At Confab, Women charged on self-development

Women have been tasked to pursue self-development and visibility as a means to add value to themselves and the possibility that abounds in their voices.

They were also charged to cultivate the right mindset and prioritise their emotional well-being as an important requirement in gaining financial independence and stability.

This was the thrust at The Money Making Mouth Conference (TMMMC), themed ‘Empowering African Women to Monetise Their Speaking’ held at Victoria Island, Lagos, where experts emphasised the importance of mental health, self-visibility, and intellectual property creation in achieving financial success.

Mental Health Advocate and Psychiatrist, Dr. Maymunah Kadiri, said to have a stable mind that would aid personal development, women should stop the people pleasing behaviour which is a trauma bond response and eliminate chronic stress.

“No is a complete sentence. Stop over explaining and apologising. End people pleasing. Go and deal with your unresolved traumas so you don’t bleed on people that didn’t hurt you. Chronic stress doesn’t start from the kitchen with dieting and end in the gym with exercise. It is beyond that. Stress is a killer. It will steal your joy,” she said.

LinkedIn and Personal Branding Coach, Dr. Glory Edozien, said that things are now different due to the emergence of social media and technology, so to earn in this age, visibility plays a vital role, adding that visibility is value and not noise.

Convener, TMMMC, Joyce Daniels stated that women have the power to turn their words into wealth by establishing their right to do so which is tied to their knowledge, education, qualifications, experience, results, and desires. She said that by focusing on these areas, women can identify opportunities to monetise their skills, expertise, and passions through speaking, writing, coaching, and other endeavours.

Explaining that people are unable to make money because they are unlabeled, she explained that lack of labeling makes it difficult to identify or purchase the product. She said that on the journey to money, one needs to define oneself first.

She noted that a person or company can have various expressions that they are implementing at the same time, so multiple identity is possible, she however stressed the importance of thinking which helps to identify some things that needs to be deferred to a later time. She listed doubt and uncertainty as factors that can limit one from achieving their full potential, adding also that some people are still in the hobby and testing phase.

“Another reason why people have blank or unlabeled items is because of beliefs and mindset. The mindset can be that nobody would pay, I am a woman so I shouldn’t be asking for money among others,” Daniels said.

According to her, a lot of women are sitting on their vulnerability and that is just the cover of the money pot, because the moment it is uncovered, you will see your money there. She said that some people send their CVs instead of profile because they are not able to excavate their results. The difference between a CV and a profile is that one tells you what you are qualified to do, the other tells you what you have already done.

She demystified the concept of fear, explaining that fear tries to protect someone, alerting them to an area they need to pay attention to in order to make sure one is adequately prepared. She called on the participants to know and understand what is causing them to be afraid, address and replace it to overcome fear.