My Fair Skin Attracts Lots of Admirers
As a child, my mum taught us to work hard always
My mum is quite hard working herself. I read nursing in the United Kingdom. My sisters are all medical doctors in the United Kingdom. At some point when I was in the UK, I decided that Nigeria was the best place to do what I was passionate about which was cosmetology. I started with my cosmetic and fashion line, and that was a few years ago. Then I diverted into interior decoration, and when I noticed that the economy had gone really bad with the recession, especially with the dollar exchange rate always going up, I thought of agriculture. I knew that was another activity that could help the economy. Agricultural goods are accessible by people within the country. It’s not something you need to travel outside the country to get. That was how I found myself in agriculture.
I encourage more women to become entrepreneurs
No job defines who you are and no job is too belittling. You can do the job and still look as cute or glamorous as you want to look. Women should know that hard work pays. The age we are in is not a time to sit, paint your nails and wait for money to fall on your lap. Or sit and expect a man to do it all. You have to get up, get out there and work. You can still be a farmer and look as beautiful as I look.
I get so many male admirers
I cannot count, but it’s natural to be admired by men, especially when you are fair skinned as I am. People believe my colour is flashy and attractive. I have a man in my life so I really don’t focus on other men.
Glam Goddess is the name of my cosmetics products
I got the name because my clients that buy my herbal cream and herbal soap say the products make their skin flawless. They decided to nickname me after my cosmetics products.
The herbs used in the soap are grown in Nigeria
And they are harvested here. They are roots and I mix the creams myself. I have customers in the UK and in the United States of America.
I would rather have a beautiful heart
I would rather have a beautiful heart than other fashion items. I am not the high heelwearing type; I walk a lot because of the businesses, but I wear high heels once in a while. I love handbags too.
How I started interior decoration
I started by putting things together for my friends and family. And then people saw them and liked them, then I started doing hotels and then from there, companies.
I love being self-dependent
I wanted to be self-employed, to plan my own time and work. I wanted to know where my strength lies and where my energy could take me. As I mentioned earlier, my siblings are medical doctors. My immediate elder sister is a medical doctor, my elder sister is a nurse, my mum is a retired nurse but I want to be more practical in Nigeria. I wanted to do something else.
I’m actualising the dream of having a different career from that of my family
Yes, it has been so amazing. I have gotten to a stage in my interior decorating job where I don’t strive so hard to get jobs. It has been God’s mercy. My cosmetic business has been great too. A good number of cosmetologists we have in Lagos and Abuja started with me. And the farming business has been awesome too. When I introduce myself that I am a farmer, people don’t believe me. Some say I am too flashy to do anything that has to do with farming. They take one look at my skin and how fair I am and say it’s not true. They say my skin does not look like one that goes under the sun. But I am a proud farmer. I am proud of being in the animal agriculture sector.
I do a wide range of farming
In my farm, we do snail farming, fishing, poultry and we also get eggs from the chicken. Then we also have vegetables. I have both retail and wholesale clients. You can never get enough of food. A lot of people can be in animal agriculture business and still the food will not be enough. We don’t have enough food to eat here in Nigeria let alone export.
Agriculture business is a business of patience
It’s a business you wait for to flourish. It’s not a business you go into and expect billions the next day. The high cost of feeds is affecting the business presently, but notwithstanding, it is a lucrative business.
My being more of a model than a farmer
I get such comments all the time that I don’t look like a farmer. I don’t do the dirty job of cleaning the wastes because I have farm attendants that do all that, but I go into the farm every time. I gear up, get in and supervise. I am always at the farm. I am very passionate about the animals I breed. I have to make sure everything runs well.
I wake up every 4a.m. in the past one and half years
I sleep at 11p.m. everyday too. When I wake up, I go to my laptop to create designs for my interior decoration. I create designs for my fashion line. I send emails and then I prepare my organic body soap and body cream. Then I move to the farm for a couple of meetings and then I retire home after the meetings. I don’t have a social life. I don’t go to clubs, parties or weddings. Doing one job makes me feel like I am lazy and that is why I am this multi-tasking. And I feel great whenever I wake up in the morning knowing that I am doing something positive with my life.
How government can help support budding entrepreneurs
Government can provide means for the serious ones. They should check the prospects of some of the key players in the sector, especially those that are contributing in a large way and help them expand. Agriculture is the new oil and it’s very lucrative. Every home needs me on a daily basis. We all eat to survive.
I have a new project coming up
That’s Timeless Luxury. I partnered with Italians to have some leather bags, shoes, belts in my name.
This would be launched in January 2019. I already have samples. It is going to be as luxurious as Gucci and the likes. So, instead of our celebrities going abroad to buy good designer wears, they should patronise madein-Nigeria products.