Journey of Leadership and Inspiration

Speaker 1 0:01

Hello and welcome to Lead to Excel podcast , where every story sparks inspiration and every conversation brings you closer to your best self . I'm Maureen Chiana and I'm here to explore the extraordinary fusion of leadership , emotional intelligence and the groundbreaking insights of neuroscience . Together , we'll uncover secrets to unlocking your potential , enhancing your decision-making and elevating your performance to new heights . Whether you're leading a team , building a dream or simply on a quest for personal growth , you're in the right place , so let's dive in and transform the way we think , lead and live . Welcome aboard . Hello again and welcome back to another episode of Lead to Excel podcast . And today I've got a lady who I met her once and I said I've got to get you onto this podcast and we've been trying to do this . I'm so pleased and honored to have you , dr Chichi Menakaia , on our podcast today . Thank you so much for making out the time to come and , guys , you wouldn't believe it , this is Good Friday holiday and she woke up to do this podcast with me . I really appreciate you .

Speaker 2 1:25

Thank you so much , maureen . Honestly , I think it's long overdue . We should have done this ages ago , but I'm really grateful . And yes , I know it's Good Friday , but I think it's good . We're actually doing something good on Good Friday , so I think the work you do is fantastic . I've been following the stuff that you send to me and I'm really grateful to be here . Thank you so much , thank you , thank you .

Speaker 1 1:44

I love that . Doing something good on Good Friday , that's so cool , right ? So Dr Chichi Menakaia is an award-winning trauma and orthopedic surgeon . She commands the global healthcare stage with unparalleled expertise and influence . I hope you heard that , because we are going to dig deep into this guys . She was nominated Best of the Best in 2022 by the British Orthopedic Association and bestowed with esteemed international awards , including prestigious WJ Little Medal for Orthopedics . She epitomizes excellence in her field as the CEO of Anormal Health , a trailblazer in premium medical concierge services , she orchestrates bespoke pathways connecting elite clientele with top-tier global healthcare and wellness . She founded Anomal Foundation , a charity dedicated to supporting individuals in developing countries through healthcare access , education and financial empowerment . Driven by an unwavering commitment to global wellbeing , she shapes a legacy of exceptional leadership , leaving an indelible mark on healthcare and humanity . Wow , wow , wow , dr Chichi , thank you . Thank you so much .

Speaker 2 3:15

Thank you , thank you , maureen , honestly thank you . Like when you read that thing , I'm like , wow , this is just little me or nobody else , right ? But God has been merciful , so thank you so much . Thank you , I think I give god all the glory for everything . He's the one that made the path to make it possible . Thank you so much and thanks for having me .

Speaker 1 3:31

So what , let's let me start by asking a question and she doesn't know . I'm gonna ask her this question what does chichi start ? What does chichi ? What's the full ?

Speaker 2 3:41

name , okay , so my full name is actually chinyelo , which means God has given me a child , right ? And basically my mom has always called me Titi , so everyone calls me Titi , and obviously . So if people call me Tinyelo , when they call me Tinyelo , it means I'm in trouble , right ? So my full name is actually Tinyelo , because it means God has given me a child and it's got a story , because my mom says that I'm a gift from God to her and that's just what it was right .

Speaker 1 4:06

Now I know why we are connected so much . My name is Chinye Lu . Oh , my God , exactly , wow , yeah . So my name is actually Chinye Lu and I'll tell you a story . So my name is Chinye Lu , but when I was young , they called me Chinye Re . Okay , so I remember Chinye Lu , but when I was young , they called me Chinye Re . Okay , so you see , because Chinye Re is Imo state , isn't it exactly ?

Speaker 1 4:33

Chinye Lu is Anambra and I'm from Anambra , so , but they called me Chinye Re , not sure why , and at a point I saw my birth certificate with Chinye Lu and I was so confused . So my birth certificate is Chinye Lu , but why do people call me Chinye ? I was so confused .

Speaker 2 4:51

I've had the same thing like you've had . Like literally some people call me Chinye Lu and I'm always like my name is not Chinye Lu , my name is Chinye Lu , and for a long time it was like a big deal . So I just said , listen , I'm going to stick with Chi Chi , because that is the name most people that are close to me call me and I think everyone says , like this week actually , someone at work said to me what does Chi Chi mean ? I said it means God , god Chi Chi . And she said why is that your name ? And I said , listen , that's not really my name , it's obviously my pet name , but I think , like I feel like I resonate , like what it is very meaningful to me . But for me , when I call myself chichi , I know that everything I do is standing on the grace of god and actually , and that's what really gets me going and that's why I use that as my name everywhere , even at work , I'm called chichi , because it's just what I use as my name I love that .

Speaker 1 5:37

I love that . Oh so now , now I know why the why we're so strongly connected . My god , it it's so weird , isn't it ? I know , and I really didn't know that . So , chichi , tell us a bit about you in terms of background , where you grew up , and just kind of bring us up to pre-uni and let's get a feel for who you are Okay .

Speaker 2 6:05

So I always say to everyone , everyone , I'm just a little girl , right , that loves playing with lego a game , and I grew up like . I was born in enugu , nigeria , right , and then I grew up in onitsha for a big part of my life . And if people that don't know , onitsha is in eastern nigeria and it's a lot of people know onitsha because of business and also because it's um and I I think for me , anicha is really close to my heart because a lot of things I do today is because I have the Anicha spirit in me and if you know Anicha , which is in um in southeastern Nigeria , it's they're known to like to be hustlers . That's where business happens .

Educational and Career Journey Impact

Speaker 2 6:38

So I did my primary school and my nursery school in Anicha . I went to . Initially I went to All Saints , um , so's called . It was called Cathedral Nursery School and eventually got changed to All Saints . Then I went to All Saints Primary School . Now All Saints Primary School has got like a bit of a fix because initially it used to be owned by the government and it was called Premier and then the church took it over and it was called All Saints .

Speaker 2 6:58

Then I went ahead to go to Baptist High School , joss , and it's really funny because I went all the way from anita to just to do high school , but I only spent three days in that high school and I came back . And this is really important to tell the story , because prior to going to baptist I wanted to be . First of all , I wanted to be a pilot . Then my mom showed me like all those picked planes falling off the sky and I got too scared because I'm like , literally but when it comes to planes . And then I wanted to be a musician and I didn't actually want to be a musician . I wanted to be Michael Jackson , if that makes sense in any way , because that was like my thing . It says what do you want to be when you grow up ? I said I wanted to be Michael Jackson and then I went from there wanting to be an actress . Then I went from there actually wanted to be an automobile engineer because , as I said to you , I love Lego , because I love building things , and for me , doing automobile engineering was supposed to be like to build new things and build cars , because I have a lot of interest with cars . And then I went to Baptist High School , joss , and I only stayed three days because I became really unwell and at that time I was diagnosed with typhoid fever . So my mom took me back to school and brought me back on her way back Right , and I got home to back to Onitsha .

Speaker 2 8:00

And I think this point is really interesting story because I could remember being at home and someone connecting an IV line to me , and this person wore a white dress and had a beautiful heart , and imagine when you're in pain , you're drenched with fever and all of a sudden you look at this fluid coming to your hands and a few minutes later you actually feel better , right , and this person comes into a white coat with a stethoscope and actually looks after you . And even though I was born in a medical family , medicine wasn't what I wanted to do . I just saw it as this thing where my father is always at work , my uncle's always at work , and I think that really changed my life . So from the time I then recovered , all I wanted to do was actually to be able to help people , and that's why I did like almost like a 360 degree stern and decided I wanted to study medicine . I then went on to go to a federal government girls college in Onitsha and that was where it stopped before you said pre-high school , isn't it ?

Speaker 2 8:56

and that's where the story then changes for my life , to be honest . So I think like that's what I've done and as a child . I just loved climbing trees , playing with lego , and I used to be very , very borstress . I really really like , almost like a little girl that had like a spirit of a boy inside of her , something like that yeah , that's how you describe me as a child .

Speaker 2 9:17

Has it changed ? I think a lot of things have changed . I think for me , even though I had all these different things I wanted to do , I think I'm able to achieve them now in what I do because I'm able to like literally bring them all in one , and that's what medicine signifies to me . I think I'm still like that , in a bit of like . I still have that spirit of on each , I mean , that wants me to do more and make a difference , and I still have the spirit of actually constantly exploring . And I think one thing that that beats pre-university has done for me is that I have this spirit of wanting to always change people and like literally make an impact in everything I do , because that singular act changed the trajectory of my life Right , and I think that's really important . I think I'm still the same person Everyone says I've never , I haven't changed since I was a child .

Speaker 1 10:39

Yeah , that's interesting how one incident , or one singular incident can actually impact you . It shows how deep that was embedded in your brain . That's interesting , really interesting .

Speaker 2 10:54

So you then decide to go to uni and study medicine because this has inspired you and , you know , take us through there so , um , I went into medicine , obviously , but for my father it was like a welcoming thing because he was like , oh , he's a doctor , I come from a family of , like , medical people . My mom was a lawyer also , so I think for them it was different , because this is a girl that wanted to be a pilot , that wanted to be like a singer , what have you . And then I went on to University of Ibadan and I think University of Ibadan was really unique for me to go to for different reasons . Again , as I said to you , I love making impact . So I had left like the place I had never left home before I went to university . So it was like a really big step , like I never went to boarding school , like most people did , and so , going home , my mom drove me to uni and it was really a difficult time for me because I was leaving home for the first time , right , and even though I had other options which I didn't mention .

Speaker 2 11:49

So I went to Ivato Ibado only because I was a bit of a stubborn child , also because I did get admission to go to the States to go to pre-med and also I got admission to go to the UK to actually study medicine , right , but then what happened was to do , sorry , to do like my A-levels before medicine . But what happened was I wanted to go to the States and my father says no , no , I'm not going to let you go to the States . I wanted to go to the UK and I said no , I don't want to go to the UK . So when I've ended up in the UK and therefore we had a compromise , which was I went to Ibadan and I chose Ibadan because it was supposed to be the first university in nigeria and it was really well respected and , as I said to you , that was the first time I was leaving home , so I got driven to school .

Speaker 2 12:25

My mom was there with me , with my siblings , for a few days and then I started university and it was initially it was quite . I think I had two different issues . One was separating from the family system that I was used to , even though I had like a foster mother in Ibarra who was also looking after me . I was in her house for some time and then I went into like boarding . I went into like an Anglican boarding place to live in right , like a hostel , right . But then one thing that really helped me when I was in first year was I met amazing people who were able to give me that support . I had a like my godparent's son was also in Nigeria , I'm sorry in Ibada at that time , so that also gave me a cushion . I had a cousin in the university . My mom made like connections to make sure I got protection and then obviously I could still go home to the east every time because someone came to get me , to take me home . So I think that's how I went to Ibada .

Speaker 2 13:18

Then I did preschool , pre-medical school , for the first three years , like you do then went on to university of ibada and I and so university , college , hospital in ibada , right , which is the medical school you go to , which is somewhere else , and inside ibada , and I think that was really good because I got to meet other cultures , I got to like literally interact with a lot of people , right , and it changed me , changed me and I think at that place , as a first year student in the university , I all of a sudden built a community of women who continue to support me to date .

Speaker 2 13:48

My best friend I met her in Ibadan in my first year . My second best friend I met her in Ibadan in my first year and I'll say to you today they're still my best friends . We talk every single day , we still do the same thing . So we then built a small group of women who have been able to support each other and I think , like I would never exchange anything to have gone to university of ibadan because it shaped my life , really shaped my life . It taught me how to like , appreciate other cultures . It taught me how to deal with other people's differences . I think that's really important for most people growing up in a place like Nigeria .

Speaker 1 14:22

Actually , you answered the question I was going to ask you in terms of how it changed your life , and I think that's so powerful in terms of being able to live diversely , understand other people , understand what makes people different and embrace the beauty in that . That's really good . Beauty in that , that's that's really good . So , um chichi , how did you find studying medicine ? Were there challenges the way that ? Was there time when you you kind of asked , you know , questioned what you were doing , but also when it came to specializing , why orthopedics ?

Speaker 2 14:57

okay , so I'm going to start with one . How did I find medicine medical school school ? In medical school it was challenging . That was really true because I was this like

Journey Through Medicine and Orthopedics

Speaker 2 15:05

high-flying student and I come to this place where I knew nobody , like sort of I was starting again and initially the long like the long lectures , the having to read till really late you had to really really be like principled to be able to do those things Right . But then I'll say something that really helped me was I had a good support system and I think without a support system , a lot of things that we achieve we'll never be able to do it Right . So I had a team of people that were constantly like we're either studying together , we're discussing , we're going out to study .

Speaker 2 15:41

But I think for me also , I had this noise in my ear or a voice that followed me through our medical school . My mother would say to me do you know whose child ? You are , right ? So I knew I had to succeed . I don't know it wasn't an option for me that I couldn't come home and say , oh , I decided to go patting . Therefore , I forgot to do an assignment because it was impossible and because my mom especially , and also my father had provided things to make me comfortable , right .

Speaker 2 16:00

I was naturally expected to do well , like in my family . You don't come back and say , oh , I didn't do well because this happened . We weren't really brought up to bring excuses . We were brought up to realize that to give me a lot is given , a lot is expected , right . So I think for me that kept me tuned in . The other thing that also kept me tuned in is that by the end , by the end of first year I had I was born in the church of england , for example by the end of first year I had discovered something called opus day and I had started going to the center and I had a bit of reformation and therefore it kept me focused also about the fact that I was also working the path of faith right . And that meant that as a child of god I always like , quote the um , the parable of the um , of the , the parable of the talent , where God says I give you for different things and therefore what you make of that time was important . So for me I was like okay , they've given me like two shillings . What do I do with two shillings ? Right ? And again I always say the spirit of Onitsha lives in me .

Speaker 2 16:54

A lot of people know about evil people , that they give us nothing and you make something out of it . So I think for me , medical school was all about I had to study , I had to pass , I had to not let my parents down , more especially , and I just had to succeed . And my mom had , like , given so much for me to get to where I was and I had to make sure I came home making her proud , and I'm going to share a moment with you . I remember leaving medical school my youngest sister sister I'm three years older than her and she said to me you're going to medical school now , please do not change . And I can never forget this , right , because the first time I was a young girl , I went to school like really young , and she said don't change , I want you to come back as the same sister that left this house , the same person . You are thinking about us , right , and I get emotional when I talk about it . Actually , I feel emotional .

Speaker 2 17:36

And then what then happened was I remember um , um coming back the first time and then happened was I remember coming back the first time and this is very funny I remember coming back the first time and they'll send the driver to get me from then and I had stopped on my way to from Ibano to back to Onitsha and I had bought my mom my mom likes like a lot of stuff that used to decorate the house I bought her some vases that were made with clay right , but handmade vases that were made with clay right , but handmade in embado , and I bought a couple of them and , as I was walking in and the car stopped to open the gates .

Speaker 2 18:04

I came out of the car and carried the vase so I could greet her with that massive vase right and like a massive , like flower vase right . And then what ?

Speaker 2 18:12

I then did , as my sister ran to me to see me and I startled and dropped it and he fell right and I didn't feel bad . He had fallen even though I had traveled like more than six hours with this because I had another option for them . And she said to me you haven't changed because I didn't shout about it . We just laughed and we accepted it had happened right , and I think that's really important . That really was important to me . So those were things that helped me get to where I was . And then you asked me a question about orthopedics . To be honest with you , I went into medicine to do cardiothoracic surgery . That's what I went in to do because I decided , if I was going to do medicine , I needed to do something that was supposed to be wow and impactful . I don't know how to explain like .

Speaker 1 18:52

I wanted that wow factor right , and then I had just read about healing hands .

Speaker 2 18:56

That's um Ben Carson , and he was a cardiothoracic surgeon and I was really intrigued about him and that's what I really wanted to do , and I felt like the heart controls the body and therefore I wanted to be able to do that . You know , like if you're going to do medicine , you have to do the one that he said controls everything you know something like that .

Speaker 1 19:18

So I said I'm going to do that haven't heard about me .

Speaker 2 19:20

You're going to see me . And then I remember 40 in medical school , right , we had just had a clinical practice and I had gone to see this consultant and I was walking away they had like a thing . He called me back and said listen , there's been a mass casualty in accident and emergency . There's two buses collided , 40 something victims . You're gonna come ? I had never done clinical medicine , so he dragged me to a and we're jumping over bodies , right , and we're doing different things , setting a line . And let's have set a line in that circumstance . They just teach you one , see , you do one , and they let you do , which is what medicine is all about , right . And then I said , and the thrill of it was amazing , I'm not joking , it was like trauma everywhere . Right , we're saving people . Obviously we lost some people .

Speaker 2 19:59

And then I I walked , and then after that I walked into the next day to go see some of them had broken bones . We had to put like x fixes on them , like things to like split their , their wound , and it was fascinating . So I went and saying , okay , this is actually another option I hadn't thought about , right , and I think what really also was important for me for it was that there weren't a lot of girls doing this right . And I keep saying why shouldn't girls be able to do it right ? Because I was brought up and told everyone is created equal in the eyes of god , so there's nothing about difference . But then what I saw that day of that accident was the fact that things were changing rapidly right . It was like I was fixing the hand the next minute , I'm fixing the leg , the next minute I'm fixing the um . The next minute I'm fixing the um , the , the pelvis yeah , the next minute I'm fixing the pelvis , the next minute I'm doing something else . And then I thought this is a specialty that is very dynamic , right , and at that time it gave me some curiosity , but I hadn't decided I was going to do it .

Speaker 2 20:51

Then , by the time I moved to the UK because from medical school I came straight to the UK my story is also different from every other person's story . I went straight from medical school to my first job being in the UK . I then decided , yes , I'm going to do surgery , but what would I do ? So I said , okay , I'm going to test that . I had never worked in orthopedics . I'm going to test out orthopedics . I'm going to test out cardiothoracic surgery and I'm going to decide what I want to do , but what I know I wanted to do was to rebuild things because I love to play with lego , so I just wanted to play and that and that was it and that was my story .

Speaker 2 21:19

And then , obviously , I did cardiothoracics for six months . I loved thoracic surgery because it was very big , you open it up . But cardiac surgery is long , you have to put the hat somewhere and I was like man , this is not for me , right . So that's why I ended up with orthopedics . So orthopedics is very dynamic . It changes , changes . You're either fixing something , so you're either there's a broken bone , they're in pain , you fix it . Or somebody's spine is turned funny because they've lost confidence you straighten them . Or they're in pain , so their legs are hurting and give them a knee replacement surgery and they have a new lease of life . They're back the next day , standing , going to their parties , doing things that they want to do , and that's what I wanted to do have toys , and then when I don't know , when you walk into an or with orthopedics , there's so many toys to play with .

Speaker 2 22:05

I'm a toy person . If I sit here at this age I still own like dolls . You're gonna laugh . It's not because I just love playing with things , because that's what creates me . I like to tell stories because that's life . Life is so exciting about . You know , you want to play , you want to be happy , and I think that's what orthopedics represents to me . It represents a specialty that makes global impact , that changes someone's life in so many different ways , and I think every part of medicine is interesting . But for me , orthopedics is like I'm playing every day . I'm playing with toys , I'm doing something different right , and I'm recreating things or rebuilding , and I think that's really important . Honestly , I can talk about this all day .

Speaker 1 22:40

I'm worrying , so I'm going to stop now I can see that , I can see , I love it .

Speaker 2 22:44

You can see the passion coming through which is so good and I think it's amazing because it's it's helped shape every part of my life . Everything I've done relates to the same thing I'm doing to rebuild , to make a difference . They're all the same . Chichi , do you have a daughter ? I , I don't know . It's amazing . No kids , no husband . I've got this amazing like I've got , um , I've got three nieces and two nephews and I'm really close to them and I also have more nephews and nieces . I'm very close . Do you know what I ?

Speaker 1 23:13

asked is when you said that you were playing with dolls , that you still love playing with dolls , and I was thinking

Belief, Upbringing, and Dreams

Speaker 1 23:19

cause usually sometimes an adult that still plays with dolls .

Speaker 2 23:20

and I was thinking because usually sometimes an adult that still plays with dolls maybe has daughters no , but that's with my niece , but with my nieces and I play with them a lot with dolls , okay do you know why ?

Speaker 1 23:30

because I love playing with dolls and I have , in fact , my friend's daughter and daughters bought me a doll for my birthday . Oh my god . So it's so funny . I have it here and I keep looking at it .

Speaker 2 23:42

I said , okay , I need to go and buy a stroller for it , I need to buy this for it , so I can so I like , so for me it's so weird , like so , um , during the pandemic , my sister and her kids were with me , so I had this really nice dolls . My sister's kids like literally changed the shape , ripped off the hair , you know , like they literally played this and my poor dog got destroyed . These are babies I've had for like I don't know for like 20 years or something right . But listen , like , for me it's like is that love in sharing , is that love in the laughter and the play and the things ? And I'm like , and they're like auntie , why do you still have this ?

Speaker 1 24:15

I'm like , yeah , because I like them , you know , and it's like I still keep them because they just are things that I love toys , which makes sense and it's interesting because , looking through your journey , you know , when you mentioned what you actually wanted to do be a pilot pilot , be a musician , be an actress , automobile engineer In a way , all that has come into what you're doing . Now you kind of get a piece of each of those in medicine generally , yeah , absolutely . And there's something that I've noticed that's come through from what you you know when you were talking , and it's belief . It's almost like believing in what you can do , believing in yourself , believing in God , believing , you know , belief seems to come through .

Speaker 1 25:03

You did mention your mom at a point in terms of what she reminded you when you were at uni . Can you just touch briefly on how you know your upbringing ? That upbringing actually shapes , or shapes what you do and the belief you have , because one of the things that comes across a lot life there's always challenges , but there's something you talk about in how you navigate through challenges and it's you mentioned support system . You've mentioned belief seems to come through , your belief in god as well , and I also want to see how that thread comes through from mom to you know , and you mentioned opus when you discovered that . You know what does that mean as well ?

Speaker 2 25:48

okay , good to just okay , yeah so I'm going to start with my mom , right ? So I say to everyone my mom like . So when people say to me who is a woman , I say my , the woman , for me , a woman , is my mother . That's what she represents for me and she represents a mother , a father , a friend , like a sister for me , because she's actually the reason why I always say to people I am because of her , if that makes sense , not just genetically , because obviously she , she , um , she , um . She bettered me and she had me in her tummy for nine months and then gave birth to me . She's built everything I've become today , right , and my mom wasn't when I , when I say this about her , people think , oh my god , she was , like she must have like pampered you .

Speaker 2 26:28

My mother was tough on me as a child , right , because this was a child she had waited for for some time and the child came and she didn't like hug me every day and pat me and say , oh my god , you're the best thing that happened to me . Never , I'm telling you , never , none of that ever happened . Like , literally , what she did was actually teach me that you have to have a solid foundation to be able to actually get to anywhere you can , and my mom will say to you anywhere I leave you , you should be , survive there . So she was , and I'll describe her as she was a disciplinarian , but she was also my friend . So the same way she will discipline me , she will hug me when I did well , she will turn me off when I didn't do well . And unfortunately , my mom passed away seven years ago , this year , and it was and I , and for me , her voice follows me everywhere and I'll give you an example . And for me , her voice follows me everywhere and I'll give you an example . She'll say to me , I'll give an example .

Speaker 2 27:19

One time , when I was a junior doctor , I went to work this day and I was really stressed because I had to take the bus . I wanted to be on . It was really chilling , cold , and I called on the phone . I was going . I said , mommy , I'm so stressed . You know I feel a bit depressed and I used that word . She literally didn't say to me oh , my God , spoil you . She said to me my friend , people survive .

Speaker 2 27:34

Biafra . That's like everything that's happening . Pull up your trousers and get going . You can't even have those words and I think that's really important and I think for me every single day . She told me whose daughter are you ? And I think that's really important , because when I step out of my house , that leads me to everywhere I go .

Speaker 2 27:53

I always say I want to show who like , I want to show the best version of myself . And I still want to be authentic , but still show the best version of myself . And I think , also , when you talked about it , I'm a dreamer . Right , and luckily for me , I grew up in a home where dreams were allowed . Right , because you have a right to dream . It's free of charge .

Speaker 2 28:11

Right , but my will say to you , you can dream as much as you want because it's free , but for your dream to become reality , you need to put in the work in it . Right , and you need to put in the work in terms of the physical work that you do and , obviously , the prayers that comes with that work . Right , because , as you said , like we're faith-based people . Therefore , we know that the power of God is great . But the power of God is great . But the power of God doesn't happen because you sit down and pray . The power of God happens because it gives you a talent to go out there and you find a right foundation and you cultivate it and then you make it happen , right , and I think that's really important .

Speaker 2 28:42

Thank you , and I think again , when you talk about faith for me , right , faith for me is also like I talked about Opus Dei and Opus De within the Catholic church , where most of the attendance is about being the best version of yourself and actually giving the best of you , because God has actually blessed you with the talent and the skills to do more than you're doing at the moment .

Speaker 2 29:01

We don't actually understand the power that lies within us , and I discovered Opus Dei and it helped my formation right In terms of it taught me that , listen , I'm in school to study . I'm in school to make friends that will make a difference in life , but I have to surround myself also with only people who will want lift me up , who want to be lifted as I grow , but , more important , who wants to make a positive change . Because the truth is that you're going to meet people that just don't want to do anything positive with their lives . You're going to meet people that will pull you down and say , oh my god , they've never done it . So I . So I always say to people me , my speech is very simple . If you're someone that likes to say I can't , I can't , I can't , I just say kick off the tea and just so I can do everything I can because you've got the power , even if you're saying , oh , let me be biblical about it .

Speaker 2 29:46

God has said it's made you in his image , right ? So why can be able to achieve so much ? And also , if you ain't been biblical about it , why is it impossible for you to do when somebody else has done it ? I make jokes like this . And I say I make jokes like this and I say , listen . Some people say to me why are you awake , why are you not sleeping ?

Speaker 1 30:03

I say well , wow if they don't go to sleep .

Speaker 2 30:07

I'll go to sleep Because he has hands , same nose , everything . So if they can achieve and obviously he's about representing financial achievement , right , but there's also people that represent power , like example . I look at a lot of people's lives . One of my biggest mentors is Richard Branson and everybody laughs when I say Richard Branson , because I said Richard Branson was told when he was young that he was dyslexic . He will end up either in jail when he left high school or he'll end up being a millionaire . He didn't end up in jail . He's taking the second option , right , and if you read about him , he'll tell you I've done 800 companies .

Speaker 2 30:41

Majority of them haven't worked but have kept dreaming . And I think that's the problem people don't understand is that we're too scared about taking risks , right ? Oh , I don't want to do this in case it doesn't work . I don't want to go to this interview because they might say no to me . I don't want to do this um , apply for this job , because they'll say no . And I always say to people , right , maureen , is that before I decide to apply for a job , I have no job . For example , right when I apply and they say no , I still don't have the job . So nothing has changed exactly . If I get that job , then that's something great . But what I haven't ? But if I decide , oh my god , I don't have a job , let me not even try to do for the job . The job is not going to come to you , right ?

Speaker 2 31:16

Therefore , I also said , like I think when I was in primary school , year two or year three in primary school , I read this book in comprehensive . No , not secondary school , sorry . Second or third year in secondary school , I read this book called comprehensive in . We used to read this book in nigeria called comprehensive english right , and there's a poem in that book that really really also has helped me and it's one of my guiding lights . Apart from obvious , my mom has been phenomenal , to be honest that's how I describe her is .

Speaker 2 31:40

The man was writing a poem to his son and he said to his son if you treat success and failure as two imposters , right , the world and everything else that is in it will be beneath your feet and you will succeed . And that's really true . Can you repeat that again ? So if you treat failure and success as the same imposters , right , the world and everything else in it will be beneath your feet . And I'm going to explain this better by saying if you fail and you're running a race and you've come last . If you stand on that spot crying because you failed , the people that are starting the next race will come and get past you and therefore you'd have failed two races . True , if you win the race and you're celebrating and you're celebrating so much that you stand on the finish line celebrating the people- that came last will come and run past you and they will still be there , and I think that's really guided me .

Speaker 2 32:29

I have failed so many times , right , and I always hear my mother voice saying you've got to pick up your trousers and keep going . She always says that

Eight Pillars of Resilience and Faith

Speaker 2 32:36

Pull up your trousers , girl , and keep going , and I think that's really important and for me , these things are the things I stand on . I think I wrote something recently about the eight pillars right of my life , and it's really funny we're having this conversation and I sat down and I thought about and I said life is difficult , but I have this eight pillars that really guides me . One of them is that my love for Jesus means that I know that my situation will get better , right , because I have faith . And I also have faith knowing that he knew me by name before I was born and I know that he said onto my head that I will be , I'll be successful . Success doesn't really mean financial , successful in terms of impact , because Cause I think in life , if you're not impacting people , then you're wasting your time , if that makes sense , right .

Speaker 2 33:19

Cause everything in life is about service to people and that is global impact , right , and I also know that God will make it possible for me and that's one . Then the next thing I really stand on is compassion , because kindness is important and I think for me it's really important because I had people that were compassionate to me and therefore I'm able to give compassion and that's why my career comes , because medicine is a compassionate career , right . And then the other things I think about is determination , empowerment and actually being able to like okay , it's not working , let's keep going . Let's keep going , let's try , rather than saying I'm not going to try , right . And an empowerment is in terms of I have to make impact on other people , either through my work or through my life , or through what I say to people .

Speaker 2 33:59

And , to be honest with you , anyone that sees me knows I'm extremely confident , yeah , and I think that people , when I tell people that I never used to be confident when I was 12 years old , they don't believe me , right , but I used to be scared of speaking . People still say it's not true , it's not possible . You always know that's not true , because there are times and when I even say to people now that before I even have like an if . I said to you mind that , two minutes , if I had this in there , I'm like I need to make sure it goes well . I don't really want it not to go well . What if I don't say the right thing ? What if I say the right thing , which means I've built that , even though I still have self-doubts , I still will take that step in confidence , because what's ?

Speaker 2 34:35

the worst that can happen right , I do it wrong , exactly .

Speaker 1 34:38

I go back and I will do it properly .

Speaker 2 34:39

And I think the other thing that really helps me is leadership , about being able to lead people or even lead just myself . To the next point , and again I think I stand on like excellence . I want everything I do to be very perfect and I think the best word that I have for my pillars is resilience . Right , because it's okay to fail , it's okay not to get it right , it's okay for me to mess it up and introduce myself like like satisfy and say , oh , my god , I'm not really sure what maureen is asking me . Why don't you rephrase this ?

Speaker 2 35:06

But the resilience to keep going is so important and I think that's what I want people to take out and say it sounds as if when you read about me , it sounds like , oh , she's done so many great things . But there's also times when it hasn't worked right . But I think what's helped me is knowing that the next time I can try again . The next time it's going to work . And even if it doesn't work the next time , then there must be another trajectory , because I stand on a faith that it's going to be okay , right .

Speaker 1 35:34

And it's okay to retry again , but it's not okay not to take that risk . I think that's what I'm trying to get across . That's fantastic , and I'm so pleased you shared these , your eight pillars , because I saw it , I saw your post , actually , and I think it's on that post I said Chichi , we've got to do this podcast .

Speaker 2 35:46

Thank you so much . It was that post , yeah .

Speaker 1 35:49

I'm going to put a link to your Facebook as well in the description so that people can read that post . It was amazing because you went into a bit more detail about the eight pillars . Just makes sense . And that last one of resilience , or even the confidence one that you mentioned , we still get nerves , you'll still be fearful , but it's doing it with fear , it's still doing it , it's still moving ahead . And that question of what have I got to lose ? You know , and even if it fails , you pick yourself . I love what your mom says Just pull up your trousers and keep moving .

Speaker 2 36:24

Oh , my God , she says that like a million times . She says that like a million times . And she says something that is so funny . She always says to me you have to be cool , calm and collected right , wow .

Speaker 2 36:34

Cool , calm and collected right , and it's like , like I remember the words , like I'm saying to you , like I say to you my mom's like my guiding angel , so like funny , like it's seven years , it's been a hard time , this seven years , single day . Sometimes I hear the voice that says to me what will your mother do , right ? What will she say to you ? And a lot of people think , oh , did she like ? And it wasn't a pampering thing , it was the fact that she was strict so that I could be a better person right and she did those things for a reason for me yeah , chi Chi , uh , you know , the more I speak to you , the more you know .

Speaker 1 37:09

I just feel God is just so amazing because you're talking about your mom and it's listening to you . It's like you're talking about my mom and it just shows the power of of women , of mothers , and your mom passed away seven years ago . My mom passed away 17 years ago this year , oh , wow .

Speaker 2 37:30

God , I'm having goosebumps now . I'm so sorry , like , but they're always looking after us . You know that , do you know ?

Speaker 1 37:37

that . Yeah , there's a post I'm going to put out on 1st of April , because that's when she died and in it I was talking . You know , I'm talking about how , even though it's 17 years ago , I still hear her voice , I still hear her guiding me , even when I'm feeling low . I still hear her say get up , you can do this . It's amazing , even though they've gone for so long , that impact is still there and that's why it's so powerful in terms of whatever we do , to keep serving , keep doing , because that's the legacy you leave that helps people after , or even helps people that hear what you're , you know what you're saying . It's so , so , so , so impactful , chichi . I'm going to just jump a bit into the charity or the . I know is it is it pronounced a normal

Anomo Foundation

Speaker 1 38:28

, a normal health a normal foundation , a normal foundation .

Speaker 2 38:32

So basically , and I'm going to say something to you Anomo Foundation is actually my mother's name is Anomo , so her name is Anne Okuchukumenakaya Orakwe . That's her name and it's mixed up because Anne is my mother's first name . Her second name is Okuchukumenakaya , which is the voice of God and her maiden name is Orakwe , but obviously her married name is Menakaya , which is my name and we've just put it together . I didn't find that name . My brother actually coined that name when we were kids right .

Speaker 1 39:00

And he always said oh , he's going to wake up .

Speaker 2 39:02

Like my brother actually coined that name , I said I'm going to get a company and I'm going to call it that . So the foundation wasn't started as a normal foundation . As you know , we started this foundation as Okwui Maskim and Okwui Maskim is also my mother's name , because Okwui Chukwu is my mother's name and that was the voice of God . And the reason why we started Okwui Maskim in 2016, . We started was because we wanted to . A lot of people go around wearing masks and they don't tell people what's really going on . And I'm going to take you back to Ibadan because I said to you , I built a team of women when I was in the University of Ibada . So when we were in Ibada in our first year , we realized that a lot of girls were in bad relationships , and I'm going to do that and I'm going to circle back to the originality of the whole thing , why we started talking about so we noticed that a lot of girls were in bad relationships with boys . I was in a relationship from when I was 15 years old and my relationship wasn't the best either , but I'm still gonna say like I had a bit of autonomy , I had a bit of authority in that relationship , right . But then a lot of girls will come to my room and be like cry about , so my boyfriend's done . So we time we just started trying to support people . It wasn't formal , we just will support people because they're having one problem or the other . My friends used to laugh and call me mommy I and I your means joy , right . And my best friend Carol . My best friend Carol , will say to me oh , mommy , you started again , right , trying to help everybody . And so it was an informal thing that we did as girls , like we'll support each other , our relationships forth . And then when I moved to the UK after medical school , I again would come to work and I would like to know the name of the cleaner , I like to know the name of the nurse , because I think everybody's relevant for me and that's who I am . I'm like I love people , right .

Speaker 2 40:43

And then one day , while I was , I had started my surgical training and and higher specialist training and we were in a hospital . In one particular hospital there was this girl that worked with me that every time she came into my room she was the health care assistant . She'll panic , right , and she'll be fidgety . And one of the nurses said she talked to him because for some reason , I didn't see this in myself . Even though people tease me , mommy , I have people who gravitate to calling me for their problems . I've never been married , but people call me for their marriage problems . Right , and I'll say to my , to my mother .

Speaker 2 41:12

My mother is always like what are these people listening to you that you're always talking about ? Right , like you're constantly on the phone talking to one person or the other . And when I spoke to her , she said to me listen , chichi , after you spoke to me , we started noticing changes and she said why haven't you actually done this in terms of from the proper group where you're actually supporting people ? So I went back to my mom and said listen , I really want to do this .

Speaker 2 41:34

But my passion is domestic violence and I'll say the first time I ever heard about anything domestic violence was when I was about 10 years old , when um , a friend of ours , um lost , lost um , their mother , because apparently it then came to light that their father had been beating their mom and on this particular day he pushed her and hit her head and died . And that changed everything , because the man himself committed suicide a few months later because they were going to arrest him for killing this person , and then , years later , our friend died also all related to that problem of that foundation and , as I said , to you , my mom was a lawyer and a magistrate and she used to support a lot of women that had gone through this .

Speaker 2 42:13

And I must tell you this my parents got separated when I was 12 years old , right , and for me , when I started understanding domestic violence , I could not understand how my parents could have separated and me keep like , literally split up , and there was no domestic violence , there was no physical abuse , and they were still able to co-parent , right , yeah , to an extent , right , and therefore I've got both parents . I'm close to both parents , even though I live with my mom , right , and I couldn't understand why , if we could be able to do this , obviously , I'm sure there must have been other type of things that were maybe emotional or whatever , right , but what I ? And at that point , I only saw domestic violence as just a physical problem , right ? So when we started this association in 2016 , started this association in 2016 , we started it then , right , and I'm going to say something that's very funny we then decided we're going to launch the charity .

Speaker 2 42:59

So our first event was about february 2016 , where we had something called our mom , mary t , and we got people that were survivors of domestic violence and normal people to come in and listen to speeches , and we had nlp trainers , motivational speakers , and we talked about the work we wanted to , because what we wanted to do was not support you . What we wanted to do was help you rebuild to get better . Because I told you , my thing about my life is about rebuilding right , and what I wanted to say was that oh wow , you're not a victim , you're a survivor . Therefore , how do we rebuild in such a way that that person that abused you will see him two years and say , oh my God , this person's become phenomenal .

Speaker 1 43:35

Does that make sense ? And that is what I wanted to do .

Speaker 2 43:38

So we had our first event in February and then subsequently , we had a launch event , which was supposed to be the 10th of September 2016 . And I'm going to tell you something that is really shocking the 10th of September 2016 , my mom was obviously a charity with my mom . Like cause , my mother's name is Opie and the charity is my mother's name , right ? So we had this launch event in Mayfair on the 10th of September 2016 . And Maureen would not believe me . My mom would ask me every day when are we even launching this charity again ? I said , mommy , saturday , thanks , okay . Exactly six days before the launch and this is very critical , right .

Speaker 2 44:16

Exactly six days before the lunch , at 12 30 in the afternoon , I had come back from church , I went to my mother's room and I said , mommy , I'm gonna go buy the champagne for the lunch , right , because they said we could bring our own champagne , because obviously we had little funds on the day . We were lunching and I went out at one o'clock . I had a conversation with my mom . At 3 30 , I came home , my mom wasn't at home and I called her phone . She didn't pick , which was normal , right ? And then she calls me back and she wasn't the one on the phone . It was somebody else on the phone and my mother had collapsed . Wow , I got to the place where my mother had collapsed before she got , before the ambulance got there in london , I held my mother when I was unconscious right six days to the launch of the charity , and we ended up in hospital and my mother died on the day the charity was launched .

Speaker 2 45:00

What , I'm not joking wow so and I will tell you . The moment my mother died I was talking about us and a few minutes before then I had to . Obviously we had the event all planned . I had to leave my mother's

Legacy of Empowerment and Service

Speaker 2 45:17

bedside and go to give a speech and I said to her mommy , please , I need you to hold on for me . By the time I was finishing the speech and I dropped the speech , there was a car there to take me because my mother had passed away , right and it was , and I could remember like it's so weird about you know , when I talk about faith being the thing you stand on and for a long time I was like I didn't want to go to this speech . But she asked me so many times in that week . She was hell and hearty . There was nothing wrong with her . She had exercised that morning . There was nothing wrong with her on the day , exactly six days , right , and exactly at nine o'clockclock . My speech finished at 9 0 , 5 or whatever .

Speaker 2 45:56

My mother died around 9 00 am that night , right , and I think it's really phenomenal , because this was some legacy she had given me about protecting women . That's what she's done all her life helping to support women that had been through violence with her law , helping . She adopted so many children for so many people , and it was difficult for me because I was I was like conflicted on whether should I go , should I not go , and she was , okay , this is what I mean . Like , what do I do ? Right , yeah , should I go to this event ? And everyone , and I knew in my heart like , obviously that time I didn't know , I was feeling so angry with myself for actually leaving that bedside and going there . But my brother was there and then obviously , I ran back to the hospital . She was still there and that was that was her lifeless body , right , and we then went on to do the job just for domestic violence . So we're supporting women in refugees across the uk .

Speaker 2 46:43

Then we started supporting men over the years also , and what we did was , as I said to you , our main ethos is to help you rebuild . So when people came into a refuge , we'll give them this really nice pack that has a love sign on top of it . They're called Kickstarts by Okwui . They've got all the toiletries they need , but they have a card from us , right , they have a postcard that says a lovely message to that person . You stick it on the wall and it has all the guides that helps you to rebuild . And then we went on .

Speaker 2 47:06

In Nigeria we started something called First Day Woman , because my mom was all about fostering somebody for somebody else . And then what we will do is start businesses for women . We started a poetry , we've done a lot of fashion houses , we've done a lot of things , and then we started saying , listen , my mom is grounded on designs and I have designed clothes since I was 12 . So we said we'll do designs now so we can raise money to help people . So we started drawing designs to do fashionable things and therefore we're able to support more fashion houses , for most people have gone from staying in a kiosk to starting a shop . We've got women that had no houses and stood in their house and now they own flats , you know . And we've had people that have just had to do that . And we've also supported men . Also , we've had a guy that started out with like literally a small kiosk somewhere in Lekki . Now he has a chemist and he has a proper shop . We saw the better of his twin girls . We supported them as a family , right .

Speaker 2 47:57

And then obviously , the pandemic . Things changed . We couldn't really do the work that we did in the pandemic . So we did a lot of like um health retreats in the pandemic , where we're sending like n95 masks to hospitals to market women , to women in churches , so they could keep on in their business .

Speaker 2 48:12

Right and after the pandemic I think we sat down and we said listen , we can do more than just domestic violence . We've done things on health care . How do we do things ? So we then integrated all our work together and said listen , animal health is the business that does support people in communities in nigeria , but it's a business business . So we brought it together and we said we'll start the foundation called animal foundation , which is added last year , we'll put okima scheme within it . And and we said we'll start the foundation called Animal Foundation , which started last year . We'll put OKIMA scheme within it and do empowerment schemes , but we'll do healthcare schemes .

Speaker 2 48:39

So part of our thing that we want to do with healthcare is actually health education more than anything else . Right , because people lack education , as you know , that right , and we want to give out a lot of free health education . So that's what we're trying to do with health . We also want to do affordable health care . We've got something on the on the map and that we're planning on for this year , which is to launch a big affordable health care for people that cannot afford health care , in nigeria especially , and then go out to the rest of the africa , and the whole idea is to give people health care for a nominal fee or even for free , if it's possible .

Speaker 2 49:11

Right , and then , and then we were also this year for our empowerment project . We started something called Vantage Point , which is basically about goal setting , supporting women again to rebuild and be the best versions of themselves . We had our first retreat in January . It was amazing , like within two weeks we planned this retreat and I said to you , everything we do is because of service . Somebody we knew was struggling . We wanted her to come to this retreat , but we couldn't get her in because she would feel like she was singled out , so we opened it up to other women .

Speaker 2 49:37

Yeah you guys come in so we can support one woman right and that's what it's all about and I'm really grateful like I don't do this on my own . I have a massive team of people . I have friends and the same friends I've had from ibadu and the same friends that we took the foundation together .

Speaker 1 49:51

I don't have to explain it right , because what they .

Speaker 2 49:54

They're passionate about women . They're passionate about giving , and we're not only doing stuff for women , we're also doing for men , because we have men domestic violence survivors that we're supporting . So we're doing a movement for men and we're also trying to , like , make sure we get people involved and actually try and get people young and train them up to become the best versions of themselves . That's the whole idea and I think that's why we have the foundation and that's what we're doing to get it to where we want it to be chichi , well done it's .

Speaker 1 50:20

It's what you do is so incredible . And so I'm listening to you and I'm just saying god is just . You know , the way god connects people and the way he leads us in part is incredible . And I must say that how you set up the charity , how , how your mom passed , that is something For you to even go and do . That speech just shows that it wasn't you , it was just God walking through you , giving you the strength . And you know what I found really interesting my mom , the day she passed , the day before

The Power of Dreams and Resilience

Speaker 1 50:55

I spoke to her . In fact , when my mom goes to bed early and I normally , you know , at about nine o'clock the night , the day before I felt go and call your mom and I said to myself but you know she would have slept and I just had call your mom . So I went , called her . She was in Lagos , I was in the UK , spoke to her , great conversation , she was fine and I said to her okay , I'll speak to you later , I'll call you tomorrow soon . 3am that night my mom passed away .

Speaker 2 51:28

She wasn't ill .

Speaker 1 51:29

I know she wasn't ill . It's interesting the way God works and you know the way people go so suddenly , but you still have the strength to keep carrying on .

Speaker 2 51:41

Honestly , I like what you said to me is like so sad , but what I can hear when you said it to me is that the fact that God gave you an opportunity to actually say goodbye , right , and I think that's so important Because I keep saying to myself if I didn't have those six days in hospital , I'd probably not be here .

Speaker 2 51:56

My mom was my killer , right . I wasn't prepared like this was like my worst nightmare . I woke up one day and I was a child , and then the next I was an adult , right , and then I was an adult without a guide almost right , I was an adult without someone to guide me , and that was very difficult for me and I know how you feel and I and like I thank god that you have the opportunity to speak to her . Does that make sense ? Like for me , those six days in hospital . I needed it to be able to get you like , and I think we should be grateful that we've been blessed by mothers that are now angels . I know it's 17 years , it's seven years , but let's really , we were blessed to have these people with us .

Speaker 2 52:32

You know absolutely and honestly I'm so grateful you had that opportunity to speak to her honestly , because I don't know what you would have done , because it's almost impossible . It's like you wake up on the entire she's gone . You're like , how did this happen ?

Speaker 1 52:44

exactly , exactly . But that's just the mercy of god , isn't it that you know ? Even listening to you , the , the , in fact the god , you , I just see that God had a purpose , he had something he wanted to do through the charity . And if she hadn't gone , you probably wouldn't even have put in the amount of , um , energy or emotion or passion , or you just don't know how things would have panned out . But the fact that she kept asking Maureen , you're so right .

Speaker 2 53:15

Let me be honest , be honest with you , right , if I think God gave me the foundation and the things I do as a gift , because there is no way , if I didn't have them , I would have survived . I'm being honest with you because what I then did was I was in so much pain . I was in unimaginable pain , right , and because I had unimaginable pain , I wanted , wanted to do more , not just to make her legacy real , but also so that I'm able to impact on other people's lives , and I think that it's so important . So that's the foundation , the business , my career as a whole helped me get to the moment . And I still say to people I still feel the same way I feel the day my mom died . But what I feel now is , even though I'm sad , my sadness is not that sadness that drowns .

Speaker 2 53:58

The sadness I have now is the sadness that tells me okay , yes , girl , you're sad , right , but how do you make sure the next person isn't sad , right ? And I think that's very important for me . I don't know whether you feel that way , but that's what's really important for me and I was really important for me and , I think , for everything that we do . It's helped me , like , kind of cope right . It's also helped me know that I have so much love to give . I have so much message to give . I learned so much from this woman who I describe as my woman of sense . I call my mom my like . I call her my mom , my angel , my womb baby , because I laugh , because she's always fashionable and so beautiful . And she tells me , because I never wear makeup and I and I'm like , listen , I have so much to teach . I have so much to share with the world . I have so much love in me to give because I received so much love , if that makes sense , and I think that's so important and I get emotional about it .

Speaker 1 54:48

We're so blessed . We're blessed by great women , absolutely , and it just shows how great women raise great women , doesn't it ? Yeah , no , it's so cool , chicha . I could go on talking to you , but I think what I'm going to do I know we've come up to the end of this podcast , but we're going to have to continue our conversation because there's so much to still unpack in terms of you know where you are , what you do , and I just no , we can do that .

Speaker 2 55:15

That's okay If you want us to no problem .

Speaker 1 55:17

I think we should Thank you so much so I'm going to put all Chichi's details in the description below . So please look at , look her up , look at the foundation , and if there's anything that you can do to support the foundation , please do . I'll put all the details below . Chi Chi , honestly , I am just so inspired by what you're doing . Thank you so much . Your faith , your belief , your confidence , the work you do is just incredible , incredible . So keep going , keep soaring . And then one final word from you to our listeners anything you want to just give them as a word of wisdom , um , anything that comes to your mind , please do so , then we'll round it up , okay .

Speaker 2 56:05

Thank you so much , maureen . Honestly , I cannot express my gratitude . I'm so happy we had this conversation and I'm really happy , like I just got to speak my heart Right . But I think , for everyone listening , what I'm going to say is that dreams are free . You have to dream right , you have to work on your dream and I think what you should also remember is that when this game is over , you want to be able to , like , look from your spirit world and look at your headstone and say to yourself , even though you're not physically there , I came here , I dreamt , I played my dream and I did it right .

Speaker 2 56:36

I think what you should never do is live in regrets . Things will go wrong , things might be difficult sometimes , but you need to pull up yourself and pull those trousers if you're a trouser wearer , like I am and just keep going . You know , and I really wish everyone the best , and the truth is that life is not always rosy , but it's not how many times you fall , but how quickly you can get up and keep rising . And I think that's what I need to say to people , and as one of my mentors is Michelle Obama , she'll say when they go low , we go higher . So just remember that right , when people try to pull you down , you're like not today , satan , I'm going to get it done , you know , I think that's really important . And so , whatever you are , even if you're not Christian , if you're not a believer , just remember that you have the power within you because you've you've been created to actually excel in whatever you do . So best of luck everyone . And obviously it's Good Friday , so it's a significant day . Let's do some good for everyone today .

Speaker 2 57:31

Oh wow , thank you so much Wow .

Speaker 1 57:32

Yeah , what a way to end . Dreams are free , you know , and it's . It's how quickly you get up , not how how many times you fall . I love that . I love that , chichi , thank you so very much . Good friday we'll keep doing good and please listen to that advice . Just do good . Do good and , as you know , as a woman , raise other women , do good for other people , raise people . There are people that really need our help . Just go out there and be a blessing . Chichi , thank you so very much .

Speaker 2 58:10

Thanks , so much , maureen . Thank you so much .

Speaker 1 58:12

Look forward to part two . Have a fantastic weekend and we'll catch up soon .

Speaker 2 58:18

Okay , my darling , have a good Friday . Okay , god bless you . Thank you , bless you , thanks .

Speaker 1 58:25

Thank you for joining us on today's episode of Lead to Excel podcast . I hope our discussion has inspired you . Remember , achieving excellence is a marathon and every step counts towards your goals . If today's conversation sparked any thoughts or questions , feel free to share them with me on LinkedIn , Facebook and Twitter , and consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform . You can also find this podcast on YouTube . Your feedback helps us grow and reach more listeners . Don't forget to subscribe to never miss an episode filled with expert insights and inspiration . Until next time , this is Maureen Chiana , reminding you to stay curious , stay driven and together let's remain limitless and change the world . Bye for now .