It was a period of rare candor at this year’s Inspired Women of Worth (IWOW) Global Possibilities Summit, hosted by Fine and Country West Africa, a premium real estate agency.
Fine and Country is a global real estate brand, specialising in providing a premium service through exceptional marketing and professionalism in the upper quartile of the market. Fine & Country International W.A markets and sells hundreds of Nigeria’s most remarkable homes annually and provides real estate advisory services to blue chip companies, corporate organizations and institutional clients since joining the global network in 2008.
It was indeed three days of wow-mazing experience, at the just concluded annual IWOW Global Possibilities Summit held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lagos. Nigeria on the 23rd and 24thof March 2018.
The Inspired Women of Worth (IWOW) Network is a gender expression of Fine & Country West Africa. It has a strong vision to inspire, educate, empower and encourage women to stand out in their various spheres of influence It was conceived to create a platform to empower women to positively contribute to their environment and live their best lives. The IWOW Global Possibilities summit delivered on this mandate.
The summit started with a pre-event cocktail with exceptional women of worth in attendance. The Publisher of Genevieve Magazine, Betty Irabor, shared her deeply touching story about how she decided to pick herself up and turn her life around after a very difficult experience.
Day 1 of the summit was a day of learning how to deliberately walk on water- in life, business, career and other spheres of life. The theme of the 2018 Global Possibilities Summit is “It’s Showtime†and all the speakers came out with their stories that affirmed the fact that there is power in one’s authentic story.
The CEO/Vice Chair, Fine and Country WA and Founder of IWOW, Udo Okonjo shed more light on what the 2018 theme represented. Showtime, she said is a state of realization; The state of deliberately stepping out of the ordinary into the extraordinary through Self-Discovery, Success and Sustainability. Mr. Leke Alder, Principal Partner, Alder Consulting, gave a powerful masterclass on branding; how to craft a niche market and using uniquely defined branding strategies that will resonate with the target audience. A panel discussion followed where Mrs. Udo Okonjo, Mr. Leke Alder & Ms. Ada Osakwe shared real-life experiences and strategies they have used in their various fields to present a strong and sustainable brand.
Following on from building great business structures and kicking off the second session on entrepreneurship- Prof. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), Founding Partner, Kenna Partners and Professor of Corporate Governance at Lagos Business School, talked through the legal aspects of doing business in Nigeria.
Tara Fela Durotoye, CEO, House of Tara honed on the fact that your passion for your business needs to be backed with efficient working structures, processes & procedures.
The third and final session of the day was about Confidence and Power Negotiation which was anchored by Dr. Nneka Abulokwe who gave a straight from the heart intelligent treatise of her journey to the top of a fortune 500 company in the United Kingdom through the power of resilience, persistence and strategic Negotiation. Day 1 was capped up with another brilliant panel discussion by the speaker and renowned Media Entrepreneur Ms. Biola Alabi and Dr.Ola Brown- founder and CEO, Flying Doctors Nigeria
Day 2 morning was a Wealth and Wellbeing Breakfast Session hosted by Fine & Country and Providus Bank- the session was opened with Mrs Udo Okonjo sharing the fundamental elements of wellbeing and wealth creation and the direct relationship between both concepts. Mr. Walter Akpani- MD/CEO of Providus Bank shared his professional experience on the need for Women to develop the qualities of Teamwork, Tenacity and Entrepreneurial spirit, whilst also charging delegates to come into their spotlight. Renowned beauty entrepreneur Eryca Freemantle shared about surviving depression and making the decision to rise above it and live a phenomenal life. Arinola Adeniyi, CEO, Venivici Spa spoke about the importance of wellness in wellbeing and Travelstart Commercial Manager- Mrs. Bukky Akomolafe was there to add to the fact that, getting away so often for some self-love and replenishment is important for mental wellbeing. Travelstart also sponsored a trip to Dubai.
The morning session ended with Ndidi Nwuneli and the millennials taking centre stage to tell the whole world they are coming and they know exactly what is required of them to get exponential results featuring inspirational stories by Seun Awolowo and Kene Rapu to wrap up the morning session.
The IWOW Global Possibilities Summit 2018 was crowned with an exquisite dinner with inspiring and thought-provoking keynote speeches by the MD of Seplat- Mr Austin Avuru and Mr. Fela Durotoye; inspiring spoken word performance by Bikiya and comedy by Senator. Also present were amazing comperes Bolanle Olakuni, Chico and Stephanie Coker who gave their professional skills, adding colour to the event. There was also an auction of a beautiful painting titled Elle est la vie that was done on the day by Awuli Okocha and proceeds from the auction goes to She Writes Woman. An IWOW Possibilities Award was also presented to Kechi Ohuru for her outstanding achievements regardless of all barriers and limitations.
According to the organisers, “The 2018 IWOW Global Possibilities Summit would not be a huge success without the relentless efforts of our inspired co-chairs Chinyere Okorocha, Winifred Mena and Izehi Anuge. It is definitely SHOWTIME for women in every sphere of life and endeavour!â€
