When in May,

take flight

May started in the sky for me. I had to go to Accra for a conference at the beginning of the month, and what was meant to be a quick work trip turned into one week in a city that used to mean a lot to me. Accra was once my comfort city. Before 2022, I had been there four times. I even used it to escape heartbreak in the same year. I stopped going because it became too expensive and, as a financially smart, occasionally frugal babe, I could no longer justify the spend when Benin Republic and Togo were sitting right there... But this trip reminded me why I loved Accra so much in the first place. I also got to reconnect with an old friend I had not seen since the last time I was there, which made the whole trip feel even more full-circle.

From Accra, I returned to Lagos and went straight into planning mode for the relaunch of Active Lifestyle. And when I say planning, I mean PLANNING. This relaunch has been in motion since the 5th of January, when I posted my unaccomplishment cake video. I got my first batch of restock in February, and since then it has been samples, iterations, returns, adjustments, spending money, spending more money, and trying to make sure that when this business came back into the world, it did so properly. May was the month it all finally came together.

And thank God, because the event was a success.

I sold out an entire carton of activewear at the pop-up. That may sound small to some people, especially those with bigger businesses or larger numbers, but for a business like mine, which is not exactly a major name in this industry, it felt huge. We made ₦1,385,000 in sales, recorded over 45% goodwill for the business, received two potential stockist requests, and built the kind of community that makes an event feel like more than just sales. It felt like proof of life. ALS is alive!!

May was also generous to me in other ways. So many desires I had from the beginning of the year started to bloom. My travel business is still doing well. We are now officially at 13,000 followers, which is almost 5,000 more than the last time I wrote a newsletter, and our clients keep increasing. We have already secured five approved visas for some of April’s clients(Somebody shout power), which is a beautiful thing to witness when you are building something that people trust with such important parts of their lives.

My budget hair business also made progress this month. I received two batches of samples, tested the products, and I think I am finally at the point where I can stop overthinking and just sell. Which is convenient, because people have already started buying and almost all my samples are gone. More stock is on the way, so let us see where that goes.

I also finally repaired my car.

This deserves its own paragraph because that car has been parked by the roadside in my estate for five months, looking sad and abandoned. It was not even that I could not afford to fix it. I had just been prioritizing other things because I want a new car, and somehow that made it easier to neglect the one I already had. But one day I looked at it and remembered that when I desperately needed mobility, that car came through for me. I bought her at 28 and she has served me well for four years. Yes, she is nearing the end of her life and definitely due for a change, but she did not deserve abandonment. So I fixed her, and in the sweetest turn of events, she really came through for me during the pop-up launch. We went back and forth to the venue in that car, and I felt weirdly emotional about it. There is a sweet lesson in there about being taken care of by the things you once worked hard to buy.

In between all of this, I did some more planning for another multi-country trip. I will be heading to Spain first for my business school residency, and then on to a few more countries that I will save for next month’s newsletter because some suspense is healthy.

Fitness, however, was not my strongest ministry in May. I was juggling about ten identities in my bare hands, so the full routine suffered. I did keep up with walking and I am pretty sure I hit 10,000 steps every day, but because my proper fitness routine has three parts and I only managed one, I am calling it a fail. Or at best, a very reluctant pass.

Still, I made it through the month healthy, which I do not take for granted. Considering how much I had on my plate, I was genuinely afraid of breaking down or falling sick, and thankfully, that did not happen.

So I think if I had to describe May in one sentence, I would say this: it was a month of small personal victories where I was not afraid to take flight.

Things I loved this month

Reconnecting with Accra.
Seeing and spending time with Carin again after four years.
All the money I made in May.
My health miraculously holding up and holding me down.
My best friend traveling all the way from Delta to help me with the pop-up.Finally relaunching ALS
Finally getting my car off the road.

Things I hated this month

All the money I spent in May.
I hated that I barely got enough rest.
I hated that I could not commit to fitness the way I usually do.
And I especially hated corporate finance.

My MBA cohort started a new finance course this month, and let me just say that however bad you think financial analysis was, corporate finance is worse. It is the devil. The only good news is that confidence grows after you survive things. I was terrified of financial analysis, and even though corporate finance is harder, I am not as scared because I already passed the big bad monster. The exam is in June, so we shall see what the Lord will do.

See you next month, never stop finding your way.

With love,
Amaka