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By Christy Anyanwu
Ndidi Obioha is a renowned Nigerian entrepreneur, event planner and fashion stylist. She is the chief executive officer of Enthyst Events Limited and has been in the industry for over two decades. Ndidi is known for her exceptional style, creativity and attention to detail. She is a stylist and fashion consultant, offering services such as wardrobe styling, makeup and accessories.
She has a lifestyle shop where she sells home décor items, gifts and other luxury goods.
In this chat, she gave some insights into her life, business and plans for the future.
What’s been keeping you busy lately and what’s new to your world?
We’ve been preoccupied with events, which is what we’re known for, and the interesting thing is that we’re getting more and more challenging events.
Clearly, the event industry is evolving. It’s getting more competitive with ideas and creativity, which is fantastic. That’s what makes it challenging. Each event challenges you to think more, to be more out of the box, to be more creative, and to keep doing something different all the time.
That’s enough to totally keep us busy. So that has been very preoccupying for us. And the good thing is that, you know, we’re expanding, we’re being able to reach out to more and more clients in the different sectors of the industry out there, from corporate events to social events, a lot of high-profile weddings, birthday parties and so on.
And what is new in our world is that we moved to a bigger space. We’re working on something that we’re going to launch next year, by God’s grace.
What advice would you offer to an individual that wants to come into the event and fashion space?
First, a lot of people go ahead and get theoretical knowledge of whatever industry they’re going into, which is like what we’re studying in universities and all that. You’re just getting theoretical knowledge, but it doesn’t end at that.
It’s very important that you combine it with practical experience, which is by signing up with an event company to probably do your internship, working for some time to get enough experience, build yourself and then attending trade shows or conferences to equip you with knowledge of what to know. That is, practical knowledge about the industry, and all of this will help you to better understand the expectations and what your deliverables are, and also better build a good network for yourself, with various individuals that have performed components in the industry. For instance, when you go to trade shows, you meet different vendors that also bring their services to the event space, from the technical aspect to production, to set designs, to decorators, catering, entertainment, logistics, branding, assets management, event staffing, you know, all of these components make up the event industry; or at least these are all some of the vendors that we need to put together a good event. You end up meeting a lot of them at these trade shows and conferences.
There are also some courses during events, programmes and conferences that also teach further how to negotiate with your vendors, how to put together budgets, how to conceptualise certain briefs that you’re given, so that’s why the practical knowledge is very important, combined with the theoretical knowledge that you get in the field.
It’s very important that you equip yourself. You should go on to carve a niche for yourself. You find one and you decide what part of the event space you want to play in. Decide if you want to be a decorator, or if you want to be a technical person providing all the stage components, sound, lights and all that. Do you want to be an event consultant, an event planner? Do you want to be just a coordinator? As a planner, you also coordinate. So, when you go for all those conferences or trade shows, you tend to meet all of these different people, relate with them, and it helps you understand the overall space and individual spaces better, and decide where you want to play. After deciding that, you carve a niche for yourself, where you think you fit best, other than that, it helps you market your brand better and creates a brand identity. By creating a cohesive, visual brand, it all helps you do your best.
It’s important to attend trade shows, so that you see what’s the trend out there that you want to probably invest in or stock in your store. Attend trade shows, attend fashion exhibitions, as a fashion person, because you must keep up with trends. At the end of it all, you should be able to push your brand out there.
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I remember, when I started, a lot of how I got my customers for the fashion business was the fact that I would wear something people would like. Every time I stepped out in an outfit, people would want me to source that outfit for them. That’s when I decided I might as well open my own store and make this available to the people.
The truth is that event planning is a lifestyle thing. Fashion is also a lifestyle. They marry very well together, and I think that’s one of the things that have helped us succeed pretty well in both spaces.
How would you describe your fashion style?
I describe my fashion style as ‘less is more.’ I try to make my fashion style show my confidence. I don’t have to wear too much, to be safe. And it’s all about putting together a clean, refined, neat look. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes, depending on what events I’m attending, I can be glamorous but in a subtle, elegant way. I believe that my style is not based on trends. It’s about what fits and what I’m comfortable in. Elegance is very important for me. I don’t let my outfits overshadow my personality. I like being the one wearing the outfit. My style is a reflection of my personality. I try to make my pieces. I like timeless pieces. So, that’s what my style is.
How does fashion contribute to confidence and self-expression?
I’ve always believed fashion to be a powerful tool that helps to boost one’s confidence and self-expression, not just because of the clothes but more because of the message that it helps us send out there.
As we know, with fashion, the first impression matters when it comes to your looks. How we dress is often the first thing people notice. That’s why they say you’re addressed the way you’re dressed.
Wearing something that aligns with who you are or how you want to be perceived can give you a different boost of self-confidence and assurance. So, when fashion is about comfort, individuality and poise, it becomes a form of silent strike, but it is to that individual. It is a very powerful tool to boost anyone’s confidence if the fit is right, if the lines are clean. And
It is important to dress for the right occasion. Usually, I try to make my pieces a bit of my personality. I like timeless pieces.
With your experience putting together high-profile events, what strategies have helped you thrive in the industry?
Strategies that helped me thrive in this industry are really countless, ranging from being able to adequately communicate with my clients to understanding their vision, their mission and objectives, especially for the corporate clients.
When it comes to pay, the normal social events and weddings, it is about understanding the personality of the clients that we are working for. This also applies to the vendors that we work with. We make sure we build a strong client base and vendor base, in the sense that, with our vendors, whatever time we call on them, they respond. That’s why a lot of people call us ‘ HYPERLINK “http://lastminute.com/” \t “_blank” lastminute.com’ when it comes to planning. We can plan any event. We just need a day’s notice, because our vendors are always available to us, because of the kind of relationship we’ve developed with a lot of our vendors.
With our clients, we’ll be able to understand their needs, their brief, conceptualize it, define it as it best suits that event that we’re putting together for them, and this applies to all the events that we do.
In addition, there is the fact that one is creatively blessed with a fantastic team that can conceptualize properly every brief that we’re given, and every event speaks for itself. We also pay attention to detail, and we are very professional in our delivery.
These are some of the strategies that we’ve used to definitely keep ourselves in business and attain a higher profile. .
What valuable life lessons have you learned throughout your journey?
Working in the event industry teaches you that flexibility is power. Things will inevitably go wrong, but your ability to adapt with calmness and grace is what truly defines your success. One of the most valuable lessons is that authentic relationships matter far more than just having a large contact list. Clients, vendors, and guests are drawn to people they trust, not just those with impressive resumes. In this industry, you realize that details create experiences. A small, thoughtful gesture can shape how someone remembers an entire event. This trains you to be more observant and mindful in all aspects of life.
Another key realisation is that passion doesn’t eliminate hard work. Loving what you do makes the effort worthwhile, but it doesn’t make it easy. The long hours and emotional investment are part of the package but they become meaningful when driven by purpose. You begin to understand that your work reflects who you are, even when no one knows your name. The consistency, excellence and values you bring to each project form the core of your personal and professional brand.
