‘Why I am pulling other widows out of widowhood fangs’

Eugenia Marcus, founder of Freshview, not only caters for her family without a husband but has created a project that shows other widows and other women how to beat the traps of widowhood and poverty. In this interview with IGNATIUS CHUKWU, the vibrant mother of two reveals how she came close to suicidal thoughts but pulled through to now save others, shows how she navigated through the early stages of widowhood. Excerpts:

Can you tell us this your story?

I was already independent, I had resigned my job, I had a cake-baking business and was doing make-up at the time. When my husband passed on, I had to decide what one was giving the highest income. I realised it was the cake and pastry business. Just before he passed on, I had just moved the business out of my home (it was in my garage). Today, I have six workers.

I may not have much and some days you may not have any dime but I have a business of baking bread, pastry, and we cook food. Sometimes, the meal for the family can only come from the business.

If women actually have something they do, they will earn and give their kids a treat. People look at you and see what you are already doing, they want to help. Tara Fela-Durotoye said it that we all have that talent in us, God did not leave us empty. When we give our energy with focus, it will give us something back. This is the philosophy I want to impart in these women. They should have a business-orientation inclination.

My business has been a large source of support to me and my children. My son is now in secondary school and my business is paying the bills. I had set up those structures even while my husband was alive. My staff know what to do from morning till closing time; they update me even if am not there. By God’s grace, I am looking forward to launching out to expand. It’s all because I started before I became a widow. My message is, start now, start from where you are now.

The House of Tara you see today is a brand that started with e mere N15,000. Today, it employs close to 200 workers in 24 branches around Nigeria. Therefore, it is possible for women to start a business that is are scalable and that can go beyond them. That is what we preach.

Can you expand on the concept of credibility of widowhood, and if you think these entrepreneurial steps you preach can help boost this principle?

Only a widow can tell her story. When my husband passed away, I had anxiety and wanted to know whether I could carry the whole world on my head. I went through times. I had to decide whether to carry the burden on my face or to be forward-looking. I had to think about my children and how to be there for them.

We had a health talk here because health is one of the major issues that bring widows down. So, anybody who wants to help widows should start from their health needs. Some of them pick up sicknesses during their husbands last days or through stress caring less about their own lives.

The most trying time in my life is when I became a widow. I never knew I would make it to be here to talk about these things. I thought I would die, in fact, I considered suicide. It was that bad. I looked at the children; who would take care of them? A doctor friend helped me through those periods; she drummed this into my head; the things you and your late husband did not accomplish, you are here to accomplish them. So, I picked up my life and first attended to my health. Loss of a husband destroys a woman, your body, your soul, your heart, everything. You have to rebuild first. Survival becomes the next thing.

You now surround yourself with the people and things that are right; the word of God, fellowship, the right company. Before you know it, the strength to go on comes; a tap on the shoulder, how are you, how are the children. It may not always be money; it may just be care, banana, garri for the children. It boosts encouragement. Really, you are never alone.

Why are many widows gathered and clustering in this place today?

We are empowering widows here today. Today happens to be the International Widows Day, and in marking that, Freshview decided to empower women in terms of poverty which is one of the major plights widows have to go through.

Yes, we hear of in-laws marginalizing widows but if women are gainfully employed, if anything goes wrong and they happen to lose their husbands, they could cope and would not be stranded.

One of the widows testified that she makes an average of N7,000 profit per day in her trade, that is about N45,000 in one week, and N180,000 every month.

We brought an expert, Tara Fela-Durotoye, CEO of the House of Tara, from Lagos, and she has actually made it clear to the women how to begin to put their books in place. They are to write down daily sales, expense, don’t take out of the money, put your self on a small salary, work within that budget and see how your business will grow. She has shown us how she grew her own business; how you can package whatever you are doing and people will buy because of the value they see. These are some of the highlights we have made available to the women.

Knowledge is power but knowing acquired is so much power. I am sure and my prayer here is that testimonies will begin to abound of women who left this place and begin to think differently and be able to fend for themselves and their children.

That is the strategy that helped me through my own experience as a widow. Tara says has awakened these women from slumber. She harped on why women do not grow their businesses, feeling that a man would take care; children, school fees, etc. She said that is why men build bigger businesses. They have the mind of catering for others. She needs us to begin to see ourselves as those who can build lasting businesses as if no one is there to cater for you.

She broke down systems; how you do things repeatedly. You put it down for the next person to do exactly the same. Branding and packaging is a must. The business must have a name, package and make it sellable. Add value so people can come for it.

Her key message, do not limit yourself. Women are their own biggest limiting factors.

From questions that came up, she was able to clear many things. Some of the women clamoured for her books to enable them learn more. She has been in business for about 20 years and she preaches consistency. From N15,000 she has built a multi-million dollar business.

Do you usually do this as a one-off thing or do you have a continuity system, follow-up, networking to add to what is done?

The scheme is getting bigger than we even expected. Freshview holds quarterly business seminar. We have been running skills acquisition but we are doing the full-blown size for the first time. We intend to build on this one. Some groups and foundations are contacting us for partnership. Quantum Business School wants to give scholarships to widows to their school. We would register as a cooperative to access some of the benefits.