It is not often you see a 20-year-old young lady running not just a company but several companies and seemingly making a damn good job of it.
Shelly Usman, a Nigerian-German is a stunning beauty you would expect living the life of glitz and glamour at the expense of some hapless sugar daddy but not this woman from Mbaitolu Ogwa in Imo State who had lived 19 years of her life in Zimbabwe.
Shelly Usman was born on March 24, 1999, in Zimbabwe. She was raised in Zimbabwe until age 19 when her curiosity about her roots drove her to Nigeria where a new chapter opened in her life.
It was the birth of the entrepreneurial spirit in her. But for what’s worth, the damsel would tell you that making it in business or any venture at that, is not a tea party.
“I believe anyone who made it early in life made the right choice because the earlier the better. It’s definitely not easy but it’s worth it.
“Everyone wants to be great and successful, no one likes being dependent on people,” she said.
Shelly Usman had wanted to pursue a career as a music artist and model in Nigeria which she did to the best of her ability.
In 2018 when she came to Nigeria she actually started life as a musician but the heat and the demand of the music industry was too much for her.
Alongside doing music, her sight was also on business and when the music world was rather unfriendly she stuck to business and it thus appears it was a choice that has paid huge dividends.
“How my inspiration to become a young CEO came about was because I had a vision and I executed it. I want to be great in life and these are the first steps of becoming great. I had help from my boyfriend as they say, nobody makes it alone in life, with his help I was able to execute my vision,” she said.
“I like making money. That’s why I started these businesses although I’m young and was prone to making mistakes which I did make and greatly learnt from to make myself a better person today.
” I started singing in 2018. I have a passion for music, but I had to stop because at that time I did not understand the industry and it also needed a lot of money to venture into as I was doing it alone,” she added.
When she came to Nigeria in 2018, she opened a saloon and boutique in Fola Osibo, Lekki, Lagos. After some time, she moved to another location and started a bigger saloon and lounge in Lekki, Emma Abimbola Cole Street called Chillax Lounge. In 2019 she started another business having her own beauty line called Sheuman Beauty
She also had a beverage company which she called Chillax Beverages Company where she distributed gourmets and cocktail syrups to restaurants and lounges in Lagos.