Time pass has undoubtedly witness the birth of different
magazines with various concepts of either being flair, events etc. but big sister magazine broke the norm by becoming Nigeria’s premiere life style
magazine packaged for the special interest of the curvy and plus size sisters
with features on health, fitness, diet, fashion, boost of self esteem ,
personality interview, entertainment and lots more. With 5 editions in one year, Elsie-coco (CEO/FOUNDER
BSM) and Naomi Wilson (brand coordinator) recounts the inspiration behind the
brand, journey so far and future plans. Enjoy.
Elsie: When I made up my mind that I was going to publish a
magazine of my own, it was important that I had a concept of my own; I didn’t
want the magazine to come out to be like another version of what was already on
the stands. I wanted something to be identified with, a brand. I needed to
be a first class version of myself in my own little was and then grow from
there, so I was like, what is this magazine that I would love to see on the
stands that I am yet to see? One of my major challenges I had as at then was weight
control and so the idea just hit. Already, I was tired of reading
the same old things from various regular magazines. I remember reading a
funny caption from a column (supposedly dedicated to the plus sized) from a
magazine, and it read something like; ‘FAT
IS UGLY!’ And I felt that was rather a mean caption that could kill the
self esteem of any plus sized sister who was about reading, no matter how
useful the content was. So I was like, let me package
something for the very curvy and fuller figure sisters out there and I
could only achieve that through BIG
SISTER. That was how the idea came about.
BSM : What was the reception like when BIG SISTER came out?
Elsie:
Big Sister Magazine happens Nigeria’s premiere lifestyle magazine for the curvy and plus
sized sisters. We’ve been able to break away from that normal norm of being
just an any other publication. The reception I would say has been very warm and
encouraging. We are just a year and yet it looks as if we’ve been there for
years. Any where we go, people ask the same question which is, why didn’t anyone
think of a concept for this before now? We’ve
been a voice that represents the plus size women in the society and like I keep
saying, I’d like to think of Big Sister as a forum where the plus size sisters
in the society can shine, feel free to express themselves and be edgy as well.
Anywhere we go, the reception has been the same. Special thanks to all the
fans. Already we have over a thousand fans on our 3 facebook pages and twitter.
BSM : How wide is the reach of BIG SISTER Magazine?
Elsie: Big Sister is available
in Nigeria, Ghana and in the USA. We are also available online via www.bigsistermagazine.blogspot.com for fans to read from any part of the world that they may be.
BSM : How do you want people to feel after reading BIG SISTER Magazine?
Elsie: I like them to feel in total control of themselves, I want
them to have a high self esteem, they should be trendier in their dressing.
Their weight should no longer control them but rather should be in their
control. For my plus size readers, I want them to know also that every feature
is not to spite them, if every other flair magazine does that, Big Sister will
be there to encourage them-a shoulder to lean on, like how big sisters do.
BSM : What is it like running BSM brand and your challenges encountered in the last one year?
Elsie: It has been
challenging because it has taken all my time and attention and often times I
can’t think of anything else but BSM. It has become an addiction. Each day, new inspirations come and I can’t
wait to explore them. Generally people are not so receptive to the plus size
community, I found that out from people who have been in the industry before
me, and BSM is here to change that perception, with time, we will prove that. Running
a brand like this is about being open to advice from people who are not afraid
to tell you the truth. It’s about watching and learning from mistakes, it’s
about borrowing ideas from sister brands.
BSM : Body acceptance is a huge subject among the plus size community - what is your personal story and your advice about loving yourself, soul, body and mind?
Elsie: We cant all be a size O, we were all created differently in
a unique way. My advice is that we just be ourselves. Don’t live your life
under cheap publicity of media and peer influence. Love you, cause if you
don’t, some people out there will help you hate it the more. Flesh too is beauty. If you love your body,
you will take good care of it, eat right, dress well and exercise, yes you can
be FAT AND FIT.
BSM: Visualize BSM in the next 5 years.
Elsie: Already we are establishing a plus size stable in Africa.
In the last one year, we have partnered with brands within and outside Africa
that share are vision and for us. This has made us relevant in the growing
industry. There are a whole not of plans
we have for the brand, some we will achieve before 5 years, some might take
longer but in the next 5 years, the whole BIG SISTER ENTERTAINMENT Media will
become an empire that will consist of not just print media, already we are
about to start floating our radio program to follow by television productions.
Our fashion line is coming up soon so fans have a lot to watch out for.
Naomi Wilson (brand coordinator)
BSM: How long have you been with BIG SISTER Magazine?
Naomi: I’ve been with Big
Sister right from inception.
BSM : How has the journey been so far in the last one year?
Naomi: Big Sister has been fun, exciting and fulfilling. Fulfilling in the sense that we are doing what
we wanted to do, not deviating from our initial concept. The whole Big Sister brand has open so many
doors of opportunity for us, it has given us access or pass word to a whole lot
of personalities celebrities and non celebrities. We’ve had cause to network
with other plus size brands, we’ve mingled and made friends with great people
from all works of life. Any where we go, people appreciate what we do and
always want to identify with the brand. This comes with hard work anyway and at
the same time, we wont take the credits, we give it to God, Almighty. So, the
journey has been worth it and we have no cause to regret because we are heading
somewhere which is the top.
BSM : Which are the brands that BSM has partnered with in the last one year?
Naomi: We’ve partnered with
a whole lot of brands in the last one year. The first being our mother network
which is The International Fuller Woman
Network based in Detroit, USA. Back home in Nigeria we were part of their 5th
edition MISS BIG WORLD Nigeria, NAY et Kay is also a brand that
deals with plus size and they are our
proud partners too. We were part of the Adaora
Couture launch May this year, a plus size fashion line of one of Nigeria’s
finest plus size actress. Recently we just conducted a plus size model search for
JPKINGDOM another plus size fashion
line, BSM was part of the launch last month. We are also in partnership with PLUS FAB another plus size clothing
line by Ouma Tema in South Africa. Currently we just got into partnership with MISS ENDOWED AFRICA an initiative of
Kenneth Okolie, ex-Mr Nigeria. Gradually, we’ll get there.
BSM: What are the future plans for the brand?
Naomi: For
now, we are keen about our upcoming launching which is the most important thing
for us now. Over the last one year, we have contributed to the growth of other
brands new and existing. We have studied the plus community terrain and we are
ready to give BSM a launch. We are marking our one year anniversary with the
launch of our radio show ie BIG SISTER E-RADIO Show that’ll come up any moment
from now. Soon, we’ll go into TV productions and other products will be
launched as well.
BSM : What are your plans for the launch of BIG SISTER Magazine.
NAOMI: For
now we yet to pick a date, still dropping proposals to brands to be part of it
but hopefully we will launch it before the year comes to an end, we want to
make it an exquisite event that our fans will be part of. High lights of launch will include the official unveiling of
The Face of BIG SISTER brand and our fashion line BIG SISTER Couture, we’ll also
be giving out awards of recognition to individuals that have made great impact
in the plus size industry. These and a lot more.
BSM : Body acceptance is a huge subject among the plus size community - what is your personal story and your advice about loving yourself, soul, body and mind?
Naomi: I don’t think there is hardly any plus size sister that
doesn’t have issues with her weight,
I’ve had mine but I think the most important thing is for us to keep our heads
high up because big too can be sexy. We need to develop a good self confidence,
look sleek and smart, eat right and cultivate and active life style.
BSM: Last word to fans of BIG SISTER Magazine?
PICTURES FROM OUR WORK SPACE
Founder/CEO BSM Elsie-coco(in blue) Brand cordinator BSM Naomi Wilson (in stripes)in the offices
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