We had the good fortune of connecting with Veronica Njodinizeh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronica, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career? I am the product of two risk takers: my parents – an East Indian/Anglo Christian Woman who decided to marry the seventh son of my Nigerian grandfather after courting him as a pen pal. My parents who lived separately many of my early years on two different continents would move to a third – a place I only knew as America.
In an ode to the memory of my late parents in the poetry and writing book I published last year Pledge Allegiance to Sanity (available on Amazon), I wrote “I am grateful for their sacrifices and their unreasonableness towards the impossible.” My very existence has been because of uncalculated risk, defiance against the status quo and crazy faith that I am still trying to grapple with.
The defiant blood of both my parents runs through me as I often reflect on the risks I have taken in life and my career. I didn’t understand my father’s cynicism for corporate America until I entered the space later in life and understood you can never ask anyone to give you what you can only give yourself. When I started my own business formally on paper with my new EIN in May of 2018 to commemorate my mother’s death anniversary, it set me on a path that only makes sense as we are in a middle of a global pandemic that it was the right decision even though EVERYTHING around me said it was impossible. But I did it and today I am still standing. Since 2018, I haven’t had to seek out client work – work has found me. I am grateful and I can give myself as a business owner permission to see and spend time with people I love on my terms and not someone’s else’s. That’s the value risk has played in my life and career.

What should our readers know about your business?
People First. Project Second. I am the proud and honored founder of VNIZEH Consulting, a purpose-driven firm focused on creating equity and opportunity for young people, specifically focused around the efforts of the MBK Initiative. As a single-parent and minority business owner, my hustle is real! After spending nearly a decade at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where I learned not only how to deliver projects but go-to-market strategies to grow businesses, I branched out on my own. I wanted to work on my terms…after the loss of my mother and later father, I understood the true opportunity costs of how I spent my time. I never wanted to ask anyone permission again about spending time with people I love. I am my own boss. I choose passion projects that allow me to do the work that matters to me and spend time grooming and raising my son to reach for the same. I can’t be out here trying to change the world if my home isn’t together.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I JUST LOVE LA and Southern California as a whole!!! I actually planned such an itinerary for a week for a first-time visit of an old friend but here are a few of my faves.

Monday
– Arrival Day
– Terranea Resort (Beach/Garden Walk/Drinks)
– Food truck fun Benihabichi (order the steak/shrimp/Chicken bowl)
– Wine down on roof top pool by beach hotel

Tuesday
– Full day Downtown Fashion District shopping & haggling (Dodger dog of course!)
– Dinner at Ellie’s Long Beach
– Wine down at roof top pool

Wednesday
– Catalina Island Day Trip (full packed day)
– Spa scheduled
– Dinner at Blue Water Avalon

Thursday
– Getty center
– Hollywood/Beverly Hills
– Dine and drink al fresco hosted at Alta Dena hills home of brother

Friday
– Day trip with hot air balloon ride and wine tour at Temecula
– Dinner at LA COCINA DE REYES
– Rest (Hard)

Saturday
– Recovery all day at pool top
– Brunch/lunch at Saint & Seconds (Long Beach)
– Dinner at The Big Catch

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I feel like I am at the classic awards show and its shout-out time (and it is!)…Like many others before me “I wanna thank God and my mama” BUT I also want to thank my father Bennett, who’s life I am learning more about even in his death. I want to dedicate this shout out to my dear son Avi, who just turned 10 – who is my greatest teacher and carries the history of three continents in his defiant blood line. I also want to thank Nason Buchanan of DMTL non-profit who has his own amazing overcomer’s story and who just formally started his Independent Consulting journey. Stay encouraged.

Website: https://www.vnizehconsulting.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-njodinizeh-b8767212/

Image Credits
Jake Petite III

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.