My name is Anurika Azubuike. I am a Marketing Consultant with
over a decade experience in helping businesses achieve a high level of success
using proven systems and processes that get results. I work through Integrated
Marketing Communication (IMC) strategies to empower businesses to get paying
customers by helping them shine, be attractive and be found. I have had the
privilege of working with companies such as Google, Etisalat, Intel, Diageo,
General Electric, Airtel, SAP, Mouka Limited, among many others.

I would love to tell you a bit more about my name. ‘Anuri’ in
the igbo language of Nigeria means ‘happiness’ and ‘ka’ means ‘greater’ or
‘greatest’, depending on the context it is being used. Infusing both meanings,
‘Anurika’ sums up to ‘Happiness is greatest’. This has been the sum total of my
life – taking a stand for happiness. As human beings, we all search for that one
thing that will make us fulfilled, complete and truly happy. In our search, we
sometimes get frustrated, depressed, lonely and sad because we have not found
what we are searching for. Searching for happiness, really, is an effort in
futility. This is because anyone can create their own happiness and make their
life all they dreamed about. Rather than dwell on external factors, the secret
formula is in focusing more on how to better manage internal factors.

In my life I have learned to create my own happiness
irrespective of any situation. I have come to meet with people who also are
truly happy, not because they have perfect lives but because they have come to
terms with how to manage their thoughts and emotions on the inside.

The key to true happiness and the real essence of fulfillment is
in living out one’s purpose. Your dreams, your experiences and your God-given
abilities, all lead out to what you were born to do. Once you realise your
purpose and begin to live it, you understand that no one can truly make you
happy except you.

My biggest fear is waking up one day to
realise that I have lived an ordinary, mediocre, routine life, and I did not do
anything differently to impact my society and the world.

WHAT FUELS ME?

My entire life story has been one of
resilience, courage and determination. I believe in life you have got to go for
what it is you want. I am a Christian and I believe in an awesome God who loves
me absolutely, so it has never been about my physical strengths or my
capabilities. Nonetheless, I’m a big believer that you attract what you are
ready for, and you can’t be ready if there has been no background work; no
experiences and learnings that push you to be more and do more; no shift in
mindset. All these are what make you ready for those amazing opportunities that
come your way. I’m a determined doer. I do things. I stay focused and I remain
consistent at it.

As the popular saying goes, ‘great
things happen outside comfort zones’. You cannot expect different results when
you are doing the same things consistently. I believe you should constantly evaluate
your life by asking yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer
to where you want to be tomorrow.

Sadly, I see a lot of people living
their lives by default, not design. Many valuable years of progress and
purposeful-living are wasted in the process. My encouragement to those who are
not yet seeing the results they were hoping for is for them not to give up.
Work on yourself. Work harder and smarter. It might not seem like much now but
it will pay off eventually. Don’t stop. Just keep believing and keep pushing
forward.

MY GREATEST INFLUENCE:

Both my parents have had the greatest influence on who I am
today. My father is a tenacious, hardworking business man with the highest integrity
I know. My mother is intensely dedicated, has a large heart and is a true
example of what humility is. They are my greatest teachers. They taught me
independence. They taught me perseverance. They taught me kindness to others.
Above all else, they showed me that I am indeed capable of doing anything I set
my heart to do. I am indeed blessed to have them as parents.

IN THE NEXT FIVE
YEARS…..

We all have the purpose to impact the world. The underlying question
is: how many of us will live our lives fulfilling our purpose? I look forward to
doing that absolutely with my life and work. I look forward to a time when all
my visions will be birthed. I look forward to when I will impact more lives
irrespective of location and inspire more people to “get up and go.” In five
years, I want to have helped reduce the rate of unemployment in my country,
Nigeria, by coaching at least a thousand fresh university graduates to set up
profitable businesses.

I also want to mentor young African girls between the ages of 16
and 21 years on living a life of purpose because I believe when we start building
them from the time when they are vulnerable and face a lot of peer pressure, we
can have stronger, confident adult women. I want to be part of the change
makers in Africa.

I have worked with awesome coaches who constantly keep me on my
toes and drive me to achieve what it is I have set out to, and in the right
direction. Just as I could never have had all the answers to my many questions,
so also no one person can ever have all the answers they need for themselves by
themselves. If you are serious about any part of your life and about your
business, I’ll strongly recommend you get a coach and mentor. Everyone needs a
good mentor irrespective of how smart or brilliant they think they are. You
save yourself valuable time of trying and failing time and time again. You can
do anything but you can’t do everything.

THE AFRICAN WOMAN’S CHALLENGE:

I am very passionate about women and what we represent. In my
experience, when women discover and rediscover themselves, stick together and
pull each other up, they have more fulfilling businesses, careers and personal
lives. When women support women, amazing things happen. We are extraordinary
beings and we have the capacity of living the very best version of ourselves.

Women across the world face challenges but the African woman
faces the greatest of them all, in my opinion. The more complex problems are
cultural and religious practices of female genital mutilation, child marriages;
health problems such as vesico-vaginal fistula, high rate of infant and maternal
mortality rate due to poor health facilities, among others. There are many
others like the societal pressures to get married at a certain age, have
children, and even act in a certain manner. There is also the issue of domestic
violence and generally violence against women. These, among many other factors, are what make women become
timid and withdrawn. Many women just come and go through life without doing
what they were born to do.

This is
the reason I started my ‘Self-Love Campaign for Women’. This platform helps
women understand that there is more to life than merely existing, and gives
them the boost of confidence they need to first love themselves by regarding
their own well-being, and then loving others, including other women, as they
love themselves.

WHAT
I DO TO RELAX:

I like to spend time with my family. I am married to a great man
who supports me in reaching and achieving my goals. I have three lovely and
adorable children and it gives me immense pleasure to watch them grow and
listen to their endless trail of curious questions. I never tire to provide the
right answers they need so they can better understand how the world works. Life
is indeed a bed of roses. It comes with the soft velvety feel of the rose, the
enticing scent of the flower and also the thorns. I help them to understand
that it is not the rose that is bad when the thorn pricks, but how we are able
to enjoy the good parts of it without dwelling so much on the bad parts, and that
is what makes all the difference.

I also love to read. There is limitless wealth of information, knowledge
and wisdom in the writings of other people. The knowledge I soak in from these
books help me in my personal life, in cultivating and nurturing relationships,
in my Christian life, my professional life and in business.

MY   –  
I.C.E. [INSPIRE|CELEBRATE|EMPOWER] VISION

The African Woman is an embodiment of tenacity, hope and courage.
With the right mindset and support, she can grow to become a strong link to
those around her – her husband, her children, her family, her neighbors and her
society. She can be an invaluable source of inspiration, who loves
unconditionally and gives her all for what she believes in. But in giving her
love to others, she should not forget that she also needs to be loved.

I dream of an Africa where women totally and completely love
themselves because they realise that they first have to love themselves before
they can truly love others. If one does not feel good about herself, it is hard to
feel good about anything else. The result of such total and complete love is that they are happier
and more fulfilled, and this ultimately affects everything else that they do.
The ripple effect of this is a stronger effort to raise a generation that is
forward-thinking and less dysfunctional. This is the backbone of creating
better societies in the world today.

MY
AFRICAN UNION PLANS:

I am a strong advocate for empowering women with skills that
make them contributors in their homes. The African mentality is such that women
are asked to stay home and take care of the children while the man goes out to
“hunt.” Today’s society is not like it was in the past. There is the need for
women to rise up, get up and go to where they are needed.

I believe that the world becomes richer
when women are economically empowered. Studies have shown that women who have some sort of income or passion
they are pursuing, live more fulfilling lives. A more recent study showed that children of women who are pursuing a passion
and/or have a source of income grew up to be well adjusted and independent, and
scored high on socioemotional indices. It doesn’t matter what you are doing – mentor
young girls in your community, run a food business, manage a blog, a book club,
run a child care centre, a teacher, a career woman, a fashion designer, a
mechanic, a driver, or you’re a life student; the point is “get up and go.”

There is a strong patriarchal mentality in the world and the
reasons are not too far-fetched. They are a lot of pressures on the woman. What
I have realized, though, is that the limitations we give ourselves as women are
sometimes in our minds, and have a lot more to do with our mindsets. A woman
who has not prepared herself mentally to do any of these things, will not make
much out of them. I also understand that there are other limitations like if
her husband will permit her to chase those dreams. The truth is irrespective of
this, we haven’t given ourselves the permission to chase those dreams either.
It will mean doing something different than we are used to and so we become afraid
and self-doubt creeps in.  Little opportunities arise and we do not even
take advantage of them because we do not recognize them.

Sometimes all you really need is to
give yourself the permission and gift of change before the miracles begin to
happen. We have to have just a little faith that it will all work out, and it
will.

One of my passions is to mentor women who are in despair, are
confused and are discouraged to take more control of their lives and create happy,
fulfilling lives. I would like a chance to influence policy makers in African
countries to enact laws that better protect the girl child and women. These
will be my cause being part of the African Union.

FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE:

We tend to think of ourselves in
negative terms. Women have been shown to have huge self-doubt and insecurity
issues. These are largely shaped by our childhood, our life’s experiences, our
traditions and cultures, and our concept of what we think the ideal should be. We
worry about the minor imaginative flaws in our physical attributes. We have
self-doubt even in our accomplishments. We try to tear other women down so we
can somehow feel better about ourselves. We over-protect our children sometimes
even to their own detriment.

In more recent times, I have seen a
new crop of thought leaders and a changed pattern of thinking about women.
There is now more awareness and focus about the struggles of women, more causes
supporting women and more women encouraging other women.

These are my words to every woman out
there who might be struggling with any part of her life: You are awesome. You
are intelligent. You are blessed. You are extraordinary. You are so much more
than you think or imagine. You are capable of anything. You first have to believe
that you are capable. As long as you believe in yourself, you can achieve your goals.

Find others who believe
in you. As much as you can, minimise time with people who
let you think less of yourself. Beautiful things happen when you distance
yourself from negativity. Your greatest driver should be to make
a difference beyond yourself and impact the lives of others no matter how small
your contribution.

Above all
things, be thankful and grateful for what you have at this very moment. Don’t allow
comparisons make you feel anxious. The greatest prayer of all is a simple ‘thank you’. The more you
are thankful, the more you attract things to be thankful for.