N.B. woman working to empower immigrant women to dream big
CBC
Esther Hephzibah moved to Canada from Nigeria with a goal.
"When I moved halfway across the world from Nigeria, my expectations were different. I thought I was moving into a better life," she said.
Her journey to secure a job in New Brunswick is made up of stories of rejection, defeat, and crushed expectations.
Yet, despite her hardships, she's become the award-winning business owner of Shine Transformation Consulting Solutions, a coaching business to empower immigrant women to live purposeful lives.
But getting to that point wasn't easy.
In 2015, Hephzibah, a single mother of two young children, came to Saint John from Lagos, Nigeria, in West Africa.
She had solid credentials. She'd been a project manager for ExxonMobil, one of the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas companies. She had also held positions in leadership support administration and in logistics.
The decision to move to Canada with her children was made to create a better life for her family.
But after spending $40,000 to get her MBA at the University of New Brunswick, and despite her academic achievements and previous global work experience, Hephzibah could not get a job that matched her qualifications.
"I had to do cleaning jobs. I had to do home care. I mean, it's not like there's anything wrong with this job. But that wasn't my expectation." she said.
Hephzibah said she struggled with cultural barriers, subtle discrimination and the harsh reality of the Canadian job market. When it comes to immigrants, she said having Canadian experience often trumps their education and skills.
She was advised to change her surname name, drop Nigeria from her resumé and learn to speak slowly to boost her chances of getting a job interview, suggestions that did not make her feel welcome.
Hephzibah said she felt alone and isolated while navigating the new culture. She experienced burnout from her struggle to find her place as an immigrant.
She said there is a great deal of unspoken pain when someone moves so far away from family and friends, even when it's in pursuit of a better life. It affected her health, her finances and caused her to sometimes question her decisions.
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