Meet Dr. Ifeoma Stella Okoye, the multifaceted powerhouse who seamlessly blends her legal expertise with exceptional creativity as the founder of STM Magical Creations Ltd, a globally recognized event production and beauty company.
After 6 years of active legal practice and 4 years as an HR Specialist, Ifeoma followed her passion for creativity and organizing to build her company, which has created detailed event experiences across Nigeria, Ghana, USA, UK, and Dubai.
In our latest interview, this TEDx speaker and ForbesBLK Community member shares how her legal background shaped her into the renowned “Legal Creative” she is today, bringing professional standards and excellence to the creative industry.
She discusses her commitment to women’s empowerment through STM Magical Creations Event Academy, her work championing anti-stigma campaigns for women living with HIV, and her practical strategies for balancing multiple roles as a business leader, mentor, and mother of four.
Read the full interview below and discover how this newly minted Ph.D in Event Management is redefining excellence while creating pathways for other women to thrive.
As someone who successfully balances being a lawyer, lecturer, entrepreneur, and mother of four, what inspired you to venture into event planning and beauty, and how do these diverse roles complement each other?
My inspiration was the passion, I have always done both even as a young girl. I loved organizing & everything art. I painted & drew perfectly well, I loved putting events together. Therefore venturing into both as a business later in life came naturally, because I always did it, I just professionalized in them more that’s all & got paid for it.
Your work as an activist against HIV stigma is powerful. How has this advocacy influenced your approach to business and mentorship, particularly in supporting women facing similar challenges?
My inspiration was the passion, I have always done both even as a young girl. I loved organizing & everything art. I painted & drew perfectly well, I loved putting events together. Therefore venturing into both as a business later in life came naturally, because I always did it, I just professionalized in them more that’s all & got paid for it.
As a lawyer and lecturer who ventured into the creative industry, what unique perspectives do you bring to event planning and beauty education that sets STM Magical Creations apart?
Oh it certainly shaped me into the Legal Creative that I am today. I’m renowned for bringing in the legal realities into to creative industry. The realities of doing business more professionally, because we understand better the consequences of default both ways. Defining terms of engagement, contracts , understanding government policies and generally being a more detailed brand with the spirit of excellence. This has drawn industry colleagues to consult with us & has made our clients more confident in our services. There’s just something learned as they say in every detail at STM Magical Creations.
Being a champion for women’s causes, how do you structure your Event Academy to specifically address the challenges young women face in building sustainable careers?
He who wears the shoes they say, always understands where it pinches. I am a woman, I have also struggled and still struggle with the realities of running a business. Struggled with the realities of deciding career paths, the realities and guilt of how to balance. I understand the pressures and the challenges of trying to build anything, talk more of a sustainable one. These realities shaped our curriculum at the STM Academy as we focus a lot more on laying a foundation of first allowing the individual understand who they are and what they want. Discovering yourself, personal branding, business branding, structure, sustainability etc. These foundations are laid first even before going into the core courses.
Many women struggle with imposter syndrome when pursuing multiple careers. How do you help your mentees embrace their multi-passionate nature as a strength rather than a limitation?
I have also always believed that in life, you can wear every single hat & crown you want to wear as a woman. You just need to first be passionate about those many hats & love it. Self Confidence & dependency on God are some of mysecrets that I share. You see God has equipped us with all we need to do exploits, and when we doubt ourselves, we doubt God. The confidence that comes with “the ability to do” alone gives you the drive to achieve it.
Therefore the “ability to do” is a gift from God & a strength not a weakness. It also means that those abilities need to be tapped, because to whom much is given, much is expected. I also encourage them to never stop developing themselves professionally & personally. To surround themselves with accountability partners that would always tell them the truth. To celebrate themselves, Support themselves, love themselves & take breaks too.
As a mother in business, how have you designed your company’s policies to support other working mothers and their career advancement?
From experience they get support with more breaks. Most of the time our job entails traveling a lot and not a lot of office hours but more site work. We generally permit mothers to bring their kids if need be to work in addition. There is less task for pregnant or nursing mothers. We also designed trainings where we teach them work, life balance.
Having built your brand from Enugu to international recognition, what strategies have you developed for helping other women scale their businesses beyond local markets?
The major strategies I developed was exposing them to conferences, productive trainings and networking events. Social media marketing tools/visibility, better branding, pursuing global standards, quality collaborations, follow up principles, nurturing relationships and research.
In your experience mentoring young entrepreneurs, what common barriers do you see women facing, and how do you help them overcome these challenges?
First is misplaced priorities, lack of self confidence, downright laziness, placing money first before value, lack of patience amongst many others. These are deep rooted issues and a lot stem from orientation, environmental exposure, social media and habits . I mostly teach, empower and push them to implement by following them up. Mentorship sessions where they re discover themselves, there are also advanced women who haven’t even discovered themselves. A lot want to chase money first without nurturing value and in doing that, the spirit of excellence is thrown out of the window, passion is traded for money. We teach and follow them up on processes, they all want a quick fix but life doesn’t work that way. Teaching respect and honor, hard-work . Confidence and etiquette. We develop an accountability structure and reward system for them.
Looking at your various roles – lawyer, lecturer, entrepreneur, mother, mentor – how do you prioritize and maintain effectiveness across these different spheres while staying true to your mission of empowering others?
It’s not easy, the mentor too needs to be mentored, the mentor is also human and vulnerable. There is no such thing as perfect balance. With all the many hats and rolls, I have learnt to define my own balance. It’s a constant journeythat I take one day at a time. Everyday has its own scale of priority and it’s never the same. I have learnt to also plan better, that keeps the sanity. Example if I have a lot of work and travel in a high peak event month, I automatically plan myself in such a way that I prioritize family during off peak season, so that when peak comes, I would have paid some emotional dues sort off. But beyond that I truly take it one day at a time. I have delegated more work and created a support system of people. We need people to be effective.
I’ve also started learning not to be too hard on myself & most importantly, I married the most understanding and supportive man in the world. These all help me be effective almost all round and has allowed me empower others as better, using my experience.
