The Managing Director of the high-end firm discusses her life, craft and how she was able to create a niche for herself as an entrepreneur. Kikelomo Atanda-Owo is making loud statements with Z-Edge Nigeria Limited– a positioning and strategic market planning, vendor relations and supply chain firm that helps organisations increase their turnover through proper implementation of business strategy.
Kikelomo’s growing up years were dynamic considering her background, societal exposure and academic training. These three areas helped to shape her perspective about life and people. The lessons drawn from them are numerous. However, one of the most important lessons is that she was able to understand the power of relationships from the positive and even the negative angles. She have also learned about the power of independence in achieving one’s goals and objectives in life.
There have been several landmarks in her life. Becoming a mother was one of them. Making her first N1 million profit was another defining moment for me. Another area that have shaped her as a person is her marriage, which has completely redefined and refined her views about life. She have truly learned to rely on God alone for everything. Progress for me is no longer measured by landmarks, but by maturity from her various experiences, which are both positive and negative. She made her first N1 million before Zedge was officially registered. It felt like a good start. It made her to start believing that all her distant dreams were possible. Till date, She have been applying the takeaways from the moment she realised N1 million from her business.
There are also other issues that mitigate against women attaining their potentialities. For instance, their level of personal ambition matters so much. Another thing is that societal barriers negatively impact on women making progress in the corporate world. However, She believes these barriers are coming down as more women make their marks in government, the corporate sector and even in manufacturing. She named a woman who have inspired her; Mrs. Adebola Adesola, CEO of Standard Chartered. Women have much to offer than they are doing currently.
Statistics have shown that women are excellent managers, leaders, and strategists in any role and in every society. I believe, that the future will be a brighter one when women are given more opportunities and higher responsibilities in politics, technology, science, business and society in general.
