Latest / The Dianne Dusaidi Podcast / S2 E04 | Building a Global African Beauty Brand | Valerie Obaze

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S2 E04 | Building a Global African Beauty Brand | Valerie Obaze · The Dianne Dusaidi Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_05: Welcome to the Diane Desidi Podcast.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_05: Conversations at the intersection of strategy, culture, and purpose.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_05: Each week we explore the ideas, people, and systems shaping how we live, work, and lead across Africa and the world.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_04: Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Vitalo Stillwater.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_04: Vitalo is here for you.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_04: Stay hydrated, stay fresh, and choose Vitalo.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: Valerie Obazier is the founder and CEO of RR Skincare and RR Wellness, a fully vertically integrated African beauty and wellness business that started with a single 5-liter jerry can of Shia oil in her mother-in-law's garage and has become a global brand.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: Forbes has called her an African skincare trailblazer.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: Essence has put her on the famous Essence Festival stage in New Orleans, and her products have reached the shelves of Bloomingdales alongside the biggest names in global beauty.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: She owns her entire value chain from sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: All of it.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: From the tree to the shelves.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, she couldn't do any of it without all the women corporatives in her home country of Ghana through the social arm of her business.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome, Valerie, to this to the podcast.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for coming.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: I know you're super busy.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: Miss I ran a marathon this morning.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm here to help you.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the last time I was in Accra, I joined you on your on your.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that you have a run club.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I joined the run club.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, I walked the entire way, no shame in my game.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: But I still can't keep up with you.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: Don't even get me started on the boxing.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the first day of the run club.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: That was October last year.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was when we first started.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: And now I'm one year.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: I can't believe you have a run club.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the funniest part is that Ghana is so hot.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: Ghana is so hot.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: But we were there, whether you're running or walking, you're sweating.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then she goes, Oh, just for the fun of it, let's go boxing.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: After you first run, that's your warm-up.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then we went boxing.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: It was amazing.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: So this wellness journey of yours, because it's not just a company, it's really about the entire wellness journey for you.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: Where did that come from?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: Have you always been the sporty spice?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've been the soft life spice.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: If there was a soft life spice, that would have been me.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: But um actually, funny story is that I did manage the sports account in the PR agency I was working at.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, why are you people putting me on this account?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I am not sporty at all.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing with me is that whatever work I'm doing, it could be about anything, I'll learn it and I will sell it and you know market it to the best of them.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up on the sports account and I was managing brands like ASICs, Jan Sport.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: We were working with Fremantle Media and we launched David Beckon's um DVD at the time.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Some people might know what that is, might not know what that is, but there's these things called DV heads.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And you'd watch a movie or watch a documentary or whatever on it.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: But um, that's the only connection that that's the only way you could connect me to sports in my 20s.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, definitely when I was a teenager, I tried all the sports, running, netball.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: I was on all the teams, but I wouldn't call myself a sporty person.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so you were on all the teams.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Was there any sport that you loved in particular?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like maybe there was no one better, that's why.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: But fast forward to 2020, coronavirus.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'd always kind of stayed a little bit active with the gym, you know, we're quite conscious of our health and fitness.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: But um, after COVID did a number on all of us, I think mentally we all wanted to be one more physically fit, and two, around people because we'd been isolated for so long.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And um, three, just making our bodies healthier again.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of us had gained a hell of a lot of weight being on lockdown, just eating snacks all the time.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah, yeah.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we weren't active and just needed to do something.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So um we had our first like wellness meetup, which was under the guise of um a product launch from my skincare brand RR.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it was just fantastic.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: We had yoga and brunch, and the turnout was amazing.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the Was this the Wellness Fest?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: It was before it was called Wellness Fest.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like a wellness day celebration, and we invited, I think, about 25 women for a yoga and brunch morning to celebrate the launch of our sustainable packaging.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we did it here in our car, and it was just an awesome event, and we got a lot of feedback from external parties asking us to host the event again and sell tickets so that they could come.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of how the Wellness Fest event started.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it was for the skincare brand, but also just a way to get people together and you know, talking again and being in each other's space, um, not post-pandemic, but one year after the pandemic started.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, when I first moved to Ghana, it was the first event I went to, um, the Wellness Fest.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: We did it at Savannah.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: At Savannah, yes.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and that was a beautiful event.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: And what I expected was yoga, some healthy snacks, and that was it.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: What I got was much more.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: I got the yoga, I think I even got the Pilates.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: Like, Val, you'd really be working us.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was Pilates Yoga, The Great Food by Um Villa Grace.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, Villa Grace.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: And there was a lady there, I think she's I think she's uh a therapist.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think she was a therapist.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: I think there was like a yes, there was a panel.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: It just seemed very intentional to me.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: It was like this is more than just body, it's body and spirit.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's more than wellness, even it's about whole wholeness.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I I was like, this is really Val is very intentional.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just about skincare.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: Skincare is the product, but there's a process that you need to do to get there.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I really appreciate it.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was a great welcome for me uh moving to Ghana.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: So let's go back to the beginning of where this all came from.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: I know you said you were in the PR world, and you know, I had to do some research on you, and I was like, that makes a lot of sense because your marketing is on point with with your with your companies and with your brands.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: So let's let's go back to your entrepreneurship journey and the in the world of um of PR and how it how it transitioned into RR.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I um studied communications, culture, and media.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And while I was studying, while I was doing my degree, I also took on some internships and did a lot of work like in the music industry.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: I was working at record labels and also I worked for a PR agency who worked with musicians and so on.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So my plan when I graduated was to go and work for a record label, which I did, but I did that unpaid because there were no available jobs.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up in the press department at Warner Music in London for six months.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had a great time.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: I worked with some fantastic people, worked with some really cool artists, and was hoping I'd get a job at the end of it.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: But um, unfortunately, this was 2003, and that was the year when a lot of record labels, there was a big financial crisis in the recording industry, and so a lot of the record labels started merging, and ours was merging, Warner Music was merging with another one 23 years ago now, so I can't remember whether it was so BMG merged, Warner merged with Nib Universal, don't quote me, but they were merging, so you can imagine half of the jobs were getting cut, and there was no room for an intern to get a position at that point.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, because I've been working in the press department, I built up my portfolio of you know work and press clippings that I'd been able to gain at the six months there at Warner Music, and I started applying for other press and PR-related jobs.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a magazine then and probably still exists now called PR Week that used to list all the PR jobs.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: There were agencies that positioned um for posted people in PR jobs as well, and I just went out looking for everything and I had landed at an agency called Brand Nation again as a free intern for three months.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um they were they had sports consumer, it was a consumer agency, but they had a sports department, uh fashion department and beauty, and the internship availability was in their sports department.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, what the hell do I know about sports?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I was like, you know what, let me go and find out.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I applied for the internship, got accepted, and um a couple of months into it, I got offered a full-time position as an account executive.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I worked there for a few years, went to work for another agency um that was in fashion and PR, sorry, fashion and beauty as a senior account manager.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And while I was there, um decided to branch off on my own.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, with a friend of mine, we set up our own PR agency called RVPR, and we worked with some really cool, then um online e-commerce was starting to become a thing.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we found some small companies that were just starting out, and we were able to take them on as clients and set up our own agency.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we also, very serendipitous, um, ended up working with the Turks and Caicos Islands um on their tourism um projects, so that was a really, really big win for us as a new PR agency.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that was that, and then I decided to get married and leave England, yeah.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I left behind the PR agency with my friend and um moved to Lagos and just became a freelance um PR consultant and the rest.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: After working for a few brands, finding my own fee, having my first child, I decided that I wanted to set something up that was not PR related, that could be like a legacy brand, that could survive after I'm you know long gone, and maybe my kids take over.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: For the PR, because the PR, first of all, you worked for that calculation is almost a year for free as a free intern, right?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: And when I was doing research on you after graduating, when I was doing research on you, I noticed that you also started working quite young.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: Like I think I think I read report like 14.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, my first like weekend job, I was 14.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um where does that grind that work ethic, that need to learn and achieve?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: Where does that come from?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I don't know.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't tell you, but I grew up very much.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have seen you work.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: You are like behind the scenes, you do not just show up as well, like founder owner.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: No, you're like setting up doing the things, and um, I think it just comes from growing up.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up in North London, um, Ghanian mum, single mum.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this was pre uh blending families um in 1997 when my parents got married.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, my mum got married and we blended families.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: That was when I was 17.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: But prior to that, it was just me and my mom.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: My mum was working, she was working in the city, and I just always wanted a bit more, you know, like I was very comfortable, but I like my independence, and I'm still the same now at the age of 46.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a married woman, but I still like to make my own money.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And even as a teenager, yes, my mom's duty is to take care of me and give me everything I need.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: But if I want anything else, I didn't want to always have to ask for it.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted a job so that I could have money in my pocket that was mine to do what I wanted to do.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And even before that, before I could get a job, I made my mum give me half of my lunch money and then add all the other half up and give it to me at the end of the month so that I could have just that little bit, you know, to myself and choose what I want to do with it.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: No questions.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I just liked a house.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's funny.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a fierce independence.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't ask her for anything for.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I just said, yeah, give me, you already give me this, instead of giving that to me every day, just give me half and put the rest away.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the month, give it to me as a bulk number, and it's mine to do what I want with it.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: And that's interesting with that is that you're not just asking for you're not just asking for half of it, you're you're saving it.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: There's no interest attached, but I think somewhere in your mind you were like, if you give it to me weekly or every day, I'm going to use it into you know whatever.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so give it to me at bulk, and then once I know something, I know that I need to invest it right in something.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: Invest, like it could be a nice pair of jeans, but it's like give it to me in something, you know.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Have you read this story?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: When I when I made it not when I'd made up to 80 pounds, I went into this designer store at the time called Cecil G, and I bought myself a pair of Moschino jeans.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think it was about 80 pounds or something.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've been looking up, eyeing up these jeans for months.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And when I made my 80 pounds, I went, walked in there, tried them on, picked up the jeans, paid for it, put it in the bag, and then it went and I just hung it on my wardrobe for and it sat there for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, and I never wore them.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, why did I spend all this money on a pair of jeans?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up taking it back and getting my money back.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but this was weeds late.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, you know what?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I love these jeans, but how many times am I gonna wear them?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Number one.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Two, I've spent all this money that I've saved up on this one pair of jeans.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna have to wait another few months to make that money back again if I wanted to buy another pair or something along those lines.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this, those jeans did not match my current status.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Did not match my status, and I was nice enough to realize that, you know.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Some people will sell the roof over their heads for a good summer, but I'm like, no, I need that.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is not, I can't do this over and over again right now, so it means I can't afford it.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I went back and got my money back.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what did you end up uh buying or or investing in after?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: It just was like my spending money, but at least I had the free will to do with it what I wanted, but it wasn't locked up in a pair of designer jeans.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was just common sense as well.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I wanted to know that I could do it, I did it, and then I was like, yeah, I don't need it.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: So let me take it back.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's funny that you say that on a bigger scale.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I have conversations with people about that on in terms of real estate.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, I don't want to lock up my money in a mortgage for years when I can invest it into a business that will give me returns, or I can invest it into experiences for myself and my kids, or whatever it is.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think it's it's it's a mentality, but I what's funny to me is that you're like, what is the return on investment of these jeans?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: How many times can I wear them?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Do I, you know, do they um fit my social standing at the time, etc.?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's a great lesson.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, Val, I know you mentioned that um, you know, you grew up with a single mom, and then, you know, as a teenager, you ended up having a blended family.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: And later, you know, that blended family ended up, you know, later on becoming the first family of Ghana.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: So your stepdad uh is the uh former president of Ghana.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I just wanted to know your thoughts around, you know, there's a lot of conversation um on this part of the world um around nipo babies and entitlement.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and just like, what do you think?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how do you think that reflects in your business?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: Because I know you personally, and I know you're such a hard worker.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said before, you're in the weeds, you're behind the scene, you're setting up, you're in the grind.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how does that affect you?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and how does that affect your mental health?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: What do you think about that?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think, first of all, I I wouldn't even call him my stepdad.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: He is my dad.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's been you know the father in my life since I was 17.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 46.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: So we're talking about nearly 30 years at this point.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And um, in terms of Nepo babies, I I want to be a Nepo baby so bad, so bad.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I was a Nepo baby.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want the thing to just fall at my feet, and I just wake up and people are just throwing money at me and the business is working, and people are coming to my business because I'm a Nepo baby, and it's just easy for me.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm sorry, what can I say?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like that for me, it's not like that for my family, it's not like that for my dad.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: He works really hard to get where he was, and I don't take I admire his tenacity, I might, I admire his hard work, and what he was able to achieve has absolutely nothing to do with me, and I can't take anything away from that.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And what I've achieved has, of course, the benefit of having a really hardworking father, hardworking mother, and people who have strong morals and um, you know, strong work ethic.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I've learned a lot from them, and he's actually one of my number one fans when it comes to this business.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: He buys the product and he's very specific about what he uses on his perfume, his soap, his body, you know, cream or body oil.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: He only uses RR body oil, and that means so much to me because I know for the past 30 years he's been using the same brand of soap, the same perfume.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And knowing that and knowing that he trusts me to provide the body oil that he uses on his skin every day, is the only place where I truly benefit from having him as my father in this business.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, understanding work ethic and understanding never to give up.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Those that's where I've really benefited.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: But if people, and I don't blame them for thinking this, but if people think that my business is made easier or my job is made easier because he's my father, actually, in some ways, it's made harder.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: So now you're married, you've moved to Lagos, right?
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you're starting a family.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and I read that in Ghana the tradition is the first bath.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: After the first bath of the baby, you you you use shear butter, shear oil um on the baby.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: Is that what inspired you uh to start this company?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Funnily enough, no, even though it is a ritual, Ghanaian, um, Nigerian, I think West African in general, probably, because we have a lot of the same um traditions, but it was um when I gave birth, for once I was actually very I became very particular about what I fed my child, what I put on her skin, and I didn't want to use any synthetic products.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: I had a cousin, I have a cousin who had a child before me, and um I watched her very closely and how she did things and what she used and took a lot of advice from her, and she was using pure olive oil on her baby's skin when they were new, you know, as a newborn baby.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: This was in the UK.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, well, I'm gonna do that too.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I was using olive oil on the baby's skin, and then I got to Nigeria and I was just like, this is not sustainable, first of all, you know, getting really pure virgin olive oil to do this, I'd have to be importing it, you know, buying it, either bringing it myself, because I couldn't guarantee that if I went to the store, I could get the exact brand that I was looking for.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it just made me think that why would I bring olive oil from Europe to Africa when we have pure natural ingredients that people beg me for.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: When I'd come to Ghana and go back home to London, my friends would say, Oh, bring you back shear butter when you're coming.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it just got me thinking about that a little bit more.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then I had a massage in Ghana at my mum's house, and they use pure shear butter but in an oil, and I'd never seen that before.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it really piqued my interest.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: I hadn't seen it in Nigeria, I hadn't seen it in Ghana, and I thought, you know, there's something there because I used that oil while I was pregnant the whole entire time.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: I and I won't mention the brand name, but it's very well known to supposedly stop stretch marks and keep your, you know, your skin lubricated.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: I got stretch marks at the end of it.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I just thought to myself that, you know what, we already have the answer where we're from, you know, we have shear butter and other natural resources, natural ingredients.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Why am I so fixated on this um, you know, like Western perspective of what is good and decided that I was going to start.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Looking and seeing is anyone selling any nice, nicely packaged, nicely fragranced, nicely, you know, put together shear butter products or pure shear butter, pure shear oil.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I found that if you went to the grocery stores, there's nothing like that.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: You could either go to the market and buy the pure thing and it's sold to you in like a paper bag or a plastic bag, or you could go to the stores and buy something that says it's shear butter, but it's from Europe and it has like this much shear butter in it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so there was a lot of people.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: I know a lot of products that have shear butter, but it's like nothing in it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a tiny, tiny ingredient.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so um I just was like, okay, there's an opportunity there.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And when I discovered the oil, I said, okay, we're on to something.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna use this for my baby and for my family, and then see where we can take it.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: So that is how the brand started.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: You know, when I started using your products, it was the first time I saw um black liquid black soap.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: And then I would put it in all in my bathroom, like my entire house has it, and I always dispens, you know, put it in the visitor's bathroom.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_03: So every time people visited me in Gawa, they would end up buying it on the way out because they're like, now I'm addicted.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: I need this.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I need this.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_03: And then um, the shear oil I I I gift it for Christmas to some of my favorite people, and it's like part of it there, they like look forward to it.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so there's something about like the ease of putting it on, of smearing, and it's and also your black soap is different from other brands that I've tried, it doesn't dry us out.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's it's yeah, it's you know, so it's it's it's really quality product.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like a formula, so it's like not reinventing the wheel.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: These things existed before I came along, but what we wanted to do was create a modern brand that took the best and turned it into something I don't say exciting, but something enjoyable to use, like you actually enjoy putting these products on your skin.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the only way to do that is one, make it easy to use, two, add some aromatherapeutic qualities to it so that you know you have some fragrance.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't want to use synthetic fragrances because I didn't want to take away from the naturalness of it, and so that when you're putting on your skin, it's an enjoyable experience, and then package it in a way that someone's proud to put that on their shelves or in their guest bathroom and say that this product is from Africa, just as good as any other product that you're trying to sell me from anywhere else, and that was you know the goal, and hopefully we've achieved that.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, you've achieved so much, Valve.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, how many years, 16 years in business?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, how many countries?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: I think I read Ghana, Nigeria, UK, um, the US.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: I'm waiting for Canada and Ronda, but I know others are coming.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um before there was a store that was stocking an independent boutique that was stocking our brand in the Marriott Hotel.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, yeah.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: No, fabulous.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: But what I think is so impressive to me are a couple of things.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: One, of course, longevity in business, especially business in Africa.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: We, you know, we have our challenges.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but business in Africa or business generally, longevity is very interesting.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: But the fact that you own the entire value chain, right?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, how important was that for you?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: And then let's get into manufacturing and some of the highs and lows of that.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: So uh with regards to the importance of it, it became important when quality and supply became an issue.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're constantly relying on the supply from you know others, it massively reduces your um, should I say your outlook?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is some we had some suppliers that today they would have stock, you come back in two weeks, they'd say come back in three months, and you've already built a brand and you've already built a following, and all of a sudden this product is going to be off the shelves for three good months.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes you'd buy it and the quality is good today, and the next time you buy it, the quality is bad.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, the importance of having the value chain was very much to do with quality, but also so we could control the way that the people that are at the core of the value chain, the producers who are women, the rural women, that we could ensure that their needs were met and that they were working in good environments and they were happy and that they were earning, you know, a more than decent wage, a living wage is the goal.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: So having that as in my mind, it made it very important to have to do that.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: But actually, you know, I job-wise or work-wise or stress-wise, it takes my stress through the roof because you're taking on a lot more if you're having a production facility and um having that end of the supply chain where you're working in the rural north.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's it's very, it can be very, very difficult, but it is rewarding.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is rewarding.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say that the key thing was quality control, controlling supply, and also impact in terms of those that are working on the raw material.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and I read you have uh like a CSR function or you know, the social arm of your business that really caters to the women, right?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: I love I love that brand proposition that you're really supporting women in northern Ghana.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: And these are these are women that we would know, like these would be our aunties and our mothers, and uh, you know, they have children that they're raising.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, and they're passing on knowledge um that is that is specific to Africa because Shia but uh or Shia Shia um seeds only grow in Africa, right?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: So that knowledge is also there's there's uh there's uh intergenerational training, yeah, I'm sure that happens there as well.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um just could you just speak a little bit to the to the social arm of it?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't think it's just them um grinding the ship, but I think that there must be training, um, probably financial wellness training as well that you must be doing with them to make sure that they're earning the living wage and actually maintaining it.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean that our our um social arm is called the Women of the Savannah Development Projects, and the Savannah is the region in Ghana where our um production facility is, so it's a processing center.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: So historically and typically, what you find is that where she butter is handcrafted is done by women.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the women go and they source the nuts and then they bring the nuts to a facility where they dry the nuts, they deshell it, grind it, mix it.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: It goes through a lot of different stages.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes they have to do those stages in different places.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they have to find transportation, carrying, heavy loads.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: So what we did, the first thing we did when we were building our facility was to have everything that they needed in one place.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, yes, there's shear trees there, but you're not getting that much yield from there.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: But what we would do is pre-finance and give them the money to go and buy the nuts, and then we'll buy it, you know, from them, back from them, you know, at a higher rate.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um, also having all the facilities in one place took a lot of the strain off of the work they do.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: And absolutely, we do training.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: So even just in July, we did a good manufacturing practice training with the ladies ahead of the share season and also health and safety as well.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: But previously, we've organized them into cooperatives, done financial and business literacy training, and it's a it's a constant evolution.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're always doing new things, hearing from them, what do they want?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: We celebrate them and the seasons during Christmas, you know, all of these things, and keeping, you know, a close eye and direct contact with them so that we know, you know, where their needs need to be met.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: And um, that that was a big deal for us.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And what they do is they they're not employed by us, they have their cooperative, so they're business owners, they use our facility, we finance it, then we supply it to them to produce, and then we buy the finished products from them at a higher than market price.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: So, how many people across the different um stores, um across across the different countries do you employ?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then how many women do you support in these cooperatives?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, with the cooperatives, we're talking, you know, hundreds of women during the season.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: But, like, for example, um, when we did the training in July, I think we had about 50 women that were involved.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: And when we do the next one, it'll probably be a different group.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you can impact another 50 or you know, another hundred.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um, we have a physical retail store in Accra, two physical retail stores, and a physical retail store in Lagos, and we have um online stores in the UK and the US with warehouse shipping from both those locations, and a factory in Pram Pram, where our products become R R.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, in the north, it's the raw material, you know, the sheer butter, the black soap, the lemongrass oil, all of these things are produced there.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Then it makes its way down to Accra and onto Prime Pram, where which is a coastal village just close to the seafort in Tema, where it becomes RR.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that factory, all the mixing and blending and packaging and labeling takes place, and then it comes to our HQ, where it's either put on the shop shelves or distributed to Nigeria, UK, US, and um sold on from there.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, number wise, I mean, yeah, we have about 30 full-time employers in house, and then we work with hundreds of women in the community.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: And in the US and UK and Nigeria, we have we have more employees there as well, but also we work with a lot of consultants, advisors, um, agents, all this type of thing.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because that's that's not a small business well, that's an empire, just FYI.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's a budding empire.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a budding empire.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're still technically a small enterprise, but we'll get there.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's not a small enterprise.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe medium to large-ish.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: It depends who's asking.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think you have to data.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: I was going to say it depends on the metrics, but yeah.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, okay, very interesting.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_03: You did mention that you know you do everything, you do everything in-house.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, quality is very important to you.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_03: I was going, you know, down a rabbit hole when I was preparing for this, and I saw that uh at some point, I think earlier this year, you had an issue with your supply chain for your packaging.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: And there was a packaging issue.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I thought it was very bold that you went on social media and you know, you were like, Houston, there's a problem.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the guy's sorry, there's an issue here.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's going to take three months.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's going to take three months um to get the packaging and for you to get what you want off the shelf.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there was a silver lining in that, I think, because you did mention that you, you know, people could have the opportunity to use the refill bottles or the refill packages.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that comes down to sustainability.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_03: So just talk us through what that moment meant to you.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_03: Because watching it, I was like, wow, that that's a real founder with integrity to say that you know, these are the challenges that we're facing, but here's a potential solution, but we know it's not a solution for everyone.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: Just like what was going through your mind?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because watching it, I felt for you.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was an enormous amount of stress actually at the time because um the reason why we ran out of the packaging was twofold.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: But it was one, you know, communication issues within the company.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Two, we are working, we've been working on our European certification, which is a very long process.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to get there, they have a lot of stringent rules about packaging and what you can write on your packaging, what you can say on your packaging, and in terms of the ingredients, how it's listed, what percentage is allowed, how to do things.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we couldn't do a production run on our packaging without finalizing what our ingredients list and our description and our caution and our title could look like because you could call a product something and you think it's a completely benign word, and they will tell you that this is a claim and you cannot call your product that.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to recall all of the packaging that had its word on it if you want to sell it in this part of the world.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we had to make sure that we got that right.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And when you go to print run with your packaging, you're producing 10,000, 20,000 quantities, right, of each product.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to make sure that it is completely correct, otherwise, you just wasted tens of thousands of dollars on packaging.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um, that was one of the delays.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_03: This one is for EU certification.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean the thing is you use the word which is very important to us, which is integrity, and it's one of our key words in the business because we always feel that you should do as you say, and anything hidden will eventually come to light.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we're very open in our communication style internally and externally, and you meet challenges in business every single day.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: We can't tell you about all of our problems every day because you'll be bored.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: However, when certain things come up and affect the consumer, we have to sometimes just say, okay, you know what?
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've finished crying, I've finished holding my head in my hands, I've finished, you know, having my heart rate and blood pressure go up.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing I can do.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: A hands up, there's absolutely nothing I can do here.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just come clean, let everybody know that this is the situation.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because people really take it personally when they can't get their products.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that they don't say.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: We receive messages like what kind of business is this?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is this a stable business?
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you even a are you even a serious business?
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have this product, we've been trying to buy it for months and it's not available.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is wrong with you people?
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know how important you know this thing is to me and how much I need it?
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so it was a really stressful time, but there's nothing I could do.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, look, guys, just so you know, I can't help you here.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the only way, thankfully, there's alternatives.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's alternatives to what we're doing, and you can not get the bottle, but go and buy the refill is exactly the same products.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: And thank God we had the foresight to have refill packaging, and you know, there was no that wasn't running out, and um, you know, it all worked out in the end.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: And three months really isn't as long as people think.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, no, I know, but I can imagine for uh a for a product that is a part of people's everyday, you know, is a part of people's everyday where they use the black stove to shower, they use the the oil to to smear themselves in the morning.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're like and for me, my my products last like six weeks.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_03: So I can imagine three months I'm missing like two cycles, and then I'm so and also my my skin has a a tone that tuned itself to that.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: So if I use anything else, it like dries out or it's itchy or whatever.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like I can not that I would have messaged you and assured you, I would have been a bit more respectful than that, but I can understand as a customer who is trying to be in clean beauty, right?
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: And trying to support African brands and all of that, especially if I'm buying it abroad at a premium price, then I'm like, what's happening?
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_03: But I would, I would, I'm and I'm hoping you're going to say that there was an uptake in the refill uh packaging and that people now appreciate the sustainability.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, have seen because some people you don't know what you don't know.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're always going for the same thing, you don't necessarily know that refills are an option, and it always teaches us that we've still got work to do.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: We might think that everybody knows R, but they don't.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: A very small fraction of people know about the brand, and um, it just knows that it just makes me know that there's so much more to be done and educating in terms of refills, your other options, the whip butters were available.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's there was alternatives.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't leave you completely high and dry.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: So um it was it was a learning experience which I don't want to experience again, but uh you know we'll try out this when you're when you're still growing a company, you know, these things, these kind of mistakes happen.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_03: So I didn't know until I did this research, which is I guess I'm not a great friend.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that RR doesn't stand for real relax and relaxation.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I that's what I thought it stood for.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: Apparently, it stands for your daughter's uh initials.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, kudos to her.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: So what does she think about being a global brand?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, she is she calling you like mom, my royalties, like what's happening.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: This one, I said it's a legacy business.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: You don't make nothing unless you work for it.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: She's just lucky it was named after her.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's just what parents do after they have a kid, everything's about their child.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I did I did recognize there was a double meaning there, which you had Rebecca Rose, but also rest and recuperation, rest and relaxation, you know, it means both things.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's and then all my daughters are ours as well.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: They're they have our initial after that, so it's for everybody, not just her, even though she hears it all the time that oh yeah, it's called Rebecca's named after Rebecca Rose is named after Rebecca Rose.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: So she's very so I I don't know, she doesn't show that she really cares, to be honest about it, but she probably she probably will later on.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um would you encourage her or any of the girls to go into entrepreneurship?
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: I what I want them to know is it's it's not the only path, it just depends on whatever their path is.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I from young even I encourage them to try business and understand the economics of running a business and for profit anyway, and how things work.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: So whether it's a cookie baking business or a you know reselling business, like my oldest daughter, she does a lot of reselling online.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: So her old clothes and or stuff that she's bought that she's not worth, she sells it online and she packages it and posts it out to her customers.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: My um middle daughter right now, I'm encouraging her because she's really, really she's a great cook and she's a great baker as well.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: And she makes nice um cookies and cinnamon rolls and stuff.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this is a business.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm glad I get her now.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and cinnamon rolls.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, she made some cinnamon rolls to my youngest daughter as well.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: She's into art, she was making beaded bracelets and stuff.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, you can always sell these things, you know.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: So there's money to be made, you don't leave the money on the table.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so they learn.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: But you see the thing, it's very young, and at the end of the day, what you find is that you're the one doing the work for them.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's if that's what's happening, don't worry about it.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: Wait a few more years and come back.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, definitely encourage it.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, let's just see where they go in their careers.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: I always also think it's very important to have jobs first before you go down an entrepreneurial path or alongside, so you understand what workplace culture is like, working in a team, having deadlines, you know, those kind of things are important things to learn on the job that you can't learn when you're working for yourself from day one.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and you know, management, you know, what it's like to have a boss, to be on time, to be respectful, things like that.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I mean, you know, you've mentioned, you know, there's no success without a successor.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: But would and you've talked about this being a legacy.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: I have done research.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, this is a legacy brand, as you say.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_03: Would you want the girls to you know do internships in the in some of the companies that you own?
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: And starting from now, would you pay them or no?
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: Holiday, yeah, sure.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they come and help out, sometimes I don't pay them.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: But if I'm giving them an actual role to do, I would definitely look at creating a stipend.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: But my kids are like expensive.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell them, Oh, let me pay you this.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we pay our interns.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be like, Well, lady, no, I'll
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: Something else, but they they'll they don't just want to bargain and do something else that will give them what they want, then that too is fine.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted to ask you, I meant to ask you.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_03: I remember you you didn't want to to like really showcase the kids on social media, and I think I'm seeing them a little bit more now.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: I guess that's because they're grown.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: I guess they have a they have a say in that.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, just how is it going?
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: Are we gonna be seeing them in like more marketing campaigns?
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: Did you change your mind on that?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, I haven't changed my mind.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: I just every now and then I just throw them in there because they're older, and you know, but I just I just wanted to protect protect them, protect their peace, um, protect their space, you know.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's like living in a goldfish bowl here in Ghana and generally on the internet, and so they can be on social media, but they know how to protect themselves.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: And these kids nowadays they post on social media and they're like this.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't even see their face.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's how they post for pictures.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't see their faces when they're doing their posts.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: I try, I beg, I beg just because it's it's you know, it's it's not their choice, and even taking a picture of them is difficult.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, let alone getting them on my social media, and also, yeah, I posted a picture once and I regretted it.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I never just like never happening again.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, Val, what I know how hard entrepreneurship can be, but I also know it can be very rewarding.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I want to ask you with such a successful brand, uh RR Skincare, what possessed you uh at 45 to go and start a new company?
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_03: Similar wellness theme, but yeah, was it just like an extension?
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_03: What inspired you to do that?
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so because we started doing the events and the wellness events as part of RR skincare, then I realized that was growing, and even my personal wellness journey was growing, and the industry globally was growing.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to have a piece of that.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I also, one of my key reasons for being and working is impacting and the economic growth of the continent.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up in the UK, but very much with a solid foundation in Ghana and knowing that I was Ghanaian and I would come back to Ghana often, stay with my grandparents, you know.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my grandmother, my grandfather passed when I was quite young, and um my uncles and aunties and cousins.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I very, very much connected to the culture here.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: And um living here now in my older adult years, I just realized like there's catching up to do, but it's gonna take us and the generations that come after us to do that work because we had the benefit of learning abroad.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: Our parents, their work was to make sure that we could experience the best educations and best experiences abroad.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's our duty to bring what we know and what we experience back.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: And because I travel, I get to see all the wellness experiences that are you know trending around the world now and helping people, making people healthier, giving people longer lives.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, why should we be at the back of the queue when people are extending their life cycles?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why don't we, you know, encourage people to live better, eat better, recover better, take care of their mental health, take care of their physical health, be ahead of your health, you know, and not waiting until something goes wrong to take care of it.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: So again, it turned into a okay, it's not just about passion, there's purpose involved.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I can't quiet the noise that's going on in my head.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the opportunity came up to take a space above our flagship store in our car and was like, okay, okay, this is meant to be, let's open this wellness club and let people come and be well.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's a beautiful space.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I haven't had the pleasure of being in the wellness place, but I have been to the store downstairs when I've seen the the you know, I've seen it online, uh, the wellness place.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_03: It looks so beautiful, but what I'm addicted to is every time you try something new, whether it's the the cold plunge or the um like what is Val trying now and how is that going?
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: And poor Gigi, how is Gigi doing?
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: She's worse than me.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: She's worse than me.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: So she's like, okay, Gigi, what are we eating this week?
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: What is the trend?
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: What's our deans?
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: What's the diet?
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: What's the drink?
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_00: What's the supplements we're taking?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're ready to try it also you don't have to, and then just bring you the best of the best, and um, and that's what we enjoy doing.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like actually lifestyle, you know.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: I could be there on a Saturday or a Sunday on holiday, and I'd be very happy because I absolutely love it there.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I've seen your Gigi is Val's cousin and uh colleague here in this in this business, and they you'll see them on social media trying different products out.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'm being at them all this place, and it's just so funny to be there's something you tried that was, I think not well.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_03: It was not good, and you were the your facial expression.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, that's really genuine.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, not everything is great, you know, or seeing you guys go into the cold plunge, hilarious.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's hilarious.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: That was fun, and I spent it today with a group of loads of big men getting in there for the first time.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: Some did very well, some were not so well, and it's just everyone reacts already, and it's just a really fun experience just to see how far you can push your body, but also is part of making you better and helping you recover better and making your health better.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that must have been great for after the marathon, after the run.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, you can imagine for the recovery.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: We invited all the medical elders to come and have a free cold plunge on us.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and that's what I was just going to say that it's not just for women because people usually hear wellness and like, ooh, you know, feminine energy.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_03: Like, no, it's it's for everyone.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's you know, come and be well for everyone.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so okay, there's something I wanted I want to ask you about because during my research I you kept mentioning that your mindset is Africa first, right?
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if you remember, but we first met at my birthday party in Kigali.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um I don't remember what year it was during COVID.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um and you were on a trip.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we you were on a business trip, you on a trip with other people from around the continent around similar ages.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I would say, you know, young, youngish professionals, um youngish uh professionals, and you did everything.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: You toured Rhonda, I think it was the first time for many of you.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_03: You toured Rhonda, but on top of that, you also had business meetings.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_03: What was that experience like?
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, I would love for you to say that you loved Rhonda, that's one thing, but in terms of like bringing people of similar mindsets together, what what came out of that?
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_03: What were some of the outcomes?
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was one of the best trips I've ever been on, and um, I was approached to join the trip um during COVID.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was a conversation where they were bringing different people in different aspects of business, young people in their 30s and 40s, I guess, to come and experience Rwanda.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, so for us to know that we don't have to go 10, 12, 13 hours away to have a good time.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_00: We can fly four hours direct from Accra to Kigali and have a fantastic time.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_00: So letting Africans know that they can travel within Africa, this sort of you know, a great holiday.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: And um, that was and yes during COVID to be able to do that in a safe way.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_03: You can't do it.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_03: I guess that's the purpose.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, and um, there was a lot of testing and stuff, but we were we were hosted on this awesome trip, and we were taken to the one and only gorilla's nest.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, beautiful, serene place.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: We got to experience the gorilla safari, which was nerve-wracking.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I didn't realize how close you get to be.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_00: If I thought I was going to be in a car and then see them from afar off, I'd be like, oh, hello.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_00: They came up really close, and um it was a wonderful, wonderful experience.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, yeah, Rwanda did really well during COVID, they had very strict regulations, so we were able to we tested on arrival, we tested before leaving, obviously.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_00: We tested on arrival, and then we waited in a like hotel holding space for 24 hours or 12 hours until our results came out.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then we could head to one and only gorilla's nest.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe even before going to see the gorillas, we were tested again because God forbid the gorillas went to protect the gorillas.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were tested again and also sprayed down before we entered.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: So they were very, very specific about ensuring the numbers stayed low and you know, next to zero, but also showing us a wonderful, wonderful time.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_03: What I have learned as being a serial entrepreneur is that greatness takes time.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_03: So it's if you wanted to do shoddy business, you could do that.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if you wanted to sell out of a suitcase and you know, have your friend Diane and Kigali receive the suitcase and sell out of your house, you could do that.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_03: But if you want, you know, uh brick and mortar with your branding and all of that, that's gonna require money, it's gonna require time, greatness takes time.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_03: So, Val, one last question.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's 2035.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_03: You pick up your phone and you see a headline on Africa.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_03: What do you hope it says?
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: 2035.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_00: So nine years from now I see a headline on Africa.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: I hope it says that African beauty brands now outselling US beauty brands on a larger scale and making most of their income within the continent.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that can be done whether it's in nine years or five years or twenty years.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_03: Again, you know, time is not linear, right?
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_03: So we just need to think of it as the goal, and it will happen eventually.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_03: You just have to follow Val or follow um the companies online, and you will see the grind.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_03: And people who have it come easy don't work that hard, it just doesn't work that way.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_03: So, thank you, Val, for everything you do, and thank you for sharing your story with us.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, and it was enjoyable.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for asking all the good questions.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had a great time chatting with you, and congratulations on this podcast.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_03: Cheers, thank you, thank you, cheers, cheers, baby, cheers.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Diane Decide Podcast.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_02: Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube, follow on Instagram.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_02: We'd love to hear from you.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, live strategically and with purpose.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_02: See you soon.