This CPA wants to better the immigrant experience

Growing up in Enugu, a bustling city in southeastern Nigeria, Ifeoma Ngwudike always had ambitions to build a career and explore the world. After obtaining a degree in accounting from the University of Nigeria, she moved to Treviso, Italy, to join her husband. Eager to also start a family, Ngwudike hit pause on her professional ambitions, taking ten years off to raise her four children. However, after moving with her family to Calgary, Alberta, in 2008, she decided to resume her career, eventually becoming a CPA in 2012. 

Drawing from her experiences and challenges as a Canadian immigrant and working mother, Ngwudike wrote a book titled The Successful Immigrant Woman in 2021 and launched a new career as a success coach later that year. Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants settle in Canada, with more than 470,000 people arriving in 2023 alone. These newcomers face numerous challenges, including increasingly unaffordable housing and a highly competitive job market. “Each immigrant comes here with their own personal dream of life in Canada,” says Ngwudike. “But once they arrive, they often find themselves living in Canada without a dream.”  That’s why Ngwudike is now focused on helping immigrants adapt, thrive and transform their dreams into reality.

Read more

• What immigrants should know when coming to Canada
• CPA's second career has him travelling the world
• Helping women find success in the upper ranks of business

As a newly arrived immigrant to Canada, what was the biggest challenge you faced in kickstarting your accounting career? 

My complete ignorance of the workplace culture. It really was a fear of the unknown: I was a newcomer to Canada and to make things even more daunting, I hadn’t set foot in an office for more than 10 years. I was preoccupied with raising my four kids at home, and for the most part, the only people I interacted with were other moms and kids at places like playgrounds and swimming pools. Despite that, I was confident of my accounting skillset—I had begun pursuing a CMA designation in a program for internationally trained accountants and picked up some bookkeeping and consulting work on the side to get some Canadian experience. However, I needed help with understanding all those business norms that integrate you into the workplace: What is acceptable professional attire? How does one seek a job or behave in a job interview? I was even clueless about the little things: How firm of a handshake does one give when greeting a prospective employer or client? How long do you maintain eye contact during a meeting? 

How did you overcome this barrier? 

To get answers for all those questions, I conducted information-gathering interviews with local professional women. I was curious to learn about workplace norms and how Canadian working mothers balance their careers with family life. I cold-called my first interview subject, a vice-president at Bow Valley College in downtown Calgary, and, to my surprise, she was more than happy to help. As a fellow mother, she emphasized the importance of being organized at home to avoid spillover into work life. (She also recommended clothes that don’t need ironing as workplace attire!) But the most important thing I discovered is that if you take that perhaps intimidating first step of reaching out and asking for support, people are often more than willing to devote some time to giving you advice and mentoring you in your career path.   

What motivated you to become a success coach? 

A few months before I completed the CMA, I became a financial analyst at Bow Valley College, where my first Canadian mentor worked. Although I was in the finance department, I was always eager to expand my skillset. A colleague asked for my help with a high-level project in student services. When that was done, I stayed on and began overseeing student affairs. In this role, I helped students determine their career goals and set action plans to achieve them. This experience reminded me of the challenges faced by many immigrant women I met in my CMA program when I first arrived in Calgary. They had come to Canada to start their own businesses or climb the career ladder, but while they had taken the initial step of moving to Canada, they were struggling to progress any further. 

Over the course of building a new life twice—first as a mother in Italy and then as a CPA in Canada—I realized that one of my strengths was helping others maximize their potential. Whether it was raising my children, guiding students, or supporting other immigrant and BIPOC women in my community, I had a knack for empowering others. In late 2021, I decided to formalize this passion by incorporating my success coaching business, Yes2Amazing. The name reflects my belief that to excel, you first have to say yes to amazing and challenging opportunities that come your way! 

In your experience, what is the most significant obstacle holding back your immigrant clients? 

I was fortunate to be educated in English from a young age, but for many professional immigrants, lack of proficiency in English is a substantial barrier. Many arrive in Canada having been top of their class and highly accomplished in their fields back home. However, without strong English skills, they quite literally struggle to translate their expertise into success in Canada. This significantly impacts their confidence, causing them to question their abilities and develop a sort of imposter syndrome. That uncertainty then detracts from their focus, further worsening their communication challenges in the workplace or during job interviews. 

What are the key approaches you utilize to help your clients succeed in Canada? 

It's incredibly frustrating and demoralizing when you can't communicate your strengths and value to employers and colleagues. That's why I first help my clients identify their strengths and the best ways to express and leverage them. This leads me to the next important strategy I use with my clients: intentionality. Whether attending a meeting, job interview or networking event, being very intentional about what you're bringing and aiming to take away distills everything to its essence. When language is an obstacle, breaking things down to their core helps in understanding and communicating even the most sophisticated ideas. This formula guided me in authoring my book, The Successful Immigrant Woman, which I wrote in the most basic, easy-to-understand language possible to reach a broad audience.

Can you share a memorable success story where you helped a client thrive? 

Absolutely. Reflecting on the theme of intentionality, I recently met a Venezuelan woman at a Calgary event for immigrant entrepreneurs. She and her partner run a renovation business, and while helping a few relatives move to Canada, she encountered the unaffordable housing crisis that is so prevalent nationwide. She explained that many people in her native country live in community-driven housing cooperatives, and she wanted to start a company to build affordable housing in Canada. However, she felt overwhelmed and didn't know how to start. I pointed out that she had already identified her key intention—helping Canadians obtain affordable housing. I advised her to focus on effectively conveying this intention in all her business dealings. She recently shared with me that this simple philosophy had completely focused her efforts, and she is now well on her way to getting the new venture up and running. 

What are you working on next? 

As you can see, many immigrant women bring a wealth of experience and insights from around the world. Sometimes, they offer fresh perspectives or innovative solutions to address long-standing challenges we face here. I aim to support them in achieving their aspirations and help Canada tap into this valuable resource. My next focus will be on providing tailored financial literacy courses and personal financial strategies for immigrant women to help them build confidence, be empowered and achieve success. Financial literacy is crucial for success in the competitive Canadian market, especially for entrepreneurs seeking funding and managing finances. I see myself as a facilitator, empowering immigrant women and building their confidence, because ultimately, everyone stands to gain.