INSPIRATIONAL:
NIGERIAN Woman, GLORY ENYINNAYA Graduates in FIRST CLASS Accounting Honors from University of NIGERIA…Received National Merit Scholarship Award from Shell Petroleum
*Studied Executive MBA Course at Lagos Business School
*Wins ‘Addo Agnotio’ Accenture award for creating, transmitting and cultivating knowledge across several communities of practice in the firm
* Featured by the Centre for Global Enterprise in New York and the global Association of MBAs
* KleosAfrica, her company Receives African Entrepreneurship Awards
*Consulted for Accenture, Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria, British-American Tobacco and several Oil and Gas companies
*Motivational Speaker recalls experience as then Miss NYSC Beauty Queen during undergraduate days
TO SAY THIS NIGERIAN WOMAN is beautiful is certainly an understatement. She is highly intelligent and profoundly beautiful. GLORY ENYINNAYA reflects a true story of brain, beauty, humility, hardwork, focus, resilience and godliness. She is a leading Management Consultant and successful Entrepreneur, having won several business awards for her outstanding business skills and unique contributions to the African business community. This soft-spoken Lead Consultant of Kleos Advisory Services, Africa’s premier online consulting platform in this EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF, Naija Standard Newspaper reveals the Secret behind her Success, How she won multiple Business Laurels, Inspiration behind her acquisition of First Class Honors at the University of Nigeria (UNN) in Nsukka, Why she consults for top Oil and Gas firms across Africa and how she remains a frontline Motivational Speaker across the world.
Q: Tell us the inspiration behind your acquisition of First Class in
Accounting from University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka?
Success is goals – everything else is commentary. I set the goal of graduating with a First Class in my first year and kept my eye on the ball for four years. It required relentless focus, self-discipline and perseverance. I’m also thankful to have had a strong support system – my parents and lecturers were encouraging, my closest friends had similar goals and I received a National Merit Scholarship Award from Shell Petroleum that made my academic journey easier.
Q: How about your Executive MBA Course at Lagos Business School?
Knowledge can be compared to the proverbial ‘pearl of great price.’ As a business person, I see the MBA as an investment that yielded significant proceeds for my career. I chose Lagos Business School because of its emphasis on ethical business practices and its world-class academic standards. In addition, the Executive MBA offers excellent opportunities to immediately apply the knowledge gained from the classroom. LBS was an incubator for my business – from opportunity identification, to market research, to marketing strategy, to prospecting for clients and delivering value – the school supported me every step of the way.
Q: Why did you decide to work as a consultant?
Management consulting is something I’ve always wanted to do. Working at the world’s largest consulting firm helped me understand the fundamentals of the consulting profession, while my work in Oil and Gas, FMCG and the public sector helped me specialize in the change management field.
Q: Kindly narrate your experience as Founder and Lead Consultant at Kleos
Advisory
It’s largely been an adventure in problem-solving. My experience at Kleos has drawn on my inner resourcefulness, drive, passion and fearlessness.
Q: Tell us how you won an international award in Accenture and your involvement in managing change for the world’s largest SAP deployment
Along with 20 employees from other parts of the world, I was given the ‘Addo Agnotio’ award in Accenture. That’s Latin for ‘knowledge sharing’. The award recognized my contributions to creating, transmitting and cultivating knowledge across several communities of practice in the firm. Of all my project experiences, one SAP deployment in particular was unique because it was transformational change on a large scale – the largest in the world at the time. The West African team distinguished itself as the most seamless deployment which the Group had seen at the time. I can credit our success to discipline, collaboration and hard work.
Q: How was your recent startup featured by the Centre for Global Enterprise in New York and the global Association of MBAs?
During my MBA, I was a participant in the maiden edition of the ‘Africa Platform Strategy and Management’ course offered by the CGE. During the course, I had my ‘eureka’ moment – the creation of an online platform for freelance consultants. After the course I went on to implement the knowledge gained from the course and this led me to be featured on the CGE website under their Global Scholar program.
We have also featured by the global Association of MBAs as one of the top 50 MBA projects worldwide.
Q: Can you shed light on your African Entrepreneurship Awards?
KleosAfrica is currently a semi-finalist in the ongoing African Entrepreneurship Awards. The award celebrates the most innovative and unique business concepts across Africa and I do feel honored to have come so far in the competition.
Q: Do take us through the memory lane of your experience then as a beauty
queen (Miss NYSC)
I was very studious throughout university so I saw NYSC camp as an opportunity to do something fun. My best friend and I decided to contest for Miss NYSC. I applied the same approach to Miss NYSC as I did to my studies – willingness to practice, learn from feedback and thorough preparation. Resilience was also a factor – I was ill on the day of the pageant but I went on-stage nonetheless. Interestingly, I won. I was invited to represent the state at the national level but I politely declined as I was not interested in a modeling career. I’m quite happy to be a career woman.
Q: How has your experience been helping entrepreneurs who desire to be
outstanding in their chosen career?
I enjoy mentoring and coaching and have been happy to share my experience with young people. I believe in nurturing entrepreneurial talent as history shows that most outstanding performers in any field began to develop themselves from an early age.
Q: What led you into the career guide of a motivational speaker?
Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man and speaking a ready man. I enjoy learning and sharing my knowledge with others. This has led me to embark on different ‘knowledge sharing’ initiatives. I have maintained a blog for the past five years, I’ve written a book, I facilitate training sessions and I speak at local and international conferences.
Q: Do let us into few of your evergreen accomplishments…in life
I believe my best accomplishments are yet to come …
Q: Finally, how will Nigeria benefit from your rich business knowledge to
help the nation’s economy?
Studies have shown that small firms play an important economic role. However, Nigerian small businesses suffer critically high failure rates. The major reason inhibiting the growth and competitiveness of Nigerian SMEs according to extensive studies by NISER is managerial incompetence. This incompetence is brought about by low quality of skills critically needed for successful business operations.
Our business aims to reduce the huge failure rate of small businesses by providing affordable, innovative and premium business solutions to SMEs. We help SMEs with solutions in strategy, operations, finance, marketing, IT and human resources.
One of our clients used the business plan we developed for her to obtain a 200 million naira equity investment from a bank. We work with business people from all strata of society – from semi-literate traders to sophisticated executives. We expect this to have a multiplier effect on the per capita income and economic growth of Nigeria.
Impressive interviewee