Padebi...Making Life More Beautiful Inside Out

A 2005 graduate of Computer Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, Mrs. Padebi Ojomo is the brain behind Purple Signature, an outfit that specialises in interior decorations and designs. In 2010, she went to Sheffield School of Interior Designing in New York, United States of America to train as a professional and got a diploma in Interior Designs in 2011. She tells DAMILOLA ADEKOYA about her enterprise and experiences.

REALISING early in life her passion and flair for interior designs and decorations, Mrs. Padebi Ojomo summoned courage to start the business when she was in school. The mother of three kids said she was nott really enjoying the course she was studying in school at that time. So, she decided to do her own thing.

  “I actually read two books, that inspired me to want to go into my own business. The books are titled ‘Who moved my cheese,’ and Robert Kiozaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad.’ After reading those books, I realised that I could start practicing what I learnt in those books. So, I started thinking of what I could do and get very happy and satisfied, even without being paid, and the only thing I could think of at that point was interior decorations. 

  “I started by doing bed-sheets, duvets and curtains. But later in 2010, I went to Sheffield School of Interior Designing in New York, to be a professional, and I got a diploma in Interior Designs in 2011,” she said.

  Padebi says that it is not the best for one to rely on his or her certificate and that going to school to learn Interior Designs has opened her eyes to a lot of things concerning the job.

  “I noticed that what most people practice in this country, and they say they are doing interior designs, is what I describe as mumble-jumble. As a member of the American Society for Interior Designers (ASID), it has made a lot of difference, and it puts me in a different place from every other person. A design that a lay man sees and will say it is so beautiful, I will see that same design, and see so much wrongs in it.”

  Padebi describes her designs as romantic and flirty and the fact that she naturally has a flair for the colour, red has made her job indeed romantic.

  “Normally, when you think about red, which is associated with romance, you start thinking about some other things like the red candles, having a romantic dinner, and so on. Every interior designer has his or her own signature but my own designs, interpret my person. That does not mean I cannot interpret the specific designs of my clients. Any of my clients could want something that is not so edgy, I can actually work with it, and that is exactly one trait of a professional,” she assures.

  The interior designer whose works include throw pillows, wall designs, flower vases, cabinet making, furniture and curtains says she never regrets going into the business, because it has been quite a lucrative profession for her. In the eight years she has been into it, she has not for once, looked back, even sometimes when the stress of the job seems to urge her to get another job. But each time she thinks of an employee, waking up and hitting the road very early in the morning, just to avoid being late to work, she prefers to be independent.

  “One could make some good money, just for a job and might be lucky to get that kind of job like twice every month. So it actually depends on so many things like your clientele, your client’s pocket, the location and so on,” She said.

  Padebi who got the idea of training people in becoming good interior designers, started out that in 2010. She has trained a lot of people including bankers, journalists, presenters, students, graduates who are still seeking for jobs and so many other people who are experts in their own fields.  She is also currently involved in the monthly training of about 40 corps members at a go, in Lagos, but those who are under the Job and Skill Acquisition (JASA) scheme.

  “I am not bothered about people’s attendance, during the training, she says. All I am concerned with is the output of the people I train; how well they are being able to do what they are being taught. Although, attendance has been quiet impressive, but what really gives me joy, is that most of the people I have trained, have actually started their own businesses. It is a good thing when you see people that you train setting up their own business, and also get to train people as well. It makes you very happy and fulfilled, because this whole idea is also to empower young people, so, they can even be better than me. If people are not empowered in the society, they cannot empower other people,” she submits.

  The management of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is already making it compulsory for corps members to embrace skill acquisition, including hairdressing, cosmetology, dressmaking and so on. The board sees it as a need for them to be able to learn something that can be a stream of income for them, instead of depending only on their certificates,” she says.

  Explaining what challenges she faces concerning the job, Padebi points out inadequate electricity as a major challenge. She says, for instance, furniture making, which also involves the job of an interior designer, needs electricity to be available at all times, especially the finishing of the furniture. She further explains that she bills her clients more, if there is no electricity supply to carry out the job.

  Another challenge she is faced with is working with artisans because of their poor level of professionalism, and communication. She says there is a need for artisans to be very professional and that they should be able to communicate their ideas, issues, or even write out quotations in a clear and conscientious manner. But the reverse, she says, is the case.

  She says also that some clients make the job challenging for her, by telling her that they don’t have a budget. She says that the job becomes easier, if their clients can draw a budget for their interior designs.

  “If they can draw a budget of the designs they want to do, the job will be a lot more easier, because by that, we can know if the money is enough for either a marble tile, a rug or a rubber carpet,” she advises.

   Averring that it is one job she would advice her daughter to go into, Padebi adds, “The job is not so time consuming, once you have a good team you can rely on, then you must be able to strike a balance between your job and your family. All you need is to keep checking on them and make sure the fishing is good.

  “But, there are some days that you have to work late, because some clients are going to be very demanding. Sometimes, you have to work weekdays, weekends even on public holidays. So, someone that is self-employed does not have a day off. You are on calls 24 hours. If your customers need your services by seven o’ clock in the morning, you have to be there on time.”

  Padebi who is a native of Sagbama Local Government, Bayelsa State is married to a Yoruba man. She relates her success to the support she has received from her family. “But talking about the reaction of my husband to my kind of job, he has been so supportive. I could remember the time we just met, I told him that my job is my passion, and I will not sacrifice my job for any other thing and I am happy he respects my decision concerning that. And concerning my children, they also understand the type of job I do. Everything still boils down to striking a balance between my job and my family.”

  Padebi says she has been to several states in the country doing her work. It is such that the enterprise is growing so well that they have got calls from some other neighbouring countries such as Gambia, Ghana and Gabon to train some of their youths.

   Her advice to Nigerian youths goes thus: “Apart from the interior designing business, I also advise Nigerian youths to start involving themselves in skills they feel they can do. People will always want to make dresses, make their hairs, have a new home to design and some others things like that. If one knows how to do any of these things, one will not go hungry.

  For Nigerian women, she says they should be “involved in skill acquisition. At the end of the day, when they start working for themselves, even if they feel they are not earning much from it, at least, they will have the time to take care of their children and their spouse can in one way or the other, support them in any type of business they have decided to go into, instead of going out very early in the morning and coming back late at night, and the children are asleep before you are back.”