Women We Love: The Business Women Connect Speakers
The city of Warri is in for a treat this weekend as all is set for the maiden edition of ‘The Business women Connect’ Conference. First of it’s kind in Niger Delta, this conference has a lineup of amazing speakers and panelists. It is safe to say that connecting, empowering, educating and network has never been easier.
The amazing speakers and panelists for this conference have mastered the art of ‘working in heels’ and will be sharing from their wealth of knowledge at the event on the 24th February 2018.
Below is the list of speakers and their bios.
ADESUWA ONYENOKWE: Adesuwa Onyenokwe needs no introduction. From spending 15 fruitful years at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to a decade of her successful TV production, “Today’s Woman with Adesuwa” she has extensively written her story in the book of the greats.
After resting her TV show following a very successful 10 years of running, Adesuwa went on to Launch Today’s Woman Magazine which has also been a huge success. She greatly impacted the lives of the younger generation through her message and inviting numerous women of timbre and caliber to inspire the growing girl-child in the country. Adesuwa, with cumulative 30 years’ experience in the media business began a new TV show, ‘Seriously Speaking’ in July, 2014. The show, which airs on Channels TV has played host to a long list of celebrities, public figures and notable guests.
TARA FELA DUROTOYE: Tara is the Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director, House of Tara International. She is a veteran in the beauty industry, who pioneered the bridal make up profession in Nigeria.
In a series of firsts, she set up the first make up studio and established the country’s first make up school. Tara also launched the Tara Product line, a brand that promotes ethics and ethnicity, by empowering young women for economic independence without moral compromise, just as it flies the proudly Nigerian flag. She has received several national and international Awards for her contribution to the industry and active role in Empowerment.
ITOHAN ASIBOR: Mrs. Itohan Asibor is the C.E.O and Head of Creativity, ‘Bluberry Cakes,’ a Premium Custom Cake and Dessert company based in Delta state. Mrs Asibor is also a director in Antigua Pharmacies Ltd, a pharmaceutical health services company. She is renowned in the confectionery industry, having successfully built a multi-million confectionery company with humble beginnings from her home kitchen. She is a trained facilitator in sugar craft and entrepreneurship. She is a Mentor for The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women in Business, where she Impacts/empowers budding entrepreneurs worldwide. Mrs Asibor is also the Founder of THE CAKE FACULTY, a business coaching and mentoring group aiming to help motivate and educate bakers in Nigeria and beyond.
Itohan has a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Benin. She is an Alumni of FATE Foundation and the Enterprise Development Center of Pan African University. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Gold Man Sachs 10,000 Women Scholarship at the Prestigious Pan Atlantic University. She is a member of the International Cake Exploration Society. Itohan’s driving force is her PASSION for entrepreneurship and self development.
She is a firm believer that everyone is here on earth with an assignment, or purpose if you will, and discovering it will lead to fulfillment, success and all its attendants. Mrs Asibor is happily married and blessed with two wonderful children.
VERA OBIELUMANI: Vera is a Fashion Entrepreneur, Stylist, and Design Educator. She is the CEO and Creative Director of ‘VeraNora Couture’ (VNC); an urban African fashion label, based in Warri, Delta State.
Vera started VeraNora Couture in 2009, at the age of 19, while still an undergraduate at UNIPORT. She was inspired by her mother, who was a seamstress. When she started VNC, she employed just one tailor and they made only two dresses in a week. Now, VNC is a full fashion house which specialized in both men and women wears and makes over 800 wears in a month.
Vera Akporeha runs a project where she gives back to the community by running free design training programmes for young girls in Warri, and craft making for secondary school students during the summer holidays. The studio also runs skills acquisition training for NYSC members.
She was recognized in 2015 as one SME100 Women 25 under 25 and was alsoa Future Award Nominee in 2014.Vera is also a wife and mother.
TRICIA IKPONMWONBA-YUSUF: Tricia, also known as the small business fixer is a business coach focused on helping businesses develop smart marketing and sales strategies, aimed at increasing their bottom line. She is a seasoned marketing professional with +11 years’ experience and a proven track record of delivering business objectives with core competency in Marketing Strategy, Brand building and Critical thinking and has worked across a wide portfolio of multi-nationals. Tricia holds certifications in English and Literature from University of Benin, Public Relations from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Lagos and the Certified Marketing Communications Institute of Nigeria, Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK, Brand Building from the Vega School of Brand Leadership South Africa and Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the United Nations University for Peace Costa Rica. Tricia has two driving passions. To provide education opportunities and access for orphans and vulnerable children living in disadvantaged communities and supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs with a bias for female owned businesses. In this regard, her mantra is to help 1,000 such businesses define and build international class brands, whilst employing strategic marketing tools to drive consumer recruitment, engagement and retention which ultimately lead to improved sales by 2020.
TEMI ASHABI AJIBEWA: Mrs. Temi Ashabi Ajibewa is a Business and Results coach who is focused on helping female professionals and entrepreneurs to start, grow and brand their dream business online. Being an entrepreneur for over a decade now, Temi teaches and mentors on entrepreneurship from a very practical point of view. Her passion to empower women in particular came about when she herself began a home/online business that propelled her into 7 figures from the comfort of her home within four short months. Hence, she became an online business evangelist and mentor, helping more women to achieve this feat while earning the title: The Millionaire Housewife.
She is the founder of The Millionaire Housewife Online Academy, where she trains women on how to start, grow and brand your dream business online and also an online hub with over 12,000 membership strength, for women who are looking to build profitable businesses.
ARAMIDE ABE: Aramide is an entrepreneur and the founder of Naija Startups, a virtual sector agnostic startup accelerator, which has a vision to facilitate small business growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has collaborated with organizations such as Google to deliver capability building and skills for thousands entrepreneurs in Nigeria and continues to partner with other Organizations to provide value-added services to business owners across Africa.
She has an MBA from INSEAD and a certificate from the Kellogg School of Management with a focus on marketing and strategy. She also has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham.
During the course of her career, Aramide worked in IT consulting and marketing, as well as strategy implementation in the financial sector. In her last role, she led a project for a bank across 36 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, thus forming strong links and partnerships across Central, West, East and South Africa.
