When Chioma Ikejiani left Glace Bay for Toronto 15 years ago, she was just another 20-year-old looking for a good job and a piece of the big city life; she ended up finding a whole lot more.
After remarkable highs (she pulled in six-figures as a real estate agent) and discouraging lows (she collected welfare for a short time), Ikejiani seems to be poised for a break into stardom.
In December, Ikejiani paid a crew to help her shoot a 60-minute pilot for a talk show entitled Up Close with Chioma. Up Front Entertainment, a major Canadian production house, picked up the pilot and is shopping it to the networks. "I can't believe it's come full circle," says the Nigerian-born Ikejiani of her rags-to-riches story. "When I think back to where I was, I never thought this would happen." And Ikejiani's route to success has been anything but ordinary.
Her parents left Nigeria with their eight children in the midst of the Biafran War and moved to Canada in 1971. Ikejiani's father relocated the family to Glace Bay where he was a pathologist at the Glace Bay Community Hospital.
Although she was just two years old at the time, the experience left an indelible impression. "I saw how my parents toiled away to rebuild their lives." Ikejiani would experience life's cruel indifference on her own. But, like her parents, her resilience allowed her to overcome the obstacles thrown her way.
After attending the University College of Cape Breton for two years, she transferred to Saint Mary's University where she graduated with a degree in political science. Then she made a decision that would change her life. With just $400 in her pocket, no job prospects and a vague idea that something better lay ahead, Ikejiani blindly boarded a train to Toronto.
Although she secured employment at a Le Chateau store (the same job she held while going to school in Halifax) it was tight. But Ikejiani says she was determined to make it on her own. "If you're going to leave your parents and try to do things on your own, you're going to pay the piper. I decided I was going to do things on my own."
Fortunately, Ikejiani had a gift for selling, a talent that still plays a big part in her achievements. When she landed a job at a high-end retail clothing store she excelled, earning the store "in the vicinity of $100,000 in sales." But when her employer refused to put her on commission Ikejiani walked, leaving behind a job she loved and the $10,000 salary she needed so desperately.
It was a bold move that speaks volumes about Ikejiani's determination and strength of character. It was also a move she would suffer for. "I ended up owing $7,000 dollars in rent and I was on the verge of being evicted. I had absolutely no money. Eventually I went on welfare." However, Ikejiani's pride rivals her determination. She accepted one cheque and resolved to make it without social assistance.
In 1990, at a friend's suggestion, she fixed her sights on the real estate industry. Times were still tough, however. She ate crackers ("there are four packages in the box - that meant I could eat four meals") and would sometimes spend the night in the park to avoid her landlord. "They were really, really bad times," she recalls.
Soon her perseverance paid off. Ikejiani was so determined to sell houses she'd select numbers out of the phone book and call people randomly. She arrived at potential sales the only ways she could - on foot, by subway, even on a borrowed bicycle.
Eventually Ikejiani worked her way up to a position at Prudential Sadie Moranis Realty. There she earned a "six-figure income" and a reputation as one of the top real estate agents in the country. Then, after an appearance on the Dini Petty Show to discuss her success, Ikejiani became infatuated with television. Subsequent appearances on Camilla Scott, Global News, and CBC's Undercurrents, to name a few, compelled her to do the unthinkable - fly to Chicago and meet her idol, Oprah Winfrey.
"Meeting Oprah I had no game plan," says Ikejiani. "When the cab driver picked me up in Chicago and asked me where I was going, I told him "I'm going to meet Oprah." He stopped the car and explained that people had to wait two years to meet Oprah. "But somehow I knew I had to talk to her."
Ikejiani did meet Oprah. With equal measures of moxie and sweet talk, she cornered Winfrey after a show and came out of a private meeting with the television icon determined to start her own talk show.
Now, true to form, it looks like Ikejiani will make that happen. Plans for a number of specials focusing on successful Canadians are in the works. If all goes well, Up Close with Chioma could air in the year 2000.
While Ikejiani's success has been self-made, she's quick to point out that her "gift to gab" originated in Cape Breton. "I think growing up in Glace Bay really helped me. People were so friendly that I really developed the ability to open up and became very outgoing."