Speeches

June 23rd is recognized on the UN calendar as International Widows Day to raise awareness of widows’ silenced voices. Poverty and injustice are also faced by many widows and their children. International Widows Day 2022 theme being “Sustainable Solutions for Widows Financial Independence” is a topic I was very happy to share with my fellow widows as the Key Note speaker. Yes, you can, as Yolk Africa theme is was my central message. So we begin with the mindset- just believing in oneself and your capability that you will do it. So the only thing between that you so wish for is just you. I encouraged the widows to move away from boxing themselves as widows who are not able to provide, wallowing in pity parties hoping people will feel sorry for them, yet they still have their 2 hands and the God given brain to excel. Roll up your sleeves and get out there and do something, as the opportunities are there. I shared a bit of my being widowed at 41 years of age. I had a huge family to look after – my own widowed mother, my children, my siblings and my late siblings’ children. I mourned my husband for a week and had to go back to work after 5 days. Same week I lost my husband in 2001, our only manager at SECURICO was attacked by thieves on his way home, and he died a few days later. SECURICO was still a small company employing around 120, and I had no choice, but to go back to work as there was no one else. Also shared on what I consider my biggest achievement – fighting and advocating for the acceptance of women in the security sector. I had to fight for the security industry to accept women as capable practitioners. We have over 900 women – mostly widows and single mothers. Pray for WISDOM, I told them. I pray for Solomonic wisdom every day, not material things. Wisdom, Wisdom, not anything else, has taken me this far. What a Happy Widows Day it was!!! Many of them were inspired and encouraged. Thank you, Yolk Africa and UN, for enabling this platform.

Inner Development Goals (IDGs) is a non-profit organization for inner development. They research, collect and communicate science-based skills and qualities that help us to live purposeful, sustainable, and productive lives.The Inner Development Goals framework is fundamental in the work to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Why the IDGs now? Global Goals for 2030 can only be accelerated by a wide range of issues that involve people with different needs, values, and convictions. Modern research shows that the inner abilities we all need now can be developed.IDGs framework is represented by 5 categories namely Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating and Acting for driving change.In May 2022, I was invited to speak at the Inner Dev Goals Summit in Stockholm in a panel discussion chaired by a great woman Asa Jarskog on the Collaborating pillar.I shared on the following:

Unapparelled Woman 20th May 2022 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS FROM GOOD TO GREAT Unapparelled Woman Entrepreneurial Summit 20th May 2022 Unapparelled – exceptional, having no parallel,  having no equal or match,  unique. And indeed we all unique in our different ways.  The danger is trying to be someone you are not, and I have often noted that Zimbos we are the greatest asimilados in the world. Going from good to great means finding where you can play your best game. Going from good to great means finding where you can play your best game. Be of value to stakeholders. The amount of money you make will be directly related to the amount of value you provide to your customers. Period. Alongside a good value proposition to the customer, its equally important to give a good value proposition to the internal customer – your team members. They are team members, not workers. Key to attaining growth and profitability lies in finding good and smart people, sharing your vision vividly with them.  They should almost articulate your vision word for word to outsiders. That should be done systematically and relentlessly all the time. Empower them with knowledge, skills. Work harder and longer than others. Work ethic is missing from our culture today, replaced with entitlement. Prepare everyday to go the extra mile, make the extra call, have that extra meeting and you’ll soon be on your way to becoming super great, or even a millionaire if you like that sort of thing. ??? Dominate, Don’t Compete. Whatever you love to do, then do it in a way that dominates that space. Don’t be a player in the game, BE the game. Be in so many places and so involved that everywhere your competitors and your clients go, they hear or see you. Read, guys, read. I read to sleep; I wake up to read first before bathing. Reading widens your horizon to a level you can confidently walk into anywhere and be up to speed with any discussion, hence you can make the right impressions to whosoever you want to do business with. Execution, execution and execution – one of the most critical blocks to building a successful enterprise. Bossidy & Charan.  “Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective.  Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.” Don’t Be Afraid To Innovate Business is an ART – spend time thinking though how you can improve your product or service, being creative in the way you do everything in your business. Go After What You WantCalvin Klein once said “I think fantasies are for the birds,” “Anything I wanted to do, I did. If there’s something I want, nothing stops me.” Excellence And it is Doing whatever you do exceptionally well.  Whether its writing a letter to a customer, the ambience of your work environment etc.. Do it with EXCELLENCE. Pay it Off, Don’t Pay it Forward  or simply, be frugal.  Have financial discipline. If you can help it, don’t borrow as it is huge cost to the business, Added costs of high interests can stifle a business and certainly can kill a good business. We chose to grow our business organically, with very little borrowing initially, retaining all profits into the business for the first 6 years of the business. Avoid the get-rich quick schemes. Don’t chase the easy money. Follow some these steps to growing from good to great, and, to becoming a millionaire, and in no time, the next piece of advice you will seek is how to become a multi-millionaire. A step at a time not five, otherwise You will fall. In the Value of work, Things do not happen overnight, they happen OVERTIME!! A man on top of a mountain did not just fall there, he climbed little by little Be of impeccable character and integrity.  Never compromise on this.  Honest, integrity are traits that will take you far, the new corporate currency