PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES

My dear readers, I am indeed very sorry for being away for almost three weeks. It was necessary for me to do so. I thank you all for your patience. I hope my apology is accepted.

Work resumes tomorrow. So you will be seeing me for often now with lots of inspiring stuffs.

I wish you a blissful month filled with love...

Love y'all

PEARLDIVA…YASMIN BELO OSAGIE (CO-FOUNDER SHE LEADS AFRICA)

When I see or hear young girls making global impact, I keep asking myself what I have been doing. I can’t count how many times I have googled my name and only Facebook and Twitter has something about me. And there are young ladies or let me call them girls (so that it will pain me well) that you will search for their names on the web and a full list with so many pages about them comes out. Many young ladies in their 20s are still trying to find their path and some don’t still know what to do with themselves. The next thing you will hear them talk about is that they want to get married. Our Pearldiva will shock you out of your dormancy state. Like our bosses always tell us during our performance review session, that there are nothing like dormant accounts but dormant account officers. It means we are the reason the accounts go dormant. As painful as it used to make us feel, it is the truth.

‘’Turn every moment into an opportunity and get out there and hustle. No one will fight for your success if you don’t…’’ says Yasmin Belo Osagie.

Yasmin Belo Osagie, 26 year old, is the co-founder of She Leads Africa (SLA). She Leads Africa is a Nigerian based social enterprise that equips female entrepreneurs in Africa with the knowledge, network and financing needed to build and scale strong businesses. Yasmin saw a gap to create space for young women to make an impact in Africa. She grabbed the opportunity to create her own start-up. Instead of gossiping and idling away her time with friends, the graduate of Princeton University with degree in history and Finance collaborated with her Ghanaian friend Afua Osei, a 28 year old graduate of the University of Chicago with Masters in Business Administration and Policy and both of them worked on the idea of She Leads Africa… after realizing the need for leading women in Nigeria and the rest of the continent. They saw She Leads Africa as a symbol of strength for women who are not scared to break through social, cultural and financial constraints. No wonder they say small minds discuss people while great minds discuss ideas.

 ‘’Investing in women reaps significant dividends for families and societies. Women tend to be investment multipliers; investing the majority of their income back into their families and communities. These results in better educated, healthier children who go onto be more productive, more prosperous citizens’’…Yasmin Belo Osagie.

Founded in 2014, SLA is a platform to gear up female entrepreneur from SMEs to Pan-Africa industry leaders, gives support for their ideas and access to professionals who can assist with advice and funding to turn start-ups into major business enterprises. SLA has signed up thousands of women into their network. In One year, SLA has made remarkable impact. First, they launched an All-Female Pan-African pitch contest that drew 500 applicants from almost 30 countries. The winner of the competition, Cherae Robinson-creator of Rare Customs (the world’s only mobile app dedicated to booking and buying experiences in Africa by tourists) , was awarded $10,000 while the second and third winners were awarded $5,000 and $1,000 respectively; secondly, SLA sponsored entrepreneurs attending the Investors Demo Day in Washington D.C.; it has established partnership with Intel to conduct workshops for Tech-entrepreneurs; They have also negotiated with one of Nigerian largest bank to create a low-interest lending program for female entrepreneurs; and lastly an Online platform that features African case studies taught by business experts.

Like the saying goes ‘’when God gives a vision, He makes the provision’’. Aliko Dangote has set aside $1million in low-cost for start-ups under the She Leads Africa umbrella. Yasmin and Afua are named Forbes 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa.

I learnt two major lessons from Yasmin-One, to make use of every opportunity and two, to carefully pick my friend (a friend that will help make my ideas a reality).

Note: The essence of Pearldiva is to stir up your potentials. You too can make global impacts if you looked inward.

PEARLDIVA…THE AMIABLE CEO OF AMY COUTURE AFRICANA

Radiant, amiable and graciously talented Nancy has her specialty in using African fabrics. Her vision as a designer is to make designs that unravels our rich African Heritage and showcase our creative spirit as Africans. Her designs include bags, shoes, hair accessories etc. She tells us how she made this move without regretting it.

Please tell us your full names and your background

I am Ehinomen Nancy Imafidon. I am from Edo State, Esan Central LGA. I am Lagos born and bred and schooled in Lagos.

5 WAYS TO STOP NIT-PICKING

It is easy for couples to nit-pick when they live together. They find faults and irritants that push them to want to ‘correct’ each other and criticize each other for every little thing. This truth about this ‘You-are-at-fault’ syndrome is that it makes one forget their partner’s good qualities.

Most relationships fail because we spend too much time pointing out each other’s mistakes and thus, not creating enough time to enjoy each other’s company. Nobody is perfect. We all have our shortcomings. The better we know and understand our partner’s strengths and weaknesses, the better we see their faults and the longer we be or live with the person.

‘’When you keep picking at the habits of your spouse, you often cause them to resent ‘your help’ so much that they dig in all the deeper into the habit, and/or they mentally build up walls of contentions, distancing themselves from you emotionally’’ says Cindy and Steve Wright. The reality is that focusing on small issues makes us miss out the blessings of the union..

FEMALE VILLAINS OF NOLLYWOOD

A truly talented actor or actress can play any role especially one that is totally different from who they really are. It is often a celebration in the scope of creativity that permits them to explore and excel in their roles. Many of these characters wow us and make us almost forget that they have a life outside the screen.

Let’s give it them…it is not easy acting what you are not. Some of them are being confronted publicly by fans for certain roles they featured. Here are few female screen divas in Nollywood who can play the villain.

AGING WITH STYLE

People who know me too well know how much I dread to age…just like every other woman. The mere thoughts of looking like Madea in Madea’s Witness Protection drives me nut. I don’t want the wrinkles, my skin looking like boiled meat, saggy breasts (though, we can handle this with push-up bras) or lose my attractiveness. The media hasn’t helped any better…making us believe that the younger the better. Even the ‘tweenies’ have practically pushed us out of the ‘beauty market’. I want to be in my forties and still wear those ‘hot’ dresses. I want to be known as sexy grandma…one that wears the skimpy clothes*wink*. 

I have realised that the fear of aging can prevent me from embracing the changes and I have dealt with these fears. I will it share you how I did it:

TOP NIGERIAN FEMALE BEAUTY ENTREPRENEURS

The beauty industry in Nigeria has taken a major leap over the years. Many women carved a niche for themselves in this field and have not looked back since then. They are relentlessly making global recognitions and impacts and are major sources of inspiration to the younger generation.