Remi Abere in an exclusive interview with FMB reveals the hardest thing she has ever done in her life and more that you would never know or guess about her.

We had a chat with Mrs. Remi Abere not for her landmark achievements in mountain climbing but for her secret tips to a beautiful lifestyle and a gorgeous look.

Remi Abere is a role model in every aspect and a constant source of inspiration for all the young and middle age women out there. We got inspired by this delicate looking and yet strong woman. A beckon of youth, health and beauty. She is not only beautiful and classy, but smart, intelligent, witty and strong. Her descent is quite special as she was born to a Nigerian father and a Jamaican mother.

Don’t get deceived by her looks, because she has been married for 28years and she is a mother of five children, four girls and one boy, the girls are ages 27, 24, 22, 21 and her son is 15 years of age.

Don’t get deceived by her looks again because she is 51years old and is the oldest Nigerian woman to reach the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro at age 49 and to have climbed it twice within the past year. On her second climb, she had five wonderful and courageous women with her tagged ‘climb with Remi.’ The team of climbers comprised the first lady of Ogun State Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa, Mrs. Joke Olanipekun, Mrs. Uzo Nwani and Mrs. Debo Laditan.

Ok and before you wonder why a renowned corporate professional woman with over 25 years’ experience in diverse career ranging from IT, Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Investment, Financial Inclusion, Banking, Project Management, Training, Marketing and Communication like herself climbed the mountain twice. We would tell you, she did it to raise awareness and funds for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.

That tells us one thing about Remi Abere, she has a heart of gold to sleep in the cold for 7 days not for the sheer pleasure of doing it but to raise funds for internally displaced persons only reveals the depth of her selflessness.

She currently works for International Business Machines(IBM) as Corporate citizenship and corporate affairs lead (IBM Central and West Africa). But she left her comfort zone to bring smiles and joy to the heart of others who she felt needed it the most.

So, we call her “Remi Abere the famous mountain climber.” A name which we feel strongly she has rightly earned.

But I guess you already know all these things, so that’s not all.

The first time I saw her, I thought she was a young female professional rising high in her chosen field. Don’t judge me and don’t blame when you see her you will surely arrive at the same conclusion.

This was at IBM where I had a training organised by IBM and google. Her voice was sharp and precise, her accent was like music to my ears and I said to myself, WOW! Nice woman. I noticed she was really an important person at IBM from all the body language and gestures around. I knew she was a decision maker and towards the end of the two -day training I admired her greatly.

Then she told us something about herself that took my breath away and inspired me all the way to having a sit down with her. I wanted other women out there to be inspired and determined to achieve greatness. I wanted other women to read about this role model and achieve greatness too in their life. I wanted other women to learn a thing or two from Mrs. Remi Abere’s lifestyle.

Remi Abere can be described as a woman who has it all, and who has learnt the art of putting her act together. She is successful in her career and her family life. She has defiled the saying ‘that a woman cannot be comprehensively successful as she has to sacrifice family for career or vice versa.’

So, we asked her: How have you been able to manage career and family life

It has been a great delight and a challenge everyday which brought something special daily and something new daily. Everyday brought either a gift or a struggle but what kept me going is the wonderful young human beings who developed into incredible young women and men who make meaningful contributions to society. It is truly God’s greatest blessing.

I have been married for 28years and have 5 children, four young ladies and my only son is the last child. I am not going to say it has been an easy experience because it hasn’t. Far from it.. being married in this society is a true test in tolerance, patience, wisdom, resilience, humility and most of all strength of will. It’s sincerely a work in progress every day to keep it together. It really is. Along the way, you grow in strength and you become a different person. Is it worth it? Depends on how you look at it. At the end of the day I ask myself have I done right by these children if the answer is yes. Then it’s been totally worth it. Because it’s our children that will carry on our life work and our values to the next generation.

Then we asked again: What are your secret tips to looking radiant and young

Thank you for that lovely compliment. Looking radiant and young? Hmm I give our Lord all the glory because I really don’t know how. I get asked this question a lot from different people. I think God has blessed me with great genes and I try my best to preserve his work. I try to eat right especially since I am over 50 now. I also try and work out as much as I can. Walking is very much part of my everyday life. Try to do things myself to keep it moving. Ladies! Don’t let that fat settle in the wrong places.

I am not really a foodie so I don’t really have a favourite food. But I am a bit of a sweet tooth. However, I like to eat vegetables they are so good for you. Also, lots of naturally squeezed juices.

Ladies should avoid fried food, sugar and shouldn’t over cook vegetables to keep a fantastic shape and youthful look. Also, they should make sure they eat as much organic food as they can. And eat small portions.

We wanted to know, so we asked: What is the hardest thing you have done in your life?

The hardest thing I have ever done in my life is keep my marriage together.

And we were curious about her childhood: What is your most memorable moment as a child ?

My greatest memory as a child is growing up as a complete nuclear family.  Dad,  Mum and all my siblings living, loving and sharing as a complete family unit. There were some really happy moments. Unfortunately my Dad passed on when I was sixteen and just like that the unit was broken. It’s kinda like your source of existence is taken away and you have to start to swim alone. However, you simply cannot discount the lessons that you learn fairly quickly from being independent at a very early age.

Who inspires the inspired Remi Abere ?

I am inspired by many woman who beat the odds and emerge successful in this society because it’s really isn’t a walk in the park for woman. The number of balls we have to juggle at the same time under challenging conditions sometimes. I am in awe of all women who win this race.

More Inspiring tales about Remi Abere

And other interesting stuffs about Remi Abere? She does not really watch movies. We can’t blame her though as she is more of an outdoor woman who loves mind blowing adventures with travelling as her favourite past time. She revealed to us that she has been in an open-air balloon and she has been to many countries as an explorer.

Little wonder she loves the outdoor as her favourite colour is blue which stands for freedom, inspiration, trust, intuition, sincerity, wisdom, confidence and intelligence.

According to her, she has ‘a happy go lucky personality. Love being around people. Love to smile a lot and make people smile.’ She said. And we very much say yes to that. She is a people’s person.

And while we are at it … I mean knowing her better, it is reasonable that we also know her hobbies which are reading, cycling, hanging out with good company and adventure. She once said the prosperity of a nation is measured by the prosperity of a woman. She believes in technology, women empowerment and constant education for women.

One parting word of inspiration from Remi Abere herself is: ‘Never give up..life is for living so enjoy every moment.’ That is also a principle she holds dearly.

I have been greatly inspired by this woman of substance who has done meaningful things with her life and I hope you were inspired too.

Cheers!