Lagos Fashion Academy inducts 21 new graduands
A Lagos-based Fashion Academy has inducted 21 new graduates in entrepreneurship, fashion designing and capacity building. Princess Kelechi Oghene, the Managing Director of GMYT Fashion Academy, while delivering her remarks,
A Lagos-based Fashion Academy has inducted 21 new graduates in entrepreneurship, fashion designing and capacity building.
Princess Kelechi Oghene, the Managing Director of GMYT Fashion Academy, while delivering her remarks, advised the new graduates to adopt a new identity as a well-structured professional.
"Today is not just your induction. Today is the beginning of a new identity.
Many people think they came here to learn fashion.
"You came here to build a future. You came here to develop capacity, discipline, and confidence, and to gain opportunities that can change your life.
"So as I speak today, listen beyond the words. Because what you do with this season can shape your next ten years," she said.
According to her, the academy was not built on theory, but on my life experience.
The MD said that, personally, she has gone through the struggles many creative entrepreneurs face today.
Oghene also advised the newly graduated students to understand the importance of structure and to acquire fashion skills.
"I was operating in an industry where many people wanted only fast skills, not deep learning, quick results, not real growth
"Low-talented people who wanted fashion on the surface, but not the discipline required to build excellence.
"Because in life, everything is designed for results, either positive or negative.
"We are not interested in keeping you busy but in helping you grow professionally, and that's why some people come here and become transformed because when structure meets willingness, progress becomes inevitable," she added.
Oghene, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the academy, added that over the years, the fashion academy has empowered thousands of students to become self-reliant.
We have seen students start with fear and leave with confidence, seen beginners become professionals, seen learners become employers, and that is what happens when people submit to the process," she said.
Oghene urged the new graduands to structure their knowledge to achieve their set goals and objectives.
According to her, people learn a skill, keep it to themselves, and once they leave, the value leaves with them.
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She noted experiencing betrayal, setbacks, poor systems, and even people working against her vision.
"I worked tirelessly-mornings, nights, weekends, nonstop. Yet the results did not match the effort.
"That is when I learned that effort without systems can become suffering.
"I was working hard, but I knew hard work alone was not enough. That journey is one of the reasons I wrote my book Ungrateful Souls -a survival guide for entrepreneurs built from real experiences.
And through it all, I learned something powerful: talent was never the real problem; the real problem is a lack of structure, discipline, mentorship, and business thinking," she said.
The CEO appealed to them not just to train their hands but to transform their mindset positively, adding that fashion is bigger than clothes.
"If all you gain here is to get fashion skills, you have missed the bigger picture, because fashion today is bigger than clothes," she added.
