Scholarpreneurs In Nigeria – Victoria Onyekachukwu Oke

As part of our “Scholarpreneurs in Nigeria” series, we got a chance to run an interview by Victoria Oke, Founder and CEO of the Vickkypearl Brand, who started her brand with Vickkypearl Cakes as an undergraduate (in Federal University of Technology Akure where she studied Transport Management Technology), and built it to heights where she expanded to start Pearlie House of Fashion. She’s a winner of multiple awards and grants including Wimbiz Business Proposal Competition in 2016, and Ideaslane “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2017. Her success story has been featured on Startup Digest, Business Day Newspaper, as well as numerous magazines and blogs around the country.

Her sociopreneural journey has taken her to places where she leverages on her wealth of experience to speak on several entrepreneurship and business development, and in the process, helping small and medium-sized businesses manage and develop their limited resources for effectiveness and profitability. She’s the current Chief Relationship Manager at WiseLead Company, a 21st century ICT firm. She’s also an active member of Partners for Peace (P4P), a network dedicated to promoting peace in the Niger Delta region.

Read on as she shares some amazing entrepreneurship insights with us on Scholarpreneurs.com

Tell us about yourself:

I’m Oke Victoria Onyekachukwu, born on 7^th of June, 1994. I’m the second of 4 children. My state of origin is Oyo. I attended Tunyo Nursery and primary school, Mushin-Lagos, Tunyo Comprehensive College, Egan-Lagos, and Federal University of Technology, Akure. I was head girl and food prefect in Jss3, health prefect in ss3, assistant class rep for my department during my undergraduate days. I am also an exco member at Ladies of substance inc. My philosophy of life is “anything worth doing is worth doing well”.

Were you involved in any form of business or social entrepreneurship in school?

Yes, I make cakes and sell fashion accessories for business. I also partook in many social programs related to children and women, I’m very active in them.

How did you get the idea to do this that you’re currently involved in?

I’ve saw a lot of Wilton Cakes, and the creativity behind them set fire to my bones and then I believed in my artistic creative mind. I believed I could make cakes as beautiful as those ones I saw, and I could make exactly what others wanted or dreamed about for them. And yes! My dream is a reality now.

 

What service(s) or product(s) does your brand offer basically?

Making, sales, and delivery of cakes and desserts, and fashion accessories like tie, cufflinks, cap, wristwatches, ear rings  etc Baking and fashion accessories merchandise is profit making for sure, and I work with both profit making and non-profit making organizations.

What were the biggest initial hurdles to establishing yourself in this industry and how did you overcome them?

Majorly discouraging customers wanting superb cakes at a very cheap price. I didn’t have the kind of oven I dreamt of when I wanted to start. Then poor power supply, sometimes I had to use a lamp during work. Bad roads also affected delivery- sometimes, I would walk where I could have taken a taxi, for fear of the potholes causing a displacement in any part of the cake. Nationwide delivery is a big task especially when you don’t want to charge high rates. By all means I look for how best to deliver the accessories in good condition at the shortest time.

Did you ever deal with contention from your family or friends or anyone concerning your entrepreneurial pursuits?

None that I can remember. Entrepreneurship is a family thing here. So, I got moral and physical support. Although, I’ve not got any financial support for my business till date, maybe because I haven’t asked

I don’t leave myself and business to chances at all, I plan ahead. Also, I have friends who do the same business with me, so I surround myself with positive minds

How do you approach publicizing and marketing your business?

One on one marketing has been the best so far, but we also place adverts and get customers through the social media. Yes, Instagram is a platform basically for sharing pictures, so we use Instagram and thanks to the new WhatsApp status, we share our pictures there and make adverts.

What mindset and habits has helped so far?

Less sleep, eating healthy, having short term goals. I don’t leave myself and business to chances at all, I plan ahead. Being vast in technology – I surf the net and watch a lot of tutorial videos. I have friends who do the same business with me, so I surround myself with positive minds

What would you say was the single most influential factor keeping you in it?

By strength shall no man prevail. God is the only one keeping me. My aspirations also push me to be more.

Tell us about a time you failed, and how did you deal with the failure?

I’ve failed many times. But because I’ve had the mindset that failure isn’t the end, I felt bad, cried and wrote about my failure. I met my business inclined friends and we discussed the reason for failure and carved out a plan to put me up again.

What has been your greatest moment of success?

I’ve not hit the biggest yet…although I have many success stories.

What do you know today that you wish you had known when you first started as an entrepreneur?

Get registered under CAC as early as possible. People will take you and your brand serious.

If you were to start all over again, what would you do differently?

I would have learnt from a very good baker at my first trial

Where do you see yourself and your brand in 5 Years?

At the top. Making waves instead of jumping in ready made ones.

What do you do to recharge when you’re feeling drained?

I take out time to retreat.  Appraise myself sincerely, work on my weaknesses and receive more strength from the giver (God). I also thank God for my friends. They charge me up.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Every day, I tell myself “anything worth doing at all, is worth doing well.” Start early and fail early.

Thank You for your Time:

You’re Welcome

You can connect with her brand Vickkypearl as Vickkypearlcakes and pearlie_fashion on Instagram, and as Vickkypearl on facebook. Her website is www.victoriaoke.com

 

Our Scholarpreneurs in Nigeria series features brands and personalities who did businesses or started companies with some level of success as students, and are still doing so either as graduates or still as students. These are people who inspire and add values to the lives of others through what they do, and are still doing it. We hope that with this series, other youths and students around Nigeria and Africa will be inspired.

Please read, comment, and feel free to share our posts. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @Scholarpreneurs