Knowing you on TVOA TV: Paula Ilonze, Founder and CEO of Chilon Industries shares her entrepreneurial journey

The Voice of Africa had the privilege of delving deep into the life of a serial entrepreneur, Paula
Ilonze, a Nigerian American go-getter who is making her mark as a woman in communications,
media, and business whiles designing solutions to meet the everyday needs of a woman.

She is a Communications Specialist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. By night, she is
an innovator trying to disrupt the hair industry with her company, Chilon Industries, where she
designs hair tools for textured hair (check out her business page here). She, out of a mere knack
for it, designed Ankara fashion available for purchase here! — She shares more about how this
came about in the interview.

Miss Ilonze has, at times, dabbled in politics working as a communications fellow for the North
Carolina Democratic Party during the infamous 2016 election. Following that stint, she lived a
fast life as a red carpet entertainment reporter in LA. To her, working in communications now
in Washington D.C. is the happy medium between the two.

Childhood Growing Up

She explained her childhood as a beautiful one growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina to
Nigerian immigrant parents; being naturally fairly academically gifted, she sailed through school
with honors and friendships. She recounted particular moments she had to deal with her
blackness or Africanness where she was not seen or not regarded to be ‘exactly’ black. Though
the experience may not have impacted her all that negatively, it prepared her for the world of
resistance that existed out there in her future of trying to make it in America while being black
or African.

As an extremely active child, she found herself in a number of extra-curricular activities in
elementary and high schools: reading announcements on the intercom, being in the Inkjets to
modeling, which she said her parents did not approve of.

Journey as an Entrepreneur

As Miss Ilonze recounts no one journey has led her to where she is today: winning $20,000 in
pitch money, and filing patents in the USA and Canada, to being featured on ESSENCE and
AFROTECH. It is a culmination of all the things she has tried and put down; following her
curiosity and taking advantage of every opportunity that came her way. In her words,

“As a founder, you have to immerse yourself in all things business just to understand. A startup
requires scale and with scaling, you need money, large amounts of it. I heard about [the pitch where I had my first monetary support] because I’ve subscribed to a ton of business
newsletters. In those newsletters, they’re sharing information about accelerators that you can
apply for, grants that you can apply for, pitch competitions, and tips about how to do
marketing, branding, and fundraising.

I’m always constantly learning with opportunities from those newsletters, and from programs
that I’ve completed, different boot camps, business accelerators, etc.”

Miss Ilonze also shared a bit about how she came to be part of an Essence mentorship program
that has redefined the way she does business. She stated that there is more to come from her
and Chilon Industries. In all, It is an educative and exhilarating interview.