HGCP 2021 Participants: Stella Arukwe chats about running an innovative e-commerce platform that does not just sell products but delivers experience.
I sat down with Stella Arukwe, the co-founder of Latalata and Kishers Limited; an innovative retail and e-commerce platform in Nigeria. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m Stella Arukwe, the co-founder of Latalata and Kishers Limited. My work experience, skillsets and interests span different sectors and industries. Over the years, I have established my track record as a marketing expert, brand builder, strategist, wordsmith, inimitable communicator and now l am gradually establishing my footprint into the field of entrepreneurship while creating social and economic impact through my businesses. I am a graduate of English Language and Communication Arts from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, and Brand Communication from Vega Brand School in South Africa. I am a mentor, and an advocate for youth and women empowerment. Tell us a bit about your background – how did you get to this point? My entrepreneurial journey started way back when I was a kid. I dreamt of being the boss of my own businesses, and building business empires. However, after I graduated from the university, I started my career in marketing and communication where I grew through the ranks. I have now accumulated over 10 years working experience in brand management, market penetration and conversion; of which 8 years have been in managerial positions where I led teams, managed successful brand initiatives with proven revenue increases. It was during this time that I also established a consulting firm. Fast-forward to now, I have co-founded an innovative start-up, Latalata and Kishers Limited and will definitely be founding moe businesses in due time. My philosophy of solving problems, and creating value guides and propels me in my pursuits and achievements as an entrepreneur, which is the foundation on which my business ideas and ventures are founded. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line, and how do you stay motivated? My ‘why’ is tethered in ‘solving problems, creating value as well as helping people work better and live happier lives. I believe in building an idea from the scratch and nurturing it to grow with a combination of the right mindset, skillset and team members. So long as there are people in the world, they will have needs and problems that need to be solved. This pushes me to create ideas and solutions that will metamorphose into businesses. In building these businesses, I want to leave legacies. I want people to read my success story and be motivated by them. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? In the course of my career both as an employee and an intrapreneur, I achieved track records and milestones. I have worked with large corporations where I launched notable products and brands in Nigeria and other African countries. Some of the brands include Flour Mills of Nigeria, Golden Penny Pasta, Toyota Nigeria and its subsidiaries, Unity bank formerly FinBank, IHMS HMO, NIC, Uganda, Global Trust Bank a then subsidiary of NIC to mention but a few. On the flip side today as a full-fledged entrepreneur, I lead a team in one of the most thriving, mid-sized marketing consulting firm in Lagos Nigeria as the founder and head of Client Services. However, one of my greatest achievements so far is co-founding a blossoming innovative e-commerce business in Nigeria from scratch to the point where it is showing reasonable growth potential. I believe that the future is bright and promising for Latalata and Kishers. Another one of my heart-warming achievement is the courage to author my first book, and finally, being awarded the opportunity to be in the High Growth Coaching Program 2021. If you had to write a book, it would be on what and why? Addressing issues of the mind would be my major focus as I strongly believe that everything that hinders an individual from attaining his or her summit stems from the mind. As a matter of fact, I just finished writing a book centred around FEAR which is currently being published as we speak. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? The journey and experience of being an entrepreneur is mixed with ups and downs. Being an entrepreneur has availed me the opportunity to curate ideas, create values, and co-ordinate people and processes. It is interesting to see how a societal problem and seemingly simple idea, when worked on by a team, becomes something that can be ascribed as a “business”. It is difficult, tasking, and attention-demanding but it is indeed fulfilling. What was the inspiration behind Latalata & Kishers? Latalata and Kishers is a business created out of the typical problems consumers go through. The first motivation to go into e-commerce was when my husband bought a Samsung LED Television in 2015. For him to hang the TV to the wall, he needed four pieces of a particular bolt called “M3”, we both became so frustrated as he frantically searched through endless online and physical stores without success. Secondly, we have identified that people worry about what to gift to loved ones or even their boss and colleagues. This was a constant debate in the office whenever my colleagues’ birthday approached. We deliberated what to buy, whether it was unique enough, obviously the budget, how useful the item is and many other concerns. In 2016, we came up with the idea for Latalata and Kishers and later fully launched in October, 2020 when the “go-to” e-commerce platform for essential products in Nigeria was born. Through our value proposition of being innovative, we are creating value and trust for our customers. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. Are you looking for value that helps you live and work better? Do you want a great shopping experience with ease and fun, less stress, less time, and more saves? What about giving that perfect gift within your budget with the assurance that the receiver will appreciate and use it? You have a better choice at www.latalata.ng. We are your ‘go-to’ innovative e-commerce platform in Nigeria and
SHE LEADS AFRICA AND DARLING COLLABORATE TO INSPIRE CONFIDENCE IN YOUNG AFRICAN WOMEN
She Leads Africa partners with Darling (Godrej Africa) to inspire confidence in and improve the self-esteem of young African women through the year-long “Confidence In Action” campaign which begins in August 2021.
HGCP 2021 Participants: Anita Dafeta talks about how her love for the different stories that emanate from ancient folklore inspired Origho Lagos
I sat down with Anita Dafeta, the founder and creative director of Origho Lagos to get to know her and how how her love for the different stories that emanate from ancient folklore inspired her to create homeware rooted in African heritage. Tell us a little about yourself. I am the founder and Creative Director of ÓRÌGHÒ Lagos, a brand that aims to connect Africa to the world through contemporary homeware rooted in African heritage. After completing my secondary schooling at Loyola Jesuit College Abuja, I obtained an International Diploma in Business from Oxbridge Tutorial College and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Sheffield UK. After my time at University, I worked briefly in London as an Accounting and Finance intern for a media company and later returned to Nigeria in 2015. I have worked with renowned brands in various disciplines such as Tiffany Amber Nigeria, Capital Club Lagos and Ermenegildo Zegna. After returning to Nigeria from the UK I realised that there was a huge gap in the creative artisan sector in Nigeria and began liaising with artisans in areas such as woodwork, weaving, pottery and beading; thus the foundation for what has become ÓRÌGHÒ Lagos was forged. I am a resilient and dedicated founder who is committed to immortalising our African heritage. I currently live in Lagos, Nigeria with my family. What do you do for fun/relaxation? I love art and music so generally I visit galleries, art exhibitions and listen to music from artists like H.E.R, Snoh Aalegra and Brent Fayaz. I’m a lover of 90’s music as well and I believe that great food is also a great time. If you had to write a book, it would be on what and why? It would be a heartfelt, emotional but sometimes hilarious biography of my life thus far. Like how I got my fortune told at the Cirque Le Soir in London on Ganton Street…, still waiting for that to manifest by the way. But it will also have real, raw moments of hard work, tears and everything in between. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? I think my greatest achievement is starting a business and sticking with it through thick and thin, especially in this part of the world. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? Turning my radical ideas into reality. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. We produce artisan made interior décor and home goods products that are rooted in African folklore, design and craftsmanship with the aim of connecting the world to our continent and immortalising our heritage in the home. You can follow our Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/origholagos/ to keep up to date with our product launches and brand events. What was the inspiration behind Origho Lagos? The business is inspired by our African heritage and craftsmanship. I have always loved the different stories that emanate from ancient folklore and I thought it would be wonderful to integrate that in an authentic but new way through homeware. How did you come up with the name for your company? The name ÓRÌGHÒ Lagos is derived from my Itsekiri name Orighomisan which means “My head is good” in the native dialect. How have you carved a niche for yourself in your industry? I believe there are individuals who want to own unique pieces of interior décor from Africa. Our craftsmanship is very well sought after all over the world. However, I believe we are still in the trial phase where we really need to get our brand out there and see what works. What is your ‘why’ i.e., bottom line, and how do you stay motivated? True motivation is generally hard to come by these days especially because we live in a hyper visible era with most people posting about their ‘apparent’ successes but not showing the true hard work that goes on behind the scenes. To keep myself motivated I try to ignore the vanity metrics and re-enforce my personal ideology that great things take time to build. I understand that I have a purpose bigger than just me and it has to be fulfilled. If you were given $1m to invest in your business, where would it go? I think the virtual art/NFT (Non-Fungible Token) space is a new but interesting sector to invest in. What entrepreneurial tricks have you discovered to keep you focused and productive in your day-to-day busy schedule? I don’t have a lot of tricks up my sleeve (wink) but I believe in listening to your body and recharging when you need to. I also think you should always reflect on the end goal to remind yourself ‘why’. Anita is currently on the High Growth Coaching Program scaling up Origho Lagos to keep on immortalising African heritage in people’s homes.
HGCP 2021 Participants: Founder of Closer Adenike Bamigbade is all about the impact and value their products delivers to Nigerian women and girls
I sat down with Adenike Bamigbade, the founder of Closer to get to know her and how she’s empowering women to take charge of their menstrual health. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m Adenike and I work in the social development space; so I guess you can call me a social worker. I work on ideas and solutions that solve critical issues that affect young people and women. I am working on three things at the moment; raising young anti-corruption champions, improving access to employment for youth and building a sustainable way to end period-poverty in Nigeria. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line, and how do you stay motivated? There are myriads of problems around us and this keeps my brain active. I am always asking; how do we solve these problems? Being an avid reader, I have read about how ordinary people create ideas that change the world, so this inspires me to keep creating, iterating and not give up trying to solve a problem I care about. Period poverty is a real issue in our world, though the main problem is poverty. However, menstrual health should not be dependent on how rich a girl is, because she is only obeying nature’s call and it’s not her fault. I have seen lots of campaigns around period-poverty, but I feel most have short-impacts, we need to create a more sustainable solution to solve this big problem. This is purely what Closer is here to address, ensuring women and girls have access to good menstrual health. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? Closer is a new business and I am overwhelmed by the acceptance everywhere I had the opportunity to talk about the idea. Working on the idea and seeing the idea come to life is my biggest achievement so far. We took our time to work on the product, identify the best suppliers and ensure the experience is great. For us at Closer, every subscriber is a real woman, and she matters to us dearly. For every profit on each Box of Closer, 10% is used to help a girl from disadvantaged home to be out of period poverty. The smile and excitement on the girl is one I can’t buy. Also, each girl writes a ‘thank you’ letter to each subscriber that donated towards her period box. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? I enjoy the fact that I am adding value to people’s lives. Closer is all about our women and our girls. We are all about the impact and how valuable our products are to people’s lives, not the profit at all. As a business, we make profits, but the experience of our women and girls is fulfilling for me as the founder. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. As a woman, you ought to be in charge of your menstrual health. Closer conveniently gives women access to the best-selected products specific to their menstrual needs through a subscription-based platform. A woman’s lifecycle is largely controlled by her reproductive health starting from puberty to menopause. She is an egg-bag and her dreams can be tied to how well she is able to manage her reproductive health. With Closer, we are providing access to organic sanitary pads, organic panty liners and very important products women need each month to be in control of their menstrual health. Closer wants more women and girls to show up whether the red-visitor is around or her belly is pumped with a baby or she is in her grey-old-days enjoying menopause. We deliver the appropriate intimate care kits women in each category need without any worry. Where can people find out more about your business? At Closer, we want to take the stress off you every month. Start your subscription on our website at www.closer.ng. We also want to be with you all month round, so ensure you subscribe to our mailing list where we unfold the little secrets women shy about. You can also connect with us on Social Media on Instagram.com/closerng, Facebook.com/closerng and Twitter.com/closerng How have you carved a niche for yourself in your industry? Quality, quality, quality. At Closer, we work directly with suppliers who are producing quality products. Our sanitary pads are safer for you and the environment. Our bikini shavers are healthier alternatives. We don’t do normal, we go extra to ensure we provide quality products. This has made us distinct. Also, we are in the big e-commerce health industry, but we narrow it down to menstrual health only. This is a niche with low penetration in Nigeria at the moment, the ocean is still blue here and Closer is positioning itself rightly in that niche. What challenges have you faced first as a founder and then as a female founder? Human resource in terms of getting the right people to work on the idea. This would have been easier if there was enough capital to pay people, but I am willing to allow the business to grow and pay people at our own capacity. I do not want to take the risk of paying more than the business is making at the moment. If you were given $1m to invest in *business*, where would it go? Closer is a subscription business solving an important problem. It has the capacity to scale. With an investment funding of $1m, we will purchase more assets to aid logistics and distributions and also increase marketing budgets. With this investment, we can reach 1 million women per month and that means at least 100,000 girls will be out of period poverty every month. What’s the best advice you have received in business that you wish to pass on to our community? Just start. I can be a perfectionist, so I always want everything to be perfect before I start. Launching Closer in March 2021 was not my ideal way of doing things but I obliged to the advice I
HGCP 2021 Participants: Titilayo Taiwo on co-founding Africa’s leading one-stop talent marketplace
I sat down with Titilayo Taiwo, the founder and chief operating officer of Terawork.com to get to know her and how she co-founded Africa’s leading one-stop talent marketplace. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m Titilayo Taiwo, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at TERAWORK.COM LIMITED. I oversee TERAWORK’s operations; strategic partnerships and I’m also involved in building exceptional teams and driving revenue. I am a Biochemist turned Operations/Human Resources expert with over 10 years of experience that spans Wellness, Oil & Gas, Software Design & Development. I am also a partner and volunteer in various charity organizations. I’m passionate about youth empowerment and I’m very committed to building tools to help people work better together and more effectively. I also enjoy wining and dining with families and friends for relaxation. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line? My ‘why’ is all about the vision and the impact opportunity, I am doing my part by using digital technology to contribute towards solving the long age unemployment problem in Africa. My goal is to see freelancers on our platform earn billions of dollars while helping millions of businesses of all sizes to grow and achieve their goals. I wake up everyday to ensure that TERAWORK grows into a company that has real impact on the lives of millions of African sellers and buyers. On motivation I regularly review our goals and progress because I find that seeing progress is a great motivator in itself, and also goes a long way in improving my self-esteem. How has your entrepreneurship journey been so far? As a result of my hands-on experience, I’ve been featured on several entrepreneurship panels and master classes hosted by Enterprise Development Centre(EDC), Webtv, Churches, Schools etc. I was celebrated by Sterling Bank Plc alongside 5 other women nationwide during the International Women’s Day Celebration in February 2020, as a founder and a leader of a company that strives to give equal opportunities to women. I’m also in the 2021 Cohort of AWS Activate Africa for Africa’s inspiring women start ups founders and leaders. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? I’ve never wanted to be an entrepreneur, let alone a serial one. But I absolutely love it now and would never trade it for another occupation. I love the freedom of being able to be wherever you want, with whomever you want, doing whatever you want to. It’s truly priceless. I love a constant challenge, and the endless opportunities to learn and grow one’s mind. I also love that as my business grows and becomes more successful, it has different challenges and needs that require me to adapt yet again and grow too. But for me the best part about being an entrepreneur is being in charge of your own destiny. When we’re born, we’re placed into a custody of our parents. Then our society. Schools. Corporations. Entrepreneurs get to break free and take control of their own lives. It’s exhilarating and rewarding. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. TERAWORK is a freelance marketplace that is helping small business owners by giving them the support and access to any competent talent they need to succeed. We provide businesses with on-demand affordable and quality freelancing services in legal, accounting, social media management, software development and 54 other service categories to grow. From the comfort of their homes and within a few hours, they can hire vetted on demand professionals which enables them to focus on building their businesses and save operational costs by 40%. Our Escrow system ensures that they don’t have to pay for substandard jobs any more. With TERAWORK value is guaranteed or you get your money back. You can learn more and sign up by visiting our website at https://www.terawork.com/. How have you carved a niche for yourself in your industry? We did so by focusing on just one pain point – the hassle of hiring cost effective quality talent. Our offering of on-demand quality and proven talent with an escrow system that guarantees value or money back is unique. What would you say has been pivotal to your growth and success so far? My growth mindset; my belief that skills are built, and that new abilities can be developed through practice and effort. I strongly believe in my capacity to learn and grow, and that my intelligence can be developed. I tend to persist in the face of setbacks, take on board and even invite feedback and find inspiration those around me. I see life as an endless opportunity to figure out new things and appreciate that failure is part and parcel of learning and progressing – it’s necessary and therefore not something to shy away from. I also understand that mastery of a skill takes persistence, practice and time. What’s the best advice you have received in business that you wish to pass on to our community? It’s actually a quote by Steve Jobs, ”Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you; the aircraft, vessels, etc. And you can change it, you can influence it…, once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again” What’s your number 1 tip for anyone struggling to overcome entrepreneurial overwhelm and keep going? Learn to do less; the first step to dealing with this is to accept that you’ll never get it all done. I know that’s hard to accept and say, but it’s a reality. Once we acknowledge that, we feel less stressed because we have less resistance to trying to do it to all. Remind yourself every day that it’s not about getting more done. It’s about getting results that matter. “Do three things well, not ten things badly.” Then outsource, that is why we created TERAWORK! Titilayo is currently on the High Growth Coaching Program hard at work to grow TERAWORK into a global talent marketplace where value is always guaranteed.
HGCP 2021 Participants: Bethel Bekee, the founder of Whip-Smart Service Providers Limited on working everyday to improve families.
I sat down with Bethel Bekee, the founder of Whip-Smart Service Providers Limited to get to know her and find out more about her business. Tell us a little about yourself. I was born in River State and then I relocated to Lagos about 3 years ago. I am the last born of 5 siblings. I am very passionate about family because family is the basic unit of life and I have great affection for children. I love to travel, I love studying and enjoy cooking. I am the kind of person that jumps into every available opportunity and sometimes I create my own when I need to. I worked with international organizations for over 5 years before I started my company Whip-smart Service Providers Limited. Tell us a bit about your background – how did you get to this point? I’ve always been resilient and persistent, a go-getter. As soon as I graduated, I made sure that I became independent. I started working at a hospital where I would get referrals from consultants. I have had the privilege of working in one of the best pediatric hospitals in Abuja. It was such an amazing experience because my love for kids is just enormous. It was while I was working there that I got another referral to enter into the NGO space. It took about 2 years for me to finally take the bold step of resigning my good paying job where I was close to getting promoted to start my business. It was a tough decision but I am glad that I made it. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line? The fact that I’m helping families is so fulfilling, I am driven by the knowledge that I am helping young women to better themselves and families to thrive and groom their children into adults that will one day contribute positively to society. In my line of business, everyday you get to see a different version of yourself, and seeing a better version of myself everyday is one thing that motivates and drives me to go out there each day to conquer. Describe a typical day for you? I start my day by praying as soon as I wake up, then I’m ready to go. At the office I start by reviewing work from the previous day to ensure that tasks are completed as they should be. Once that’s done I look through my to-do-schedule made the previous night and ensure I carry on those activities diligently. I show up every day motivated, and I reward myself for jobs completed. I like to surf the internet every day to learn something new. My work involves a lot of creative problem solving and leadership skills. After work, I go home where I take a little nap to rest before I begin planning for the next day. In the evenings I either read a book, watch tv, or take an online course before I sleep. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? In 2017, I got two certifications from University of Washington, which was a big deal for me. I now also have certifications in sales and marketing. Starting up my company in 2018 was one of the bravest steps I ever took and one of my greatest achievements. In the last 3 years, we have served over 400 families and we’ve mentored over 400 staff and helped build their professional skills. I am also proud of the fact that I’ve built a strong team responsible for following up, staff management and supervision. We have developed better strategies to meet our weekly and monthly targets, and it’s been tremendously encouraging to meet those numbers. We’ve advocated for a number of domestic staff and have pretty much done everything possible to dignify the profession. What or who has been your greatest influence in business and why? My dad, he is an engineer whose job is dedicated to solving problems and improving lives on a daily basis. He has a great work ethic which I admire very much. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? The best part of my job is client satisfaction, just seeing the gratitude and knowing that I did something that will change someone’s life for the best. My least favorite part are the endless activities that form part of the journey to client satisfaction. There are so many things that have to be put in place for a customer to be satisfied. It is a tough task especially if you’re like me and you’re always striving to be the best at what you do. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. Whip-Smart Service Providers Limited is a domestic staffing recruitment company. We help families and homes recruit skilled, experienced domestic staff and caregivers. We carry out background checks and medical checks. We train, supervise and monitor our staff, then outsource them to clients in need. We offer our services for the least amount of money, and we do this by offering different packages for different clients. Our mission is to help our clients get the right help for their family. You can see more about us on our website at https://whip-smart.org.ng/ or like our Facebook Page. What would you say has been pivotal to your growth and success so far? Consistency, remaining consistent makes all the difference. Every entrepreneur must stay consistent in their journey, they must be patient and resilient. Give your best everyday to your business and someday you will see your business grow and all your dreams come true. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur a) Critical thinking (b) Customer service and C) Analytical problem solving skills What’s the best advice you have received in business that you wish to pass on to our community? You must realize that being a business owner can be a lonely journey. It is all about rocking the boat. You have to consistently and
HGCP 2021 Participants: Ruth Agbasimalo birthed her skincare brand, Omari Skin, from a place of frustration.
I sat down with Ruth Agbasimalo, the founder and managing director of Omari Skin to get to know her and find out more about the inspiration behind Omari Skin. Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Ruth, I am the founder and managing director of Omari Skin. I am a former software developer who loves learning and doing research as I’m always looking more information to increase my knowledge. I am passionate about skincare and business. Tell us a bit about your background – how did you get to this point? I studied Computer Engineering at Covenant University and it was during this time that I got to know myself and figured out that I had a knack for business. I started my first business when I saw a need, I saw that a lot of students wore shoes that were worn out during the rain. So I asked my dad to get me stock and began selling umbrellas and shoes. After I graduated, I went on to work for Andela and during this time I started selling wig making tools and make-up brushes. I am now running Omari Skin while working for a corporation as a product manager. What do you do for fun? For fun and to wind down, I love to go out, clubbing and hanging out with my friends. Now that I am a mother, I have become somewhat of a homebody. When I’m at home I make clothes and watch Netflix, I enjoy detective shows such as Lucifer, Criminal minds and Hawaii Five-O. Describe a typical day for you? First thing I do when I wake up is my prayers, then I have a cup of tea and workout before I go on with my day. I start at work by checking my emails, then I tackle my day which I typically have planned from the day before. At around 2:00 pm I hang with my kids and afterwards I either finish my work or take a nap. I like to have everything planned ahead and ready to go instead of moving from one task to another haphazardly. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line? and how do you stay motivated? I birthed Omari skin from a place of frustration. I developed boils over my body right after giving and I kept taking antibiotics that did not help at all. The Nigerian skincare industry is saturated with skin lightening product and has no other product offerings. I didn’t set out to start a business but wanted to learn more about skin. When I started doing research, that’s when I finally figured out that I was using products that damaged my skin. During the time I was learning more about skin I got my certifications and began making my own products to address my skin issues. About 6-8 months after the whole ordeal, I started the business. My biggest goal was to help people to understand their skin so they could make sure that whatever they put on their skin is good for them. I wanted to help people make educated choices. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? My biggest achievement is my attitude towards work. I love what I’m doing which is something not everyone can say for themselves. I love that my business allows me that space to care about the customer, which is also one of our biggest achievement. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? Funny enough, this is my most favorite and also my least favorite. and that is the fact that business is so unpredictable. I’m constantly moving and changing with the climate of things, I love it when it plays to my strengths and hate it when it doesn’t. What or who has been your greatest influence in business and why? My dad, I grew up knowing he was an entrepreneur. He has a pharmaceutical company and I learnt a lot watching him grow from having a shop to having his own factory. He encourages and inspires me. How did you come up with the name for your company? Omari is derived from an Ibi word Omaricha which means beauty. We wanted people to feel beautiful in their own skin. So our business is literally called beautiful skin. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. Omari skin is a brand that focuses on educating millennials about their skin. We provide research backed skincare products for millennials. We are fully remote at the moment because the company started during the pandemic although we do have a factory where we do manufacturing, testing, production, packaging, quality control, and storage of our products. You can see our product offerings at https://omariskin.com/ or follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/omariskin/. What has been a make or break moment in your entrepreneurial journey? For Omari Skin, it was when we got our first customer. I sat down, looked at them and cried and that was when I knew I wanted to keep doing this. Every time we get reviews from clients about what our products did for them, it touches a part of my heart. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. What’s been your favorite mistake that you made in your business and what did you learn? Undervaluing my business. I put more value on what the customer’s opinion of my brand was instead of the value that my brand brings to customers. After a lot of explaining myself , we ended up totally rebranding. I learnt that you cannot put a price to the value your brand brings to your customer. The most important thing you can do is to communicate that value to your customer. How have you carved a niche for yourself in your industry? Our competitive advantage is that we focus on something that other skincare brands aren’t focusing on – which is skin education as well as being customer centric. We offer a 30-day money back
HGCP 2021 Participants: Founder of Jasmine Ultra Blue Solutions Susanne is motivated by seeing people around her succeed.
I sat down with Susanne Onuminya, the founder of Jasmine Ultra Blue Solutions to get to know her and find out more about JUBS. Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Susanne. I am a Biochemist, Safety professional and public health enthusiast. I was born in Lagos and I am married with a beautiful daughter. I worked in clinical health, oil and gas and sales industries before I became an entrepreneur. I love networking, meeting new people and making friends and my passion is helping people. What motivates you? I am motivated by seeing people around me succeed, knowing that I’m providing a solution that impacts a lot of lives is what drives me. I love knowing that my daughter will be proud to call me her mother one day. Describe a typical day for you. I’m usually awake up by 6:00 am, then I make breakfast and get my daughter ready for school and drop her off. After dropping her off , I watch a live motivational video while doing my morning exercise. I usually start my word day with meetings, then I do my work for the day and courses on my HGCP curriculum. Around 2:00 pm, I pick up my daughter from school and continue working. After work I bond with family, and then later I do more HGCP courses. What do you feel are your biggest achievements? My biggest achievements …, I don’t feel like I have achieved them yet. I’ll say being part of HGCP 2021 and Future Females Business school. My biggest achievement will be when we finally open a physical JUBS center. What do you do for fun/relaxation? I hang out with my friends. I also read books – mostly business books, motivational books, medical books or books written by women. I also enjoy watching movies. If you had to write a book, it would be on what and why? Oh, I’m definitely going to write one, on transitioning from your 20s to 3os. Your 20s are Smooth, your 30s are not and nobody tells us these things. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? I’d say being able to see your vision for your business come to life. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential client. JUBS is a health solutions provider. We have an Ultra Blue Women Support group where we give support and educate women on living a healthy lifestyle. We also offer convenient health services to our clients such as vaccinations, diagnostics, and medical services. We have full time and locum doctors that provide services to our clients. We also sell health products such as supplements on request by customers as part of our packages. We sell to upper and middle class millennials. We started with women but have expanded to sell to men and also corporate organisations. You can read more about our services at https://jasmineultrabluesolutions.com/ What was the inspiration behind JUBS, what led you to taking that first step and setting up your own business? I saw a need and decided to provide a solution. After I had my daughter, I needed to lose weight because of health complications. I tried many different things that just didn’t work. This experience helped me realise that a lot of women have a need for convenient health services to meet their needs with ease of access and minimum disturbance to their daily schedule. I started with Ultra Blue Women Support Group and then expanded to all our present products and services. What’s been your favorite mistake that you made in your business and what did you learn? I’d say winging it instead of properly structuring the business, foe example believing that an aspect of the business is too small to structure and set up standard processes for. We are now at a point where we are almost restarting the entire business because we have to establish standard processes to make sure that it’s structured properly and running efficiently. What challenges have you faced first as a founder and then as a female founder? I have actually been extremely blessed in my journey as a business woman. I have received access to a lot of resources as a female founder. There are also a lot of opportunities to network and for growth. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur? Innovative, networking (charisma), handle many things at the same time What entrepreneurial tricks have you discovered to keep you focused and productive in your day-to-day busy schedule? Delegating is very important as it allows you to stay focused on your vision. One must also maintain a healthy balance between optimism and realism. What’s the best advice you have received in business that you wish to pass on to our community? You need people everywhere – inside and outside the business. Having the right people around you makes all the difference. What business-related book has inspired you the most? (or, what is your favorite book) ? Hmm, I’ll say Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. This is a book by Nell Scovell and Sheryl Sandberg. Susanne is currently on the High Growth Coaching Program hard at work preparing JUBS to grow and scale to being a household name in the health industry. You can stay tuned to JUBS on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/ultrajasmine?_rdc=1&_rdr and follow Susanne on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the_health_aficionado/.
HGCP 2021 Participants: Victoria Ajayi founded Chow Noodle Bar from her drive to find her purpose.
I sat down with Victoria Ajayi, the visionary founder of Chow Noodle Bar to get to know her and find out more about the inspiration behind Nigerian’s Chinese food noodle bar. Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Victoria Ajayi. I was born and raised in Lagos. I later moved to the UK for my tertiary education, where I studied pharmacy and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years in the UK. I am married with 2 kids, which keeps me busy and really put things into perspective. I am a strong leader who is passionate about my own development as well as that of others around me. I am quirky with a weird sense of humor. I laugh easily, I love easy and I throw myself and all I have into everything I do. What is your ‘why’ i.e. bottom line? I have a purpose and agenda. I am motivated by the drive to find my purpose and live it out in all areas of my life. I want to die empty knowing I did my best and gave my best and lived my best life. What do you do for fun/relaxation? I enjoy going to the movies, hanging out with friends and reading. I read some fiction and a lot of books about self discovery, purpose and self-development. Fun fact about me is that I enjoy watching movies without sound (with subtitles of course). What do you feel are your biggest achievements? Having taken my business from inception to where it is today. I am also very proud of my volunteer work where we run community empowerment initiatives. We recently had a Children’s Drive for Valentine’s Day where we spent the day with children on the streets and gave them parcels with colouring books, food, devotionals and colouring pencils. We also held a Widows outreach for International Widows Day where the ladies came together to share their experiences with people who understand what they’re going through. We also gave the ladies makeovers. It was an emotional healing session. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? My favorite part of being an entrepreneur would have to be learning the different aspects of running a business. Figuring out what needs to be done and getting it done. What was the inspiration behind your business and how did you come up with the name for your company? Chow Noodle Bar was birthed in uni. There was a restaurant/diner we frequented that had affordable generous portions and that is what I decided to go for and bring home. I am very passionate about this business and when I started I was very selective about my team so they can share my passion. I am constantly working on identifying areas of self-improvement for them and myself which will in turn grow my business. Well, there’s three parts to the name. Chow is a Nigerian & Chinese term that everyone associates with food, Noodle because we knew we were making Noodles (duh) and Bar because we were going for a casual bar setting as opposed to a formal restaurant setting. Introduce your company the way you would to a potential customer. At Chow Noodle Bar we are all about providing an authentic tasteful and vibrant Asian street food experience. We have positioned ourselves to cater for those with a fast lifestyle who eat out at least once a day because of long hours. What has been a make or break moment in your entrepreneurial journey? When I was pregnant with my first son, the business was still new and I was still doing everything myself. It was a very challenging time and I wasn’t in a position to hire anyone so I had to either carry on by myself or quit. I carried on and managed through the ups and downs of pregnancy and got done what needed to get done. How have you carved a niche for yourself in your industry? We’ve established and positioned our brand as a household name through packaging. Where do you see your business in the next 5 years? My goal is for Chow Noodle Bar to become a Franchise model with multiple stores around Africa. We also want to host a training academy for youth that focuses on skill acquisition such as offering internships in different industries using our franchises. What’s been the most significant thing you’ve done to grow your business? I’d say constantly asking and listening to what the customer wants and then changing and evolving with our customers. What would you say are the top three characteristics needed to be a successful entrepreneur? Having a spirit f persistence and determination, leadership and having a clear sense of purpose and self awareness, having values and staying true to them. What entrepreneurial tricks have you discovered to keep you focused and productive in your day-to-day busy schedule? Putting some system in place and automating and delegating as much as possible. What’s the best advice you have received in business that you wish to pass on to our community? Do not allow the state of things (in business, industry, economy etc.) to dictate your emotions. What is your favorite book? How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie What advice will you give young entrepreneurs who are just starting out?’ Have a clear plan and persist to make your plan come to pass. You must also be flexible. Victoria is currently on the High Growth Coaching Program hard at work preparing Chow Noodle Bar to grow and become a franchise model all across Africa.
HGCP 2021 Participants: Ibiwari Omoifo on how she used her love for Bole to start BoleBoxx with less than $100
BoleBoxx is a grill house located in Lekki, Lagos State. We embrace tradition and present local delicacies as we serve proteins such as poultry, seafood, roasted yams, plantains and sweet potatoes the local way. We also cater to events and large gatherings too.