Are you a woman? Are you doing any serious business already or planning to? Then, you have to listen – and very attentively too – to this priceless advise from one of Nigeria’s most successful and respected business women, the delectable and ever resplendently dressed Mrs. Stella Okoli, Founder/CEO of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. Born about 70 years ago in Kano, Northern Nigeria, Mrs. Okoli who has been in business since 1984 when she incorporated Emzor has no doubt done very, very well as a woman. From Nnewi, in Anambra State, the daughter of Felix and Margaret Modebelu had her first taste of education at All Saints Primary School in Onitsha, and from there, she proceeded to Ogidi Girls Secondary School, also in Anambra.
Thereafter, she journeyed abroad for her tertiary education. Her B. Pharm (Hons) degree was from the Bradford University of London, in 1969 and her MSc Biopharmaceutics, University of London, Chelsea College, in 1979.
A proud mother of three, Mrs. Stella Chinyelu Okoli, before going solo, had worked in Middlesex Hospital as a ward/clinical pharmacist, then Boots Chemists, London as a pharmacist, Massey Hospital, Lagos and finally, Pharma Deko Plc.
A product of LBS, Nigeria and IESE, Barcelona, where the quest for additional knowledge and education also took her, she was on Channels Television recently where she advised fellow women on mistakes to avoid in business. Excerpts…
WHY SHE DIDN’T GIVE UP
I am just a simple person…People don’t believe I’m shy. I am shy. Simple, shy…Very, very shy…But being shy does not mean you won’t do your work…I’m also a very personal boss, so that helps me… I didn’t have to give up anything and I have not even done much. I just did the best I can. So, when people say you’ve achieved this, you’ve achieved that, I tell them I only wake up in the morning, do my work and thank the Lord for what He’s enabled me to achieve… When you do a good job, when you help others, when you tell them that no is not the answer, you must go for the best (success follows)…I’m liked, I’m loved and I’m respected.
WHY SHE’S STILL WORKING AT 70
There’s a lot to do. How many of our people are dying of hunger, how many of our people are dying of ignorance, how many of our people have not been mentored, how many of our people are still thinking negatively, when they should be thinking positively…every one of us has a lot to do and God sending me, it’s for a purpose. It’s for me to go and do more. So, anything I did not do before I became 70, in fact, this is the time to do more…
HER ATTITUDE TO YES MEN AND WOMEN
It’s wrong to be a leader, it’s wrong to be a CEO, it’s wrong to be at the helm of affairs and you surround yourself with yes men and women. It is very wrong, I condemn it and I don’t support it and we can do something about it. There are so many ways. One of them is called management by walking around. Move and see what’s happening. I always tell them that you can’t see through the walls…You can just wander around the managers and see what’s going on, you can just call for reports and be updated…We in Emzor don’t encourage yes men and women. No! We believe in having disagreements with the status quo. That’s why we are what we are, because how can your CEO be the only person there?
…Everyone must contribute their quota and every Chief Executive, every leader must encourage everybody to talk, because God has given us different talents. He’s given us different ideas. So, we should have an ideas mind…For me, I love people, I love my staff and I love to sit round the table (with them) to see what they are doing and then exchange ideas…and it is actually very, very rewarding…So, we have to make sure that everybody that is under us eventually becomes bigger than us…
To go and be saying yes and no, me, I don’t understand that. You have to contribute your quota, you have to make sure that you bring the people that are under you up…So, when you see them in positions tomorrow, it is your gift, it is your joy. I don’t do anything extra-ordinary. I’m just an ordinary human being, just trying to say everyday that I have to do my best and tell everybody around me to be their best and you know what? I don’t allow anybody to step out (of line). Some may think you are tough, but tomorrow, they will bless you, because they learnt from you and that is the problem. In Nigeria, young people are getting lazier and lazier…
HER THOUGHTS ON NIGERIAN WOMEN
In Nigeria, our women are very hard working. If you go to the market, you can see they are bubbling and they are doing their own thing. And there’s no reason why they shouldn’t transit to industry and other businesses and they must be supported the way that the male business ownership is supported.
PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS, APART FROM CAPITAL AND ACCESS
Women entrepreneurs could also face the problem of self-confidence because when you start a firm and you have a doubt; am I going to succeed, am I not going to succeed? Or you start a business, and you want from day one to be like the best, it may not work. It’s important for female entrepreneurs, the young ladies, to start small. A lot of people think that it’s money, that business is all about having money. No! It’s all about the techniques and the focusing and the determination and finding out areas of doubt that you can plug into. They need to also believe in themselves, find out the gaps in the system; they need to learn, continuous learning. They need to go to many seminars. These days, it’s easy. You can read up on anything. They don’t have to be going to parties everyday, they have to stay glued, maybe to the computer, maybe to books and make use of opportunities…There are a lot of seminars in Nigeria. So, they are not lacking exposure. They have to get involved. Get involved; just go there and get involved. Listen! One idea can change your life, it can change your business…