LESSONS FROM IFAB

Whashawashaayyy! I am so happy to share experiences and lessons from our recent iFab – International Fabulous Women’s Conference. This particular conference started with an idea to launch our New Fab Hub Ashanti. Fab Hub Ashanti is our training and event space for women in Kumasi. We moved to a bigger space and thought let’s launch it in a big way. Gradually, this led to the idea of a 4-day conference. As I reflect on the idea of doing a 4-day international event, I cannot help but realize it MUST HAVE BEEN GOD because there is no way my mortal mind would have entertained such a thought! I think the biggest lesson for me is that if God says do something just trust Him and do it.

Confession: I was scared in the beginning. I envisaged how much money we would need to pull it off and was terrified! On 28th November, 2021 while on a beach in Takoradi, the thought of the conference had been weighing me down for some time and I decided to take a walk to have a chat with God. I was tearing up as I begged Him that I couldn’t do it. Like I was ready to just forget the whole conference thing. By the time I was done though, I felt relieved and knew that I could. From then, I went back to the team of volunteers and the rest they say is history. The team was so supportive and the few things I even worried about didn’t happen anyway. Can I just say I am so grateful to God? The feedback we’ve received from the participants is a testament that this was all God. Let me share some key lessons from each day of the events with you:

Day 1 was Women Leaders Workshop on Financial Planning. Gosh it was such a beautiful first day. We were a little over-subscribed but found a way to make it work. My key lesson on that day was that it is indeed God who gives us the wisdom to make money. Our facilitators Dr. Evans Duah and Dr. David Kelvin Amo-Osae Jnr were just amazing and poured out so many valuable gems. There were so many learnings and sharing of real stories we can learn from so that we can create wealth and impact people. We are grateful to our facilitators and BB Flava Foods for a beautiful Day 1.  

Day 2 was The Fabulous Woman Speaks and the main event of our entire conference. This event is a platform for women to share their stories in a TED-like format so that we can glean from them. The biggest lesson for me on Day 2 was ‘Ama your network is golden’. I was initially concerned especially about the cost of running Day 2. The people in our network, especially past participants really came through for us bigly. One past participant who also donated wrote to me ‘I enjoy you being successful with what you do. Your programs impact so much on the lives of women…’ Obviously, I have taken a screenshot of this message for the days when imposter syndrome sets in. I want to say thank you of course to our fabulous speakers Folake Sanu, Veronica Owusu, Francisca Boateng, Abigail Aruna, Gifty Sarpong, Folasade Adebayo and Caroline Ouma. Mrs. Janet Abobigu, CEO of UNIJAY also graced the occasion and led the commissioning of Fab Hub Ashanti. We are also grateful to Golden Bean Hotel, Opoku Baakope, Hampers World, Coloured Yarns, Abby’s Wand, Royal Atlantic Décor and Enosua’s HeArt.

Day 3 was supposed to be the easiest day according to our plan. We had three key activities; health screening for the women at Aboabo Kesse community where Fab Hub Ashanti is located, health talk and then commissioning of the Aboabo Kesse CHPS compound. Thanks to World Connect, we already have funding for the CHPS Compound but the implementation has been another lesson for us, someday soon I will write about it. Eventually, we had the health screening and talks thanks to Star Eye Clinic, the Ofosu-Barko and Appiah Kubi foundations and Gikels Agency. Francisca Boateng returned to speak to the women and Oheneyere Gifty Anti came by to surprise us. It was so beautiful. I also want to say thank you to these people who really made day 3 possible; the Chief of Aboabo Kesse Nana Osei Kwame I and Honorable Adom Isaac who is the assembly member for the community. The key lesson for me from this whole CHPS compound brouhaha is ‘Ama, no matter how pure your heart is in anything that you are doing, you may face resistance. Ask God to give you wisdom on how to navigate it.’ Thank God that we are making progress in this.

The Adventure Tour on Day 4 was like the icing on the cake and I am so happy we did this. We say a big thank you to The Party Crew for organizing everything. We started with a trip to the Bunso Eco park which has similar canopies as that of the Kakum National Park. While a part of me really wanted to chicken out, this whole conference was put together by The Fabulous Woman Network and so I couldn’t give up. I was gripped with fear until I remembered the difference between having expectations and being expectant (thanks to Patrice Washington’s Redefining Wealth For Yourself book). I was expectant that I would finish the entire course without any harm and so by focusing on the expected end, I just kept going. One key lesson for me was to keep going knowing that in the end, everything will be fine.  Secondly, I was with my thirteen year-old daughter who is also adventurous. But like most human beings in the beginning she wanted to give up and I just kept encouraging her to keep going although I was probably more afraid than she was. Somehow, as I kept encouraging her, my own fear subsided.  It was later when I reflected on this that I realized it’s really powerful to encourage others through your own pain. This was my second lesson for the day. We are also grateful to Maybelline New York and Garnier for gifting participants of Day 4 with beautiful products.

Finally, I want to thank the following brands who supported us throughout the entire event: E-juice, Hello drinking water, Vera Obeng Photography and Reaga Right. My husband, children and mothers were also super supportive. Of course, staff of The Fabulous Woman Network and our team of volunteers are the real MVPs. I am so grateful to all.

Here is a summary of the difference lessons:

–        your network is golden.

–        no matter how pure your heart is in anything you do, you may face resistance. Seek wisdom from God to navigate it.

–        keep going knowing that in the end you will be fine.

–        support others going through a similar challenge or problem as you and

–        it is God who gives us wisdom to make money.

God willing in 2023 we will have the International Fabulous Woman Conference right here at Fab Hub Ashanti from 3rd to 6th March, please mark your calendars. Also, later this year we may be able to finally do our Girls Trip to Singapore and Bali, let’s pray about this together.

Meanwhile, have you learnt anything from my experience? Please share in the comments and don’t forget to share this blog post. You are so fabulous!

Ama xx

PS: Do you need personal development coaching or training in the area of business? I have helped hundreds of women to clarify and execute their goals, I will be happy to help you as well. Let’s start with a Discovery Call https://paystack.com/buy/discovery-call-with-ama-duncan 
Photo Credit: Vera Obeng Photography