Munaluchi Bride magazine has literally taken the world by storm. Launched by Jacqueline “Jackie” Nwobu and her husband, Chike Nwobu only 2 years ago with absolutely no prior experience in publishing, the magazine has changed the face of the bridal industry forever – and they’re just warming up! Munaluchi Bride is the leading authority and premiere source of bridal inspiration for women of color who crave culture and style in an industry that, all too often, ignores images of women of color in their media. I have had the great opportunity and privilege to be affiliated with these wonderful people and this amazing magazine and I feel so blessed.
Eronmwon Balogun, an extremely talented former event designer, is the magazine’s Creative Director and Jackie’s “sister-friend.” They work together daily to make the Munaluchi brand what it is every single day.
This is the very first interview ever conducted with Eronmwon and Jackie together! There’s so much to learn from these two trail-blazing women about sisterhood & friendship, faith, discipline and overcoming fear. I hope you’re as inspired as I was.
How did you two meet?
J: This is what happened: I was starting the first issue. I was on Facebook looking for people to feature, wedding planners, event designers, and anyone in the wedding industry or fashion that I could feature in the first issue. So, I don’t even know how I came across Pure Chic [Events] which is Eronmwon’s event design company, but somehow, I came across Pure Chic and sent a message about the magazine. I didn’t really have to say much; she was just on board right away. So, she got her information to me, you know, she was featured in the magazine. Then, through conversation, it turned out that she lives in South Jersey where I live! And then, we found out that she lives only 5 minutes away. This was becoming very interesting! Facebook, you know … our Facebook connection. Do you want to continue now, Eronmwon?
E: When Jackie contacted me … you know, when you start a new business, it’s kinda scary, you know? I liked the event design thing and I knew I could do a really good job at it. When Jackie contacted me, I was, like, “Wow! This sounds like a good idea: a magazine [with] African influence for bridal? There’s nothing like that out there.” So, I told her immediately – immediately, I felt something really close to what they’re doing. It was a no-brainer! I liked it. I thought it was a great idea. So, when she told me and we spoke for a minute, as soon as I found that she lived around the corner, I immediately invited her to my sister’s event. My sister was getting married and it was a bridal shower. I said to myself, “You know what? The only way for her to actually see my work is to come to the shower and then I can meet her face-to-face and see who this girl is that is bold enough to come out with a magazine. So, Jackie came to the house for the shower and instantly, we hit it off! I think after that, we didn’t see each other for a while, right?
J: No. The wedding happened; the magazine came out; we printed the magazine; so on and so forth. We got our office down here in South Jersey and, you know, we were just moving orward. And then, I got a call from Eronmwon ….
E: I think before that, when the magazine launched and everything, I did voice interest that I wanted to help out in any way.
J: You did! You did! She would always tell me, “If you need any help, just let me know. I still have my full-time job, but just let me know if there’s anything I can do. She always had her foot in the door like, “Look! I am here to help you if you need anything.”
E: In my job that I had, you know, good company, good job, [but] I was ready to move forward. So, when I had the opportunity to leave my job, I took the offer. The day I left my job, I called Jackie that same day! I said, “Jackie, I don’t have a job anymore.”
J: Let me tell you how it happened. I want to say it. [Laughs] So Eronmwon called me, “Hey Jackie! How’s it going?” I said, “Yeah, everything’s fine!” She said, “I don’t have a job anymore today.” I said, “Really?!” She was, like, “Yeah, and I wanna come into the office. I want to come and help.” At that time, we had an empty, like literally, across from me, there was an empty desk just sitting there. I was like, “Well, there’s an empty desk. There’s a computer. Come on down!” That was it. She came into the office, sat down [and] we just started working, vibing and here we are!
So why did you decide to leave your job, Eronmwon? Did you decide to leave it just so you could join the magazine or for a number of other reasons?
E: Well, really, I think I was coming to a point …. I had been at the job for over 8 years and it wasn’t that I planned to be there that long. It just wasn’t challenging anymore, my heart wasn’t there, [and] I just wanted to do something else. I was ready to do something else. I was ready to move on but you know that fear that everybody has of “If I leave my job, how am I going to pay my bills?” So, I had that in me too, but I just [thought], “When am I going to make this leap to do something that I actually enjoy?” and I knew that I didn’t know the sacrifices that were going to come along with me leaving . All I knew was that I wasn’t happy anymore - and I had my husband’s support because, you know ….
Okay. That was going to be my next question because for women who are married, what about [your husband]? Was your husband supportive of the idea? Was he also, you know, a little skeptical about the idea?
E: I think from the beginning, when I introduced the magazine to my husband, he immediately said it was a brilliant idea. It’s great that I have a guy who, when he sees something and he knows that there’s potential in it, he definitely identifies right away. So, he knew I wasn’t happy where I was and he said, “If this will make you happy and it’s a great idea, go for it!” That’s what happened.
J: With anything that you do as a woman that’s married, if you don’t have your husband’s support, then that’s definitely going to be difficult. Our husbands are very very …. I’ll say that, for Nigerian husbands, our husbands are very different. They are really really good because it is hard for you tell somebody, “Yes! I’m going to go do this magazine. I’m going to be up all night, blah blah blah.” You have children and you have to take care of them and nurture them, and they may say, “Well, why don’t you go get a job? Why don’t you go into nursing or[Both laugh] something like that.” Our husbands are great!
E: It’s true! We thank God for that part. Also, the chemistry that we all have – not just Jackie and I but both couples, you know, my husband and I and Jackie’s husband and Jackie …
J: And even the kids
E: and the kids too. I think that’s part of the chemistry, that I can say that Jackie and her husband are really really good people. Jackie and I have grown and gotten to know each other. I will tell you it wasn’t an easy friendship in the beginning because I came in there and she knew nothing about me and my motives and my intentions, you know what I mean? So I won’t say, “Oh my God! Right away, we just became best friends!” but yes, we became good friends and [then] better friends because we got to know each other very well and knew that we really did care about each other and care about where the magazine is going, what her vision is and [I saw that] Jackie did care about me. That’s what makes it even better. That’s the truth!
So how long would you say you’ve known each other?
J: Since 2009.
E: That’s right!
J: Right? Since 2009! Mason [Eronmwon's son] was 1. I came to Mason’s 1, no, 2 year old birthday party. So he was 1 when I first met him.
E: He’s going to be 4 years old now. You’re right! Wow, it seems like yesterday, you know?
J: I know. I know.
E: We’ve grown sha! [Both laugh.]
J: And you know what? When Eronmwon met me, I only had … wait, was Nonye born yet?
E: It was just Muna!
J: I only had one child. Now, I have three! I was pregnant with Nonye when I came to your [Eronmwon's] sister’s bridal shower.
E: Yup. It was just Muna you had. So, it’s been a while!
Wow! You’ve definitely grown because that’s life growth, too. That’s great! So, Eronmwon [just to be clear,] the job you’ve been talking about is Pure Chic Events, right? You owned the company?
E: Well, I started a small company called Pure Chic Events. I had this thing [where] I wanted to do more modern event design. I was very young. Well, not me per se, but the idea was really young. I was trying to target a Nigerian audience and show them I was so tired of seeing Nigerian parties that looked a hot mess. That’s what pushed me into it. You go to Nigerian parties and it’s so disorganized, the decor is horrible, and I thought, “I have to bring a fresh perspective to this,” not realizing that my clients that I would be dealing with were going to be a little more challenging. So, I think Munaluchi has definitely shown me a different [side] of how I do things and what I really really want and, you know, the [process] of running a business. I’ve learned a lot from Munaluchi: it’s not as easy as I thought it was going to be. There’s a lot of work that goes into it, and a good partnership does help a whole lot.
Jackie, can you tell me what a day in the life of you, [the] Editor-in-Chief of Munaluchi, is like?
J: It’s different every day. I mean, it really is. Every single day is different. You’re up early. You’re doing this, that and the other; trying to get updates ready for the website; trying to plan editorial shoots for the next issue; dropping the kids off at school; doing grocery … I mean, you’re talking about your whole life. You’ve got your regular life. You’ve got the life of being a mother and being a wife - and then you have the business and it’s all wrapped together all in one ball. So, every single day is just different. It’s not like corporate America where you’ve got your schedule 9-5: You know, you wake up, you get dressed, you have your coffee or whatever you like to drink that’s hot. You get inside your car and drive for one hour there. You have another coffee to kill time. It’s not like that! There isn’t that kind of structure but every single day is different. I know that the goal every day is, how do you expand? How do you make this magazine bigger? What is the next big thing? Every single day, that’s on your mind. So, every single day, you’re trying to reach that goal and you’re learning new things in the process. One thing with business that a lot of entrepreneurs don’t know is that they think, “Okay, I’m gonna do this and this is how it’s going to work.” If you’re not able to adapt, I call it, you have to be able to pivot. You’re going in one direction and all of a sudden, you have to kind of switch a little bit or you might just have to bear to the right, that’s something with business! Because with changing times and changing generations and changing people, you have to be able to adapt your business and that’s why whenever you ask a business person, “What’s your day like?” They tell you it’s different; every day is different because things change in the world every single day. There is no - I can’t tell you exactly what it’s like. I just know that there’s a lot of work. I probably put in about 20 hours of work a day. [Wow!] Because when you think about it, the only time I’m not working is when I’m sleeping. I’m probably working when I’m sleeping because I’m dreaming about what I was thinking abou all day. So, there really isn’t that much rest. At the same time, I’m not complaining: I enjoy it! That’s part of the challenge of being an entrepreneur: tryign to find time for yourself and sometimes, you just have to find a way to slow down and relax.
Yeah, that’s important every so often so you don’t burn out. So, Eronmwon, what’s a day in your life like? A lot of people hear “Creative Director” but they don’t really know what that entails. So can you tell [me] what a day in your life is like?
E: I’m going to concur with Jackie. I didn’t come to this job with a huge knowledge about [being] a Creative Director. I came in here with a passion. I love design and I have an eye. At first, I didn’t know what it meant but I knew that being a Creative Director was cool. I wanted to do all the creative stuff for Munaluchi so it was a good title, but I didn’t come in here with, you know, I went to school for this. I love what I do and I understand what I do now. I know what it takes but we all wear different hats at Munaluchi. I have a title but anything I’m asked to do or I need to get done: researching, ironing someone’s shirt, making copies, we do everything! So, the day in the life of a Creative Director basically could start from me going to the mail box and whatever, helping put things in the mail; to sitting down with Jackie to pick out gowns for the next photo shoot; to coming up with ideas for the shoot, a story behind the shoot; to contacting modeling agencies. You know, anything that needs to be done to get a particular shoot going for the next issue – and then sitting down with Jackie, sometimes, to go through quality-checking the issue to make sure it’s right. Whatever I’m given, I do. The main core of my job, basically, is I focus more on the creative part of the storyline behind each of our photo shoots, the gowns, the creative concept behind it. Of course, Jackie is very talented so it’s not me alone. She brings a lot of knowledge to the craft. She’s an expert in it. She does a lot of things. She has a great eye. I’ve learned from her how to view photography so I feel as if I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve also grown a lot as a Creative Director. I’m looking forward to more challenges and more things to come. So, like I said, a day in the life could be anything. We have all different hats.
J: And another thing with the Creative Director is that a lot of people, when they think of Creative Director, they think you’re just doing fashion all day. A huge part of being a Creative Director that Eronmwon is also involved in is marketing because when you talk about being a Creative Director and when you talk about marketing, there are a lot of visual aspects to marketing that can make it win or lose, you know? With her visual eye in things, when we’re starting campaigns and let’s say we’re putting out a new flyer or we’re putting together a new postcard, as a Creative Director, she can look at it and say, “You know what? I don’t think that word looks good there. Let’s move this over. This should be a different color. Make this bold.” …
E: It’s true. Very true. Because every brand has its own culture and your job is, we stick by the culture of our brand in every form. So, that’s where my eye comes in and my opinion or input comes in: I have to make sure that the culture of our brand is represented in everything we do. Even looking at people’s weddings that they submit ….. our photoshoots; you know, everything that has to do with the brand, maintaining the brand, the culture and the value of the brand.
So if you were asked what the brand is, “What is the Munaluchi brand? What is the Munaluchi culture?” What would you say?
J: Munaluchi is that bridal publication, that online website, that digital magazine that caters to that black girl that most people don’t see. She’s very sophisticated. She’s very classy. She’s loves the way she looks. She likes how her clothes fit; she’s very particular about how they look on her body. That’s the kind of girl that we are catering to.
E: She’s got style. She’s educated.
J: She’s got style. She’s educated, and she’s very proud of who she is. A lot of times, we don’t see that type of image portrayed in mainstream media and that is the reason why the magazine was started in the first place. I mean how many weddings have you been to? You probably can start counting now ….. and they are probably all black weddings. But you go to a magazine – and that’s just you. You’re just one person. Think about New Jersey alone [and] every black girl: how many weddings have they been to? But if you go and pick up a magazine in New Jersey, a national – even if it’s local or national – and you flip through the pages, you probably will not see one black wedding in there. Why? The question is, Why is that? In our world, we need to see more of those images and that’s the reason why we put the magazine together in the 1st place! If it’s not going to be shown in the mainstream media, then we’ll just show it ourselves and make it mainstream.
E: And also, the mediums that they had in the past that did portray black marriages, it wasn’t their expertise so they didn’t put that expertise into finding that good, that stylish black couple. If you look at Jet Magazine from back in the day, they just announced the weddings. Nothing was showing details of that wedding or what the love story was or what efforts these people put into planning their wedding. That’s where we come in as far as that, but we’re picky with what we take because we want to show the best creative weddings out there. People put a lot of creativity into their wedding, too. Besides having a lot of money, there are other ways [to have] a really nice wedding in the most creative way possible which you can see in our Real Weddings as well.
So how do you work together? You know there’s this stereotype about women: we’re really emotional, we’re catty, we just don’t work well together! Especially when you disagree, how do you work it out?
E: [jokes] You [Jackie] get on my nerves all the time!!! [Lots of laughter]
J: Eronmwon and I can disagree on things a lot, but that’s a natural thing. I think, to me personally but that’s just me. I don’t know about other people – I would rather work with someone who can tell me, “I don’t like that and this is the reason why I don’t like that” or “I don’t agree with you and this is the reason why I don’t agree with you” and we can sit down and have a conversation about it, even if the conversation takes an hour [but] gets to a point. Rather than someone saying, “Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes.Yes. Yes.” See what I’m saying? So, the great thing about Eronmwon is that she will tell you! If she doesn’t like something, you’re going to know she doesn’t like it. You’re either going to know by her body language or she’s just going to tell you, “I don’t think this is going to work.” Not just “it’s not going to work ’cause I don’t think so” but “this is why I don’t think this is going to work.” Then, we can have a conversation about it – and I think that’s what makes our relationship so dynamic because a lot of times with girls, they can’t get to that point because the first thing that happens is: I put up a guard and I catch an attitude or you’re insulting me. We’re both very mature. We both understand each other and we know that at the end of the day, our intention is for the portrayal of the magazine to be what it’s supposed to be and to fit the brand. We are on the same page with that! No matter what happens, we always get to the same point of “what’s good for the brand?”
E: Another thing when you talk about women being catty, I actually truly truly truly am proud of what Jackie and Chike are doing. I’m not competing with Jackie and Chike in any form. I want to them to be successful. I really do care about them and care about their success, knowing that at the end of the day, if they do well, we’re all going to do well. Jackie and I are courteous to each other as well. We know that nothing is personal. We have agreed to talk about it without getting catty with it or taking it personally. It’s just what it is: it’s business! It’s not a personal thing. I respect her opinion and she respects my opinion. There are times I give her my opinion and she says, “I don’t think so” and she’s very good at thinking about it [so] she’ll say, “Let me think about again” and she’ll think about it. Then, she’ll say, “Eronmwon, I don’t agree” or “Eronmwon, you’re right.” She’s open like that, and I love that about her. She’s not trying to make me look like I don’t matter or what I say doesn’t matter. I don’t ever feel that way! I always feel like they respect my opinion, even if it’s good or bad – they still respect it and appreciate it. So, that works. That’s what I feel.
J: Yeah, we generally just work well together and we’re friends too. A lot of times when you talk about business, they’ll say it’s hard to do business and also be friends, but we know how to draw the line. And we know that at the end of the day, this is like a family business and we look at each other like family. Our kids play together, On eof our kids actually goes to the same school [as the other]. So, it’s a different level. It’s not just, “Okay, let me go and do work and come back.” At this stage, we’re not in the work stage. We’re in the stage of raising a child which is the magazine. It is a child that we are raising together as a family. So there’s no “let’s do this” or “let’s do that” or “I’m not doing anything because it’s 2 in the morning” or “I’m not checking my email.” We are all at that point and that’s what’s so great in this stage. Eronmwon came in and she understands and we’ve all kind of embraced each other like family.
What advice would you give to women who want to start up something or want to approach other women to start up something and are just afraid? What would you tell them? They see someone and think this is the perfect person [to collaborate with] but they’re just scared, skeptical or just don’t know. What advice would you give them about basically how to …. be a good judge of character?
J: Well, for me, the first thing is that they have to have good character. You can’t go and judge someone’s character if you have bad intentions. I can’t give advice to people who, when they really look deep inside, are they a good person or are they not? Do they have good intentions or do they not? Now, if we’re talking about people who are [thinking,] “I just want to start this business. I think it’s great. I think that this girl would be a great partner,” then, for that person, I would say you really have to go off a vibe. If you have no idea about this person, there’s going to be a trial. There’s definitely going to be a trial. You have to understand that in a trial period, you’re getting to know someone, but in the process of getting to know someone, you really have to be smart as a business person and know how to feel the vibe. That’s something that business people are good at doing: you have to know how to feel the vibes right away. Either this person seems interested or they don’t seem interested. This person seems like they’ll be good at the job or they’re not going to be good at the job – and if you see a problem, you have got to eliminate that in the beginning! Don’t let things dwell and later on, you have a really big problem on your hands. That would be my advice if you’re approaching someone that you want to partner with.
E: What Jackie said is true! You need great communication with that person as well. That also helps to keep the relationship going as well. Good communication; be honest. Have an honest partner that you can actually trust. When you communicate better – communicate well – the sky is the limit. You can discuss things that are uncomfortable [or] comfortable and still function to reach the goal of the company.
J: And it helps if you and that person have the same values. What is this girl all about? Does she want to hang out and party all night? Are you a mother and she’s a mother? Are you single and she’s married? You really have to look at those things; it’s important because at the end of the day, the person is going to be your partner. You’re not just going to be talking about business. You’re going to be talking about personal things too. You’re going to be a part of [her] life. So, do they have the same values as you? Do they like to drink and smoke and hang out in the club all night and you don’t? You probably might not want to, uh, [laughs], it might not be a good fit realistically because that person is very different from you.
E: Good point!
J: [Eronwon and I] are so in tune with each other and I don’t know if it’s because we live in South Jersey on a farm or what? [Laughter] But we’re both at the same stage: we’re not going to hang out. We’re like, let’s get this business going! That’s all we talk about!
E: We’ll play later.
J: We’ll play later.
What would you say you’ve learned most from starting this business, in general?
E: One thing I’ve really learned is that some people are not really who they say they are. I’ve learned that with business. You meet a lot of people in this business and they’re people that you’ve had an idea in your head about who they are but they’re not really who you think they are. That’s the lesson I’ve learned about the other side of this business. Another thing I’ve learned is [spiritual]: nothing in life that will make you successful can be done without having a strong relationship with God. Fear! I’ve learned not to be afraid either.
That’s very important for women!
J: With business, you have to be very careful who you trust because, just like Eronmwon said, there are a lot of people that will comes especially when people start to recognize your brand and things like that, [they'll] want to act like they have good intentions [but] they really don’t. But part of the whole training of being a business person is you can smell fish when it comes. You’ll know right away that this person right here, I don’t trust that person. That’s something that we’ve learned and now, we’re able to weed those kinds of people out. The thing about fear: I would definitely agree with that. If you think that you’re going to start a business and you’re not going to have to sacrifice something that you probably really really like, then you’re just wasting your time. You definitely will have to sacrifice something. It might just be going shopping every day. It might just be sleeping 8 hours a day, but at the end of the day, that’s part of business. So one thing we’ve learned is that you cannot be afraid because, in reality, we’re very spiritual people – that’s another reason why we all connect very well. We ultimately really feel that because we have faith, God is guiding us in the right direction. Just if you put together the steps of how we met and how we started the magazine, everything was really centered around God. It doesn’t make logical sense when you think about how the whole magazine got started. So, we always remember that fact. We always remember how we got to this point and say, we’re not afraid of anything, because at the end, we got this far. So, we’re doing the right thing. We have faith in Him leading us; so, we’re just going to keep following His lead and believing in Him. Those are the main things. There’s a lot!
What have you learned from one another?
J: One thing I’ve learned from Eronmwon is: I’ve had friends for years. Some of these people they’ve known from when I had a Jheri Curl back in 4th grade and so on and so forth. [I laugh.] I mean, we’re talking way back. But one thing that I’ve learned from Eronmwon is that you can meet somebody and vibe with that person and that person could be a better friend than any friend you’ve ever had. I’ve learned that being true to yourself and speaking your mind and telling people exactly how you feel is definitely a plus in the way that you should do things. At the end of the day, sometimes you can have misunderstandings with people or you can assume that somebody feels a certain way and if you don’t voice your opinion and talk to about it, you’ll never know and go off that assumption which is probably wrong. So, I’ve learned from Eronmwon about true friendship: being loyal, being open, being open about your feelings and just expressing how you feel. It really makes things very smooth and it makes for a very good friendship.
E: Awww thank you, Jackie!
J: You’re welcome!
E: I feel the same way. That, plus, Jackie is a very hardworking woman. That’s one thing I’ve learned from her. I’ve learned the value and importance of commitment. When she commits to something, you can’t get her out of it. That tells you something about the human [experience] because [for] people in life that are successful, when they tell you what they went through in the past, you know it takes a level of commitment to be a successful person. I can see her on her journey and she is good at that. I’ve learned a lot about her from that. When Jackie wants something, she’s going to get it. Me, I can say, “Oh I didn’t get it!” I can give up and let it go, but I look at things a different way now. It’s like, “Alright! Stay in there!” and once I do it, I see the results. That’s something I really really admire about her and I’ve learned the value if that type of commitment from her.
J: Thank you!
A Lovely Collaboration is a new feature that will pop up occasionally. It is designed to celebrate positive collaborations between African women in purpose, business and life. Its goal is to shine a spotlight of positivity on African female partnerships in a world that too often shines the spotlight on female cattiness, jealousy and envy.
