By Kate Halim
When someone accused Emem Thomas of being a lesbian because she employs only plus-size female bouncers, she laughed it off. Thomas is the CEO of Dragon Squad Limited, a security company that uses plus-size women as security operatives and bouncers at events.
Thomas said it is sad that when people see women who care too much about themselves, such women are called lesbians. She stated that a woman’s lifestyle has nothing to do with her job and how well she does it. According to Thomas, what matters most is how disciplined and hardworking her employees are and not how they live their personal lives.
Based in Akwa Ibom State, Thomas told Saturday Sun that she employs plus-size women because most people believe that such women are lazy and unattractive. She added that she loves the fact that she has been able to get financial opportunities for them so that the negative narratives surrounding their body size will change.
She said: “Doing this job also makes these women increase their self-worth. I just want to use my company to show people that plus size women are elegant, hardworking, beautiful and smart.”
Thomas, a graduate of Biochemistry from Cross River University of Science and Technology said she left the University in 2014. She said that after her youth service, she started working for a security company in Akwa Ibom as an admin officer.
She revealed that when the guys who worked in the security company come out to go for events, she wished they would ask her to go with them. She stated that she was a marshal for Calabar Carnival at one time and had experience working in the field.
“I am a member of the Nigerian Red Cross Society. With my experience in the field of crowd control and security as well as my passion for women, I decided to start an all-female security company. I left the security company in 2018. They laid off all the female bouncers I brought into the company. I didn’t know how to tell these women that their means of livelihood was gone because I love women to be financially independent,” she said.
She said she was particularly concerned about the women because many people look down on chubby women. She stated that she was formerly the admin officer in the security company but was later made the business development manager.
According to her, the management of the company told her that it was an upgrade but her salary was reduced. She said that she suggested to the management to employ plus-size women as bouncers so that they could stand out and provide something different to their clients.
Thomas said: “They accepted my suggestion and I posted on my Facebook page that the company was employing plus-size women as bouncers. A lot of the women who applied for the job were strangers but since these women came from me, the company thought they were my friends.”
She said the stated that they didn’t want the female bouncers anymore because they refused to pay the women well even though they were contract staff. Thomas added that in trying to help these women maintain their means of livelihood, she was caught in the middle.
She said that the management of the company accused her of siding with the ladies and not looking out for the interest of the company. She said that when she got her salary that month, she left the company.
Thomas said she felt like a failure when the ladies were laid off but she didn’t allow that to deter her from doing something positive about the situation. “I told the ladies that came into the security company through me that we would still work together but I needed to register my own company first and do all the paperwork. I avoided everyone who worked with the security company and that was how I started Dragon Squad Security company in December 2018.”
Shedding light on the first event she organised after leaving paid employment, the single mother of two boys said that she was questioning her ability to deliver what her client wanted. She said that at the end of the day, she knew she did well because the client added gifts and extra cash to their original fees. She said he also referred her to another client the following year.
The Akwa Ibom State indigene said she started her company with seven ladies as bouncers but now, the number has increased. “When someone tells me no, it doesn’t mean the end of my dream. I don’t give up. When I am rejected, I fight harder to get more jobs. I am a single mother of two boys who I have to provide food, education and shelter for. I don’t allow rejection to weigh me down.”
Thomas told Saturday Sun that the major challenge she faces is convincing clients that her company is up to the task of providing security at events. She said that she has to talk a lot to convince clients to trust her with their security.
She said: “Some men tell me that their wives won’t be comfortable with us providing security for their events. Some of them say that their wives might claim they have brought their girlfriends to their events. Sometimes, I demand for their wives’ numbers so that I can convince these women myself but they don’t agree. I have lost many jobs because of that.”
She said that another challenge she faces is that some men don’t like the idea of women providing security for them at their events. She added that these men say that women are not strong enough to do the job and some of them want her employees to attend their event as mere decoration.
Thomas revealed that another challenge she faces is dealing with community guys who feel like they are intruding on their territory when she has to provide security at events in their communities. However, she added that because she has experience on the job, she uses some tricks to calm them down.
“Sometimes, these guys come out to challenge us. I sit them down and ask them what they want and promise them things I can redeem. I then go to my client to ask for the provisions they have made for the youths. From the response of my client, I know what to do to appease them. Sometimes, I sacrifice our food and drinks for them so that they can allow us to have a peaceful event. At the end of the day, they end up working with us. I have also taught my girls how to handle such situations,”
Thomas said she feels like someone has given her the whole world each time people praise her and her girls for doing a good job. She said that such compliments keep her going and make her feel fulfilled. She added that most times, some guests give them money and make promises to patronise them or refer people to them.
Having been doing this job for almost four years now, Thomas said that she hasn’t had issues with her employees. She confessed that she knows how complex women can be but she is a patient and understanding person who knows how to handle issues well.
Thomas added: “This is not my first time of working with women. In secondary school, I was the leader of an all-girls dancing group called Splendour Girls. I thereafter created another dancing group called the Indian Sisters. I know issues will come up and there will be misunderstandings, but because we are guided by rules and conduct, we handle it professionally.”
Thomas told Saturday Sun that she doesn’t have a labelled age limit while employing female bouncers. According to her, she looks out for their strength and their ability to work under pressure. She stated that if an employee is always tired or not feeling well, she would advise the person to go for a medical check up and treat herself. She said she supports them when necessary but quickly added that she doesn’t have anyone who is above 50 years working with her now.
Thomas said she doesn’t just employ these ladies, she gives them classroom training based on her own training. She said she teaches them self-defence skills, how to use security gadgets and self-composure skills. “I teach them how to handle conflicts. Most of the training they get is on the field because that is where the main work is. They also know basic first aid training,” she added.
When it comes to keeping fit for the job, Thomas stated that they do general exercises once a month and engage in online exercises every two weeks. She said that she makes a video call and they do exercises together. “At other times, they video themselves while exercising and send me the videos. Some of the ladies who work with me have paid employment, while others do their personal business so they are very busy. I encourage them to have side money-making ventures because sometimes, we stay for weeks without handling any event.”
Talking about the future, Thomas said she has plans to create branches of her company in other cities while Akwa Ibom will be her headquarters. She added that she would create branches which other people will head while she maintains the headquarters in her state.
Thomas said that most family and friends wouldn’t understand your passion and dream until you have started making progress. She recalled that when she started her company in 2018, some of her family members suggested she start buying and selling things instead of providing security with plus-size women at events.
According to her, some of them remind her that bouncing people from events is solely for men and advise her to go into business instead. She stated that besides the fact that doing business requires capital, which is hard to come by, she doesn’t have a passion for it.
“I have tried it in the past and I was drained. I inform my family members that I love what I do because it provides me with money and fulfilment. I remind them of when I run to them for help, and they tell me that they don’t have money,” Thomas said.
But it’s not all gloom as Thomas stated that some of her family members got a clue of what she does when she buried her mum. She said that when they see her in action at any event, they feel proud and happy. Even though some of them still believe she shouldn’t be doing a man’s job, she said that they support her now.
Thomas said doing her job hasn’t exposed her or her employees to danger nor have they experienced life-threatening situations in the course of doing their job. She said that this is because they have some guidelines they stick to while working.
“When I get to a community where we are supposed to work, I look for the community leader and introduce my team to the person. I educate them about the importance of the event that will hold in their community. I remind them that we are strangers and they have to make us comfortable. I talk to them in a way that they end up supporting us and working with us to ensure that the event goes well.”
Thomas stated that providing security at events for a fee is lucrative because it pays her bills. She said that if she provides security for events three to four times a week, she would make good money. “The money I make doing this job goes a long way to feed my family and this is because this job is about referral and advertisement,” she said.