By Women of West Africa Enterprenuership
Her hair and nails are always immaculate, her clothes look
professionally styled, her kids are perfectly behaved; she runs her own
successful business, buys the most thoughtful gifts for her friends and
never misses a single important event from a hot party to a school play.
Most of us know at least one woman like this and don’t they just make
you wonder how it’s done? How can any one woman appear to have
everything so together?
Well, let us share something really
important with you, these girls don’t have some magic quality, nor do
they achieve this on their own. Any woman that gives you that impression
has a series of secret weapons that we’re going to share with you. Our
speaker panel at WOWe Nigeria in June is blowing the lid off the
“perfect woman” stereotype and showing you how to be a go-getting
goddess who’s got everything under control.
WOWe speaker, celebrity businesswoman and Nigerian Idol founder Chichi Nwoko
says “Work-life balance is a tough challenge and the balancing act is
different for every woman depending on her situation. Regardless of
these individualized situations, I applaud any woman that is able to
manage her situation seamlessly and achieve every of her goals
perfectly. In order to survive in the business world of today, it is
critical that one has to be an entrepreneur first without derogating the
fact that she is a woman because at the end of the day, her business or
entrepreneurial obligations have to be accomplished while the home
front must also not deteriorate. “ Very true, so how do we do it?
The Right Support
Your first tool is called the support team. Everyone’s looks a little
different, needs and circumstances require that you shape your support
team around your unique situation, however all the women we know that
match the above description say that you need one. It might be having a
flexible person to look after your kids, an ace beautician who’ll come
to your office and do your nails whilst you take a call, a husband who
knows his way round the kitchen/laundry, a personal shopper who’ll have
great suggestions ready in your size the moment you show up… Basically
your support team is whoever you need to make things happen quickly and
efficiently whilst you get on with driving your business forward.
A Real Life Juggling Act
The perfect outside illusion is often hiding something very real and
imperfect, albeit lovely in it’s own way. For all that you might look at
someone and think they have it all, they have to work hard and
compromise just like everyone else to make it happen. Acknowledging the
need for compromise and embracing perceived imperfections is your second
key tool.
WOWe woman Chichi Nwoko explains “For me, that sometimes means that I
simultaneously hold my 2 month old son in my left arm while typing a
proposal or sending an email with my right hand and, having a phone
conversation with the telephone usually propped between my ear and
shoulder. While I often strive to multitask and juggle all these roles, I
find that there are times when I must stop the juggling act and make
time to be 100% mommy, 100% wife or, 100% entrepreneur. I think it would
be impossible to accomplish these cluster of objectives without an
incredibly supportive husband.”
It Won’t All Come At Once
Expecting to achieve perfect balance off the bat is just unrealistic. As
with any skill it requires practice and a significant amount of up
front effort before you finally achieve your goal. Cult shoe designer
and WOWe speaker Afua Dabanka says “I believe you can have it all, but
you will have to sacrifice a lot until you get there. Key for me was a
very strict time management policy to avoid going completely off
balance.” So the third tool is all about commitment, dedicating time to
practicing getting the balance right and having the patience to do so.
Pick Your Time
Another key point is to pick your time of life for different
achievements; WOWe woman and celebrity makeup guru Eryca Freemantle says
“I came into success at a mature age. Using my maturity and life
experience I adapt my work life balance around the things that make me
happy. I am single and my daughter is 23 years old. It was a struggle at
the beginning, now I have mastered the art. Yes one can have it all.
Pick, Choose and refuse. You are as good as your accountant, lawyer and
bank manager.”
It’s not that you have to wait until you
have grown up children before you can have success in business; WOWe
speaker, Nail Bar CEO and Bella Naija beauty columnist Ameera Abrahams
says “It’s been easy for me as I am still single, I’m not responsible
for anybody or anything on the home front so it’s safe to say I have it
all. I work hard and play hard.”
So choosing when is as important as making sure you have the right
support network and attitude, combine all these things and there’ll be
no stopping you!
Learn more about time management and
work/life balance at the WOWe Nigeria conference in June, key benefits
of attending WOWe Nigeria include:
• Insight from 25+ speakers on their entrepreneurial journey of success!
• Lessons learnt in business start-up and growth
• Expansion tips for internationalising your brand
• Best practise in entrepreneurship
• Success roadmap for building a world class African brand
• First-hand knowledge and experience from leading business women from all over the globe
Get tickets to the conference, 3 workshops and the exclusive cocktail
dinner at the all-inclusive early bird rate N57,750 including VAT
available until 9th May!
For further information please contact: Tori Abiola ->
tori.abiola@montex.co.uk or call +234 (0) 81 45999475 |+234 (0) 80 85978488. Please visit:
www.wowenigeria.com
