By Dr. Kelicha Ochonogor
For some strange reason, a lot of people think that the place of the woman should be only the enclosed walls of the home, to attend to the kitchen, and especially the master’s bedroom. They are correct, but not completely.
If they mean that the woman should be concerned and see to it that the family meal is well prepared, I agree. If they mean that the wife should always ensure the master’s bedroom is comely and serves its purpose well, I also agree. But if that is all the woman is about, then the men of this world had better think again; because the modern woman has got much more in her skull than to be restricted to the kitchen and to service her husband’s emotional craving.
The idea of the importance of a woman’s personal development did not just occur to me; I’ve of recent published several books (there are 26 already, and a few more are in the works), five of my books are of particular interest now because they relate with what I’m dealing with here. One of the books is about the proverb 31 Virtuous Woman whose story is so fascinating. I titled that book Sacrifices of the Virtuous Woman.
My fascination about the Virtuous Woman arises from the many things she succeeded at. She was:
A successful wife to her husband.
A successful mother to her children.
A successful madam to her housemaids and servants.
A successful and rich business woman.
A successful socialite who was well respected in the society.
A beautiful, well-dressed and comfortable woman.
Even more importantly, she was a very godly woman.
Well, for those of you who have read the story of the Virtuous Woman in the Bible, in Proverbs Chapter 31, and if you have seen the discourse in my book, you would agree that the Virtuous Woman maintained a good kitchen, and she serviced the master’s bedroom well. But she did far more than those roles. In fact, the international reach of her business, the diversities of her business in textile, estate, shipping, agriculture and others proved that this woman was no pushover; she knew her onions well, and must have taken good time and resources to develop herself; because her level of successes didn’t jump at her because of her fine face, alluring curves and seductive vital statistics.
I have to mention those because there are ladies who think that personal development is about the face, about the curves, about the catwalk, about fashion, about femininity. I approve of all those. They are important to us as women. But too many women who have concentrated on the strength of their body parts – but not on their brain – intellectual, and market-sense – have flopped big time when they discovered that in our modern world, you need more than your body to succeed.
My other book that relates to the woman’s personal development is titled The Power of Choice. And I subtitled it, Your Role in making Your Destiny a Reality. I really meant to draw the attention of my readers to the need to make a personal choice. Women who are laid back, only waiting for their men to feed and clothe them and meet all their needs should blame themselves if men see them only in terms of the kitchen and the master’s bedroom.
A woman should cook well, I agree. A woman should bear children, I agree too. But beyond that a woman should build an enterprise, a business, something she does not just to meet her needs but to provide employment for others. If you are in the corporate world already, you got to excel in what you are doing till you earn the respect of the men you work with and the general industry or sector of the economy you are involved in. Your power of choice is what will open a vista of opportunities before you.
The third book is titled Darling, it’s not working, the family life we’re MISSING to the social media.
Darling, It’s Not Working is a present book for the present age where marriages
are breaking down and families are crumbling everywhere. The author is pained
enough from her own experience to find a solution to the maladies of not just
her home but help others find joy also.
The fourth is titled “The Will Power” is about a girl “Desire” who wants to pursue her carrier based
on her passion. Her parents never supported her, neither did her siblings,
except for Thomas who did partially, and sometimes encourages her.
As women of this age, you need to have the string will to succeed if not, the men will discourage you hence the popular saying in this part of the world “it’s a man’s world”.
The fifth book is about the 21st century visionary woman. Every woman in the 21st century must realize this. To maintain sanity and utmost
productivity, her feet must be deeply rooted in the one, true vine. From this vine
(Christ) she must draw strength to carry on each day.
Entrepreneurial Opportunities Available to Women:
Your decision to set up an enterprise of your own is perhaps one of the best decisions you have ever taken in your life. You are not taking this decision because you are not educated; rather, you are taking this decision because you are soundly educated. And I don’t necessarily mean whether you have a university degree or not. A lot of highly educated women and gainfully employed in even blue-chip companies have come to the realisation that not every woman can subject themselves to the regimented life of certain career job, especially jobs that takes all your time and denies you the vital component of a woman’s life – the family.
A typical woman, desires to be married and have children, no matter how few the number; and sees her job as addition to this primary desire of the woman. That is why most women will rather have jobs that afford some time to care for their children and meet the needs of the home and family. If your present job is not allowing you such leverage, then you need to pay close attention to entrepreneurial options that can earn you as much income while giving you time to meet your home needs. Some of these jobs are even more interesting because you can do them from the comfort of your home.
List of Enterprises:
1. Writing/publishing books
2. Cooking and Supplying snacks to retailers
3. Sewing/making corporate or personal souvenirs
4. Bag making, beddings and soft interiors
5. Laundry and dry-cleaning, domestic or corporate
6. Consultancy in area of specialisation
It is important that you understand that each and all of these entrepreneurial activities require special skills. And that is my point. You need to develop the required skills in your chosen enterprise. Any attempt to dabble into a business or enterprise without some measure of expertise could leave you frustrated and render you a failure. Sometimes, you don’t even have all the skills you need, but you can hire helpers.
When I decided to write books, for instance, it was a herculean task for me because although I am a graduate of language studies and have acquired a master’s degree, with another master’s degree about to be completed, I found that writing books required special skills beyond classroom knowledge of language studies. Asking questions around, I came to know some very skilful editors who help authors to do professional work, and it takes less time than it would have taken if I was to do the editing of my manuscripts on my own. Since then, I have found it easier to turn out many books. I have 26 already, and many more are coming.
You may need to research for the skills you need. Our modern world, with the Internet and possibilities of many social media platforms, a lot of knowledge is out there now; and you can take advantage of them even with the phone in your hand. Google, or any other Internet search engines, can be very helpful. Start your search with the usual W-H Questions:
What is ___________?
Where can I find ______________?
Why is ________________ important?
Who needs/uses ________________?
How is __________________ made/produced?
It will surprise you what information you can generate with these questions. It works for your production line as in marketing your products. You can learn a lot from what is already in the market, and find a way to better what is out there and thereby beat your competition. Equally interesting, there is hardly any product you want to introduce to the market today that advertising agencies will not help you out. I believe an enquiry in that regards will worth your while.
Thank you!!!
