Mrs. Foluke Moradeke Kupoluyi is the front woman of Radek Fashion and Accessories. Fashionable and affable, she is married to Biodun Kupoluyi, the Publisher of E-247 Magazine and they are blessed with two children. The industrious lady who just opened another branch of Radek on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos recounted how it all began to AZUH ARINZE days back…
Let’s meet you.
My name is Moradeke Foluke Kupoluyi. I’m the MD/CEO of Radek Fashion and Accessories. We deal in corporate female wears, casual wears and we also specialize on maternity wears.
How did you get into this business?
After my graduation from Yaba College of Technology where I studied Food Science and Technology, I worked briefly with Tantalizers. At Tantalizers, I realised I had to do something on my own, so I resigned and started making party parks, party foods, catering at functions, cooking for my friends for their bachelors’ eves and weddings; cocktails and all that. After sometime, I needed to stand on my own, I wanted something big, but I couldn’t afford it. So, I actually went into fashion business because I knew that in fashion business I didn’t really need so much money. I didn’t need to buy equipment, rent big buildings, buy all these and that. I just knew that I needed a little cash to start clothing business. And I felt after the clothing business, I will go back to my call – I will start catering again. But having gotten into fashion business, I got trapped. So, there’s no way I can go back, because I keep improving by the day; people keep appreciating my clothes and people keep telling me, madam, we want to come and buy. Even when I had made up my mind that at a given time, I’m going to stop fashion business, I’ve not been able to stop and you know it’s not easy for me to do fashion and catering because they are two different lines.
What year exactly did you start Radek?
Year 2001. 12 years ago.
Can you recollect how much you started with?
I started with N120,000. Then, N120,000 was $1000. So, I started by going to Dubai. Yeah! I got my visa, I went to Dubai, bought stuff and I sold them in less than two weeks and I made profit of almost 100 percent. That was what brought about my interest because it was really good and people kept telling me ah, you have taste, this thing is good, this thing is nice. Before I started travelling to Europe, before going to America and all that.
Beside the profit you made from that first business trip, what other things have sustained you?
I always tell people, in any business you are doing, you have to have passion for it. I inherited fashion from my parents. My father was a very fashionable person and I think I’m a fashionable person, with all sense of modesty. So, I have passion; I am very passionate about clothing people. I cannot afford to see anybody dress up anyhow. If I’m walking on the streets, even in America, in London, if I see anybody dressed up anyhow, I would call you, I would tell you, why are you dressed up this way? You know, I am very passionate about fashion, I care a lot about what I wear and I care a lot about what people wear. You are what you wear. That is my philosophy.
What is your dream for Radek?
My dream for Radek, by God’s grace, God willing, is to have my label – which I’m already doing. I’m already working on it. We have our label. I design my clothes. I don’t make them here, I make my clothes abroad, but I sit down with my designers abroad, we actually sit down together to design my maternity wears. All my maternity wears, I design and I ship them down to Nigeria, because to produce clothes in Nigeria is very, very capital-intensive because of power and all that. So, I design my clothes from here, I sit down, design my clothes, make them abroad and ship them down again. So, my dream for Radek is to take it to every doorstep. I want everybody in Nigeria to wear my label. That is my dream.
As someone that has been in business for 12 years, what is that mistake that most business people make?
You know Nigerians; everybody wants to do what everybody is doing. People are not consistent. I think for you to be able to succeed in this Nigeria, in any business all over the world, consistency is important. You have to be passionate about what you are doing, you have to be consistent and you have to be persistent. You know at times business can be very funny; at times you sell very well, you thank God; another time you can come here and you just sit down all day. But you have to be consistent, you have to persevere and the most important of all is your integrity. You must have integrity. If you don’t have integrity, you can’t get anywhere in this business. If you borrow money from the bank, you must be able to pay back. You must have integrity. You don’t joke with people’s money, because it is still this bank and the people you borrow from that will make you grow. Even if you have N100 million of your own, if you don’t have integrity with it, you will lose the money and you will crash. Integrity matters a lot.
What do you like most about being a businesswoman?
Being a businesswoman, I think, is the best thing that ever happened to me because I’m a family girl. My husband is a journalist and he’s hardly ever at home. So, being in business gives me time to take care of my husband, take care of my children and still be able to take care of myself. I have all the time in the world for myself. It can be a bit challenging at times, because at times I’m out of the country for two, three weeks. I have to get my mum, get my relations to stay at home. But at least when I’m around, I’m at home till 10 o’clock in the morning, which I won’t be able to do if I were to be a banker or a professional, so I think the time.
What don’t you like about being a business woman?
Leaving my family from two, three weeks; leaving my children and having to shop abroad. At times I will be on the streets in America or in London from 8 o’clock in the morning till 1am. At times I work from 8 o’clock in the morning till the following day, because I will have to finish parking by 1 o’clock, I want to board my flight to another country by 6am the following day. So, I’m awake all night. I will park from Turkey, board a plane to London; from London again I will board another plane to America before coming back again. That is the only aspect I don’t like and that is when it is very stressful.
How does it feel to be married to a journalist?
(Laughs) – Hmmm! It’s very interesting getting married to a journalist. Initially when we got married, it was a bit of a challenge for me because my dream about marriage was having my husband by my side, waking up in the morning together, praying together, going to work together. He will first of all drop me off in the shop before he goes to his office then in The Punch. But after sometime I realised that being married to a journalist is totally different from being married to any other man. You have to marry a journalist with his job. In fact, you have to marry the job first before your husband. So, it’s been interesting getting married to my husband. He’s been a wonderful guy. Journalists are very peaceful people. I tell you, they are the best set of people that you can get married to, and because they are outside of the house most of the time, they don’t give you stress. My husband doesn’t give me stress at all, he doesn’t bother me, because he’s out all day, he’s happy. So, whenever he’s at home, he wants peace, he wants us to discuss, he wants us to be friends and he just wants to feel at home. So, I think it’s been wonderful getting married to that guy.
How did you meet him?
I met him in 2004 precisely. I met him when he was working in The Punch via my friend, Yemi Kolapo. My friend is the Personal Assistant to the Minister of Power and Steel now. I went to visit my friend in The Punch and this guy just walked past me. I didn’t even notice him, so he went to meet my friend and told my friend that ah! This your friend that came to see you and bla bla bla. But I wasn’t interested, because of the stories I heard about him. But he just went on and on and on; went to meet everybody. He went as far as going to meet my uncle in London. He travelled to London and they called me from London and everybody was just like this guy is good, this guy is good and that was it. He was just all over me and…
(Interruption) – And you are not regretting it?
Ah! No, no, no…Biodun is a very peaceful guy, very peaceful guy…
Tell us about your children.
Yes, we have two kids. Oluwalonimi and Oluwadarasimi. The boy is seven and the girl is gonna be five. They are wonderful children.
Away from work, what do you do for relaxation?
I’m a very restless person. I hardly ever have time to rest. But anytime I have to rest, I sleep. Everybody that knows me all over the world, even my friends abroad, they know that once it is 9 o’clock, you cannot call Foluke on the phone after 9 o’clock. Even my husband! If he gets home at 12 midnight, he will not call me, because the time I have to relax is the only time that I sleep. So, I don’t have any leisure time, I work all day. I can work from 6 o’clock in the morning till the following day. So, any little time that I have I just shut down and I sleep because I cherish my health a lot.
The name, Radek, how did you come about it?
It comes from my name. My name is Moradeke – I’ve got a crown to pet. So, Radek comes from there.