Ama Duncan
Corporate Trainer | Business Coach | Author | Speaker
Welcome to my blog! Here, I share valuable content on BUSINESS & MONEY to help new women in business to plan, execute and achieve their business goals.
A CONVERSATION WITH SENA YEBOAH
Hi! How has your Sunday been? As you wrap up to rest and to start a new week, I thought this conversation with Sena Yeboah will give you some quality food for thought. It was a goosebumps factory for me and at a point I recall asking her who her God was! This interview was
A CONVERSATION WITH FAITH FATIMATU OSEI MENSA
Happy World Mama’s Day! I wish to celebrate all Mamas: single, married, divorced, seperated, awaiting the fruit of the womb, etc. WE ALL ROCK! And speaking of Mamas, I was honoured to sit with one very special Mama for an episode of Mind Your Business. Faith doesn’t only mother her child, she’s a mother to
A CONVERSATION WITH NANA AFIA BOACHIE-TSIKATA
Happy Labour Day! As I reflect on the reason for commemorating today, I can’t help but feel especially grateful to God on so many levels. First, to be doing what I love (mostly on my own terms) at this point in my life – today marks exactly 6 years of my first day as a
A CONVERSATION WITH OFOSUA DAAKU AMMAH
Hello, I hope your week has started off well. Recently I got to sit down with Ofosua Daaku Ammah for a lovely conversation. Before our recent International Fabulous Women’s Conference, I had an idea of a picture I wanted on our merchandise. But I couldn’t create it myself (I have come to accept that drawing
A CONVERSATION WITH ABIGAIL ARUNA
Happy Easter to you! For us at The Fabulous Woman Network, we have a bonus reason to celebrate: we are 7 years old this week! To God be the glory. As we celebrate all the goodness God has blessed us with, I would like you to pause and listen to this Mind Your Business interview
A CONVERSATION WITH RISSI CARREY
Hey you, how’s your Palm Sunday going so far? Mine has been full of dancing at church, sleep, sleep, sleep at home 🙂 and now a bit of work. So earlier this week we shared a beautiful conversation with Rissi Carrey and I believe it will bless you. Rissi is a member of the clergy,
My Story
Dealing with low self-esteem
I was born in Sekondi to a nurse and a farmer. When I was about 5 years, we moved to Komenda, a small town in the Central Region of Ghana. Even though I was one of the best students in primary school, I always felt ‘little’ when we travelled to cities like Cape Coast, Accra and Takoradi.
I felt everyone there was more beautiful, more intelligent, spoke better English and was generally better than me. I had a similar experience in secondary school, always looking down on myself and feeling I was not good enough. Oh, how I wished I were an ‘Accra girl’ because I thought they were so cool! Yet, when my family finally moved to Accra, I still didn’t feel cool. On top of this, I didn’t even have a boyfriend! If only I could get a boyfriend, then I will be cool like the other girls… I thought.
In University, I met some really wonderful friends, some of whom were from ‘rich’ families and I thought being friends with them will make me feel cool. I didn’t. I had the opportunity to start travelling abroad, and I was certain that when I returned, I most definitely will feel cool and belong in a ‘cool girls click’. Well, I did have cool friends before and after travelling; still, I didn’t feel like I was cool and ‘there’ yet. Oh, by the way, in my third year, I finally had a real boyfriend (now my husband). Not only that, but he also lived abroad, and hence, I occasionally went to visit him, which should have made me feel cool, or? Well, guess what, I still didn’t!
Even as a career woman working in an international four-star hotel as a manager, I looked down on myself. Once my General Manager called me into his office and asked why I never came asking for a pay raise and promotion when other managers always came to him with such requests. My response was ‘I want to earn it, not ask for it’. That was a half-truth. The real reason was that I felt I was not good enough to deserve more. I convinced myself that ‘I was not there yet’. I used to look at my friends who were lawyers, doctors or pursuing something big and wished I could do that too. I also wanted to be ‘somebody’.
To make matters worse, I was just getting pregnant and fat! After having my two kids, I thought getting an MBA will make me finally feel cool and ‘important’, yet I felt no different after completion. Even with a handsome husband and two adorable kids who doted on me, I thought I had very little value. Interestingly, at various stages in my life, I would meet people who were so impressed by and thought highly of me, yet I never saw what they saw. Mostly when people even complimented me, I doubted them and thought they were just trying to be nice.
How I found my ‘cool.’
Read the rest of my story in Yarns of inspiration II