Celebrated Nigerian Blogger, Shoe-Cobler, has revealed she once committed suicide. The Chocolate skinned Nigerian entrepreneur made this revelation, while she was a guest on Silverbird Television on Women’s Day. In her words, “To he honest with you, I started shoe making out of depression. I mean at a point Where things got to bad that, I started contemplating taking my own life, yes, five years ago, I wanted to kill myself, I felt it was over and the best was to end it all.”
“So, one of those days, I was driving through Ajegunle with my suicide thoughts, then I saw this guy making shoes by the road side, and I’m like, since I am a TV girl, you know, I have a YouTube channel, where I interview different people, that gives me opportunity to meet top Nigerians and celebrities, so I felt, why not learn this and then use my personality and channel to promote it. I spoke with the guy, he gave me his bill and that was how I started learning show making.”
On other things she would have done better, the proudly Badagry born, said it’s Shoe-making or nothing else, She also hints on been successful in a male dominated business such as footwear industry, “I don’t think there is anything I would have done better aside shoe making, because before going into a business, I need to understand my environment, what they want, what is selling in my area, so basically, there’s nothing else, absolutely nothing else. As per feeling threaten by the male, I don’t feel threaten at all, maybe because while growing up, I had always love to challenge myself, I always say to myself, there’s nothing I can not do.”
“That a man is doing something is not enough to discourage me from doing it, especially when I have strong confident in that thing. Take for instance, Shoemaking, why should I feel threaten when I know I have clients that can patronize me. Let me give you an example, there was a time I was going through the photo gallery of the interior Minister on social media, one special gift I have is that, looking at the picture of what you are wearing, I can tell the size of your shoes, back to my story, I made these beautiful shoes, about 8 pairs and I mailed it to him in Osun state, then he was the Governor of the state. So he saw the shoes and requested to see me, when I met him, he was like wow, you made these wonderful shoes here in Nigerian? And they look exact as Italian shoes, Wow! these are beautiful shoes, Till today, he still patronises Bodex footprints”.
Popularly known Bodex or Gold Fish, said she has a gift of knowing someone shoe size from their pictures, while also advising fellow young ladies on the need to make something good out of their life, “Over time, I was able to brush myself more about Shoemaking, I also travel alot, I have been to different countries of the world, where I learned more about the act of making shoes, for instance when I went to Turkey, I was expose to a catalog where we are able to identify the size of a shoe. On my advices to women who doesn’t have the opportunities I have, Well, I have an NGO, its called BEWI Africa, Bodex Exceptional Women Initiative.”
“What I do is that, I go to the street and talk to young ladies, preferably girls, and I tell them, aside you doing this, you can actually do this. You don’t have to pay me for this, I am going to train you for free, I am also going to tell you the capital for making a pair of shoe. I have a factory in Surulere, I take them there and I teach everyone of them there. Sometimes, when I visit some of these eateries, I approach some of the waitress and I’m like, what if they sack you tomorrow? I just give them my card, already I have a list of shoemaker, Mechanic, Painting, I expect them to make a choice and we take it up from there, but it has to be male dominated field. We are trying to change the narrative, that men are not the only one who can make a positive change in a male dominated businesses etc.”She encouraged.
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