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Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: I am Rashan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,

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Speaker 2: where we encourage.

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Speaker 1: People to stop reading other people's success stories and start

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Speaker 1: planning their own.

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Speaker 2: Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,

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Speaker 2: talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running

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Speaker 2: their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making.

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Speaker 1: A difference in their local communities.

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Speaker 2: Now, sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets

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Speaker 2: to their success.

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Speaker 1: On Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Hi, I am Rashon McDonald.

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Speaker 2: I host this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The

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Speaker 2: interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone.

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Speaker 2: It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and

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Speaker 2: really start living your own. I'm here to help you

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Speaker 2: reach your American dream. My guests founded R and R

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Speaker 2: Skincare and Nigeria. It's a premier woman owned beauty brand

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Speaker 2: dedicated to crafting high quality, cruelty free skincare products that

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Speaker 2: harness the power of Africa's natural resources. Please welco me

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Speaker 2: with the Money Making Conversations Master Class. Valerie O Bossi Hirish,

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Speaker 2: thank you for me, Motherland, the Motherland. I will admit,

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Speaker 2: you know, I made a visit to the Motherland, UH,

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Speaker 2: to South Africa. Down there, Durban and Johannesburg and Steve

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Speaker 2: Harvey and I we were broadcasting the morning show from

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Speaker 2: that area, and I was and I'm gonna just tell

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Speaker 2: you this, honestly, there were so many stereotypes that I

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Speaker 2: have been introduced by being raised in America that I

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Speaker 2: was worried about the technology being available to us to

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Speaker 2: broadcast a morning show back to America. Does that annoy

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Speaker 2: you that those type of stereotypes of inefficiencies, poor technology.

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Speaker 2: 'le gonna use the word ignorance UH dominates the media

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Speaker 2: precent of Africa.

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Speaker 3: I think ignorance doesn't always have to be an insult.

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Speaker 3: If you don't know, you just don't know better. Right,

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Speaker 3: So until you experience or you research personally to find

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Speaker 3: out more, how are you going to know. You've been

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Speaker 3: fed stories right your whole life and being told what

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Speaker 3: Africa is like. So it's intentional, so you don't go

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Speaker 3: back there. But when you go, you have your own experience,

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Speaker 3: you get to know the reality on ground. Yes, the

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Speaker 3: continent is still developing, but we are warhead in so

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Speaker 3: many different ways that people wouldn't even begin to understand.

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Speaker 3: So until you get there and until you share your experience,

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Speaker 3: how is anyone going to know? And thankfully we have

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Speaker 3: the Internet and we have Instagram and stuff, so people

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Speaker 3: it's a global village. Now everyone gets to see how

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Speaker 3: people partied in Legos in December and Acra in January,

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Speaker 3: and they get to know that there's more to life

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Speaker 3: than just their immediate purview. And I think that I

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Speaker 3: don't get annoyed. I think that it's for everybody to

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Speaker 3: experience themselves. We all have our preconceptions. Until we break

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Speaker 3: down those barriers, then how are we going to know.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna get a knowing because you know, so you

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Speaker 2: because you know you, you sell them the product.

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Speaker 1: Money may come this myself, I can get to know.

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Speaker 1: I get mad because I was mad.

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Speaker 2: Because I'm running around worried about and I landed. I

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Speaker 2: was mad because I was like, wow, it was just

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Speaker 2: like landing in Atlanta, Georgia, you know, and that really

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Speaker 2: bothered me because it went.

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Speaker 1: I went. You know what they.

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Speaker 2: Promote safaris, They never come back and talk about there's

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Speaker 2: always a war, conflicts that are promoted. You know, I

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Speaker 2: grew up a cent a dollar, you could save a

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Speaker 2: little kid who's.

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Speaker 1: Starving in Africa.

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Speaker 2: This is the stuff that I grew up on, you

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Speaker 2: know what I'm saying, and and but no one's coming

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Speaker 2: back to retell that story.

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Speaker 1: And so I wanted to make sure, you know, the

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Speaker 1: perceptions should be shut down.

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Speaker 2: Like you said, there are social media out there, and

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Speaker 2: you know, Africa is one of the biggest uh Hollywood

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Speaker 2: type producing areas in the country.

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Speaker 1: In fact, on Netflix.

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Speaker 2: You know, the the amount of content that's coming out

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Speaker 2: of Africa is now on Netflix is amazing.

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Speaker 1: And I think that also kills a lot of the.

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Speaker 3: Stereoy absolutely in the music. Look at the music industry,

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Speaker 3: you know, that's exactly the Nigerian and African music industry

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Speaker 3: has really blown up. And so for me, even when

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Speaker 3: I left the UK to move back to Africa, and

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Speaker 3: my entry point was Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria. My husband is

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Speaker 3: Nigerian and I'm from Ghana, but we both grew up

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Speaker 3: in the UK and I moved there to live with

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Speaker 3: him after we got married. And for me, it was

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Speaker 3: a perfect place to go from London to Legos because

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Speaker 3: Legos is so dynamic and the music industry was really burgeoning.

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Speaker 3: Then in two thousand and nine, the film industry was huge.

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Speaker 2: Already absolutely, I think was about to do a big

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Speaker 2: deal down there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, also in Ghana as well. Indurance he's been working

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Speaker 3: in Ghana to do some so work there to ensure

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Speaker 3: that production can take place and take place. Well. So

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Speaker 3: there's so much going on in the fashion industry, absolutely

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Speaker 3: is huge. I'm wearing a gunion and.

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Speaker 2: The sports you know, y'all dominating m and a oh

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Speaker 2: my god in sports.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, y'all just a dominant force.

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Speaker 3: So you know, there's so much going on, There's so

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Speaker 3: many opportunities. So I like that the world has opened

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Speaker 3: up to seeing what Africa has to offer and even

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Speaker 3: me through beauty. People might think that beauty is shallow, right,

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Speaker 3: but if we can show the richness of our raw

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Speaker 3: materials and our ingredients through beauty and share that with

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Speaker 3: the rest of the world, then people can understand that,

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Speaker 3: you know, good stuff does come out of Africa because

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Speaker 3: for so many years people have believed that only bad

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Speaker 3: things come out.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, Now, nice transition using the word beauty.

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Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, are in our skincare?

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Speaker 3: Yes?

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Speaker 2: Why are you? Why are you producing that? Why are

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Speaker 2: you the face of that brand?

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Speaker 3: Because it's what came naturally to me, is what God

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Speaker 3: had put on my heart, and he found a way

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Speaker 3: for me to access the rest of the world through

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Speaker 3: what I do. And my experience and background is in

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Speaker 3: PR and communications. I had my own PR agency when

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Speaker 3: I lived in London, I worked in the music industry,

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Speaker 3: in fashion beauty. So landing in Lagos and just finding

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Speaker 3: out the ground was so fresh to building brands. You

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Speaker 3: know people definitely, that's big populations. Virginia has like over

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Speaker 3: two hundred million people, Ghana over thirty million people, right,

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Speaker 3: And we're so used to bringing in products from the

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Speaker 3: rest of the world, so we know Europe and America

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Speaker 3: to be the place where everything great is produced. But

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Speaker 3: the reality is that, you know, the raw materials are

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Speaker 3: coming from the continent and going over there to be produced.

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Speaker 3: Whether that's leather, right, whether that's shade, butter, whatever it is. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: it leaves the continent raw and then it's produced into

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Speaker 3: finished products elsewhere. And chocolates, look at chocolate chocolates not

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Speaker 3: from Switzerland, let me tell you, it is from Aricas

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Speaker 3: and it's from Ghana. But the raw cacao or cocoa

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Speaker 3: is leaving the continent and being value added elsewhere, and

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Speaker 3: we believe that chocolate's from Belgium, you know. So I

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Speaker 3: think that the time has come a new generation of

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Speaker 3: people are going back home and creating finished products, brands,

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Speaker 3: African owned brands coming out of the continent using materials.

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Speaker 3: So thank you.

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Speaker 2: That's important because so many because people don't know, we

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Speaker 2: get we get confused about where the final destination of

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Speaker 2: products are being distributed versus where it was sourced. And

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Speaker 2: Africa has been the sourcing capital of the world for

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Speaker 2: so many years. And the fact that you as an entrepreneur,

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Speaker 2: let's put it right, You're an entrepreneur, a business owner

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Speaker 2: made the conscious decision woman owned business owner. So do

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Speaker 2: you right now to get your product is online?

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Speaker 1: It's virtually on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: But you do have stores, we do. Where are they located?

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Speaker 3: We have three water owned stores, one in Legos that

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Speaker 3: was the first door we ever opened in twenty thirteen,

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Speaker 3: and then we are now headquartered in Acra, Ghana, which

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Speaker 3: is where I'm from, and we have two stores there,

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Speaker 3: so one in the center of town in Labori, which

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Speaker 3: is a vibrant hub of hospitality, food, restaurants, clubs.

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Speaker 1: You good storyteller, I'm like to gots.

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Speaker 3: Been multiple times. And we also have a store at

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Speaker 3: the airport, So in the departure lounge at Ghana's and

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Speaker 3: Acara Airport, ca to Co International Airport. So as you're leaving,

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Speaker 3: you pick up a piece of Ghana and come and

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Speaker 3: share it with your friends. Your family will keep it

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Speaker 3: for yourself.

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Speaker 2: So what is the experience like going into you the

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Speaker 2: first stores in twenty thirteen. Is there an experience? Do

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Speaker 2: you do hair there?

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Speaker 1: Or is just products being product based?

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Speaker 3: We wanted to create an experience come in and buy

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Speaker 3: products that are made here, you know, buy us for everybody,

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Speaker 3: so you know, you just want to walk into a store.

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Speaker 3: Because one of my frustrations when I moved back, I

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Speaker 3: would go to the store, I find something I like

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Speaker 3: today and I go back next week and it's gone right.

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Speaker 3: You know, they're not manufacturing it here, so I'd have

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Speaker 3: to be importing it, and so there's always gaps. There's

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Speaker 3: always gaps. You can't always get what you need. So

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Speaker 3: the purpose gradually grew so that at the end of

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Speaker 3: the day, we get it today, when you come back

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Speaker 3: next month, is still there because we're producing locally, We're

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Speaker 3: sourcing locally, and you're always going to be able to

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Speaker 3: find that product. So we wanted people to experience that

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Speaker 3: brand feeling when you walk into our stores.

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Speaker 2: Awesome, awesome, let's talk about the product now, you know

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Speaker 2: we have it right here, or the logo or that

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Speaker 2: look really resonates with me, you know, because it's it's

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Speaker 2: a thought process. Talk about that whole design and then

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Speaker 2: we're going to get into the product. And how was

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Speaker 2: just you know, started the evolution of our at our skillcare.

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Speaker 3: So the logo actually, I'm so glad you touched on that.

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Speaker 3: This is a new logo, Okay, so when we start graduation,

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Speaker 3: thank you. We have another logo and we recently rebranded

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Speaker 3: just in June. So June twenty fourth, we relaunched Our

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Speaker 3: in our we used to be called our Luxury okay,

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Speaker 3: and we rebranded as Are in our Skincare. Not that

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Speaker 3: we've dropped the luxury. The luxury is in the quality

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Speaker 3: of what we do. But we found that the name

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Speaker 3: used to alienate people. People think that the price point

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Speaker 3: would be beyond what they could reach, but actually our

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Speaker 3: products are so affordable. So we thought that luxury is

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Speaker 3: something that you should feel won't say. So we dropped

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Speaker 3: the luxury and we're now in our skincare. So we

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Speaker 3: did have a logo similar to ours in a symbol,

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Speaker 3: but our creative team decided to change the logo against

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Speaker 3: my wishes at the time that when they came back

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Speaker 3: with what they had, I absolutely.

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Speaker 1: Love that beautiful.

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Speaker 2: It's really is much and I'm glad you dropped luxury

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Speaker 2: because when I hear R in our luxury, I think

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Speaker 2: of I think.

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Speaker 1: Of a resort, I think of a rob report, you know, luxury.

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Speaker 2: I don't think of anything that's related to something that

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Speaker 2: I would put on my face or take care of

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Speaker 2: my body.

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Speaker 1: Because of that, and so this is a very smart

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Speaker 1: to me.

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Speaker 2: I like to consider myself a branding and marketing expert.

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Speaker 1: Home Run, thank you the logos.

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Speaker 2: Home Run, you're telling them what you do skincare. People

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Speaker 2: know exactly what they're getting where they walk in the

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Speaker 2: store and they walk out and they share with other people.

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Speaker 1: Excellent move. Now twenty ten, was this an idea or product?

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Speaker 1: In twenty ten when it was founded.

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Speaker 3: It was in need. Okay talk to me about telling

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Speaker 3: I just give them birth, becoming a mother for the

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Speaker 3: first time. I have three kids now three daughters. Actually

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Speaker 3: they did have them quite kind of quick. There'll be

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Speaker 3: girls now they're fourteen, twelve, and ten. But when I

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Speaker 3: had my first baby, I just needed something natural to

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Speaker 3: use on her skin. I didn't want to use the

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Speaker 3: products that everybody used for babies for years, because I

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Speaker 3: mean the important right, because we know that it's not

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Speaker 3: necessarily the best thing. So being in Nigeria, I wanted

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Speaker 3: to use something local and regional, you know, and indigenous

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Speaker 3: to the soil. And Shaye precedes everything that I've done.

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Speaker 3: It's been around for centuries, right, and we know the

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Speaker 3: goodness of shake because.

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Speaker 1: Everybody uses it absolutely.

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Speaker 3: The proof in concept is there all the big brands

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Speaker 3: you shake in their formulations. But we weren't turning it

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Speaker 3: into an enjoyable product. It was just the raw shape

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Speaker 3: butter and you'd have to put it in the microwave

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Speaker 3: on the stove whip it up. Yeah, and people were

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Speaker 3: willing to do that, but I wasn't one of those people.

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Speaker 3: You know, when you have a crying baby, you don't

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Speaker 3: have time to now put things on the stove and

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Speaker 3: start whipping up your formulations. There are people that are

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Speaker 3: very good at that. That's not me. So I was

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Speaker 3: thinking about the fact that I would love to create

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Speaker 3: a product that makes using these raw materials from the

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Speaker 3: continent enjoyable and suitable for a baby, but suitable for

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Speaker 3: the rest of the family too. So when we discovered

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Speaker 3: Shay in a liquid form, which is our shape oil,

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Speaker 3: that was a game changer for me. That was our

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Speaker 3: first product. That was our first product.

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Speaker 1: And will you say shade are how is it used?

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Speaker 3: It's used directly on your skin, So shade same way

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Speaker 3: you do shave butter right, okay, pure she rubbing it

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Speaker 3: onto your skin to moisturize and looking moisture. Okay, this

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Speaker 3: is the oil version. So sha is made up of

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Speaker 3: two parts. Get two technical solid and liquid. When you

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Speaker 3: separate the liquid from the solid parts, so you have

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Speaker 3: steering and oilink. So the olin is the oil and

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Speaker 3: that's what we are giving you. So it still has

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Speaker 3: all the amazing properties moisturizing, healing, all of those good things,

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Speaker 3: all of the good stuff. And we've bottled it and

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Speaker 3: we learned how to blend essential oil.

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Speaker 2: So lem it to lower you down, Valerie, Okay, now

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Speaker 2: this is your first product, you Shay first product.

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Speaker 1: Okay, are you selling it?

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Speaker 3: Okay, not yet?

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Speaker 1: Okay, cool, continue with your story point.

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Speaker 3: So I was sharing with my husband actually that oh,

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Speaker 3: I've come across Shaye in an oil and this is

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Speaker 3: what we're going to use for the baby. And he

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Speaker 3: was like, you know what, I've never seen that before

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Speaker 3: and I don't think it's widely available in legos or

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Speaker 3: in Nigeria. Yeah, bulbs, you're talking.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, money maker, money maker exactly.

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Speaker 3: As a branding person, I've thought that, you know, this

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Speaker 3: is there's definitely an opportunity here. So before we go

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Speaker 3: spending too much money, let's get like samples and stuff

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Speaker 3: from the suppliers, bottle it, share it with our friends

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Speaker 3: and family, use it first, then share it with our

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Speaker 3: friends and family. And what we did. I even had

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Speaker 3: someone mock up a logo for me. I ordered like

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Speaker 3: a box of plastic bottles online and I just shared

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Speaker 3: it with the people close to me and I just said,

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Speaker 3: if you like it, come back and buy it. And

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Speaker 3: that's how it started.

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Speaker 1: Okay. So and they we talked about R and R means.

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Speaker 3: Work, so ur and is my daughter's initials name is Rebecca.

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Speaker 3: Was my first daughter and she's named after my mother

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Speaker 3: and my husband's mother. So my mom is Rebecca and

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Speaker 3: my mother in law is Rose.

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Speaker 1: That's beautiful.

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Speaker 3: So we named it after the two of them. And

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Speaker 3: she's got Rebecca Roh's And when you have a child,

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Speaker 3: you always sends a name of your business. It's such

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Speaker 3: a woman thing to do. But yeah, so we decided

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Speaker 3: Arena would be the name of the company. And it

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Speaker 3: also stands for rest and recuperation or rest and relaxation,

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Speaker 3: so you have like a double meaning there, and I

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Speaker 3: just felt that it was exactly and so Arena means

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Speaker 3: a lot to me because it not only represents my daughter,

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Speaker 3: also represents my mother, my mother in law, so generational heritage,

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Speaker 3: you know, it speaks to the legacy aspects of the brand.

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Speaker 4: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more

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Speaker 4: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making

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Speaker 4: Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashan MacDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass

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00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,200
Speaker 4: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making

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Speaker 4: Conversations Masterclass Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Speaker 2: This that first time I've said down with an individual

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Speaker 2: who's developed an idea. The whole idea is I have

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Speaker 2: a dream, That's what it really is. Yeah, Now when

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Speaker 2: you start sharing that dream with people, what were they

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Speaker 2: saying to you, Valerie about I think I can put

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Speaker 2: this on the shares. I think people would buy this

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Speaker 2: from What were they telling you? Were they motivating you

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Speaker 2: or they're looking at you like really?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Well you definitely have some of the people that

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Speaker 3: were like hmm, okay, let's see where this goes. But

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Speaker 3: I think the majority of people were very very passionate

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Speaker 3: about the idea. They were They've got behind us pretty quickly,

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Speaker 3: and they saw they saw the potential for the business,

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Speaker 3: and they were very supportive. So from my mother to

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Speaker 3: my mother in law, we turned my mother in law's

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Speaker 3: garage and sw a manufactory. After my husband kicked me

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Speaker 3: out of the house, I mean kick me out of

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Speaker 3: his kitchen, not actually out of his house, but kick

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Speaker 3: me out of his kitchen because I'd taken over the

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Speaker 3: dining room, everything that were boxes everywhere. So we converted

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Speaker 3: his mom's space, her garage into our factory compliant, fully

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Speaker 3: compliant factory so that we could start producing on a

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Speaker 3: slightly larger scale. Because the interest did start to flow

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Speaker 3: in and definitely I think support more than you know.

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Speaker 3: Negativity has surrounded this brand for day one.

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Speaker 2: This is the part when I started asking the entrepreneur question, Okay,

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Speaker 2: what did your business plan look like?

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Speaker 3: I didn't have one.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you started a business without a business plan?

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Speaker 1: Was that smart?

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Speaker 3: Yep? Listen. I didn't go to business school. I come

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Speaker 3: from the school of hard knocks in right and experience. Okay.

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Speaker 3: I went to university. I studied branding, communications, culture and media.

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Speaker 3: I went to work in the PR world, initially music,

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Speaker 3: then consumer pr. I've worked with brands. I understand what

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Speaker 3: people like, what people don't like. And I'm African. I

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Speaker 3: lived in the diaspora for my childhood and early adulthood.

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Speaker 3: I left England at twenty nine moved back to the continent. Well,

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Speaker 3: I say moved back. I never actually lived on the continent.

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Speaker 3: I was back and forth all the time. But I

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Speaker 3: did my entire schooling up until the age, up until

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Speaker 3: university in the UK, and moved to Africa in twenty nine.

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Speaker 3: And I realized that Africa was having your renaissance in

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Speaker 3: the creative space, especially, and we were starting to take

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Speaker 3: ownership of what was ours and I had to be

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Speaker 3: part of that, and I had a responsibility as well,

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Speaker 3: like God put this responsibility on me to empower our economy,

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Speaker 3: not just human beings, but the economy in general. Because

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Speaker 3: you know that if you bring in more than you

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Speaker 3: put out, you're always going to be a poor nation

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Speaker 3: or poor continent. So we have a responsibility to put

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Speaker 3: out more than we bring in. And so creating a

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Speaker 3: brand was one a gap a need, but also I

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Speaker 3: saw in need. But I also over time realized that

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Speaker 3: there was a responsibility on my shoulders.

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Speaker 1: Is cruel cruelty free?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, when you do the tested on your or your product, we.

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Speaker 3: Test on humans, not animals. And because there's yeah, they

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Speaker 3: can say out. And also because there's no need. You know,

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Speaker 3: the ingredients we use are historically, you know backed my

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00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,480
Speaker 3: great grandmother and her probably ancestors as well, use these

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Speaker 3: raw materials to cook, to eat with, to do several

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Speaker 3: things with my phone. No, I'm good, Yeah, to do

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Speaker 3: all of these things. So Shae has been around for centuries.

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Speaker 3: It's okay, I didn't invent shape.

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Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about this because of the fact that

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Speaker 2: it's not so much you're inventing it, but you're bringing

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Speaker 2: a brand to America and exposing it to a miracle

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Speaker 2: a polish brand. Yes, but you want to maintain that

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Speaker 2: the African slaver to.

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Speaker 1: Why is that important?

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Speaker 3: Because we have to maintain the authenticity and the integrity

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Speaker 3: of who we are. I think it's important people to

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Speaker 3: know where we've come from. We don't intend to hide

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Speaker 3: that in any way. We just wanted to make our

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Speaker 3: raw materials sexy. If I can say that, you know,

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Speaker 3: let's bring it back. We have to make it appealing

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Speaker 3: and elegant and classy. But you know, in terms of

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Speaker 3: what's in the bottle, that all comes from other nature.

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Speaker 2: Okay, cool, Let's start talking about some of the stuff

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Speaker 2: that the infamous black soap. I've seen it in the

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Speaker 2: square and so why are you or why should I be.

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Speaker 1: Encouraged to use this liquid.

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Speaker 3: Black soap again, it's like the modernization of historical context.

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Speaker 3: Chay and sorry. Black soap is a traditional cleansing method

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Speaker 3: has been used also for decades, and how do we

400
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Speaker 3: make that more appealing and more accessible to people? Not

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Speaker 3: everybody wants to use a soap bar, although nowadays, with

402
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Speaker 3: the circular economy people wanting to have less waste, people

403
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,119
Speaker 3: are more happy to use soap bars again. But if

404
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,160
Speaker 3: you're a shower gel person, right.

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. That's why immediately gravitated it.

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Speaker 2: I am not a barshaal question I have so this

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00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 2: is something I will be buying because I enjoy I

408
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 2: just enjoy that aspect of it versus a soap that

409
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 2: it eventually looks ugly.

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Speaker 3: Exactly. I'm exactly the same. I'm a liquid soap person.

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00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,000
Speaker 3: I love a shower gel. So a lot of the

412
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 3: need is created from my own personal needs and creating

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00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 3: something that is easy to use. You don't want to

414
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Speaker 3: make using these things difficult, otherwise people will use it

415
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,680
Speaker 3: once twice and they'll be like, let me go back

416
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Speaker 3: to what I'm familiar with. So I want to make

417
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 3: it so that it can sit on the shelf next

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Speaker 3: to all of those brands that you've used your whole

419
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Speaker 3: life and be happy to switch it out.

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Speaker 2: Because now what is the difference, Because I want to

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Speaker 2: I think you have right here, you have the body all, yes,

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00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,440
Speaker 2: this what's your first product.

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00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,640
Speaker 3: Exactly, and then you have right.

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Speaker 2: Here you have the the body butter.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, why do you need both?

426
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,159
Speaker 3: Because everyone's preferences are different. Some people like more of

427
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,200
Speaker 3: a thicker application.

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Speaker 1: That's what the butter.

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Speaker 3: That's what you're gonna get with the butter. So it's

430
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,240
Speaker 3: a with butter, so it's still very light compared to

431
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 3: how rawschit butter is. We whip it, we add our

432
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,679
Speaker 3: essential oils or you know, little proprietary bits and pieces

433
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 3: which are all one hundred percent natural oil sourced locally,

434
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Speaker 3: and some people just prefer butter. Some people want an

435
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 3: oil something that's a bit lighter and easier and quicker

436
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,120
Speaker 3: to apply. So it just all depends comes down to.

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00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 1: Preference, right, because then you have the hand cream.

438
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 2: Yes, now I'm just asking, okay, because I have the oil,

439
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,680
Speaker 2: I have the butter, and then I have the hand cream.

440
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 2: I'm assuming the hand cream is strictly for the hand,

441
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:59,160
Speaker 2: but they don't. You got these dry knuckles. Yeah, means so,

442
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,080
Speaker 2: so I used it.

443
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,240
Speaker 3: You can put that in your car, in your little

444
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 3: man pers if you have one, and or your briefcase,

445
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:11,480
Speaker 3: and then the ladies put it in their handbag, so

446
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 3: you just carry around with you when you need a

447
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 3: little moisture top up because you know the weather can

448
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,879
Speaker 3: be dry. Even in West Africa, we have a season

449
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 3: called Hammertan, which is very very very dry, so your

450
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 3: lips get dry, your skin gets very dry, so it's

451
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 3: good to have that on your all times. Just top up.

452
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,400
Speaker 2: Your product is named after your first daughter?

453
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 1: Yes, now, but your mother of three entrepreneur? How do

454
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 1: you balance that?

455
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 3: I love that question, and I'll tell you why because

456
00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 3: I like to say that no one asks the men

457
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,360
Speaker 3: these questions. They always ask the women, how do you balance?

458
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 3: Because our load is heavy? But kids until then?

459
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,200
Speaker 1: But then I gotta go back to the source.

460
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 3: Yes, and I think that it's difficult at times. You

461
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,439
Speaker 3: can't give everything one hundred percent all the time, so

462
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 3: there's seasons. So right now I'm away from my kids.

463
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 3: Right right, they're facetiming me and they're like, oh, Mommy

464
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 3: this or Mummy that their dad is there, but they're

465
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 3: calling me, who is one thousand miles away, to ask

466
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 3: me the most inane question. So I think that it's

467
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 3: just you. You can't always balance everything, but you know,

468
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,119
Speaker 3: sometimes you just pick up the heaviest balls and focus

469
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 3: on those at that specific time. There Sometimes when the

470
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 3: girls are good, they don't really need me. They've got

471
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,120
Speaker 3: everything working in their favor and there they're good to go.

472
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 3: But there's other times where I need to put on

473
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 3: my mom hat and put everything aside. But I'm very,

474
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 3: very fortunate to have a lot of good support. My

475
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 3: husband is an amazing support. He's actually you know, one

476
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 3: of the partners. He like I said, to help me

477
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:52,120
Speaker 3: conceptualize his business, and I couldn't have done it without him.

478
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 3: I have an amazing team in Ghana, in Nigeria and

479
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 3: now in the US.

480
00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 1: So there's going to be real that that just away

481
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:05,400
Speaker 1: for vacation. You know, money made conversations. I see expansion

482
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,240
Speaker 1: in my vision visionary.

483
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,320
Speaker 2: Talk about your expansion ideas because you have three stores

484
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,160
Speaker 2: back home, which is fantastic because finally you're keeping You're

485
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 2: not our source, you're not sourcing out your product, making

486
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 2: the product their employing people. Yes, revenue is staying in

487
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 2: the community, which I admire. So that's been the main

488
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,360
Speaker 2: issue with Africa in general. But you're over here, come

489
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 2: on now, talk to me now.

490
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 3: Because you know, I think that we've also found our

491
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 3: tribe over here, and I've been here several times. I

492
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 3: did like essence first in twenty nineteen, so pre COVID,

493
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 3: there's pre covid and then post covid and pre COVID

494
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 3: we did some activations here and we realized that as

495
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 3: we spoke to people, people experienced our products, the feedback

496
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 3: was just unbelievable. And we really truly felt that we

497
00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 3: found our people outside of the continent. And I knew

498
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,399
Speaker 3: eventually we had to come back. So with the rebrand

499
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,199
Speaker 3: and these new opportunities, and I just thought that this

500
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 3: was the right time to come back to America and

501
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,199
Speaker 3: meet our people again. So I'm here right now because

502
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 3: we've got some activations, having some conversations. Right we did

503
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,880
Speaker 3: something in Miami just yesterday, and the land in Atlanta

504
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 3: today and straight into your studios. So and thank you

505
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:25,920
Speaker 3: for having me.

506
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 2: And well, you know, first of all, I don't we're

507
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,399
Speaker 2: not rapping this interview up because that sounds like you're

508
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 2: about to go there, you know, because I really want

509
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,679
Speaker 2: people to slow down and understand that the product is

510
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,160
Speaker 2: available down the online it is okay, and you don't

511
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 2: have to.

512
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: Wait to the product to get to that.

513
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 2: So this this interview is by breaking down misconception.

514
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: You know, oh it's in Africa, when I'm gonna get

515
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 1: it next year, you know what I'm saying.

516
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,199
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the whole process that the art

517
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,199
Speaker 2: of being placed how has handled in Africa, so we

518
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,639
Speaker 2: can develop that trust with an audience over here.

519
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:03,200
Speaker 1: There has a lot of misconceptions.

520
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,639
Speaker 2: Nurse, I'm sure's the one person gonna go shut what

521
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 2: you're talking about?

522
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 3: I trust them?

523
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 1: Well, that's you.

524
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 2: But we're trying to sell to everybody. We want everybody

525
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 2: to have the same trust that they have walking in

526
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 2: their local drugs. Yeah, those products have been tested. They

527
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 2: feel that it's on that.

528
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 3: Shelf, they can buy it absolutely.

529
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 2: Now you're here with a product that I want to buy,

530
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 2: but it's sitting in a manufacturing location and a store

531
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 2: in Africa.

532
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: Talk about that process.

533
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,960
Speaker 3: So we take quality control very seriously and compliance so

534
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 3: no one needs to worry about testing or quality because

535
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 3: we have Food and Drugs Authority for Ghana testing, we

536
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 3: have Ghana Standards Authority. We have all of the compliance

537
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,440
Speaker 3: sides ticked and we're entering the US. Everything goes through

538
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 3: FDA checks before it's released. And yes, we manufacture everything

539
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 3: on the continent, but we bring it to you here fresh.

540
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 3: It's toward in our warehouse partners or our logistics partners,

541
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 3: and then it shipped out to you this country. So

542
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 3: you don't have to wait a million years, even if

543
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 3: we're shipping it, even if we were shipping it from

544
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:07,639
Speaker 3: the million years, you know.

545
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 2: But but you know what people for distance absolutely, you know,

546
00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 2: like I said, you know Chicago, I know that's that,

547
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:18,879
Speaker 2: you know, Mexico, Canada, Africa and so. And we're trying

548
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 2: to encourage people to go online to be able to

549
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 2: try the product because the product can't get shifted to

550
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 2: you in a very time to matter and if you

551
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,959
Speaker 2: like it, you order it again. And so with that

552
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 2: being said, how do you market your brain?

553
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:32,680
Speaker 1: You over here?

554
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 2: You know you over but you're over there? How are

555
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,720
Speaker 2: you marketing your brain? You know you already told.

556
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 1: Me for sean. You know, before I started this, I

557
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 1: had a PR.

558
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 2: Yes, so you are much aware about marketing. Tell us

559
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 2: about this and.

560
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 3: Art and for me, PR is what I do. It

561
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 3: comes naturally. But we have a marketing team, both local

562
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:55,960
Speaker 3: and global marketing team that are helping us get the

563
00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 3: word out there.

564
00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: You just say all local and global global.

565
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, shout out to my global team. They are doing

566
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 3: a great job. The tribes, they are doing a great job.

567
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 3: But again, it takes time, it takes experience. And one

568
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 3: of the great things that people can access is social media.

569
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 3: Social media is free and we've been building our audience

570
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 3: for over a decade now, and say Instagram for example,

571
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 3: So you can go on there, you can feel, you

572
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 3: can touch, you can read our story, you can watch

573
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 3: our story. We've done so many documentaries in house about

574
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 3: our story and about our production facility. So we produce

575
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,200
Speaker 3: our own raw materials. You can see the women that

576
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 3: are part of that. You can understand where it comes from.

577
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 3: We have quality and processes. We meet all of the

578
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 3: standards good manufacturing practice. If you're into manufacturing, you know

579
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 3: about that. We're clean where that is concerned. And to

580
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 3: see the women at the end of the value chain

581
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 3: who pick the nuts, produce into butter, make the soaps.

582
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 3: They're all part of this story. So every single product

583
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 3: you you know, it does eventually go back to them.

584
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 3: It feeds back into that and the supply chain. Yeah,

585
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 3: pride and also our hope and our goal is to

586
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:17,959
Speaker 3: change their lives in terms of their economic prospects.

587
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 2: Right, well, I'm gonna just tell you I'm impressed by

588
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 2: the process. First of all, you know you are standing communicator, but.

589
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 1: You because let's be just a story.

590
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 2: We're trying to tell you know, the logo are in

591
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 2: our skincare very impressive.

592
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 1: I love it was just kind of like a brown

593
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: and green.

594
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, very neutral and earthy, very.

595
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,720
Speaker 2: Neutral, but it also feels like it is Africa in

596
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,720
Speaker 2: a sense, you know, feel like earth tones strong earth

597
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 2: tones here. And the fact that you're giving us the

598
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 2: hand cream, You're giving us the which I love, you know,

599
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 2: the lotion body for bath, and then you have the

600
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 2: body body off, which was the first, and then you

601
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 2: have the cream of all. What is the big picture

602
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,000
Speaker 2: we talked about it earlier as we close. What is

603
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 2: the big picture for our and our skincare?

604
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,640
Speaker 3: I think just growing an African brand and taking it

605
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,160
Speaker 3: to the rest of the world and sharing the beauty

606
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,480
Speaker 3: of Africa through our formulations, through what we do, and

607
00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 3: letting people know that this is just a small representative

608
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 3: of the entire continent and what is capable of.

609
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 2: Well, my friend, thank you for coming on Money Making

610
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 2: Conversation having really I appreciate it. I appreciate you taking

611
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 2: the time to come in here and share your story

612
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,520
Speaker 2: but also share an international perspective on success.

613
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 3: Thank you. The pleasure is all mine. Thank you so

614
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 3: much for having me.

615
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: Which are so thank you.

616
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 2: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass

617
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 2: posted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests

618
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 2: on the show today and thank you our listening to

619
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,120
Speaker 2: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode

620
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 2: I want to be a guest on the show, visit

621
00:31:55,480 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 2: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.

622
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 2: Join us next week and remember to always leave with

623
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:10,320
Speaker 2: your gifts. Keep winning mm hmmm.