Ifu Ennada is an actress, beauty entrepreneur and ex- housemate of Big brother Nigeria. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she recounts her experiences as Big Brother Nigeria housemate, memorable moments as an actress and more.
TELL us about your experience as a BBN house?
My Big brother experience was breath-taking and it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Interestingly, I must say that before going on Big Brother I didn’t think that I would ever get on the show because I’d never really watched or followed it. But I auditioned and got on the show after my friend, Stessi, encouraged me to attend the auditions.
I was evicted in the 7th week, but my time in the house was very rewarding. I won 2 competitions that made me an instant multimillionaire even before leaving the house. It was part of this money that I used to launch my haircare line – beautIFU Ennada.
In addition, being a Big Brother housemate brought a lot of bigger open doors and increased my commercial value as actress. It also gave me the platform to connect to millions of fans and inspire them with my journey and story.
How did this experience influence your life and career?
Like I said earlier, being on Big brother opened a lot of doors for me. It armed me with the platform to launch my business. As an actress I started getting more serious roles with better pay checks. My first Cinema film “Hire a Woman” which was released over a month ago, beat all the Nollywood films at the Cinema and it is the highest grossing Cinema film from January 2019 to date.
I have also worked with notable local and international brands. I have fans who go all the way for me and support everything I do.
Going down memory lane, I would say Big Brother literally armed me with the tools to transform my life. Before Big Brother I was a broke girl with a lot of dreams. After Big brother I am now an award-winning entrepreneur, award-winning actor, and public figure living her dream one day at a time and adding value to lives as I move up the ladder.
What are some of memorable moments in your life and your career that you have experienced so far?
When I launched my beauty brand – beautIFU Ennada, 9 months ago was quite memorable for me. Before that experience I was just a girl with dreams of owning a successful multi-trillion dollar business. Although I haven’t gotten to the trillion-dollar part yet, but there’s a multi something in my story now. I remember days that I would sit in my dad’s house in the swamps of a slum and just visualise my dreams. That was after I have done everything physically possible to achieve them. There were days that I would cry and go without food after sending all I had to my family. But no matter how hard things got, I never gave up. So it was a very memorable day when family friends and the media gathered as I launched my business- beautIFU Ennada.
In addition, I would say that my accomplishments in film and television as an award-winning actress have also been memorable. In January I stood before a crowd of over 40,000 people in Port Harcourt as I hosted the Okochiri International Beach Fiesta. The experience was awesome.
The moment I was announced on Big Brother and walked onto the stage was super memorable. The cheers and spotlight, the applause and feeling was second to none.
What was the first job you ever did. What was the experience like?
My first job was a receptionist job. Although, I ended up being the cleaner, messenger and Personal Assistant to my ex boss. I was just 17 years old at the time.
I was in school at the time, but worked to support my family and myself. My salary was just N7,000, but I worked so hard that when I left, I was greatly missed. My ex boss actually asked me to return with a promise to increase my salary, but I knew my time there was done and it was time to move on to greater things.
What lessons did you learn from that experience?
Well, I would say that it was a very interesting experience. There I learnt to be versatile, manage people way older than I was, as well as work under pressure.
Who or what inspired you to go into the hair care and beauty sector?
I was inspired to go into hair care after I suffered severe hair loss and couldn’t find any effective remedy.
After extensive research, I discovered amazing natural hair-care recipes that became my remedy. This was about two years ago when I also returned to natural hair. I had always hated relaxed hair because of how lifeless it seemed on me. I finally launched my business 9 months ago after I left Big brother.
The beauty industry is very profitable. I have a lot of passion for it. I love identifying beauty problems faced by women and providing effective solutions to them.
Tell us about other current or future projects you are working on.
For my beauty brand, I am expanding. I would be adding more products to my current offerings and also opening a beauty store, hair salon, and beauty academy. I should officially launch them by next month, God willing. Also I am doing something big with protective styling which I found interesting and dynamic. I am also launching an innovative product that will sweep people off their feet. I’ll be more precise about this in a few weeks and clients would definitely have the best from the brand.
For acting, my first cinema film, “Hire a Woman” by Chinney Love Eze, is the highest-grossing Nollywood film from January 2019 till date. I have some films that will be released in cinema’s soon, such as “Mad About You,” and also, “The Lost Okorochi,” a film by Abba T. Makama, which I am really excited about. I also have more unreleased film and TV projects and will
be getting on more outstanding sets. This is my year of big breakthroughs. Hopefully I’ll get into Hollywood sooner than projected.
What challenges have you experienced in your career so far, and how have you overcome them?
Well, for my business, initially it was the challenge of raising money to kick start the business, but all that is in the past now, as earlier explained.
As an entrepreneur, I have faced a lot of challenges that required different solutions at different times. This includes trying to find reliable and affordable international shipping companies, managing customers and staff, and also scaling the business.
With every challenge I overcome, I learn something new from all the experiences. This is why I started my business initiative for entrepreneurs, “5 million a day.” From my wealth of knowledge, and as I grow steadily as an entrepreneur, I want to teach entrepreneurs how to start, scale and excel in business. There is currently an Instagram page for the business, @5millionaDay and I will be launching a website for this soon, as well as other learning resources.
For acting, I won’t say I have had any major challenge. Going down memory lane , I must say that before Big Brother I was getting good roles. Right now things have gotten better and the experience is very inspiring for me.
When you are not working, how do you relax?
Honestly, I have not had time to really relax, but my ideal leisure time would be travelling out of Lagos to some place close to nature. I want to travel to a lot of countries before I am 30 and before I consider marriage. I am 26 now.
Who are some of the people you look up to?
I don’t really look up to anyone because I don’t want my world to come crashing down when they stop being the person I fell in love with. I look up to God. But I admire certain people like Genevieve Nnaji, Mo Abudu, Linda Ikeji and Oprah Winfrey.
What advise would you give young people who aspire to be like you?
I would say to them, “have the biggest dreams, believe that nothing is impossible with God and go after your dreams”.
Where do you hope to be as an entrepreneur in the next five years?
In the next five years, I hope to have already made the Forbes List. I hope to have a company worth at least a billion dollars. I hope to have my products in every part of the world, I hope to give out business grants worth millions to young aspiring entrepreneurs and I
hope to have mentored and inspired thousands of successful entrepreneurs.
How would you assess the performance of women in the sectors in which you are an entrepreneur?
It’s an amazing time to be a woman! We are resilient, powerful, and inspiring. We are breaking boundaries as entrepreneurs and achieving feats that people previously thought were impossible.
Tell us about 3 fascinating facts your fans may not know about you?
The first is that I am an introverted extrovert even though I seem like the ‘everyday party type’.
Secondly, I have been working on my music. Thirdly, I have lived in a hotel since I left Big brother – I always wanted to live in a hotel.
What would you not do in the name the fashion?
I like to be adventurous with fashion. I can do anything in the name of fashion, but one thing I won’t do is to go totally nude. I belong to the school of thought that believes some private areas should remain private and respected.
What are some of the items that you treasure most in your wardrobe?
I treasure all my fashion items especially my shoes and corsets. I like the overall look these items add to my appearance. One thing I also treasure a lot is my perfume. I am not sure if this qualifies as a fashion item but I am so in love with my perfume collection. Presently, I have close to 100 perfumes on my dressing table which no longer contains them. I love to smell good and expensive. I also like to wear perfumes according to my mood and perfumes help me communicate my emotions. Whether I am feeling sexy, bossy or chic, I have a perfume for everything.
What was your first experience like as an actress?
My first experience as an actress was lovely. My very first acting audition got me a lead role on an Africa Magic TV series called Emerald. It came at a time I was leaving my full time job as a TV producer. I was about 21/ 22 years then. It wasn’t stress free, but it was a breath of fresh air which brought a lot of open doors in acting my way.
What are some of the changes that you would like to see in the entertainment sector today?
First, I will love for actors to be paid better and treated better as well as the crew. I will also like for the issue of piracy to be tackled and dealt with.
