konknaijaboy | On 15, Jun 2014

She is a lawyer by profession. But Monalisa Abimbola Azeh has found happiness and fortune not in law but in shoe making. Over the years, she has gathered enough experience and skills in shoe making that her shoe brand has become a known name in the fashion industry . Twelve years down the line, she is still waxing strong with no sign of tiredness. Monalisa Abimbola Azeh has proudly represented the made in Nigeria shoe brands positively. Not finding her shoe size in the market was the right motivation for gaining the skill to be a shoe designer while she was working in her church’s office.  In this exciting interview, she explains how life has been for the past 12 years.

How long have you been in the business and your experience so far?

Since 2002. Its been very interesting. Interesting in the sense that you first of all try to do something that you have the concept in mind and you then start working towards it and inspite of the obstacles and challenges, the glory of God has made us withstand the storm?

What are the ingredients that have sustained you for the past 12 years?

First, it is God that has been my sustainer.  When you have faith in God and when you have problems, you turn over the issues to Him and He will be a solution provider. In addition to that, I have been blessed with good hands in terms of shoe makers who have been improving over the years. The way we were when we started is not where we are today. They are somehow self motivated because they work in their own space, not supervised and they still get the job done. Thirdly, a determination to succeed and the belief that good things can come out of Nigeria has also been my propeller. When people see my shoes, they ask, do you mean these shoes are made in Nigeria. Even though it makes me happy that people could say that, it still also makes me sad and gets me wondering  what they think Nigeria is, why should they be so surprised that something good like this can come out of Nigeria. In addition to the three above, I look at the fact that a lot of people have been motivated to do this kind of business or do something similar by seeing me as the pioneer sort of. That also keeps me going because if I give up, what will happen to those coming behind me.

What gave birth to Mona Matthews Brand, what prompted the idea of designing and making shoes and what were you doing before Mona Matthews?

Two things and I will say that the journey started twice. The first thing that happened was that I was looking for shoes for myself and I happen to like nice and interesting shoes and I wasn’t able to get the type of shoes I like in my size. I then decided and started by designing for myself and I looked for shoe makers who could bring my designs to life. It was a bit of a challenge because the shoe makers were making only male shoes and they were totally reluctant to make female ones. I kept on because I have found out that this is how life is, especially if you are doing the right thing, which must be emphasized and you are doing something proper, you must be faced with challenges. Due to my feet and what I was looking for, I started with only making shoes just for myself. When I made the first pair, people were very surprised and their reactions were like, this is good, this is nice. In fact, a friend of mine saw this first pair and she took them from me. I then made another pair, my mum liked them, she asked me to make for her.

Even though I didn’t plan it as a business, I was just meeting a personal need, people from the beginning  liked them and asked for the shoes to be made for them. I started making for them in very little capacity but I was working in the church office at the time where I was worshipping. I did the shoes for few people but what really caught my fancy was that I would make the shoes for somebody and they would introduce other people to me. After a while, I lost interest. I wasn’t focused on it  because I was doing other things, I therefore had to put the shoe making thing aside. I got to a point in my life, where I wanted to leave where I was working. I was working in a church office because I knew it was time for me to move on and just do something else for myself.  I went to speak to my pastor who was my boss and I told him that I felt I needed to move on.

He said yes, he understood but what would I be doing if I leave the job. I told him I had really not thought about what I was going to do but I had so many options because I had done some work as Master of Ceremonies.  I had organized concerts. I had also acquired administrative skills, I could organize events and things like that. I was trained a lawyer, I could go back to my law practice, I could get a job. There were just so many options before. He then told me that I needed to find out what God wanted me to do and told me to go and pray about it.

I went and I then prayed about it. Of all the things, the shoe making thing was not even something that was uppermost on my mind. But that was the impression I got that, it was what I was meant to do, that I should go into shoe making. I remembered that there was one female pastor then. She spoke to me and said; I hear you are leaving, so what are you going to be doing? I told her I am going to make shoes and right there, she ordered two pairs of slippers from me and that was really how I started.

How were you able to raise capital to setup the business?

The way I ran the business from day one, I really didn’t need to have capital from the beginning. I realized that I couldn’t make shoes myself, I couldn’t even learn to make shoes even in one year. I also realized that even if I could learn to make shoes in one year, I couldn’t singlehandedly do the kind of shoes that I wanted to do all by myself with the quality and the quantity that I needed to do to make it a profitable business. I had a business model in mind and I then went to share it with a friend of mine and he then said it was a good idea and a good concept.

That even the largest shoe company in the world, it was the same model I had in mind that they use. That model didn’t require capital at all. He then suggested that I do a business course to set me up on the right path. In addition to the fact that I had the direction from God, I then went ahead and got some business education that gave me additional advantage over my competitors.

Twelve years down the line, what have been some challenges that Mona Matthews have faced and how have you surmounted them?

Skilled workmen, is a major challenge. It was from the beginning and one of the things that I have learnt was that for you as an entrepreneur, you have to develop human capacity and you have to develop it in a selfless manner. In other words, you don’t develop people for the purpose of satisfying your own need, you develop people for the purpose of making their life better and improving the industry. So it’s a generic thing, its something that applies to not just yourself. When people come to me and say, what is your company’s social responsibility, I say my business alone is social responsibility because I mean its not the easiest way to make money. What I have learnt to do is to groom the people I work with. As long as they have the basic qualities that I look for. An example is having a teachable spirit. You must be skilled naturally, then the rest of it can be added later.

You must be someone that has eye for details, someone who is careful, who is patient. Shoe making is stitch by stitch. You can’t be somebody who is in a hurry or who is stubborn, who doesn’t want to listen to advice. Since learning that, I have been able to build up my people, that was why I said I have been blessed with them because they go out of their way, do their research and they come up with stunning stuffs. Materials also, we have had to adapt especially in getting fabric materials for ladies shoes and wear, so we have had to adapt because we couldn’t get some of the colours we wanted. But these days, there is no colour you want in leather that you won’t get in the market. Heels were a problem at a point.

When trends come, it takes a bit of time for it to catch up here, but because our people who work for us have been able to develop themselves and their skills, they are able to adapt. They are able to manipulate things and moreso, because our shoes are made from scratch, bit by bit, we have been able to keep up with the trends. People talk about money, but money has never been my own problem because if you give me a hundred million now, I don’t have a hand to produce shoes of that equivalent yet, so money has not been my issue. I am also learning to teach my staff, that they too should get people and train people. This is because if one person can make two pairs of shoes a day, two people can make four pairs a day.

What does it take to be a female shoe designer?

First and foremost, you must be someone that has what I call the eye. You must have the eye, you must be someone who can imagine things. You must be someone who can put things together, you must be someone who can see a pair of shoes and understand how they did it just by looking at it and not until somebody sits you down and explains it to you. You must also be someone who is also stylish. You may not be someone who dresses up all the time like that but if someone asks you for advice, when you style the person, what comes out of it will be understanding.

You must be good with colours. You must understand the different shapes and shades. This is because women clothing, women fashion whether it is accessories or clothing, has a lot of nuances and you have to understand this too. You also need to understand that fashion is not fashion across board. If a woman is 50 years old, what she wears is going to be different from what a 15 or 20 years old is going to be wearing. What a married woman will wear to a traditional wedding may be different from what a young single lady wants to wear. You have to understand and appreciate all these kind of things and be able to interpret it in your designs.

Having counted a long number of years in this industry, would you say you have found fulfilment?

Most definitely, I have found fulfilment. One being fulfilled to me is not about how much money you have made. What gives me fulfillment is being able to help people. You meet people who before now, couldn’t find their sizes, because I must tell you there is nothing as painful as having your money in your pocket and not being able to find your size of shoes to buy. I have experienced it personally and I meet people like that regularly. When you make shoes for such people, and they are happy, they send you texts, they send you referrals and it all makes a lot of difference.

You just feel that you are fulfilling a purpose in life, you are not just existing. Life is not just all about making money, you can make all the money in the world and be miserable but when you help your fellow human being, even though you are doing it as part of your career or part of your business, it’s a very good feeling to be a solution provider.

What is your driving force in life?

My driving force in life is Jesus Christ. The Bible says it is in Christ that we live and that we move and in him that we have our being. Without him, we are nothing. Fulfilling you God given purpose for being in existence at each time is also my driving force. Timing is also important to destiny. You might miss it if you don’t do it when you are supposed to do it. God does not lack people. Being able to do it at the time when you should do it is important, so Jesus Christ is the centre of my life.

In the course of the interview, you told us that you trained as a lawyer, why didn’t you practice the profession?

I practiced and I am still practicing till now. Though there was a time when I stopped practicing completely because there were many reasons that made me step back.

Can you share some of those reasons with us?

One of the issues that I had at the time was really personal. I was having a conflict of interest in how things were being done and it wasn’t something I wanted to be involved in. So I just decided that I was going to do something else. I had stopped for a while but I had gone back now. I have a law partnership firm now with some of my colleagues and I am now really interested in property law now.

How has the patronage of Mona Matthews brand been for the past 12 years?

Well, what I have learnt and what I have always told people is that Nigerians like good things and they don’t care whether it comes from Togo or Tunisia or Turkey or wherever. As long as it is well made, they will appreciate it and they will buy it. Initially, there were people who would wonder if made in Nigeria shoes will last. Those of them that have worn our shoes, and have been able to compare it with the ones they have bought abroad, they have been able to see that ours actually last longer. Secondly, because the shoes are made here and you know that we are the ones that made it, if and when you do have a problem with them, its easier for you to bring it to us than to walk to the store where you bought a pair of shoes that doesn’t have anything to do with the manufacturing process.

We found that people who have bought our shoes have come back to buy more and they have told friends and families too. We have enjoyed Nigerians’ patronage. Moreso, Nigerians are loyal. I have been to international exhibitions, where Nigerians bought my shoes because I said they were made in Nigeria shoes. They were proud to associate with the brand, because it was a Nigerian brand. I would not deny that there are a few people who would turn up their noses. But my experience has been that people who reject made in Nigeria are those who have not yet gone outside of Nigeria.

They have not seen the world so they don’t have anything to compare it with. Most of them are just aspirational people who don’t have money. They are people who are still hoping to arrive somewhere in life. What happened to them is that they are hoping to buy some fake Guccis and other foreign brands. When you present this to them, it’s like you are bursting their bubbles.

Was it difficult coming up with the brand name Mona Matthews- how did you overcome the task?

It was a difficult task coming up with the brand name. This is because it didn’t occur to me at all. There was no brand name at first. I was just making the shoes. I was not putting any name on it because I didn’t just want to put any name like some people were doing at that time. I was very proudly Nigerian from day one. I got the name for the brand very early. It was after  about  two months when I started that I got the name. I started my business in January and my dad died in February 19 of the year I started. Inside me, I wanted a way to immortalize him somehow.

A friend of mine in class, who was an advertising person and a branding person was like this your shoes with no name, what name are you planning on giving it, I told him I don’t know. He then asked for my first name, I told him Monalisa, I then further told him that my father’s first name was Matthew. He just said Mona Matthew and that was how the name came about.