Quincy Ayodele, founder of Quincy Herbals and her daughter, Tobi Keeney, Executive Director at Quincy Herbals, are as just like inseparable twins the way they cling to each other. Meeting the two recently, they talked about the job and themselves.
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What is the relationship between you and your daughter. Both of you are always together in social circles, what informs that?
We are very close, like best friends really. Am very close with all my chldren, and even more so with with my daughters. You would have also seen my second daughter with me as well. However, she is newly married and caring for an infant child. I don’t really have a lot of friends except very few close confidants, and my daughters are part of them. Especially since my oldest daughter works directly with me, we do go out together for events. As you want people to recognise and associate her with our brand, she also has a position for natural health and wellness. It’s just natural that we do similar things together. It will come to a point later in life whereby she will take the lead in the business, so it’s best we stick close to each other for as much as possible so she can gain experience and build the right networks.
We are hitting 2016, what is Quincy up to?
Quincy is up to a lot of things and I’m giving glory to Almighty God for that. We have rolled out a lot of our herbal products. We now have our Slimming Garri. Most of our herbal slimming products are now packaged. We’ve rolled out about 21 products packaged without losing their potency. They are still herbal medicines but we packaged them to meet up with international standard. Amazon.com in the US has endorsed Quincy Herbals and we are now listed on health and beauty segment of Amazon.com in the United States of America and that happened about two months ago. We have tried to get it done ever since but it has not been easy. We have had to go through a lot of documentation before they finally approved our products. When they finally approve you, then you are what you say you are. I can now say confidently that I have been able to confirm to the whole world that traditional medicines actually work. Now, they have been approved all over the world. Not only that, I have been an advocate of going back to nature, not only in Nigeria but also in Africa and now to the rest of the world. The assistance of my daughter has been a tremendous help and of course, God has been faithful. I’m very sure that 2016 will be our own year of manifestation.
Is Slimming Garri equivalent to eating eba?
When you hear the word slimming, eba does not get you slim now. The slimming garri is not made from cassava but if you soak it, it’s like our garri. It doesn’t taste like our garri actually but it looks like our garri and it slims you down. If you soak it for some minutes, it looks like garri but you cannot eat my slimming garri with soup, or moi moi. You just put in water and mix it and drink it. You can take it three times a day. It curbs your appetite, tuck your tummy, it loses your weight for you without you knowing that you are losing weight. It reduces your cholesterol level and makes you feel energetic. Even if you see your favourite food, you don’t want to eat it because you are full.
How do get inspiration for all this work?
When you have passion for something, then you are committed. I have passion for nature and I’m committed to the practice of herbal medicine. When you are committed to doing something, you are restless. My desire is to slim people all over the world with herbal medicine that could be scientifically proved all over the world. That has been my passion because I have been fat before and I knew what I used to feel. I used to be very sickly. I was 22 down and 18 up but now I’m a complete size 10. American size 10. My hips were bigger than this before, my boobs were big and I was not looking beautiful and I was not healthy. That was the reason I started looking into slimming remedy because I worked on myself with my herbal medicine given to me by my late grandmother and I also gave some to a colleague of mine who was fat, both of us went to gymn those days and the slimming herbal also worked for her. Most marriages are restored by the slimming products. Some husbands bring their wives to me for slimming and some women complained that their husbands wanted to divorce them because they were fat. When we started working on them,, they lost weight and they are happy now. I like seeing smiles on my client’s faces. If you take my herbs and I tell you it will make you lose four kilograms in two days, of course, you will lose it whether you exercise or not and that was why Amazon.com registered us. African women generally are hardworking, we go to work in the morning and as career women, you have to cook for your children, for your husband, and also play your role as a wife, how could you achieve that when you are obese. I also have packaged products to make skin glow and prevents skin diseases. Some have dark patches on their necks, faces, due to bleaching cream, aging and sun burn but I have packaged something to make that clear and make you radiant, and glow. You look younger and beautiful.
How do you juggle all these with being a wife and mother?
It’s not by my power but by the special grace of God to get wealth and being able to cope with all these things. My father taught me that you must be happy with everything you are doing. Once you are happy with what you are doing, you cannot destroy it. I’m happy with what I’m doing. I’m happy seeing the result when I give my herbs to my patients, I’m happy seeing them lose weight and seeing them glow. As busy as I am, I don’t feel it. When I get back home after work, I still cook, do housework and wait for the next day. My father also told me that success is succeeding in all that you do without failing in anyone. Whatever it is that I lay my hands on must prosper. I still find time to attend to my customers all over the world.
Who influenced you growing up, your mum or dad?
I actually lived with my grandmother. She brought me up in the village. My grandmother was my role model before she died. My mother-in-law was also my role model; she was a very busy woman, very energetic and very wealthy. My father was the closest person to me after my husband. All these people have great influenced on me.
Who taught you about herbals?
I grew up in the village with my paternal grandmother who brought me up when my parents left me with her to further their education in London.
Where is your village?
Olorunsogo in Ogun State. I grew up there and in the village, there was no hospital, no electricity and people fall sick and all they use are medicinal plants to take care of themselves. Anytime I fell sick, my grandmother would enter the bush and get these plants, cooked for me to drink. That was what I was exposed to in my childhood days. I grew up to know a lot about the herbs and the root right from childhood. That was how I got into medicinal plants.
You sound real, unassuming and you don’t ‘form’. Who is Quincy?
I’m that simple person, I’m still the same Quincy that started practising herbal mmedicine 19 years ago. I have not changed, I don’t even remember I’m Quincy when I’m outside, I’m still myself, I love meeting and interacting with people. I’m a very happy woman and I have a good marriage and nice children. My job is doing well. I’m a Christian and I thank God for everything. Back to the first question. How can a village girl now come to Lagos to start ‘forming? I told you I grew up in the village. My father taught me that simplicity cost you nothing. When you are with people just be yourself.
What has life taught you as a person?
Life has taught me that life is a journey with many parts. You have to be in Christ to be able to identify which of the parts you can follow to be successful. If you really want to get anything out of life, you have to carry God with you. You have to carry the presence of God with you for you to be able to identify which of the various parts you can follow that would lead you to eternity.
Tobi, her daughter speaks:
Tell us what we don’t know about you
I’m Toby Ayodele Keeney, I’m Quincy’s daughter. I’m also the executive director at Quincy herbals. I’m married with children. I have been married for over seven years. I started working since I was 16 and I worked for 12 years for other companies in America before I started working for my parents. It’s not that I’m just newly working. I have been working for a long time. I have worked in hospitals, I have worked in organisations and I have worked in banks. All these experiences have helped shaped me for sales and medical aspect of the herbal weight loss and other products in Quincy herbals.
You don’t look a bit of what you just said now.
I lost my baby weight after having children by using our products. I have two children. A five year old and three years. I am married to a Caucasian American and we both live in Nigeria with our two boys
How is it like working with your mum?
She’s aggressive and I’m laidback, so she’s made me more aggressive. I have made her more laidback.
She drives me hard. She keeps me on my toes. She’s make my job easier too because she has been doing this for almost 20 years.
The job is now easy because she’s done the background work to make herbal work to be in the mainstream in Nigeria.
What did you study in school?
I didn’t study here but I went to Queens College,Yaba. Then I have a degree in Biochemistry and psychology. Then Masters in medical degree in University of Maryland, Baltimore. I’m equivalent of a medical practitioner here.
Why working for your mum and not do a secular job?
If I’m going to do secular work it will be in America. This is a family business. You tend to sketch your own schedule and whatever efforts you are bringing into the business is coming back to you as if you are working for somebody else.
When people come to the office, what is their perception meeting Quincy’s daughter as staff?
Most people don’t know. I don’t look like her. It’s my sister that gets most of the questions because she looks like her. For me, when I’m walking with her, they just think I’m her friend or her sister. When I tell people I’m her daughter, they ask me, are you sure? She looks so young, when did she give birth to you? But in all honesty, my mum had me two years after she got married. Luckily in the United States, we are sheltered and that put us away being in the limelight. We are church workers and ushers in the church and that really helped us growing up.
How do you relate with your mum as your boss?
We have an understanding. Sometimes, I have to take decisions and sometimes she takes decisions. Whenever I need her for guidance or advice on something that is beyond my own sphere, I go to her. I’m not an old person, her experience will always be better than mine. In the field, I always get back to her and ask her for advice but when I’m trying to turn things around, we fight a little bit and we reach a compromise. I enjoy working with her. She is my best friend. My mum, my sister and I are best friends.
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