A few weeks ago, a member of the Cameroon Career Women Awards (CCWA) reached out to me (Mbole the Editor of THJ) to inform me that I was an eligible nominee for their awards in two categories; Most Influential Woman and Best Blogger. They further continued to screen each eligible nominee resulting in their final list of nominees in 19 categories.
One Category having only one nominee was Best Photographer (probably because people did not nominate anyone during the open nominations period which is a shame as there are many female photographers out therethat need to be discovered who could have at least benefited from the exposure even if they did not win).
I am happy that Chantal Edie won regardless as she is good at her craft. But it woul dhave been nice to see other names included so next year we will nominate more people. Fast forward, what started out as a nomination a few weeks ago turned out to be a win for me as Best Female Blogger.
Related News: My Hot Brown Chocoalate Dress…
Thanks to the CCWA for recognizing my work resulting to this Award. Not to say that those who didnt win are not hard workers. My supporters and readers also played huge part in supporting me.
They kept endorsing me and voicing their support of my work as a blogger by leaving tons of comments on Facebook and other social media platforms and sharing posts of my announcement as nominee, (public votes) consisted of 40% of the vote, with 60% being that of the judges. Thank you to my endless supporters. You all ROCK!
Although my work speaks for itself and how I value myself as a Blogger and Editor of what has grown to become the go-to media portal for many Cameroonians around the world wanting to connect with Cameroon and Africa, does NOT depend on any Award, but the idea behind the Award is what makes me happy to win this.
When you hear Cameroon Career Women you think of hard working African women in various careers and works of life working hard to leave a mark and positive example to the younger generation. Ironically, if anyone would have told me that I would win an Award for Blogging versus an award for eating my favorite cookies, I would have bet my money against it! When I posted both my nominations on various social media platform such as LinkedIn, the positive reaction was amazing from former and current colleagues, even those from Senior Management in my previous and current company liking my post and/or commented with words of encouragement.
It is also important to know that the mission of the CCWA as it is not only an award ceremony that awards women from different works of life and that celebrates women and their work in general, but it also raises money to help underprivileged women and girls in Africa. Part of the proceeds received from the tickets bought to attend the award ceremony will go towards supporting this years Sanitary Towels Campaign that the CCWA team have been running. Donations were also given and they are still receiving donations for this campaign which goes on until November 25th, 2018 per their official Facebook page. If you are interested in donating here is the information to send money: Contact: +07446002819 or CCWA Support ACCT: 19820742 SC 23 05 80, Metro Bank or contact them directly on their Facebook page HERE.
Related News: Find Out Who Is The New Ashley Stewart Brand Ambassador For 2018-2019
I hope my winning as well as all those who were either nominated or won motivates many more women to never give up (read my Fun Fact below) and to put in valuable time into their careers and to venture out into new careers that are not always what people consider as being traditional. Trust me, blogging has thought me a lot. That no matter how much I prepare, since I am not perfect, I will I make many mistakes in the process of becoming the best. This is probably why I am always busy learning from my numerous mistakes and moving forward in addition to constantly overwhleming myself with added work SMH. Incentives are usually great motivators.
Its human nature to seek approval sometimes. Whether we want to admit it or not but it feels great to know that someone wants to reward you for something you have worked hard for. If anyone would have told me that I would win any award, even an award made by my dogs by blogging about anything, I would have said that I had a better chance at becoming a Billionaire! (Can I get an Amen to the Billionaire part though?!). Getting paid for what you enjoy doing is great and I look forward to bigger checks. 🙂
FUN FACT:
Although I have been nominated at least 10 times since 2014 for blog awards, I only won my 1st blog award in October 2016 as Best Blogger at the African Entertainment Awards USA two years from the day I won my 2nd blog award again as Best Female Blogger at the Cameroon Career Women Awards in the UK on October 20th, 2018.
I won because I never gave up even when others who started years after me were winning awards and I was not. Believe in yourself and in your work. It speaks volumes and people will notice (awards or not).
