The power of skills

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog. Growing up I didn't believe in learning skills. I believed education is the only thing I needed and so I should focus more on my studies and get good grades.

My parents tried to convince me about learning a skill. I gave it a try but I was impatient for 5 months. I have been attending a fashion designing training but learn nothing. For 5 months all I could do was just ironing clothes, applying stone designs on clients' clothes and running some errands. Then when it's time to cut the fabric everyone is just standing and watching my boss cut the fabric and take the measurements.

Like seriously, my teachers at school don't just write at the board or dictate the words and expect us to understand without explaining.
And I believe it should be applicable to learning a skill. I expect my boss to put us through.

When we want to make use of the machines at the shop to practice. Our seniors will forbid us from using it. And their reason is because when damages occur we will all be punished.

I was frustrated and entirely discouraged. I couldn't continue that way so I quit.
My mum kept complaining but I was not interested at all.
I started to believe maybe because I'm not so good at maths probably that's why i never understood the measurements.

And then I got to a higher institution. I felt intimidated. I was ashamed of myself. I started comparing myself to other colleagues who don't need to call their parents all the time for allowance. Some of my colleagues are creative. Some are hair stylists, fashion designers, resin artists, and some sell clothes.

And I envy their efforts to be creative and do something legal.
All I do is study, watch movies during my spare time, eat and sleep. Same routine until my final year.

I was scrolling through Facebook and I came across my mentor's post. I have been following this lady for months. She happens to be the reason why I make use of my Facebook account. Because every week she would post her craft.
Her brand name is ivy crochet. She is so creative and beautiful and I love all her crochet pieces.

One day I summoned the courage and messaged her. I was surprised she replied. And I ask if she can be my tutor. At first she hesitated and her reasons were understable. She didn't believe I was serious but I promised her I was sincerely interested in learning crochet.
She gave me the list of materials I will need for my training and also my tutorial fee.
I got my materials and she said she will tutor me for just 1 month.
I thought to myself “I can't learn fashion design for 5 months and I want to learn crochet within one month.”

I easily get discouraged. I was in-between learning or not.
And I choose to learn. We started with the basic stitches and little projects like hats, shrugs, bikinis, scrunchies and some other beginner projects and I ended my training in one month.
I haven't seen this woman physically and I'm glad she was real. Because at first I thought I was going to get scammed.

After a month I chatted with her and sought business advice from her because I planned to build my brand.
She gave me a lot of business tips and shared her crochet journey with me.

And from there I start small.
I started with hats and I got my first order from Lagos Nigeria. I was so excited and more orders kept coming. It was a big achievement for me. My friends stop calling me zali.B but C.E.O

I always admire anything connected to art and craft. And i have always wished to create something with my hands that people will be able to talk about the details and more.

And I achieved that. My skills are not all about the income it generates for me. Words alone can't express how I feel when I get client reviews about how they love my piece. Or pictures of my client slaying my brand.

And yes I won't skip the fact that my skills helped me during my final year. It was overwhelming and I could settle some bills with my skills and also assist my parents.
And also I joined a few crochet communities and I got to connect with a lot of people within and outside my country.
I am a professional crochet artist and I'm proud of my skills.
Thank you for stopping by.☺️
All pictures are mine.
Bye for now

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