The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Optiva Capital Partners, a leading investment immigration wealth management company has advised women aspiring to make enduring marks in their career progression to learn to move from “success to significance.”
She stated this at the just concluded 23rd Annual Conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), which held in Lagos.
Drawing from her personal experience of transiting from over two decades of successful career in financial services to enterprise, she stated that one of the challenges is defining the what. According to her, every woman at any transition stage should define “what are you going to be doing as you talk about transition, what are you known for? What I have found true is to stay true to who you are, stay on your lane, find your area of service that is aligned to who you are, you don’t have to re-define yourself.”
Citing the growth trajectory of Optiva Capital Partners, Ms. Kimemia stated that “luckily for Optiva, I remember sitting together with the chairman in 2017, and the company was just about 15 people, and we drew on some manila paper, and the ambition was to get to 45 staff members, and that sounded so huge. But our chairman is a visionary, soon it was 200, soon it was 1000, and that’s who we are now, with over 17 branches, and 20 in the next few months.”
In her words, “be convinced about your what, because it keeps you motivated.”
Another factor she advised women on in their career journey is to “stay positive, look at the possibilities and define them, and be very clear about that, and also be realistic. You need to have the courage, the resilience, you need to stay the course, you need to have that reason that keeps you going because times are going to be tough. You need to be real that it is not going to be one success to another.”
Kimemia therefore offered some nuggets on how to always stay the course. According to her, “prepare, be so convinced about your course, be passionate about your course, your area of service that you will do it for free. Find the passion and the energy that is aligned to who you are.”
She also admonished her fellow women in management and business, at the well-attended two-day event to “prepare to be lonely. Time will come that you don’t belong to where you are coming from and you don’t belong to where you are headed to, you are somewhere in between. Try and define your journey because if you are not careful you can live your life facing the back saying I used to be this. Many people are held back by the past, the glory of the yesteryears. You have to make the distinction with your past which serves you but be careful to make the distinction. What got you here is important but it may not necessarily get you there.”
Ms. Kimemia who has been in the financial services sector for over two decades had worked for two international banks for a combined 20 years, rising up to Executive Director at Standard Chartered Bank in charge of wealth management services, foreign exchange and bancassurance services for a whole region.
She described Optiva Capital Partners as a wealth management company with focus on investment immigration, in which the company works with its clients on the acquisition of their second citizenship or permanent residency for a whole range of jurisdictions. According to her, “depending on what their needs are, is it global access, not necessarily migration, or is it for children’s education, we are able to develop bespoke solutions to take care of their needs.” Optiva Capital Partners other services include investment services/advisory, and insurance services.