2021 Women’s Day: Elvenor promotes Healthy Living with HeltiaMi

Have you ever wondered how a foodie could continue eating as much as she wishes but in a healthier way, Elvenor Nyugap epouse Tanyi Fokam has the answer!

Elvenor is a Certified Chartered Accountant with the the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) and an Internal Auditor who has developed her lifestyle brand, HeltiaMi.

Baby Steps

“I am passionate about health: eating healthy and doing exercise,” the mother of two indicates.

“After giving birth to my first child, I put on a lot of weight and I had much pressure on me to shed it. I made up my mind to look for a way of doing this without putting pressure on myself or sinking into depression. I decided to actively engage in a healthy lifestyle. That was in 2016. Since I am a foodie, I decided to work on my food. I decided that whatever I take should be a healthier version of what I traditionally take,” Elvenor explains.

As a lover of cake, biscuits and fizzy drinks, the young lady thought of ways of eating the same things in a healthier form.

These thoughts sent her to her laboratory, the kitchen!

“I started doing healthier versions of cakes, cookies and drinks,” she notes. “Instead of wheat flour, I use oat, coconut or almond flour for my cookies. I tried several things and my colleagues tasted and enjoyed them then later placed orders.”

It was not an easy road for the CEO of HeltiaMi as the healthier versions of her ingredients like flour, were more expensive.

“After baking cakes and cookies for others, I thought of commercialising. Then one day, my brother proposed that I get a name for what I was doing and HeltiaMi came to mind…healthier versions of our regular meals.”

Being an Auditor on a monthly salary, Elvenor did not need any funding or a huge capital to start off.

Managing Two Jobs

“I do my commands after office work, in the evenings. Sometimes I work till late into the night and even after midnight. One of my principles is not to disappoint my clients. I have to meet their orders and deliver on time. What drives me is my passion to see people living a healthy lifestyle,” Elvenor says with a broad smile.

HeltiaMi Spreads its Tentacles

Elvenor’s to HeltiaMi which started off with focus on junk foods has expanded to deliver other services, all centred on promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“We now have a fitness club in Douala; an open-space club where any interested person just joins us in the morning, Mondays to Fridays from 5:30am for exercise. This sprung up in 2020 after I gave birth to my second son and I put on some weight,” the Chartered Accountant explains.

Her husband volunteered to support her on this venture and they did exercises every morning. Some people saw them and joined and the numbers kept increasing.

Elvenor explains that she coaches them with exercises which are fun and exciting.

At the moment, joining the club referred to as TAAG (Team Arise And Grind) is free. “We call it our grind,” says Elvenor with a wink.

“Skipping is our signature exercise and this has led us to engage in the sale of skipping ropes. Some people also fell in love with my sporting attire so HeltiaMi is into getting sport wears and sport shoes for people. We also do detox drinks especially the celery juice,” the entrepreneur notes.

…And that is not all…HeltiaMi also does food deliveries!

“My colleagues were inspired with how I bring my food to work, eat and shed the weight. Many of them do not have time to cook such so I offered to do it for them. I do meals for people who want to be on a diet programme to loss weight, be it breakfast, lunch or supper,” Elvenor N. T Fokam indicates.

Elvenor Dreams Big

For now HeltiaMi is run from home but the CEO’s vision is to have a physical structure that can accommodate their fitness club, restaurant and outlets to sell products and customize their sports gadgets. To Elvenor, “If you can dream it, then you can do it!”

Elvenor has a YouTube channel where she shares recipes of the healthier versions of various foods and dishes out advice. She recently launched a series of fitness challenges on this channel.

A Word for her Peers and the Youth as a whole

Elvenor N. Tanyi Fokam argues that even if one has a formal office job, he/she can exploit and commercialise God-given talents.

“Your office job may never really be enough to satisfy your needs and you find yourself at a tight end, unable to do any extra thing. However, having a “side hustle” is important not just for people searching for jobs but even for those who already have jobs. Do what you are passionate about so you work without any pressure or stress; working effortlessly. If you are looking for a side hustle, do a deep meditation and reflect on what you are passionate about and go for it. No matter how small it is, go for it!

Eleanor Ayuketah Ngochi