A few years ago, I got interested in taking extra care of myself from head to toe. I started to pay particular attention to having a healthy head of hair and it was around that time I stumbled across Dabs’ blog, Naija Hair Can Grow.
It was filled with so much useful information and it remains one of the outstanding hair care blogs for African women to date. Dabs has since gone on to establish herself as an entrepreneur with the opening of her salon, the Savvy Chic Hair Beauty Hub! It’s with a lot of delight that I present Daboju Ogboru as our #WCW of the week!
Meet Dabs
Daboju Ogboru is a lawyer by profession and is married with 3 kids. In 2011, she started a hair care blog called Naija Hair Can Grow, sharing her experiences on growing my hair and providing motivation for others who wanted long and healthy hair. Through the blog, more opportunities presented themselves to her, leading to the establishment of her hair and beauty company called Savvy & Chic Hair Beauty Hub. The hub comprises a hair salon, online and retail store and our bespoke products aimed at providing nifty innovative solutions to every day hair and beauty needs.
IBG: Why do you do what you do?
DO: One of my major personality attributes is creativity! I like to conceptualize an idea and see it come to life…I am also big on adding value and doing things in a unique way so I ask myself a lot of questions. I could wonder – ‘why should A be A?’ ‘What if A and B combined to form AB?’ ‘Am I the first person to think AB can actually work better than just A?’ From this point, my mind starts spinning and I’m off to Google! Lol! So my ‘WHY’ is the satisfaction I get from adding value to people’s lives, whether it’s my immediate society or other wise.
DO: My motivation comes from knowing that I am making an impact in some way or the other, both in my environment and in people’s lives starting from my own home. When my sons see me working on the computer and ask me what I am working on, I don’t act all parent-like and say mind your business! I tell them what I am doing, for instance blogging and when they ask what that is, I proceed to tell them what I am blogging about…I can see their little faces light up and there’s this sense of pride that they exude.It makes me know that I have conveyed the message to them that their mum is important, her point of view matters and theirs will, as they grow older.
IBG: How do you define success?
DO: Success to me is when you have attained a level of confidence on a subject matter. It is when you have executed an assignment to the point where others want to know how you did what you did! It could be the assignment of life, parenting,a job etc. It could also be that there’s a reward which doesn’t necessarily translate to money; it could be respect, love,recognition,admiration….success is sweet!
IBG: What keeps you grounded?
DO: My family! As a first born child, I was always held highly accountable in all I did. When you know that you have people looking up to you, you don’t get easily carried away. I’ve always said I don’t believe my own hype. I appreciate when I’m being appreciated but there’s always more to accomplish.
IBG: What has been your biggest entrepreneurial challenge and how did you surmount it?
DO: It has been staff management. I started out my entrepreneurial endeavors as a blogger. That meant all I did was sit in front of a computer and share my thoughts, experiences, knowledge. When I decided to open up a salon and start dealing face to face with clients, I had to get additional hands. Finding skilled and passionate staff who are loyal and stay motivated, people who can translate the experience you are trying to give clients with little effort has been difficult. There have been many times I wished I could clone myself. To overcome this challenge, I have become a teacher and motivator to my staff, I show more than tell them what to do, I also make sure conflicts between themselves are resolved as soon as possible.
IBG: What do you consider to be your biggest success so far?
DO: Carving a niche in the industry for myself with my blog Naija Hair Can Grow and the Savvy and Chic Hair Beauty Hub. If you are a hair fanatic in Nigeria, surrounding African countries and even US or US, chances are that you have come across my blog or business. In 2015, after spending sleepless nights pondering on how to cut down the time it took to install a popular hairstyle called Faux Locs, I came up with a method called Instant Faux Locs. I taught it to my staff and filmed a tutorial. I uploaded it on YouTube and in a matter of minutes I had over a thousand views. That video went viral and has amassed over a million views to date with over ten thousand comments from viewers around the world. It opened up me up to clientele from all over the world and best of all, I monetized the video so I get paid for it too!
IBG: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs?
DO: Be passionate,never do business just for the reward/money. If you do, then prepare to get frustrated out of your endeavors. Never do it for the fame, you will lose sight of your goals and get carried away by fleeting praise. Do it for the passion. Thoroughly enjoy doing what you do. Even when stressful times arise, your love for what you do will have you asking yourself questions on how to learn and become better from the experience. That’s why passion is so important.
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