Interviews&profile Archives

In Inspiration January 24, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Eniola Aluko: The journey to Aston Villa

Eniola Aluko has accomplished a lot in her life so far – both on and off the pitch.

A successful playing career saw her win 102 caps for England and four league titles, while taking her to World Cups, European Championships and an Olympic Games.

But far from being defined by her achievements in the game, Aluko is a published author, a qualified lawyer and a respected pundit.

Here we take a look at her journey to Aston Villa…

Taking the honours

Success has followed Aluko throughout her career since she broke through at city rivals Birmingham City in 2001.

Eight years across two stints as a Chelsea player provided the bulk of her honours, with Aluko’s goals firing the Blues to three Women’s Super League titles and two FA Cups.

The 32-year-old’s record of 68 goals in 158 appearances for the West London side means she remains their all-time top scorer.

A move to Turin to join Juventus in 2018 was the last stop in Aluko’s glittering playing career, and she duly finished with a flourish by winning Serie A and the Coppa Italia.

An England centurion

Born in Nigeria, Aluko had a choice to make when it came to her international allegiance.

Having moved to Birmingham at the age of one, she opted to become a Lioness, making her senior debut for England at the age of 17 against the Netherlands in 2004.

A year later, Aluko was selected to play for her country at UEFA Euro 2005. As the tournament clashed with her A Levels, she sat a history exam on the morning of one of England’s matches. Appearances at three World Cups resulted in two quarter-final exits and one third place finish, while she picked up a runners-up medal at UEFA Euro 2009.

Aluko finished her international career with a record of 33 goals in 102 appearances.

Football intelligence

Coming through at a time when turning professional was not a viable option for female footballers in England, Aluko has pursued interests outside of the game.

She graduated Brunel University with a first class degree in Law 2008 and worked as a trainee solicitor alongside her playing career until 2015 when she qualified as a sports and entertainment lawyer.

A successful broadcasting career, which began when she became the first female pundit on Match of the Day, has seen her work as a pundit at both men’s and women’s World Cups.

Aluko is also became a published author when she released her book ‘They Don’t Teach This’

In Interviews&profile January 24, 2020 By Women of Rubies

8 Mom’s Platform To Follow On Instagram

Instagram has become a great place to get current news, latest celebrity updates and lifestyle hacks almost about anything. More people are willing to share about their personal lives daily.

As a mom, here are 8 amazing platforms on Instagram in no particular order, to get information about parenting, and to help you navigate the task of motherhood while seeking work life balance:

1.LagosMums

This an online community of moms, sharing parenting tips on how to raise your child. Yetty Williams a parenting coach, is the founder. They hold events and also have a review section for parents. They have broad contents from parenting to capacity building, events and workshops and networking. You can follow them @lagosmums

2. AugustSecrets

This amazing platform shares colourful meal plans and nutrition for your kids. It is owned by Toyin Onigbanji an award winning entrepreneur. Foods high in nutrient density are displayed in ways to spark creativity in mothers. Nutrition tips are also shared. You can follow them @augustsecrets.ng

3. Mummyclinicc

This platform is managed by child psychologist and certified child sleep expert and potty trainer; Temi Olajide, who shares tips on how to effectively interact with your kids and teaching them proper ways to behave. It helps moms to understand how children behave while sharing parenting tips. You can follow them @mummyclinicc

3. Mamalette.

The reality of pregnancy, and everyday parenting is shared here, most times using quotes a mother can relate with. Little babies and toddlers are the focus in this platforms. It was created by Anike Lawal who has over 7 years experience in Business Development and Management. You can follow them @mamaletteng

5. Motherhood Nigeria

This community shares resources for getting pregnant, when pregnant and how to nurture your children. It was founded by Abiodun Alabi a HR Pro and entrepreneur. Myths and facts are shared here and they are quite versatile. You can follow them @motherhoodnigeria

6.Pregnancy and Beyond

This is a fun, fact and tips sharing platform. They share personal experiences of other moms for motivation. It is filled with interesting contents on the journey of pregnancy and the beauty of motherhood. You can follow them @pregnnancybeyond

7. Lagos Housewives

This platform shares meal recipes, for moms to try, owned by Rayo Abe, a writer and a cook. There are also engaging contents displaying current happenings and activities.You can follow them @lagoshousewives

8.Imumzone

Real mom stories and baby issues are shared here. It was founded by Modupe Enyinla, a beauty entrepreneur. Pregnancy tips and all a mom needs for her motherhood journey are talked about. Products are also reviewed creating brand awareness. You can follow them @imumzone

In Interviews&profile January 22, 2020 By Women of Rubies

JEWEL BURKS SOLOMON BECOMES FIRST PERSON TO BE NAMED HEAD OF GOOGLE FOR STARTUPS

Jewel Burks Solomon, an Atlanta based tech entrepreneur, just became the first African-American to be named head of Google for Startups in the United States, Hypepotamus reports.

The newly created role at Google will help empower startup founders with products, connections and best practices, while also helping to diversify the startup landscape. In 2013, Solomon created PartPic, a company that utilizes visual recognition software to identify maintenance and repair supplies. From 2014-2016 Solomon worked for Google as an entrepreneur-in-residence for diversity markets, “helping underserved business owners grow their businesses online using Google tools.” In 2016, Amazon purchased PartPic, solidifying Solomon in the tech arena. Her new role will require her to put all of her expertise to use and continue to push the envelope on diversity in the startup community.

The Howard alumna spoke about her new position saying, “I am thrilled about the opportunity to do work I’m deeply passionate about, to help level the playing field in the startup ecosystem. I have a great opportunity to highlight the work of incredible startups here and in other markets that have historically been underresourced.”

Solomon, a Nashville native, is also a managing partner at Collab Capital, an investment fund group that connects African-Americans to the capital needed to launch successful businesses.

“Jewel’s background as an entrepreneur and investor gives her a deep amount of empathy for the founder journey and insight into what founders need to build successful businesses. Her experience allows the team to ensure our work is meaningful to startups and that the metrics of success are closely aligned with the startups we work with,” a Google rep told Hypepotamus.

With Solomon being located in Atlanta, the tech giant also sees opportunity for expansion outside Silicon Valley. “Google has been fortunate to call Georgia home for the last eighteen years. There’s amazing local talent in the area and a strong spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, which continues to attract companies, big and small to the area, and we’re proud to be a part of the thriving tech ecosystem,” they said.

Solomon said she is also excited to shake things up in the peach state. “The opportunity to bring the best of Google to startups in Atlanta and other key markets is incredibly exciting. Access to the right resources and people is critical to startup success, so I’m excited to be able to share these things with startups that need them,” she said.

Source: BOTWC

In Inspiration January 22, 2020 By Women of Rubies

Amina Mohammed Is Our Woman Crush Wednessday #WCW😍

Amina Mohammed is a renowned female leader in the world today. She is the current Deputy Secretary-General, of the United Nations, and has previously being the special advisor to Ban ki-moon the previous leader.

She is a wife and a mother, with a passion for service to humanity. Last year she won the Global Citizens’ World Leader award for her work on the Sustainable Development Goals and was listed in Forbes 100most powerful women 2019.

Ms Amina J. Mohammed was Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from November 2015 to December 2016, where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action, protecting the natural environment and conserving resources for sustainable development.

She posed with the new class of UN female officers.

She posses with the new class of UN female security

“I have no doubt that this class of new

female Security Officers will diligently & admiringly perform their duties to the highest standards. I look forward to their service & protection,” she said.

Ms Mohammed has worked for three administrations in Nigeria, serving as Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals.

In Inspiration January 20, 2020 By Women of Rubies

HOWARD LAW SCHOOL ALUMNA LAUNCHES BLACK-OWNED YACHT CHARTER BUSINESS

Every season is yacht season!

Sheila Ruffin is the owner of a new boutique travel agency, Soca Caribbean Yacht Charters (SCYC), Black Enterprise reports.

The Hampton University and Howard Law School graduate first thought of the idea to open a yacht charter company after landing a job on the island of St. Thomas. While practicing law, she decided she wanted to get into the travel business. “I googled yacht agencies that were one-stop-shops, but I couldn’t find any. This gave me an idea of what I could do. Plus, I couldn’t find any people of color within the industry. Therefore, I set out to start my own company,” Ruffin said.

The yacht charter company partners with other yacht companies in the Bahamas, Grenada, St. Lucia, the British Virgin Islands, St. Vincent and St. Martin to provide immersive yacht experiences complete with private chefs and captains. “We offer a door to dock-to-door service. The minute you step out of your home, there is a luxury car waiting to take you to the airport. Once you arrive in your Caribbean destination, we provide transfers to the dock where you board your yacht. After your trip, we also provide all services in reverse,” said Ruffin.

Ruffin grew up on the eastern shore of Virginia, gaining her love for boats from her grandfather. While not originally apart of her plans, this new venture seems almost like fate. She hopes that her place in the yachting industry can encourage other young people of color to experience luxury yachting.

“To be the anchor between the yacht industry and millenials and people of color is amazing. It’s not easy. I’m entering into space where Black women aren’t normally present. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Ruffin.

According to Black Enterprise, in 2018, African Americans contributed $63 billion to the U.S. travel and tourism industry. Now it’s time to put some of those dollars back into the pockets of one of our own.

Source : Black Enterprise

In Career Gems January 18, 2020 By Women of Rubies

PADITA AGU TALKS ABOUT HARMFUL HABITS IN MEN TO WATCH OUT FOR

Padita exposes some dangerous things to look out for in men. With her experiences gathered from her marriage which lasted only 3 years, she certainly has first hand idea about what a bad relationship and marriage looks like, and she is out to help ladies.

She calls them tricks men use to get their victims when it comes to dating and marriage.

On her YouTube channel, with the episode “Learning Life’s Ropes” she lists four harmful habits ladies need to watch out for, listed below

Serial Baby Daddies
Serial Money Collectors
Serial Secret Marriers

Serial Disease Spreader

Watch the video below:

In Inspiration January 18, 2020 By Women of Rubies

DIMMA UMEH LIVING AND BREAKING BOUNDARIES ON THE COVER OF ACCELERATE TV’S THE COVER

Dimma Umeh is on the cover of Accelerate Tv’s The Cover. She shares her experiences as a vlogger, influencer and talks about and how she deals with critics.

On when she started, “ First of all, I thought this whole thing was a joke, like I just started putting out videos for the sake of it, I thought it was fun, I loved the way others looked doing it. But I think that two years in, I started figuring out at that point that this could be so much more. Now I live off of Youtube, I pay my rent off Youtube. I never thought when I first started that I could live off of it.” she said.

On when her ideas are stuck and she’s having a creative block, “the easiest thing for me is that I go and watch other creators and I just start out from there. You start out just wanting to watch, but then ideas start popping and before you know it, you want to do something. “

She continues “It is so funny because a lot of people think that I am this organized person; my creative process is actually not the most organized, however, I do have a process now. So it mostly just always involves coming up with an idea, making notes of points that I’d want to highlight in that video from that idea, filming, then after filming, editing. Editing takes a lot of time, so sometimes it’s either me, cause I do the bulk of the editing, but sometimes if I have a lot to do at a particular point in time, I hire an editor who works with me. Then I upload, and after that, I figure out a good thumbnail to use, because I feel like the videos can be great but if your thumbnails don’t have a call to action then you’ve done all of that in vain ”

She shares how she deals lightly with haters “when it comes to negative comments, the best thing I’d say is to know that all the things they’ve said have nothing whatsoever to do with you. It’s them, and they’re just saying it because they feel like they can say it to you, the moment you begin to look at it like that you know that they’re not really worth your time, you can pray for them as I pray for them”.

Read the full interview on www.acceleratetv.com

In Career Gems January 18, 2020 By Women of Rubies

OPRAH WINFREY REVEALS WHY SHE NEVER GOT MARRIED

Oprah gave confident reasons for being single till date and not considering marriage. She and Stedman Graham have been together, they got engaged in 1993, but never married.

They both believe not walking down the aisle was the best decision they could have made. “He and I agree that had we tied the marital knot, we would not still be together,” she said.

Oprah disclosed all this as she graced the cover of February 2020 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. She said:

In 1993, the moment after I said yes to his proposal, I had doubts. I realized I didn’t actually want a marriage. I wanted to be asked. I wanted to know he felt I was worthy of being his missus, but I didn’t want the sacrifices, the compromises, the day-in-day-out commitment required to make a marriage work. My life with the show was my priority, and we both knew it.

He and I agree that had we tied the marital knot, we would not still be together”

Winfrey believes her romance with Graham, 68, relies on the freedom and independence that exists within their partnership.

She wrote. “And because we share all the values that matter (integrity being number one). And because we relish seeing the other fulfill and manifest their destiny and purpose.”

Oprah initially thought Graham was a “player” when she first met him.

“I thought he was nice enough, but I wasn’t that impressed. He was polite, yes, and kind. The sort of guy who sits with an ailing friend. Tall and handsome, for sure. But actually too handsome, I thought, to be interested in me,” she wrote. “I figured he must be a player. So did all my producers. They warned me not to get involved with that Stedman guy.”

In fashion&style January 18, 2020 By Women of Rubies

YEMI ALADE SHARES HER MAKEUP PERFORMANCE ROUTINE WITH VOGUE MAGAZINE

Yemi Alade shares her performance “on stage” makeup look, explaining how she gets performance ready with Maybelline and Vogue Magazine.

Viewers get to see her favorite make up product on the channel which has about 6.94 million subscribers.

Yemi Alade is the latest celebrity to grace Vogue‘s Youtube channel.

“I’m sharing some secrets, guys—get your notepads,” she laughs as she gets into her skin-care and makeup routine.

Acknowledging the fact that she has not always had a go-to beauty regimen, she says, “You should see my makeup from [the early] days. I’m not sure what I was thinking. It was like my own personal hurricane was hitting my face.”

Alade’s starts with cleansing her face with a special made charcoal soap. Then she moisturises with coconut oil before filling her eyebrows with a dark brown Maybelline pencil.

Watch the video below:

In Career Gems January 17, 2020 By Women of Rubies

3 SOCIAL MEDIA BUSINESS/INFLUENCING WOMEN ACCORDING TO CNN

While there there is a constant growing number of bloggers and youtubers , CNN has taken recognition of these spectacular women for their hardwork which is paying off.

Linda Ikeji, Yemisi Odusanya (sisi Yemmie) and Chiamaka Obuekwe were listed as the highest paying personalities with large media engagement on their sites in an article by CNN.

Linda

“But Ikeji wants to do much than gossips, blogging, or owning a media empire. She wants to inspire other young girls to believe in themselves” CNN wrote.

There’s still so much I want to do that I haven’t done but am hoping, my life can inspire other young girls to go out their and fight for their dreams” said Linda.

Sisi Yemmie

“She offers her audience glimpse into her home life,sharing her various recipes and her family likes and dislike”, CNN disclosed.

Sisi Yemmie is also loved for her genuine contents with its touch of realness.

Chiamaka Obuekwe

CNN termed her ‘the travel blogger who goes off the beaten track. Her presence on social media has made it easier for people who want to go to interesting places to connect easily.