Startup Story
Maureen Obaweya is the Founder and Creative Director of Morin.O Designs in Nigeria. She is an award-winning designer whose initial career was in a pharmacy before taking an unchartered course. The Morin.O brand is a luxury brand focused on creating leather items and accessories for individuals with the aim to share African beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity with the world. Maureen established her brand in 2013 and opened her first store in Lagos in 2015. She has over 29 years of experience that cuts across arts, decor, gift company, pharmacies, and many more.
LoA learned more about Maureen Obaweya’s creative passion and her ambitions for building her brand and customer base globally.
What does your company do?
Sharing African beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity with the world, Morin.O Designs creates handcrafted, luxury leather handbags and accessories for individuals. Inspired by artistic innovation and ethnic designs, collections spanning from handbags, wallets, iPad covers and more, are crafted with the finest leathers from Nigeria, Italy, and India by a group of artisans from various parts of the motherland. However, beauty at Morin.O Designs is more than skin deep; it’s the sustainable choice with responsible sourcing, fair trade practices, and styles that transcend time.
“Seeing women from all over Africa having their own voices in their craft gave me the push I needed, and upon coming back home I chose leather as my canvas of expression.”
“Strong attention to detail and customer satisfaction fused with our extensive knowledge of the essence, quality, process artistry, and expression of the medium of leather puts us ahead of the competition.”
What inspired you to start your company?
Seeking a platform to express my personal creativity after promoting other Nigerian and African artists and craftspeople in a prior creative company. I was privileged to have been on a sponsored training programme for women entrepreneurs in handcrafts sponsored by Vital Voices and the Exxon Mobil Foundation in October 2010. Seeing women from all over Africa having their own voices in their craft gave me the push I needed, and upon coming back home I chose leather as my canvas of expression.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
With painstaking attention and proficient handling of the medium of leather, we drive to meet the individual styles of the individuals we serve. Strong attention to detail and customer satisfaction fused with our extensive knowledge of the essence, quality, process artistry, and expression of the medium of leather puts us ahead of the competition.
Tell us a little about your team
Our Artisans are a pool of craftsmen from various parts of the Motherland and a team of in-house trained artisans well-schooled in the Morin.O techniques of world-class leather product making. Our management team comprises of professionals that span various competencies including Design, Finance, Marketing, and more.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My entrepreneurial journey started from my passion for the arts and creativity, and my quest to share African beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity with the world led to developing a business that will demonstrate and sustain the vision.
“My aspiration is to be the leading leather design and manufacturing brand out of Africa to the world.”
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
To be the leading leather design and manufacturing brand out of Africa to the world.
To consolidate and set up two large production plants to scale up capacity and volumes developing all our product lines with retail outlets in Nigeria, Africa, and other parts of the world.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
The worldwide favorable perception of our designs and products and the satisfaction it gives our customers. Seeing our innovative ideas come to life and impact lives and communities engaged in our ecosystem.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Develop and enhance your gift and be passionate about your craft, however, every idea, intention, or vision needs to be well articulated, honed, and developed. Be intentional about the holistic information you need in running your start-up, set the right foundation, and always remember it is a process, not an event.
Contact or follow Morin.O Designs
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL morin@morin-o.com
Why LoA loves it…
Following your passion is a key driver in entrepreneurship and Maureen Obaweya is certainly doing that through her love of creativity and luxury leather craftsmanship. She is now living out her dream by building a luxury leather accessory brand that is not only creating beautifully crafted items for customers, but is poised for growth into global markets. Maureen has the ambitions and the passion to fulfill her big goals. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa