Being a second generation immigrant raised in the south, and born to a Ghanaian mother and African-American father I’ve always known that it was my duty to fully represent both of my cultural influences-even in the work I do as a creative entrepreneur. But even more so in my role as a mother.

Coming into 2019, I made it a goal of mine to make sure I travel home to Ghana with my 10 year old daughter so she could meet her relatives and be exposed the other side of her culture. And after spending some time in Kumasi and Accra, that is just what happened. She learned how to pound fufu, she met her great grand mother (a month before her great grand mother passed away), she experienced riding the tro tro, she met aunts and uncles for the first time, learned about Ghanaian history AND Black American history, visited art galleries, and the arts centers in Kumasi.

We also went to several markets where she then began to take notice that nearly all the people who ran the markets and the shops were…wait for it…

Women.

And she was right. In Accra, the vast majority of the business owners are women. It is something that one can’t help but to notice, especially coming from American where that is generally not the case. Not only did this trip home expand her global perspective and her role as a young women growing up in the world, but it also shifted MY approach to creative entrepreneurship.

Ghana place 2nd globally when it come to ranking the countries with the most women entrepreneur (according to the MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs). Placing 1st in the rankings was Uganda.

Here’s is the biggest thing I took away about the journey of my creative career (and those of my peers); most of the limitations and obstacles we think we have are self imposed. Granted, this is something that I’ve always been aware of but there was something about watching this fact in motion. Out of my family members who still live in Ghana half of them work in the corporate sector in banking and education while the other half own their own businesses.

There was something rousing about seeing many women who may not have the access to entrepreneurship courses, business coaches, masterclasses, mastermind groups et al.. to help the start or even continue running their businesses, but are able start and run businesses without excuses. Even still with the challenges of access to technology, restrictive barriers to accessing funding; these women are able to do it day in and day out by any means necessary to make ends meet.

But yet, there are several of us who have so much access to resources that not only do we reach a point of overwhelm, but we allow the overwhelm to paralyze us creatively. Many of us who are not where we want to be have allowed distractions and over consumption of information paralyze us.

In my moments of interacting with woman family members who were business owners and artist and also when I conducted business transactions with artisans and shop owners I became even more aware than ever before that we have everything we need.

WE. HAVE. EVERYTHING. WE NEED.

Your confidence, your action, your will, your drive, your motivation, your passion, your hunger to fully show up in your purpose and do the work? It will not come from a master class. It is already within you. Within us.

How My Visit BACK Home to Ghana Shifted My Approach to Creative Entrepreneurship