JOY PHALA: On switching careers and starting afresh
“One gets to a point where you feel as though the work you do is not fulfilling. When one dreads getting out of bed to go to work, you pretty much know something needs to change!” After years of being a Management Consultant with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Joy Phala left the security of her job to venture into what captivated and excited her, in a whole new industry. She switched careers from management consultancy to landscape design and growing fresh produce. She is now a landscape designer and founder of Organic Kitchen Gardens. We got into her psyche and asked her for some pointers on starting afresh. Tell us about Organic Kitchen Gardens and what you do for your clients. Organic Kitchen Gardens is an edible landscape design company for chefs, restaurants, and private residents through a design, installation and maintenance process. We create organic edible exterior spaces that reflect our client’s style and personal aesthetic. The concept came about as a result of wanting to create edible gardens that would fit into the urban and suburban environment without the typical farm look associated with fruit and vegetable gardening. Gardens that would reflect sustainable food production while demonstrating good landscape design. How did you know it was the right time to switch careers and how can one be sure of when to take such a bold step? For me, it was more a case of circumstances forcing me to take a particular direction in life more than it was timing. But if I was to generalize, I believe one gets to a point where you feel as though the work you do is not fulfilling. When one dreads getting out of bed to go to work, you pretty much know something needs to change. There’s no surety when it comes to making a change. The biggest risk is that it might not work, and that’s ok because it leaves room for one to gain a deeper understanding of who they are and where their creative genius lies. [bctt tweet=”It’s ok to be completely terrified because so is everyone else who starts out on the road less traveled. ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What advice do you have for those who want to switch careers, perhaps to a completely different industry too, but are too intimidated? It’s ok to be completely terrified because so is everyone else who starts out on the road less traveled. The realization that doing work that matters to me is more important than the fear that I’ll fail is what keeps me going. [bctt tweet=” The only way to know that your venture will work is how the market responds to it. So I literally just started… ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What steps did you take to prepare for entering a new industry and being successful in your new venture? It’s a great idea to understand the legal framework that governs the industry one is embarking on. It’s also a good idea to understand the existing market, the possible competition, and how the industry works, as long as we don’t use this preparation as a reason to hide from doing the work we know we are capable of doing. The nice thing about being an entrepreneur is that you just start. No one other than the marketplace has to qualify or validate your venture. I was one of those that did not get their ducks in a row before introducing my service to the market. The only way to know that your venture will work is how the market responds to it. So I literally just started. I did not learn about the industry while sitting on the sidelines preparing to get in, I learned while on the job and discovered there’s so much more to learn still. Also, I took informal courses and studied Landscape Design. [bctt tweet=”I want to remind Africans that we were practising organics before pre-colonialism days and way before Organic became a trend…” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What is your vision for Organic Kitchen Gardens? Do you see yourself changing the landscape of agriculture in the rest of Africa in the years to come? I want to create exterior outdoor spaces that people love to eat from, but also enjoy living in, outdoor spaces influenced by design and the lifestyles my clients lead. I want to also remind Africans that we were practicing organics before pre-colonialism days and way before Organic became a trend and we need to pick up where our ancestors left off and take center stage when it comes to issues of sustainability, biodiversity, and organic land care. [bctt tweet=”There’s no surety when it comes to making a change. The biggest risk is that it might not work, and that’s ok… ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Let’s talk about ‘Grow Organic’, your organic gardening course. What does it offer students? Grow Organic is a three-part course consisting of a fundamentals level, an Intermediary level, and an Advance level course. The aim is to educate delegates on how they can create their own edible oasis with organically grown vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs in an urban setting while supporting the development and success of the ecological environment around them. For now, the classes are conducted through a face-to-face interaction. You have two lovely boys; what is your fondest, and perhaps funniest memory to date of you, them and getting your hands dirty in your home garden? My boys are always experimenting with tasting leaves of herbs and edible flowers. My fondest memory is when I had asked them to pick and taste the flowers of Pineapple Sage Herb. It was the first time they had these edible flowers and they exclaimed, “Mommy, it tastes like sweeties!” I remember thinking how honored I am to be sharing this part of my life with them. Hopefully, they’ll pass it on to their children and children’s children. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your startup story with us.
“Grit, Tenacity, Humility, No Posing”: Toyin Odulate’s 7 Keys to Superior Product Positioning
When it comes to making lemonade out of life’s lemons, Toyin Odulate got the recipe down. Thanks to an unfortunate accident with her hair, she was able to turn that mishap into gold through her mama’s secret recipe (yes mama knows best), which led to the birth of Olori Cosmetics. However, if you have been in the entrepreneurship game, it does not take you long to realize that just because you have a magic product that works, people will automatically want to buy. Let’s face it, ladies, if your product was a dude who wants to take you out on a date, won’t you want him to some serious swag before he can get your digits? As the Country MD of Danone Nutricia and over a decade of managing international brands like Loreal, Toyin was able to get her kitchen start-up cosmetic brand to become a renown brand revolutionizing the cosmetic industry across key Sub-Saharan markets. Here are her top 7 to-dos to get customers to notice your products and fall in love (by choice or by force lol). Be Bodacious You can only have what you can imagine, so dream big. Make an ideal list of things you want your product or service to offer; the names of people you want using it and where you want your products sold. Harrods anyone??? Follow the Yellow Brick Road If your goal is to go to the emerald city, you need a plan to get you there. This is where parts of your business plan or ideal list start to come to life. A strategy forms the basis for a product roadmap and it also helps you focus on a specific target market instead of being everything to everyone. Innovate, Innovate, Innovate If you want them coming back for more, you have to keep things interesting. The content of the product can remain the same but you can experiment with different packaging. A perfect example is Body Shop; they are constantly updating their packaging making it more attractive and dynamic. Become a Conqueror You need to plan to dominate the shelf space at the stores you product is stocked. A strong shelf visibility ensures your product is seen and boosts buyer’s confidence. You may not have the liquid to execute a separate gondola for your brand like Coca-Cola but you can be creative with colors that will instantly attract the customer’s eye. Strive to get your products placed on eye-level and horizontally. Category captainship is your ultimate goal. Label Me Make sure you create a label that centers on your core information which include the name, what it does/purpose and what’s in it. You have to make sure that your products are positioned with the labels facing the consumer. This makes it easier for customers to decide within a second to pick your product. So ensure you conduct routine visits to shops that stock your products. Play the Incentive Game and Stay in the Game: When you do business, you have to always keep in mind that people want to know what’s in it for them. Stores hardly stock your products based on the brilliance of it, they want to make money at the end of the day. So how much of your margins are you willing to give in order to make sure your products are visible. Make margins work for you. The same goes for customers, reward their purchase with incentives. However, avoid being too generous so you don’t ruin the market. LinkedIn isn’t for show: Networks are meant to be leveraged, they are not meant to sit in your LinkedIn contacts list. The worst thing that can happen is that they say no but then again what if they say yes. So go for it, pitch your product/business, arrange a meet up, send free samples and basically do all you can to make your business succeed. Don’t be afraid to dream big, let is scare you then get over it and get to work. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
6 Ways to Harness and Monetize your Many Passions
Asides the obvious fact that the recent economic downturn has forced several young people to have multiple sources of income, it is quite the norm these days to meet people who have a full-time job and are running small businesses on the side. They are also known as “side hustles”, and even full-fledged companies complete with all the bells and whistles. Sincerely, it is now a reality that a single income cannot sustain a comfortable lifestyle and this has pushed the average young Nigerian to get creative and take a dip in the entrepreneurship pool. Here are six ways to convert your many interests to money in the bank: [bctt tweet=”Take on practices that will not only push you out of your comfort zone but also work on improving your weaknesses – @tolanithomas ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Leave your comfort zone Starting and running a business is not for the fainthearted, it will constantly push you out of your comfort zone. For example, if you have a fear of speaking to strangers, you will have to overcome that when networking and marketing your services to potential customers. Take on practices that will not only push you out of your comfort zone but also work on improving your weaknesses. You don’t have to be an expert, just be comfortable enough to deliver value that people want and need. You need more than passion It’s great to be passionate about your business ideas, but don’t let your enthusiasm blind you from reality. Be honest with yourself! Ensure there is a market to tap into and you are ready to put in the work. Get honest feedback from people around you; even friends and family by offering your services to them. You have to be truly good at what you do. Your passion could be making people’s faces up, but are you skilled enough to train others? Also bear in mind that as a business owner, you’ll be responsible for reporting taxes, marketing your business and sorting out your finances. Are you ready for all the responsibility? Offer Real Value What void can you fill in the market? For example, if you are a makeup artist and there is no makeup studio around you, that could be a viable business opportunity. The goal is to take advantage of the gaps in the market, that way you stand out and enjoy greater returns before the copycats join you in that space. Ask yourself how you can make the industry better? Is this the business that keeps your entrepreneurial juices flowing? Let’s say your passion is making furniture. Why are you better than your competitors? Is it because your materials are sourced locally? Or your products are unique and one of a kind? That would be more appealing to customers as opposed to buying generic mass-produced furniture. When I started my consulting company, I had used several competitors. I knew what made them great, but I also knew what I wanted that they didn’t offer. I knew how to better the services. I started it and here we are! [bctt tweet=”Six ways to convert your many interests to money in the bank: 1. Leave your comfort zone… ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Convert your Passion to Cash There are several ways to make money off your passions: Selling an actual product such as clothing, beauty products online or in a store. Sharing your knowledge about your passion by blogging, writing books or making videos. Between sponsorships, subscribers and selling your own products, you can make a decent living. For example, Arese Ugwu turned her passion for financial literacy into a book – The Smart Money Woman – into a book that is being sold in several countries in Africa and the UK. Offering consulting services by giving advice on anything from law to skincare. Investing in an idea you are willing to financially support. Creating a software or gadget that makes life easier for people. For example, if you were a makeup artist, you could create an app that helps people find the right makeup products for their skin tones. Start an event around your passion, such as a regular meetup, seminar or a festival. Make Fun a Priority Maintaining your passion when starting a legitimate business can be difficult. Some people even forget exactly why they started a business in the first place. To prevent that from happening, always make fun and passion a priority. Your passion should reflect on your company policies, your passion should be communicated to your employees when you are hiring and they have to be equally passionate about your business as well. [bctt tweet=”Don’t wait till you master the craft before you start your business. You can learn as you go – @tolanithomas ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Improve Your Skills It would be great if you have a lot of experience, however, don’t be too hard on yourself, there’s always room for growth and learning. For example, a furniture maker may be great are creating unique tables, but not so good at creating sofas. You can learn as you go along your journey, don’t wait till you master the craft before you start your business. Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any field. Nonetheless, don’t let the perceived amount of time it would take you to be the best at what you do deter you from moving ahead with your plan. It may not take you that long to master your craft, as you long as you keep looking for ways to improve your skills. Always ask for feedback and track your progress. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
Theodorah Manjo: Building a brand starts with being relatable
Popularly known as Miss Manjo on the Twitter streets, Theodorah Manjo is a digital marketer and online influencer with a thing for helping the unemployed better themselves. Her timeline exudes positivity and humility and through her social media content, her passion for guiding and assisting the unemployed through knowledge sharing and upliftment is hard to miss. In this interview, she talks about building and maintaining a brand online and how to put your best foot forward with your CV. You are essentially Twitter famous, how do you get to 63k+ followers? I came across a cool social media team called The Hand of Sas (now known as HOS) about two years ago and it was like having an online family. We spoke about everything social media, online etiquette and how to have an “online voice”. I learned how to speak to “strangers” in a familiar way, showing my personality and allowing people to be a part of my life even when they didn’t know. I started falling in love with the aspect of being able to reach & speak to people in provinces I have never been to, and it expanded to Africa. I’m now part of a team called #AfricaTweetChat where we discuss all things digital media with people from all corners of this continent. It makes me so happy! [bctt tweet=”Building a brand online starts with being relatable. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Building a brand really starts with being relatable, following and talking to people and understanding that everyone will always be “strong” behind a screen & you shouldn’t take what people say online to heart because you WILL break. Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure that you will be able to stand by that even 6 years from now because once it’s out there, somebody has already screen-grabbed it. How do you use your influencer status to continue to build your brand? It is all relationship building, making connections and again, being relatable to your audience. The biggest thing is being true to what your story is, you are either a food enthusiast, a budding entrepreneur, an artist or a student going through the motions. People follow you because they can ‘relate’ or they can learn from you and enjoy your content. I have always been vocal on unemployment, social media characters/influencers and how to conduct yourself online. Through my content on those topics, people got to know what makes me tick. Yes, my content varies – I have jokes, I have rants, but most of all I engage with my followers. I want to know what other people are busy with, what makes their day and how I can connect with them NOW so that later, we can have a meaningful relationship. It has proven to be amazing and I have met & befriended a lot of wonderful people online. [bctt tweet=”Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure to stand by that even 6 years from now – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What is the ultimate story for Miss Manjo story? Hmm, what a thought-provoking question. What’s my story? I want to be able to reach and teach at least one person a month, at least ten people in a year. I want my presence online to be relevant and make sense. It’s not about me, it’s about us – how do WE get better at this life thing together?! Celebrate yourself. Are you happy, are you giving and are you helping someone be a better version of themselves? – These are my heart notes to myself daily. What is your strategy for online brand preservation? Think ahead! I want to be big in my industry, I want kids one day – will what I put out there make my future baby girl cringe? Will it result in me having a meeting with my CEO about being too expressive? If questioned about what I tweet personally, will I be able to look at the person in the eye, and stand by what I said without quivering?. I am still a person at the end of the day, things make me angry, people make me angry but what will this mean for me tomorrow morning? Is this who I want SA & Africa to think I am? Practice what you preach or change your speech. And sometimes, there is beauty in silence! [bctt tweet=”Practice what you preach or change your speech. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] On helping the youth get jobs, and keep them! How did the passion to guide and assist the unemployed come about? I started working at a recruitment agency while I was in between jobs. I only stayed three months because my spirit didn’t really agree with how recruitment worked in this particular place and also, I am a creative so I felt like I was boxed. The whole trend was that they would find people already in employment and headhunt them when in reality there are thousands of people who are unemployed and have the right skills. Through my frustrations of not finding candidates for my roles, I created a Facebook page and I wanted to explore a medium that had a lot of “word of mouth” but with individuals who may not all be employed, and that was how “I Need Someone Who…JOBS” was created on a Tuesday afternoon, without my team leader knowing. It was a risk in that I would probably get kicked out of my job or receive a warning, but my gut didn’t let me down; I was ready to fight for this cause even if meant I would have to be moved to an admin position due to disobedience. This is where I discovered just how much heart I had for those who were unemployed, because a month ago, I didn’t know where to look for a job, nor did I have the means to, but thanks to friends and connections I was lead to this place that has allowed me to change potentially thousands of South
Tolulope Tunde-Ajiboye: Life lessons from my journey to new beginnings
Coming into my 33rd year is very special, as it marks my 20th year of walking with God, 10 years of marriage, 10 years of parenting, 10 years of being a professional and the birthing of something new – Blooming Amazons. I will be sharing life lessons I’ve learned through the journey. Before you begin, grab a notepad and maybe a cool drink, because this is a long but eye-opening read. Living for the praises/ validation of men is futile This year, as it’s a pattern with me when something new is about to be birthed in me, all Hell would let loose and most times only a few can see what I m seeing. When Blooming Amazons were about to be birthed, I had people who I taught should be excited about the new work say to me, cancel, it’s not time. I knew I heard God, so I went ahead, not allowing the opinion of anyone to deter me. At the end of our first conference in June, I had a few of them (who were Humble enough) say to me, you really heard God, after the conference, we are convinced. So I say to myself, what if I succumbed to all the pressures? Own your Journey as it is part of your process EVERYTHING we go through in life( The Good, Bad and Ugly) is all part of our becoming and it’s the enemy’s plan to keep us down with shame. God will never want us to be ashamed irrespective of where we have been. He’s more interested in where we are now and where we will spend eternity… We should find strength in our journey and own our story without prejudice, someone out there will draw strength from your journey. Always remember you are only a vessel When God does His work through us, there’s the temptation that people would start to put us on a pedestal of worship(very dangerous), we have to constantly remind them, it is God who is doing His work and we are only vessels, and He alone should take all the glory. If we are not deliberate about this, pride will set in (and it’s usually subtle). God resists the proud, the fear of being resisted by God alone should keep us humble. [bctt tweet=”Everything we go through in life – The Good, Bad and Ugly is all part of our becoming – @tolulopetaj” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Some things never grow old 1. Prayer These days when you say to people lets pray about this, it sounds like a cliché, like the normal thing Christians say, but I tell you the truth, Prayer changes things. Prayer is us admitting to God that we are limited and need His intervention in a particular situation. It’s a show of surrender and Humility. His answer may not come how we many it or when we want it, but He certainly answers. 2. Submission With all the feminism out there and being taken overboard, it assumes that submission is out-dated. I see submission as admitting that the power I have comes through me and not from me, I believe God knows the strength of a woman and if left unchecked can create chaos and that’s why He has commanded us to submit. Submission is more than an admonishing, it’s a command. So, I”m married to this amazing gentleman who allows me to have my way a lot of times, but when He puts his foot down, I know I have to submit, it might not be easy on the flesh, but every time I submit to my Husband, I notice He honors me more and He is spurred to do more for me. Irrespective of what I do outside of my Home, once I get to ABCVille,( How we like to call our Home), I’m first Babatunde’s wife before anything else. Being submissive isn’t the same as being subservient. 3. Loyalty I’m a believer in if you belong to a place, then give it your loyalty, if I start to doubt the integrity of a place I belong to, I would rather move on than to be two-faced. I still don’t know how people are able to sleep at night after hailing someone who they just cursed behind their back. (lol.one of the first questions I will ask God when we get to heaven). God is a loving Father A lot of us have this fearful, awfull picture of God, perhaps painted to us as children from Sunday school days, but it’s not true about Him, we should fear God in reverence, but not an awful kind of fear. God isn’t like the Nigerian traffic police (lastma) lol, hiding and just waiting for us to fail so He can hit us with His rod of correction of sickness, diseases or crisis… Rather, He loves us with an everlasting, I like to call it a ‘reckless love’. The Bible makes us know He doesn’t want the sinner to perish, it is never His will for anyone to perish, and it is never God who puts crises on people, all good and perfect gifts come from Him and its impossible for Him to do evil. [bctt tweet=”Next time you find yourself “falling”, remember, God’s love is waiting with hands open wide to receive you back – @tolulopetaj” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Feelings are a bad master but a good servant As Christians, we can’t be ruled by our feelings, they will mislead us. We are first a spirit, then we have a soul and live in a body, Our soul is responsible for our emotions but as strong as emotions are, they are in no match to what our spirit carries. Our life should be guided by the spirit. So Here was I, tongue-talking, demon chasing daughter of God, being attracted to some other person, of course I know to Kill that emotion because it is not leading to anywhere good. Anger, Jealousy, Fear, all these are emotions and should be put in
Juka Ceesay on partnering with Walmart: “I wanted to bring Africa to mainstream by contributing to its Economy”
Juka Ceesay was born and raised in The Gambia, Africa. She initially moved to the U.S to pursue accounting, modeling and acting. She was signed to one of the largest agencies for several years before she decided to fully focus on building a company that would help individuals, families, and villages throughout Africa. Therefore, she launched Juka’s Organic and partnered with female farmers to produce and cultivate the finest quality of Coconut Oil and Babao powder. Juka’s Organic is most popularly known for their Red Palm Oil, which the company offers pure and unrefined in a jar, in pill form for easier consumption and in their latest and popular Red Palm Oil sauce. Juka recently visited the women she partners with, in Africa and got to witness the long-term and growing impact her brand has been making in the Gambia, Mali amongst other villages throughout the continent. The company consists of her, her mother and a small team running daily operations from both Africa and in the U.S. She recently launched a deal with Walmart and her products are now available via Walmart’s website and in super region locations in the U.S. In this article, Juka speaks to SLA about how she’s taken her products from Africa to the world. About Juka’s Organic… Juka’s Organic Co. is Something invigorating, innovative, inspiring and wants to make a huge difference in the lives of people across the globe. We offer natural, healthy foods and beauty products to the American consumers from the continent of Africa that are not customarily accessible in the U.S market. All our products are 100% sustainable and ethically harvested. Our focal point is to also help the African farmers, particularly women, to supply their natural healthy products to the U.S market and around the world. My Inspiration to create Juka’s Organic… I owned and managed an African food market in Inglewood, Califonia, for several years. I realized there weren’t many African stores that opened their doors to the American consumers, everything was segregated and only African customers find themselves shopping in our stores. But seldom, the U.S customers we had were often fascinated by our products. This is when I knew something had to be done to bridge this gap. Also, we offered many of our products in the store amongst which we sold red palm oil. Most of our products were imported from the villages, including the red palm oil, hence the quality was superior to many brands in the market. People were really amazed by the authenticity of the oil and the consistency. This is around the same time Dr. Oz talked about the importance of adding red palm oil to your diet. But also, he has talked about many tips on his show that included products that were indigenous to Africa. It all came full circle, I always wanted to bring Africa to mainstream to contribute to its Economy. This is when the magic started unfolding, I soon made the decision to cynosure my attention to importing natural food and beauty products from Africa, harvested by women farmers. Knowing that this will not only benefit the African framers but it will also be of great service to health-conscious consumers that do not have access to some of these essential foods in the west. This is how Juka’s Organic Co. came to fruition. [bctt tweet=”The passion I have keeps me going – @Jukasorganic” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How the company is benefitting women in Africa… Juka’s Organic Co. plays a tremendous role in the lives of women we work within the villages and in Africa at large. We help them secure their own source of income throughout the year and grow their businesses. When we partner with these women, they know they can harvest products in large quantities and we are there to work with them through the process, as they often have issues with capital. Most of them used to produce just a small amount because if not, they would have a surplus in the market. Although most of these products grow in the wild, it still costs them money to obtain the products. They pay up front for the labor that they can’t do themselves and other logistics to get the products from point A to B. When we partner with them we fund them upfront to take care of the whole process including the cost of labor and their profit. They can also sustainably and comfortably harvest as much as possible without having the fare of surplus in the market which can lead to a loss. Most of these women in the villages have no other ways to maintain a decent income to pay for their children’s education or to simply put food on the table, so it is quite fulfilling to see them grow together with us. As we expand our consumer base this also means expansion for them in farming, business, and for a better livelihood. [bctt tweet=”Want to take your business from Africa to the US market? Learn from @Jukasorganic” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Tips for aspiring female entrepreneurs coming to tackle the U.S market… Find something you’re are passionate about, believe, and know that it takes a process. Don’t just do something for the drive of money. There will be times you might need something else to motivate you in the right direction and that the money might not be there right away. The only way to sustain that mission will be the passion you have for what you are doing. Do your homework. This will help you balance the passion to know that there is indeed consumer base for what you are passionate about. You also don’t want to do things just because you are passionate about it. Make sure not to get in a market base that is already saturated, and harder to penetrate as a startup. Don’t beat yourself up if things don’t work out as planned. Know that sometimes you might have the intention for a business
Quick Maths (4): How to build up an emergency fund for yourself with FSDH Asset Management
Save for the rainy day… it might take a little longer for the sun to shine! Welcome to the final part of our Quick Maths series by FSDH Asset Management, where we’re giving you simple personal finance tips you can master, to achieve your financial goals. In the last three series, we showed you how to generate income to start your business, how to diversify your income and how to get the best out of your net income and now we want to teach you how to save for the rainy day. What do you have saved for the rainy day? Nothing? We can plan for a lot of things in life, but sometimes, the unexpected just happens. These are the times you face bigger-than-expected bills, but having an emergency fund can make it easier. An emergency fund is money kept aside in case there are emergencies or problems in the future. Now, listen! An emergency fund isn’t for your everyday needs or special wants, so leave your sinful indulgences out of it, and no! flash sales are not emergencies either. We partnered with FSDH Asset Management Ltd to bring you this guide to help you understand why you need to have an emergency fund and how to start building up your emergency fund(s). [bctt tweet=”Having an emergency fund prepares you for the unexpected expenses yet to come – @fsdhcoralfunds” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Topics this guide will cover: What is an emergency fund? How much money should you have in an emergency fund? The difference between emergency funds and investments Ways to set aside emergency funds After reading this guide, you would be one step closer to achieving your financial goals. If you want to keep slaying in your finances, be sure to read up on our previous quick maths series, you’ll be glad you did! FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD – FSDH AM is a wholly owned subsidiary of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited. They are one of Nigeria’s leading asset management and financial advisory firm. FSDH AM is versatile in financial transactions and investment strategies that meet the need of investors in an emerging economy like Nigeria. They recognize that today’s investors need the services of dedicated and expert professionals to provide them with intelligent investment counsel. Therefore, their strategies are dedicated to preserving investors’ wealth while maximizing the value that they receive. Once you’re through with this guide, visit FSDH Asset Management Ltd to know more and get all your pressing questions answered. Getting access to this guide is easy: just fill out the form below to join our community and get access to this guide. This is the final part of our series but you can get all three series here. By joining our community, you also get to enjoy our AWESOME weekly content as well.
Fatou Wurie: Using innovation as a tool to deal with Psycho-social development
Fatou Wurie is the founder of (SDP). She is also an AWDF 2015 African Women Writers Workshop for Social Change participant, an Imperial NEXTe Award Recipient for ‘Young Professional of the year 2015’ and Illumessence Women’s National Award Honoree 2016. Her work has been featured on the Huffington Post, Forbes, MamaYe Campaign, UNICEF Innovations Blog, Amnesty International Digital Blog, The Journalist, and others. She is a passion-driven social activist, public speaker, and storyteller. Fatou is committed to project design that employs creativity and advocacy for policy impact which is influenced by her background in strategic communications for development. [bctt tweet=”During the Ebola crisis, I started an NGO that focused on looking at centralizing psycho-social health – @thefatoublog ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Tell us more about yourself I’m from Sierra Leone. I have been working on different projects in general health, women’s health, and women activism. During the Ebola crisis, I started an NGO that focused on looking at centralizing psycho-social health, women’s health, mental health as an intricate part of public health. We keep talking about service delivery and about fixing social institutions such as health care, but we don’t look at the fact that the country is in a constant state of crisis, and trauma. We need to create safe spaces where people can access mental health services to be able to ensure that we can increase the efficacy of service delivery. So, I did. I look at innovation and use it as a tool to deal with issues in health, education, and in gender issues through artistic means. So, I look at how we use tools to power our lives, especially African women’s lives and I try to broaden how we conceptualize and think about innovation. I guess I am not a business women in the traditional sense of the term. What inspired you to start the Survivor Dream project? SDB was born out of complete frustration. I worked in the development space for about five years, mainly in the sector of regional health and reproductive health. At that time, I was working as the gender and communication advisor for UNMEER. It was a very difficult time in Sierra Leone and I was frustrated with the development space. During the Ebola crisis and we were so overwhelmed that we were only focusing on breaking the transmission of the disease and getting more people to survive. We really didn’t focus as much on what happened to them after they had survived. We would give them fifty dollars, a mattress, and a certificate saying: “you are a survivor”, meaning that people would now be able to interact with them. I was interested in what happened after people had survived. We started the survivor dream project because we saw two gaps. First, we saw that, due to their role as caregiver, women were disproportionately affected by the crisis and disproportionately unsupported when they survived the disease, so we wanted to focus women and young. The second gap we identified was that apart from the people at the front line of the response, there wasn’t an actual national space for psycho-social support. People were surviving but they had no way to process what had happened to them. They had no means of dealing with internal trauma, PTSD, and anxiety. That’s how the project was born. I do not come from that background, I just saw a need and I was frustrated. I talked about it with a friend and two weeks later we had found a space. At the time, survivor conferences were held where they would provide food, give great speeches, do some artwork, and they would call it a day, which I thought was ridiculous. So, we just took twenty women we saw that was continuously going to the survivor conferences, and through a friend of mine, we gathered them and started working with them. What we initially offered that was revolutionary was space for women, who had lost everything, to come to cry to think, and to deal with trauma. A space that has the tools to manage their PTSD, their anxiety, and their depression. A space where we could bring in professionals to facilitate workshops and to link them with the resources available at the time. We tried to figure out the women and understand their issues. Their wants, their needs, and their demands are dictating what we offer while remaining as ethical as possible. These are people minds, spirits, and hearts we are dealing with. We are not dealing with building hospitals. We are dealing with people’s core so we must be careful about how we went about creating and maintaining that space. This period must have been very hard emotionally and physically. How did you survive it? I always feel that during these types of conversations I have to take a step back and check myself. Many people were playing their part and we were all so depressed. Unless you were in Sierra Leone, you wouldn’t understand. The entire country was in a state of shock. It was such a dark part of our reality, of our history. We had just come out of a cholera outbreak and a war. There were so many series of shocks that had daunted our community. And then the Ebola crisis came. People at first were not believing it, until their aunts, their cousins, and doctors started dying. And we were wondering how we could this. How do you tell someone who lives in a small room with ten other people not to touch them? How do you tell a woman whose mother is sick not to touch her? That is her mother, that is her husband, that is her daughter. You have to understand that this is a poverty-driven disease and it is poor people that are dying. For me, it was a duty. I wasn’t there during the war, I am very privileged, so I live in a very different kind of Sierra Leone. There is no way I cannot give back
Video: Koleka Putuma sends a Love Letter to Africa
South African slam poet Koleka Putuma delivers a powerful recitation of the poem she authored, entitled – “Love Letter to Africa.” Putuma uses the medium of the spoken word to express her love for Africa and to highlight the unique traditions, legacies, and culture of the African continent. Her words are carefully chosen and beautifully penned, but to see her speak the words that she has written is a spellbinding experience. Every part of her body speaks to her audience, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Watch her love letter to Africa here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IXiuCPvJvMc Putuma earned a degree in Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town, and she has traveled the globe delivering these mesmerizing performances in places as far afield as Glasgow, Scotland, and New York, USA. She was recognized on the Forbes Africa Under 30s list of creatives making waves for 2018. Other works by Putuma address important social issues facing African women, including health and education. Standard Bank Group is the largest African banking group by assets, with a market cap of approximately R317 billion (USD28 billion), offering a range of banking and related financial services across sub-Saharan Africa. Their strategy is to be an African focused, client-centered, digitally enabled universal financial services organization, which drives Africa’s growth and creates value for all our stakeholders. Our clients are at the center of everything they do. Standard Bank Group has a 155-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise in sub-Saharan Africa almost 30 years ago. They have an on-the-ground presence in 20 countries on the African continent, and solid local knowledge required to operate a successful business in Africa. Sponsored post.
Must Watch Television Shows On Your Radar
You consider yourself an empowered and independent woman, yes? But what media are you consuming? Series can be argued to be more effective than movies. Given the generally shorter length of time and ability to watch more often and more accessible. This is your guide to a few television series that you need to make time for as soon as possible. [bctt tweet=”Thinking of what TV you should be watching? We’ve got a few recommendations for you…” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Chewing Gum If you haven’t heard of Michaela Cole prior to reading this, you’re welcome. Your life is about to become dramatically more colorful and interesting. This show will have you laughing out loud, no doubt. It isn’t exactly new, as the second season was released in 2017. The third season is expected to go into production later this year so you have to catch up before that airs! This female-centric show follows Michaela Cole as the lead in her daily life with her religious mother and sister and her job as a check out girl. Things get interesting when she decides she is serious about losing her virginity and loosening those religious reins. Cole deals with sex and friendship in a relatable and humorous way. I found that as season one progressed, it just got better and richer as the characters developed. Cole’s sister on the show, Susie Wokoma, is an absolute treat in the second season. I won’t delve into too much detail about the specifics of her character development but it is so wonderfully worthwhile to watch. Mood? If you need a pick-me-up and want to laugh almost non-stop, then this is it. [bctt tweet=”Mood? If you need a pick-me-up and want to laugh almost non-stop, then watch this TV series” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Good Girls Netflix can be quite lovely with the recommendations based on previous shows you have watched. This is how I was lucky enough to find this. I managed to finish the first season consisting of 10 episodes in 2 days because I was that blown away. The show is centered on 3 mothers – Christina Hendricks of Mad Men, Retta of Parks and Recreation (I love her!) and Mae Whitman of Parenthood. It introduces their characters as hardworking but struggling to support their families financially given their minimum wage jobs. As viewers, you understand quickly that they’re in trouble and something desperate is about to happen as their respective expenses start to skyrocket. What I loved about the show was how it managed to successfully combine humor and drama so effortlessly. You connect with these women immediately and emphasize with them. They are presented as strong and willing to do anything for their families. Their growth throughout the episodes is brilliant to witness as they take control of their situations while supporting and uplifting each other through tough circumstances. Mood? A darker comedy and more dramatic, to be watched when you are feeling a bit broody. Easy This breaks the trend of the female-centered shows I’ve recommended thus far, but it is worthy of inclusion in the list. This content covers – relationships, dating, and gender roles. What makes it interesting is that each episode follows different characters and issues, there will be some links between characters across episodes but the show isn’t continuous. So each episode almost feels like a mini-movie which is highly satisfying. Topics covered in the first season (there are two seasons out) include a stay at home dad and a working mom and the impact of this change in the stereotypical gender roles on their sex lives (at a dinner party that they attend it is discussed that couples who follow the stereotypical gender roles have more sex). The issues are current and the episodes unfold in a manner that makes you think about your own opinion and wants to discuss it. Mood? Watch with a company so you can evaluate your opinions together. Also, some famous bodies pop up – you can’t drool over Orlando Bloom as a personal trainer alone. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.