Inspirational! How Woman Who Hawked Ogiri, Now Hosts Own Cooking Show

Ogiri woman is a brand created as an expression of Ifeoma Uzoma, a woman whose unique style of selling Ogiri in Imo State, a natural African spice, went viral after a customer put up her video on Facebook.

The viral video attracted comments and admiration from Nigerians, home and abroad. Ifeoma Uzoma who revealed in the video that she had been selling ogiri for long and started the business with just 300 naira.

According to the mother, she revealed that she least expecting the fame because she was just doing her business as usual and was asked to be captured. Ifeoma quickly became synonymous with Ogiri woman in Google searches.

Mumpreneur.ng, a networking and support group for mothers who run businesses was one of the admirers of this woman. It was revealed that she was contacted and invited to Lagos.

A team led by Branded.ng was put together to build this woman’s brand and give her a platform to express her unique marketing talent in the field of cooking. Now she has her own cooking show.

Ifeoma Uzoma represents hope for every Nigerian mother working hard with their heart and mind to support their homes. It’s a hope that whatever you set your mind to, you can achieve.

It’s a hope that no matter how small your beginnings are; you can be big if you do it with your heart and stay with it. Maya Angelou had Ifeoma in mind when she said: You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.

In her interview with Guardianwoman, she revealed that she has been working hard since she was a little girl and her parents called her “Oshite” which means someone who loved cooking alot.

On how she started Ogiri business, she said it was God who told her to venture into it. She revealed that before she ventured into that she had tried selling nylon and it did not work out.

“I was just doing what my hands found my hands to do with all my heart,”

Ifeoma whose unique style of selling ogiri attracted the person who captured her at the market that fateful day said her business is what she uses to train her children. She said the reason why she hawked was because shops were expensive.

Although the smell of Ogiri is always an issue both in the market square, on the bus and in the home. But that’s the nature of Ogiri. Every good Ogiri has that smell that people say is awful.

Sometimes, I get dropped off before my stop because of people complaining about the smell. Ifeoma revealed that her husband has been in support of what she was doing and she would keep on going strong.

“I never saw this coming, so for me, I am not dwelling on the fame as you would call it, I see it as a charge to do more. I really was just doing what my hands found to do with all my heart.

My dream is to increase my production capacity and set up what you would call a village soup kitchen, for native soups made with Ogiri,” she said.

The vibrant mother who is excited about her fame and victory advised that one should never quit because winners never quit. She said a woman should strive and never rest, until her good is better than her best.

Watch her video that went viral below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCkXAK9scMk

Photo credit: Instagram