In June 2018, the maiden edition of OPTG’s Leadership Speaker Series held in Lagos, Nigeria. Themed ‘The Role of Arts in Effecting Social Change’, the Speaker Series was an avenue for us to contribute to the leadership discourse in Nigeria. Beyond the discussion, the Speaker Series also served to kick-off OPTG’s mentoring program, where selected attendees were assigned to OPTG board members for mentoring.
Abisola Junaid was one of four attendees selected to go through the organisation’s mentorship program. She was assigned to Dr Olufunke Owolabi as a mentee, and went through a six months mentoring with her.
In this interview, Abisola gives her take about OPTG’s mentoring program and shares some insider view about her skin care line, Bellisima Botanicals.
Q. Please tell us a bit about yourself? Name, education, work history, interests, hobbies.
A. I’m Abisola Junaid; a botanist, creative writer and more recently, content and communications creator and strategist.
I had my first degree in Botany from the University of Lagos, Akoka and I run a natural skincare business called Bellissima Botanicals. I’m a Google-certified Digital Marketer and I have a degree in skincare formulation from Learn Cosmetic Formulation
Currently, I work with 234Finance: an online platform dedicated to Promoting African Entrepreneurship as a content creator and strategist.
I love books, nature, music, art, food and creative processes.
I spend time reading, listening to music, learning stuff off the internet, gardening and experimenting new product recipes.
Q. You recently concluded OPTG’s mentoring program, can you share some key takeaways you learnt from it?
A. Getting selected for the OPTG Mentoring Program is indeed, a gift. The opportunity came to me at the time I needed it the most.
Before the mentorship, I was this unemployed girl who had so many talents and dreams and needed to put a structure together to achieve those dreams.
The program was highly enlightening and impactful, it focused on every sphere of my life. With every session I had I was clear on the steps I needed to take to proceed in my journey.
My mentor, Dr. Olufunke Owolabi, gave more suggestions on how to rework my resume and it got me a job I would never have realized I could develop the skills for. She also helped me get through the emotional pressure I was dealing with on the home front due to my unemployed state.
The program taught me a lot about myself and living I didn’t know.
Q. How did your journey into entrepreneurship come about and how long have you been an entrepreneur?
A. My interest in nature started since I got a Botany admission instead of the Medicine/Pharmacy I applied for. I started Bellissima Botanicals in 2017, as Nature’s Gift Herbals out of chance.
As an undergraduate, I learnt about how plants and their extracts are useful to man as cosmetics and medicine but it was all theoretical. Working briefly with two local beauty and cosmetic brands after my National Youth Service (NYSC) sparked my interest in the practical side of it. So I started to research and create products for myself and loved ones.
I got great feedback and encouragement to market them and Nature’s Gift Herbals started. After a glitch with the incorporation, I re-branded the business into Bellissima Botanicals. I’ve been an entrepreneur for almost 2 years.
Q. Tell us about Bellisima Botanicals. What do you do and what is the motivation behind it?
A. Bellissima Botanicals is a Lagos-based natural skincare brand, we make body care products from plants and natural compounds. It started out of a need to create quality products that were eco-friendly as solutions to skin problems black people experience.
Our goal is to correct the notion that “to be considered beautiful, you have to be light skinned.”
Bellissima Botanicals for me started as a hobby but is slowly becoming what I stand for now that I know how much impact I can make with it.
Q. You are in the beauty industry, don’t you think it’s saturated? What is the differentiating factor between your brand and other skincare products in the market?
A. YES! I think the market is saturated because formulating beauty products is like cooking food, but then, It all boils down to your recipe.
Bellissima Botanicals is different because we spend a lot of time carrying out surveys to identify problems and research on solutions to them. For us, it is not just about creating new stuff but excavating those ancient African beauty recipes and modernizing them.
Our products are targeted at specific skin problems and a lot of thought process and quality time is spent developing effective, completely natural cures to everyday skin problems.
We are very committed to enhancing customer experience and this makes it easy to get feedback. The fact that customers trust me as a botanist, to never sell them products that could harm their health in any way is also an edge.
Q. Running a business anywhere comes with its own challenges, more so running a business in Nigeria. What are the challenges you have experienced and currently experience in running your business in Nigeria? How have you solved them?
A. A major challenge is logistics. Bellissima Botanicals is based in Lagos which is densely populated.
For now, the brand is growing organically and most of our clients come from word-of- mouth and referrals. Getting products to clients is something of a problem but technology helps manage that for now. It’s now easy to outsource deliveries to logistics companies.
Another challenge is changing the mindset of consumers. Most of our clients are females who have been raised with the mindset of “fair is better than dark”. They come to us looking for products that will bleach their skin. We lose some of them when they realize that we won’t sell them skin bleaching products. The ones who stay have to be re-educated, informed and converted and this is not usually an easy process.
Q. If you could give one piece of advice to intending female entrepreneurs, what will it be?
A. Find a problem you’re good at solving and develop strategies to get paid for the solution. Focus on fine-tuning your craft. Be yourself and don’t stop learning and practicing what you learn.
Q. If you could run any business asides from your current business, what will it be?
A. I’d love to get paid for reading and reviewing books or creative writing.
Q What are your future plans for Bellisima Botanicals?
A. The goal has always been to make Bellissima Botanicals a household name in the natural skincare space. Our next move is getting necessary approvals to move to the next stage and take the brand global, as well as, pass the knowledge on to the coming generations.
Q. Final words?
A. A big thank you to the entire OPTG Africa team, my loved ones, my Bellissima Botanicals clients, my colleagues at 234Finance and everyone else who has impacted my journey.
Find me and Bellissima BOTANICALS on Instagram as @beespice_ and @bellissimabotanicals
OPTG Interview Contributor – Oriyomi Adebare
Oriyomi Adebare is a writer, trainee editor, and book lover. She works as an Operations Manager for an online education company, and also as a Director of Programs for an NGO. Oriyomi volunteers with OPTG in whatever capacity she’s needed.