I WAS INTRODUCED TO MY MOTHER’S BUSINESS AT 7 – DR TOBI KEENEY
How does it feel stepping into your mother’s shoes and carrying on with the legacies she started with Quincy Wellness Centre?
It’s a big shoe to step into. I am privileged to be able to do so. I still have a long way to go, as I am about the age she was when she first started Quincy Wellness Centre. Luckily for me, I have been in the business since 2001. So I have had a bit of a head start quite early.
Has it always been one of your dreams to take over the business from your mother?
I didn’t think about it when I was growing up until I found myself in it. It was when I started that I realised that I was passionate about healthcare delivered the right way. I have always wanted to be a doctor, but growing up, there was nothing like what we are doing right now, which is integrative medicine. So it wasn’t even a concept, talk less of dreaming about it. However, just like everything, things evolve, and so do people’s dreams and aspirations, so here I am and loving it.
You are married to a Caucasian. What was your husband’s reaction when you announced you were going back to Nigeria to help your mother with her business?
My husband came to Nigeria first and then I joined him later. It was when I joined him in Nigeria that I decided to join the business. He came in 2009 when recession hit America. He just packed up and came to Nigeria and I came to join him in 2010, but really stayed till 2012. However, I go to the states much more than he does. We met online in America and after a while, we decided to get married in Nigeria and we went back to America. When I was about five months pregnant, he left America for Nigeria. And I was coming off and on until 2012 when I decided to stay. A lot of people used to think I brought him to Nigeria. It is the other way round. Some even think that I married him because of the papers, which is not true. I am an American citizen. I got to America through the green card lottery when I was a teenager.
How supportive has he been since you took over the management of Quincy Wellness Centre?
He was the one who revamped the organisational structure. He worked on the employee’s handbook, put the business on Amazon and helped with the administrative portion of the business.
If you weren’t handling your mother’s business, what would you have been doing careerwise?
If I wasn’t in my mom’s business, I'd be in one hospital somewhere in America, prescribing medicines or delivering anesthesia in the theatre. I might also have entered public or community health or even politics to be a policy maker in the quest for better healthcare for my people.
What challenges have you encountered while running Quincy Wellness Medical Centre?
The challenges are dealing with certain notions held by black people in general and Nigerians, in particular, in terms of good health, good medicine, wellness and everything related to it. Although Nigerians have one of the lowest life spans, 53 years approximately, in the whole world, we are still too blind to see that some people are doing the right thing for themselves and others healthwise. I must pull teeth with some of my patients just to get them to eat right and change their lifestyle. The average Nigerian would rather spend money on prayers to cure diabetes than on healthy food, regular testing, the right medicines or medicinal plants. Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol is a disease of lifestyle not a disease caused by witchcraft. However, once they see results that they haven’t seen elsewhere, they become advocates.
How do you deal with clients who insist on having your mother’s touch because of familiarity or preference?
Luckily, I have been with her since 2001 and more actively since 2010, so I haven’t had issues with her older clients. They trust me, especially as I have training in both orthodox and traditional medicine.
What special touch and innovations have you injected into the business since you took over its active management?
I think just by virtue of me being younger, just like my kids know a lot more about current things than me, I think my siblings and I have helped move the business to where it is now. We are now fully integrated, dually licensed with full medical services and laboratory. We have expanded our services in the wellness, skincare, and medical aspects. We handle more obesity-related diseases, we have put the business in the international market, we have been well immersed in the digital space and we have digitalised our process by going paperless, etc. We have developed several customised, intensive and effective protocols for obesity, chronic diseases, diabetes, cancer, even COVID-19.
How would you describe your mother?
My mother is energetic, naturally funny and young at heart. She is a go-getter. If she sets her mind on something, it’s going to be done. She is also family-oriented. She doesn’t play with our dad, her kids and especially her grandchildren. Then her sons-in-law, those are her first and second born, the rest of us are the rest. She is a very wonderful woman.
What special wish do you have for her on Mother's Day?
I wish for long life, more grace, more prosperity, good health and all the good things in life for her. She is the best mom I could have asked for and I thank God for her in our lives. She is also the best grandmother to her grandchildren. My prayer is that God will continue to keep her for us all.
Who are you closer to between your father and mother?
That is a very difficult question. I honestly can’t choose. I am close to them equally but separately. There are some things I discuss with my dad and some things I discuss with my mum. However, when I was much younger, I was closer to my dad as my mum was the stricter parent. Over the years, we have met in the middle. Let me say since we started working together at Quincy Wellness Centre, we became closer.
What was growing up like?
I had a very happy childhood filled with love and tons of family. Looking back at it, we didn’t have much in terms of material things, but our parents gave us the best they could and that’s what counts. We were also immersed in all my mum’s businesses at the age of seven. So we joined her to sell puff puff on the roadside. I had fun doing it. My mum raised us as children of villagers, so we knew that even having bread to eat, going to a good school, or the ability to ride in a car was a privilege, not a right. We are quite traditional, and conservative compared to a lot of my Lagosian peers and it's due to our upbringing. Also, our parents never forced us to do anything. They didn’t even need to give curfews or force us to study or warn us not to wear this or that. We knew when we needed to come home, or who we should be friends with and what we should not wear that will disappoint our family. They lived by example, and we just followed suit. Plus, they were always very close to us so we had that sense of responsibility and accountability to make sure we didn’t lose that independence they gave us. I think it’s the best way to parent. Your kids will not need to rebel if you don’t stifle them with overly strict rules and regulations.
What are the integrated services offered at Quincy Wellness Medical Centre?
We offer full medical services, diagnostic laboratory, integrative medicine, traditional medicine, medical assisted weight loss, surgery free liposuction, male and female infertility treatment, women and children’s health, chronic pain management, skincare, IV vitamin infusion therapy, home healthcare, Covid19 management, chronic disease management and much more. To every disease, there is a cure in nature.