Abby Ikomi, CEO Homes and Fabrics
If she were a fashion designer, she would have been a perfect walking advertisement of her trade; but she designs home accessories, accessorising homes and giving them character. Abby Ikomi, who runs Homes and Fabrics, speaks to NKARENYI UKONU about her business and what matters most to her From being a housewife whose primary assignment was to take care of the home front, in addition to making sure that her home was always in top shape, to designing and creating unique statement jewellery and now to designing and creating pieces of furniture and home accessories, it is obvious that Abby Ikomi enjoys using her hand to churn out creative pieces. The catch here is that the pieces she creates aren‘t common place in Nigeria, but they are pieces that would leave mouths agape and in admiration.
She recalls a customer‘s comment on seeing some of the pieces in her showroom. ”Someone actually asked if I was eccentric and wondered why I would be venturing into this kind of thing, saying that Nigerians weren‘t ready for what I was presenting to them.”
She does agree that Nigerians are, in fact, just beginning to accept what she has to offer, which is unique and contemporary ethnic pieces of furniture and home accessories.
”The awareness has been slow, but it is gradually picking up; people are now getting sensitized even though some still ask if my showroom is an afro-centric gallery. But it has been picking up.”
After being bored as a housewife and itching to explore other areas in which she could creatively use her hands, she eventually took to jewellery designing.
”I had a friend who was into jewellery making and I used to help her and from there, I picked it up. I designed jewellery for about 12 years, doing uncommon pieces like 18-carat gold earrings and rings that I would sometimes have embedded into them; beads, precious stones, diamonds, etc.
”I started off doing them in Nigeria, continued with the project in Kenya when my husband got transferred there working with Citibank, and then in South Africa when my husband got another transfer.”
After 12 years, Ikomi got bored designing jewellery, packed it all up and decided to venture into a vaguely familiar area - home decoration and furnishing. ”I have always loved anything that had to do with the home, but certainly with a twist, requiring unusual creativity. Furniture in Nigeria is always the same pattern and I thought of introducing something different. Besides, my homes have always been different; people come into my homes and go ‘wow!‘
”I felt people would want the same kind of reaction that my homes elicited so I decided to venture into it. Also, while in South Africa, I realised that they were big on matters of the home. You would see people‘s home looking incredibly amazing and stunning and I felt the same could be replicated here.”
After running Home and Fabrics for a year in South Africa, she relocated to Nigeria and continued with the business. Even though most of the pieces she churns out from her factory keep people coming back for more, Ikomi did not acquire any formal training for what she says she is now very passionate about.
“While in South Africa, I was the cook and the driver. I had to take care of four kids, etc. There was no time to attend any school, so I simply attended a few online courses, bought a lot of books on home and décor, which helped because I love to read.”
She confesses that her line of business is here to stay, as she has no plan to shift her focus unto some other venture. ”This is it; it is my final bus stop, if I am permitted to say so, because I enjoy what I do. I love the satisfaction I see on my clients‘ faces when I get a job done for them. That gives me so much joy than making jewellery could have done. Jewellery is good but still vanity. A home is much more important because a home represents peace, which is where all forms of stress melt away when you step in. It should be a haven.”
The first child of Akanbi and late Abeke Lawal, the Iwo, Osun State indigene, remembers her growing up years as one filled with fun, warmth and so much love. She grew up basically in the North where she had most of her schooling. Her father, who is still alive, was an ex-banker with First Bank of Nigeria, while her mother was a big time business woman who travelled the world. She admits that her mother‘s business traits strongly rubbed off on her and didn‘t doubt that were her mother still alive, she would have been doing business on a larger scale and doing much better than she is doing already, being an easily contented person, quite unlike her late mother who was a goal getter.
Sadly, she recalls, the death of her mother was one of the greatest challenges in her life, as she wasn‘t prepared for it when it happened.
”I was young and had just started life. It took me two years to get over her death, but with the help of my husband, I was able to get over the grief. My mum was like the key that held the family together. I am very much like my mum - very vibrant, full of life, fashionable, someone that could be looked up to. She was just 51 when she died.
”After I got through that, I became a stronger woman because I realised that life could always throw things at you, but one‘s ability to deal with them is what defines one. People say I am always so happy, but I do have my difficult moments just like every other person; but when I look at my kids, my family, my business, I just thank God for everything. They are my greatest achievement in life - my family and my business.
”I don‘t think I would be who I am today without my family, that is where I get my source of strength and of course, God, who is very key because no matter where you are, it is because God wants you to be there. Also, my husband who supports me and lets me be who I am. My job involves a lot of travelling. I can get up now and say ‘honey, I need to travel to go get some stuff,‘ and he would allow me. If he was a hindrance to my business, my business won‘t even grow; I won‘t even amount to anything.”
Asked how she combines motherhood with the rigours of running a business, the English education graduate of Ahmadu Bello Univeristy, Zaria, replies that she simply tries to find a balance between the two. ”I love my business very much but I also love my family; so, combining the two has been a bit tricky. There are so many things I could be doing, but when duty calls as a mother, I just drop whatever it is I am doing. I have a seven-year old son and whenever he needs my attention, I put whatever it is I‘m doing on hold.”
Married to Delta State born Oti, her husband of 17 years, her smile widens as she reels out the qualities that attracted her to him. ”He is a good looking, intelligent and calm person. I had always wanted to marry someone like my dad who is much grounded, so I prayed about it and God brought my husband. My husband is a wonderful man; if I have to score him, I would give him a 110 per cent. He is the best any one could ever wish for, this isn‘t a cliché, but the truth.
”My husband is the type that, when given a list of things to buy whenever he travels, he would buy all and even more, not minding that he is a busy bank executive. He would take his time to buy the items on the list given to him, no matter how mundane they may be. His is a committed family man, not the type you find up and down; his family comes first.”
And how does this stylish beauty unwind? ”I love music, I buy loads of gadgets to support my music interest. There is no gadget related to music that I do not have; as it is coming out, I am buying it. I also like to hang out with my friends, what with the way things are going; one needs some sort of distraction. So, the company of good friends would help douse the tension around one.”
Ikomi, who is also an exercise freak, is a big advocate of doing to others what one would expect in return. ”I am not perfect, but I really try to be fair. I try not to judge people. I also like to give people a long stretch before I get to a breaking point. I also prefer to be the woman with a large heart, rather than the woman who is being seen as wicked. The kind of legacy I want to leave behind is that I came, I did good and I left.”
Source:Punch
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