Celestina Peterside Orji
Founder of Choppy Munchies and Scents by Celest
“I have always wanted to be the best in everything I do” Celestina is a full time businesswoman, mother and wife who relocated to South Africa in 2013. She has always wanted to be a businesswoman the desire that pushed her to pursue a degree in Business Management at the University of South Africa to obtain more knowledge and learn how to run a successful business.
Celestina’s family valued the importance of education however they had a financial set back that almost threatened her education, she managed to finish school and went on to study Communication Language and Arts. Celestina has always been a hard worker her entrepreneurship journey started when she was still in young, she would prepare pastry food and sell it to her schoolmates for pocket money. Celestina would spend hours and sometimes not even sleep preparing dishes for her small business however school kept her busy so she decided to focus more on school but her passion for preparing dishes and cooking was still burning.
In 2014 she re-visited her entrepreneurship journey and started a catering company, Choppy Munchies as well as Scents by Celest these 2 establishments have given Celestina all kinds of challenges but she has not given up” Being self-employed and running everything from ground is the toughest thing any woman can ever go through especially in a foreign land”
Choppy Munchies has been in existence since 2015 it was established due to her passion for cooking with the desire of everybody exploring their taste buds. Choppy Munchies aims to provide all kinds of African Cuisine and continental healthy snacks mostly focusing on West African dishes. “The journey has not been an easy one there was a time I actually gave up when no one wanted to buy my food because I was operating in my small kitchen” Celestina has had opportunities to cater at Birthdays, Weddings and at some prominent functions. She does basically everything with help of few employees.
Scents by Celest is a hand-made fragrance business Celestina established in 2018 with help from friends she has managed to make this a successful and almost turning it into her main source of income. Scents by Celest aims to be affordable and top of the range in the name the perfume industry.
“ Always try to be a better version of yourself I would have gave up on my dreams, but I had to fight to improve it, there was a time I actually stayed in bed because I could not do it but I got up and became a better vision of myself” Celestina.