SheaMoisture Spotlight on Finance Queen: Anie Ufia – founder of Kolo Lagos
SheaMoisture is the enduring and beautiful legacy of Sofi Tucker. Widowed with five children at 19, Grandma Sofi supported her family by selling handcrafted shea butter soaps and other creations in the village market in Sierra Leone. Sofi became known as a healer who shared the power of shea and African black soap with families throughout the countryside. She handed down her recipes to grandson Richelieu Dennis, who founded SheaMoisture and incorporated her wisdom into the brand’s hair and skin care innovations. SheaMoisture products and collections are formulated with natural, certified organic and fair trade ingredients, with the shea butter ethically-sourced from 15 co-ops in Northern Ghana as part of the company’s purpose-driven Community Commerce business model. SheaMoisture has partnered with She Leads Africa to support and showcase Nigerian women who support their communities. About Anie Ufia 22-year old Ufia Aniebietabasi is the CEO and founder of Kolo Lagos. She is a Mass Communication graduate from the University of Lagos. After an experience where she was shocked to find out that she had no savings of her own in a bank or anywhere else, Anie made up her mind to create a system that will make savings fun and a priority for her. Seeing the immediate results it had on her finances, she was determined to help other young people like herself, take control of their finances. You are sure to either catch Anie preaching the gospel of financial freedom or on the lookout for opportunities with which she can drive social change. Connect with Anie and her business here Website, Instagram, Twitter Tell us about Kolo Lagos. Kolo Lagos is a proudly Nigerian brand that is passionate about bringing back the saving culture in a unique way. We aim to achieve this by encouraging people to save money in a piggy bank, popularly called “Kolo” in Nigeria. Our kolos are made from quality tested wood and specially handcrafted with love in Nigeria to help people curb overspending, grow a saving habit and stay disciplined while at it. How did you turn this habit into a business? I started Kolo Lagos during my final year at the University. I suddenly realized that I had zero savings, not in the bank or even in a piggy bank. This made me buy a piggy bank for myself and discipline myself to save money. I bought one from a carpenter that was introduced to me by a friend. Since it worked for me, I told my friends about it and everyone wanted a piggy bank so they could save money as well. That was how the journey began! Having a niche business, how do you make your brand stand out? At Kolo Lagos, our kolos are crafted and designed to promote the rich and beautiful culture in Nigeria and Africa. They have also added an innovative touch to an old approach of saving money which was used since the days of our forefathers. The reusability of our Kolos has also added a modern twist to it and is the ‘WOW’ factor that attracts our customers. Can you share with us 3 things you struggled with at the start of your business, and how you overcame them? The major challenge I struggled with at the start of my business was building brand loyalty. It was a new business and with the prevalence of online fraud, most people are scared to make a purchase from an online store. However, as the business grew, people began to trust us enough to refer us to friends and relatives. I have now moved from selling kolos to just friends and family but to people who discover us via the internet. Another big challenge I struggled with was finding artisans who knew their onions, could deliver neatly done jobs, and deliver them on time. I am glad that I have overcome that challenge since I have a particular one I now work with… Tell us about a personal experience that translated to a business lesson for you. My first business lesson was before I even began my business. I had given a fashion designer a fabric and style to make an outfit for me. I decided to come to get it at the allotted time the tailor gave me, but despite the sufficient time I gave, my dress wasn’t ready. It was quite annoying and frustrating, to say the least. So I took that lesson with me to Kolo Lagos when I started it. Working with artisans means that I constantly have to follow up, make calls and even go there physically if need be, just to ensure that everything is done well and on time. That experience stayed with me and has been a major lesson that has helped my business. What impact have you made in your community since starting your business? Since starting my business, I have impacted my community by speaking at workshops and seminars to both young and old people about money, and why it’s important to maintain a healthy saving lifestyle. What is your 2019 goal, and what have you done so far to achieve it? My goal for 2019 is to get more local distributors within Nigeria and at least one international distributor in order to achieve the goal of selling 2,000 kolos this year. I am currently speaking with someone who is interested in becoming an international distributor. Share with us 3 fun facts about yourself I love food. Food loves me. Food makes me happy. I know how to play drums. What’s your fave skin care routine? My skin care routine is done at night when I get to nicely cleanse my skin with my organic skin products, and prep for the night before going to bed. How do you feel about promoting your brand on She Leads Africa, courtesy of SheaMoisture? To be totally honest, I am still in utter shock even as I type this. I remember when I applied for it and a part of me
FACEBOOK LIVE WITH JUDITH OWIGAR: HOW I BUILT MY BUSINESS TO DRIVE SOCIAL CHANGE (AUG 22)
What impact does your business have in your community? It’s no news that companies take Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously. It’s like a magic door that opens up more opportunities and this is why. The world is ever-changing and businesses are looking for more ways to connect with their customers. As a BOSS Lady, beyond making the $$$, you need to look at the bigger picture on how you can create a positive change in your community. Firstly, when your business is seen making an impact, it shows that you have an interest in social issues which will help raise your company profile, attract new customers and/or identify new opportunities. Ain’t that the goal? Remember, being socially responsible is good for the bottom line. If you want to learn how to create, craft and manage social change strategies, join us on Thursday, August 22nd, for a Facebook Live with Judith Owigar, founder of JuaKali Workforce, who’ll be dishing out tips to help your business aim for change. Some of the topics we’ll cover: How to discover what social issues are most relevant to you and your community. 5 different ways your business can create a positive social change while you make profit. Finding purpose and grit in social projects. Impact vs Sustainability. Facebook LIVE details: Date: Thursday, August 22nd, 2019 Time: 12PM Lagos // 1PM Joburg// 2PM Nairobi Watch Facebook Live with Judith: About Judith Judith Owigar is passionate about initiatives involving youth, women and all things technology. With a Masters in Applied Computing from the University of Nairobi, she’s the founder JuaKali Workforce, an online micro-jobs platform that connects young people to short term jobs in Kenya’s informal sector. In 2015, Judith shared a panel with President Barack Obama of the U. S. and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. She is a 2015 East African Acumen Fellow and a 2014 international Focus fellow. She has been named as one of the Top 40 under 40 women by the Business Daily newspaper in Kenya and has been recognized with the Anita Borg Change Agent Award by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.
The Queen of Representation – From Botswana to the world
“The A-Girls are exceptional, black vinyl dolls that appreciate the African girl of today, with all her versatility and diversity”. Dolls are part of a girl’s introduction to what is considered ‘beautiful’. According to Bakani, creating the brand was essential in order to excavate and resuscitate what African beauty is. Until August 2016, Bakani July Johnson was a Lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB) in the Social Work Department. She holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work and has worked intensively in the psychosocial field since 2004, gaining experience with Botswana Baylor Children’s Clinic as a social welfare case manager. Prior to that, she worked with the Government of Botswana as a Social Welfare officer. After years of ideating, planning and testing, Bakani left the UB and started her doll-making business. Bakani is a social entrepreneur and is constantly looking for ways to enhance the lives of others. She is also a founding trustee of Musani Family Care Foundation, an organization that focusses on the restoration of Botswana’s family unit, and offers accommodation to families in transition, mostly caregivers of hospitalized patients who come from far off villages. Musani Family Care Foundation seeks to bridge the gap by providing temporary housing and support for these families who need it most, at no cost. Connect with Bakani and her business on social media. Why it is important for me to make the dolls… I have always loved children. I am forever looking for ways to enhance their wellbeing and this led to the realization that there were no black dolls to use during clinical sessions with my little patients. As a social worker, dolls are some of the symbolic tools used for communication during sessions. However, more often than not, the dolls that were donated looked nothing like the children I worked with. This became a query, to manufactures and it was not a pretty feeling as it was seen from the point of exclusion. I realized that I could continue with the feeling of being ‘left out’ as a black African girl, or I could do something about it. The research allowed me to see that I, and others like me, were never a concern for doll-makers; they had their own market and concerns. Whatever I could find was by sheer luck. I refused to use divisive story-telling or to accept that it was ‘someone else’s fault’ that as Batswana – and Africans – we don’t have black dolls. The more I searched, the more I was challenged to create the doll I was looking for. I worked from thought to product, beginning in 2007. The effect representation has on young Batswana /African girls… We have for the longest time been portrayed as ugly, and not a representation of beauty. If you research dolls throughout history, you will not like what you see. We have been ‘caricatured’ through the years and our features ridiculed. Our natural hair is still a full-on debate today. With the dolls, I am simply excavating and resuscitating a black girl’s beauty. The idea of the dolls was to trigger an emotional response and to ensure that we put African girls faces on beauty, with a clear understanding that it is our responsibility to raise a new, confident African girl. The development of The African Girls Dolls is a winning communication tool targeting children. These are one-of-a-kind vinyl dolls that appreciate the diversity of African girls and were created with the realization of a lack of representation both commercially and in messaging for African children. Most props and toys used are of girls and boys are not of African descent. Through the African girls’ collection, I am constantly helping organizations to create a unique language of truths, trust, and symbols as part of visual storytelling and visual messaging. I understand that symbolically, images help us to understand abstract concepts that cannot always be translated into words and dolls have throughout history been symbols to communicate, appreciate and represent. Dolls are part of a girl’s introduction to what is considered ‘beautiful’, and speaking to that aspect we want to be able to say ‘she is so pretty, just like a doll’ – and actually talk about a doll that looks like her. Children are visual beings. They connect to things visually and will remember things seen more than things said. They connect with objects or pictures from memory. Africa and Botswana are about symbolism, or what things represent and communicate. If you listen in on doll play, your child communicates with what she sees. If her dolly is wearing beads she will have a conversation about that. The idea was to have dolls that are relevant to the children, thus when one looks at the dolls, they will realize that some have tutu skirts and modern symbols which represents a ‘modern girl’ whereas others are dressed in traditional Tswana regalia. Great dolls bring the thought of history, self, and admiration. Children from different ethnicities benefit from playing with dolls that are a different skin tone, make and versatility. Though dolls are not photocopies of the individual, we believe that to a small child the most important thing is that her little dolly is beautiful just like her, validating who she is and how she relates to herself. The role I see my dolls playing in a Motswana girl’s life This product, created by an African woman for African children is girl-centered for now and is self-esteem/self-efficacy based. More than play, the dolls are seen as communication tools that instill gender and ethnic pride as a foundation for social skills. What you see and is preached becomes a norm. If everyone talks about ‘light-skinned’ being better, children will want that. I want parents to hand the dolls to the children without influencing the children’s taste about them. I have involved a few people in the crafting of the dolls from those that design the clothes to those that do the hair and packaging. I am