I met her at the 4th edition of Inspiring Woman Series and since then, she hasn’t ceased to be inspiring and positively impacting. An amazing woman with a great vision and focus, meet the stunning, affable and motivating Carolyn Benjamin.
Carolyn was born into a comfortable loving home in Jamaica, where all her needs were provided for by her parents, but as she entered into her second year in High School after her parents separated, life got very challenging and tough for them. As a result, her mother raised her two siblings and herself alone as a single mom however; those challenges only helped to make them stronger and helped them make better decisions in life.
“My Husband and I Dr. Harry Benjamin are currently building Global Markets for the Number 1 traded Commodity in the World, We have been able to sustain it by using a more cost efficient business model, and Leading Business Strategies and Leadership” she says when I asked about her husband. She tells me more “We both mentor and coach individuals to realize their true potential, to help them to come out of their comfort zone which is their Broke Zone, overcome their fears, empower them with leaderships skills and teach them the laws and principles of Success.” She explains.
Carolyn and Harry are coaches. I inquired from Carolyn what she found most common about individuals she had coached and she says “Many people don’t realize that they were born as eagles and because several others have been conditioned by society to remain in bondage and be comfortable in their lack, we help them to uncover who they are through teaching about success principles.”
Carolyn has been married for 16 years and for her, “I can only say that God has kept our marriage; I give him Glory for giving us both the grace to keep working at it. My advice to couples is to learn to forgive and let go of hurts immediately as it leads to bitterness. Prayer is key, and realize that you don’t have to win every battle, men desire respect and intimacy above anything else, and women desire to be loved so we should as couples try to honour those needs as best as you can.” Carolyn advices.
For every time a topic on her husband came up, Carolyn would beam with smiles, wanting to ‘steal’ the moment, I asked how she was proposed to and with a smirk on her face that said it all, she responded “My husband proposed after 7 months into our courtship while we travelled to Cancun Mexico. He took me out to dinner and then we went for a stroll on the waterfront, then when we went back to the restaurant, he got on his knees and asked me to be his wife, and well the rest is history.” Carolyn wittily expresses.
Sharing on their business, Carolyn tells me “my husband came first to Nigeria over two years ago not knowing anyone here but one person and since then we have been able to help many families earn significant income, due to that success that was created we are now getting ready to launch a major project called Project 50K, right here in Nigeria.”
“This business will put 50,000 new partners in business across the country. We also have a goal to help 1,000 families earn a minimum of 1 million Naira, what that will do is in the midst of the current economic times in Nigeria, many who have lost their jobs and many who may experience a downturn in their businesses will be able to add an additional stream of income/passive income and be able to share in the profits that will be generated.” Says Benjamin.
Carolyn was recently inspired to start a teaching Ministry called Timeless Wealth “in Timeless Wealth, I teach on the principles of wealth and success, because I realized that a lot of individuals do everything they can in their strength and they seek God pray, they fast yet other individuals who aren’t as ‘spiritual’ are living a life of abundance. I believe that we are destroyed for lack of knowledge so I teach on the laws of success using biblical principles. You see God loves all of us the same, but we can’t expect his promises while we are breaking his principles for example tithing.” She stresses.
On her challenges she says “I believe that one of my personal challenge is that I suffered from fear and didn’t realize that God doesn’t call those who are qualified but he qualifies the called and the simple people in life, so if I had overcome those fears earlier in life, I would have thought and believed much bigger than I did, but it’s never too late to improve as that’s the biggest room in life, the Room for Improvement.”
For young unemployed graduates, Carolyn has this advice “It is better you begin to set a goal and strategy of how you can start your own business where they you can create multiple streams of income and not have to be dependent only on finding a Job. God created us to live a life of freedom and take dominion and use the talents and creative ideas He gives to create wealth.” Carolyn advices.
Children are blessings to couples however; Carolyn and Benjamin started having theirs five years into their marriage. Hear her tell the story “We didn’t start having children until around 5 years into our marriage we were working on laying our foundation for our family, we used that time to also build up a solid financial future, sometimes when you are going for your goals sometimes life will get out of balance, the important thing I have found is to put God first in all areas, we are truly grateful because of the type of businesses that we do, we are able to have our children around us most of the time and they are able to see their father and mother creating wealth, and are able to participate in what we are doing, rather than being separated from us they are able to travel to different countries with us.”
Carolyn is now a Nigerian, she tells me of her perception about Nigeria from her early days of being here. “One of the most memorable days that I can remember is arriving in Nigeria for the first time, due to the negative media that I had received before arriving here over a year and half ago, my perception of the country and people was changed, not that there aren’t any negatives here as there are ‘Wahalas’ that we have to deal with here, but the Majority of Nigerians are beautiful people that are pleasant, hardworking, and a resilient people that don’t succumb to the challenges but find ways to overcome them and that has truly inspired myself and my husband. And we are now ‘unofficial’ ambassadors for this great Nation.
Benjamin’s advice to everyone as we go into the new year is “First things first, we need to set a goal of putting God first in every area of our lives, and as we do that, the other goals that we have set and the things that we need and desire will be given unto us. We need to then have a high level of expectancy, believe bigger and think bigger than we did last year.”
And her parting shots? Hear her speak again “There is opportunity waiting for us everywhere, the thing is that many people remain P.O.O.R as that’s an acronym for Passing Over Opportunities, Repeatedly. We must seek to become problem solvers in life and determine what our purpose is here on earth, that way, we will live life more focused not just existing and we will live to not just provide for ourselves and our families but to impact millions of lives. We must remember that what you make happen for others God will make happen for you!”.
Now that Carolyn is ‘Nigerian’ we should give her names from Hausa Igbo and Yoruba so how about Amina (Hausa), Oluchi(Igbo) and Morenike (Yoruba)?