Former Miss Uganda 2008, businesswoman and philanthropist, Dorah Mwima Barack has said that it was during the Covid-19 lockdown that she realized how impactful social media can be.
In an interview with Crystal Newman on The Groove Cafe, Mwima explained that the lockdown gave her and her business an exciting experience, adding a strong pillar to it.
“The lockdown taught me a lot. I never knew the power of social media until the lockdown happened. Some businesses take social media for granted. When the lockdown happened, I was stll able to reach most of my customers via social media and Whatsapp. Most of the customers up to today prefer having goods delivered to them rather than shopping for themselves because of safety concerns,” she said.
Known for having a youthful body, many get puzzled at how the mother of five has been able to keep her figure in shape over the years. One of the secrets she revealed was using her own products called Queen Ma.
“I've always used my life journey to inspire others and in the process, I've engaged with a lot of young mothers. I realized that it has to go beyond giving them motivational talk, but also providing products that will ensure a healthy and safe journey for the mother and her little one.”
She said additionally, “So Queen Ma is all about redefining motherhood and the journey that I have personally embarked on. Baby Sibella came at the right time when I had just launched the brand and was about three or four months pregnant. God was like, ‘You need to practically go through this journey with other women.’ So when my body went through different changes, it was an amazing journey not only as a mother of five but also using my own pregnancy experience to inspire other women.”
Mwima disclosed that the idea for the products came to her during the lockdown where almost every income generating activity was shut down. She instead spotted an opportunity to make money off baby and women products after noticing a spike in pregnancies with many women seeking out her advice on how to manage body changes.
She said that the products have helped and appealed to the needs of mothers and pregnant women, enabling them to get back in shape and avoiding any unwanted effects that result from the process.
“It's quite a wide range of products, we are still launching and have just launched our weight-loss tea. We do not say that you will lose 7 kilos by drinking the tea alone. We are saying that in order to lose those kilos, you have to think healthy, spend some time alone, play and dance to some music because as women we wear many hats. We are wives, mums, we are businesswomen so get some time alone.”
As a successful business woman, yet a wife and mother, Mwima disclosed that performing all her duties have been achieved through establishing a schedule and having a supportive partner that keeps the schedule running.
In business, she attributed her success to training her workers to get the experience that will give customers total satisfaction. “Take time in training and be on the ground from time to time. If you are all about ordering them to do things without seeing you engaging, you'll have a team that is used to being pushed around, because when I am there and they see how I do things, at least they can imitate and try to create something similar,” she advised.
She said success in business includes motivating, empowering and training one’s team as a strong basis for prosperity.
Dorah Mwima was crowned Miss Uganda in 2008 at the age of 18 representing Uganda in the Miss World competitions in South Africa. She is married to Nader Barak and is a mother to five and Founder of the Dorah Mwima Foundation.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5pm on RX Radio.
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