Achenyo Helen Asimegbe is a serial entrepreneur. She hails from Kogi State and she is married with two children(Adorable Daughters). She is the CEO of Stylemark Mall, a retailer of high-quality children’s clothing and accessories, and also Stylemark Pro Enterprise (Capacity Development Centre), which trains Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and start-ups.

She serves as a business mentor for the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation and also  Cherie Blaire Foundation for Women in Business. She is a member of Toast Masters International Club.

She holds a B.Sc/Masters degree in Business Administration. She has a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management, she continues to add to her learning through a great number of local and international certificate training programmes, including courses from the University of Leeds, Coursera by- University of London &London Business School. Amongst many other trainings, she has been privileged and has been selected a number of times to participate in conferences centered on Entrepreneurship and development goals, such as Conference for Emerging Entrepreneurs organized by U.S Consulate General Lagos.

She has a strong background in banking and has worked with two commercial banks in Nigeria.

She absolutely loves to travel with her family/spending that special/quality time together, and also shopping is one of her luxury necessity favs.

She has a strong passion for her businesses, inspiring people, helping people believe in themselves, and not give up hope. And also has a passion for helping other businesses grow.

WHAT FUELS YOU?

Faith-My friends always say Helen, hardly gives up! Give up? I don’t even know what that word means. I am always positive about everything I set my heart to achieve, even when it may look lame in the eye of every other person I hold on to my belief. I wake up believing that one day, that dream will become a reality even if it is hard holding on, I just choose to stay positive. And most of the time, I actually overcome obstacles with faith, I achieve big dreams, I receive great opportunities just because I always believe it is possible.

The spirit of faith is the best gift any human can have. In all I do, I always have faith, it God.

Unique-To be unique can be described as being the only one of its kind; or unlike anything else. When I look at the whole wide world, there is only one me, and even you! There is no other you, or me on the face of the earth! That is simply amazing. I pride myself in my uniqueness a lot, I am super intelligent, confident, beautiful, caring, loving and kind. I am a phenomenal woman, with fantastic skills, and highly innovative.

The peculiarity of my uniqueness also applies to my businesses, I do not operate my business with the just the regular patterns or models, I do everything elegantly, and always stylish.

Tenacious-When describing myself as a tenacious person, these qualities are visible; I am, persistent,determined,dogged,tireless, indefatigable, resolute, patient, purposeful, diligent, steadfast,  relentless, and unwavering in all my life’s pursuit and goals.

This is my one of my greatest strengths, and when inspiring and mentoring people, I just show them how far been tenacious has brought me, and much more they can achieve in life if they possess tenacity.

MY GREATEST INFLUENCE:

My husband is my biggest fan, he has put in a lot of time and effort to see that I become the very best version of myself.He supports me, he prays for and with me, he is involved in everything I do, he always keeps checking to see that being on track all the time.

Part of who I am today, where I am and what I have achieved can be attributed to this great guy I married.

I give all credit to my parents for every way they made sure I was cared for and nurtured properly from cradle and even into my adult life, my dad always ensured I went to the best schools, my mom always makes sure I don’t go hungry, and stays up all night when I have a little fever.

My parents saw me take my first step, watched me get to college and then high school, blessed me when it was time for me to settle down in marriage, supported me through all the trying times and always gave me hope. They believe in me soo much. What a great influence they had, and still have on my life.

My background in banking helped me to start the journey into self-discovery. Many times, I would consider quitting, there will be occasions to shed tears, I felt disappointed many times, my strength failed me a lot of times, staying joyful 24/7 was never a reality, there where many people who talked me down, made me feel discouraged and betrayed me. In all of the rootless journeys of being an employee, I discovered I had all the experiences was helping me to become a better person, and the skills and tolerance would help me even for a life time.

Any experience you have had that looks like it was meant to leave a scar or make you less confident, actually has contributed to how successful you are today. It was a process to get you to where you are today. Mine actually did! I am my own boss today.

MY TOP THREE ROLE MODELS:

Oprah Winfrey -She is such an inspiration to me. She has inspired millions of lives.Oprah Winfrey is the richest African-American, she is the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and is currently North America’s first and only billionaire black person. She is the most influential woman in the world.

She did not let her history or her background stop her from achieving her dreams.

Bill Gates-He is the co-founder of Microsoft, which has become the world’s largest PC software company. Gates is one of the best known Entrepreneurs and has been included in the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest people.

He is a role model for me as an Entrepreneur, and I admire all of his accomplishments.

Mo Abudu-She is the 1^st female Nigerian to own a Television Station on DStv.That for me, is a huge accomplishment, owing to the fact that she started with a talk show, and she remained focused and resilient, and she has accomplished her dreams. She has been described by Forbes as ‘’Africa’s Most successful woman. That is a great fit attained. I really admire her, and I love her quote ‘’If you can think it, you can do it.

IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS…..

I have a vision to locally manufacture and export children’s clothing. I hope that in 5years time or less than, I should have established my clothing line for kids, and I would engage in exporting to other countries. I am also passionate about helping other businesses grow, and strengthen organizations work force, so I have a goal to set up a world-class capacity development center, which would be a platform to train, mentor and inspire SMEs.

Yes, I have a couple of friends I discuss with.

THE AFRICAN WOMAN’S CHALLENGE:

I have discovered time, that a lot of women, actually find it hard to express themselves, most of the time they are afraid to be themselves out of the fear of, not knowing if they would get a rejection, and so it keeps most of them timid and lacking the zeal to follow after/pursue their dreams. To find a woman who actually believes in herself, and is committed to pursuing her dreams undistracted can be tough. But the beauty of it all is, a lot of the women you see today actually have gifts, skills, beautiful ideas and they carry it just in their hearts for years without doing anything to it or about it. And in society today, most people are focused on just themselves, if only we could have a lot more women who are willing to join hands and give support to the next woman who has given up, everyone and really needs encouragement and mentoring.

Part of my contribution to society is, I mentor women Entrepreneurs, I devote my time, and absolute attention to every one of them. It’s not always convenient, but I do it out of passion to help a fellow woman succeed. The amazing thing is these women are doing phenomenally well right now, a nd it brings so much joy to my heart.

I organize trainings and conferences which brings together young professionals,Entepreneurs,Business Men and women, Government officials and people from the private sector, all in a bid to train,m entor,provide access to market, access to funds and networking opportunities for MSMEs.

WHAT I DO TO RELAX:

I love music, most of the time I play songs and just sing, I also enjoy watching movies although it can be difficult getting me to sit and watch till the movie is over. I absolutely love travelling. I have visited atleast 3 other continents asides Africa where I live.

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

African women have been instrumental in shaping African society, and are a vital force for growth and development. The role of women in society and the impact they make cannot be over emphasized. So for all the hard work, and how much they contribute to society on a daily basis, I honestly think women are worth celebrating, and should always receive empowerment, and be inspired because they need support.

MY AFRICAN UNION PLANS:

I would love to as much as possible create a structure whereby;

-African women will be open to opportunities to receive trainings centered on self development, and also skills and acquisition.

-Education for all women, will my focus.

-Getting access to funds to help their startups and SMEs would be paramount on my agenda.

-Helping women build sustainable businesses, and getting them into the eco-system would be my top priority.

-As much as possible on my list would include educating women on investment, and budgeting.

FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE:

My advice: ‘’The circumstance surrounding your birth or gender, is not as important as the opportunity to live life. Be determined to succeed and make an impact in society.

Be your biggest cheerleader!