In the year 2013, Linda Ikeji announced that she was going to embark on a project she called
'I'd Rather Be Self-made' where she would personally mentor young girls with dreams and aspirations and help them to start a small scale business.
The most thrilling and incredible aspect of the philanthropy is that Linda did set apart a whooping sum of N10, 000,000 for the project.
Linda Ikeji in her own words told the story of what really inspired this project.You will enjoy this:
“...I wanted to share a story that I've been meaning to share here for a while now...about why I decided to help some young ladies with start up capital for their small scale businesses..Before I became the popular blogger that I am today, I was a struggling entrepreneur. I started my modeling career in 1998 before I turned 18 and started my company Blackdove Communications in 2004 when I was just 23+. Blackdove was a modeling agency/events company and I operated from a 2-room office in Jibowu, Yaba for almost three years.
In 2006, I decided to try something that I'd always wanted to do - become a magazine publisher. My dream growing up was to be a journalist. These days many people argue whether I am a journalist or not. I don't consider myself one. I'm a blogger, though being a journalist was my dream. In fact, I wanted to study Mass Communications in the university but I unfortunately didn't get it. I got English instead. But I've always had a love for writing, putting stuff together, informing people about what's going on etc.In in 2006, I mustered the courage and saved enough money to publish my own magazine. It was called FM&B (Fashion, Modeling and Beauty) magazine because that was my industry at the time.
For my first edition, I used my photo (duh...lol) left. It took me months to put this together and I used money I made from my business to print the magazine. I did a grand launch and really hoped for the best. After it was released, I didn't recoup the money I'd spent on it but I knew I couldn't become a successful magazine publisher over night. I knew the road was long and hard and I had to keep at it, I knew I had to print more editions before people and sponsors could take me serious.
Anyway, I printed my second edition (right) and didn't recoup either. The vendors will take the magazine and not pay you. Some would claim they didn't sell...some, you would chase for your money for so long you'd get tired of chasing them and then you leave them alone. And it was especially hard to get adverts for a new magazine. I would go to companies and sit in their offices for hours, hoping they would buy advertising space in the magazine, but for where? Lol. I remember I offered a telecoms company my back page and inner pages for N100k but they were not interested ...lol. (now, na them they chase me with adverts...lol).But I managed to get a few companies to advertise ... - it took months of being on the road - going from one company to the other, convincing them to support the effort - still it wasn't enough to print the next edition so I had to once again use my own money to print the magazine. It was tough but I didn't want to give up. I wanted to succeed by all means and I knew consistency was the key......."
Thats not all,join me again,tomorrow while i bring you more of what she said,remember,the inspiration behind the story is our focus,so lets not rush it.*wink*
Lessons learnt:
- She had a passion and was very hungry to see it actualize.the question is :how hungry are you?
- She was very hardworking,she put in efforts to pursue her goals and dreams...she sat in offices for hours,she wasnt afraid to be turned down,she expected the best in every situation..
- She maintained her focus:she staggered not at the promise of the pictures she's framed up in her mind about her success through unbelief and laxity.
- Consistency is the key,she knew that and applied it
You may see other important lessons to note here,or may have been inspired in one way or the other,kindly share it in the comment section.we will love to read from you.
Now,make sure you see this through,you will be so inspired and ready to jump out there.
See you next time
**Cheers.
Source:Nigerian Biography
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