Our very first feature is from Omoehi Ighodalo, telling us about her passion for hair. She's like a chameleon with the wigs, it's great! Omoehi has been a massive help in the making of this blog, so it's only right that she takes the lead as the no.1 cool girl! Let's gooo!
1.Who are you and what makes you cool?
My name is Omoehi Ighodalo, I'm 20 years old and I'm a 2nd year student studying sociology at the university of manchester. When I'm not in school I'm most likely making wigs or doing hair, or watching hair tutorials to see how I can get better or to see what I can do next.
2. Where/why/how/when did Mohini start?
I'm very restless when it comes to my hair, and i always want to try new things like everyday, but that versatility isn't available with sewins and braids. In about april 2015 after watching so many videos on youtube, i was introduced to the world of wigs, and i started learning how to make them for myself in june. I didn't start Mohini till june 2016, when people started asking me to make wigs for them and when i felt my work was at a standard that i could charge people.
3. Where do you/Mohini hope to get?
I hope to build a bigger brand, expand my clientele and branch out into the beauty aspect of things later on.
4. What challenges have you faced/are you facing and how did you overcome them/hope to overcome them?
Probably my first challenge was getting my dad to understand what I was doing and why. He didn't take me seriously at first, always asking why I was selling "goat hair" to people and what they needed it for. It wasn't until he saw me making the wigs, and until I started making quite a bit of profit that he came around. The most challenging thing to deal with now is balancing my work and uni, because both are so time consuming and I tend to procrastinate a lot. Because I see myself continuing my business even after I have graduated, when uni gets boring I tend to focus more on the ideas I have for mohini and push my uni work aside.
Another thing I need to work on is my money management. It is so tempting to spend the money I earn from Mohini on things I don't really need, so I have to be really disciplined and learn to save money for future investments.
5. Do you think any of your challenges relate to being a women? If so how do you think we can prevent other women from facing similar obstacles?
In addition to my dad's initial confusion, I've had quite a few people tell me that they didn't see how a business could be formed from just doing hair. Certain things like being a hairstylist or makeup artist are looked down upon, because they are overly "feminine" professions and society tends to associates being a girly girl with vacancy.
However, this stigma actually really motivates me to better my craft, and show people that it's more than just a feminine hobby. Being a nigerian woman especially, it motivates me to be financially independent and successful in my own right, and it's more helpful that i'm doing something i love. Admittedly, most of my challenges are not related to being a woman, but it would be nice for people to be more open minded, when it comes to various businesses and not dismiss them because they are female oriented.
I hope so too! Huge thanks to Omoehi for telling us more about herself and her business and also raising the point that people tend to look down upon femininity, especially in business. Their loss because these businesses are BOOMING! Hope you loved our first feature, thanks for reading and come back for more!