I have pondered and asked myself if sharing this experience will make any difference, if the word “Integrity” can come alive again just by sharing my experience. It will take a lot to revive our corrupt system.
I applied for a fashion competition, I took a chance and I asked myself “what’s the best or worse thing that could happen?” I replied myself “you get to be among the top 10 or you don’t”. The competition required us to create a piece inspired by the company organizing the competition. After glancing at their website for several minutes, inspiration struck, I got inspired by the company’s logo. I rushed to my fabric supplier, searched through and got the perfect fabric for my inspiration, it was chiffon, it was soft and I was excited. I looked through my sketches and picked a feminine design with an A-line silhouette. One cut led to another cut, one stitch led to another stitch and Voila!!! My piece was ready. The second phase was the photo shoot, I hired a beautiful model, after several clicks by the photographer, my sketch became alive and was ready to be sent via email to the company. I was asked to write briefly on what inspired my design; I did and attached my photographed design.
One day later after my application submission, I received an email from the company that I had been selected to be part of the exclusive top 30 to get an audition. I was excited and thankful; the audition was to take place in Lagos. I arrived Lagos on a Saturday; I rested on a Sunday and made all necessary arrangements to hire a cab that will take me to the venue on Monday. The email warned me about lateness, the time for audition was 8am, I was told if I came later than 8am, I would be denied access into the venue. I am not an “African Time fan”, the word irritates me, so I try as much as possible to stick to my time and respect the time of others. I woke up by 4am, by 4:30am, the cabman was around to pick me up and then we headed to Victoria Island. I decided to wake up early to avoid the Lagos traffic and I was happy I did, it was better I arrived earlier than 8am than late. I was the first to get to the venue; I arrived by 5:10am. It was still a little bit dark and really quiet, after standing for 10 minutes, a cab stopped, then a guy came down, I knew he was a designer. We stood together for 20 minutes and then he started a friendly conversation. He was a nice fellow; we talked about the industry and its challenges. He suggested we hang out somewhere till it was a few minutes to 8am.
By 8am, there was a crowd; we were more than 30 designers, that did not bother me. Then from past 8am to 2pm, designers still strolled into the venue. What happened to the rules and regulations of the audition? I remained quiet and listened to other designers complain about the organization of the audition. It was 2pm and auditions were yet to start. We were then given a “term and condition” form to fill. It took 4 hours to make up the presenter and I thought “Wow!!! This is what a reality show must feel like”. By 2:30pm, the renowned designers who were going to judge us arrived; I was too tired to even feel any excitement. I listened to all the young designers complain, It was supposed to be an interesting experience, it turned out to be an ugly experience”, Success is definitely not easy, I thought as I observed. A few minutes later, a lady came out and started calling out names, I expected I was going to be the first to get an audition since I was the first designer to fill the attendance form and show my two original designs which was another criteria for the audition but it turned out, they had already ticked some names on the paper, she kept on looking through the paper and calling out selected names. The designers started complaining again, I was calm because I really needed to save my strength for my audition. After more hours, the names were still called in that random manner. I didn't understand what was happening.
By 7pm, the lady stopped coming out, then the designers left were now paranoid including myself who doesn't reside in Lagos, I still had to figure out how I was going to get to where I was staying. Next thing, another lady comes out and starts selecting people randomly, she didn't call out names again, she would look at us all and select some people. Now there was a rush and designers including me, tried to put our faces up to get noticed.
By 8pm, I was still there with no hopes of getting selected transparently for at least an audition. My family was worried because it was late and I am not familiar with the environs of Lagos. I listened to all the other designers who came from other states just like I, complain bitterly.
All I could say in my head was "I expected more from this organization". I was so disappointed, disappointed at the fact that I travelled down to Lagos for something I applied for and was treated like "I just showed up at the venue and begged to get an audition". Disappointed that the joy of getting an email from the company for an audition had just turned sour. Disappointed that I woke up so early to make it there on time and I didn't even get an audition. I lost faith in the word "Integrity" that day. I left the venue by 8:05pm; I arrived home by 12am thanks to traffic and Police wahala. It's one day, I will never forget. I have taken a lot of chances and this experience won't stop me. It just made me stronger and wiser. The best thing to do in spite of the challenges is just to keep following my heart and intuition. Entrepreneurship is definitely not for sissies. God bless my family, they are the perfect cheer leaders, God bless the soul inside my body, My soul has this strong passion and zeal, God bless the people who wrote the Bible, the words in it strengthens my faith. I end this blog entry by thanking Nkechi Ewuzie (the pretty model I worked with), Tope Ekundayo (one friend who inspires me) and Elomena Asamaige (one friend who encourages me).
