Writer marks a decade in creative business
…attributes success to God.
Victoria Praise-Abraham is a communication expert, motivational speaker, creative entrepreneur and author of many inspirational books. She is celebrating her 10 years in active authoring and entreprenurial business.
Having been in the media and entrepreneurial business for a decade, the astute writer who has whethered many storms to keep abreast of time in a seemingly challenging period, narrates how the journey has been so far and what kept her going. Having Come thus far what where those things that kept you going?
The number one thing that kept me going would have to be God Almighty because He is the wind behind my sail. He is my rock, anchor and shield and above all He is my confidence and sustainer from the very beginning till date. We all can testify of how very difficult and challenging the last 10 years have been if you do not have God as your anchor and strength chances are that you would have perished one way or the other. Secondly it would be my passion for my craft. I love writing, publishing and the world of media as a whole and my love for my craft is strong, enduring and long lasting. There were days when I was so discouraged and felt like going back to paid employment but my love for what I am doing did not allow me to take this backward step throughout the ten years gone by. Lastly it would be the lessons from the adage that ‘’Winners never quit and quitters never win’’. I realized that once I had put my hands to the plough I could not look back. I had to be tougher, wiser and smarter than the situation that stared me in the face in our country Nigeria in the last ten years. Celebrating a decade to some people maybe a stepping stone while to some a landmark. How do you classify yours?
My answer would be both a stepping stone and a landmark. First a landmark because 10 years as a Creative Entrepreneur is a huge achievement because if I had quit before the 10 years it would have been a failed venture so to me it is a landmark achievement. It is a stepping stone because I realize that the journey has only just truly began. My great desire as a business woman is to leave a transgenerational legacy to my yet to be born children. I want my businesses to last beyond my days. I want to be an enduring business concern that would still be running 100 years after I have passed on to glory so 10 years only in the life of the business is merely a stepping stone to greater days and to greater heights to attain by the special grace of God Almighty. As a writer your books are inspirational how do you measure your audience especially when reading culture is poor?
It is true that reading culture is poor but we still have a certain percentage that still loves reading.
People read for various reasons. People read to learn, they read to pass examinations and others read for pure entertainment. As an inspirational writer I have come to appreciate the fact that a large chunk of the lovers of my books are people who read to learn and to grow in the process. My books teach life lessons, they instruct and motivate you to take action concerning your life. I avoid writing fiction because I want to impart knowledge and not merely create escape routes for people on a short term basis. My audience are faith related persons and mainly young adults who are trying to better grapple with many of life’s challenges. I have found out that you must be creative as a writer in order to increase your audience base. You have to keep writing books that impart, impact, inspire and instruct while still remaining entertaining. My audience is growing as my dexterity in writing different types of books is expanding. Nigeria is a country with abundant talent while the youth complains of unemployment does your books inspire self reliance and if yes how do you sustain it?
One of the reasons why I decided to write was to inspire young people to take action and not just merely wait for govenments of the day to fix their individual life’s problems. Most of my titles address specific questions for example my second title ’12 Golden Laws of Success’ highlights 12 principles of success which include Purpose, Preparation and Planning, Pursuit, Positioning, Product, People, Patience, Prayer, Persistence, Peace and Praise. I emphasised these 12 principles in the book using life examples of greatly successful Nigerians who used one of these principles majorly in their lives to succeed. The book is practical, inspiring and insightful as it highlights the lives of these 12 successful persons through question and answer method. Anyone who reads this book would be inspired to take on the world and to succeed because these principles are tried and tested and have been seen to work if diligently put into practice. My other titles ‘The tiny big First Step’ deals on the subject of procrastination. I realized that one of the reasons why it took my long to achieve any kind of success in life was because I was very prone to procrastination. I delayed taking action and waited and waited until I was no longer able to do anything meaningful with my ideas. I also realized that most people procrastinate one way or the other. I finally decided to write this title on procrastination titled ‘The tiny Big First Step’ one of my finest and most practical books till date. I used the interview method to understand why people procrastinate. I also highlighted things that you can do practically to escape the menace of procrastination which is the mother of defeat in life. As a young Nigerian if you read these two titles written by me you would learn how to take decisive actions daily and how to best succeed without cutting corners and been devious. There is no short cut to success. You have to pay the price. A lot of our Nigerian youths unfortunately have poor role models to emulate because corruption looms large in our political space and life in Nigeria. Nigerian youth are disillusioned about life and they need a strong voice to help them rise above a life of fraud and corruption and this is what I am helping to do through my writing.
As per the second section of your question about sustaining self reliance amongst Nigerian youth, going forward I plan to engage the teeming youth population by offering mentorship programmes and designing mentorship events as from 2019 where we help young people learn basic skills entrepreneurship, leadership, team building and also help them start small businesses by encouraging successful persons, successful organizations and companies to give back to these youth population by encouraging them in their startups. You have written so many books and seems not tired, what more do we expect from you in the near future?
As you know we might plan and even desire but it is the plan and will of God Almighty that will ultimately be done in our lives because God is the author and finisher of our faith especially if we profess to know God. I am a very strong and committed Christian and I always pray for God’s ultimate will to be done in every area and facet of my life so I will say here that may God Almighty’s ultimate plan and purpose for my life be done going forward.
Book writing for me is a life-long dream and aspiration. I will always write one way or the other because I greatly love writing. You should therefore expect to see me write some more engaging and deeply insightful titles in the coming years by the special grace of God Almighty.
I have written some scripts in the past and I will work hard to see them made into movies in the coming years because movies are powerful in conveying a particular message. I plan to do more speaking in the near future both as a business coach, and as a facilitator. I also desire to have monthly motivational classes where I will teach young people on the need to take actions about their lives.
I will have a writing Academy where I will teach the art of writing to upcoming writers in collaboration with other successful writers. Finally I plan to become a global personality affecting the global space as a social media influencer. As I said earlier on we might plan, hope and desire but only God Almighty has the final say so again may God’s will be done in all our lives going forward. By Chris Onuoha
Having been in the media and entrepreneurial business for a decade, the astute writer who has whethered many storms to keep abreast of time in a seemingly challenging period, narrates how the journey has been so far and what kept her going. Having Come thus far what where those things that kept you going?
The number one thing that kept me going would have to be God Almighty because He is the wind behind my sail. He is my rock, anchor and shield and above all He is my confidence and sustainer from the very beginning till date. We all can testify of how very difficult and challenging the last 10 years have been if you do not have God as your anchor and strength chances are that you would have perished one way or the other. Secondly it would be my passion for my craft. I love writing, publishing and the world of media as a whole and my love for my craft is strong, enduring and long lasting. There were days when I was so discouraged and felt like going back to paid employment but my love for what I am doing did not allow me to take this backward step throughout the ten years gone by. Lastly it would be the lessons from the adage that ‘’Winners never quit and quitters never win’’. I realized that once I had put my hands to the plough I could not look back. I had to be tougher, wiser and smarter than the situation that stared me in the face in our country Nigeria in the last ten years. Celebrating a decade to some people maybe a stepping stone while to some a landmark. How do you classify yours?
My answer would be both a stepping stone and a landmark. First a landmark because 10 years as a Creative Entrepreneur is a huge achievement because if I had quit before the 10 years it would have been a failed venture so to me it is a landmark achievement. It is a stepping stone because I realize that the journey has only just truly began. My great desire as a business woman is to leave a transgenerational legacy to my yet to be born children. I want my businesses to last beyond my days. I want to be an enduring business concern that would still be running 100 years after I have passed on to glory so 10 years only in the life of the business is merely a stepping stone to greater days and to greater heights to attain by the special grace of God Almighty. As a writer your books are inspirational how do you measure your audience especially when reading culture is poor?
It is true that reading culture is poor but we still have a certain percentage that still loves reading.
People read for various reasons. People read to learn, they read to pass examinations and others read for pure entertainment. As an inspirational writer I have come to appreciate the fact that a large chunk of the lovers of my books are people who read to learn and to grow in the process. My books teach life lessons, they instruct and motivate you to take action concerning your life. I avoid writing fiction because I want to impart knowledge and not merely create escape routes for people on a short term basis. My audience are faith related persons and mainly young adults who are trying to better grapple with many of life’s challenges. I have found out that you must be creative as a writer in order to increase your audience base. You have to keep writing books that impart, impact, inspire and instruct while still remaining entertaining. My audience is growing as my dexterity in writing different types of books is expanding. Nigeria is a country with abundant talent while the youth complains of unemployment does your books inspire self reliance and if yes how do you sustain it?
One of the reasons why I decided to write was to inspire young people to take action and not just merely wait for govenments of the day to fix their individual life’s problems. Most of my titles address specific questions for example my second title ’12 Golden Laws of Success’ highlights 12 principles of success which include Purpose, Preparation and Planning, Pursuit, Positioning, Product, People, Patience, Prayer, Persistence, Peace and Praise. I emphasised these 12 principles in the book using life examples of greatly successful Nigerians who used one of these principles majorly in their lives to succeed. The book is practical, inspiring and insightful as it highlights the lives of these 12 successful persons through question and answer method. Anyone who reads this book would be inspired to take on the world and to succeed because these principles are tried and tested and have been seen to work if diligently put into practice. My other titles ‘The tiny big First Step’ deals on the subject of procrastination. I realized that one of the reasons why it took my long to achieve any kind of success in life was because I was very prone to procrastination. I delayed taking action and waited and waited until I was no longer able to do anything meaningful with my ideas. I also realized that most people procrastinate one way or the other. I finally decided to write this title on procrastination titled ‘The tiny Big First Step’ one of my finest and most practical books till date. I used the interview method to understand why people procrastinate. I also highlighted things that you can do practically to escape the menace of procrastination which is the mother of defeat in life. As a young Nigerian if you read these two titles written by me you would learn how to take decisive actions daily and how to best succeed without cutting corners and been devious. There is no short cut to success. You have to pay the price. A lot of our Nigerian youths unfortunately have poor role models to emulate because corruption looms large in our political space and life in Nigeria. Nigerian youth are disillusioned about life and they need a strong voice to help them rise above a life of fraud and corruption and this is what I am helping to do through my writing.
As per the second section of your question about sustaining self reliance amongst Nigerian youth, going forward I plan to engage the teeming youth population by offering mentorship programmes and designing mentorship events as from 2019 where we help young people learn basic skills entrepreneurship, leadership, team building and also help them start small businesses by encouraging successful persons, successful organizations and companies to give back to these youth population by encouraging them in their startups. You have written so many books and seems not tired, what more do we expect from you in the near future?
As you know we might plan and even desire but it is the plan and will of God Almighty that will ultimately be done in our lives because God is the author and finisher of our faith especially if we profess to know God. I am a very strong and committed Christian and I always pray for God’s ultimate will to be done in every area and facet of my life so I will say here that may God Almighty’s ultimate plan and purpose for my life be done going forward.
Book writing for me is a life-long dream and aspiration. I will always write one way or the other because I greatly love writing. You should therefore expect to see me write some more engaging and deeply insightful titles in the coming years by the special grace of God Almighty.
I have written some scripts in the past and I will work hard to see them made into movies in the coming years because movies are powerful in conveying a particular message. I plan to do more speaking in the near future both as a business coach, and as a facilitator. I also desire to have monthly motivational classes where I will teach young people on the need to take actions about their lives.
I will have a writing Academy where I will teach the art of writing to upcoming writers in collaboration with other successful writers. Finally I plan to become a global personality affecting the global space as a social media influencer. As I said earlier on we might plan, hope and desire but only God Almighty has the final say so again may God’s will be done in all our lives going forward. By Chris Onuoha
