Celebrity event planner and CEO of Newton & David, Uche Majekodunmi, who opened her floral shop recently recounts her life and passion for flowers in this interview with Juliet Bumah
Apart from the floral business, what else do you do?
I do everything, including events management, brand orchestration, window display, floral design and decor. It is all about the production of exceptionally creative concepts and delivering unforgettable events, stunning designs and awesome decor.
Is Newton and David a combination of yours and your husband’s name?
My father is Newton and my husband, my grandfather and my late brother all bear David.
How did you get into this business?
I started off with interiors, doing flowers in the church Also, I love gardening and I would sometimes be asked to arrange the flowers at a neighbour’s wedding. I did that for free over a period of time until I realised I could actually do it as a business and make a living from it.
What do you find fascinating about flowers?
Flowers are life, they are natural, they are part of greens, God’s gift to us. They are beautiful, soothing, nice and inspiring.
You are a society lady but one hardly sees you at social events. Why are you so reserved?
I believe that relationships should be meaningful. If my friends are doing something, I am very much part of it because I love them dearly. I don’t just get up and just move around. I have to think before I move because I am old fashioned and I believe in relationships, love loyalty and kindness. I am critical and I believe in speaking my mind.
So if you want to relax and hang out, how do you do it? Do you just stay at home?
I go out with friends. Once in a while, I go clubbing. I like food. I eat out when I can. I go to see my friends and we bond, share jokes and laughter.
As a woman, does your business give you enough time for family?
I have enough time for my family but it is also a struggle. You have to keep juggling. Now if you want your family to have the things you had when you were growing, then you are going to have to have double income, you and your husband have to work. We are a double income family. It is not like in the time of our forebears where the woman had to sit in the house while the man goes out to work.
Given current economic realities, how much work do you think we need to put in in order to be able to support our families?
As much as is necessary.
As an Igbo woman, how do you cope being married to a Yoruba man for two and a half decades?
I couldn’t have married an Igbo man. If I was 20 years younger, I probably would have been married to an Igbo man. But my marriage is wonderful. Igbo men of my age group, unfortunately, I find heavy handed and insecure. Due to their fragile ego, they are under the impression that they have to press their wife under the carpet to feel like the man of the house. Yoruba men are civilised, confident. When I was of the marriageable age, Igbo men like my husband didn’t exist. He is a fully emancipated, confident man. He does have his issues like all men, but our union is a day in, day out work in progress thing. He is deep, quiet and kind.
As a florist and event planner, what does style mean to you?
Style is confidence. It is when you define and not get defined by the externals. You define what it has to be, you create your own style. I believe in confidence.
What is your favourite fashion accessory?
It depends. There was a blind woman in my church who was making bags. I liked the bags because they were very practical, the bags have outlasted a lot of other bags I have. Somebody once asked me to give her the name of the designer of the bags. So, it depends on how you are carrying whatever you have. Like I said, you have to define your style as opposed to everything defining you. Are you defined by bags, shoes and clothes?
You are a silver spoon lady, sort of?
Really? Is there anything like that? You see, that is the sad thing about our country Nigeria where we think Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are just sitting down and doing reality TV shows. They work hard. Paris Hilton probably puts in more than 90 hours a week; everything she carries around, she sells. She is selling the phone, the bags, the perfumes and others. Meanwhile, Nigerian children are sitting down and thinking that Paris Hilton does not work. It is very misleading. I don’t know what you call silver spoon. I cannot deny that I come from a privileged background. I have no apologies for the fact that I am among the fourth generation of educated people. However, I also come from a long line of people who work very hard. We believe in hard work, my mother was a teacher and an educationist, an inspector of schools and a disciplinarian. The older I get now, the more I appreciate her. She left her children with very strong values. She always said that if you are going to sweep, you have to be the best; if you are going to be doing events, you have to put in your best. It is not about silver spoon. If one generation is of a struggling background, the next generation that comes after it is going to be a silver spoon generation. What our government should promote is work, not dash. The meanest thing anybody can do to you is to give you money all the time. They want to keep you down; you have to get professional and proficient at something. I use a lot of artisans, my very good artisans bluff me. I call them my ogas. Usman, my carpenter, would boldly tell me that he can’t do something; and there is nothing I can do to him because he is good at what he does.
If you excel at what you do, that is where your power lies. But if you are not good at what you do, then you have no power.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Uche Majekodunmi. I am from Imo State, very proudly from Oguta in Imo State. I’m the first of five children; I’m married to a Yoruba man from Ogun State, we have been married for 27 years.