Before joining the Empower Her Ability project, Emenike Blessing Benedicta was already doing business, but she did not yet see herself as an entrepreneur. She sold foodstuff, baked, and supported event decoration, but her approach was informal. In her words, she was “just selling anyhow” — buying, selling, spending, and starting again without proper records or a clear understanding of profit and loss.
Through the Empower Her Ability project, Blessing received entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and exposure to new business networks. The sessions on branding, record keeping, financial management, and sourcing funds were especially transformative for her. She learned how to track income, separate capital from profit, buy in bulk to reduce transport costs, and make better decisions about where and how to restock her goods.
Today, Blessing speaks with greater confidence about her business and her identity as a woman with disability in entrepreneurship. She now keeps business records, understands when she is making a profit or loss, and has gained the courage to seek funding from family and microfinance sources. Beyond business growth, the project strengthened her self-belief and ability to advocate for herself and other women with disabilities.
Her remaining challenge is access to more capital. Blessing hopes to move her business to a better location, ideally a shop in a plaza, where she can display more goods and reach more customers. Still, her journey shows what becomes possible when women with disabilities receive the right mix of skills, mentorship, networks, and confidence.
Quote:
“The project was awesome. It helped us have a network of women with disabilities that you can relate with on issues concerning our business.”
