Sanvi Tejwaney
My Business Training
Joy Adija Jonathan
Quick Facts
Joy Adija Jonathan, fondly called "Mommy Bestie," is a determined 32-year-old beauty expert and public administration graduate from Bauchi.
Raised in a structured police barracks, Joy learned entrepreneurship early by managing her mother's local milling machine.
Despite facing the initial anxieties of an unexpected marriage at age 18, she nurtured a deeply loving household alongside her supportive husband.
Today, Joy balances caring for her four young children with her career ambitions.
Inspired by her mother’s relentless work ethic, she works part-time to fund her children’s daily school uniforms, shoes, and bags while assisting her widowed mother.
Joy Adija Jonathan
Business Goals
Joy aims to transform her part-time salon work into a permanent, upscale beauty enterprise named Elegant Beauty Palace.
Operating Monday through Saturday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM in a major commercial marketplace, her salon will provide professional hair styling, wig installations, customized makeup, and therapeutic manicures.
She targets fashion-conscious women, children, and modern professionals who value trendy, high-quality grooming.
Anticipating an average of seven daily clients, Joy plans to launch vibrant outdoor banners and targeted social media promotions to establish a trusted, luxurious neighborhood brand modeled after top-tier Nigerian beauty houses like Sims Beauty Place.
Joy Adija Jonathan
Business Obstacles
Joy consistently delivers high quality bridal transformations and has even styled the Commissioner of Police’s wife, but yet her growth remains restricted by deep resource shortages.
She currently owns only a single standing dryer and one basic straightener, which prevents her from handling multiple clients efficiently.
Her primary operational bottleneck is a total lack of startup capital to transition out of her part-time employer's salon into her own permanent shop.
Furthermore, severe regional power cuts constantly disrupt her electronic styling tools, while a lack of formal bookkeeping experience makes tracking daily profits highly complex.
Joy Adija Jonathan
Vulnerabilities
Joy is collaborating with Leadership Initiatives to move beyond part-time employment and open her own independent marketplace salon.
This strategic partnership will equip her startup with vital salon machinery, including an advanced hair washing basin, professional hand dryers, a specialized pedicure unit, and a high-capacity power generator to completely bypass electricity outages.
By funding a spacious storefront, this initiative provides the secure infrastructure needed to set up a bright, pastel-colored
showroom with large mirrors and comfortable client seating.
This crucial support will directly enable Joy to boost her daily customer capacity and secure financial stability.
My Business Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Joy Adija Jonathan to develop a clear understanding of their business goals. Though they have leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we created a proposal detailing the marketing materials necessary to support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Joy Adija Jonathan to optimize their business through a new brand identity
Investments in a logo and marketing materials, such as signs and flyers, are vital for establishing a strong brand identity and expanding the customer base. These visual assets create a consistent and memorable image that builds trust and recognition among potential clients.
My Business Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to strengthen my business partner’s brand.
At the conclusion of the program, my team presented our final proposal to a panel of judges from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed us to demonstrate our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded grant funding to support the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, strengthen financial stability, and create new growth opportunities. Over the next year, this grant will help transform the future of their business and improve the quality of life for both the entrepreneur and their community.
Internship Highlights
- Business Partner Meeting
- Visit To The Embassy Of Portugal
- Diplomacy Briefing At The Finnish Embassy
- Professional Mentorship
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Joy Adija Jonathan, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration. It allowed us to better understand our partner's background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Joy Adija Jonathan provided the insight we needed to begin brainstorming practical, personalized solutions. Each morning, our team held focused discussions to refine our ideas, reflect on expert advice from the day before, and adjust our timeline to move our plans forward efficiently.
Throughout the process, on-staff project coordinators and business development experts offered guidance, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the Embassy of Portugal, where I gained firsthand insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between Portugal and the United States.
The embassy serves as a center for international collaboration, partnering with countries and global organizations to address pressing issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Through this visit, I learned how diplomats engage in meaningful dialogue and policy development to create sustainable, people-focused solutions.
Officials from the Embassy of Portugal shared how they collaborate with local communities to identify needs and implement programs that empower individuals and strengthen long-term development. This commitment to community-driven impact inspired my team and me as we worked to develop our own business proposal focused on creating lasting change.
During my visit to the Finnish Embassy, I gained insight into how diplomacy shapes international cooperation and development. The experience deepened my understanding of the embassy’s role in promoting peace, fostering economic partnerships, and addressing shared global challenges.
Embassy representatives discussed how their work supports cross-cultural exchange, advances policy priorities, and strengthens relationships between the Finnish people and the United States. I learned how embassies serve as bridges, connecting governments, communities, and organizations to create innovative solutions for global issues.
This visit broadened my perspective on international leadership and inspired me to think critically about how collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic planning can drive meaningful progress- principles that our team applied while developing our business proposal.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
One of the highlights was a session with Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.
My team also worked directly with a personal mentor. Our mentor provided us with career insights, project support, and feedback for our business ideas. The meetings we had throughout the week with our mentor provided critical insights from the initial business ideation phase through our project presentation.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, including Eric Rosenstein, we refined our ideas, strengthened our strategy, and developed a powerful and polished pitch deck to present at the end of the week. Their guidance helped us take our business proposal to the next level, creating a plan designed not only to launch a venture, but to transform our business partner’s future.