Deborah Omale: Energy Costs, High Rents Squeezing Beauty, Wellness Businesses

Deborah Omale is a Pastor, Counsellor, Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of Beauty Secrets Medspa, an outfit in the beauty and wellness treatment industry in Nigeria. In this conversation, she shares insight on women’s involvement in business, politics, and the ministry. Alex Enumah brings the excerpts:

As a businesswoman, how do you see Nigerian women navigating through this 21st Century?

 Nigerian women are getting better. They are speaking up, and they’re getting more confident, and they are trying to contribute their own quota to the advancement of women, whether it’s in politics, business or whatever field they find themselves, .like the reserve seat for women’s bill that is being propagated now. I’m a huge supporter of that. So you see, we are no longer staying behind and just letting all the work be done by the men. We want to work with them, we want to support them, and we want to also put in our quota to everything that will make this beautiful and great nation great, because Nigeria is beautiful, Nigeria is great. The government is trying, we are all trying, the more hands, the better, because we form a greater part of the population. So we’re actually undoing ourselves the more we continue to align the female race out of politics, for instance.

 How is the beauty industry helping to empower women?

 I am going to speak for us as a brand, the Beauty Secrets brand. We have the educational side of the business, which empowers women, children, whoever, even professionals to upgrade in your skill or your trade. You can be an administrator, you can be an accountant and all the other thing they think is fancy. Not everybody can be that, learn a trade. This business can be done by anybody. You can do hair dressing; you can do makeup; you can do tying up. People pay to get their hair tied, and Nigeria is a place that is known for our weddings, our lavish parties and all of that. So there’s a market already for that. So for Beauty Secrets, we have Beauty Secrets Academy where quarterly, and sometimes even before then, we get some few people who cannot, maybe afford the formal training of paying for fees because sometimes it can be a bit expensive, which is determinant on what you’re learning or what you are interested in. So we train them for free, and we have them work with us for about three, four, sometimes six months just to get you going. And as you’re working, you’re also being paid. Also, you have a certificate that gives you access to work in any professional setting. Beauty Secrets is known for our high standards. So of course, when you’re having a certificate, they know that you’ve been groomed, they know you’ve been trained. They know you understand the aesthetics of the business. You understand the professionalism of the business. So I think that’s one area. If you have a ward or you have people that are just lying around, a girl child, send her to learn a trade. If you cannot afford for her to go to the university, you can afford to pay for her to learn a trade. And a woman that is empowered is a family empowered, is a nation empowered, because women are nurturers. Once you train one; in extension, you are training 10, 20, others. So I think that is one area that should really, really be encouraged even by the government.

What challenges do you face in this business?

Challenges will be power. A lot of resources go into buying diesel, because this kind of business, you can’t afford not to have electricity. It’s a business that runs with electricity, so imagine having to buy diesel almost on a daily basis. And it’s not just diesel. You’re buying large quantities. It’s because these machines are heavy duty machines, so you need enough high voltage electricity to power them. So it’s a lot. And I would say rent, because whether you are using your property or you’re not using your property, the goal of the business is, even if your business is using your property, your company, which is a separate entity from you, is supposed to pay the owner for rent for that property. So if you want to look at all of these indices, it’s just a lot, and I think sometimes even some fees that you’re required to pay, which is okay, but if you’re not making enough, how much do you have on hand to finish paying your staffs, to buying diesel, to being on Band A, you know, taking care of your staffs, taking care of the facility, paying rent. So it’s challenging, but we are up to the task, because nothing good is easy, and at the end of the day, government has to do what it has to do, and then we, the private citizens, will also have to do what we have to do. So, I think that will be the three major challenges for me. There are more, but these are the three major challenges.

 Why do you have some foreigners working for you at Beauty Secrets?

At Beauty Secrets Med Spa our decision to engage foreign experts is guided purely by our commitment to excellence, global best practices, and capacity building; Introduce international standards and cutting-edge techniques that enhance service quality and client safety; train and upskill Nigerian professionals, ensuring knowledge transfer and long-term local capacity development; Improve service delivery and innovation, keeping our brand competitive in a global beauty and wellness market; and Build credibility and trust, especially for medical-grade and advanced spa treatments that require specialized expertise.

As an expert in the beauty, skincare and wellness treatment business, what are the easy beauty tips that can help protect the skin in this dry season?

So it’s a dry season, so just hydrate. Sometimes we walk all day and we forget to hydrate ourselves. And when I say just drink water, drink enough, enough water. Try and get the minimum seven glasses at least throughout the day. You know, at least before the evening, when you’re out there as you’re working, have a bottle by your side, so that when you forget you’re staring at it is a reminder to drink water. Use your shea butter. I’m not going to call any expensive, branded products. Shea butter is everywhere. It’s affordable. Get original one. Use your coconut oil. Use your palm canal oil. And if you can take it a step further, walk into the Med Spa. Ask what and what steps can you advise for me during this period. And every skin type is different, so there’s different protocols for everybody. So if you can afford it, walk into the spa, speak to the doctor, speak to the nurses, the estheticians will be more than happy to just create a product line, or products that you can use, that is ideal for your skin, whether it’s oily, whether it’s dry, whether it’s combination, whatever the case may be.

Tell us how you combine business, family and the ministry?

 So I’m married, happily married, to my husband, Prophet Emmanuel Omale, of Divine Hand of God Church which we run together. He’s the General Overseer. I am blessed with two kids and blessed with many adopted kids. I’m blessed with my family in church as well as immediate family. So that’s just it. About me. I live a very private, simple life. I don’t think I’m much fun, you know, but that’s all. It’s church, my family, my business. It’s been okay, it’s not easy, it’s very, very tasking but, I think it’s a bit easy for me, because I have a great team. I have staffs that have been with me nine years, six years, seven years, five years. So there’s that cohesion. We understand each other. They understand the principles, the ethics, they understand the vision of the company. So it makes it easier. Like for any of my places, I don’t even have to be there, and things will run smoothly. And for church is already a family. So for me, it’s not even work, combining both, but it’s tasking because I’m also a mom who doesn’t believe in allowing other people put her kids to bed or get them ready for school, so I’m having to do that. I’m also a student, so everything is just knowing how to schedule yourself and your time and be disciplined with your time. So if you have two hours to do something, you know, it’s two hours because you still have to give the same attention to other things. Family comes first. It comes first before everything. So I just find a way to juggle it. But the secret is, I have a lot of people helping me, so nothing will be complete without them.

What is your advice to Nigerian women?

My advice to Nigerian women is to keep going, be prayerful, follow your dreams, do not joke with your health. I know you want to help everybody but the question is, if you are in an environment where you are helping everybody sometime you have to take a pause and ask, who is helping me. Same thing for a man, it is not only about women, sometimes you want to be there for everybody, you want to send money to the village, you want to give your wife, you want to do this, you want to do that. sometimes pause, if you pause nothing would happen, nothing would change, nothing will happen. Sometimes we give ourselves headaches that is not necessary. Just take it easy on yourself and be kind.