ONE OF THE MANY REASONS WHY I DECIDED TO START UP AN USHERING AGENCY

I have always had impeccable communication skills. I knew when and how to approach people and this has afforded me the privilege to meet amazing people.

Growing up, I usually thought about being my own boss and impacting in the lives of people by being an inspiration and a good employer. As we all know there is a huge gap in the employment market that needs to be fixed and I felt I could contribute my quota by making all the difference.

I went for my first ushering job in 2019 and up till this moment I've been to numerous events to render my services as an usher.

I was contacted by a friend who was contacted by another friend. When I asked about the details of the job and wouldn't be given the full story I knew I would be in for a ride, but this didn't deter me because I wanted to serve people and needed the experience as well.

I arrived at the venue, met with three other girls who'd been contacted too. We were totally disorganized because we didn't know how to go about our duties because the host supplied us with very little information.

We did our best to get acquainted with the environment and coordinate ourselves that by the time the event fully started we knew how to go about the day's task.

We welcomed guests, directed them to their seats and to the restroom. We politely tended to questions from curious guests. We monitored the crowd to ensure that nothing suspicious was going on.

The catering service brought along their servers/waiters, people of which knew very little about waitressing. In the end, the workload was too much for them as they had to wash plates and serve the guests at almost the same time. The bulk of this unfortunate happening now rested upon me and the other ushers as guests would call us to complain about their meals taking too long to arrive. To top it all, the host will direct us to bring food or drinks for VIP, and other guests would look at us with disdain because they felt we were being partial.

They couldn't take it any more so they began trooping to the food stand.

The hall was becoming rowdy and We(ushers) had to do something so we volunteered to serve the guests. Two ushers were to remain standing to direct guests, while myself and another would serve the guests. You could see the relief on the servers/waiters faces knowing that we would be lessening their workload. The guests soon returned to their seats as we meticulously took their orders and served them accordingly.

The hosts were wowed, they never thought we could pull this off.

The event soon came to a close. The guests started leaving but not without telling us ushers how impressive our services had been.

They were obviously happy. The caterers and her crew were very happy that they offered us food to take home.

It was time for the hosts to pay for our services and we were given N3,000 each. We were disappointed at the pay but we thanked the hosts with a smile and left.

A couple of other events I've attended were no different from my first; enormous work but meagre pay.

It was then I realized that ushers were in high demand but most persons contacted just the same way I was contacted were being taken advantage of. This realization is exactly the same problem the labor market is experiencing.

I decided to start an ushering agency whose ushers will be well versed in the act of ushering and will get good value for their services.