Feman Media Agency’s CEO and founder is Jennifer Obiekwugo. She was delighted to explore the fast-emerging area of digital marketing in Nigeria when she founded her company, which was initially called Fine Digital Agency, and set out on a mission to carve out a niche within the bigger, broad field of media advertising.
When she first started out, she only had two clients, one of whom was her cousin, and she was able to pay the salaries of her two employees, leaving her without a paycheck of her own. She persisted and refused to give up for an entire year, routinely sending out proposals and reaching out to possible clients.
She told Duchess International Magazine, “I was struggling to make ends meet. I had to write a lot of proposals and visit potential clients, which required a lot of patience. But I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Some clients took up to two years to understand what I was offering before they finally said yes. It can be tough at the beginning, but I knew I had to keep pushing.”
As she began to make progress, she came upon a key juncture that could have halted her journey. According to the Duchess International Magazine, the entrepreneur originally planned to explore the still-uncharted waters of digital marketing in Nigeria before expanding into more expansive media advertising regions.
Unfortunately, a conflict with her business partner turned out to be more than just that. Not only had her partner harmed her reputation, but she had also plotted the departure of numerous large global companies with elaborate network systems.
“The only half of the businesses that I got to keep was a difficult time, really. But like I said again, my resilience. I don’t know how to take a fight lying down, so I picked myself up, and we grew from there,” Obiekwugo recounted.
Her partner’s actions had serious consequences. Obiekwugo had to reorganize her company and terminate a few employees. While this is frequently a watershed moment for many businesses, Obiekwugo used it to build her brand.
Her incredible fortitude and “never-say-die” spirit shone through. She quickly surmounted the challenge, using it as a springboard to propel her company to new heights.
For over eighteen years, the businesswoman has been able to turn her situation around and develop her brand.