A lawyer by profession, Catherine Uju Ifejika previously worked in the oil and gas industry for 20 years with Texaco, which later merged with Chevron, rising from junior counsel to regional company secretary before retiring early to focus on building her company. She became the chairman and chief executive of her company, Brittania-U Limited in Nigeria, an indigenous integrated company that delivers energy services through exploration & production, subsurface engineering & consultancies. Having no prior formal training and educational background in petroleum engineering, Catherine Uju Ifejika was able to pull off this company and keeping it afloat. Despite the inevitable setbacks she faced, she has a hands-on approach towards running her company which makes Brittania-U Limited successfully achieve a number of awards and ranks first in petroleum production, while breaking old industry records. Her story led to some important lessons that also imply policy recommendations.