I WANT PEOPLE TO ENJOY WHAT SEEMS TO BE LUXURY TO MANY WHEREAS THEY ARE SIMPLE THINGS OF LIFE
My career in the financial sector spanned from 2001 to 2013 after my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Urban Development Bank, Abuja. I then took a job with the then IMB International Bank in 2001. Between 2001 and 2005, I worked in First Atlantic Bank/First Inland Bank, which metamorphosed into what we have now as FCMB. I took a break from banking to work in a credit bureau between 2005 and 2008. It was very refreshing to experience something different and new but still within the financial sector.
Private credit bureau operation was at its nascent stage at that time and I was particularly excited to be part of it and I was actually the one who introduced that to the banks.
My job at XDS Credit Bureau exposed me to lots of research. I needed to find out how private credit bureaus successfully operated in other emerging economies and their role in building a robust economy, and I was to introduce and promote that within our environment. The regular presentations to the Money Deposit Banks, liaising with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the approval and licensing of the private credit bureaus all helped me get comfortable with public speaking, and I liked that. Within the three-year period in the credit bureau, I had contacted almost all the Money Deposit Banks, Primary Mortgage Institutions, Development Finance Institutions and even Microfinance Institutions; including some retail outfits in Nigeria. I got some of the banks to sign up with XDS Credit Bureau, created much awareness on how private credit bureaus would help the economy, and I felt it was time to go back to banking.
Therefore, in August 2008, I joined the then Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) as the head of operations. I worked in several branches of the bank for about five years; resigned in December 2013 and decided to do something I knew I just had to do: be a business owner.
My exposure to makeup and beauty products early in life and having worked in the bank, where I managed funds, people and relationships for a very long time meant I was adequately being prepared to manage any business. However, I will admit that I wasn’t fully prepared for some of the challenges I was confronted with in turning my passion to a full-fledged business: managing our finances, hiring staff with the right skills and attitude, sourcing for different brands of products that would deliver perfect results, yet safe on the skin, getting professional chefs to handle the kitchen aspect of the business; the list goes on and on.
The bills were pouring in and we were not generating enough money to cover our costs. These were definitely very challenging, but we just had to keep pushing.
Life has taught me that in the face of challenges, I can always find strength within me. No one and no situation is strong enough to stop me from achieving whatever it is I set my mind to accomplish. I have learnt to remain true to myself: it is okay and normal to be different. I have learnt that much as opportunities come and go, they are also always around us and we need to have the discerning mind to recognise them and make the most of them whilst they are there. Life has taught me to be nice and kind to people without expecting them to reciprocate or show appreciation.
I have learnt that sometimes it is okay to put myself first, do what pleases me and not bother much about what other people think because their opinions do not really matter.
As a young girl, I wanted different things at different times and I was very curious too. I really wanted to be an architect but didn’t like mathematics that much, and I was eager to drop the subject as quickly as I could and not have to deal with it in the university. Geography became my next option and I ended up enjoying it. Looking back now, I had ultimately aspired to become a very successful woman in life.