Hannah Okeya did not start Hannadex Design World because she spotted a gap in the market or because someone told her crochet was a profitable business. She started it because she needed something to hold on to.

After a serious accident, Hannah developed a psychological fear of going out. For a long time, she stayed indoors, away from the world, trying to find her footing again. It was during that period, quiet and difficult in equal measure, that she rediscovered something she had loved since childhood. Crocheting.

She started in a small corner of her sitting room with just her hands and a craft that gave her something to focus on when everything else felt uncertain. What started as a way to cope gradually became something else. Something that gave her joy. Then confidence. Then purpose.

As people around her began to notice the pieces she was making and ask if they could buy them, she knew something had changed. This was not just healing anymore. This was a business.

Hannadex Design World launched in 2022. The name had been decided long before the business existed. Hannadex was her nickname from secondary school, a name that followed her through university and became so tied to her personality and creativity that when it came time to name the brand, nothing else could come close. She added Design World deliberately, because her vision was never just about crochet. It was about building a brand that could expand into any corner of fashion, creativity, and handmade artistry.

From that corner in her sitting room, she has built a brand that now produces crochet bags, clothing, and accessories, runs a crochet store, and organises training programmes for teenagers and young people in her community. Many of them had never picked up a crochet hook before Hannah taught them. Watching them grow in skill and confidence is, by her own account, one of the most fulfilling parts of what she does.

The business has not been without its challenges. Yarn in Nigeria is largely imported, which means the cost is tied to exchange rates that have not been kind to small businesses in recent years. Rather than absorb the cost or pass it entirely to customers, Hannah found another way. She developed her own Ankara yarn, locally sourced, more accessible, and rooted in the kind of cultural identity she wants the brand to represent. It is the kind of innovation that comes from necessity but ends up saying something meaningful about who you are and what you stand for.

She has also had to learn to crochet with her left hand. That detail alone tells you something about the kind of person Hannah is. Not someone who stops when things get harder. Someone who figures out another way.

In 2023, the Development Bank of Nigeria recognised the business with an Entrepreneurship Grant. A brand that began as a way to survive a difficult period had become one that the country’s development institutions considered worth investing in.

Through all of it, Hannah has learned things about herself that the accident, as painful as it was, helped reveal. She is more resilient than she knew. More adaptable. More capable of turning a hard moment into something that lasts. She has also learned that her business is driven by something deeper than profit. It is about empowering other people. About showing young people, especially those in difficult circumstances, that something beautiful can come from the hardest places.

Her advice to anyone starting out is simple and earned.

Begin with what you have. Stay consistent. Master your craft. Be open to learning. And do not be afraid to be original, because in a competitive industry, your uniqueness is the thing that sets you apart.

Looking ahead, Hannah wants Hannadex Design World to grow into a widely recognised fashion and craft brand locally and internationally. She is already working on a new collection called Okunrin Asiko by Hannadex, a men’s fashion line featuring crochet bags paired with matching Yoruba cultural caps. It is a deliberate move to make the brand more inclusive while continuing to celebrate African heritage through design.

On the nights she cannot sleep, it is not worry keeping her awake. It is ideas. New designs, new ways to innovate, new things to create. That restlessness, she says, is a big part of what makes Hannadex stand out.

She started in a corner of her sitting room, healing.

Look at what she built from there.

Shop and follow Hannadex Design World on Instagram @hannadex_design_world, TikTok @hannadex.design.world, and Facebook at HannadexDW. You can also reach Hannah on WhatsApp at 08146497984.