Queen Omaje on plans for XWA and the idea behind XPERIENCE Blog

Queen Omaje celebrates real women with true stories on her blog, XPERIENCE. She is presently the brand ambassador for TWON by Jane. She is set to celebrate her 22nd Birthday on 23 April with XPERIENCE MEDIA LAUNCH/WOMANITY AWARDS, an event aimed to celebrate hardworking women. In this exclusive interview, she opens up on what the event is about and her love for celebrating real women with true stories. You sure would want to know what inspired her blog that is all out for women, and how she's been doing it. Check out..

What inspired your blog? : I have always had this drive to celebrate women, to applaude their hard work and let the world know they are worthy of emulation. Plus my love for the media, and I also love bringing the finishing touch to anything I see, making it better and presentable, I have the grace to make things look better, with or without initial knowledge of it, I drive deep for near perfection. So the combination of all those made me say to myself, you can make this blog happen, why not put your skills together, make mistakes and get better.   

What reactions did you get from the people with whom you shared the idea of your blog and how did that affect you? : First of all was the name I chose "the XPERIENCE" they where like, 'haba this thing is everywhere na, choose something else', I always say to them this is my brand and I'm building, my aim is to collect people's XPERIENCE and have others learn from it.  The other was my niche, they kept saying 'why is it only for women?' 'This thing won't work ooo'. I just make it clear to them that I am not a feminist or a gender equality activist, I am aimed to celebrate women, to bring to spotlight their struggles and achievements. There by applauding them and encouraging others who would definitely be watching.   

Compare your blog readership and the readership you anticipated before you started blogging? : My aim was not the readership, I just wanted to do something with rich content. But I have over 15,000 viewers now. Not so much but I'm OK with it.  

What fears did you have about the blog and how did you beat them? : Fears.....Critism was my fear, people finding fault in my blog and all, but I had to encourage myself and get it going.  

What challenges do you face running a blog that celebrates women : No challenges, most people just dont like the fact that it's just about women, so they didn't identify with me at the early stage, but now they believe more in the brand, because we didn't stay back with all that negativity, we pushed on.  

How do you react to negative reactions and feedback from your readers? : I had less of that, but most of the times, I ignore or then take heed of what they talk about, if there is some truth in it.   

What is your view on the notion that successful women pose a threat to the male gender, affecting their chances of getting married? : *laughs* That is dumb to think, any man who sees a successful woman should count himself lucky because she has the ability of making him super successful. The bible says he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from God, so they should stop chickening out and ask a lady to marry them. Then the ladies, should tone their glamour a little, too much of that scare most of them a lot. Truely, but a man should not use a woman's success as an excuse for not marrying her.   

What is your definition of a successful woman? : A successful woman is a woman who has been able to fulfil her God given purpose, because we all are different and sent on different missions, you can't call my success your success, so if you fulfil your God given purpose you're a success.   

What is XWA about and how did you conceive the idea? : I have had this idea a long time ago, it's a recognition platform for hardworking women.   

How do you define hardworking women? : Results are the definition of every hardworking woman. Once you are providing results in your endeavor that means you definitely must have been working, there is no magic to success, hard work is its content .

What plans do you have to run XWA in subsequent years? : We have big plans oo. Anyway, just watch as it goes.  

What should be expected from the programme in the nearest future? : Expect to see real women with true stories, being recognized.   

Your role model(s) : I would rather say people I admire, Betty of Genevieve magazine, Mo Abudu of Ebonylife TV, Madam Jane Gam-Dede of Dipcreek magazine, ASA the musician, Maryam ELISHA of Rikaoto by me.  

Your words to other young Nigerian women? : In the journey of success, hard work is inevitable, so the day you choose hardwork success sets in.