What it Takes to Become a CEO
“I Am African & I Can” is a women’s empowerment blog highlighting stories of Black women’s struggles and successes.
By Hadiatou Wann | 12/10/21
In the midst of the COVID pandemic, when the transportation and hospitality industry was heavily affected, Bria Okonkwo being a serial entrepreneur knew it was the right time to launch a revolutionary business idea she had been working on that aims to make Africa a desirable place to visit.
Born to a mother who was a nurse and father who was a dual mastered engineer, Bria never felt like she could not attain any goal due to her gender. In fact, her father always showed off to his friends that his daughters could do what men could as well.
From when she studied in Nigeria, to when she moved to the West, Bria was always an overachiever. Once, when she walked into registrating at Uni, she was mistakenly called Brian since the engineering program was male dominated--a program where only 3 to 4 out of 100 students were females.
What sparked the founding of AvanteFly?
While in the pursuit of her EMBA in the prestigious London Business School, Bria was one day in the presence of a friend who pulled out his phone and shared his plans to reschedule his private jet travel. Attentive Bria took mental notes, she went home and downloaded the app. She was amazed at the technology and how easy it was to navigate. This sparked the idea to bring the same concept to the motherland.
She already knew 3 people with jets, and only needed to put a plan in place. In the middle of a pandemic, she had flown back to Nigeria to inspect a few jets and learnt as much as she could about operations. She then put together a team and successfully launched AvanteFly with minimal financial support from investors.
Bria notes that often, the West has programed people to think that Africa is not associated with luxury. Founding AvanteFly is her bold statement to the world, hoping to change the narrative of people’s perception of Africa.
Some assume that AvanteFly is akin to Bookings.com or the Uber for private jet. However, it provides much more. Whether people are looking to book jets, helicopters, hotels, meeting spaces or luxury cars, AvanteFly aims to close the gap in the concierge space, be transparent and a real time ecosystem for luxury. In place is a call center that operates 24/7.
Since its inception, AvanteFly has opened 3 offices with the head office in her native country, Nigeria. Within 5 years, AvanteFly is projected to expand to other African countries, own and operate about 100 jets and be dubbed a “super connector.”
Although her business has grown rapidly within a short period, Bria admits that the secret to being efficient is prioritizing and not expecting to have everything together before a business launch. “Sometimes we want everything at once, which never really happens,” she said. In the early stages of building a company, Bria advises business owners to focus less on having everything and put in place only what is a necessity. For her, having an office space was necessary to create trust and a face to the brand due to our clientele and the high prices of our services.
Bria is observant and studies people off the bat. “Your first intuition about a person is never wrong,” she says. This CEO is very intentional about who she hires. A proponent of giving women opportunities, Bria ensures that 70% to 80% of the people she hires are women. Not only that, but she also has an eye that can easily pinpoint someone’s talent(s).
One day, a young lady who recently graduated, was invited to AvanteFly to seek employment as a receptionist. She had finish the interview process with HR and Bria was invited to meet the new recruit in the last stage of the recruitment process. When Bria met her and saw her CV, she quickly told HR that she could not hire her as a receptionist and had her interview for a more senior position. “I instantly knew that she was more than a receptionist,” Bria recognized. And Bria was right about her first impression of her. This lady did exceptionally well when interviewed and joined the team. She is currently one of her top performers.
Bria creates a work environment where all her employees feel special, heard, and included. “Most of the time her employees do not want to leave the office even after work hours,” she pointed out. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the entire team wears black - for a classy and simple look as they head outside of the office and interact with clients and/or potential clients.
As the founder and CEO, having a vision for the company is easy. What she finds challenging is trying to integrate a vision to the rest of the team. Aside from ensuring that results are measured at the end of every meeting, Bria invests heavily on her employees’ personal development by holding weekly classes that build their software, industry knowledge and presentation skills, and then holds them accountable. She provides the tools for them to learn and puts them on the spot to test how much they can apply. Their weekly goals include Building proposals, updates on international, local and industry news, creating presentations for clients, and departmental reports.
At the workplace Bria is focused, firm, and goal driven. At home, she is considered the joker. When she is not answering emails, running meetings, submitting proposals, and managing teams at work, you can find her at home playing games and dress up with her kids (2 daughters and son who are aged 12, 10, and 7). The 7-year-old, “mini-CEO,” already walks around the house claiming that she wants to be like her mum.
“Sometimes as a mum, you feel guilty about time spent away from the family but you have to be intentional and create the right balance in the various hats we as women have to wear” Bria expressed. As a former consultant, she gained the skills necessary to be a CEO, and emphasizes the need for women to learn time management.
Apart from launching a luxury brand, Bria wants to make her family proud and show that a Black woman can work hard, go back home, and conquer the world. She has not only gone back home to invest in the motherland, but she is also mentoring and building future leaders. Bria’s success is a testament that if we are determined to succeed, even a pandemic cannot halt our dreams.
Inside the Life of An Entrepreneur
“Success is doing what makes you happy.”
“I have the best team! I have a strong executive team that makes me look good. They are the backbone of AvanteFly.”
“A strong woman is someone who can hold her head up high and back up the decisions she makes.”
Connect with Bria:
Instagram: @avantefly
Facebook: AvanteFly
Email: bria@avantefly.com
Website: avantefly.com
Read other success stories here: www.iamafricanandican.com/blog
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