as working. So in a way, yes, some parts of it made me who I am.

Losing my entire family in a fatal accident

During the first few years after the accident, I became a little moody, I wasn’t as playful as I used to be. I also began to spend most of my time indoors and my grades went down a lot too. My paternal aunt took me in immediately after my parents’ funeral, her children treat me like I am one them, since the last child is older than I am, I am now the official ”last born” of her family. However, she died after I got into the university but my cousins don’t treat me any differently till today, in fact one of them flew in to South Africa to attend my Masters graduation ceremony. Their unconditional love and support together with that of my paternal aunts, uncle, cousins and my Godmother got me through that painful time.

Being a PHD holder in Pure Mathematics..

I am not a PhD holder yet, I’m still in process. My paternal family helped me make the choice when I was applying for university, I continued with it because I realized that it creates a foundation for a lot of disciplines and career paths. I could be a lecturer, I could go into finance, I could do something that borders between Engineering, Physics and Chemistry which is what I am doing at the moment. The opportunities are endless. At the same time, I might increase the amount of females we have in the field and possibly inspire a few others to join in the fun.

What and who inspire me

My inspiration comes from a lot of people and almost everything. When it comes to academics, I look up to my supervisor, his brilliance is quite intimidating. However, my paternal family has a few PhD holders and at the moment, I am not the only PhD candidate in my family. I have family here, my uncle is a professor in his field and his wife has two Bachelor’s degrees, two Masters degrees and an LLD so when I need a personal push, it’s always a phone call away. There aren’t a multitude of women in my field so anyone I meet or read about is an inspiration for me. Being an orphan, I admire anyone or group of people who try to make life easier for the less privileged especially because some of the people who give their time and resources don’t understand how much their gestures no matter how little gives hope to the less privilege. These things make me want to be in position where I can positively affect lives which in turn makes me want to be a better person. I really can’t make a list of people because it would be endless, I’m a gatherer of inspiration.

How I felt when my story went viral

I was overwhelmed, humbled and at the same time scared. It drew a lot of attention to me and I’m not used to that. It’s always been me, my family and my small circle of friends so when people I didn’t know started telling me how they found the story inspiring and motivating, I began to realize it too. I have lived my life thinking the story was sad and it might attract some sort of sympathy which I didn’t want so it wasn’t always the first thing I said. Now I am honored that people can draw motivation and inspiration from it.

Greatest reward

Personally, I find joy in teaching and interacting with students. When I get a result after so much work, the feeling is priceless. There is no greater reward than joy and affecting peoples’ lives positively.

Challenges

The greatest challenge is being in the right frame of mind. My career requires a lot of studying so my supervisor always reminds me that being in the right frame of mind is the key. This is because we have no external equipment, it mostly come from our minds, so even if we have all the tools we need (e.g theorems, articles…) and the books, we could spend months on a problem only to solve it in a matter of days when you’ve gotten the right momentum and focus. That is when that extra hour of study or the late nights pay off.

Women in my line of study have been given enough room to soar…

We are in a time where women empowerment seems to be the goal of a lot of organizations and institutions so we are given some sort of support and funding. Academia needs funding, with it you can attend conferences, buy the necessary books, sponsor your education and supervise students as well. For students, there are funding opportunities and some that are dedicated to women like Margaret McNamara Memorial fund, L’Or´eal-UNESCO for women in Science Programme, etc to help bridge the gap and motivate younger women to further their studies in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) fields. There are also associations like African Women in Mathematics, that help give and find the necessary support that we need.

Other projects and activities

Currently, I chair the Student Postgraduate Committee of the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics department at the University of Pretoria, I also represent my department in a similar committee at the faculty level. Occasionally, I do volunteer and assist with drives to gather supplies and clothing for the homeless.

On giving up

Well, it gets hard at times and I get tired, I need breaks which I take and wish could last forever but giving up is not an option and I remind myself that there is no room for that feeling.

I am a Woman of Rubies

I am someone who believe in possibilities. I am trying to lead a life that shows that we have to work hard to get to wherever we want to be but at the same time, understand that it is okay to ask for help when you need it.

Final word for women who have lost hope or in the process of giving up on themselves

All I can say is that life is beautiful, there’s always at least one person who hasn’t given up on you. So pray if you believe in God, focus on all the good things that has happened in your life so far and have faith that everything always works out in the end. When you find what you love doing, stick with it because in the long run, you will be grateful that you did and you might turn out to be a source of inspiration for someone else.

In Interviews&profile December 9, 2017 By Women of Rubies

#INTERVIEW: “MY CHILDHOOD HAS A LOT TO DO WITH MY JOURNEY INTO SHOEMAKING” -CHIOMA MADUEKE

Chioma Madueke is a graduate of Accounting from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Being the first girl from a family dominated by men, she grew up as a tomboy, according to her; low self-esteem made her despise the gender she was created to be, this also made her take interest in male footwears, a passion she nurtured and developed after her youth service. Being a graduate of accounting didn’t stop her from chasing her dreams of becoming a “Shoemaker”, a vision that makes her feel fulfilled as a person. Today Chioma is CEO of growing Men’s footwear brand MADU. In her words; “He that must move the world, must move it in good shoes” …. Chioma shares her inspiring story with me in this interview.

Growing up

My childhood has a lot to do with my journey into shoemaking. I am the first daughter and the 4th child of my parents. I have 3 elder brothers and a younger brother out of 5 siblings and I grew up in a male dominated environment where female children were outnumbered by the boys and men. My elder brothers were literally the ones who had to take care of me even though my parents are still alive. I grew up always being amongst men and that exposure got me wanting to be a boy too. I felt they were cool to be with and because I sought for acceptance, I got that from them. Soon I started walking and dressing like them. Because I was so carefree, I would always find myself fitting my leg into my brother’s footwears without minding the size lol. I still try to fit my leg into oversized men footwears and I am glad I can now make some for myself when I wish.

Inspiration behind Madu labels

Last year, I started my journey as a shoemaker because I was passionate about humans and all I represent. I represent passion, confidence, class, self-love, innovations, smart and hardwork, living dreams. I thought of a befitting name for my shoe brand, that embodies all I represent, and my final analysis led to the name MADU Labels.

Why MADU?

The word MADU means “Making A Difference in U”…The Word Madu in Igbo means person or Human…..At the heart of my company is HUMANS. So, for every shoe I make, I am making people truly HUMANS. Robots don’t live their dreams, humans do. Robots don’t have confidence in their abilities, but Humans do. I am making you complete in class, confidence, poise, with good shoes.

I am making you love yourselves. I am making you wear YOUR TRUE SELF. Many people lose their HUMANITY as they go through life, career, and business. What my company is out to do is to help people find and enjoy their true self through shoes. When you wear your shoes, I want you to feel Happy and Complete. I want you to walk with your head up high, I want you to care, and I want you to love. MADU labels CARES! The name MADU is memorable, stickable, short, urban, AFRICAN….

Growing up as a tomboy…

Growing up as a tomboy contributed to my decision to start making men footwears. I remember feeling so bad each time people tried to talk me out of my boyish life style and even after I gave that up and embraced femininity, I still have a soft spot for nice men footwear plus The fact that I have an amazing habit of seeing the men’s feet as their face. I always catch myself staring at their legs before their faces. Men’s fashion always fascinates me. I can remember wanting to study Accounting because I met a banker, whose dressing was on fleek lol.. Don’t ask me the connection between banking and accounting hahaha

Success nugget(s) that keeps me going

One nugget that keeps me going is ‘follow your dreams’. I have always been an ambitious girl, but the walls of low self-esteem trapped me until I walked the path of self-discovery. I discovered that I didn’t need to be the brightest star to sparkle and so, I decided to shamelessly own my dreams and walk through to the spotlight. If I can dream it, I believe I can achieve it and of course, none of that made sense to anyone who heard that I was an excellent student of accounting but found my path in shoemaking… It didn’t make sense that I rejected 2 job offers to follow through my dream… It didn’t make sense that I left home to Lagos, where I met strangers who took me in as family… It still doesn’t make sense to a lot of people and sometimes to me, but I will keep moving

Who and what inspires me

Who and what inspires me is a tough question to answer. I might be weird to say that everybody and everything inspires me. I believe everyone has an untold story and those stories that are better left in the dark leaves wondering where they find strength to wake everyday to face life either timidly or boldly. Everyone on this journey of life inspires me My undying love for teenagers inspire me everyday of my life even when I want to give up and I inspire me…. Abnormal? Lol. I look at how far I have come, and I know that I didn’t come this far to give up. The journey so far with it entails inspires me

Greatest reward

The greatest reward so far was an emergence award from the world Changers’ forum. I anticipate more great reward in the nearest future and till them, I will keep grinding

Challenges

I face daily challenges like most startups especially funding. Building a business from the scratch with little or nothing to start with is energy draining and mentally stressful, but you know what? I am positive about the outcome. I will keep building and hope for destiny helpers because I am sure they will come by

My perception about women in the footwear industry…

My perception about women in the footwear industry is positive all the way. The uniqueness of this is my gender… People tend to see it as a limiting factor, but I choose to see it as my strongest string. Women need to take off the limiting thoughts off their minds and follow through if footwear making is their passion. Though the gender can also be a limiting factor because most people tend to trust the male shoemakers more for obvious reasons but then, a trial always convinces them but how many people do you tend to convince. I just choose to be positive.

On giving up…

Every single time hahahahaha. The question should be how many times have you felt like giving up? Lol. If I say that I don’t feel like giving up any time, I must be an award-winning liar. Seriously, I feel like giving up more than I feel like holding on. I know that there is no startup entrepreneur who never thought of giving up and of course, I can’t be an exemption. It’s part of the journey and I intend learning from it. If I started to give up, I wouldn’t have bothered starting at all. Does that make sense? Yes, it does.

I am a Woman of Rubies

Women of rubies live to inspire. Every step of my walk in this path of life i deliberate because life is beyond just me. I am all in for helping other women grow… I see no competition. All I see is nation builders. Together we make the world a better place… Collaboration!

Words of advice to aspiring female footwear makers

Dear woman, I noticed that you have suddenly started seeing shoemaking as an attractive craft and I won’t try to discourage you. I will only tell you this “don’t do it because it’s attractive but do it because you are passionate about it because the truth is that there will be times when attraction without passion can’t pull you through. You need unwavering passion to walk this path”… Find you and do you!

Thank you for having me!

In Interviews&profile December 6, 2017 By Esther Ijewere

HAUWA OJEIFO IS THE ONLY FEMALE RECIEPIENT OF THE 2018 QUEEN YOUNG LEADERS AWARD IN NIGERIA

The Queen’s Young Leaders programme has announced that three Nigerians, Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, Isaac Ezirim, and Hauwa Ojeifo have been chosen as three of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award winners in recognition of the lead they are taking in their communities to change lives.

The prestigious Awards programme, now in its fourth and final year, celebrates exceptional young people aged 18 to 29 from across the Commonwealth and the work they are undertaking to improve lives across a diverse range of issues, from supporting people living with mental health problems, helping children to receive a quality education, to promoting gender equality.

Kennedy, Issac and Hauwa will now join the Queen’s Young Leaders network of 240 Award winners, a unique community of influential change-makers, who represent all 52 Commonwealth countries. The winners will receive their Award from Her Majesty The Queen at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, UK, next year.

Meet Hauwa Ojeifo

Hauwa Ojeifo has experienced a darker side of life. A bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis in 2015 led her to start She Writes Woman in April 2016, when she could not find any support group to help her through her mental illness.

She Writes Woman is a movement of love, hope and support for women with mental illness. In July, just three months after its creation, She Writes Woman launched the first 24/7 mental illness helpline in Nigeria and have received calls locally and internationally since, helping people better understand mental illness and most important providing them with the right professional help.

In the words of the 25-year-old Business Administration graduate and fashion enthusiast, “Mental illness is not a death sentence, it is not wearing rags by the road in a bin pile. That’s the picture that always comes to mind even unconsciously. I always tell people that you can live an extraordinary life even with mental illness. I don’t try to be normal, I am extraordinary despite and in spite of my mental illness”. Hauwa is living the dream, here’s her story.

Speaking on her award, the 25 year old activist has this to say; “It’s such an honour to have been chosen to receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award – a rare privilege to become a part of this diverse group of young people who are selflessly serving their communities. I can’t wait to meet the other Award winners, learn about their work and how this programme will further empower us for social change. I’m really excited to see what the year ahead will bring.”

Queen’s Young Leaders programme was established in 2014 by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief, The Royal Commonwealth Society and the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education, in recognition of The Queen’s lifetime of service to humanity.

The Queen’s Young Leaders Award winners receive bespoke training, mentoring and networking opportunities, and take part in a residential programme in the UK, to help them build on the work they are leading in their communities. They join a now complete network of Award winners and, in tribute to Her Majesty The Queen’s lifetime of Service, will continue to connect and collaborate and change lives for years to come. Award winners will attend a residential programme in the UK in June, when they will receive their Award at Buckingham Palace from Her Majesty The Queen.

In Interviews&profile December 4, 2017 By Women of Rubies

MEET GERALDINE GITAU, KENYA’S FIRST PERFUME MAKER

Scents by Geraldine is a Kenyan perfumery which creates and develops high-end beauty products with the aim to revolutionise how beauty and beauty products are received in Africa.

Founded by Geraldine Gitau, a 33-year-old mother of one, the brand sets out to carve a niche for good quality perfumes in Kenya.

(Photo: Instagram/Scents by Geraldine)

Even though the scents are mixed in Germany, the bottling and all of the rest of the finishing is done in Kenya, which the founder says qualifies it as a local luxury brand. Scents By Geraldine sets out to bridge an existing gap through providing quality perfumes, as opposed to some of the counterfeits and low quality brands that the Kenyan market is saturated with.

The debut scent collection Whole By Geraldine was launched recently. About the new perfume collection, Geraldine said:

“Whole by Geraldine is a unique fragrance celebrating the modern and independent woman.

It combines flowers, fruits, citrus and oriental notes to bring a warm and gentle fresh scent.

The soft fragrance creates a feminine spirit perfect for day, night and everyday life.”

With a large range of scents from vanilla to citrus, the perfumes come in 15ml, 30ml and 50ml bottles and 100ml to come for high end customers. In the near future, they aim to start a bespoke perfume line, tailored specifically to the scent the person prefers.

For more information you can check out their website, or follow Scents By Geraldine on Instagram and Facebook for updates!

(Photo: Instagram/Scents By Geraldine)

(Photo: Instagram/Scents By Geraldine)

culled from konbini.com

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