• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

‘In my entrepreneurial journey, I take critical decisions in the most uncertain of times’

Eseoghene Odiete runs the Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre

Eseoghene Odiete runs the Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre where over 1,000 women and youths have been taught how to make fashion accessories such as bags and shoes at little or no cost since 2014 it was established. Ese, as she is fondly called by friends and associates, has been recognised as one of Africa’s 25 Best Entrepreneurs Under 25 by Ynaija (2015); and one of the 40 Under-40 Nigerian Entrepreneurs by BizWatchng (2015). She is a finalist at the Tony Elumelu Prize in Business (The Future Awards) in 2014. She also won a scholarship to the prestigious Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship. In this interview with BDSUNDAY, she talks about her trajectory in life, the challenges and reward of entrepreneurship. Excerpts:

May we know a little about your career?

I had my early education – nursery, primary and post-primary – in Lagos and my university education at the Covenant University, where I graduated with a degree in Mass Communication. After my service, I took up a job at the C&F Porter Novelli, a foremost and leading public relations consultancy, where I worked for 22 months before quitting to fully focus on Hesey Designs.

What is Hesey Designs about?

Hesey Designs is a fashion accessories label, specialising in the design and creation of handmade shoes, bags, corporate gift items and other fashion accessories using African traditional fabrics likeankara, aso oke and adire. We also use leather in the production of these and other fashion ensembles. Our designs are uniquely and creatively crafted to meet the demands and aspirations of the trendy. We are always on the lookout for what’s happening in the fashion world and we tailor our designs to appeal to the young and fashionable people.

Also, Hesey Designs empowers young girls through our skills acquisition initiatives. In the last four years, the brand has been offering regular vocational skills training to many unemployed young girls and others who seek an alternative income stream in the area of handmade fashion accessories. We do this through our training arm, the Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre.

 May we know some of the exposures you have had on Hesey Designs’ platform?

The Hesey Designs brand has earned me various opportunities to grow myself and the business. The very first opportunity was the one the Google’s Africa Connect competition, which I won,afforded me. Apart from the monetary grant, I also had a six-month mentorship programme with a Google Team member.

Then came the British Council’s Enterprise Challenge, a partnership between the British Council and the Virgin Atlantic Airways. Part of the prize for the award was a mentoring session with Sir Richard Branson. I also had to design the sneakers which he wore to the Virgin Atlantic’s 30th Anniversary ceremony. The award offered me a very rare opportunity to meet with a lot of people based in the UK and helped propel Hesey Designs further. We got a lot of news buzz around us and Sir Richard Branson across the globe. This took us from where we were at that time to a whole new level. 

What informed the switch to fashion designing after a degree in mass communication?

I have always been intrigued by the fashion industry. Even as a child, I have always wanted to build a fashion brand that would promote the Nigerian socio-economic potentials. I passionately believe that trade is what Africa needs for development. So, after my university degree, I decided to set up a fashion brand with a mission to promote Nigeria and Africa, so Hesey Designs was born.

Were there some initial challenges after you quitted your job to be an entrepreneur?

It wasn’t so challenging as that. From the get-go, I knew I wasn’t going to stay on the job for very long. The job was a learning ground for me and when I felt I had learnt enough to fully be an entrepreneur, I knew it was time to quit. But before then, I juggled between my job and my business for about a year; so, the business was already running. The sad part of quitting was the leaving the relationshipsI had built with my colleagues. 

How has your experience as public relations consultant influenced your business?

As a PR consultant, I was exposed toworking with brands and managing their communication. The skills I learnt currently play a vital role in helping me build the Hesey Designs brand. I am the chief marketer and the brand communication specialist for Hesey Designs. I handle the social media and was able to build a brand identity and create a unique brand messaging. 

What were the discouraging factors at the starting point, when you wanted to start your business? 

While I had a lot of encouragement and support from family and friends when I was venturing out, I also had a few people who had reservations about leaving the comfort that a regular paid employment offers for the murky waters of business, especially in Nigeria.There were some who even advised that I keep running the business part-time until it has proven to be sustainable. So, I wouldn’t call it discouragement as they were very concerned about my well-being.

Related News

Do you miss the 9-5 days?

Not so much. I have an amazing team I work with and daily we are faced with challenges and opportunities that a regular 9-5 would have brought. One thing I have found out in my entrepreneurial journey is that, in the most uncertain of times, one has to take some critical decisions, make deft moves albeit having limited information in the hope that things would turn out good. My biggest moments are those moments I realised that those decisions I took at those uncertain times were the best decisions, going by their results. This gives me the biggest satisfaction as an entrepreneur. 

Tell us in details about Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre?

Hesey Designs Empowerment Centre teaches women and youths how to make fashion accessories such as bags and shoes at little or no cost, thereby helping Nigerian youths and women start and grow their own businesses. Over 150 of Nigeria’s micro-, small and medium scaleenterprise (MSME) owners have benefited from the Hesey Design Empowerment Centre, which has helped to strategically position them as key players in the fashion industry. 

We run regular training programmes from time to time at the Centre and the slots are fully booked each time. Before now, we used to be focus only on the skills training that is to say on the art of making these fashion accessories but we have noted that, to be a good entrepreneur, one should have some management skillsto make his or her entrepreneurial journey more smooth-sailing.

To this end, we have introduced some entrepreneurial courses to help the candidates become better business managers. We aregoing into discussion with some government and corporate organisations in this regard. So, our next batch of trainees would not only be imbued with the skills that will enable them be good crafters of fashion accessories, but also good managers of their businesses.

How does your initiative plan to help and uplift underprivileged women?

Researches have shown that a large number of girl children, instead of being in school, work as maids, shop helps and street hawkers and the use of these young girls with little or no education in economic activities oftentimes exposes them to dangers such as sexual assault and exploitation. So, we modelled our empowerment programmes to target these young women so as to minimise their vulnerability.

Also, I believe that if you empower a woman, you empower a nation. A woman who has a regular income would use her resources to take care of her family. So, empowering women would place them on a good pedestal to complement the men’s efforts in uplifting their families. 

If you have the chance to change something for Nigerian women, what would that be?

The fact that a woman believes she can’t be all she dreams of – a wife, a great mum and a successful business or career woman.

What are some of the challenges you have faced and how did you overcome them?

As a young entrepreneur, starting up was difficult. My first main challenge was sourcing for fund. I had to make do with the little savings I had and grew from there. Also getting the products out was another challenge. I couldn’t afford a store so I made use of the Internet. I sent emails to fashion sites requesting that they feature my designs. I knew I had great products but I needed to be known. So many of them featured the products with my contact. A lot of people started contacting me, requesting for the products.

I started after the university and didn’t have an idea of how to go about running a fashion label.  So, I read up a lot of articles and business management books from the Internet.  The books and articles I sourced from the internet that deal on how to start and run a fashion label, especially in developing countries, helped me a lot.

What inspired your designs?

We are Afrocentric in character and in deed. Our designs showcase the beauty of Africa to the world and meant for the elegant, sophisticated and fashionable Africans and non-Africans. Our designs speak to different themes to suit various personalities, occasions and moods.