Over the weekend, Chika Ike was caught again in the klieg light, not for starring in a new movie. With a throng of people, petulant to catch a glimpse of her and get a copy of her book, the young Nollywood actress has raised the bar of hard work, ingenuity and serendipity.
Walking majestically into the waiting arms of the media, Chika – decked in cream jacket and a pair of pants – enthralled all with her beauty – an embellishment of her brain. Though reticent, Nigerians can read all about her in her new book, Boss Up.
“I am a very private person but if you read this book, ‘Boss Up’ you read me, the truth and my journey. Boss Up is a 41-chapter book that covers all the obstacles we go through in life: money, self-esteem, fear, relationships. With Boss Up, I opened up a lot about myself. I dabbled into what we go through in life and gave a guide on how to conquer our fears. People say I try to live my best life. Yes, I try to because life is short,” she says.
But to her, life is more than being short.
“Life is a journey and is full of ups and downs. I am talking from an angle of my mother who died at a very young age and I realise that life is a journey and as a being you can’t determine how long you are going to live because you don’t even know what happens tomorrow. So you have to embrace today and make the best out of it,” she counsels.
The book, Boss Up, has five sections: one talks about Chikaidibia – her full name – which means ‘my God is greater than any soothsayers or any obstacles’. According to her, the name came up out of an event “during my birth”.
She explains further:
“I was rejected from birth by my father because he didn’t want a girl. So, it (that section) talks about me, my challenges growing up and the rejection I faced from my family. The book also talks about the business world because people think I like money. Well, they may be right because I grew up with nothing and don’t want to be a failure and I always push myself to succeed. I want to challenge myself to be somebody people thought I can never be.
“In the business world (section), I talk about how to have a successful business. I went to Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School was a launch pad for me because I found myself in a room with professionals – big people who run global businesses – sitting among business tycoons. I talked about tricks and how to run a successful business.”
Chika also underscores the importance of the society in human’s existence. To run a successful business empire goes beyond huge money and Chika explains why.
“When I was in Harvard Business School, the first two weeks was about personal case studies and personal development. I was given a coach and I was like I didn’t come here to talk about my family and my life. But the school authority realizes that before you can be successful in your business you must deal with the home front first. Every successful man and woman you see out there has succeeded in their families. They gave me a personal coach who went deep into my personal life: my family, my upbringing and me. I was someone who was brought up guided but Harvard Business School unguided me. They made me stand in front of over 200 professionals to talk about my life. I spoke so much about my life, family and how I was rejected by my father who was a good husband and father to all his children. But I didn’t have a good relationship with him growing up. I learnt early that you have to fight for yourself because at the end of the day it is you alone. I talked about my father, my mother and my siblings.”
Still throwing more light on what her readers should expect, she talks about another factor pertinent to success.
“I mentioned grace because I believe that we do not exist alone on this earth. I believe that there is a superior power you can go to and ask for forgiveness because human beings can be very judgmental because they see everything that you do but God is the only one that cannot criticize you and will protect you in all your ways. So I have this relationship with Him. A friend of mine once told me that to succeed in life you need 40 per cent hard work and 60 per cent grace, favour and lucky. For me, I call it favour, I call it grace. It is good to work hard to succeed but you must have a guiding power which is God,” the author states.
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