The Journey (Series 2)

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

THE STRUGGLE 

I was all over the place, I was worried. My mother was worried. My siblings were worried but being the first of three siblings, they could not really come out to ask questions about my "all over the place" skills. 

I was sad, depressed and discouraged. It seemed like I was on the wrong path, like nothing was going to work out. I felt like a failure. I was broke and everything was hard. 

I went from one place to another, advertising what I did. I did not give up. I was shy at first but I knew I had to shake it off. I got lots of discouraging advises. I remember a particular friend that publicly used my picture on her dp and wrote, " my friend, gbogbo owo" with a laughing hysterically emoticon. Translation- my friend of all businesses.

And the men, yes the Men! You know them, the ones that won't give you anything unless they are getting something in return... I encountered a couple of them. 

Some patronized me while some told me I was too pretty to be selling Garri and some said that I didn't need to do anything, yet whenever I asked them for money, which was always very hard for me to ask, it was always one story or the other. It wasn't pleasant but my journey will be incomplete without mentioning them, because in some way, they had encouraged me without even knowing it.

I still wonder why many men are that way though. I mean, you have the means to help, help if you want to. You don't need to demand for something in return but I guess such is life.

Thinking about it now, I am glad they wanted something in return because it made me realise that I wanted more with my life and that I needed to act and fast too. I did not want to be at the mercy of others to survive. Like my sister always ask after an experience, be it bad or good, "What have you learnt from this?"

I learnt to give when I have because I have experienced what it is like to have nothing.

I also learnt to encourage people, especially new business owners because a negative comment can totally crush you and end a dream. 

Another thing I learnt is that many of your so called friends and family will not encourage your start up business. It is just the way it is. At first, you will feel hurt but after a while, you will adjust and later realise that you are the best marketer for your business. 

Even though, I was discouraged from every angle, I didn't give up because a wise man once told me to prepare my mind and be my own author, he also told me that people will discourage you at first then grow to respect your brand but only if you decide not to give in to their negativity. Thank you Eniola Oyeyode.

It was during this period that I realised that I had a passion, a passion that I had not known was there until I started ushering with different agencies. 

I saw a different me whenever I was ushering at an event. Many people saw and still see ushers/hostesses at events as trashy. But I saw us as heroes, it is not easy to coordinate a wedding or help assist people or stand in heels for more than 8 hours or try explaining to stubborn guests why they cannot sit on a seat that has been assigned to another or help with serving of food and generally making sure that the event runs smoothly. If that is trashy then I would love to be trashy over and over again.

My boss will sometimes put me in charge of some jobs whenever she had more than one event or just felt I was capable of handling the job, coupled with the fact that I was a Corper which also meant that I was older than many of the girls that were ushering at the time but I had the stature of a 15 year old. (still do) *big grin*

During this period, I saw ladies who were just as hardworking and many of them sending themselves to school and helping in their various homes financially. 

I also saw some loopholes and that was when it dawned on me that I wanted to be a leader with a difference. I wanted to help ladies and people generally. I had worked with a couple of ushering agencies, done a couple of jobs without getting paid and with no training whatsoever!

It was then I decided that I wanted to be a different kind of leader. I wanted to make an impact in my society.

To be continued...