We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Idara Otu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Idara below.
Hi Idara, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
The source of my generosity is a combination of three things – my faith, personal experiences, and role models. My faith is a central part of my identity, and with that lens it was instilled very early on that it is better to give than receive. There is a deep joy and commitment to a call of generosity. I am blessed simply to be a blessing to others and it’s something I try to instill in all areas of my life.
Personal experiences have compounded my ‘why’ for generosity. Countless times during my formative years through the present day, my accomplishments have been buoyed by the generosity of others. Whether it be teachers and coaches who spent extra time with me explaining key concepts on the track or in the classroom, to the donors that support my charity (Let Girls Read, Run, Grow), I am surrounded by generous individuals.
Finally, as I’ve collected mentors along my professional journey, the trait that remains consistent is generosity. They’ve all seem to converge on the same simple concept that it’s a blessing to be a blessing, no matter the personal motivation that propels it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
In 2017, I started the 501c3 charity, Let Girls Read, Run, Grow fueled by the passion to develop African girls through education, athletics, and entrepreneurship – the three key ingredients to my success. As part of the bold vision, an all-girls primary school in my native state in Nigeria was to be built. However, the question on how to fund this huge endeavor weighed on my mind.
A Wall Street veteran with entrepreneurial pursuits from my youth, I wanted the sustainable funding source for this school to be a commodity product. Namely, a commodity product that was indigenous to Nigeria, able to showcase the rich, colorful culture of my heritage, and could be used as a practical tool to teach entrepreneurship to the girls that attended the primary school or participated in my charity’s camps. From there, NŌK CHOC was born. While the original plan was for a chocolate bar, I settled on hot cocoa after the research showed the category hadn’t seen much innovation in the last four decades.
Since then, we’ve seen tremendous growth as our Calabar Cocoa has landed in hotels, corporate events, corporate gifts, coffee shops and in kitchens across America. Currently we are actively working on a chocolate sauce we hope to debut in early-2024 and a platform that will allow individuals, teams, schools, and organizations the ability to use our cocoa to fundraise.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Looking back, the three qualities that have been most impactful on this journey has been my faith, goal setting, and endurance. As I mentioned earlier, my faith is central to my core being and drives a lot of my identity. With that comes purpose and the underlying drivers of my business and charity. There is an innate feeling of duty and responsibility to build an organization that will change the lives of African girls. Though we spend more time talking about the method of affecting that change and how great Calabar Cocoa tastes, the most important piece for me is are we getting closer to the goal of impact or not?
Goal setting, which is a spillover from my athletic and professional experiences has allowed me to stay on track in a space where I am the sole person responsible for driving the vision and its execution. The funny thing about entrepreneurship is that once you start building, everyone around you will have their own ideas on how you should build your business with zero skin in the game. Having the ability to see and write down my goals has helped me to stay honest in honoring the course in the midst of a sea of ideas from outsiders.
Finally, endurance. I’ve heard entrepreneurs frequently say how lonely and difficult entrepreneurship can be. They were not lying. There are some incredible highs, but also, incredible lows. My ability to endure each season of the journey has been key to how I am able to still be on this journey.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are always looking to collaborate with like-minded people and organizations. We are looking to grow our partnerships with other ‘better for you’ and social mission guided brands. Separately, as we delve deeper into the coffee shop and catering space with our coming chocolate sauce, we’d love to connect with people in that arena who might be looking for a premium, vegan, all-natural cocoa product. The best way to reach out is via email at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nokchoc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.nokchoc.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nokchoc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nokchoc
Image Credits
Founder headshot photo credit – Michael Creagh
