MY DREAM IS TO MAKE QUINCY HERBALS A WELL RESPECTED WORLD BRAND……….Tobi, Quincy’s daughter and MD Quincy Herbals

Managing Director of Quincy Herbals Tobi Ayodele-Keeney and the daughter of one of Nigeria’s high society women, Quincy Ayodele, the founder of Quincy Herbals. In this interview with Tobi, who is married to an American man revealed the challenges of taking over her mum’s business, and her vision for the brand.

When did you join Quincy Herbals?
I joined Quincy Herbals in 2010 when i came back to Nigeria from United States of America. And i officially took over as the Managing Director last year. It’s a family business, and we have been doing it for a very long time.

What have you done differently since you took over as the MD of Quincy Herbals?
What I did when i joined Quincy Herbals was to rebrand it because the world is evolving and we cannot afford to lay back, we just have to follow the trend. Before now, we are doing basically Television, radio and print forms of advertisement. We stepped up our game by going digital, and on social media so that we could be recognized abroad. That propelled us to taking our products to the United States of America in a way that people out there will be able to understand us. We started meeting with some manufacturers in America because in that country they don’t like using made in China products. They prefer made in America products, so from there we took our formula, and ideas and work with manufacturers so we were able to get our products produced for the American market. I think in 2015, we officially launched on Amazon.com. Amazon has Amazon.com for UK, US, Japan, Germany. Right now, we are on all the Amazon markets. We do natural weight loss and natural skin care. The products that we developed for the international market were our tummy blasting, slimming garri that is not made from cassava, we have launched this for the American market, and also in the Nigerian market. We have also launched a range of skin products. They are all of international quality. In America, majority of our customers do not know where we came from or who we are, they just know that our products are good and they are working for them. When i came on board, i didn’t change anything in terms of process of what we do and so on because whatever my mum has done was perfect for us. When i joined officially, i didn’t remove anything from her idea rather i added mine. I introduced the package of the cream inside bottle to make it look more presentable and acceptable anywhere in the world.

Aside the foregoing, what other services do you render?
We are a natural health company, the aim of our business is to get people to look more beautiful, to make people healthier and we do a lot of lifestyle, nutrition for healthy living. We realized that we, on most occasions go to our clients homes to cook their meals for them. We came up with Quincy Kitchen where we make healthy foods, different types of delicious Nigerian groomed meals for their general wellbeing and healthy body. We provide alternatives to rice and swallow foods in our Quincy Kitchen that are not imported. We researched locally, and came up with what is called Archa that is grown in the north, it’s a substitute for pounded yam. It can be ate the way people eat the normal swallow and there won’t be any side effect. We will start marketing it towards the end of this year.

How affordable are your products?
Relative to the nature of what we sell, our products are affordable. One naira, for instance can be affordable for something and can be very expensive for something else. Our products are affordable compared to other products of its kinds.

What about those that have one form of ailment or the other like high cholesterol, ulcer etc. Do you subject people to laboratory test before giving them what to eat?
At Quincy Herbals we believe in collaboration. My mum, Quincy Ayodele is a World Health Organization WHO expert, and African traditional medicine. Part of what the WHO has recommended is that there should be collaboration with African traditional medicine. We will not treat somebody for high cholesterol if there is no evidence of that. Normally when people come to our office, we will do their blood pressure, do their weight, and every necessary things we must do. We attend to them based on their medical history. I am a medical expert i can interpret results and also work with their doctors, we work on the natural front to make sure that everything works together.

What are the health benefits of having slim body stature?
Health benefit of having an ideal body weight is what i think we should look at and not other way round. Some people can be slim and be very unhealthy. If you have an ideal body weight for your age and height you will have a lower risk of developing stroke and heart attack. An average lifespan of a man in Nigeria is 50 years, while that of a woman is 55 years. That’s not long at all, and it’s mostly due to what we are eating. We have to encourage people to start eating healthy foods. We are not whites, and we’re trying to eat like the white people. Our bodies are meant to be active, not to be fat, and not meant to eat a lot of animal things. You will reduce the risk of having stroke or heart attack if you look slimmer. Because the heart is just like the size of our fist, pumping blood to all parts of our body. Imagine the same heart pumping twice its original size, that means it’s going to struggle and after awhile it can fail.
How fulfilled are you taking over your mum’s business?
I can’t say i am fulfilled because i am in my 30s. I have not reached anywhere in life. I am literally just starting my life. I am a mother of young children, i have only been married for 10 years. But am i satisfied with where i am in term of my role? I would say yes, i am satisfied. I have worked in corporations before now. I worked till when i started having children. I don’t have any closing time, and i plan my schedule.

What are the challenges you have faced taking up the family business?
The challenge is trying to re-orientate the people that my mum has been working with. It was challenging in the beginning trying to change our things are being run. But if you have a vision and you are determined and focus you will get it.

Does this job have any effect on your marriage?
It was my husband that encouraged me to work for the family. He even said if i start working for the family, he can stop his own work, and start to work in this business as well. He said why won’t i do it, that if i refused to do it who is going to do it?

Tell us your educational background?
I did my bachelors in bio-chemistry and psychology. I then do my Masters to be a nurse practitioner which is equivalent to a GP like a doctor, and not a consultant here in Nigeria. So i can prescribe and diagnose. I had worked in housing department, bank, customer service, i have headed several projects etc. All in the US.

One thing that sells so much in Nigeria is sexual enhancement medicine or sex boosting concoction. How do you cater for these people who want to boost their sexual life?
We are natural health centre, we do have a lot of people requesting for male and female enhancement and we do have them, we just don’t advertise them. So that it won’t take us away from the main purpose of what we are doing. We have been doing that since inception, even breast enlargement.

Tell us about your Easter Promo?
The Easter promo has started and it’s going to end by the end of this month of April. We urge people to take advantage of our discount on our products and services. We are also offering free products and services, we do that every time we do promo. We do this just to get people acquainted with other products we have.

You are married to a white American man. Was there any time you have a rethink that you should have married a Nigerian?
I think in any married woman’s life there come a time when you will say, why did i even marry this man? Whether is a white man, black man, or an European. The reason i could marry a white man is because i have lived my teenage years in the US so i have the mentality of how they think. I cannot marry an European man, he is white too. Most of them are not Christians, their mind-set is different from even an American man. I married a white man just because it happened that i found a man that i fell in love with to be white. Now, he’s a born again, he’s an usher in the church, he’s even more active in church than me. Some ladies come to me that they want to marry a white man like me and i tell them that if i was living here in Nigeria, i would have married a Nigerian. There are enough men here in Nigeria i can chose who to marry from. You don’t marry a white man because someone marries a white man. I got married when i was in the US. My parents even told me that whoever that talks to me, i should answer him because you don’t know who will be your husband, where he’s coming from. It was my parents that told me not to limit myself to Nigerian men, because before i had no interest in white man. One day, i took him to my friend party for him to get accustomed to normal Yoruba ‘Owambe’ party just to see how he can cope. I really ensure he get accustomed to my culture. I tell women to look for what you need, don’t marry because everybody is marrying. It’s not by force to marry. Know who you are, if you are a lazy person, marry someone that is hardworking. If you’re untidy person, marry someone who is tidy, don’t marry untidy person like you. I am very evolved in my culture. My husband has no problem with my culture, each time he sees my parents, he prostrates to greet them. He has been doing this since 2006, and he uses Sir whenever he talks to him. So, it’s about knowing who you are, and finding somebody that will match you.

What does your husband do for a living?
He’s a financial expert. He’s very good in figures, he’s the one that does most of the financial activities, the forecasting and whatnot. He is a business consultant. He’s helping to consult for us in that aspect of which i am not. Even my sister’s husband is a builder, he was the one that renovated the offices and advised on how to maximise our space for commercial use. And my sister is a legal practitioner, she does our legal operations. Everything runs in the family.