Meet Female Graduate Who Makes Over ₦290 Billion From Bag Business She Started As A Side Hustle In School: Success sometimes comes from the things we do for fun, and this is true for Wilglory Tanjong, a young lady whose side hustle turned into a huge business that now makes her billions every year.
Wilglory, who hails from Senegal, started her bag business some years ago while studying for her MBA. At first, she just wanted something to keep herself busy. She never imagined that the same small idea would later grow into an international brand.
Her brand, known as Amina Iris, has now made its way into top stores like Nordstrom and Revolve. Even global music star Beyoncé once showed off her bag on Instagram, which brought her massive recognition online.
From what started in 2020, the business has already recorded over ₦290.5 billion in total sales, with about ₦250.5 million earned in 2021 alone. These days, her company makes around ₦41.5 million every single month.
Wilglory said her business means more to her than just money. For her, it is a way to stay connected to her roots. She shared that she grew up in a family where business was part of everyday life, as her parents always found a way to run something meaningful.
Born in Cameroon, she later moved with her parents to Maryland, USA, when she was only two years old. Life was not easy, but her parents worked different jobs, including running a laundry business, to make ends meet.
In 2018, Wilglory proudly became the first university graduate in her family. Soon after, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to work as an operations manager at a manufacturing company. She earned about ₦35.6 million per year from that job.
She saved close to ₦9 million from her school and summer jobs, and also got ₦20.7 million from her late mother as an inheritance. With this, she decided to travel across Africa for six months. Her first stop was Ghana, where she met many young and talented entrepreneurs.
Later, when she got to Senegal, she came across local artisans who were creating handmade bags and jewellery. That was when the idea to start a bag business hit her. She noticed that Black women, especially those of African roots, were rarely represented in the luxury fashion world.
She decided to invest ₦2 million from her savings to create about 50 bags. The money covered her travel, materials, and labour. She launched softly in November 2019, and by February 2020, she officially introduced her brand, Amina Iris, to the world. Not long after, she left her full-time job and relocated to Philadelphia to manage the business full-time.
Her big break came in June 2020, when Vogue Magazine featured her brand in an article about Black-owned fashion businesses. Shortly after, a blogger tweeted about her and the post went viral with almost 300,000 retweets. In just a few hours, her entire website sold out.
Things got even better in August 2021 when she opened Instagram and saw Beyoncé holding one of her bags. That single post changed everything for her and brought in more customers from different countries.
Today, Wilglory Tanjong is not only a successful businesswoman but also a motivation to many young people across Africa. Her story shows that a small idea, if handled with passion and consistency, can grow beyond imagination.
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Source’ Campusinformant, Legit
