Gisting With Stephanies Lounge’s Stephanie Geddes On Ups & Downs Of 6yrs Operation

Stephanie Geddes, the hard worker behind the growing successes of Stephanies Lounge and Bar is in a very happy mood.

The premium leisure dispenser that is her passion is 6…celebrating it’s sixth year anniversary that is.

‘And I am just happy’ she stated simple in a chat with societynowng.com on the attainment.

The date was Sunday October 11 2015..and the venue?..let’s just say a shielded location in Lagos.

The operator of the well known name in Apapa area of Lagos was attired in simply – a top, fitted jean and high heel sandals.

Her response was coated with pleasure- the voice of a person extremely pleased with how
things are shaping up.

‘So it’s been a roller coaster all along?’ societynowng.com enquire

A slight change in expression and she responded with the pleased look back in place ‘Its hasn’t been easy, but the passion kept me going and their is the fear of failure..not wanting to failure’

The chat was been conducted out door, just some steps from a pool.

It was evening and the breeze was cool.

We sat chairs side by side.

Societynowng.com looked at her mien and asked ‘Did you expect to come this far within six years?’

The question is against the background that, Stephanies has acquired the flagship outlet on Calcutta in Apapa- and opened another branch in the area.

Stephanies lounge’s brand recognition as a top player in her game in Apapa is extremely strong…ask around.

From her stuttered attempts at responding, it was obvious the question wasn’t something she’d really considered before.

A full stop to moves at instant response. Small pause while she gathered her thoughts and Geddes settled for ‘I wasn’t sure of what to expect…but I am happy the way things have turned out and still turning out’

‘So you’ve gone beyond targets set at the begining?’ societynowng.com dug deeper into issue of expectation

‘Yes, I have done much more than i expected’ Her response was faster in coming than her previous answer.

‘So what have been the major challenges so far?’ societynowng.com asked

‘Major challenges?’ She threw back and answered with an exclamation almost in the same breath ‘Staff!’

There was a ‘small’ birthday party going on nearby…and some of the partakers have turned up the knob of their chatter.

‘May we should move a bit for more quiet’ she proposed- and societynowng.com agreed.

Armed with our sits, we moved farther away from the jolly makers.

we set our chairs in a new sitting arrangement – face to face.

Without asking were we ended up, the toiler behind the success story to be sign posted on Saturday October 17 picked up the thread of the conversation with elaboration on her ‘Staff!’ exclamation

‘In this business, staff honesty and diligence determines a lot..it is a money handling system and if you don’t have staff that are honest..then you are in for a bit of issue’ she stated and then went on to provide leeway out of the pit.

‘that’s why you need to be on top of your game, train them well..give them good orientation and let them realise you are a team..whatever antics they play affects all involve..once you have the staff working for, all the issues of power and related lacking government infrastructure can be walked around…its all about business plans, cost and revenue, but you need the staff to be on your side’ she stated with in an animated voice laced with conviction.

‘You are looking at expansion into Victoria Island as part of your 6th year plan…why V.I?’ societynowng.com asked
A brief small and she replied ‘We are not doing bad in Apapa. And the location of V.I is not to far from Apapa..there is easy access and we believe replicating what we have in Apapa in V.I would be something huge

‘That is taking into consideration the different factors at play in the two enviroment..the most important thing is we are not over stretching, the location is ideal for effective management..which is very important in business administration’ she stated with the air of someone with a strong grasp of her business.

‘Has your gender ever threatened your success considering you operate in a male dominate terrain?’ Societynowng.com asked

A slight adjustment of her profile on the chair as she leaned slightly forward and she replied with eyes wide opened for emphasis ‘ When people know you are serious, they respect you and with time accept you and treat you as you deserve…as long as you respect yourself, they respect’.

Her reply came in calm and measured voice. There was a lot of weight behind that reply, lots of weight.

We switched to off record discussion.

Some five minutes later, we came back record.

‘Outside of yourself, what would you say drives Stephanies lounge and bar that keep customers coming back – and continue to add to the clients lists’ societynowng.com kicked off.

A smile wreathed across her face as she considered answering the question without revealing trade secrets.

‘We have somethings for everybody..We train our staff to be welcoming to customers..the key lies in service delivery and managing customers whims’ she stated.

‘What are your long range goals with Stephanies’ societynowng.com enquired.

‘It would be nice if everybody knows Stephanies’ she gave a simple response.

‘What you is capital intensive..how do you get it done’ societynowng.com sought a peep into her finances.

But she slammed the lid shut with wide smile ‘ well, I just do it’

‘Okay’ we backed off and moved to more open ground ‘How stressful is it really, doing what you do?’

‘Really stressful’ she responded without missing a beat and continued ‘it’s not an easy job..years of sleepless night, but thankfully I have a supportive husband and my children school abroad..

‘So going abroad to spend time with them is like vacation time for me to regain strength and stamina and plan fresh moves…and I thank God it is working out’ she rested the answer

‘So what would you say really drives you, keep you going with this dream…project? Societynowng.com threw in the last question

‘I am a people’s person..’ She began, stopped and continued ‘it’s really is unexplainable..I don’t know how…how I do it…I get it done some how…there is an aura around Stephanies…’ She paused again, gathered her thoughts and made a fresh attempt at putting her feelings in words

‘A lot of people dream..not everybody wants to chase it..I am chasing this dream with the passion I have for it, that’s what drives me..the passion for this hospitality business’ she ended

‘So how are we celebrating on Saturday’ societynowng.com threw an oiver twist question

And Geddes heartily provided the answer ‘ the party is taking place at Stephanes Bar and Lounge on Calcutta, Apapa..red carpet starts 6pm and fun goes on till mama calls.

‘ D.J Humility is on stand by for what he does best, but there will be special musical appearances by Oritsefemi, Vector, Gloria Ibru and two other acts we are keeping under wraps as part of the suspense..Halima Abubarakar and other movie stars will be in the building, as well as all past and the present reigning Miss Global Nigeria

‘Ofcourse these are outside celebrities we would love to respect their privacies as well…’