Titilope ejimagwa is a seasoned multi-level network market er with well over 22 years of relentlessness and va strange of experience. she starts any network she joins from the grass root and then grow sit to unimaginable heights. she had worked with six different multi-level network marketing companies and became the world number 2 inthesixthone.
She joined long rich( her fifth Multi-level network company) in Nigeria from scratch and as she is known for her unstoppable, optimistic approach to life, she is now the number 1 in africa and 4 thin the world. presently, she is a 5 star Director, which is the highest level of network marketing in long rich.
Ti ti lope obtained a bachelor’ s degree in physical and health education from lag os state university, Lasu, and later proceeded to obtain a masters in business administration from regis university, denver, California. she is happily married toe mm anue le jim agwa,a 3 star Director who has been very supportive through the years and they are blessed with two lovely children.
Being number 1 in africa with almost 3 million partners in her team, her passion for humanity and her excellent team spirit has paved the way for her huge success. she is always committed to assisting and ensuring that her partners move to the top along with her even if they are not in her team. she says“ifi can succeed as a stammerer ina business that requires talking, then what excuse do you have ?”
She is the author of the book Work what works, and has succeeded in ensuring long rich establishes are search institute in Lagos
Being first black 5 star director
I feel humbled, grateful and excited. The feeling is all-encompassing. I am not sure I have the right adjective to describe my feelings. It makes me feel yes, indeed, we can, yes, we all can, yes, it is possible. Never ever underestimate yourself. In short, behind every fear is nothing.
Why did you decide to go into multilevel marketing?
I come from a background of civil servants. My mother is a banker, my father, an Engineer. I come from a family of bankers. I also worked in the bank. When I left university, I went to WEMA bank and I got a job, but I didn’t do the job for one month. I’m not just cut out to work. Also, I never liked the fact that at different places in the society, women were being sexually abused. Some women are not employed because of their intellectual abilities but on how good they are on bed. That put me off! I made up my mind that I was never going to be their victim. Because I refused to compromise, I had an extra year in the university. One of my lecturers then, who was the HOD told me blatantly, “Do you want to graduate? If you want to graduate, meet me in a hotel” and I objected. Today my story is different and I am glad I did not bow to his pressure. All of these inspired me to earn a living.
Despite being a stammerer, I was determined to succeed; I just like to break barriers. All the obstacles I encountered only pushed me into my line of business and I am living my best life. Multilevel marketing is it for me.
Entering the terrain
Back then, I hadn’t gotten married, I had a friend who lives in America, she married a Nigerian. She was a teacher at the American International School in Victoria Island. She introduced me to my first one which was in 1997. That was my first stint into network marketing. She now introduced me into another one but later, her husband went into politics and she stopped bringing the products. I wanted to go and bring it myself, but they said they were not going to give me the franchise because they had already given it to someone in Nigeria. So, I needed to go and get from Ghana, but bringing it from Ghana became expensive so I stopped, went into Forever Living Products and later Tainshi and more, now I am with Longrich.
Being married for 10 years without a child
When Longrich first came to Nigeria, to Africa, it wasn’t welcomed at all because it’s a very expensive product. The people were not used to buying expensive things especially when it’s not a typical need. Who wants to buy supplements when they have vegetables and oranges at home? That’s what people tell you. Then their toothpaste is N2, 000, when people can buy for N100 or N200 in the market. So, it was not very easy to break into the market. We have very good products, noble products, and products that take care of needs.
In fact, my going into Longrich was because of a cure. I was married for over 10 years without a child. My father also had kidney issues, and so he wouldn’t know when he wants to urinate. When Longrich came in 2010 at first, they came looking for me and gave me the sanitary pad as a gift. I told them I wasn’t interested. They said “Just take it as a gift”. I said okay, let me go and try it. I used the liner and the pad, and I got pregnant. I was like what? Can this actually be real? After taking so much oestrogen, so much progesterone, and others just to have a child, and now, I used liner and sanitary pad and the second/third month I’m pregnant? I never associated my pregnancy to Longrich at the beginning, it never occurred to me.
I remember reaching out to my dad to ask if he was still using the diaper and he told me he wasn’t. I became worried, I asked him why and he said ‘you gave me something that I’m using, pant liner. Now I know when I want to urinate.’ It took time for that to resonate with me. I didn’t understand how a product I didn’t pay much attention to but just sent to him worked for him so I sat him down and asked him to tell me more.
That was how I had to go and look for Longrich. I called them and they said they are in Nigeria but they did not have an office. That certainly wasn’t an issue for me, I was all about bringing them to Nigeria. I had experienced their products first hand so I wasn’t going to let office be an issue. I gave them an office, a car, and a driver. And that was it. They came looking for me for three years and I didn’t answer them. But now, I had to go and look for them. If this could help my family, and can help me, then it can help the whole world. I now sat down and watched the video on the liner, and did a demo on the liner and saw that we’ve been using rubbish and sold so much lies. I became very angry and made up my mind to liberate many people.
Read also: Women in Business: Toyin Sanni
Passion for the campaign
It is indeed a campaign. I wanted to go and tell the whole world there is a deception in the business world, imagine what I went through. My mother was staying with me in the same house, I did not have a child for 10 years, she saw it all. Imagine how women are going through the same problem, a lot of abuse, a lot of frustration and depression you must have gone through because you don’t have a child, just because of low-quality sanitary pads.
Your husband’s reaction to finding out you were pregnant?
My husband loves children. My husband was much more concerned about having children than I was. He will be crying at night, ‘God please answer us. You know I love children, God give me children’ he would cry and pray while I was deep asleep. I was going through pain, but I am not that kind of person that is extremely emotional. He is a very emotional person. When he got to know I was pregnant, I became the queen of England in his eyes. The rest they say is history; I had another child even after that.
How were you able to penetrate into the market?
Anger! I told you it was anger. I was very angry. I had to go and tell the whole world. I had to go and save Nigerians, Africans. I just got angry. For me, what actually motivated me was anger. I was angry with the system that allows people to eat on people’s future, eat on people’s lives, grow fat on the populace. I went through hell not having a child. But because I am a happy type, people didn’t know that I didn’t have a child. So, when I became pregnant, I disappeared and came back to Lagos when I was seven months gone. I did not want other women to experience my experience and since I found a solution, I was determined to share.
I didn’t see money at the beginning. There was no up line to tell me that I was making money, so, I did not even ask for a bonus. I was angry at the situation and was determined to share the solution. Then Alas, they called me and said: “Madam, give us your account number, you have a bonus”, I honestly didn’t understand how that happened because it was not my focus. So I told them I didn’t do anything, I only bought what I needed and kept on telling people and doing a demo. I was giving sanitary pads and doing demo everywhere. So, I didn’t buy so much, there was no repeated purchase from me and they were telling me I had money. How come? I asked how much the money was and they said it was a bit over a million. I was shocked. I gave them my account number and the money came in. The rest again, they say is history. You are not just using the products; you’re also making money from it.
How important is it for women to be empowered?
When you empower a woman, you empower a whole nation. Not just the community alone. It’s the most important thing. Women need to be empowered. It is time for the women to wake up. When they say ‘weaker vessel’ it doesn’t mean you are weak or docile or a slave. I, who was given an extra year because I refused to compromise, whose admission letter was torn, is the same person today who earns a salary without working for anybody. It’s the same one who is telling you that you can be anything you want to be if you are determined. And you need to stand up and talk. Turn your negativity to positive energy, think of helping others because when you help others, God will surely have your back. That’s what I saw in Longrich.
