We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Noella Mbulapey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Noella, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

For me taking risks means getting out of my comfort zone. I grew up as a little girl who was also curious about everything. I use to be and still am an over thinker and perfectionist at times meaning I love asking questions and getting the right answers, I love trying new things and learn from them whether I succeed or not. I believe that someone who takes a risk is better than someone who doesn’t because when a person takes a risk whether the outcome is positive or negative, they gain something very valuable, experience. I personally enjoy challenges because they help me grow and change the perspective I have about life in general. Instead of shying away from challenges, I embrace them as opportunities for growth.

One of the biggest risks I took in my entire life was coming in the United States. I am originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When I finished High School, my parents were planning on getting me admitted to the local university but they did not know that their girl had different plans for her life. As the youngest of the family, I used to be stubborn at times but in the positive way especially when I had a goal to accomplish. I remember seating on a couch, in the living room with my dad and telling him, “I want to go study abroad and I will”. I could see the confusion on his face and how skeptical his reaction was. He laughed so hard but that could be interpreted as, ” I don’t think we can afford your dream young lady.” He started telling me how expensive studying abroad is plus I did not have any family member to live with. I remember telling him, ” Just get me there and don’t worry about the rest.” At that time I had no idea how it would go but I could already see myself studying in the United States.

Against all odds, I flew alone, crossed 2 continents and landed in U.S. in 2016 and that’s reality hit me. I found myself in a land, alone, no family member, no friends. All I could remember was the last phrase my dad told me, ” Don’t forget! you cannot really count on us.” I felt sometimes that I made the wrong decision, after a few months, life became so hard that I wanted to give up and go back home, but I pushed myself. I studied hard, enrolled in different programs at my school, took leadership roles, got several scholarships, graduated with honors, even became a teacher assistant. I became a book author and opened my businesses. One decision that others would call risk was a door of opportunities for me.

Today I enjoy encouraging people to follow their purpose, go after their goals no matter how big they are. If you can afford having an idea, you can also afford putting effort to see it come to life. The world belongs to risk takers. I’d rather take risks than live in regrets.

Noella, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Noella Mbulapey a lot of people know me as Marilla which is the combination of my first names ” Marie-Noella”. I am a book author, speaker, ordained prophetess, entrepreneur and purpose coach. I am a graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor’s degree of Political Science ( communication minor) and an associate of Science with a Criminal Justice subject from Richland College in Dallas, TX. I am the CEO of the “Qadash Companies” which operates in real estate, beauty and fashion. I am also a member of Forbes BLK.

I am the founder of two purpose movements called “Esther Generation Ministries” and ” The Real You”. These are communities of men and women who decide to live a purposeful life by using all the potentials they have inside of them to bring a positive change in their life and in the world around them. These are people who embrace life challenges as opportunities. I organize coaching sessions and webinar to help people know their identity and fulfill their purpose.

I wrote a book called ” Tell Me About Yourself” to help people, through my own life experiences, to cast aside the lenses of today’s societal standards, past mistakes, or traumatic experiences and get up from the pit that life put them in.

By the grace of God, I am proud to be where I am and doing what I do even when odds were not in my favor. I enjoy putting my story up there to help others become the best versions of themself and live a happy life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being a book author, there are several rewarding aspects that I can elaborate. First, your writing skills and your story are your capital. Some people might need money to start a business, all I needed was a pen, a paper, and a small trip down memory lane. Being able to write down your personal experiences, challenges, failures, emotions, trauma etc. is the start of a great journey. I knew I had to write a book but as many others I thought I needed money and connections to start until I realized that I had everything inside of me. All I had to do is to use my voice as a channel to spread my story.

Most people are literally sleeping on their gifts. Some of the talents we have won’t even require a 4-year university even tho I highly recommend being educated. However, not every gift needs a degree. Some just need dedication, passion and the willingness to bring a positive impact. .

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience for me is being able to manage feelings, especially strong ones such as anger or frustration. In 2022 I decided to start my business in Real Estate back in my home country. I started working with people and some family members. It did not seem hard to manage everything from afar until the people I was working with starting taking the job carelessly. I invested a lot of money in building it, registering the company, buying tools for employees, branding the business etc. I started noticing the change in their behavior, dishonesty and not showing up for work. I became so frustrated but what made me even more mad was a big client that we lost because one of my assistant never showed up to the meet with him. The type of anger I had could lead me to fire everyone and even close the business because I thought about all the money I spent on people who did not even do their job. Instead I decided to just control my feelings and just adjust the management and the rules a little bit.

Being resilient is not making permanent decisions out of temporary feelings or emotions. The company is evolving and that experience helped me build my resilience. Especially for business people, being resilient is one of the top tier skills to have. Things will not always be smooth. We will always encounter obstacles, failure, discouragement but giving up is not an option.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.therealyoucommunity.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsnoella.m?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Missmarilla.bope23
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/noella-bope-mbulapey
• Other: https://instagram.com/qadash_hair?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
David Asiamah Photography