Omoyeni Disu: Entrepreneurship Inspired by Depression

Miss Omoyeni Disu is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Mwanga Candles and Diffusers, a business borne out of a depressed state of mind. With a desire to bring light and hope evoked from sweet smelling scents, the brand has been scheduled for formal launch in November. Mary Nnah writes that Disu’s success story would best be descried as a journey from despair to triumph

Mwanga Candles and Diffusers, to many may sound soulful but in actual sense, the reason behind the establishment of the firm is indeed deep! Miss Omoyeni Disu, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Mwanga Candles and Diffusers, an offshoot of Glitter Girl Innovations, had lost both parents within the space of 40 days. This was a burden too much for her to comprehend.

“My parents had just passed on 40days apart from each other in 2017 and I was angry, very angry with God and with everything. I took a trip to Zanzibar a few months after their passing and it came to me, prior to that that I had been thinking of branching out of the corporate world and had been asking for direction from God. I just kept getting inspiration and leadings to scents, candles and diffusers. I figured why not, my mom and I had randomly discussed it but just never got into it and every morning she would pray and say ‘you will be a global entrepreneur, you will walk the red carpets of fame, you will be a global brand, men will come to your rising’ and so on. So I thought ‘what better way than to keep the memories alive than to do this’.

“One morning while on the beach in Zanzibar, I just got “light” in my spirit and it kept coming back in different things, I had asked a local what light meant in Swahili and he said “MWANGA”. There and then I knew I had found the name of my brand”, she recalled with excitement.

“Mwanga means “Light” in Swahili and I coined it to be ‘my light at the end of every tunnel’. This is exactly why the Mwanga Candles and Diffusers was birthed and designed – to remind one of the strong messages of light at the end of every tunnel”, she noted.

So in commemoration of her late parents, Disu dreamed and brought the Mwanga vision to life in 2018, channeling her burning desire to remind herself that every dark turn leads to the Mwanga – light which in turn leads to happiness. These scents, she hopes, would serve as a scent of heaven in every household it touches, providing fortitude and restoring hope.

“So my message is, there’s light at the end of every tunnel, it might seem hard to go on, in fact it will be hard to go on sometimes (I don’t feel like doing anything sometimes, I just want to cry because I miss them so much) and it may feel like God isn’t there but trust me if you would press in just a little more, you’ll see Him come through. You will see the light at the end of that tunnel”, Disu said.

What then are the exact uses and importance of scent candles? Do they have any health benefits or emotional/spiritual benefits? Her response was dazzling. “Scented candles are more of an emotional/physical therapy thing, opening a jar and then just catching a whiff of it makes you happy, it is an innate thing, deals with your emotions and your mind and once you can get control of your mind, you get control of any other thing. After the stress of Lagos, imagine walking into your door and it smells of sparkling pomello or pomegranate, I guarantee your mood will change in 10 seconds, try it and thank me later.”

The company provides a wide range of scented candles, diffusers, fragrance oils and car fresheners designed to meet the needs of teeming consumers, without compromising on quality. It focuses on providing a serene and endearing ambience fo customers, uplifting their mood psychologically and keeping the energy positive, healthy and inviting.
Even though Disu’s journey into scents business was born out of desperation from a depressed state of mind, the memory of her late parents, her mother, especially and Disu’s desire to return to a state of happiness as well as to make the world happy pricked her. “I want to make the world happy with my scents and every time I sniff a scent, which is every other day, it reminds me of my mum”, she said.

A major in Arts and Psychology and Master in Human Resources, with panache for business, Disu knows all about the human psyche, but one thing she never thought of doing was to go into scent business but for her to keep mother’s memory, she had to.

“I studied psychology and theatre arts majoring in directing for my first degree and my masters in Human resources, I never ever thought I would go into scents making, never ever. But my mum, Olanike Disu also known as ‘Madam Tax’ was a scent lover, she loved candles, perfumes and everything scents, I literally would wake up every morning, go to her room and just lay on her body to just smell her. Even as I speak about her now, I can smell her”, she said.
Now, young Disu would be leveraging this knowledge with her over six years of managerial roles in business management in her present endeavours.

Still dwelling on the influence her parents have had on her, she said, “My parents were the absolute best and I don’t say this to sound cliché, yes there were times I rolled my eyes at them but they were such a great example of hard work, perseverance, love. Growing up was beautiful, I was an only child for about seven years before my handsome brother Ayomide came along, so I was and still treated like a princess.

“My parents made sure we never lacked anything. They helped me know I could do anything I want to do, my dad helped push my creative side out, he was my sounding board. They were my rock. Growing up was fun, from an early age my parents knew I couldn’t be boxed into anything, I’m too much of a free spirit to do something monotonous, Mwanga affords me the opportunity to be wild with my creativity”.

Her still very new brand, Mwanga Candles and Diffusers, billed for formal launch this November; has already got approval from critics. “We have given critics the candles and diffusers to review and all of them have come back positive. So I know the general public will be happy”, she revealed further.

For her target audience and the market strategies she intend to employ to ensure her products have a far reaching effect, she said she is basing her faith on the fact that happiness knows no bounds or tribe.

“My target audience, to be honest, is everyone, yes I know people will say how can it be everyone. Yes it can be and yes it will be. We are very affordable without compromising on the key factor which is quality. Let’s keep them guessing with the marketing strategy.”

Speaking on what stands her brand out; Disu was quick to note that her personality plays a vital role. “I’m not selling a product, I’m selling a brand and my personality comes to play a lot in this; the quirkiness, free spirited, floral young woman that I am, add that mix in candle making and you have a hit.”

Her vision for her company, especially for her brand, Mwanga Candles and Diffusers is to seek to elicit happiness, peace, passion and power through every scent, by being the capital candle producers in West Africa.

“Our vision is to give our customers the “Glitter Girl Experience” by ensuring that all our scents are uniquely created, packaged and designed tastefully to catch the attention of our customers. Mwanga is designed to encourage the beauty in life by providing a wide range of products that accedes to the tastes and experiences of consumers at competitive prices”, she said.