Barrier Breaker of the Month of January 2021

The Barrier Breaker of the month of January Is…

Maame Serwaa Antwi a wife, Children’s Book Author and Amazon’s number 1 best seller of the Royal Alphabets and Perfect as I am. She’s using this avenue to empower children, build up confidence and spark self awareness through fun and engaged education. She’s also a Nurse, a Fitness mom of three, founder of Glow Village and has a foundation called Lady be That which is empowering and supporting girls and women through mentorships, scholarships and various events. She’s basically a Woman with many hats.

How are you able to do all of this and be a mom at the same time.

It’s definitely a challenge, I wonder that myself. When I put my head to sleep sometimes I just say God thank you because I’m not living in regret. As a career woman with multiple kids, responsible for my household and being a wife as well, I try to spread myself across my passions. I really do wonder how I’m doing it because multitasking is definitely a skill which takes a lot of discipline. Although I have not figured it out a hundred percent and I don’t take that for granted, I am very thankful to be able to do everything I set out to do. It’s easy to say, I have kids, I can’t do this, I can’t pursue that but I have never let any of that stop me so I just thank God for the ability.

Slay Queen – Follow her on IG https://www.instagram.com/maamebethat/

What was your reason behind starting ‘Lady Be That’, your foundation?

I honestly think it is a calling. I had reached a point in my life that I said to myself, “You know what, I am really blessed”, even though I still have a long way to go. I don’t know whether it was God’s way of talking to me but I’ll dream about it and at some point had to ask my husband what I could do to help somebody and that was not something new. My brother reminded me of a time when I was younger and said I wanted to change Africa (she laughs), I was so naive. Charity is something that is dear to my heart so why not start my own. I am at a point in my life that even if I don’t raise funds, I can use my own money. It does not always have to be ‘raise funds to get something done’. If people do not donate, does that mean the mission is aborted? As the non profit grows, maybe we can raise funds and accomplish bigger goals but I figured if I could influence a couple of women, students or girls lives in a year and bring joy to their homes, that will just make me sleep better at night. 

If you want to support or just follow ladybethat, click link here https://www.instagram.com/LadyBeThat/

My Thoughts

With regards to your foundation, It just goes to say that no matter what you’re doing, listen to what God is telling you, listen to your heart. You don’t have to have a charity organization to give back. Fitness was also your passion, you loved it. If you have a passion or something you love doing just start it, you do not know where it’s going to take you. Is it frying akara or making bofrut (Ghanaian donuts) etc. You can make the powder and package it nicely and sell it. All one has to do is just put water into it and fry it.

What conversations did you wish you had when you were younger.

I wish I knew, I should just start right away because this entrepreneurial spirit in me had been there at 15/16 years old when I wanted to pursue certain things but something always discouraged me and at that stage too family or parents want you to focus on school. I did not say I want to drop out, I just said I wanted to do this too. I always knew I could do multiple things, just let me do it. I’m realizing now that I didn’t need my parents permission as long as I was going to school and getting good grades and pleasing them. I could have started researching early, making calls, being online etc. Social media became popular when I was in high school and that was not too long ago. If I had started as a teenager, I probably would have been a millionaire by now (she laughs). 

You’ve got to start now, you do not need anyone’s permission. In your twenties and thirties you can take a risk, give everything up, stop working etc. which I do not advice though it works for some people but if you’re young and you know what to do (at that time you do not have a career or kids), instead of sitting around, hanging out with friends, watching a movie, you will just be investing in your free time. If you’re even between the ages of twenty to twenty-three, whether you have kids or not, keep at your main focus in life, keep at what you’re working on but don’t let that stop you. You just have to make some sacrifices if you really want to.  You don’t have to wait to get one thing before you do another. Get off that phone, get off social media, invest a few hours a day, make the sacrifice of not hanging with people, do what you gotta do. You’ve got to be disciplined.

Her Children’s Book

What are some of the Challenges you’ve faced

Finding the time, multitasking, that’s always a challenge but I try to overlook it and not really feed it time cause that will be me wasting time dwelling on me not having more time. Another challenge is support. Sometimes you do not get the support you need especially from the people around you. As an entrepreneur you have to have thick skin so you do not give up, you also have to understand rejection and not rejection like NO! But rejection meaning not getting the feedback that you wanted. You also need thick skin to know what your worth is, what your brand carries, what you’re pushing so whether people like it or not or whether you have the support or not you’re gonna keep going cause one day it’s gonna work out.

You can get her skin products here – https://www.glowvillage.com/

You have to look at one of the most successful people in the world, for example Jeff Bezos who started Amazon, look at the picture of him in his room with that little banner when people didn’t believe in his brand but he knew, He had tunnel vision and could see ahead into the future that decades to come, I am going to run a company where every single person holding a phone or has access to internet is gonna use. 

The challenge of support can drag you down but it should not. I have learnt to overcome it. At this point I’ve realized that it’s not all about social media. You could put up a post and get one like but I can pull up my orders and see 10 new orders today or you put up a post and get 10 million likes and pull up your orders and see one order. So what are we chasing. Yes we want to grow and find ways to reach new people  but don’t give so much credit to one thing because it seems that’s the route everyone is on. You have to learn to get through that. Find ways to get new customers.

Motivation can also be a challenge too. It’s not easy having a business. Some days you can get a bad day or a bad week and sometimes you’re ready to throw it all away but something has to be in you. For me it’s living without regret. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I threw everything away because I had a bad day. God put my gifts and talents within me for me to execute but throwing it away is a form of ungratefulness. Besides, it’s my passion, I’m gonna go back and do it anyway so why not keep it at that.

My Thoughts

Yes Motivation is a challenge because there are definitely some days I do not want to do anything but for me I’ve seen God show up in those days in different ways such as a text message from someone saying they were encouraged, or a social media repost from someone you least expect. And I thank God because for me those are little reminders that I am being a blessing to someone and I am also on the right track.

Look at my Glow in just two weeks of using her products. Love love it.

Lessons

I have learnt to not rely on anybody, to be multifaceted in my own right. I do not have to get to a graphics person, I don’t have to get someone to manage my website. I had to learn. If you have a business or an organization it’s good to have a team and if you want to grow, you definitely need a team. However, I would advise that you have to learn to do everything from the back end to the front by yourself because nobody is gonna care about it but yourself. People who have a lot of money tend to hire others to do the job for them; they just come up with the business idea and expect their employees to make things happen. When you have the business idea and the money, use that to get your skills set up. Know every inch of your company so no one will leave you hanging or think that without them you cannot survive. I didn’t have to learn it the hard way, I just carried it at the back of my mind.

I have also learnt to be patient, sometimes you’ve got to be patient to come out with something much more worth it than to rush because you want to prove yourself so bad and then you come out with something that is mediocre and you regret it. Sometimes we want to do it so that people will say I did it first etc. Get all that noise out of your head and take your time. Someone else can come and do the same thing, let them do it, afterall they are not doing it with your mind or passion, nor with your branding or your eye. Run your own race at your own pace.

What advice can you give someone who feels life is hard, I can’t Break Barriers, 

Excuses are fine but mediocrity is worse. If someone is saying that to themselves, they are already determined to win but of course you have that moment where you’re down a little bit. Any time you feel like that, think about why you started, and why you don’t feel like giving up. Like I want to give up but I do not feel like giving up. There’s a fire in you, you have to find that. I say to myself all the time, I do not want to be basic or regular. Mediocrity is my motivation. I do not want to be mediocre, I do not want to settle for the bare minimum. One day when I lay in that coffin and go back to my maker, I want my biography to be so long that people will ask is this a movie or a script or is this really her life. I do not want to do just what is expected of me as a mum or as a wife. I want to identify myself as the person that wanted to do what she wanted to do for her own being not for the circumstances she was put in. When you find out why you started, that answer should motivate you to end that pity party. 

Fitness Mom of Three. Can you tell though?

Jois: When you start something and you feel like you might not get the support around you, Know that there are other people that may not be close to you that are watching you that might motivate you or call you to tell you that you’re doing a good job. They might be listening or watching, they may not like your post but one day they will come to you and tell you that you’re blessing their lives. That has happened to me so many times.

Maame: Same for me, there are people ordering from me that when I search for them online, I can’t find them. My businesses are not successful because of the people around me. My brother is also a businessman who once told me that  when you start your business, your first tide of sales will be high and they will come from your friends and family that will support you one time which is fine but don’t build your business and think nobody is buying it. How many times are your friends going to need that book. My brother said look for the friends in your circle to support you that one time and after that, your goal is to reach new people. My company is successful because of strangers and I appreciate that because that’s what makes a brand grow. You don’t start business for your friends and family. Growth is important in every business. You grow when you reach new people and new customers. It shouldn’t be the same.

Jois: Yassss! Growth is important in everything. You need to grow as an individual, as a family, as a couple, as a business etc. Growth is important. Thank you Maame for coming on here. I am super grateful for taking time out to do this with me.

Click links below to get her children’s book on Amazon