Winning Against all odds in the Real Estate Industry – Amorina Raad

by with No Comment BusinessFeatured Moms

Today our Spotlight lands on an amazing Mama in the real estate industry. She started her own Real Estate company amidst all the discouragement when she decided to invest in there. She has been running her own business for the past nine years now.
Enjoy the read as she shares her story with us on how she transitioned from an employee to run her own real estate company.

I am Amorina Raad , mother of an amazing young boy and the Principal CEO of Home Style Realty Ghana. I started my first job with a Real Estate company, with no clue in that industry, I took on the job and decided to learn on the job. As I worked in the industry, I found myself falling in love with it, and started to get curious on the other aspects of real estate. Having worked there for a year, I decided to start my own real estate company and to explore the options.

I started my company with practically nothing. All I had was complimentary cards, a taxi driver and the zeal to succeed.
It wasn’t easy initially, as I was discouraged that real estate agency was not that lucrative.
Being a young lady like myself they didn’t see how I would survive in such an industry mainly dominated by men who were also trying to gain their feet in there . It was devastating to hear my dreams being crushed, I mean, they made valid points but that was not going to deter me. I set out to make a difference against all odds.

I moved from one development to the other trying to gain their trust in order to sell their property.
I had to work twice as hard to gain a potential clients .Overtime I built my portfolio and earned the trust of my clients.

Being a mom has been one of the most challenging things I have ever had to do, especially juggling the time I spend with my son and the business as it feels like I have two babies that need attention.
With the help of God and family, I have been able to schedule my time close early from work or have family take care of him when meetings have to run late or cannot be rescheduled in order to give my son the best.Reach her on +233 24 566 1464.
IG: @home_style_realty
Website: www.home-style-realty.business.site.
#realestate
#womenweadmire
#momcommunity

6 things we love about Hamamat Montia as a Mom in Business

by with No Comment Featured Moms

Remaining relevant and consistent as an entrepreneur especially when you have kids can be one daunting task. You need a lot of commitment, focus, creativity and passion to keep you going. Most importantly you need to have a vision to direct you on this journey of entrepreneurship.

We have been following a couple of mothers in business since we started our blog and one of them who we totally love is Hamamat Montia. She is a former Miss Malaika winner and is the  founder of Hamamat African Beauty and the Shea Butter Village.

Once you land on her page on social media and her  business website, you can feel the passion and creativity on her page and this is very admirable.

Here are six things we love about Hamamat  Montia , we thought to share with you and we hope it is helpful and encourages you if you are on the Mompreneur journey

1. Believe in your brand- When you believe in your brand you dedicate a lot of time to it to ensure it grows. You work hard towards it because you have a goal you are aiming to acheive and you know you can build the brand to the level you want to see it.

2. Passion- When you have a passion for your business, you invest in it and find ways to ensure it survives. Being passionate about your business means having a compelling emotion or feeling towards your business. You want to see it blooming at all cost.

3. Creativity and Innovation- There are so many skin care brands on the market however she has been able to carve a niche for herself with her brand. For me it’s a feeling of prestige to be associated with her skincare brand. And I love the way she addresses her audience as Kings and Queens.

4. Product knowledge- Hamamat understands her products very well; their benefits as well as the process used to prepare them. She also lets her audience have a feel of how the product comes into being. This alone brings the user closer to the brand and helps them to appreciate the product in terms of quality and pricing

5. Mixing Business with Fun- She makes her work seem so easy and fun. She owns the surroundings and takes it calm when it comes to the camera.

6. Family person- I can’t say much here but she seems to me as someone who makes time for two lovely daughters and has a lot of bonding time with them.

It’s always a pleasure watching her videos or reading her posts. They feel so personalized and helps me appreciate our culture. Our Ghanaian culture , our African heritage and I am proud to see how she flaunts it to the world
Go Hamamat, Go Ghana, Go Africa!

Photo credit: @iamhamamat page in Instagram

 

Meet the Women Shaping the Ghanaian Production of PPEs

by with No Comment BusinessFashionFeatured Moms

The coronavirus has posed some problems for our nation, including closing of borders, limited supply of protective wear etc. But just as they say there’s a silver lining in every cloud, this pandemic has brought to the fore the creativity of some Ghanaian women; four of them being selected by government to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for frontline health workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

These women are:

  • Nora Bannerman, founder of Sleek Garments Export Ltd and MD of the Africa Sleek Institute of Creativity and Technology; whose businesses have employed over 120 people to produce quality clothes to be sold internationally.
  • Adjo Asare, CEO of Alfie Designs, who makes use of manufacturing and ethical fashion as a means of creating job opportunities and improving the lives of women and girls in her community.
  • Linda Ampah, a Ghanaian fashion designer who through her passion has shared Africa’s  prints with the world and has a desire to help empower women throughout Ghana.
  • Madam Salma Salifu, a Ghanaian businesswoman and the Managing Director of Dignity DTRT, a garment factory in Ghana which employs over 1500 workers and is located in capital city Accra,  Ghana.

The amazing thing about the stories of these women is how they turned their factories into a production house for Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), to meet the demand for frontline health workers who are overwhelmed with fighting the virus and need as much basic protective gear as possible.

Let’s get to know these women, shall we?

Nora Bannerman

With a background in fashion, Nora is passionate about local businesses and has played a key role in the Ghanaian clothing and textile industry. Her company, Sleek Garments Export Ltd, is popularly known for exporting about 75,000 men’s shirts to the US under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and has been described as one of the success stories of this Act established in the US in 2000. Her business has promoted the beauty of items Made-in-Ghana and she has had the opportunity to showcase her works on fashion platforms in different countries such as France and the US.

Every success story of course has a beginning, and Nora’s began with her mother’s sewing machine.  As her passion grew over the years, she worked with determination to develop her gift to make an impact and become a solid business, which she now runs with her daughter.

She loves to organize skill development courses for young and especially needy women, to equip them with skills to thrive in the fashion industry or go a step further to start their own businesses. She played a pivotal role in placing Ghana on the AGOA map to enable the nation export over 6,000 products to the US without duties.

Her business, Sleek Garments, now manufactures PPEs for Ghana including surgical gowns, 2 ply masks for medical personnel, scrubs, doctors’ coats, and reusable masks for public use, approved by the FDA. Locate Sleek Garments inside 47 Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Ghana. Visit their website on www.sleekgarments.com

Adjo Asare

Adjo Asare is the face behind the brand Alfie Designs, based in Accra, Ghana. Through the manufacturing of clothes and  fashion, Alfie designs has created employment and has helped to improve the livelihoods of women and girls whilst  putting Ghana on the map in terms of African fashion.

According to Adjo,  her mother started Alfie Designs and through her hard work, put her children through school all the way to the tertiary level. Adjo started the fashion school in 2016 to enable her support other young women so they can also make a difference in the lives of of their families.

Adjo believes every individual needs to do what their passionate about, so that during times when it seems like things are not working out, one knows what’s motivating them to push ahead in order to suceed and realize their dreams. Alfie Designs is located at Awudome Estate Kaneshie – Accra and can be contacted on +233 244 208778.

Linda Ampah

Cadling Fashions started with Linda Ampah, a Ghanaian based fashion designer who had a passion to share the African print with the world and the passion to empower women throughout Ghana. Overtime she has transformed her small tailoring shop into a global brand which is still known for producing quality and one of a kind garments.

Her clothing line offers a wide range of unique outfits to suit both the sophisticated and modest woman’s taste and provides custom-made clothing. The fashion house has also expanded their production capacity in order to mass produce for other designers and companies.

Their clothing line gained more popularity after one of its masterpieces was worn by former United States’ First Lady, Michelle Obama when she visited South Africa.

To learn more about Cadling Fashions call or WhatsApp:+233272460825 Call:+13013321931  or visit their website www.cadlingfashions.com

 

Salma Salifu

Salma Salifu is a Ghanaian businesswoman and the Managing Director of Dignity DTRT, a garment factory in Ghana which employs over 1500 workers and is located in the capital city Accra,  Ghana.

The fashion house bridges the gap between what global buyers need and what Africa has to offer. They also offer customers a one-stop solution, delivering high quality products at extremely competitive pricing.

For more details on Dignity DTRT visit their website http www.dtrtapparel.com

Its encouraging to see how these women have nurtured their companies and contributing to the growth of the country through employment of staff and also coming through for us as a country during these times.

We say Ayeeko!

 

References

http://www.dtrtapparel.com/contact

https://www.usadf.gov/blog/2019/10/8/meet-the-young-woman-making-ethical-manufacturing-fashionable-in-ghana

https://cadlingfashions.com/

https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/cadling-fashions-ceo-points-youth-to-fashion-based-jobs.html

https://live.worldbank.org/experts/nora-bannerman-abbot

Don’t wish for it, Work for it

by with No Comment BusinessOpinions

 

The key to turning dreams into reality is Action – ~Jim Rohn~

Once upon a time, we have all dreamed and desired one thing or the other that we hoped to see it come into reality. Most often these dreams and desires are left unfulfilled because we fail to act on it or do some work to see that dream or desire come to life. Especially when we face challenges even when we decide to work towards our dreams, that desire to achieve usually dies down after a while if we are not able to ignite that passion or enthusiasm that we started with.

We often do not put in hard work to achieve our goals as we  tend to forget that the mere thought of dreaming or wishing does not work. We need to back it with dedication, consistency and a strong mindset that no matter the obstacles we face we will purse that dream or goal.

Almost all successful people the world has produced were great dreamers. What distinguished them is the fact that they worked hard and persevered in order to achieve their dreams.

Especially for us as women the stage of Motherhood comes with so many challenges and set backs that it takes self-motivation, dedication and a strong will to carry on with our personal goals and aspirations. Along journey to achieve our goals we are faced with a lot of barriers, oppositions and a multitude of negativeness.

The trick lies in the approach we decide to use in tackling these challenges. A strong determined spirit can lead us to conquer all the difficult paths we come across and motivate us to work hard towards our goals.We also have to dedicate time to our goals and be consistent with the actions we believe will help us to achieve them. You don’t necessarily have to do it all at once, take it one day at a time.

Remember that it is not the goals you set for yourself in life that matters but the hard work and effort you put in . We cannot achieve our dreams if we do not put in the necessary effort. We shouldn’t give up or loose hope when things are not going as we want. We must back our dreams with passion and conquer the world. The world needs what you have go to give to make it complete.

 

WeMompreneurs Feature: Mrs. Abla Quansah, Abbees Chillbox

by with No Comment Featured Moms

This month on our Mompreneur Feature, we are joined by Mrs. Abla Quansah of Abbees Chillbox. She is a determined, hardworking woman with so much energy and positivity. Read on and be inspired by how she turned a hobby into a full time business and transitioned from the corporate world as a Chartered Accountant into  Events Management.

Q: How did you start off as a Mompreneur?

A: My entrepreneurship journey started at a very young age. My mum was a serial mom(entre)preneur and she introduced us to the world of entrepreneurship very early. As early as you could say ma!

Q: What inspired you to take that path in business?

A: I am from an entrepreneurial background and always had the passion to run my own business.

Q: Please tell us a little bit about your company and what you do.

A: I own and manage a drink solutions company,  Abbees Chillbox. We provide drinks and waiting services for all events, We are also into rentals of chillers, glases,  plates, cutleries, e.t.c.  

Q: Please share a little background about yourself.

A: I am Chartered Accountant (FCCA) by profession. I have worked in various accounting positions in the Corporate space for 16 years. Whilst in Corporate, I was running my current business alongside. I resigned in 2014 to manage my business.  

Q: How have you managed your day to day activities as a Mompreneur?

A: I am an early riser (this doesn’t go down well with my family because when I wake up, everyone else has to be up in no time), so I will say my day starts at 4am. After my quiet time and family devotion my day has officially begun. I send my kids to school by 7.00am then I settle for the day’s activities. My To-do-list keeps me in check of my daily routine.  l operate my business from home so I have to schedule between office work time and domestic work time.

Q: How are you able to manage taking care of your family and managing your business?

A: It’s all about planning. I am intentional about making time for both business and family, I try not to make any suffer. My work takes me away from the family sometimes for days, especially during the peak seasons but I make it up to them once I am done with the job. My family understands the nature of the business and their support is awesome.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face?

A: It’s been an interesting journey. My initial challenge was with the staff. They didn’t appreciate work ethics, policies and procedures. It was a frustrating transitioning period for me. I had a corporate background where policies and procedures worked.  I didn’t understand why my team couldn’t comprehend simple procedures.

The other challenge was people appreciating our services. Some people thought they could use their families and friends to handle their events instead of engaging the professionals.

We also had challenges with time management. A client can give you time for an event but they will start late and close very late.

Q: what are the processes and systems that have helped your entrepreneurship journey?

A: The business was birthed out of a hobby and it was operated as such for sometime alongside my regular office work. When I started running the business full time, I realized a lot had to change to sustain the business and also take it to the next level. I had to put structures in place. Even though I am a Chartered Accountant, I realized I had to learn more about managing the business as an entrepreneur. I enrolled in entrepreneurship programs, I joined entrepreneurship groups where I met a lot of seasoned entrepreneurs who share insights into running successful businesses. Training of staff has also helped in aligning the goals of the business. The seminars and courses helped me put in place business plans and other systems that will make the business grow.

Q: What’s your advice to any Mother who is passionate about starting their own business

A: Start your business out of your passion. Money should not be their initial motivation. Take your time to learn about the nature of the business. Allow the business to grow organically, Don’t be scared of making mistakes. We always learn from the mistakes and that makes us better.  Finally, Never forget the God factor. He is our Chief Director.

To learn more about Abbees Chillbox, visit their page on instagram at @abbeeschillbox or contact them on 0206000265.

To get feature on our blog and share your journey as a Mompreneur with us, reach out to us on mompreneurgh@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.