Joy Alexander-Oziegbe

Joy Alexander-Oziegbe is a trained travel consultant with over 12 years working experience in the travel and tourism industry. She has several local and international travel certifications. She is also an alumnus of the University of Benin, Benin City.

Joy is the co-founder of Westview Travels and Tours Limited, a travel company domiciled in Lagos, Nigeria. Her company is duly registered with NANTA (The National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies) and NATOP (Nigerian Association of Tour Operators).

In the course of her journey in the industry, Joy has organized leisure and business travel packages for numerous individuals, families and companies in Nigeria and outside. She has packaged and led several business people and professionals in Nigeria to trade shows such as NEPAD (The New Partnership of Africa’s Development) in Hamburg Germany; Canton Fair in Guangzhou China; CEBIT Expo in Hanover, Germany just to mention a few.

In the month of February she had a Historical Tour in Benin City, Edo State her state of origin. Apart from tapping into the rich culture of the Bini Kingdom, she intends to give back to her state by promoting its tourism opportunities.

What problems do you solve?
We solve our clients’ travel concerns by meeting their travel needs whether it is official, business, leisure, tourism, medical or educational. We take the burden of sourcing for travel information and deals off them. We make life easier for them by handling their travels from start to finish. We guide them in order to minimise errors to the barest minimum thereby making them save time, energy and resources.

What ignited the spark for your business?
I love meeting people and travelling, so when I got the option of either working in a travel company or a bank, I chose the former. I worked in operations for some years as a staff after which I moved on to setting up my own company with the help of my husband, who was already into international trade. My love for meeting people and getting new experiences really ignited that spark.

What top three skills are important for you as an entrepreneur?
Passion: I am passionate about what I do. It propels me to do more even as I enjoy my business. Focus: I have learnt over the years to stay focused on what I want to achieve; on my long and short-term goals, no matter what. Integrity: I have become trusted by both my personal and corporate clients over these years because I hold myself to consistent moral and ethical standards.

How do you handle failure?
I have never failed but I have had my fair share of mistakes. I always take full responsibility for my mistakes and make it a point of duty to learn from them. I might feel bad for a moment but I have learnt to move on and to put structures in place to minimize my errors to little or nothing.

How long do you hold on to an idea?
Long enough to know whether it will work or not. I am a very flexible person and do not hold on too much to any particular idea. If it is working, I am going all the way. If it is not then I drop it quickly and move on to the next thing. Crying over spilt milk never takes anyone, anywhere. I have learnt to make decisions very quickly when I need to.

What motivates you?
My passion and love for what I do motivates me. Meeting people daily and learning from them even as I meet their travel needs is deeply satisfying. There is no greater motivation than lovely feedbacks and messages from my numerous clients all over the world. It makes me aspire to do more.

What is your definition of success?
Success to me is seeing a need and meeting it. This is what I do on a daily basis for my clients and people around me. I regularly give advisory trainings to my younger colleagues in the industry and even sell ideas to those I met in the industry from time to time.