By Pascal Oparada
The humble neighbourhood would almost eclipse the creativity nesting in it.
What many around her hardly notice is that there is a woman, among the few who have decided to pursue their passion in a male-dominated territory, who is relentlessly chasing her dreams absolutely undeterred.
The apron she wore suggests she is either working in some pastries shop or she does something which makes her get her hands dirty.
The small workshop on her balcony houses what many shoe factories in Aba, Southeastern part of Nigeria, would pass off easily as made in Italy or elsewhere other than in the country.
She calls her brand Hurricane Vivian and has it emblazoned on her shoes as a trademark.
The small machines in the workshop would leave you almost doubtful until she begins to talk about her craft – the processes and the hassles of shoe-making. She exudes passion which is palpable from her piercing eyes.
Vivian Iyke-Obi knows everything about shoe-making and can convert the naysayers with enough evidence.
She left a lucrative banking career for shoe-making and she is proving to be a threat to the men in the industry. More about that later.
“I was a banker for nine years. I worked with Keystone Bank from the time it was Bank PHB,” she said.
“My kids were suffering. I am married to a medical doctor. Sometimes, I would drop off my kids at school as early as 6 am and I would not get to pick them up until 8 pm. So there was hardly time for me and the children.”
“Four years ago, my church organised skills acquisition programme. Many women were going to learn hair making, pastries, and other feminine stuff, but I decided to go for something more challenging, something more tasking. I decided to learn shoemaking.”
She says she could hardly keep up with orders from customers and has placed integrity above profit.
“Sometimes, clients would place orders and if I see it is something I wouldn’t meet up with at the time, I would tell them to hold on until I am freer to make their orders”, she said.
Her experience in banking, she says, plays a great role in her business. Having worked in human resources and marketing at the bank, she says she deploys both experiences to push her craft.
“What I brought from banking to my business are human relations and marketing,” she says. “This has helped me get many customers satisfied.”
Branching off into a male-dominated environment, rather than making her struggle, she says, the men are the ones feeling threatened when they see her.
“I think it is the men who feel threatened by the presence of women in the industry they think they have complete dominance over.
“Sometimes, when I go to buy materials, the men would ask me to help them bargain for pieces of stuff. Then I would use the bargaining power of a woman to pull off some stuff which leaves them befuddled,” she told TheNiche.
“So, rather than feeling threatened as a woman, it the men who are feeling the heat.”
Another thing she says has kept her going is the satisfaction she gets when people put on her shoes.
She says she has made what she calls a ‘political shoe’ for the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. This she says has brought other political parties who ask her to make shoes for them as well.
“After studying Ambode many times over, I was able to determine his size and decided to make a pair of shoe for him using his party’s logo and colour,” she enthused with a soft laughter.
“But has the governor got to see the shoe?”
“Not yet, she says. I posted it on social media and asked people to keep sharing until he sees it. And it has got so many people sharing. Someday, I hope the governor gets to see it,” she says with a chuckle.
According to Vivian, she intends to set up a shoemaking factory with a training school and a showroom which would put the brand, Hurricane Vivian, on international pedestal.