Proven Not Perfect
Proven Not Perfect
ICYMI: Global Career, Kellogg School of Management, and a Leap of Faith, Ugochi Nwoga's Journey
What if the power you chased in a suit was really waiting in your own story? We sit down with Ugochi to trace a remarkable arc—from Igbo roots and a childhood split between Nigeria and the U.S., to UTC’s global rotations in Norway and Switzerland, to the Kellogg network that turned brand into belonging. Along the way she faces a familiar corporate paradox: high performance without a clear path to the role she envisioned. Her answer becomes a masterclass in agency—stop assuming effort equals elevation and start negotiating the path, assignment by assignment, with the leaders who can open doors.
The conversation turns intimate as Ugochi describes choosing education through personal darkness, flying Lagos–Miami for class weekends, and following the signals that brought her back to herself. That light leads to a different kind of leadership: stepping in as CFO/CSO of her family’s home healthcare company. She shares practical rules that keep love and performance intact—clean role lines, business-first hours, and a united front that refuses hearsay. It’s a blueprint any founding team can copy when relationships and revenue collide.
Then, an unexpected blossom: Oviko Gallery. Seeded years earlier by her love for Nigerian artist Chike Onuora, what started as a handful of canvases becomes a curated space in St. Augustine dedicated to elevating African talent. We unpack how scrappy action, expert help, and a ready room turned into a platform that fuses culture, commerce, and community. Through it all, gratitude anchors the story: the waves never stop, but the boats stay synchronized when vision holds. Press play for a candid, energizing journey that might nudge you to ask for your path, protect your energy, and step fully into your morning.
If this conversation moves you, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s at a crossroads, and leave a review to help more listeners find the light.
Drive, Ambition, Doing, Leading, Creating... all good until we forget about our own self-care. This Village of All-Stars pays it forward with transparency about misses and celebration in winning. We cover many topics and keep it 100. We are Proven Not Perfect™️
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Hi, Ugochi. Hi, Chantra. Good morning. Good morning. Oh my gosh. Okay. So I am here right now with Ugochi Woga. Ugochi is a wonderful woman, a Kellogg alum. Right. Congratulations to you. Shout out. And you know what, Ugochi? I think that's even part of our story, right? Because when we talk about our journeys and the decisions that we make and the things that we do, um, it's never, it's never a one-way road to anything, right? Not at all. Not at all. Kellogg was definitely a huge, played a huge role in that. Yeah. No, that's right. On I love hearing people's Kellogg stories because, you know, everybody was drawn to something sometimes different. But I what were you drawn to initially? I was drawn to the network. You know, I I underestimated the network. I think I was drawn to the brand, you know, and just having that degree and wanting it for such a very long time. So the network just blew me away. That I completely underestimated. Yes. Yeah, what you come in sometimes and what you leave with is just completely different. It's so true. I mean, I'm gonna be honest, you're right. I did, I was, it was clearly the brand, you know, I was clearly looking for an experience that allowed me to not just spend my time, but to value my time, right? So that was true. Um, and when I say network, I I assumed that there was such a deep and rich network of baddies, right? Across industries, across the world. It was only when I went through the experience that I realized seriously what that meant, right? Crazy. All right, we have done our Kellogg commercial. Shout out to Kellogg. Yes. Two female deans in a row, just saying check check, right? Can we just how we met, right? Yeah. So it's Kellogg's is how we met, yes. My gosh. So that was, I think it was 20, was it, I feel like it was 2018. 18, yes, over the summer or something like that, right? Yes, that's exactly right. Kellogg pulls us back to off to classes, cohorts. And um, I'm gonna tell anybody if you get the chance, if you are a Kellogg alum and you're listening to this and you get the chance to go back and meet a new cohort, um, it is it is like opening a whole new box of new relationships, new networks, um, new ideas, new gifts, all the things. So go back, right? And I know you're gonna do that. Yes, yes, it's just that after I graduated, COVID came. So that just kind of obviously uh changed uh changed directions a bit, but I definitely plan on on coming back for sure. I miss it sometimes, you know? Yes, yes, the getaway for sure. The getaway look as a mom and all the things, the getaway is real. I'm telling you, I'm like, you can't put a price on a night of uninterrupted sleep where nobody's knocking on your door saying they have to pee or they have a sleep straight. That's what I used to tell my cohorts. I'm like, y'all don't understand. This is my night of uninterrupted sleep, okay? The folks show up, you got you got two groups. You've got the group that shows up trying to hang out all night, and you've got the group that's like, I'll get a little bit of social, but I need the sleep. I need the sleep. I was I was that crew, okay. I was like, I'll hang out, but I'm not trying to do the three o'clock guys. Like I need every once in a while, but this is my retreat. We were we were one and the same. All right, Ugochi, you're doing some amazing things right now, and we're crescendo to some of those things because I just think that they're so inspiring and so brilliant for other people to hear. Um, I'd love to start with the journey. Here you are an African woman, um, African-American woman. Um, and you have this heritage and this lineage and this experience in two lands, right? Um, girl, we need to unpack that because you want to talk about a little bit of envy sometimes, right? When you think about the richness of culture that our African brothers and sisters get to escape and claim and talk more about. That's so amazing to me. And I love hearing stories and I love hearing how folks that are one step still connected feel that same longing, right? And so I love to hear a little bit about your journey. Tell us a little bit about growing up Ugochi Woga.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:TV show take it all back, right? Take it way back. Okay. Let me see if I can remember. No. Um, no, you know, you're right. I'm I'm grateful for for sort of having um, you know, being able to straddle and and and really having the two because I did grow up in Nigeria, but I did grow up in the US, right? So I went to high school in the US, I went to middle school in the US. And so in Nigeria, I um I was born in the US. We moved back to Nigeria, stayed there for a few years, eight years or so, and then moved back to America. So I got some foundational, cultural, foundational elements. I speak the language, I'm Igbo, that's my tribe. And I speak the language and and you know, the culture and everything. And then I came here and I came here early enough to where I'm still part of the culture in the essence, like I can connect with my Black American friends and white friends, etc., in a way that's different from you know, others who may have moved here sort of like late teens or adulthood. So it's an interesting place to be, and and I play it, you know, as as needed. That has to be a superpower because I talk a lot about superpowers and us not claiming the ones that we have. I think your ability to speak all those languages from ebo to pop culture, that's a superpower. Yes, I mean, yeah, yes, yes. You can you can say that for sure because I I am able to I understand booths very, very well. And sometimes I'm accused of being one versus the other. Um, so yeah, so it's it's good. We we moved here uh late 80s and to Buffalo, New York, uh, with my my family. And luckily all of us were able to come within a year together. But it was interesting. Sometimes you reflect on the very those little things that you that that happened to your experience in the US. Like when I was in Nigeria, and my dad will come home from the US because he was a professor, and he would at the University of Wisconsin, that's where he got his PhD, which is where I was born. Um, and my mom got her master's from there. So they moved back and he would go and teach there and come back. And he would always the American suitcase, the American suitcase smelled like apples. Like I was like, America smells like apples. He would come back with this suitcase full of. I mean, we had everything back home from America. It's above ground pools, talking dolls, race cars. We watched Sesame Street. He would tape all of these things while he was in the States and bring it back. We had Sesame Street. We watched all the different shows that actually I thought were part of Nigerian shows, but turns out later that they're not because my dad brought them in. So when I came to America, I was like, oh, this place smells like apples. But um, once we got here, I was kind of faced with responsibility. My mom was pregnant with my youngest sister, and I matured fast. And I think you do that at home anyway, just because of the environment. So I was taking, I was nine years old taking care of my baby sister. But when I was in when I came, there's this magazine. Do you know I don't know if you remember? I'm really dating myself, but Spiegel, Spiegel magazine, right? Spiegel would have these women in the baddest suits, right? Like these three-piece suits with their briefcase. And I was like, whatever job you gotta do to wear that, I wanna do that, right? That was me, and my my aunts can attest to that. I was like, I want to do that. And from then on, that everything I did was fashioned for that look, right? So I was like, we moved to Tallahassee, which is where I grew up essentially in the US. I did um middle school and high school and university. I went to FAMU there. But like when I was in high school and got my part-time jobs, I would get it. I didn't do like restaurants or grocery stores, and not that there's anything wrong with that, but I wanted to be wearing those suits. So I did I was like a I went into like businesses and I was either their filing person or admin or something, but I was in a corporate environment. And then, of course, I went to business school FMU, which had a really great um business program. So, and then from there I moved on to United Technologies. Um, after I graduated, they recruited me, United Technologies Corporation, which is now Raytheon Technologies. Yeah, and um was there for about 12 years. And I culture reminds me of my GE experience. Exactly. Yes, and you guys, you had the rotational program, right? And GE. Um, we did too at UTC, and I went through that uh financial leadership program. And I think at UTC, like it was a fantastic experience, great foundational business foundations and structure and processes and stuff like that. And and I did, you know, lots of challenging assignments. I went overseas twice. I had two international assignments, I did all the employee engagements, I did, I got copious awards, but I wasn't wearing the three-piece suit just yet. I was business casual, right? Because the people in those three-piece suits from the Spiegel magazines were the VPs and the directors, right? The executives. And I was like, you know, I checked all the boxes of the things that I needed to do, but I wasn't quite wearing that three-piece suit just yet, right? And obviously it's not the attire, it's the the power behind it. Yes. And I wasn't really sure that I would get there in enough time, right? It was like, you know, I felt like I had done the things that I was told to do and I was supposed to do, and I even became a Sarbanes Oxley expert and other kinds of subject matter experts, but it just didn't seem it seemed like it would take a little bit longer. Now, give us some context be, you know, in the time frame, right? Because I'm just gonna go back to what you brushed over really quickly. You um land this great job with this great corporation in an esteemed program. You are clearly doing all the right things to excel and to be successful. Um, they ask you to do something. It sounds like you were not slow to say yes, right? And that yes took you literally all over the world. You literally said yeses that took you all over the world. Um, but then I hear you say you still were not in the three-piece business suit. What? How what was the time frame between the start of this journey and um you know some of these amazing stretch assignments that you would take around the world? Yes, I I started um back in 2002, and then around actually, I I had always expressed part of why I joined UTC is because they're a global company. And I knew that I wanted to go overseas at some point. And I didn't know much about the company, but I knew that they were so in so many different countries. So I knew that was my opportunity to do that. And so maybe about three years later, uh, maybe about four years later, I was asked to go to Norway to go and fix, they had an issue with Sarbane, some some uh internal controls uh issue that needs to be looked over. So I went. And it literally was they asked me one week, and the next week I was in Norway, and I didn't know how long that would be there.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:That ended up being a short stint for like a couple of months, maybe about three months. I came back to the US and then fast forward like six years later, five years later, went back to Norway. I literally was at a birthday party, at my friend's birthday party, 40th birthday party in Atlanta. The executive called me on a Saturday and said, Look, we need help again in Norway. Can you come? And I said, When? And they said, like next week. And I was like, Okay, like because here I am doing what I can, you know, and executives calling me on my cell phone on a weekend, you know, because I did a lot of networking with the executives. So I had pretty good rapport with them. Um, and so I was there, and then and I said, How long am I gonna be there? They're like, well, we don't know. It may be a couple of months, it may be a whole full expat thing. I was like, okay, so I got we're back again to Norway, and I ended up being there for a year and a half, right? And then, and then after that, there was a billion-dollar acquisition, um, which was the largest of Pratt and Whitney at the time, uh, in Switzerland. And so I was invited to to come and work there. And I said, Okay. So there, and mind you, while I'm in while I'm moving to Switzerland, I'm pregnant, right? Oh, pregnant with my first child and moving to another country. And actually, had my baby in Switzerland. I mean, I worked until the last day after work, two hours later, I started having contractions and I went into labor. While I'm in labor, Chantra, I I mean, while I'm in uh having my contraction, I'm typing an email to my colleagues, like, hey, I don't think I'm gonna be there tomorrow. Here's what's left over, and I'm contracting and you know, timing my contractions and sending that off, right? Wow. Yeah. And so that that so my Europe stint lasted for for about three or four years, and then I came back uh to UTC and I did a stint at Sikorsky for a little bit. So when I came back, it was almost like it was like, oh, well, you you have to, you know, prove yourself, like you know, with with the new organization I was with. And I was like, well, what about all these other things that I did? You know, so I it just didn't, it didn't feel and I'm I'm sure things are probably different now, but it just felt like it was gonna be a longer and more arduous task. And so So Gochi, I actually have to have us think about this a little bit because I'm sure that someone listening to this is in a period of growth in their career. Um, middle, middle, middle layers or whatever, you know, eight to ten years with a vision of success and what they see for themselves, but not understanding why it doesn't seem to be happening for them, right? Um, as you look back at those times and you think about what you needed to hear, knowing what you know now, right? What advice would you give to Goche back then or to the listeners and viewers right now that are trying to figure that out? Because if you don't grow up with the script, you don't know the script, right? And you just have a North Star. Yours was this Fegal catalog and this desire to live a certain way. Um, and it was, you know, the you you could see it in how you felt the folks in the magazine were, right? Um, somebody else might have a different, it could be to change their family's lineage. It could be so many different things that draw us to the life that we feel compelled to seek, right? But what would you look back and tell that a gochi now on this side of it? Were you doing the right things? You know, I think I think probably I would have um forced a um track and projection on someone, meaning like an executive or a mentor, like what are the things that I actually need to do and when and what will happen after I do this? And and while you know it's it's it's predictive and nothing is for sure, but if if I do, okay, if I take on this assignment, what will happen? Then what should I do next? And then what should I do then by creating that sort of guided path where I am for sure that these are the things that I need to do, these are the specific assignments. I don't think I have that guide. I think that I maybe thought that, you know, okay, well, if I'm going the extra mile and I'm taking on these international assignments that nobody else might my counterpart that didn't really look like me, they were chilling in Connecticut, the same job. Maybe they'll move on to another job, but within the same um building, if you will, right, same location, they weren't gonna uproot their family to go overseas, et cetera, et cetera. Right. And maybe if they did, they were guided on it. Like, okay, if you take this on, this is what you're gonna get. If you do this, but I didn't, I didn't, I didn't do, I assumed, oh well, they're they calling me on a Saturday and I'm born on a Thursday, so I'm definitely this is gonna be that job that's gonna get me that promotion. Oh, okay, assume that I think is the Achilles heel, right? One, you're motivated and guided to do your best and to show up, but two, you assume that when you take the call and you do, everything else would lay itself out. So, what I heard you really say to me is I would tell Ugochi, take agency for yourself, literally right now. When the call comes, what are they asking? And what are your needs? And how are you going to position that as well? Well, how that's what I'm doing now. That's what the grown-up Ugochi is doing. I mean, I just got an offer for business opportunity yesterday, and it seemed great, but I but I had all these other different types of questions, meaning, does this align with my goals? Is this, you know, what's gonna happen if I do this? What's not gonna happen if I do this? You know what I mean? And so I was I didn't do that back then. I was just doing the things that I thought, you know, were the were were cool to do. I mean, were the things that will I think will get me there. But yes, I'm pretty sure my counterparts that didn't look like me were guided along the way. Okay, take on that role. Okay, these are the positions that are gonna get you to the next level. Take that. Yeah, that's yeah. So I was kind of all over, I mean, I was doing great things, but it was still kind of all over the place. So when I came back to the States, I didn't sort of have sort of this complete career story that they could take on and move me up to the next level. I was here and I was there and I was this, and you know, they heard all these great stuff that I was doing, but I wasn't. You are packaged. You are packaged, right? The way, the way that we know we need to be. We need to be packaged and clear about what's in the box and what the box says on the outside, and quite frankly, where the box wants to be too, right? So it's all those things. On the same breath though, that that's uh unpackaging, if you will, works the best for me outside of the company. Oh, right. The fact that I've gone to these different places and I kind of sort of speak German a little bit, but understand, you know, and things like that, because of that Switzerland experience. It it made it made my um my profile very attractive outside of the company. So then, based on that, you also have to think to yourself, right? What do you really want? Do you want to stay here for your whole career? Then maybe the sort of the guided path, or do you want to do you do you want to be somewhere else in the next 10, 12 years? Well, what are the positions within the company that you can do that will help you? So you also have to have that mindset, you know, as well. Go chevy, I I think that's brilliant that you call that out because here's the here's the truth of the matter. Nobody starts off knowing it all. Nobody starts off with a script that really, if they are honest, they can tell you they knew was going to play out the way that it did. Just like you followed your heart and your instinct, and it not only took you around the world but gave you those wonderful experiences that allowed you to be able to assess, okay, while I might not be for here, I have a whole new bag of great offers that I can put out there. And I love that. Okay, we got to talk about Kell O. We got to talk about, you know, here, here you see this wonderful or uh business business, wonderful business school. Top, by the way, top business school, we might ask. We have to say. Um, you see this school, you see that it's a place where you would want to be. Um, and you take all of that passion and desire to start this, right? And I would say it's life calling you, right? You've got this life calling you. Um, and then the the journey maybe turned a little bit for you. Tell tell tell us a little bit about the Kellogg calling and what your journey looked like. Yes, yes. So yes, so I obviously knew about Kellogg and and but I thought that they were only based in in Evanston. And it wasn't until 2017, yeah. I'd always I'd wanted to go back to school for my MBA. I'd done a master's at um Penn State in supply chain management and sort of did that uh, you know, as my path to get to the MBA finally. At least that was one of the reasons. So 2017 comes along and I start, you know, I look, I start looking up schools, fine call again. See, that's there's a Miami campus. At that point, I was in Florida over the summer. Um, and at that point, I was living in Nigeria. So I'd left UT at this point, I'd left um UTC to move back to Nigeria to become the CFO of an agriculture firm. And so um typically what we would do is over the summer we would come to the US. And so I did that in 2017. I started poking around on the internet for schools. I found Kellogg in Miami. I just, and then I I went, I started the application, but then I stopped because the the the the the deadline, the final deadline was around the corner. I was like, there's no way I can write three essays by then. And then I get a call from Kellogg, like you start an application, what's going on? I was like, I don't think I can finish. He said, Well, you can. And I came out to Kellogg in Miami campus, and you know, the the story goes on, right? I just became very interested the more I interacted, I completed my application, and then I got it. And I was like, Oh, oh, okay. I mean this is serious, man. So now it starts. I get the the email. I was like, wow, okay, this is this is this is real. So I had to take a moment and reflect on it, you know, and and um then from there when I was going, I started school, I went back to Nigeria and I was going from Nigeria to Miami once a month. Now, by this time, I had um moved on from the role that I was in in um in Nigeria, where I was wearing my three-piece suit, by the way. All right, it did happen. I wasn't faking it or trying to be like I wasn't, okay. So I love it in my in my home country wearing my three-piece suit. So I was look, my experience in Nigeria was fantastic. I was literally living my dream. Um, I had the job, I had the status, and then of course the amenities, which are really nice, the help. I had family. My best friend from Atlanta moved to Nigeria at the same time we did, and we've been talking about living to living in the same city for years, and now we're in the same city, and it was amazing. So by now I had left and I was I had started my um with my co-owner, uh co-partner, a co-founder, if you will, this agro drone company. Um, and so we started the agro drone company, and I'm going to Kellow once a month, right? And so I would fly from Nigeria from Lagos to Miami, Lagos to Miami. And so after a while of doing that, um it was, or even while I was doing that, I was in a situation where it just, you know, being home, going to the school, this going to the school was causing a lot of stress in my personal life. And it became, I mean, it just grew and just it just got worse and worse. And each time I would go to school, I'd be like, I hope I see you guys next time around. And but when I would go there, thinking that I wouldn't come back the next time, I would have such a fantastic and wholesome and fulfilling experience, both in and out of the classroom, that I would come back home like, I don't think I can stop this. This thing was meant to be because every time I go, it's a reinforcement that I should be here. And the way it kind of fell into my lap, if you will, you know, is in getting into Kellogg. And how everything was just kind of, you know, the how the experience was just moving so fluidly. I was like, I'm supposed to be here, right? And so I'd come back with that. I would go with a little bit of stress to school. Like, I think this is my last time. This thing is causing me a lot of stress back home. But then I would leave, like, oh man, this is the bomb, man. Energized, right? And sushi for for snacks, right? Like, let's put that food off the chain. It was like, you know, girl, we pay for them sushi, that sushi was. We did. We did. That food was off the chain. So come back. And so uh it got to a point where being in that space back home became deleterious to both the continuation of my education, deleterious to my mental health and stability. And so, in order for me to finish my experience and be in a space and in in and have the energy to really experience the embodiment of what the program represents, and also to have the right clarity and mental space just for myself, I had to leave. Right? I had to leave. And it wasn't like a a flimsy or capricious decision. It was I had to leave. So I left abruptly, unexpectedly, I left everything at home. Everything, all of my personal effects, all of my paintings, all I just left. And so I came to the US and basically. I'll just take pause and just um bring light to there are times where we can start down a path with all of the right intentions and all of the right support and everything appearing to be laid out beautifully as we as we expect it to be. And then stuff happens, right? And that stuff can look different for everybody, but stuff happens that brings so much confusion, hurt, darkness, all the things to your space and to your life, but you still had this vision that what you were pursuing was with intention and the right thing. Man, it takes so much to keep focused on that light that's calling you when everything around you starts to crumble and fall. Um I needed to stop and give pause to that because it speaks to your strength. It speaks to your resilience, um, and it it speaks to your Conviction to keep going. And I think that that's something that so many people need to hear more about because let's face it, there are very few times in life where you can say, I'm going that direction, and nothing happens to get in your way or to knock you off your thoughts that you knew in your gut were the right thing. How did you reconcile within yourself that your vision for what was calling you was so great and so big that with all of the darkness happening around, you weren't going to give up. Wow. Yes. Wow. So yes, Kellogg was in in this scenario, Kellogg was my light. And that was what I was following. And I didn't even realize how much of my light or how it would open up even just new paths and and new new visions, right? So you know, when I would go to the school and have the class weekends, and and I could really see the value of what I was learning, of my interactions, and even just it was like these little boons that I would get through discussion with people, connections with people, and you know, all of the lights just coming on. And I'm like, this has gotta be the right thing. Because if it wasn't, I wouldn't have such um, you know, such an effusive uh uh you know effect or experience while I'm here. And every things that would happen would just be like little signs and blessings along the way, whether it was in class, whether it was interaction with someone, or whether it was just being at the right place at the right time. I mean, when I met you, that was like the weekend before I left. That was the weekend, that was the week after the weekend that I left, right? And it was like, and and when when those that interaction happened, for instance, like with you that whole week, I think we had a whole week of class, by then I'd I'd left like a week before, right? Literally like a few days before. And I was like, yes, I made the right decision. Like it was it was so blindingly salient that that I made the right decision. And and what I had left was so dark, yeah, and and it was moving me away not only from who I was, but who I was to become through this program. It was so dark and so heavy that I was like, that can't possibly be it. And what was the alternative if I had stopped, right? That was another thing that I thought. But let me tell you, I'm gonna I'm gonna give you this credit and not let you give it back. You had an openness to receive, you had an openness to be available for something that was calling you. Um, you had an openness to experience new things that would get your senses popping again, right? I would I would like to think as awesome as I truly believe Kellogg is, Kellogg was literally a catalyst for some things that sound like they were happening for you anyway. You almost went from the girl who was stuck on the Spiegel catalog to living the Spiegel catalog to now a woman who is drawn to to now the depth of of more. Um yeah, yeah. Yes, you're you're right, you're right. I mean, I definitely know that you know I feel like I've I'm guided by the spirit and and gifted the grace, right? From from the Lord. And everything that I have put my you know mind and energy on, um, I have received, right? I always, for instance, I mean, I I wanted to work for a major uh Fortune 500 company. I wanted to live in California, which I eventually ended up doing with UTC. I wanted to move overseas. I mean, all these different themes. So you were manifesting all these things. I'm telling you, so so things kept moving. And so, you know, I just think it's just a great thing. Which we do, by the way, Ugochi, which we do, and that's why I think too many of us don't give life to the words that we say, conscience, yeah, and the people that we put in our ecosystem, yes, if you haven't done a process check on that, yes, yes, Ugochi and I implore you to because exactly real, right? It is real. Um, it is real, yeah. You have to. I wanted to go to a top business school. I mean, it was just happening, and so and and life will throw you roadblocks and will throw you challenges and term oil, but if you have that determination, right, and that vision, right? You just you just go for it. There's this painting called The Great Arrival. Oh, and um, it's by Chi K Onara, and obviously we'll talk about uh uh that a lot down the line, but it's a painting of a sailboat, a bunch of sailboats, and they're all synchronized, all synchronized, but underneath it is all of these waves and these turbulence and everything, right? And the when I when I think about my life and that painting, I think about my my vision and my goals and my ambition being the the synchronization of several boats, right? And then underneath it with all the waves, it's like the vicissitudes of life, right? And and regardless of what's happening beneath that in the waves and the turbulence, that steadiness still has to still have to go. And how you manage all of those um uh disturbances, right, will allow you if you manage it properly, it will allow you to still stay, still keep going. And whether it's your mental states, keep going, whether it's your goals and your you know uh aspirations keep going, but that's just how that's just how life is. So yeah, yeah. All right, so here it is. You are so fierce that you were able to pull it together and keep it moving, even when you didn't think you could. You get that degree. Congratulations, another wonderful accomplishment for you because you've already shared so many. Um, and then you have clarity. Clarity comes, yeah, it brings you back to the US, nestled for good, and or at least for now, we won't say for good because stories, right? But you have this clarity, and so tell us, okay, so now you've got this Kellogg degree, you're here. How do you feel it's all coming together? So after Kellogg, I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this corporate, I'm gonna be this corporate executive, I think. But I haven't really since 2014. I've been, you know, I've lived in another country, in an African country, I've worked for an African entrepreneur, I've become an entrepreneur myself. How am I going to mold myself back into the two, you know, the the the UTC years basically, right? After experiencing all these sort of dynamic and more flexible, if you will, and freeing experiences, how as was how will I shape? In fact, I talked to my um this uh the the the career, I think how long is you like this career advisor. And that was one of the things. She was like, What do you, what do you, what are your concerns about? I said, I don't know how to be that corporate America person that I was before because I've gone through and been in Nigeria where you have the freedom to express yourself anyhow you want. And I've worked for you know African entrepreneur, I've become an entrepreneur. How am I gonna shift? And she said to me, You don't, why do you think you have to shift? That's fair. Why can't you just be who you are today? Oh I don't know who she was, but give her a high. That was Colleen, yes. Who do you oh Colleen? Yes, yes, yes. She goes, Why do you think you have to shift? I was like, I don't know, because that's what you do here, right? You know, and so and and being in the Nigeria working environments, um you you become more expressive, right? So I'll give you an example. Here you may say, I think if somebody brings up an idea, that's dumb. And you say, perhaps we should, we should, um we should look at it a different way or something. And then back home you may say, that doesn't make any sense. Like, why would you do that? No, I'm Nigerian. I didn't do the research yet, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm Nigerian, maybe even Igbo. Yes, yes. So you're just like, what's wrong? You you're you know, and you this is not what you're saying behind their back. You're just that's just how it is. But um, so I I had to, you know, I vacillated between back corporate or or what else. And so there's this saying in Igbo land in Igbo, my Igbo culture, and it says, Okay, madutet, and that means that when a person wakes up, is their morning. When a person wakes up, is their morning. Oh, your morning could be 2 a.m., 5 a.m., it could be 2012, it could be 2022. But whenever it is, it is yours, you gotta own it, you gotta embrace it and do something with it, right? And my morning, my ututu was spring of 2020, so a few months after graduation. My mom has this home health care business that she's had for 15 years, and it was in need of leadership uh by a corporate person, somebody who's had business experience, been to business school, who understands business, not necessarily healthcare, because she does, but business to bring structure, to bring growth, and implement systems and processes and stuff like that. And so I'm like, oh yeah, we should find this person, that person, we can put up this ad. And so my ututu, my morning was when I realized that this person is me. Oh wow. Why would I go and and and and give my expertise and experiences to grow another company or someone else's company when I had a company right there, right in front of me. In fact, literally across the street from me, right? And so when when I woke up, and of course, it's not about how long it takes you to wake up, right? It's about what you do when you're awake and the destination. And once you once you reach that destination, you revel in it, and you get joy and peace and satisfaction out of it. And that's what I got when I made the decision to join the family business as the CFO and CSO. And um, and yeah, so that's that's that was my post or the start of my post-kelog, um, post-kellog experience. And the interesting thing about being in the family business. So we had the home healthcare company. Yeah, talk about it, because you know I started one in 2020. A home healthcare company? No, no, no, no, no. A family business. Oh, family business, right. I okay, I thought so, yes. So my my mom is the CEO, she's the owner of it, and my dad plays a role as a uh C um COO. And then my sister actually is a director of one of our divisions. And so, so it's been really it's been a great experience. I mean, the the sort of um relationship and communication um channel that we have amongst ourselves as a family is really good. Um, and I've gotten everything that I need to know about home health care, I've learned from my parents. So that's been good. And so I bring my expertise from the business side and the structural side, and I'm able to apply it, you know, with the knowledge that they give me about the home health care industry side. And it's it just it just kind of you know gels and and and works really, really well, right? And and not to say that there are no challenges and stuff, but I think we're pretty fortunate to be able to work as well as we do because everybody plays their specific role, right? Yes, we're trying there cannot be gray area, it has to be very clear. This is your role, this is your role, and it's even more important in family business, I think, because it's so how do you turn it off? How do you go back to being mom, brother, sister, husband, wife? Yeah, we kind of just you know, when when it's business, it's business. I mean, we just we talk straight about business when we talk about family stuff. Sometimes business gets in, you know, because that's just how it is. But when it's business, like sometimes my sister will call me and during work hours and we'll talk about something work related. Then she'll be like, oh, then she starts talking about something. I was like, this is an after five conversation. You know that we can talk at either six o'clock or eleven o'clock about this. Is an after I'm not about to talk about the family reunion or something. That's right. At 11:30. Okay. That's right on. So really trying to and and really being having the courage to, if there's an issue, regardless of the fact that it's your mother or father or sister, having the courage to be able to express what that issue is and and and not allow sort of the relationship to hinder or to disrupt the way that you need to express it. Because at the end of the, and I would always say at the end of the day, we're running a business, we need to make money. So it's not about sentiments. Yeah, okay. It's not about sentiments. This is the real deal. This is our livelihood. So when I when I project either a concern that I have about a particular area, maybe that somebody, you know, one of them is managing or something like that, I will project respectfully, but I I try to sort of block sentiments in it. You know what I'm saying? If you're not doing something correctly, you're not doing, we think we can improve, we think we can improve, but it's not about whether you're related to me or not. It's about the business. Like at the end of the day, we have a business to run. That's right. And so um, so really delineating those is a constant, it's a constant thing. But for us, I think it kind of flows, it flows um naturally. When somebody asks me clinical questions, I'm like, that's not me, that's Dr. Imelda. So we don't try to, you know, or here's another thing too that happens. Because sometimes you may feel whether this is true or not, that that people may try to say things to to possibly pin you against that other family member. Right? Well, Dr. Imelda said blah, blah, blah. And if I did not necessarily agree, either agree with what they said, Dr. Imelda said, or don't really believe it, Dr. Melda said that, rather than me saying, Oh, that's not true, that's not correct, I may say, well, let me check with Dr. Imelda and get back to you. So if they come to me about what somebody in the family said, I will say, let me check. You understand? Or let me get back to you. Or I would say, if it's something that I think that one of the family members should have answered, and they're coming to me and say, Well, what did Dr. Ymelda say? Or what did Dr. Jude say? Yes, you know, what did Machi say, right? And then they say, Well, they said such and such. And to the extent, if I if I don't agree, or even if I do agree, I will still verify from them and say, Hey, did you say X, Y, and Z, or did you talk to this person? So that's another, and it's a level of protectionism in some sense, and it's also to show a unified front, but not like in a favoritism perspective. It's just, you know, you just you just got to clarify, and and you can't do hearsay, you know. I mean, that's that could that should be applied regardless. You can't do hearsay. Like, let me let me just check. Uh-huh. I don't I'm not sure about that, but we'll see. Let me just check with them and see. Well, goji, these are pearls of wisdom that anyone who is either working in a family business right now, thinking of starting a family business, these are pearls of wisdom that really, really matter. And I actually think it's something that even if you're just an entrepreneur, um, starting up with a group of friends, right? These are some truths that really, really work to keep that infrastructure tight as you're growing and bringing in other people to the it's it's an important thing. All right, so for me, you're gonna have to take us back because you talked about when you escaped from that dark time, you had to leave almost everything behind, including some treasured art. And then you mentioned a little while ago a wonderful scene from an artist by the name of Chiquei. Yes, Chike Onora. Chique Onora. So now tell us what that means for your life now, because I hear you've got some amazing passion projects in play. You know, it's so funny because it's, you know, sometimes I say it's it's the this this next section of my life is so random, but then in in some sense it's not because it has characteristics um of you know things that have happened and that I like that, but I just didn't think I put it in this form. So the the beautiful thing about the about uh leaving behind and starting, even though having to start from the bottom, but um but still starting over is that I I was I was in a space where despite the turmoil I endured and basically turning my life upside down, I ended up in a dynamic space where creativity, creative thinking, and eclectic thinking resided and thrived. Right? Oh, I feel that space right now. I'm telling you, I don't think I would have been in this space had I stayed, right? Because I had the Kellogg education, which basically made me feel like I could do anything and not just the education, but just the experience and the interactions and the connections. And then I was in a family business, and then I was in a in a in a space in a place where I had just had good energy around me and good influence around me. It allowed me to be free mentally, right? It allowed me to really think through possibilities, right? And really just be in a place where like I said, like I could do, like I do anything was possible. I mean, I I I was within, I was with a group of people or a network of people who were doing all kinds of incredible things. And then I was being with the family business, I had some room and flexibility and allowance from my my parents to do whatever it else that I wanted to do. So because I was there mentally, whatever I received, there's something again. I'm gonna go back to an Iwotara. It says that means that whatever whatever comes to you at your time is not through, we call it long throats, but it's not by begging or forcing. Whatever comes to you at your time, whenever it gets to you, is not through forcing and begging, because it was meant to get to you. It was meant for you. And so that is that for me is a manifestation of this gallery, right? If you told me a year and a half ago I was gonna open a gallery, I'd be like, I don't know how it's gonna happen. And and so I I I sometimes I talk about the gallery, I'm like, it's so random, but let's be clear, she's opening an art gallery, yes, and it's an art gallery, yes, featuring it's called Oviko Gallery, and Oviko Gallery, the birth of Oviko Gallery without me knowing was in 2005. And I say that because when I think through how I got there, when my time came and how I got to me, it started off with purchasing Chi K's paintings. I was a huge fan of his paintings. And that was in 2005. In 2005, I bought the first painting. Then I collected a couple more and a couple more, which are the things that have been were left behind and God knows where they are today. And so when I was graduating from Kellogg, I wanted one of my group members, Tony, um, group B, shout out to group B. Tony, he had been very kind to us and and and really treated us quite a bit. Um, so we wanted to give him something. So we're like, what do we give somebody who you know we thought had everything? And I had talked to the artist about this, and he said, Why don't you give him a painting from me from Nigeria that he doesn't have that? Wow, that's fantastic. So I brought it up to my group members. I said, We're gonna have to put some serious money together to get this painting. And so we did, and so Chike sent over his painting and sent over other paintings, and so I I gave we presented the painting to Tony, and those other paintings he sent our last class weekend. I spread them all over. You know, that upstairs room in the Miami campus, spread them all over. I was like a market woman in Nigeria, okay? I spread them, I said, This is art for sale. Come on, I mean, it was so like rough, very raw. Okay, I had canvas and these canvases, I mean, these are thousands and thousands of dollars worth of paintings. I just spread them all over. Okay, this is this I was a market woman in Nigeria, and I ended up selling a couple, and then through through some time I sold some. And so when my my friend, um, my best friend ongo from Nigeria, when she moved back to the US, it was an opportunity to bring some paintings over to the US. So I had all these paintings because we had the success of selling the initial paintings. I had all these paintings, and so it was like, okay, I need to sell them. How am I gonna do this, right? Because I have 10 times more than or five times more than I had before. And so in at Tele, um, we had a space that was rented out adjacent right next to the space that we are in. So we were renting it out. We owned the building and it hadn't been rented out for a year, right? People moved it. I had all these paintings, and it was like paintings, space, art gallery, right? And so those were some preliminary thoughts. And then a friend of mine, um, Andre, he used to work for um UTC and now he works for United Rentals. He was he said they were coming to St. Augustine to have an executive retreat. This was last year's summer. And so I text, so I said, Oh, and I thought of myself, executive retreat, money, come to my gallery is what he told me. I love it. Come to my gallery. And then he's like, Oh, really? Have a gallery? I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. In my head, I was like, okay, I'm just gonna get those canvases and I'm gonna pin them up to the wall in that space, and they're gonna come and see the right paintings. That was my idea. Entrepreneurial spirit. Yes, and listen to me, our Nigerian culture, ours, y'all. Um, I don't think I'm Nigerian, but I don't know. Maybe I am. We should do that genealogy thing. Yes. So he said, Oh, you are? He said, Well, my boss's son um is an art guy, a digital art guy, and he worked in galleries and he's you know, he had knows a lot. I was like, Oh, yeah, send him, send me his number. And from there, Chantra. The the the paintings from the space, everything in between is this is this um consultant Riley that we that you know that I brought on, and it now has morphed into something much bigger. Wow, ever imagined. I mean, I didn't think I would have to paint the we painted the walls, ripped out the carpets. I mean, it's it just blossomed into something more magnificent. But it's um that's how we ended up with the galleries. So then I got the paintings, got some of them stretched, put it up. We had a soft opening in December. And the galleries literally for my office in Teeley, if somebody was to call that they wanted to see, I just go walk like six feet, open the door, and and let them in. So it's just amazing how these things just kind of come together. And and in you know what though? You followed the light. Yes, follow the light. I believe in the lights, I believe in the light. You followed the light and the instinct in your gut that said that there's better, and you're fearlessly marching for it and claiming it and manifesting it. Oh my god, when is the art opening? When is the opening? The opening is January 29th, and that's next Saturday. Um yes, yes. As a matter of fact, I got a call from the news, uh, the Jacksonville news guys yesterday. They want to do an interview with me next week. I was like, okay. So yes, January 29th is the is the opening. And you know, we're really excited. We're really excited about um what the the gifts we're gonna be able to give to the the people. One of my passions has always been exposing um African talents in the Western world. So between that and my my love for the art, artwork by the artist, you know, just culminated into sort of this really great venture. So we co-own it, me and the artist, and um we're just excited. We're excited to, it's at St. Augustine has never seen anything like nothing like this. I mean, this is definitely um something that we were very, very proud of. Um, so yeah, so yeah, I mean, I think ultimately for me, it's think about all the turmoil, think about the successes, but always maintaining a state of gratitude, right? Constant state of gratitude, because in you have to go through things in order to get to things, right? You have to go through to get to. And so if you're in a constant state of gratitude, even when you're going through it, even the worst times, if you if you're staying in that constant state of gratitude, which means that you have hope that it's going to get better, you will you will realize you would you would the the realization, the manifestation of all of that turmoil to get to where you are, you know, you you would see that. And so girl, look, I could keep talking. I know you are a busy woman, you are not only leading a family business, getting ready for a wonderful art opening. And I am hopeful, I'm hopeful that I can be there. It's a little bit of a but I'm really uh I'm manifesting that I'm gonna be there. Amen. Let that subconscious, let that subconscious talk to me. Yes, yes, it's calling me for sure. Girl, look, this is this has been just a gift to spend time with you um sharing your story. Um, your story is just so packed with so many inspiring nuggets that I know that those that listen will be receiving. And if they open themselves up, they will be blessed in receiving. So thank you, sister. I am hugging you. I'm so proud of you. I am so grateful for that chance opportunity for somebody to ask me to come back to Kellogg and to be a blessing to others. And I'm so excited that I was blessed with you and so many others. So thank you. Thank you, Sandra. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Oh my gosh, yes, thank you so much. We'll be talking. Okay.
unknown:All right. Bye.