Konnected Minds Podcast

From making over 20,000 cedis in the first 24 hours on Snapchat to losing an Amazon account because demand was too high to fulfill, and why the brutal truth about explosive business growth is that it can destroy you faster than slow growth ever could because when 100 orders flood in on day one and your supplier quits after 24 hours saying it's too stressful and you're scrambling to find packaging bottles and labeling and responding to customers who trusted you with their money while overselling products you don't have in stock because you didn't have a website to track inventory, the young...

From building Ghana Party in the Park for 20 years without corporate support to losing deals worth millions when artists failed to show up, and why the brutal truth about building a legacy in UK entertainment is that you compete against your own people wasting money you don't have when you could have worked smarter together, the man who ran events that became institutions but never got the corporate backing that Ghanaian promoters in Ghana receive from telcos and banks because the Ghanaian community in the UK is a very small percentage, the 100 percent openness to partnership that brought smiles...

From being dismissed at radio stations and turned away from nightclubs to paving the way for African music on mainstream UK platforms and creating the Diaspora Ghana movement that now defines an entire generation's connection to the motherland, and why the brutal truth about building something revolutionary is that the people who come after you and benefit from your groundwork will often refuse to give you credit while calling you lazy when they weren't there getting rejected, getting told African music doesn't belong, getting sent away from venues that now welcome African artists with open arms because of the...

From being 19 years old with no job, no university plans, and no vision beyond renting out sound equipment to becoming a household name in UK entertainment, and why the brutal truth about youth and ambition is that sometimes you're just going with the flow making money as a DJ and loving the popularity without thinking about buying houses or saving for the future when you should have been putting money away instead of spending everything on more records and more equipment, the four young Ghanaian boys who pooled their sound equipment together and created what would become 90% Hair Squad...

From getting a license to play African music on mainstream UK radio in 1997 to creating the December in Ghana movement that transformed the diaspora's relationship with the motherland, and why the brutal truth about building cultural movements is that you don't just wake up and decide to change how an entire generation sees coming home because it takes years of getting rejected at 4am graveyard shifts on radio stations, years of proving African music belongs on mainstream platforms, years of convincing nightclubs to welcome the culture you're fighting to legitimize, years of chartering planes and teaming up with radio...

From 600 cedis & an MTN loan to running TWO bakeries - Samuel’s story will change how you think about opportunity.

Samuel Agyapong (Banana Bread GH) joins Derrick on Konnected Minds to break down why Ghana's youth are losing to social media, how he built an entire business off Instagram without traveling abroad, and the hard truth about hiring staff that most business owners ignore.

🍌 He started selling lunch in primary school. Got banned. Kept going. 💡 Turned diabetic customers into his biggest market - through education, not ads. 📲 Grew a TikTok page to 50K in 6 months by spotting...

From being a 12 year old boy crying in London who just wanted to go home to becoming the man who made December in Ghana a cultural phenomenon for the diaspora, and why the brutal truth about building a legacy is that your name gets erased from the story even though you were there getting rejected by radio stations when 80 percent of lyrics had to be in English before African music could touch mainstream airwaves, getting turned away from venues that now welcome the culture you fought to legitimize, investing your own money into events that became institutions while watching...

From dropping out of school at 14 to chase a football dream that ended in rejection to becoming a DJ and sound equipment entrepreneur in London's underground Acid House scene, and why the brutal truth about immigrant life in the UK during the 80s and 90s is that there were no community hangouts, no Ghanaian restaurants, no nightclubs for us because that generation was focused on working morning cleaning jobs and nursing shifts just to send money back home not building the infrastructure we enjoy today, the young boy who moved from chip shop to chip shop and arcade to...

From not owning the stories and contributions that built the UK African music scene to losing millions when COVID forced event cancellations and why the brutal truth about going with the flow without being intentional is that other people end up taking credit for your work while you watch your children learn your legacy from strangers instead of from you, the man who pioneered African music on mainstream UK radio and created events that became institutions but never documented his role in the movement, the cassette tapes he showed his son who had never seen one before using a...

From making 800K on TikTok and not caring what anyone thinks to building an international feminine hygiene brand by teaching instead of just selling, and why the brutal truth about social media success is that you don't just post products and expect people to care because no one needs your camera until you show them the quality difference between phone footage and professional camera footage, the young woman who started with nothing but a Snapchat account and made over 20,000 cedis in the first 24 hours by posting one product and paying influencers proving that when you give value people will...

From pricing for approval to pricing for sustainability and why the brutal truth about why small businesses stay small is that they price so low trying to make everyone their customer when the reality is not everyone is your customer and if you're scared to tell people your prices are expensive then go where it's cheap you will keep your business stagnant, the young woman who built an international feminine hygiene brand shipping to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Nigeria by refusing to pity herself and make people believe they are buying even when no one is buying...

From making 800K on TikTok and not caring what anyone thinks to building an international feminine hygiene brand that ships across continents, and why the brutal truth about starting a business when you have nothing is that you don't need someone to sit you down and teach you because the same internet people use for gossip has everything you need to learn on YouTube and TikTok, the young woman who learned everything from YouTube and started with dropshipping before building her own brand that solves problems doctors recommend to their patients, the wisdom that if you're going to be...

From lying his way into an internship at Nigeria's biggest TV station to building Glitch Africa and the Honest Bunch podcast that millions watch across the continent, and why the brutal truth about escaping poverty and creating success in Africa is that audacity matters more than credentials because when you come from nothing you either take bold action or stay stuck in the loop of waiting for someone to hand you opportunities that will never come.

Guest: Best Amakhian

Company - Glitch Africa Studios

Host...

From selling over 800K on TikTok alone to building an international feminine hygiene brand that ships across continents, and why the brutal truth about starting a business with nothing is that you don't need perfection, you don't need a physical shop, you don't need everything figured out because the young woman who started selling on Snapchat with no business name and made over 20,000 cedis in the first 24 hours now runs a brand that doctors recommend to their patients, the childhood of being sent away at age two to live with family friends and aunties because her mother was too...

From leaving home at 14 and never going back to building a business that gave her the voice nobody let her have growing up, and why the brutal truth about why some entrepreneurs push harder than others is that when you grow up without attention, without anyone listening to your problems, without parents telling you they're proud of you or that you're beautiful, the hunger to be seen and heard becomes the fuel that drives you to build something that forces the world to pay attention, the young girl who went to secondary school and never returned home because she...

From defying her mother's wishes to leave university and pursue government work to building a thriving feminine hygiene business that ships to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Nigeria, and why the brutal truth about starting a business when you have nothing is that you don't need perfection, you don't need a physical shop, you don't need everything figured out because the young woman who started with no business name and bathed with AC water during her toughest days now runs an international brand that doctors recommend to their patients, the painful reality of being the child nobody listened...

From defying her mother's wishes and moving to Accra alone with no clear plan to building a six-figure business in 24 hours using only Snapchat, and why the brutal truth about starting a business when you have nothing is that sometimes the desperation to not depend on anyone becomes the fuel that drives you to create something from absolutely nothing, the young woman who packed her bags and left Kumasi for Accra against everyone's advice except her father's because she knew her family didn't understand what she truly wanted and staying in Kumasi meant staying stuck, arriving in Accra with...

From the dangerous mindset that marriage is just about finding the right person to the revolutionary truth that the quality of the players in marriage determines whether you see relationship as competition or collaboration, and why the brutal truth about why marriages collapse is that people bring residual effects from their upbringing into marriage without understanding that though you may look polished, educated, and talented, the effect of the environment that raised you is still there and just a little trigger will show where you came from, the young person raised in an environment where you fight for everything...

From the dangerous mindset that marriage is 50-50 when it comes to household duties and financial contributions to the revolutionary truth that every marriage is different and whether you bring 50% or 100% to the table doesn't determine superiority or inferiority because marriage is teamwork where both people deserve respect, and why the brutal truth about the question "what do you bring to the table" among Gen Z and millennials is that it's almost always about money when marriage has been seriously misconstrued because where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable according to the late Dr. Myles Munroe, the realization...

From leaving the Tokyo Stock Market as the only black equity analyst to investing over 2 million USD into a fish farm in Ghana, and why the brutal truth about why young Africans miss farming opportunities is that we've been conditioned to see weeding as punishment and farming as something for people who cannot read and write when the reality is that Ghana spends 100 million dollars per annum importing tomatoes from Burkina Faso.

Chapters

From the dangerous mindset that the devil is the one destroying families to the revolutionary truth that until you tame the common enemy you and your spouse can never be on the same wavelength, and why the brutal truth about why millennials and Gen Z don't trust marriage is because the Bible has been corrupted, ministers and preachers have messed up, the older generation managed broken marriages, and some never saw any marriage at all leaving them with no examples to glean from and take into their life journey, the young people coming from broken homes who came from...

From the dangerous mindset that you need huge capital to start a business in Africa to the revolutionary truth that coconut sellers make between 300 to 500 cedis profit daily; proving that genuine wealth building starts with determination and a mindset shift not money.

Guest: Priscilla Atta Peters

Company: 30Seeds

Host: Derrick Abaitey

IG: https://www.instagram.com/derrick.abaitey

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@DerrickAbaitey

Join Konnected Academy: https://konnectedacademy.com/

Listen to the podcast on:

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From the dangerous mindset that women initiate divorces because they get in there and discover comfort is not just about money to the revolutionary truth that they want time, attention, affection, and a number of things beyond financial provision, and why the brutal truth about why divorces skyrocket is that men don't understand that male and female are wired differently so even when the provision is needed and appreciated, if you do not want to become a victim you've got to come up with a shared vision of what kind of family do we want to be, what kind...

From the dangerous mindset of sizing people based on physique and six packs to the revolutionary truth that nobody will remember you for your work achievements more than family and the children that carry the legacy, and why the brutal truth about marriage longevity is that the older generation had a level of tolerance the younger generation doesn't have because younger people are not ready to put in so much and leave when they're not happy when happiness is not a gift that comes in a breath of gold but something you work out with a threshold of patience...

From the husband who wants to check out because his wife nags and doesn't reason with him to the revolutionary truth that every person has a melting point that determines who they ultimately become, and why the brutal truth about why marriages collapse is that we spend years learning careers like medicine and law but expect to master marriage in six months when the microwave mindset of competing with AI and technology will never work in relationship, the wisdom that nothing good comes easy and if we want to fix society we must be willing to pay the price...

From coming into marriage as a fresh graduate with zero income to 33 years of partnership built on redefining contribution beyond money, and why the brutal truth about why 40% of marriages fail because of finances is that couples limit provision to just the person bringing in monetary means when domestic needs, spiritual assignments, and taking care of children are resources that cannot be quantified but amount to so much, the young bride who wasn't working so her husband was really the one in charge of providing finances but there was no control or superiority because in those times there were...

From the dangerous mindset that no one is coming to save you to the revolutionary truth that when you realize at age 12 or 13 that your entire family is waiting for someone else to rescue them you get an awakening that changes everything, and why the brutal truth about becoming a millionaire at 25 and losing it all by 27 is that the first thing that comes to an average Ghanaian person's mind when given an opportunity in business is steal. A deep conversation about the mindset of success with Christian Amoh

Guest: Christian...

From the nagging wife who feels unheard to the husband who shuts down because he cannot handle her communication style, and why the brutal truth about why marriages collapse is that every person has a melting point that determines who they ultimately become, the woman who nags because her husband never listens to her and really hears her out, never pays attention when she's talking so she forces him to hear what she's saying without knowing that men are not wired to handle nagging attitudes, the realization that addressing brokenness, mindset, worldviews, ideologies, beliefs, and most importantly values is...

From coming into marriage as a fresh graduate with zero income to 33 years of partnership built on redefining contribution beyond money, and why the brutal truth about why 40% of marriages fail because of finances is that couples limit provision to just the person bringing in monetary means when domestic needs, spiritual assignments, and taking care of children are resources that cannot be quantified but amount to so much, the young bride who wasn't working so her husband was really the one in charge of providing finances but there was no control or superiority because in those times there were...

From childhood neglect and zero attention from parents to building a social selling empire on TikTok making over 800,000 cedis, and why the brutal truth about entrepreneurial success is that the drive to be seen, to be heard, and to finally get the attention you prayed for but never received creates the kind of relentless hunger that turns restriction into freedom and loneliness into financial power, the young girl who grew up with different people getting different types of treatment and being so level headed she didn't misbehave despite having no attention from parents or the people she stayed with...

From posting products nobody cares about to teaching 800,000 cedis worth of value on TikTok, and why the brutal truth about selling anything online is that no one cares about your camera, your shoes, or your feminine hygiene products unless you show them the problem it solves, how to use it, and why their life needs it right now, the entrepreneur who discovered that the woman selling products for 350 cedis was just posting pictures assuming everyone knew what it does when ladies had no idea because African homes don't teach feminine hygiene and parents don't sit you down to explain...

From childhood neglect and being too scared to talk to her mother to building a feminine hygiene empire where pricing for sustainability instead of approval is the difference between five years in business with nothing to show and three years of explosive growth, and why the brutal truth about small business success is that you can't pity yourself and tell the world no one is buying from you because people don't want to buy from struggling businesses, they want to know why everyone is buying from you, the young entrepreneur who grew up in an African home where parents...

From 500 products sold in three weeks on Snapchat to 90% of sales driven by TikTok, and why the brutal truth about social selling success is that you can't just post products and expect people to buy because nobody cares about your shoes or your MacBook unless you show them why they need it, how to style it, and what problem it solves in their lives, the first 24 hours when one product posted on Snapchat with one paid influencer brought 100+ orders and 20,000 cedis in sales proving that giving value instead of just posting products is what makes people ready to pay...

In this raw episode of Konnected Minds, host Derrick Abaitey sits down with Ama Burland, the popular influencer and founder of Diya Organics who dismantles the dangerous wait until you're perfect before you post content mentality that keeps young people broke and afraid, revealing the exact moment when 10 bottles of hair oil she made for free and posted on YouTube sold out in 30 minutes after a scandal made her want to kill herself, when she struggled for two years not making money because she started with plenty orders and had to beg 20 customers when delivery services embarrassed her, when...

From childhood neglect and carrying water on her head at 18 to building a business empire where family decisions now pass through her first, and why the brutal truth about entrepreneurial success is that the drive to be seen, to be heard, and to never go back to those days of selling gobe by the roadside and living with people who never listened to your problems creates the kind of relentless hunger that turns restriction into freedom, the young girl who wanted to be a journalist until a conversation in SHS about an uncle in construction making a lot of...

From AC water for bathing to building an international feminine hygiene empire, and why the brutal truth about business success is that you can't be motivated by money alone because when the orders stop coming in the third month and you're broke living off illegal electricity connections, only passion for solving a real problem will keep you going, the childhood of being bullied, not being heard, not being listened to, nobody sitting you down to understand your problems, growing up in an African home where parents don't teach feminine hygiene because they don't even know it themselves, the mother...

From three years of job rejections to building a distribution business on credit and integrity, and why the brutal truth about Ghana's job market is that it's a cartel where 90% of positions are filled internally before they're even posted, the young entrepreneur who grew up without a father but with a grandmother and auntie paying school fees while his shopkeeper mom provided breakfast money and pocket change, the university student who couldn't afford hostel accommodation so he slept in a chapel dormitory for three years sharing a room with three people just to complete his degree in business administration...

From sanitation business opportunities to distribution logistics to the brutal truth about why coming down your ego and showing up every day at every customer's shop is the only way to build a business that lasts, the Koforidua sanitation problem where they have nowhere to dump refuse because the dump site is full creating an opportunity for someone to buy a tricycle, visit 100 houses every morning collecting refuse at five cedis per house making real money that nobody wants to touch because they want white collar office jobs, the logistics challenge of using Mr. Frempong's pickup truck that gets...

From three years of job rejections to building a distribution business on credit and integrity, and why the brutal truth about Ghana's job market is that it's a cartel where 90% of positions are filled internally before they're even posted, the assistant brand manager interview at Verbe Company in 2023 where he qualified for the second stage but the hiring manager resigned and five months later they reposted the job and rejected him again proving the system isn't fair to youth looking for their financial breakthrough, the sales manager interview where he answered all the questions but the manager refused to...

From accepting 1,000 cedis salary to building a 4.5 million cedi business in six months, and why working for money you earn is better than free handouts because there's nothing free in this world, the brutal truth about why everyone has an opportunity to make money but it takes wisdom to turn 10 cedis into 15 cedis while most people just spend what they get, the three-account system that separates failing businesses from growing ones: reinvestment account, buffer account, and personal account, because if you make 50,000 a month and spend 40,000 on yourself you're not helping the company grow, the December that brought 400,000 cedis...