Our Own Inspiration: Meet Ese, Founder of Emora Event Services

Last updated on March 22nd, 2025 at 04:48 am

The past weekend had been a busy one, and for the new week, thanks to our schedule, I’m super excited to bring in our CEO and Founder of Emora Event Services, Eseoghene Oghenerhoro.

I’m excited about the whole thing, and today, she’s going to take us through the fascinating story of how she went from studying Biochemistry to orchestrating some of the most talked-about events in town. So let’s get into it. It’s quite cold right now.

It’s one of those times of the year when the weather acts funny. I’m star-struck and pretty nervous too, you know, the howling wind keeps piercing through the air and making these noises. This hot coffee is not doing it for me, you know, I hardly take coffee. So how about you, ma? How are you feeling today?

●I’m okay. I’m feeling great, it’s all good, and thank you for having me here today.

So a lot of people want to know. How did you come about the name ‘Emora’, and what inspired you to make the leap from science to starting your own event planning company in 2020?

●Okay, about the name Emora, Emora was an instant gratification name for me, because, initially, the name I coined out for my business was ‘Coisas bonitas’, a Portuguese name, which means ‘beautiful things’. And as you know, an event is a beautiful thing. Having to do your wedding ceremony is a beautiful thing. So fast-forward to 2021 when I wanted to register my business, that was after getting a lot of harassment from clients from the previous year who wouldn’t pay for the services I rendered to them, cos they felt I wasn’t credible enough, or I didn’t have that structure. I applied using that name but it got rejected, cos someone else was already using that name, before then I had checked, but it was an inactive company, so I had to go back and think of another name to send to my registrar at that time. So it was like EROMA the first time, but Eroma sounded like my native language, Urhobo (laughs), so I had to flip it and turn it the other way. E for Ese, RO for my pen name, Ronita, and MA for my baptismal name Mariana, and that was how I coined it at that time. One of my friends was there with me, Aghogho, she’s a nurse now, but at that time she was a nursing student, I was also a student, so we just found a way to coin it, and we sent it and it got approved. So at that time, I was the only way going by that name, not like there was a big meaning to it. You get?

Wow! That’s very nice by the way, I couldn’t have known that. So according to what we have here, you trained with Zapphaire Events and several other prestigious event companies, what was it like working with them? Can you briefly walk us through this mind-blowing journey of yours?

●Zapphaire Events is owned by a global and well-known event planner, Funke Bucknor, who is married to an Isoko man from Delta State, where I come from. I did not really work with them, though we were given assignments that involved us working with them, and it was mind-blowing for me, I learned a lot, from detailing to costing, contracts, laws behind event planning, and also protecting my intellectual properties. So it was a really interesting experience for me.

That was very cool. So moving on. You love traveling and going on vacations, you know, I’ve seen quite a lot of cool shots you took on those vacations, and I’m very curious. How do you balance your love for travel with running a successful event-planning business?

●Traveling! Well, traveling is my way of relaxing. It’s also my way of exploring other places, understanding the different kinds of people in the society so we could manage them effectively during event cordinations. I’m literally being exposed to their culture, how they live, and how they possibly want to be treated, putting me on a high-end profile event planner, which a lot of people may not realize until they start working with me or working for me, cos my style is different, I manage my work in a different way cos I already got to know a lot about this people, I understand them, and I’m not judging them. For the balancing aspect, I learned it from someone who is not currently in the country, so she has a successful kiddies event planning business in Port-Harcourt, I asked her and she was like, why not train your staff? So I had to put in my all in training them. So among people working for me, once I discover you have this very high potential and enthusiasm, like being always ready to work, I give you the lead role and the special training that comes with it. And trust me, it works. 100% of the time it works.

Wow! I’m not gonna lie, I’m a very big fan of yours, and I wanted to thank you for all the hard work and dedication. Your attention to detail, creativity, and ability to bring everything together seamlessly is truly impressive. And this is me asking, what would you say is your secret for perfect event coordination?

●Well, my secret for perfect event coordination is letting it all out. Whatever you feel, whatever you think it’s going to come on, you need to inform your team and everyone working with you. There is always this need for me to make them understand what the client wants, how the client wants it, and how best they can go about it. You don’t need to hide anything, cos the moment you do, you are preparing your team for a total mess, and they may get to flop. We also have this brainstorming session where everyone brings their ideas and suggestions, on how best we could get the work done. I then go ahead to explain my fears, expectations, client’s expectations, and everything that may factor in.

Wow, I’m blown away! You know, I’ve had the pleasure of attending several events planned by your company, and it’s the way you bring people together and create memorable experiences, for me, and I’m quite curious, what does it feel like waking up every day knowing that you’ve created something awesome over the years?

●Well, it’s been great, but to me, I do think it isn’t all about my strategies. It’s more of grace if I would say. It has been the grace of God over my life and my business. I started preparing for this brand in 2020, like, it was crazy, the first year, just a couple of works, then in 2021, more jobs started to come in. Now we are way bigger now than how we started, and I’m super grateful that God has brought us to this level. We are still counting, you know, we are still growing, not there yet but with God, we know all things are possible.

Looking at how your company started and where it’s currently at, how would you describe the whole journey, the challenges you faced, and what lessons you learned along the way?

●This is a hard one for me, my whole journey, my challenges as an entrepreneur, it’s a testimony, every time I get to think about it, I do wonder how I pulled it off in the first place, we just came up from nowhere, shook the event planning industry, and here we are today. I’ve seen things and I’ve learned a lot of lessons. The first one is things falling in place with time, everything just falls in place with time. Then the number 2 lesson, no matter who you are working with, no matter who the client is, find a way to get your payments in full. There may be exceptions to this, but, for me, just make sure you are getting paid for what you do. Then number 3, being professional at all times. It doesn’t matter if they are your family members, new clients, friends, or your neighbors, you just have to find a way of balancing it and not mixing anything up, something like business and pleasure. So like if a friend comes to you and he/she wants you to handle an event, you just have to put the friendship aside and handle them like should handle a normal client.

Those are great lessons by the way, I wish a lot of people knew this before they started their businesses, but it’s all good, so moving on to the next question. Everyone knows it’s not quite easy to run a successful business these days. So we wanted to know, how has your entrepreneurial spirit shaped your business decisions?

●The truth is, running a business or being an entrepreneur is not an easy journey, especially with the constant hike in prices, and the unwillingness of most youngsters to work, people these days are always looking for shortcuts to get it done, and you may have to talk and talk and talk, explaining to these people you work with, how best they could get things done and shape themselves from this business you’ve created. It’s a whole lot for business owners. This entrepreneurial spirit has helped me a lot in making business decisions, cos as a business owner, you have to weigh a lot of things before you make that decision, decisions like if it’s going to be profitable for you in the long run, or challenging for your workers in any situation.

We are wrapping things up, you know, I said we were going to be very brief, so moving on to the last question. What’s your vision for the future and what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs in the event planning industry?

●Well, for those who are inspired to be entrepreneurs in the event planning industry, I wouldn’t say it’s easy, especially with the current economy. I would say it for free, event planning is one of those businesses you can start with little or no capital, as long as you have a mentor that shows you how things are done and assists you when you take some kind of jobs. I always tell people, that if you have the mind and you are ready to learn, then maybe you should consider it as a career. But if you are the kind of person who is not ready to learn or move with trends, then you may have problems being in the event planning industry. Trust me, people are surely going to complain, and some would even go to the extent of asking you for refunds, and you wouldn’t have any choice but to refund them. You need to be creative, pay attention to details, take advice from people, accept all kinds of feedback, and work on them. And also, I think you should have this spirit of discernment, like you can’t take every job that comes, right? You need to pay attention and see which ones are time-wasters, and which ones are not.

Wow! That’s a whole lot we’ve learned from you. Thanks once again for joining us today and sharing your remarkable success story.

●It’s a pleasure, and thanks for having me too.

Key Summary

So we’ve come to the end of the interview and it has been such a great journey! Our CEO’s story is a testament to the power of passion, perseverance, and belief in one’s potential.

Here are 5 powerful lessons we learned:

1. Your background doesn’t define your future – it enhances it.
2. Patience is key, especially when you are just starting as an entrepreneur.
3. Never stop learning, cos continuous learning and training are crucial for success in the event planning industry.
4. The most rewarding aspect of leadership is seeing your team excel and doing so well on their own.
5. Things may get rough at times, but trust me, challenges are opportunities for growth and innovation.

And there you go. The end of today’s interview. Now we’d love to hear from you. Did this interview session in any way give you new ideas? Which key lesson is your favorite? Let us know! Leave a comment and kindly share it with the people you care about. Till next time, bye!