Hola…I have been out exploring the sights and wonders of Mexico. Will come back to update you on my trip later. First, let’s attend to your parents. I was reading an article online on Nairametrics about how you should invest your parents retirement. The one incredulous suggestion I saw listed on the article, was purchasing annuity from an Insurance company.
Your parents did not send you to school and
Let’s start with the basics. What is a Mutual Fund?
A mutual fund is a type of financial vehicle made up of a pool of money collected from many investors to invest in
stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other assets. These funds are managed by professional money managers, and these organizations abound in the country.
If you are a low income earner, your safest bet in terms of investing is mutual fund. At the end of the month when your salary hits your bank account, it might be the current norm that you are participating in a casual form of ‘Esusu’ or in today’s parlance, ‘Co-operative’ with a group of friends or colleagues. The advantage of participating in a ‘Co-operative’, is the opportunity it affords to raise moderate to large sum of money, if you are investing for the future.
Assuming you have N5,000 – N10,000 monthly to allocate for investment, I will highly recommend you set aside this sum and invest in a mutual fund over a long period of time. You might want to ask ‘When can I withdraw from a mutual fund?’ As soon as your monthly income is doubled or tripled, you can withdraw your invested sum and start allocating it to any money market instruments you select.
Working in an office with expatriates from different nationalities is an insightful experience. It can be hilarious and harrowing, as you navigate personal bias, prejudice against each others’ norm and idiosyncrasies. However, nothing prepares you for working with Indians till you experience it.
So, what’s it like working with Indians? Please note that this is not an Indian bashing exercise, rather its’ a summary of my work experience with Indians. For more than a decade, there has been a gradual invasion of Indians, across the African continent. Taking Lagos as an example, there are exclusive Indian communities, schools and groceries dedicated to serving this ethnic populace.
Indians are highly religious and in an office, you might find replicas of small shrines dedicated to the varied god/goddesses, they worship. However, if religious piety was a major factor in their behavior and attitudes, within the workplace, it’d be astonishing. The Indian populace is largely influenced by a pervasive caste system and this is reflected in the Nigerian workplace, where they think “we are superior to the locals” and “they should serve us in every capacity”.
The second job I had was my first encounter with Indians. Previously I had worked extensively with Britons, Americans, Hungarians and found them to be pleasant without aggravating the locals. When I resumed at this new job, though it was a multinational firm, most of my colleagues were from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Within 2 months of resumption and direct observations, I discovered something appalling. My Indian colleagues were all about double – speak, ass lickers, and always willing to throw you under the bus, if you allowed it.
How did I plow through this toxic situation? I will be exploring this in subsequent posts.
Take a cursory glance when you walk into a office, perusing what the female employees are wearing and the color ‘Black’ , is a predominant color. Sometimes I think the official color for most Naija women is black.
My first job was at a leading financial institution. The official colors were black and dark navy blue. Gosh! How depressing it was back then. I remember thinking, “there is no way I am going to be stuck up in a black or navy blue suit all day, traipsing the streets of Lagos without a personal car”. The heat and humidity out there will suck the energy out of me.
My female boss who was light years ahead of her time, gave me the leeway to dress whichever way I please, so long as it was not vulgar, tight or transparent. I stuck to the bright end of the rainbow spectrum. Till date, I do not own a black handbag. While I own 2 pairs of black shoes, my shoe collection consists of orange, green, blue, pink, red, nude etc. No dull colors for me. Along the lines, female colleagues handed over cash so I could procure the same clothes for them. When the principal manager of the branch, felt my influence was rather pervasive, she approached my boss to complain and was told to back off.
One of the few things you can do, to aid your career growth in the workplace is to ditch a black wardrobe especially if you work in an office, filled with expatriates. The colors black, brown, navy blue completely washes you out. Keep in mind that your skin color is not a major consideration, by western manufacturers, when making these clothes. I am always at a loss anytime I am on vacation overseas, and see people of African descent, adorning black. Girl! YOU ARE INVISIBLE….No one and I mean no one sees you especially people of other skin colors.
This is the practical truth. The next time you are in a video conferencing call, seated in a room of expats which can range from Caucasian to Asians, take a cursory glance on the screen and see if you are visible or not. If you are wearing the colors mentioned above, chances are high that you are washed out on the screen. Let me give you a visual aid. Your hair color is black, your skin color is brown or a darker tone, you love the colors black, brown and navy blue. You need to put an end to this debilitating habit, as it makes you invisible along the corridors of power.
When a Caucasian or Asian wear black, you can interpret the fleeting emotions on their face. You on the other hand, have simply boxed yourself into a corner, as no one can interpret the emotions on your face, as you are completely washed out. The same thing occurs for Caucasians, when they adorn white and bold colors. These colors wash out their pale white skin.
Instead, adorn yourself in bold, bright colors. In the workplace, you must make it a habit of registering your presence in the minds of your expat colleagues, when you walk into any room. Bold, bright colors accentuate your skin tone and in a room filled with expats, no one will ignore you. Your opinions will be sought for. Just make sure you own your end of the intelligence angle. Trust me, you will always be remembered as the lady who leaves an impression with her color choices.
Remember, no se permiten flores de pared aquí….which means, “No Wallflowers Allowed Here”. For the month of March, I am offering great savings in your cart when you purchase here.
Glossary:
Guardarropa – wardrobe
If you are going to live the life you desire, on your own terms, without conforming to societal norms and expectations, ‘Financial Freedom’, is the main key. Now when I speak about financial freedom, its’ not all about having excess money, you’re not sure how to spend it all.
No, this is not the picture I want you to have in mind. Financial freedom will save you from making terrible, hurtful decisions. It will save you from terrible bosses, toxic workplace culture, abusive relationships where its’ mandatory to lose your individuality, so a little of your true self can survive. And in situations where you end up making terrible decisions, financial freedom will step in, to aid you in redeeming the situation. Irrespective of wherever you reside globally, this principle is a universal one.
How do you determine when it is enough and you can bow out of the corporate or whichever race you are on? It is relative to each individual. Assuming you want your kids to pursue higher education in a foreign land, you want to explore the world while retired or simply want to live out your days in relative splendor. If your current monthly expense range within N50,000 – N100,000 monthly, and passive income you are currently earning is within this range, will you consider this enough?
Some might while others’ won’t. My personal yardstick is once 20-30% of annual passive income earned, can take care of your daily needs, then you have passed the yardstick. Please pat yourself on the back and take out time to evaluate goals you have set for yourself this year. Financial freedom is around the corner.
Clique
nnoun: clique; plural noun: cliques
The one thing I have avoided over the course of my career within the workplace is ‘Cliques’. No matter the form or shape it announces itself in, I stick up my middle finger in its’ face, and own the spot I occupy. This dark form of nepotism, destroys the soul and culture within the workplace. I do not think highly of people who belong to ‘Cliques’ as it tells me you have subjugated your individuality for the common individuality of a group.
How boring and utterly stupid? Thinking from a common point of view gets you nowhere on the career ladder. You must learn to stand alone and own your thoughts, irrespective of whether you’ve got supporters or not. Don’t imagine this exists within Naija alone. No! Its’ a global affliction and I have seen this operate everywhere, while working in Dubai and other places.
Belonging to a clique will dumb you down and take you along a narcissistic path, where you will lose all forms of creativity and wit to aid you in your career. That is, if you eventually end up having a meaningful one without spending your days, licking asses up and down (this is the bane of most Nigerian men in the workplace. So timid and always agreeing with every dumb ideas or words, that comes out of their bosses mouth, without taking a moment to think and reflect). It pisses me off completely. Miss me with the B.S.
Rather, choose to be different. Yeah, you might be hated, called weird names, hey sugar, deal with it. How have i dealt with this negative phenomenon?
In my unit, we ain’t got time for ‘Cliques’. Once I notice there is a cliquey thingy going on, I break it up immediately by assigning each person an onerous, individual task that takes a month to deliver. It works like a charm. Since they are so busy with meeting deadlines, each day is filled with heavy grunts and lots of silent thinking.
I love that especially when your unit has been noticed as the only unit, where employees do not dwadle or gossip, you know you are building the right culture.
Products Used:
1. Prepoo with ORS Hair Mayonnaise. These days, I prepoo with a protein treatment on dry hair for 40 minutes with my heat cap. I’ve also stopped mixing oils with my deep treatment products. I use the product as it is. I don’t know if there’s a big difference between this huge jar and the regular size jar. This gave a lot of slip and easily penetrated my hair strands. I’ll be switching from this brand to Hollywood Beauty Carrot Deep Treatment soon. I’d like to compare both brands in terms of efficacy.
2. Once time was up, I rinsed each section with warm water before using the Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge Shampoo. Tea rinsed and left my each section to dry using the hair clippers.
3. I applied Garnier Fructis 3minute undo dryness reversal treatment (it’s a moisturizing deep treatment), to each section focusing on my ends, and gradually working my way up to the roots. Sat under my heat cap for 50minutes. Switched off and waited for 10minutes more before rinsing out the deep conditioner using cool water.
4. Wrapped a cotton towel on my hair to absorb excess moisture for 20minutes.
5. On damp hair, I applied Chi Silk Infusion to each section before blowdrying with the KISS Handle-less dryer using cold setting.
The key to straight hair is to start with your ends and work your way up to the roots. If you start with your roots, you’ll end up with frizzy ends. One single pass across each section does the trick.
6. I proceed to apply Hollywood Beauty Mayonnaise Moisturizing Creme Oil to my ends and length. I also apply an oil mix consisting JBCO and peppermint oil on my scalp. I run through each section (25strokes) with the paddle brush and I’m done.
Have a great week ahead!
I was introduced to this brand of Biotin Chewable during my hair assessment with Stevie. She advised me to get it as it’ll aid my new hair regimen. I was a bit skeptical cos I’ve always been lazy when it comes to popping pills but she’d assured me this will be different since I’ll only be required to take one pill daily. Furthermore, it was available in a sweet strawberry flavor and easily dissolves without drinking water.
She told me to get the 5,000mcg and 10,000mcg jars. She’d advised I start off with the 5,000mcg and if I love the results, then I should switch to the 10,000mcg jar provided I’d exhausted the first jar. Off to the store she recommended and I got both jars.
I commenced usage by mid-November with the jar of 5,000mcg and dutifully popped one pill at night before going to bed. True to her words, it was like popping Vitamin C and it made it easier. When I shared my concern about possible breakouts and stuffs, Stevie had laughed away and stated there won’t be such episodes.
My Observations:
* Easy to swallow as it dissolves easily.
* I was going to the toilet 2ce daily for No. 2 which I never missed since I commenced usage.
* By November ending, I observed my clothes were loose and I needed to take in my jeans.
* My nails grew like crazy.
* My skin has remained clear and there have been no breakout incidents.
* For the very first time, my eyelashes were popping as I noticed more growth in that area.
I compared notes with my younger sister who commenced usage at the same time and noticed that she’d lost 10kg within 2weeks of usage. During my monthly Skype chats with Stevie, I had casually mentioned that I was losing weight and she affirmed that this brand of biotin actually processes your food intake which increases your metabolism leading to weight loss. She further asked if I’ve been going to the toilet frequently and my answer was a big fat ‘YES’.
You might be wondering what happened to my hair with all these wonderful results. Yes, I got growth and it’s the kind of growth I usually get within a 6month stretch cos I got an inch each month as can be seen from the picture below:
I also went online to check if there were ladies who had recorded growth and this was what I saw:
These are some of the pictures I saw online and it cuts across racial divides but the reviews are largely positive. So I’m onto a good thing and will be ending my 16week stretch by next week.
I’ve been quite diligent with my new regimen and the results are paying off.
Apart from Lauren Mechelle whose hair I absolutely adore, I’ve got a hair crush on Kimberly Holden as well. She makes these fun quirky and engaging videos. If you’re thinking of trying on clip in extensions for the holidays, you should also know how to wash them as well. If you’re in the mood for a messy bun tutorial, check the videos below:
Credit: YouTube
I’ll be introducing you to ‘Red Handle-Less 1875W Ceramic Tourmaline’, recommended for Pik Hair Straightening & Drying. As part of ongoing effort to change my hair regimen, Stevie had recommended this particular dryer for my hair needs. I had earlier told her about my desire to cut down on the number of hours I spent on wash days and how I felt air drying was making my ends more 
brittle than I liked.
According to her, long drying times can cause undetected damage to hair. Air dried hair sustains more damage to the Cell Membrane Complex, the sandwich-layer of proteins, lipids and covalently bonded fatty acids that is the glue that binds cuticles together. Once the CMC is damaged, cuticles can become dislodged easily which leads to rough damaged hair which may eventually split or break. She stressed the importance of blow drying on cool or low heat and how it was vital I did not abuse the process.
Upon receipt of the Kiss Handless Dryer, I was struck by 2 things:
– it was lightweight
– it has 3 settings: cool, low & high
– the box contained 2 Pik sets
– it also had a concentrator as well
– it’s cool to touch allowing you to manoveur easily.
– you’ll get salon like results at home…so convenient.
Unlike other blow dryers, this brand didn’t have the protruding handle making it easy to swing across your hair easily. It’s quite easy to manoveur and I spent 5 minutes drying and straightening my hair. The tension method has never been this easy.
How do I use it?
I divide freshly deep conditioned hair into 8 sections making sure to apply Chi Silk Infusion. Then I switch over to cool or low heat depending on how straight I want my hair to be. One single pass and voila!my hair is all straightened out as if I just flat ironed it. It’s made it easier to implement eyelash trimming for my ends. You can use this for natural hair as well on days you want to conduct a length check and trim your ends.
You might want to check the videos below from YouTube as well.
Today's Naira 