Wow, we’ve been talking about the International Fabulous Women’s Conference for months and now it’s only a few days away! I am expectant that it’ll go exactly as God desires, be an impactful event and look forward to hosting you. For now, enjoy this beautiful conversation with Nana Ekua Classpeters who also happens to be leading the Adventure Tour on Day 4 of the conference.
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Ama Duncan (AD): Thank you for making time Nana Ekua. I know you as the class prefect of parties. Anytime I have seen you, you were happy, cheerful, dancing, and making everybody laugh. It’s so interesting that your business is called the Party Crew. How did you end up becoming the owner of the Party Crew?
NE: Wonderful question and I’m glad to be here. I’m here to mind my business too. Right from Senior High School, I had this dream of becoming an entrepreneur although I didn’t know how and in which area. I wanted to do something that will make me work till I die – this is one of my dreams. Also, I want my children to start working by age fifteen (15). And I know no organization will give them that platform so I have to create my own business in order to give them that platform. I prayed about what to do for so long. Then one day during one of the Greater Works Conference, as the preacher was preaching I was also getting ideas including the business name and I wrote it down. Afterwards I told my friend Enyo and she was like ‘let’s do it! She took me to some places in the Volta Region and we started from there. The Party Crew started our first trip to Wli WaterFalls in 2013. Enyo really helped me. So this is how I became the CEO of the Party Crew. I call it divine orchestration.
AD: Fantastic and I love it. It’s such a beautiful story of how you got the inspiration and you run with it. God also gave you the resources to start. Tell us how the experience has been since you started.
NE: For me it has been wonderful, challenging and stretched me. It has made me realize some potentials that I have that I didn’t know of. From 2014 up to 2017, I wanted to quit. I was frustrated. First I wanted to get my tourism license from the Tourism Authority and the process was very frustrating. Secondly, my target market when I got the vision was professionals living in Ghana. I started going to companies with proposals and all, no positive response. I also thought I had a big network, people knew me so even if the corporate people were not calling me I knew a lot of people I could just design a package for and reach out to them. However, this didn’t happen as I thought. These are the main reasons which got me frustrated and I decided to quit. Interestingly, the more I wanted to quit, the more I became restless. I even went into the gold business but this Party Crew will not let me rest. I thought of getting a partner – another tour company that had a license to partner with so that when I got clients I could run things with them. I got one and along the line things didn’t work out. I ended up organizing a trip without a partner in 2018. The feedback I got from the client made me start thinking… I realized that this is something God is calling me to do. Meanwhile, I still had the frustration of getting the tourism license. Then in 2019 I got another group and the trip was even better than the first group. I knew then that I shouldn’t quit. I started praying. Whenever I prayed, I would hear ‘Ama Duncan. Talk to Ama Duncan’. Ama, you were not my friend then. I was just following you on Facebook. But anytime after praying ‘talk to Ama Duncan’ would come to my mind and I would just brush it aside. I wondered how to talk to you, ‘should I send her a message on Facebook Messenger?’ I didn’t know what to do so I just brushed it aside. God made a way. He made it possible for me to meet you and my first meeting was at the 2019 Strategy Retreat with Yawa Hansen-Quao. That’s when I made a firm decision that the Party Crew is going to continue. That’s how the journey has been.
AD: To God be all the glory. I know you’ve cut this story short. I pray that somebody reading is being ministered to. I love the way you show Ghana off. You make Ghana ‘sexy’. Well, a couple of years ago something called COVID-19 just decided to come and disrupt us. How has this impacted your business?
NE: It has impacted my business positively and negatively. Negatively because as I mentioned earlier my targets were professionals in Ghana and they were not forthcoming. I started looking elsewhere and actually it was an idea from my best friend, now my husband. He asked me to put together a package for foreigners and that he would market it for me. It worked. The first batch came in 2018, second batch in 2019. They came from Bermuda. In 2020, I was expecting two different batches. Most of them had made payments and preparations were done. And then COVID-19 hit. So they couldn’t come. Some of them requested a refund, others didn’t. We are still waiting for things to calm down and then they can come. In the whole of 2020, there were no tourist activities for the Party Crew and it really affected us. I have three staff so I needed to support them financially too. It was a tough time.
Now, to the positive. My social media presence was like 5% so when the COVID-19 started, we were all going on social media platforms to check what’s happening. You (Ama Duncan) started some sessions on social media and I was listening and enjoying them. Sometimes you would bring others on board and they would talk about the need for us to market our businesses on social media. I started posting. Then you organized the Instagram Marketing for Beginners. I joined that class and it really helped me. Now, I am consistent and getting better so the positive impact is that it has increased our presence on social media. It is also helping us brand ourselves well. It helped me go back to the target market I neglected in Ghana. Now that foreigners are not coming, I had to look within to strategize to get the attention of my target market. That’s why I joined your Group Coaching For Startups and Fab Business Mastermind. It’s also helping me to reach out to my target group. So this is how the COVID-19 affected the Party Crew.
AD: Well done with your visibility. I love the fun way you show up on social media. Nana Ekua, majority of the women in our network are business women like you. What lessons can you share from your experience especially during the COVID-19 season?
NE: My major lesson is no one knows tomorrow so if you have something to do today do your best. We did not plan for COVID, it just came and God’s grace sustained us. Also, we shouldn’t quit; we should just be keeping on and seek help to strategize. I am in The Fabulous Woman Network, Leading Ladies Network, Career Women’s Network among others. Come and seek help from other women and then let’s keep going.
AD: It’s true, no one knows tomorrow. And indeed, we must all seek help. Now you promised to share some tips on how to have a lasting relationship and we are all ‘eyes’.
NE: I hear these sayings most of the time ‘women are our own enemies, women are weak, women are not emotionally strong, they are not emotionally stable, etc’. I wonder. I don’t think they are true, they are opinions. I think women are emotionally strong. Sometimes, our problem is that we don’t categorize our relationships. We embrace new acquaintances quickly and put them in our inner circle without taking time to know them well. Relationships must grow; you don’t just pick people from level 100 and promote them to level 300. When you meet people, take it easy, be nice, relate with them and yes go according to the flow but don’t jump quickly and then say ‘women are bad’. I am of the view that we should all learn and take it easy whenever we meet people but we shouldn’t also be afraid to network. If we are afraid of people, then who are we going to play with and sell to? I know a lot of the people in The Fabulous Woman Network are reading; you know I’m your class prefect categorize me.
AD: Ladies, our class prefect has spoken! Now, on the 4th day of the International Fabulous Women’s Conference, you and the Party Crew have an amazing adventure tour planned for us. What should we expect on the Adventure tour?
NE: Ama, I thank you for giving us this opportunity to be part of International Fabulous Women’s Conference 2022. What adventure does is it helps us conquer our fears. On Day 4 (7th March), we are going to Bunso Eco Park. We will do things we think we can’t do and we will take that same mentality to our homes and businesses. From Bunso, we will go to Bonwire where beautiful kente cloths are made and then to Ntonso to see how Adinkra symbols are made. To all Fabulous Women reading this, don’t miss this opportunity. Come for the conference and join the tour you will do great and mighty things.
AD: Fabulous I look forward to this. Apart from the upcoming tour you also have the Girls Camping 2022.
NE: Yes, Girls Camping is right after our International Fabulous Women’s Conference, from 11th to 13th of March, in Keta. The activities are mind blowing. Girls camping is one of our annual programs. Sometimes we forget to take a break to refuel and come back. Some of us take breaks from work to attend funerals, this is not a place of rest. Let’s go for a proper retreat where we connect with ourselves, nature and other women. It’s good to meet other women and hear their stories and be encouraged and you broaden your network as well. For the Party Crew, when we take you on a trip it’s all about pampering. The activities we have include sightseeing, makeup, photoshoot sessions and a lot more.
AD: Both events will be just fabulous! Before I let you go Nana Ekau, please complete the following: If I could advise my younger self in one short sentence I will say…
NE: Breathe
AD: I am fabulous because…
NE: I am happy when other ladies are succeeding.
AD: One book that has greatly helped me in business is…
NE: Beyond The Rivers of Ethiopia by Dr Mensah Otabil
AD: Thank you very much. I love Dr Mensah Otabil’s teachings. My final question please; how do we find you?
NE: Search for the Party Crew on Facebook or Instagram. I am the celebrity tour guide, always trending.
AD: Nana Ekua, thank you so much. You are amazing and doing a great job. It’s exciting that God gave you this vision and you are running with it. I’m wishing you the very best and I look forward to seeing you as we party this weekend.
NE: Thank you for having me Ama. God richly bless you. You are an Apostle of our time for women in business. To every woman out there if you need help look for help and most importantly look for Ama Duncan.
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Well isn’t she amazing? As she was talking about the adventure trip, my mind went to the last adventure trip we had on Survival Island. I was like ‘Oh my God! Did I really do that?’ That’s one of the scariest things I have ever done. I am so afraid of deep water that I don’t even go to the deep end of pools. And yet I was able to kayak on Volta Lake. It was crazy but I was able to overcome that fear. It’s true what Nana Ekua said about overcoming your fears through these adventures. I think these are things that we should apply in business, doing things that scare us. They bring out what’s really in us.
I want to encourage you to come along for the Adventure Tour. I know some of you are planning to join the conference minus Day 4. Come for Day 4 as well, you will be fine, you will overcome your fear. We will all be fine.
Check out the International Fabulous Women’s Conference here https://paystack.shop/international-fabulous-womens-conference
And the Party Crew’s Girls Camping here https://tinyurl.com/tpcgcamping2022
Until the next blog post, stay true to your royal fabulousness!
Ama xx
About Nana Ekua Classpeters
Nana Ekua holds an Advanced Diploma in Business Management from The Association of Business Executives UK. (ABE-UK) and a Postgraduate Certificate also in Business Management from ABE-UK She worked as the country Coordinator for ABE-UK (an international Management examining body) from 2008 to 2013. She worked with the Ghana Employers Association as a coordinator for their Industrial Relations Program from 2011 to 2013 In August 2013, she registered and started The Party Crew as an event and tour firm but now focuses mainly on tours.
She works fully as the Chief Operations Officer of The Party Crew which is licensed by The Ghana Tourism Authority and also a member of the Tour Operators Union of Ghana. She learns better through listening and observation and that has created her interest in attending conferences and seminars which also helps her to network. Nana Ekua believes women in Ghana have part of the solution to Ghana’s major challenge which is leadership. Because women spend more time with children, they have the opportunity to teach them character, competence and confidence. Due to this belief she spends a lot of time with children in order to be able to impart their lives with these values.
She also loves to connect with nature as that helps her to appreciate the creativeness of her heavenly Father and get inspiration to be creative. Nana Ekua is also known as the Ghana Girl. She believes we should appreciate and patronise what we have here in Ghana in order to create more business and employment opportunities for the youth of Ghana. So the Ghana Girl sells Ghanaian Arts and Prints to her tourists and friends. Her personal slogan is “Let’s work very hard and chill hard”
