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Ngozy Ezeka-Atta

By Jeanne Nnoli
18 August 2018   |   3:00 am
Ngozy Ezeka-Atta is the founder of Jagabeauty, a leading beauty service and cosmetics company in Nigeria. A graduate of English Literature from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, her journey into the makeup industry began while she was serving as a Youth Corper in Delta State...

Ngozy Ezeka-Atta

Ngozy Ezeka-Atta is the founder of Jagabeauty, a leading beauty service and cosmetics company in Nigeria. A graduate of English Literature from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, her journey into the makeup industry began while she was serving as a Youth Corper in Delta State, Nigeria, when a bride and friend asked her to step in as her makeup artist on her wedding day in 2006. With no prior knowledge of makeup application, Ngozy took up the challenge and hasn’t looked back since then. She went on to acquiring her first makeup training and certification from The House of Tara International Makeup School in 2007 and then an advanced training from the renowned makeup Artist, Danessa Myricks in New York in 2014.

Over the past seven years after resigning from her job in 2010, Ngozy has trained over 200 people to become professional makeup artists including students from Cameroun, Cote D’voire and Guinea Conakry and she continues to do so.She also offers quality beauty services to a very wide range of clientele including top female captains of industries, government dignitaries and celebrities across Africa.

What problem does your company solve?
I am yet to come across a woman who doesn’t like to look good and women one way or the other are on a quest daily for one beauty remedy or the other. At Jagabeauty, we respond to these daily beauty needs, questions and desires of the everyday woman by providing beauty tips, guidance and access to beauty products and services.

What ignited the spark in you to start your business venture?
Jagabeauty started basically as a makeup servicing company providing makeovers and makeup training to women alike. However, our first product produced by Jagabeauty “Brush Love by Jagabeauty” was birthed from the desire to simplify the rigorous process of washing my makeup brushes as a makeup artist then. Each time I had makeup appointments, I would bring out my stash of brushes and wash them all, sometimes even two days before, just to give them ample time to dry properly.

Most of the times I had to go with my brushes slightly wet which of course isn’t hygienic. The whole process was always rigorous and time-consuming, plus the lifespan of my brushes reduced with consistent washing in warm water and I had to replace them more often than I desired. My husband who would watch me every time I had to do this, one day while away on a research training with an Institution affiliated with Stanford University stumbled on the idea of a Brush Cleaner and called me up. This was in 2011, just after I had had my first child. We began production in 2014.

What are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A successful entrepreneur should have the ability multi-task, this is a no-brainer because the road to entrepreneurship can get very lonely sometimes. Ability to think creatively both inside and outside of the box. Tenacity and Consistency. There is no such thing as an overnight success, set backs and disappointments will come but a successful entrepreneur knows well to persevere, pick themselves up again if the need arises and keep moving with confidence and much courage.

How did you respond to failure as an entrepreneur?
I see setbacks in business as an opportunity to reinvent myself and my business. I am a firm believer in the school of thought that believes that there is no such thing as coincidence, especially where God is concerned. However because it’s never easy to walk the path to success alone, I like to talk to my husband always especially at my low points and he sure has a way of talking sense into me but at the same time making me feel better and ready to take on the next feat. I also talk to my family … they have been my greatest support system from the moment I took this decision at entrepreneurship.

How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
I don’t know if I have ever given up on an idea as regards Jagabeauty , every idea has been interwoven into the business one way or the other. Some of course taking longer than the anticipated time to come to fruition, but I like to follow through no matter how little the thought… they all have their times and season.

What motivates you?
Waking up daily and knowing that we have created a product (s) that actually solves a beauty need of not just the makeup professional, but of the everyday woman.

How would you define success?
Success is recognizing my ability to do great things – by reason of the greater power that I have inside of me – and using it to the fullest. This to me is success.

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