Chinelo Linda Ikeme is the owner of the upscale hair shop, My Hair Limited, with branches in Lekki and Yaba, both in Lagos. The banker turned hair purveyor has among her customers, top female celebs due to the quality of natural human hair she sources from across the world. In this interview with ORUKPE NELSON, she spoke about the fad in luxury hair, the essentials and how she hit the goldmine.

How did the transition from banking to hair business happen?

Sorry, let me ask. Are you on Instagram?

Yes, I am…

I asked because we had an event recently and it was something similar to what you’re asking me about. It was an event organized by me and two other ladies tagged 21^st Century Women in Business.

It was just basically a networking and mentoring programme. We were all ladies and talked to one another, motivated one another and we had speakers like Ndidi Obioha and a medical doctor who came to talk to us on breast and cervical cancer. Essentially, we spoke about how people are scared of taking that bold steps to starting their private businesses after being so comfortable working for others for so many years earning salaries.

My transition was borne out of the desire to do something different, the desire to use the zeal and strength I had in me for achieving result to doing something for myself because when you work in a corporate organisation, you’d find out that you’re putting in a lot of hard work. I was a banker and I realized that most times people don’t enjoy what they’re doing but they had to work hard to earn that salary. Instead of doing something I didn’t enjoy, I decided to go into hair business.

In fact, the hair business wasn’t even the first thing I ventured into. I went into kiddies’ birthday parties before I eventually settled on hair. I quit the kiddies’ party business because when I was doing it, I thought I would be able to do it only on Saturdays because those parties are usually on Saturdays but I realised that I didn’t have that much time because it was creeping into my work time.

Were you still working in the bank then?

Yes, I was working in a bank. I worked in two different banks for six years. I noticed that most mothers would cut cost on the cake, the drinks and even the party packs but they want to look good, fabulous and the best dressed on that day. I said to myself, if women are bent on looking good why don’t I do something that will meet that end of the market? So, I started considering doing something lady-like. I wasn’t sure of what itwas but I wanted to do something in that line.

So, one Sunday I went to Shoprite and there was an Indian man selling hair there. He was standing because he had a table along the walkway and was asking people, ‘come and buy’. So, I bought a few things because he didn’t have everything I wanted. But, later he sent his driver to deliver to me.

And another time, he came to my office and told me: ‘why don’t you consider selling to the ladies in your office? There are so many ladies here’. I told him I wasn’t interested that I just wanted to face my job and didn’t want any distraction. He persuaded up to a point and I told him, ‘okay, I don’t have money’. He told me: ‘I’ll give them to you free, sell and pay me at the end of the month’. I honestly don’t know why he trusted me that much and that was how I started. The rest is history.

Did your mother play any role in this?

Actually, my mom motivated me a lot in the sense that she’s a widow; my dad is late and the business my dad used to run is run by her now. And she also encouraged me to quit the banking job and join the family business which I have also done.

What’s the family business?

We import chemicals from a company in Italy. The chemical is used for body works for cars, boats, ships and metal works generally.

She kept on encouraging me. At first, she didn’t want me to leave banking because she knew the experience I was getting there was quite vital but eventually when I was ready to quit, she welcomed me into the business. So, right now I’m an Executive Director in Moore Enterprises (our family business) and I also do my hair business.

My mom turned the business around after my dad died because my dad wasn’t very educated, but mom did a wonderful job in growing the business from zero to where it is today. She has always been a fashionable woman, right from when I was growing up. She had this hair she used to wear whenever there was a special occasion. She would wear it and people would be asking, ‘is this your hair?’

At that time, I was always thinking that whenever I get to secondary school, I will use the wig, the hair has been with her for decades. I think I still have a photograph of it. So, at that time, I didn’t know I was ever going to do hair business. I just learnt the fashion side of life from my mom, being able to coordinate the dressing, jewellery and so on. I remember that she had Christian Dior and Gucci bags. I didn’t really know what they were then but I knew they were nice.

So, those things grew in my mind and they are all manifesting now in everything I do including my business. I just hope I pass it on to my daughter as well.

Natural hairs are sourced from all over the world, where are your preferred locations and what are the things you look out for?

The very first hair I started selling was Indian hair. India has the best hair because it grows long very fast. Many of us in the business had sold Indian hair one time or the other, after I lost contact with the Indian man who introduced me to the business, I fell into the hands of fraudulent people who sold fake hair to me. And the way it is runs is that you must pay before they send them to you. After the transaction, it was all stories because nobody was willing to take the bad hair back from me. I lost a lot of money but I also maintained a policy of giving a guarantee, so when customers brought the hair back, I exchanged it for them with better quality ones. Now, I have people I call ‘hair sourcers’, they source for good hair and I pay them to avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters.

I test them because I have a few clients who are ready to test hairs for me to confirm if they’re okay. If they are not okay, I’d return it to my ‘hair sourcers’. They source for hair all over the world for me.

Which particular areas around the world do they get the finest from?

We have Argentine hair and they’resourced from very remote parts of Argentina. We get South American hairs, specifically from places like Brazil and Peru. We also get from Vietnam. Most of these countries where we source hair from are places where people are living below the average and want to sell their hair to make some money. These are countries where you find hairs in large quantity. India has the highest number of willing donors and their hair grow very fast.

If you have a good company that can treat them and weave them for you, you’ll actually get very good hair from them. Indian hairs are actually very versatile because you can do a lot of things with it but my best is still Argentina.

Does that make Argentine hair the costliest?

There are so many things that make it expensive. The first is the exchange rate and after getting that hair, you don’t sell it like that, you have to wash it, treat it, put the weft (the base of the hair where we sew unto our African hair) on it. That part of the hair (weft) is very important and if you don’t do it well, it will mess up everything. If the weft is not well done, it will ruin the hair entirely. Some people sell cheap hair because the weft may not have been properly done. We’ve heard some people complain of having some strange stuffs in the hairs, but in the hair I sell, I make sure that everything is properly done by the companies that do it and if there’s any complaint, I’d return to them and my customers won’t have any complain.

You’re a mother of three, how did you achieve this trim shape?

I’m a mother of four actually (chuckles). I’m a very active person and I exercise every day. I relax by swimming; it helps me relax and calms me. I live in Lekki where we have the popular Lekki-Ikoyi bridge where I jog and also have a treadmill at home.

How do you joggle roles as a mother, wife and an entrepreneur?

I live in Lekki and My Hair Limited outlet is there, I wake up early enough, prepare the last boy who is about 10 months old and hand him to the nanny. After spending some time at Lekki, I just go straight to My Hair Limited outlet in Yaba. And by 5pm, I’m already on my way back to Lekki because I have capable hands at both outlets whenever I’m not on ground to attend to customers.

With four kids, how do you pamper yourself when you feel the need to?

My husband and I travel every year, we don’t joke with it. Sometimes we go with the kids and sometimes we also go alone. I keep the kids with my mom who is very gracious enough to look after them till I return.

Where are your favourite holiday spots?

Malaga in Spain is a beautiful place to be. It’s devoid of the hustle and bustle of busy cities. You would love it as you watch people go hand-in-hand quietly enjoying splendid access to nature. It’s so beautiful. I also love Las Vegas, there’s so much for one to feast their eyes on.