My journey can be chronicled in one word: GRACE. I am a hard-nut bred from the streets, learn as you go kind of entrepreneur. I leveraged my love for education and technology at a very early stage, saw the business opportunities and committed to building. It was overwhelming in the early stages, my age, being female in a male dominated industry et al but Grace sustained me and guided my path. But at the core of it all was an untamable resolve not to give up or be intimidated by anyone’s limited perception of my dreams or ambitions. I felt a calling to this, I do not know how to explain it logically but there was a divine drawing toward these ideas and solutions that later became businesses. It was early 2011, the internet was relatively nascent and the demand for it was huge. So I organized an abandoned office at home, put in 4 desktop computers and started using it as an Internet Café and then teaching basic computing skills crept in and then the idea of having a IT school sort of fell through as a result. It all happened unplanned, unanticipated and purely by the ordinances of God.
Present:
I am an entrepreneur, educationist, business coach, diversity maverick, an advocate for women and girls in technology and the founder of IAES Africa, Potters International College, Admission in 30 Minutes, Everyday Travels and Tours, Caroline Technology Solutions, Co-Founder and President of Caroline University and the Mercy Heart Foundation.
What were the biggest initial hurdles to building your business and how did you overcome them?
My age, I was 19 when I stared, I was small, and a girl, it was very hard for people to take me serious in the beginning. I overcame it by diligently executing and producing results. In time it was no more a matter of my age, it was a matter of my results and that created the paradigm shift that then set me up on the trajectory I am on now with all of my companies.
What books are you currently reading? And your recommendation for entrepreneurs to read?
WOW, I read quite a lot, Im currently reading The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker. I will recommend the BIBLE as a must read for every young entrepreneur, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson. These have been life altering reads for me.
Did you ever deal with contention from your family and friends concerning your entrepreneurial pursuits? How did you handle it? What would you do differently in hindsight?
I had a supportive family and that really helped my journey.
What would you say was the single most influential factor in your business success?
The Grace of God at work in my life and its alignment with all the decisions I made in the last 7 years.
What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started as an entrepreneur?
I wish I knew that the most important factor in Business is the Human Capital. It cost me a lot working with the wrong people.
What advice would you give to an upcoming entrepreneur locally and internationally?
The Word is yours, don’t think linearly, think exponentially and above all BELIEVE in SOMETHING or SOMEONE, mine is God and his purpose for my life in leaving humanity better than I found it.
