Chief Executive Officer of Superblachomes, Barbara Fumnanya Nwaokolo is a successful entrepreneur, making waves in the male dominated real estate industry. But for her, being a woman is a force that should galvanise energy for success rather than waiting for peanuts given as handouts as a means of survival. Sharing her thoughts recently, she said the driving force behind her continued push for success is the welfare of her two children.
“I am a mother of two, Emmanuella Timaya Ordon and Grace Timaya Ordon. So what I am doing today is because of these kids. I am a single mother. My parents are alive, I have brothers and sisters in the United States of America. It is just me in Nigeria right now and that is the reason I have not left for the US, I am still in Nigeria. It is something I have learnt to become. I want to be known, I want my real estate company to be known and heard about in Nigeria and that is why I am still here,”said the founder of Superblachomes, a top tier real estate company located in upscale Ikoyi area of Lagos.
A graduate of Microbiology from the Benson Idahosa University, Edo State, the CEO of Superblachomes grew up in Asaba where she attended the prestigious Anglican Girls Grammar School where she made friendship that endures till date.
On why she does not bring her experience as a microbiologist to bear, the pretty entrepreneur noted that,“A lot of Nigerians are not practicing what they read in school. Most of my friends that we went to school and studied microbiology together are working in banks. I have always wanted to work for myself and make money for myself because I think you make more money doing business for yourself, being an entrepreneur.”
The Superblachomes founder’s relationship with the famous Nigerian hip-hop singer, Timaya produced two lovely children but that was not enough to keep the love aglow.
Recalling the strained relationship, Barbara Nwaokolo said, “I had been in a relationship and he didn’t want me to work, he just wanted me to take care of the kids. I mean Mr. Timaya, the musician. I met him in Lagos in 2010. We were friends and at a point, we started dating. When I was pregnant, he said I should keep it and we had the second one as well. But things didn’t work out; you know how it is with relationship, even marriages crash. So it is fine and we are cool; we are friends. I try to maintain the relationship but we are friends and he takes care of his kids and we are happy.”
Away from love story, the Superblachomes boss also shared her journey into real estate world, saying,“When I broke up with him, it was kind of tough for me. I was already used to luxurious life style, enjoying here and there but when I broke up with him, it dawned on me that I had been relaxed doing nothing and that was not who I really am. I just said to myself, Barbara, it is time for you to get into something, start something but real estate didn’t come to mind.
“I was doing party planning for friends but the kind of money I really wanted was not what I was getting. So I spoke to a friend called Jay whose husband has a big real estate company. She said Barbara you are somebody I know talk very well, you are bold. Why don’t you go into real estate? I was always following her to work, seing everything, so I was like, I think it is something I can do because when it comes to marketing I am good at that. So, I chose to go into it”, added the realtor behind Superblachomes.
Continuing, the Superblachomes boss said,“Along the line, I had this friend who had issues with her marriage, she had a good job but I said to her this won’t give you the life you need and she said okay and we did a lot along the line. We did fish farming, branding, we had some companies we worked with. We did branding for them when they have seminars, we order stuffs from China, send to them. We made our money but the money we were making still wasn’t enough because the job wasn’t full time. So, we tried real estate. She resigned and joined me.”
The journey into real estate did not start off without challenges as she recalled: “in 2017, from February to July, no one bought any property. It was really tiring and frustrating but I told my colleague that it is never easy when you start. Let’s take our time, God will help us, our focus was on the goal.
“In September I met a footballer online and we got talking. I told him I was into sales of properties and he said that is fine, that he is actually looking to buy a property on the Island and he was the first client we had. Our breakthrough came when we sold 21 units of three bedroom semi-detached duplex to a top.footballerl”,, added the Superblachomes founder.