Monalisa Abimbola Azeh obtained her Bachelor of  Law degree from the University of Lagos and was  called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985. She worked as a lawyer for several years and even ran her own law firm. She was recently made a fellow of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI.

In 2002 she founded her Leather Brand Mona Matthews, which designs and retails high quality handmade leather shoes and bags and has run it successfully since then. Monalisa Abimbola Azeh attended The Fate Foundation’s Aspiring Entrepreneurs (AEP) and Emerging Entrepreneurs Programsin 2002 and 2019 respectively.

She also attended the Lagos Business School (EDC) in 2009 as a Goldman Sachs Scholar where she obtained a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management. Monalisa served on the Federal Government Leather Reformation Committee which was mandated to create a Leather Policy for Nigeria. She is also a Fate Foundation Volunteer and a trained Mentor. She  is also on the Faculty of The Joseph Business School, JBS Lagos, which is an International Faith- based Business School with Campuses in several Countries. It is headquartered Chicago U.S.A 

Take us through your first few years in the organization and the challenges.

Well we didn’t have any money. We started by taking orders from customers and collecting a deposit. We started in my living room and I arranged the shoes on the floor. During the early days of my show making, some of the challenges were the fact that we did not have the right materials for female shoes. The ones we had were not the current ones. The leathers, colours were not interesting.

There were not many shoe makers that could make the kind of shoes that I wanted to make for ladies like party shoes, shoe and bag sets, high heels among others.  I started working with a shoe maker building up skills, trial and error, research and department. For the materials, we had to include innovation into it. Most people like party shoes for celebration. At one point, we were going to Aba to make shoes.

The factor accepting made in Nigeria shoes and wanting to pay the right price for them was another challenge.  Those were the early challenges.    

What rules and regulations guide your organisation that you are so much in love with?

 Integrity is my number one rule. We do what we say and we say what we do. If we won’t be able to do your work we tell you upfront. If we can’t meet a deadline we call and explain and give alternatives. Yes we may make mistakes but we try to cover up for them. We don’t leave our customers hanging.  

For women, attaining the managerial position comes with so many struggles and victimization, how do you carve a niche for yourself to get to the position you are in today?

 I make sure I have an adequate support structure. I delegate responsibility to domestic staff to free myself from chores others can do better than me.

How do you ensure your organisation stays in business? 

I try to stay abreast of my business. I keep myself informed. I take business courses in person and online that are relevant to my field. I always have. We live in a dynamic world. Change is the only constant thing.

How has your experience shaped your personality into achieving your purpose and staying relevant in business?

Things have been tough many times. My experience taught me to be resilient. I rely on God by being prayerful and trusting his word. I also learn from people. I ask questions a lot. I won the Fate Foundation award for Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021 for being resilient in business. I thank God for this.

Mona Matthews is 21 years old this year. How do you juggle these roles alongside your managerial capacity and would you mind telling us those features that determine your success stories?

I believe in delegation and so, one of the things I have tried to do is to put a round peg in a round hole. Around myself starting from my domestic staff.  I set the parameters and work together to achieve it. I do not need to do all this as long as I have the right people around me.

Inability to delegate responsibility is one of the things that is not allowing women to be successful in their career is that we are always careful of the fact that we must combine house work with the career. It is not possible. 

I got more people to take on some of the duties and it makes my job easier.  In my business environment, I also engage people who are capable of doing the job and delegate responsibility. Tell us about your Company’s operational system and the workability. We have three features of our Modus Operandi.

We have a Showroom in Elizade Toyota Plaza Ikorodu Road where we display and retail our finished products which are essentially matching shoes and bags sets, for ladies, in addition to slippers, sandals loafers among others for men and women. We also make school shoes for children. We have a bespoke service where we design shoes and bags to match clients’ outfits for special occasions. And we have a repair service where we repair and or reconstruct shoes, lower heels among others. We are into outsourcing. We design our production. The shoe makers and bag makers are independent contractors. They run their businesses. We work with them to produce our designs and we ensure quality and standard in all our production.

How deliberate are you in the area of gender inclusiveness?

All our in-house staff are female because all our Shoemakers are male.Tell us those qualities that drive your passion. I pay a lot of attention to detail. If I have 100 crystals in a bag and one is out of place, I would notice it. My experience has helped me to be a resilient person.

Even when I am discouraged, I will always find a way of mending things up to face the work. One of the things that personally drive me is the fact that Nigeria is not a producing country.  We have so many natural resources to make leather from. It is painful that other countries are gaining from things that are naturally ours. 

One of the things that drive me is the fact that I want to prove to people those good things that come out of Nigeria. I want people to know that excellent quality shoes and bags can be made in Nigeria.  We have a unique opportunity to grow an industry. We need to take our reliance from imported shoes and bags and produce quality that can be exported. As we speak, I have customers who live abroad and make orders for my shoes. The fact that I am providing employment is an achievement for me.  I have shoe makers who have been with me for 19, 18, 17 and even six years in my 21 years journey and they have been able to upskill.  I am detailed when it comes to production. 

How did you surmount the challenges of coping with the male counterparts especially when it comes to decision making? 

It doesn’t exist in my space.What strategy is your company employing to compete with its counterparts?Innovation and being relevant meeting target market’s needs and maintaining high standards always.

What are the deliberate efforts you are putting in place for young people to be passionate about the field?

 They are already passionate about it because we post our pictures and journey on our social media pages stressing the point that the shoes are handmade in Lagos Nigeria. We also coach and mentor people who want to engage the same line of business. 

What is your organization’s five point’s agenda and how would you say these agenda favour all women at all levels?

To be the best shoe and bag brand in Nigeria. To cater for people, especially women, that regular shoe brands don’t cater for. Namely large sizes, people who require low heeled but absolutely gorgeous shoe and bag sets. To give the best quality and return on Investment to all our clients by using the quality materials and the best craftsmen available.

To continuously improve on our products and services by continuously seeking and responding to feedback from our clients. To make made in Nigeria Finished Leather goods a major player in Africa and beyond via export.

Tell us how your organisation is wired especially when it comes to ensuring effective operation and delivery of purpose?

Our quality control mechanism is constantly being upgraded. We also have a return policy that assures our clients of our commitment to excellent delivery. We repair if our products are broken or replace them if we cannot repair them.