I Am The Diaspora

Ijeoma joins me on The Iveoma Show to discuss why her boutique that she started in Enugu, Nigeria collapsed, how it took her life savings’ and the extremely useful business lessons she learned.   TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Why Ijeoma relocated to Enugu, Nigeria in 2013 (:56) How the Enugu State Government told her that they will demolish her shop 2 days after the grand opening (3:23) How she was let down by her connections/acquaintances in Nigeria (8:00) How leaving America to go to Nigeria made her appreciate her life in America so much more (12:41) Advice for diaspora who want to build a business in Nigeria  (14:28) The importance of understanding the Nigerian customer needs and income (16:49)

Chika Umeadi co-founder of TipHub joins me on I Am The Diaspora to talk about how entrepreneurs can find/develop their unfair advantage in business and gives advice to people who are moving to Africa to start businesses. Tiphub is an accelerator that focuses on African and African entrepreneurs that are building businesses in Africa. Tiphub also founded Diaspora Demo Summit, the largest gathering of African and African diaspora led businesses outside of Africa.  Find more: www.iveoma.com

So you’re thinking about building your own business or investing in Africa? Nako Mbelle, the founder of the Invest In Africa Virtual Summit & Fintech Recruiters, joins me on the I Am The Diaspora show to talk all about why NOW is the time for the African Diaspora to invest in Africa. Learn why she decided to create the very FIRST virtual summit focused on how the African Diaspora can invest in Africa, what industries she thinks the African Diaspora should invest in, and the strengths of each speaker. Enjoy listening and find out more at iveoma.com. 

The founder of Aso-Swap, chats with I Am The Diaspora about pursuing her creative passions. She broke out of the typical role expected of a Nigerian-American and pursued journalism, tv presenting, screenwriting and entrepreneurship. We talk about the importance of chasing your dreams, some of the challenges of following those dreams in light of family expectations, and why now is the best time to build your business. THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Iveoma – AKA ME LOL! Iveoma.com is a digital media company showcasing African business success stories and brands in order to empower the African Diaspora. My weekly talk show, I Am The Diaspora, takes a two-track approach to achieve that: It showcases business leaders who will talk about their journey to success in Africa in order to empower and motivate YOU! While at the same time, I seek to grow awareness and strengthen public relations for these African businesses and brands featured on my show, so they can introduce their products and services to a powerful

Today's episode is with Ismail Sabrie, the founder of Symian Electronics, chats with The Iveoma Show about what it takes to be an entrepreneur in Kenya, the tough reality that you must have some money in order to scale a business, and why he loves entrepreneurship. 

Chigozie Ezugwu, the founder of Raadaa, talks about how to make money online doing research. Raadaa gives researchers, publishers, and students, an avenue to monetize their own research like video creators can do on YouTube. He has created an educational startup that ensures quality content and research from developing countries is available to everyone around the world. 

Faideye Loum, the founder of KABIO, an engineer turned fashion designer sits down to chat with The Iveoma Show. I met Fadieye when she was a Mandela Washington Fellow a part of the Young African Leaders Initiative. There is a corresponding video as well available on iveoma.com and youtube (search for YALI Interview Series). 

Maria Makanjuola, the biochemist founder of Sweet Cake TV School, discusses how to build a Facebook community from scratch (she literally went from 0 to 25k+ members in one year).  Maria discusses how to create an online school from consumer feedback and how she empowers African women on the continent and in the diaspora by teaching them a profitable craft. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: How I meet Maria Makanjuola in the Africa Business Academy (1:00) Maria's background (2:00) Why she started a Facebook group (3:00) How to build a community (5:19) How Maria built her website herself (9:00) How she became an entrepreneur (12:31) Teaching African women entrepreneurial skills (17:21) Why you should focus on 1 or 2 social media platforms (28:00)

Today I am talking to Toib Olarinde about how he built his multiple fashion businesses, doing what you believe in, having pride in being a Nigerian, and how to stand out in fashion.   TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Why Toib left his 9-5 to pursue his own business full time (1:00) Why he created Nigerian Is The New Cool, Da Bottom Clothing, and a marketing agency called The Agency (3:02) Starting a fashion company with just a $1,000 (4:58) Why some American-raised people just call themselves American vs Nigerian (7:47) Starting a clothing line without being a designer (10:00) How to stand out in fashion (14:15)  

Today's episode is for artists and creatives. Issouf Simpore, artist & interior designer from Burkina Faso joins me on The Iveoma Show. We dive into making money as an artist, how to sell art through art festivals and shows around the USA, and how his art is an expression of his world.

Emeka Ossai, the founder of the Nigerian Campus Enterprise Challenge, talks about his goal of training 1 million Nigerian entrepreneurs by 2020. He also discusses how the networks that he his building during his time as a Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative is helping him build his business.

Chipokosa Tepula, the co-founder of the Kaychi Aquaponics, talks building the first aquaponics farm in Zambia, how is is going to become a distributor to major retailers, and training farmers in his region. He also discusses how the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Initiative is helping him build his business.

Nicholas Oghieakhe, singer, songwriter and finance guru, is on The Iveoma Show talking about how the Diaspora can invest in Nigerian real estate and Nollywood.     

Agnes Yahuma, a Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders Initiative  (YALI), joins me to discuss how her startup Onu Gas Limited is tackling the high unemployment rate of young people in Nairobi, Kenya. Agnes' startup Onu Gas Limited is a piping cooking gas into housing as real estate developers build apartments. This is done in an extremely safe manner and deals with the high rate of cooking gas fatalities that occur because of leaking gas pipes.  

Adjo Dede Asare, a Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders (YALI), joins me on The Iveoma Show to talk about how her family grew Alfie Designs, a fashion house in Ghana, to 8 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Toluse Dove Francis, the founder of The Eat Fit Academy, joined me on The Iveoma Show to talk about how to avoid gaining or even losing too much weight during times of stress. 

Derick Ofodirinwa, the founder of Strategic Sales Solution, joins me on The Iveoma Show to discuss why he decided to go into software sales and why sales is the art of building relationships with people.

Ayomide "Ayo" Shittu, a bankruptcy lawyer and super connector, describes networking as the process of planting seeds for the future. She refers to networking as making friends plus being intentional about the relationship. And today on The Iveoma Show, Ayo describes how to create intentional relationships and friendships, she teaches ways of creating networking opportunities in everyday situations and breaks down what it means to curate your professional and social life. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: How I met Ayo (1:00) Meaningful networking  (5:00) The importance of knowing what people do (6:48) Relationship-building between Africans on the continent and Africans in the diaspora (9:46) How to stay in touch with people over a period of time (18:20) Why you should network when you do NOT need to (19:00) Why you must be intentional about connections (21:05) Why Ayo connects people she knows (22:40)