Dear Africana Woman,
Hey Sis. It has been a minute. Where have I been? Well …. I have been making heavy life decisions that needed silence and for me to retreat. I think when you are making big decisions it is important to make sure the choice is really yours and that you are at peace with it. A lot has happened in these last weeks too. Let me catch you up:
We launched the Africana Woman Visionaries Book Club. See the great thing about books these days is you don’t actually have to read it yourself. You can get the audio version and listen to it in the car on the way to work. This is a virtual book club, which means you can join wherever you are in the world. The first book we are reading is Arese Ugwu’s Smart Money Tribe. If you can, I recommend you read both her books. Our goal is to read one book per month and meet up to chat about it on one of the usual suspect conferencing websites. If you want to join the AWV Book Club email hello@africanawoman.com and just write Book Club. We will get you all set up.
This isn’t really new but I thought I should mention it because the other day I had posted about some amazing women in our Visionary community. I talked about the projects they are working on etc. Someone said to me, who lives in another country, “You should have a networking event so as we can interact with these amazing women”. I was like, Sis we already meet virtually every month at The Mixer to network with amazing Africana women. Which means mark it on your calendar. The 3rd Friday of every month is The Mixer. You can join by rsvp through the events section of the website. I also know that some of you are nervous about not knowing anybody and talking to strangers. Let me tell you, an AWV event will always pleasantly surprise you. Try us out at least once.
We had the first ever Sombo Makeover. I actually should write a separate piece for this. I learned so many lessons about myself, others, and processes. It was fascinating. When they say clarity comes from the doing, it really does make sense. We could not have guessed the things we learned without having done the campaign. This is my little encouragement if you have a project you have been sitting on and making all sorts of theories and hypotheses of how it could go, babe just do it. You will be 100 times better for it. For the Sombo Makeover through a series of instructions, we selected a winner to receive a glamsquad. I am talking about hair, professional makeup, a Kamanga Wear dress, professional photoshoot, and a video of the day. It was a LOT of fun working with the winner, the runners up and the professionals that made it all possible. To see the whole process and transformation visit Kamanga Wear or Africana Woman.
The Africana Woman with Chulu podcast turned ONE on 1st September. To be honest I have not had a chance to really celebrate. I have actually been building up the library by doing a lot of new interviews. There was one week where I had 8 interviews scheduled, insanity. BUT let me assure you the next episodes will be LIT. They are so good. Back to the birthday. Mokgadi suggested I have a brunch with the Africana Woman community. If this tickles your fancy, let me know. I mean you guys know that food is one of my love languages so I would love to share a meal with you as we celebrate this milestone. This is how far we have come:
3000+ listens | 42 episodes | 34 Africana Women interviewed | 13 countries represented
Where do I see the podcast growing from here? Welllll.... you are going to hear some fun additions to the podcast like a weekly book recommendation of an African author and a segment I am calling Marketeers, which whill give you bite size marketing tips but most important of all there will be an Africana Woman Whatsapp line where you can send your reviews, feedback and suggestions which we will add to the podcast. So you could be on the podcast. I am so excited. With 54 countries in Africa, I have only interviewed women from 13 countries. This means I have so much more to explore on the continent. I hope you will join me.
Here is the line up of phenomenal African Women Role Models that I have interviewed. The words describe what they are Rooted in.
We are launching a Marketing Foundation Course specifically for African women who own small businesses. Here is what I know, most if not all, African Women are entrepreneurs. They will have multiple streams of income that sadly, never quite grow past the small enterprise. One of the reasons for this is that you do not have a strong marketing foundation for you to build your business on. Can I be HOT here? Honest, open and transparent. I did not go to Marketing school; therefore, I do not have the papers to back up my expertise. For a long time I have been in denial about my skills. The truth is for the last 16 years I have honed my marketing prowess by practical application. I have grown a social media following from 0 to 22 000 for my former business. My career has been centered around customer service which included being a Hotel Manager for a chain of hotels, therefore, customer care is second nature to me. I am able to weave a story through multiple mediums including writing, digital artwork, podcasting, and visual art. Isn’t it weird how you downplay the things that come naturally to you, just because society says you have to have certain titles or certificates to be taken seriously?
When I sat down to think about how I do what I do, I captured it in a BMCS Framework:
Branding | Marketing Strategy | Customer Service | Social Media Blueprint
Once you take time to gain clarity about these things in relation to your business, there will be no stopping your growth and ability to scale from small to medium or guess what even large enterprise can be your portion. If you are interested in learning the BMCS Framework from me, get in touch and we can see if this is a good fit for you. You can email hello@africanawoman.com, book a discovery call or hit me up on Instagram @AfricanaWoman. I must give you fair warning:
I will not do the work for you. This is a very practical, hands on course where we use your business as a case study. You will get out of it as much effort as you put in.
I am NOT going to give you a certificate. We live in an age where people like to hide behind papers when in reality they barely passed the exams and do not have the skills to do the work. No Sis. When you work with me, you walk away knowing that you know the thing.
You will be required to make an investment. This is important because if you do not have skin in the game you will not take the course seriously. In your mind it will be optional to attend. But if you know you paid for it, you will definitely show up. The good news is that this first iteration is going at 80% discount because it is a pilot programme. But once it is fully launched the investment will increase. You definitely want to get in on it now.
We start on the 20th September, 2021.
If you know that your business really needs a strong and loyal customer base, then you cannot afford to miss this.
If you take yourself and your business seriously then you will be investing in your business by developing yourself.
If you diligently apply the tools and skills from this course to your business, your return of investment will far exceed the money you are worried about spending now.
In case you were not sure, the course is 100% online.
Now that you are up to date, I guess I was a little busy over the last few weeks. Nah that’s not an excuse. I will endeavor to do better going forward. Alright my love, you take care of yourself. Remember Africana Woman has a blog, podcast and vibrant Visionary community. Have you subscribed yet? Why not? Clearly there is lots of fun things happening here. Click the subscribe button so as you are always first to know. You can always find me on socials @ChulubyDesign. Until next time, which may be sooner than you think hahaha, I want you to love yourself flaws n all and attract the life that you truly desire.
Hugs and more hugs,
Chulu