Leana_Tran
Leana Tran
My Business Training
Susan Gabriel Okelinga
About Susan Gabriel Okelinga
Susan Gabriel Okelinga is a passionate and visionary fashion designer based in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with a dream of launching her own tailoring business, “M&L Trends.”
Her love for fashion and creative expression began in childhood and has grown into a determined pursuit of entrepreneurship. With a commitment to elegant, body-positive, and modest fashion that empowers individuals to express themselves with confidence, Susan envisions a calm, creative studio space where every customer feels at home.
Through “M&L Trends,” she aims not only to serve clients but to leave a legacy for the next generation.
Susan Gabriel Okelinga
Business Goals
At the core of Susan’s business lie the values of creativity, resilience, humility, modesty, and honoring family legacy. She envisions M&L Trends as a respected name in inclusive, body-positive fashion that beautifully blends tradition with modern style.
Susan aims for her business to be known not only for its unique designs but also for the meaningful experiences it offers and the positive impact it has on people’s lives.
Named after her children, Maya and Louis, M&L Trends will be a tailoring and styling studio providing custom clothing, accessories, and image consultation in a calm, city-center location.
Susan Gabriel Okelinga
Obstacles
Susan has been a fashion design apprentice for the past six months, bringing a sharp eye for color coordination, creative sketching, and a natural sense of style. Her experience in financial management and administration from previous roles as a teller and admin officer equips her to handle business planning and budgeting effectively.
Funding has been her biggest challenge. With support from friends and her mentor, she managed to pay for fashion school but still lacks essential tools and materials for training.
Despite these obstacles, Susan is determined to grow, collaborate, and make a distinctive mark in fashion.
Susan Gabriel Okelinga
Our Partnership
Susan is seeking support from Leadership Initiatives in the form of mentorship, funding, emotional encouragement, and access to a global network. She welcomes guidance on best practices, help with branding her logo and website, and mentorship to promote her designs online.
Her goals include achieving financial stability, providing quality education for her children, and building a comfortable life while uplifting others.
Susan dreams of growing M&L Trends into a global lifestyle brand defined by sustainability, quality, and elegance. She also hopes to inspire youth through fashion education and surprise her son with the drum set he has always wanted.
My Grant Proposal Presentation
As part of the International Leadership and Business Internship, I collaborated with top development experts to help grow and strengthen my business partner’s brand.
At the end of the program, my team presented our final proposal to a panel of judges from the Leadership Initiatives Grant Committee. This formal pitch allowed us to apply our entrepreneurial skills, showcase our strategic plan, and advocate for meaningful change in our partner’s business.
Our team was awarded a grant that will fund the implementation of our business partner’s plan, providing life-changing support that will expand operations, improve financial stability, and create new growth opportunities. Over the next year, this grant will help transform the future of their business and improve the quality of life for both the entrepreneur and their community.
My Grant Proposal
Throughout the program, we worked closely with Susan Gabriel Okelinga to gain a clear understanding of their business goals. Though Susanhas leveraged their skills and years of experience to create their business, they face obstacles hindering the expansion of their work.
Guided by their vision, we crafted a proposal detailing the marketing materials that would support the growth of their business. We devised a plan that would allow Susan to optimize their business through a new branding strategy.
Investments in a logo and marketing materials, such as signs and flyers, are also vital for establishing a strong brand identity and expanding the customer base. These visual assets help create a consistent and memorable image that builds trust and recognition among potential clients.
Internship Highlights
Our business development journey began with a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our partner, Susan Gabriel Okelinga, and our Nigerian project coordinator. This initial conversation laid the foundation for strong collaboration and helped us better understand Susan’s background, family, goals for the business, and the specific challenges they were facing.
Hearing directly from Susan gave us the insight we needed to begin brainstorming practical, personalized solutions. Each morning, our team held focused discussions to refine our ideas, reflect on expert advice from the day before, and adjust our timeline to move our plans forward efficiently.
Throughout the process, on-staff project coordinators and business development experts guided us, helping us ask the right questions and turn our ideas into meaningful, actionable strategies.
I had the unique opportunity to visit the New Zealand Embassy, where I gained insight into the role of diplomacy in fostering strong relationships between New Zealand and the United States.
The embassy functions as a center for international collaboration, working with partner countries and global organizations to address pressing issues such as poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. Through this visit, I learned how diplomats engage in meaningful dialogue and policy development to create sustainable, people-focused solutions.
Officials from the New Zealand Embassy shared how they partner with local communities to identify needs and implement programs that empower individuals and strengthen long-term development. This commitment to community-driven impact inspired my team and me as we worked to develop our own business proposal focused on creating lasting change.
During my visit to the Embassy of Poland, I explored how diplomacy shapes international cooperation and development. The experience provided a deeper understanding of the embassy’s role in promoting peace, fostering economic partnerships, and addressing shared global challenges.
Embassy representatives discussed how their work supports cross-cultural exchange, advances policy priorities, and strengthens relationships between Poland and the United States. I learned how embassies serve as bridges, connecting governments, communities, and organizations to create innovative solutions for global issues.
This visit broadened my perspective on international leadership and inspired me to think critically about how collaboration, cultural awareness, and strategic planning can drive meaningful progress, principles we applied while developing our business proposal.
Throughout the internship, our team had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with top experts in business and economic development from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
One of the highlights was a session with Carla Brooks, Business and Development Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. She gave us a crash course in marketing and advertising, breaking down the key elements of what makes a campaign actually work. Her insights helped us think bigger and more strategically about how to position our partner’s business for success.
With support from Ms. Brooks and other global leaders, we sharpened our ideas, refined our strategy, and built a powerful pitch deck to present at the end of the week. Their guidance helped us take our business proposal to the next level creating a plan designed not only to launch a venture, but to transform our business partner’s future.