Blessing Akinsunmade is a Literature in English University Graduate, Fashion Designer, Personal Brand Ambassador and an Entrepreneur.
Blessing Akinsumade hails from Ile-Oluji town, Ondo state
She is a fresh graduate of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
KhulumaAfrika had a conversation with a young Literature in English University Graduate, Fashion Designer, Personal Brand Ambassador and an Entrepreneur, Blessing Akinsunmade
Blessing Akinsumade hails from Ile-Oluji town, Ondo state, Nigeria. She is the second child and only daughter of a family of seven. She is a fresh graduate of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. She studied Literature-In-English as a course for four years which, for her, became an eye-opener for creativity.
“I am currently 20 years of age. And I must confess being a young entrepreneur is interesting because you are able to explore but it is quite challenging owing to different competitions. This is not a threat because it has made me choose a path of being different” she proudly pointed out.
“I am coming from a world full of opportunities, looking for a being to endow it into. Where I am coming from is full of competition, where people are hustling to be reckoned with. Knowing this I started building a path and a foundation of distinctiveness”, she told us.
Blessing always talk to herself and tells herself that: “Blessing you are who you think you are; you are not going to give people the chance to call or paste on you an identity you are not”.
Blessing is a beautiful damsel, who believes in the power of creativity and interpersonal relationship with others. I chose a path to always stands out, to always be distinct in all that I find myself doing and to always reflect excellence.
She also reflected on her background and the experience of growing up in her family. “I must say I had an enjoyable background while growing up and this is owing to the fact that my parents always put in their efforts in giving the best kind of education, supplying the most important need and ensuring a healthy life”.
She also mentioned that it was not fun all the time. Feeling lonely most of the times, being the only female in the family and this was because according to her, she didn’t often feel free playing the “male-kind-of-games”, even though most times she tried to confide in her mum, she could not compare it to when she had a female counterpart around to “childishly playplayo, Ondo State, Nigeria”, remembers her.
When she was able to mix with a whole lot of female friends and this really boosted her confidence relating with the guy counterpart while growing. She began to find a balance in relating with the male and female when she entered the University.
“That balance helped me handled leadership positions I attained in secondary school, and in the university, it still also shapes the kind of decision I make from time to time” she recalls.
“My family is an enjoyable space to grow up at, because there is an unconditional love, my parents showed me that God is the only way into achieving great things; a path to Christianity. I am surrounded with a family that believes in the power of a woman to be great and distinct and till today I would say my parent’s decision and the kind of siblings I have around me shaped my distinctiveness”, she pointed out.
Her background has a solid foundation to be the best person she really wants to be, so she doesn’t have any excuse not to be different from every lady out there.
“However, the privilege of being the only daughter actually opened my eyes to see that I am not competing with anybody in this world, it has built my self-esteem and it has also helped shaped a mentality of independence which till today helps me to always keep working on the needful till I become the best version of myself”.
THE LOVE OF FASHION, HOW SHE WAS INTRODUCED INTO FASHION AND HOW SHE STARTED A JOURNEY OF FASHION
” My journey into fashion was not a planned one but if there is one thing that inspired me into fashion, it is my love for creativity. At the inception, I was a very whack fashionista and more sincerely I was just not a good fashion advisor for anyone except you want to be in a sorry case. As I grew up I saw a need to pitch my creativity tent somewhere, my love for art became more enlightened as I studied Fine art in secondary school. My creativity instinct begins to grow more and more intense”.
One day, when she was cozy in her room in 2017 she decided to really start manifesting that fashion instinct within her. She came into a conclusion that it wasn’t about saying one is good at something, but it was about doing what one is good at. She took a bold step and decided the path of Craft as her own fashion world. “I officially launched my brand September 12, 2019 and named it “Kraft By Ma’de”, Remembers Blessing.
This is a brand that is saddled with the production of African-made accessories such as earrings, wristwatches, hand fans, shoes, bags, bow ties, belts among other things which both gender can benefit from. The idea behind this brand is to elevate the African culture, to make people see the beauty in anything called Africa and also make people see the value in their culture.
The truth is that the world is evolving every day and we become more enlightened
According to Blessing, more than 90% of the African continent population has been colonized and as a result only few still maintain their African fabrics, others have fully adopted the European culture. Her brand is set to create a balance between these two worlds such that while one is wearing a European-made attire, a touch of an African accessory complements the outfit, bringing to the fore a sense of belonging to the African heritage.
Her brand would be specializing on the use of different African fabric imprint such as Ankara, Kente, Adire among other fabrics recognized with the African continent to make different accessory. These accessories are things people use on daily basis to spice up their outfits and these accessories include earrings, bangles, bags, shoes, belts, bedspread and pillow cases, face caps, Alice bands, hair bonnet and lots more. This kind of fashion is one that would project Africa beyond its name, this is one of her major visions.
Besides focusing on fashion, “Kraft By Ma’de” other objectives include modelling, interior/exterior decorations, supply of souvenirs, sales of the African continent fabric and many more, all for the sake of maintaining the African culture.
General public always respond to Blessing’s work with enthusiasm as it is always distinct. “I must say a whole lot of people are putting in their best in projecting different sides of Africa through their brands. However, one should not fret competitions as it is the only drive inspiring one to stand out”, she’s openly up for any challenge. Before releasing any of her products to her audience, Blessing looks out for trends and mostly what people would be interested in grasping at the moment of production. This actually always drive her to always surprise her audience.
BLESSING’S TARGET MARKET:
Blessing identifies her target audience as, majorly everyone who believes whether or not in Africa. ” In order not to make this sound vague, I would say my fashion brand is set to create a new awareness of Africa to the young, old, Africans, non-Africans; giving a room for all Africans to esteem their culture and clearing the doubts of Non- Africans about the misconstrued identity they have about the beauty in Africa. In essence, there is no restriction to my target audience, it is readily available for all”.
SO CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE AN ENTREPRENEUR?
” Yes, I am an entrepreneur but right now I am not yet the kind of entrepreneur I want to be. However, the foundation I am building to be a great entrepreneur has a whole lot of rooms for improvement. I believe it is a process and gradually the bigger picture of a great entrepreneur would actualize”.
HOW OLD ARE YOU? IS IT EASY TO BE A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR?
“I am currently 20 years of age. And I must confess being a young entrepreneur is interesting because you are able to explore but it is quite challenging owing to different competitions. This is not a threat because it has made me choose a path of being different”
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?
“Enough fund is a challenge coupled with marketing strategies. Most times the money invested in my fashion brand is limited compared to the cost of productivity. If there is one thing that makes me happy at the end, it is the fact that I end up getting more than double of my invested money. However, this is still a challenge because more financial funds would spur more profits in the business. The marketing strategy is quite a challenge because the available platform I am currently using are not yet giving me the result projected for the business. In view of this, high cost of production without enough or readily available market audience can be quite tasking”
HOW CAN THE NEW CLIENTS GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
“New clients can get in touch by visiting and dropping a direct message on my Instagram page @Kraft_by_ma_de or visit my webpage on Lubumi (an online e-commerce) via Http://kraftbymade.lubumi.com to place orders to any location of choice at pocket friendly prizes or a direct call/whatapp through this number +2349058205557 or +2348085732377”
ANY ADVISE TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND WOMEN WHO WOULD LIKE TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS:
“My advice to young women out there is that they should take advantage of their youthfulness to learn every skill needed to sustain their passion for whatsoever they love doing. In the long run, this gives you the fulfillment you so desire. And I must say, if every young lady believes in Africa like I do, why not project it through your passion?”
Blessing Akinsunmade by KhulumaAfrika SpeakAfrica.
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