After unceremoniously leaving Wazobia FM, multi-award
winning Media personality, Matse Uwatse-Nnoli found joy and fulfilment in Chef,
Food-blogging and photography.
Matse who is also a Wife, mother, entrepreneur, and
photographer with B.Arts in Languages and Linguistics, is a year older today,
May 11, 2016 and in an interview with Real Woman Africa talked about her
journey to finding happiness and fulfillment.
How It All Started-
“It all started on a sunny day in the month of February 2014. I was two months
away from having my first child and in a very depressed state. I had been fired
from my job 5 months earlier while on my sick bed. I was just home all day and
sad. My wonderful husband did all he could to make me happy but the truth is,
only you can make yourself happy.
That day, I told myself; “Hey Matse, snap out of this sad
state you have put yourself in. Losing your job is not the end of the world.
You love food right? Now get up and do something. You have a nice samsung
phone. Start cooking and taking pictures with it.”
I didn’t know how to start a food blog but I just went on
google, read a lot, learnt some basics and personally designed and started
www.matsecook.com. I have always believed that one can do anything he or she
puts his or her mind to. You will make mistakes severally and a lot of errors
but in the end, you will get it done if you really want to. Everything on the
matsecooks site was designed by me, from the headers, banners, effects,
photography etc.’’
On The Challenges
She’s Faced-‘’Power is one of the biggest challenges of most entrepreneurs
and logistics can be very expensive too. I need power for production and
storage and with the fuel crisis it makes everything extra expensive. Forex
also affects business badly increasing the cost of production. I import my
packaging as the material cannot be gotten in Nigeria.
I have not yet overcome my challenges. We just device means
of managing them to the best of our abilities. We can only hope for the best
and a greater future for Nigeria.’’
On Making Ynaija list
of 2016 most inspiring women- “Recently, I was mentioned on Ynaija’s list
of 2016’s 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria. Alongside the likes of
Chimamanda Adichie, Aruma Oteh, Mo Abudu and so many more. When I saw it, I
burst into tears…who was I to be on that list? I thought. Ordinary me? Well, I
give God the glory.
Most Memorable Sale-
‘’My most memorable sale came from a client in faraway Switzerland who saw my
products online and requested for them. I packaged and sent a huge volume of
products to her. It bolstered my confidence in my work and products .With great
reviews from my clients, I am compelled to deliver affordable, great quality
products.’’