Welcome to the Season 6 Finale of The Sound of Accra Podcast. In today’s episode, we’re excited to host Nana Boateng, the founder and CEO of “Black and Phamous,” a top Ghanaian luxury black African fashion line based in Ghana. Nana shares his journey from a successful career in healthcare and banking to launching a fashion brand that aims to tell the African story through high-quality, globally appealing designs.

In this episode we discuss:

• Embracing your roots: Let your unique upbringing and experiences shape your creative expression and drive your purpose
• Constant learning and growth: Maintain a mindset of continuous learning to expand your creative vision and adapt to industry changes
• Music as a force for change: Recognising the potential of music as a powerful tool for social impact and be mindful of the narratives it amplifies

Show Notes

Today's show notes are available on: https://www.thesoundofaccra.com/blackandphamous

Sponsors

Season 6 Sponsors: Workspace Global (connects you to remote creative teams that offer a variety of design, digital and development services to help you build and grow your brand.). Get your FREE 7 day trial here.

Connect with Nana and The Black and Phamous brand

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackandphamous/

Website: http://www.blackandphamous.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackandPhamous

Our partners

Start a profitable business or community with Skool: https://thesoundofaccra.com/skool

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Start or uplevel a podcast: https://www.atozpodcasting.com

Fresh Bread, Catering and Food Processing in Accra: https://ebatfoods.com/

Ghana's First Super App: https://shaqexpress.com/

Rent anything in the UK: https://fatllama.com/r/adri-6451b

Timestamps / Topics

00:00 Intro

07:11 NFL players embracing luxury African fashion attire.

15:11 Multiple brands boost visibility and increase sales.

20:15 Internships for youth to combat unemployment effectively.

22:01 African brands can outsource production like others.

28:15 Congolese customer, many discarded products, high standards.

35:56 Building a strong brand structure for longevity.

38:38 Considering collaborations in automotive accessories industry?

43:17 Teamwork and self-taught designer’s demanding role.

51:22 Maintain identity, consider producing non-bespoke summer products.

53:37 Discussing Africa's rising culture and fashion impact.

57:42 Ghanaian brand aspiring for global recognition.

Watch or Listen season 6 episode 11 with Rocky Dawuni:

Watch: https://youtu.be/sevakx0f5fk?si=3kzITaNZVcxla9tC

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/39cdFEOat7uMLBolvZnfuc

Catch up with Season 5 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnqpgGxTAXg&list=PLJUVirAfWnNoGiJNHHWm6aYTUUberuD5V

Listen to the podcast on other platforms

https://linktr.ee/thesoundofaccrapod

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Get in Touch

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Email: info[at]thesoundofaccra.com

About The Sound of Accra Podcast

Our mission is always the same, to promote Global Ghanaian excellence. And always to bring you closer to Accra, whenever you are, with powerful stories that make you want to take action in your career, business or personal life. 

For almost 5 years, we have been championing global Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurship and Creators through podcasting. We've achieved 10s of thousands of audio downloads worldwide and published well over 150 episodes to date.

It's our mission to grow and establish global audience,  and become a go-to resource for learning about native and diasporan Ghanaian Creators, Entrepreneurs and Founders worldwide. 

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Okay. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Sound of Accra podcast. I go by the name

of Adrian Daniels. If this is your first time listening, this is a show where

we speak of top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs, and creatives worldwide

with the aim of leaving you behind with meaningful takeaways that you can apply in

your life, business, and career. For today's show notes, I'd like you to

head over to the sound of the cloud.comforward/blackandfamous.

That's the soundofaccra.com/blackandfamous. For all

of today's wisdom, references, and nuggets. Okay?

In terms of famous, it's not spelled f a m f a m o u

s. It's spelled p h a m o u s. Alright? We'll

have the links in the YouTube description if you're watching the show, or have it

in the podcast play if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. A 5 star

review is very much appreciated. I'd like to introduce

today's guest, Nana Boateng. He's the founder and CEO of

Black and Famous. Yeah. It's a luxury black African

fashion line here, here in Ghana. And yeah. Well,

you know, we are here season 6 finale. Beautiful place as you can see.

You can see some of the pieces that he that he designs and we're gonna

get into his conversation. Nana, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank

you for having me. I mean, you don't usually do interviews. That's actually my first.

And I pulled you out. I pulled you out. You did you did quite a

good job. Thank you so much. I'm really humbled to be the first person to

interview you. Yeah. And, I mean, it was a humbling moment. I had that same

opportunity with, Darren Bonds a a few, you know, a couple years ago, and here

I am. You know? So thank you so much. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Alright.

Great. So so here so how did you how did you get into this? So

Okay. So Yeah. I don't have a fussy story.

Yeah. Mine is quite a simple one. Yeah.

Years, I have passion for fashion, but,

this was a side hustle I started Mhmm. Somewhere in 2018. Mhmm.

I called in my, executive assistant into my

office. I was then into health care, running a health care

supply chain. Okay. Were you were you in was in Ghana? Ghana. Okay. Wow. Yeah.

I used to be a A

local distributor. I mean, I used to work for the local distributor for

Yeah. General Electric in in Ghana. Wow. Yes. So I've done a

number of projects in health care. We used to service and

sell top health care

equipments, t t's, MRIs, x-ray, and stuff like that. Wow. But before

then, I was a banker. Yeah. I went to retail to SME to

corporate banking. When I left that corporate bank So you climbed the ladder? Yeah. Yeah.

Wow. That I left because I got an offer in health care. So

I'm always at my risk and, you know, finding new things to do. And So

when you're following the money or you're following the challenges, I think I mean, I

was 30 years by then. It wasn't really the money because I didn't

even know what I was walking into, but it was a challenge. I was becoming

a CEO of a company Mhmm. That was representing Denali Electric in Ghana. Denali

Electric at that time was the biggest conglomerate in the world. So you can

imagine that if I had a piece of that, why not go for it? So

I quit my band job, took that offer, did it for, like, 7 and a

half years to to it. I wanted to do something to

I never liked African clothes in the first place because the words I got when

I was growing up were were probably too big for me. I mean,

my mom just maybe Yeah. Had done a local

tailor or an area tailor as we call it here do something for me.

Yeah. So I stayed away from you for a long time. And, you know, banking

in Ghana, you wear shoes and ties. Yes. That was really what I was I

was used to wear. But when I was switched, I had to dress down a

bit because you don't attend the meetings every day. So one

day, I just found a good guy that knew how to sew very well, and

I was like, well, I want to start something and, you know, own

a brand that we could develop and Yeah. See how it goes. One day,

maybe it could be the biggest brand Yeah. Ever built from Africa. It could be

the most fame most famous brands. Right? Exactly. That's how we got the name black

And famous. And famous. People think because maybe I'm very black, so I think

yeah. Yeah. Or have a very black complexion. You think, yeah, otherwise, it's because I

know it's to really tell the African story to

the clues we make. Yeah. We want to change the narrative.

Mhmm. You know? These days, the world is exclusive to the power of Internet, social

media. Mhmm. So people will understand that Africa is no more a dark continent

like you really see. Yeah. But there's still a lot of corrections or a lot

a lot of narrative that we need to change. Some of it do. What do

we wear, for instance? How can we tell a story about what we wear?

So when you come into our shop, we have all sort of office.

You go on our social media and loads and our website. We have products that

we put out there that people have actually asked you do yourself. Do you do

it from Africa? And we're like, yes. And we have customers all over the world.

Because you do shipping to ship ship ship online as well. To DHL. We

have an account with DHL. So if you order from our page, we ship all

over the world. That's incredible. And then what's the most interesting

outrageous country that you got an order from? You're like, what? They want us do

you want my thing? So that was for me, Sudan, during their time. No.

Yeah. Thermal. And we got a big order. They were doing it was a big

wedding, and we did allow for the gross. It cost quite

Yeah. You know? Half of you. Yeah. And that's for me. But, like so we

we have people in Sudan looking out looking us up. That was that was for

me the biggest. Well, we have customers in Australia, which is quite far

from here. No. Yeah. Yeah. I bought is it for the Africans or the or

actual Australia? Them black diaspora. Black diaspora. Black

diaspora. So yeah. So, usually, most of our customers

are diaspora. You know, black in the diaspora, but we also

have some, you know, not collecting for also

Yeah. Buying our stuff. So I can imagine. So, really,

I mean so I have this philosophy that we need to make

African clothes. But do we have to just make African

clothes for African people, or do we have to sort of

make clothes that people now start questioning where it's coming

from? Yeah. I think the designs are if you look at the big brands, they

created all the designs from wherever they wherever they started sometimes 200

years ago and then something years ago. We can't

we have our own. Mhmm. How do we make people in Italy, for instance?

How do we make people in France, for instance? Yeah. Or in the States or

in Australia start wearing us to work, for instance? Yeah. Can we make

it a bit more appealing to everybody, not just Africans? So that's what

we are working towards. That's incredible. Yeah. That's incredible. That that's that's

the level that you wanna go to. And it's interesting because, you know, we're so

used to wearing clothes from the west. But what's beautiful now is that

even like African music, Now people who aren't

African, who aren't black are playing the music and they're enjoying it. So it's gone

mainstream now. And I think the same thing, we're probably gonna start to see the

fashion is gonna follow. Because fashion, music, food, these three

things, they kind of, like, go hand in hand Yeah. And some other the culture

as well. You know, I feel like, you know, you're, you know, you're tapping into

the culture. You're influencing the culture of what you're doing in your own

way. So I think, you know, this is where

we need to really continue to do excellence. That so much

excellence to the point where people people are gonna go, what is that? I wanna

wear some of this or what is that? I wanna wear that. And it's beautiful

now. I mean, what's your fault now? I mean, you're seeing, like, NFL players rocking

some of the, you know, the luxury African, you know, fashion attire. You

know? I mean, even you've seen I mean and, yeah, NFL players to

basketball players now, even when they're going to to games, they're travelling to

game in between games, you're seeing you're seeing some wear in some of that, and

you're like, what what is going on? And then if things like the Super Bowl

what's what's your thoughts on on how culture is moving with fashion and music? I

think I mean, yesterday, when I was listening to this podcast and

what to say and what not to say, I'll I'll say I'll say

what? I think Nigeria Mhmm. Maybe because of their size and

Yeah. Population have led they're leading the charge when it comes

to Afrobeat. Yeah. And I think when it comes to fashion, they are doing quite

well too. Yeah. You can't take it away from them. Yeah. Some of the brands,

some of the products that they, I personally follow some of them for inspiration.

So just like Afrobeats took over or became popular

globally. Afrobeats is now popular in China. It's also in

India. I know it's popular in China. That is very popular. You know?

So you can imagine what fashion could also look like Yeah. Or become

when you follow the same Yeah. Plan. Instead of for me, for instead of us

trying to compete and trying on them, this one, can we do it

first? Or Yeah. I don't think it's important. I thought I thought what is important

is for us to bring through first. Yeah. Either me

or whoever does it first, and then we all come in and then we we

make it a big, you know, industry for ourselves because

Africa is a nice big thing. Oh, yes. It's been said over and over again.

And when they say that, they don't expect us to lead with technology because

technology is far and back Yeah. With AI and all that. And we could do

our our bit. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, India started, and today, they are they are

there. But we could start with the low hanging fruits like fashion. I

mean, we've done with music, like Ghana and Nigeria, Jollof is all over the

world. That's why? Because people talk about it. Let's talk about it. So let's get

people talking about African fashion for that stance, and it will go global. Yeah.

There has to be a deliberate attempt to push

African fashion or African apparel manufacturing to the

world. Yeah. And I think that for me, I look at

things, and then there's something that I looked up or I

didn't even know what's up, but I wonder I type in. I realize there's a

whole course on it in one of the Ivy League schools. It's called the business

of fashion. Mhmm. The business of fashion is what we need to figure

out well and make money out of it. The big brands like

Elvizo. Yeah. They understand the business of fashion. Yeah.

Because fashion is not just showmanship or it's not just Yeah.

You know, showing off what you can wear and how stylish you are. The owners

of those brands don't even dress too stylish. Yeah. They're simply dressed.

Yeah. I mean, what do you say? You also be dressed. Exactly. But you control

what you wear. Yeah. If you look at LV, the people that wear

LV top to down, the owner of LV doesn't wear his

brand. He doesn't have anything with LV rated on it. Wow.

Yeah. The current, majority shareholder on it. Yeah. The one that

owns the brand. Bernard I can't remember his name. Bernard Bernard B Yeah.

Barnett or something like that. So look at that look at that. Sophie Rich.

Exactly. So he's like second richest spend. Not the way. He owes a

lot of brand. Now talk about him. Right? Yeah. He they understand

what fashion he didn't even start the LV. He wasn't part he's not part of

the LV fund, but they understand where they are taking advantage. So they

buy it. They invest in it, and they blow it up. How are we gonna

do it is what it is. So I am what I'm focused on now is

the business of fashion. Yeah. We could be a flagship business when

it comes to fashion in Ghana or in Africa. People love what we do, but

if we don't come if we don't turn the commercial value out of it

or we don't change the commercial value out of it, then there's no point because

we need to pass what we are doing to the next generation. Absolutely. The

next generation would be people that

might be interested in IT or in health care, but that might not be

interested. Yeah. The only reason why they'll be interested in fashion,

especially fashion in Africa Mhmm. Is because of the value

equates. Mhmm. So how will we do or what will we

do to attract investors, for instance, to

come and say, let me partner you and attract a big investor like the owner

of the league to see black and famous. I've been looking out. I've been watching

you from afar. I think that you're doing a great job. I think that I

will look at you and have shops all over the world. I want you to

just focus on African art and modernize it a bit. Making meet some

a bit westernized so that our people can wear it. Why not? That's for me

in the future. Yeah. In your in your in your opinion, is there

really are there are there any mainstream

African based brands like worldwide, global? Like you can go into like all

of that. You know how Nike add us all these brands. Just wherever you go

in the world for there. In your opinion, are there any brand are there any

there's not really I don't I don't know of any brand Yeah. From

Africa. Yeah. Let me I I I'm just saying that because I'm So there's an

opportunity. Right? I'm not like, I started with this is all my story. I'm not

an industry person. Of course. Yeah. I don't even call myself a fashion designer. Yeah.

I call myself a fashion entrepreneur because people that are fashion

people will come after me if I say things that I don't know. Okay.

But I've heard of brands. Some female brands have got,

like, racks in softwares and stuff like that that you

can buy their clothes when you're working in the UK and all of that. I've

heard of it, but I cannot verify. Of course. Yeah. But you know,

maybe rest in peace. You know what he did with off off white Yeah. And

what he did with. That for me was a big

break. But then again, he's not called an African. He's not

an American. He said American descent because that's where he grew up. That's where he

is. That's where they put first. Exactly. You call you talk about Oso Abbate.

Oso Abbate has my name, and I he's a big inspiration for

instance. He's a London or he's a UK brand. Yeah. He's not an

African brand. He's an African brand. There could be, like I said, they could because

Africa is big. 52 can be or so. Yeah. You can I can't figure

out what is happening in South Africa, in Morocco? Mhmm. But I feel there

could be some solid brands that are already in Europe, but there's a lot of

work that we need to do, especially for, black

Africa. I mean, south south of the Sahara. Countries that are south of the

Sahara. Mhmm. That is one, you know, you know, those countries in the

Ecuador Yeah. In Central Africa, Eastern Africa. I don't know,

but some are doing very well. Some might not even have presence

in Europe or in America or in Asia, but they are online. That's that's the

most important thing. I'm having an e shop that people can shop

for. So as to how we're gonna blow out

for us to become global, I don't know of any of that. I can see

I have shops all over the world. Yeah. But I know some even from now,

they're doing very well. Very well. Yeah. Let me say this. Sometimes I hear people

talk about brands of Africa, brands of Ghana, competing.

The worst thing we can do to ourselves is to compete. Let me tell you

a story I read online. There was a shop that or there was a factory

that had, or maybe an

arcade. I don't know where it was, but we had a Pepsi

vending machine. And so you clock in and you buy a bottle. We're

selling 50 bottles, let's say, per day,

and they bought in a Coca Cola vending machine. Coca Cola saw

that it was a good spot. And they also bought their machine. So now there

are 2 machines selling almost the same product, but with

different brand. And guess what happened? You will think that it will split into

into 25 a day, 25 a day, or 30 a day, 20 a

day. According to what I read, if if they are wrong, we are wrong and

I'm wrong. Sales doubled for Pepsi. They started doing a 100, and

then the Coca Cola, they started doing a 100. We put together, they

were doing 200 bottles a day. Why did that

happen? Because if you offer people alternatives,

people tend to orient or move towards things

that, I I mean, are attracted to them, so they can have options on on

that. People that wear African wear or African

clothes would want to have variety. If you just have 1 or 2 brands,

just pushing it. They really fed up in Milton. But if you have a lot

of brands or let's say 10 on the top that are doing well, you realize

that at every given time, there's something that is people view on your channel of

Africa or Ghana or wherever that sort of catches the eye.

So you see this one, then you see that one. So if I'm not buying

from you, I'm buying from this guy. Yeah. And the next time I buy from

this guy and people give me compliments, I buy again. Then I wear your your

brand, then I get a compliment, then I get back to you. So we

increase sales. If you do it alone, 1 or 2

people just break you Yeah. It will be difficult for them to

blow it out like the way we want it done. Yeah. I believe

what is important is for us to maybe not even collaborate,

but what is important is for us to make sure that we are all doing

well. I can't influence what my other competitors I won't call them

competitors, but my other sister and other brands are doing. Yeah. I'm happy if they

come away super design because then we are telling a story.

Yeah. Because what they're doing what they're doing is they're they're pulling you

they're pulling, you know, brands like yourselves a bit more, okay,

awareness. Now, okay. Cool. That this actually exists. Exactly. What else is out there? Exactly.

Let me come to back and face. Exactly. Yeah. So you have people come from

other countries. Oh, I wear this. I say, yes. Yeah. I like that brand as

well. Even from Ghana. And I refer people to I tell them that if you

want this particular outfit, go to this brand because we that's not our

our house style. That's that's the way it is. Yeah. I think even me, it's

like, you know, the other day, I had a conversation where I had the the

PA of, Rocky Dawani approach me, and

they're like, oh, we want you to interview him. And I said, I don't interview

a lot of artists. I'm not sure if this is something I can take, but

I recommend this podcast for somebody else to do it. But then they still wanted

me to do it because, you know, they want because they knew I could talk

about certain topics. But that's but the matter of fact is, you know, I'm

willing to pass it on to another, you know, fellow person who's in a similar

space. You go. So I understand where you're coming from. Yeah. Yeah. I understand you're

coming from. It's absolutely amazing. Nana, you mentioned earlier

on passing on the skill set Yeah. Of fashion to Yeah. The

youth. The next generation. Very, very important. I wanna come back

to the business of fashion because I wanna go back there. Yeah. Because I wanna

talk about how you kind of got to where you got to another bit. You've

got the foundation. Right? Like the next generation. Yeah. Could you tell us a bit

more about that? So, we started off by supporting some

charity I'm sorry. Some children homes. Yeah. We

also support the lives of one of our band ambassadors, Cornelius

Foundation. Mhmm. Where we Coache Jones Foundation. Yeah. He's

one of your clients, isn't he? No. He's our our one of our band ambassadors.

Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. And, we also are trying to cover an each

milestones because what you need to do is to find a place that

because I was very passionate about or I have been passionate about

children health care or pediatric care because of my field or

my experience. Oh. Exactly. So one of beautiful. So one of the things that we

want to do as a foundation Yes. Is to adopt

a pediatric reward and make sure it has

everything that you find in any pediatric court in the world. It's a it's a

big call, but we want to do it and do it well. And we don't

even wanna target anywhere within the big cities because the big cities are

flooded. You'll be surprised that you go into a community. When I used to be

in health care, you go into a community, and the labor world and the

town world, you see there will will make you cry.

So we wanna put our our footprint where we

think we'll have the biggest impact. So that's what we are working towards. Yeah. It's

in the oven here. There's no big deal. So and funny enough, like,

I tell you all the time, I don't believe in sensationalism, and so I don't

make too much noise. I want my product to talk for themselves. I don't

make too much. I don't focus on myself or I just focus on the

brand. So once we get it done, I'm sure we'll do another podcast. I'll go

see it. Absolutely. We'll do another podcast from there. Absolutely. We'll talk to

the the the benefactors of the of the project. Of the project. Yeah.

That's that's something I'm very passionate about. That's beautiful. I mean, we did talk

to, 100 k for Ghana a few seasons ago, and,

you know, they go to places like Eastern Region, and they they do, like,

mental health workshops and pop ups and clinics

where they just give medicine out for free to do health checks, flying doctors

from abroad. And it just does the whole village is taking

about 200 people. The whole village is taken care of, and it's really something that

we need. I mean, I'm hearing, like, maybe place like Kolebu or whatever. Some people

can't even get beds to go on. Yeah. And so they can't even administer to

these people. Some people are just dropping dead. Exactly. It's so sad. It's so sad.

But I'm glad that, you know, people such as yourselves, you're using, you know,

whatever wealth you're burning, whatever influence you have to kind of help and tap

into those areas. Then let me also mention that I'm very passionate about the

youth because I think those of us that grew up in Africa or from

Ghana, for instance, things are not like this. When we before this, we're having a

conversation about how Ghana has moved over the

year. Very short period, maybe about 10 years. Every infrastructure is man

made. Some of us grew up in an era. I'm not too old, though, but

we grew up in an era even in 90 years. We didn't see

all of this happening. Mhmm. So this is new to us. And so

as part of our plan is to also get because I

see a lot of us coming up every now and then, and

I I I I personally follow some of them. Reason is that I want to

see what they are doing, and then Yeah. We need to lift ourselves up.

An opportunity I'm working on for the youth is for some to intern

with us to understand what we do here and maybe

copy a few things and go and start because solving

unemployment, we think, is something that the government must figure out a formula

to. I believe that it's not that. I believe that if everybody if you go

to China Yeah. Not necessarily about China, you know how the big

brand like the Nikes of the world went into China and started

producing. We we were complaining about copycats. As in

they copy the design and they mass produce them and they make it even cheaper.

And guess what? After a long while, we realized that a lot of brands are

coming out from China that are not the copy ones that we we

used to see. Now there are a lot of small small businesses that have

boomed over the period because they saw the technology. They they

copied the technology, but they created their own brands now. They don't need to go

back off Nike or Adidas or which That's true.

You understand? Yeah. I think that is what we also need to start Yeah. At

a micro level. We are not too big. Yeah. But to impact the youth and

say, if you wanna go into fashion, I think that my doors are open. It

it takes time, and it takes the people also being ready. They use themselves being

ready to tap into opportunity drivers. It's amazing. I think now

things like the Internet and just globalization Yeah.

Has made things cheaper, quicker to produce, you know, easy to

produce. Exactly. And now almost you can create almost anything from your

own bedroom or from the comfort of your home. So it's it's incredible. I think

it really is incredible. Yeah. And I I tell you what. For instance,

people think that as a brand, maybe from Africa, we all we should do is

to focus on producing Africa like I mentioned earlier. But, you know, that's

nothing stops us or stops me, for instance, from

producing elsewhere, either on the African continent or

even Asia, and make sure that the brand is on it and the

product is good. What the big brands sell? I only go back to the big

because that's my situation. How do you quit and then Louis Vuitton or

Gucci or Prada or Fendi from Africa? You realize

that they don't they their brands are owned in by companies in, for

example, Italy and France and the US, and they don't

produce everything there. Yeah. They outsource their production. Of course.

Produce at a certain quality. Mhmm. Now what they get all of us to do,

you and I, we're brand new or the other today because we

feel under your big occasion, that's where you need to turn up. So

maybe your Rolex watch. Yeah. Maybe your sunglasses that you need

now. Now what I think we could do by

building a big brand is to look at how we focus on

a brand. So say black and famous, how do we make

sure that the brand black and famous, when you pick it,

it's like you've picked an item, a collective

piece that you're gonna hang in your wardrobe. Understand? Or you're gonna put

in your that means you're able to go pick it when it's an important

institution or you drill it. The big one just well Yeah. To any function going

to work. You take part of it. Yeah. That feel, that's what I call

it. I've I've called it a black and famous experience. Mhmm. That's

what I work towards. I I'm after the money like everybody else, but

I was after the experience that you get. Yeah. And when they schedule

that, when you get the experience right, the money will follow. Yeah. Yeah. So we've

gotten all of us salivating the big brands I'm talking about. If

you own a a a Prada sandals, you wear it

on big occasions. Don't wear it when you're going to wash your car. You know?

But you can buy a sandals in your ears. Just put your feet in it.

If you wear, a comfort sheet, if you wear it on your bigger

case, like, let's say, Mhmm. Or a day you're doing on it. You could order

1 for so for the year, 5 pound $10,000 sheet out to me that

only because we put so much value on it. For me that

is what is missing for us that we could work on and

gradually start getting our customers or our followers to

start looking at us and they look at the big box don't come to us

because you just want something to come to us because you wanna do your brand

We're into a meeting in, let's say, London and New York. You feel so

good. And the wow. I do the company. And I have a lot of testimonies.

People walking in the streets of New York and getting compliment. I like your suit.

I like what you're wearing. That's what that's what I'm saying to myself. I'm getting

a done update. I live in that generation. I live in this

generation that come to take it to the levels of the early days of of

today. Of course. That's a fantastic aspiration to have, Nana, because

you wanna be in those conversations. When they're mentioning Tom Ford, Louis V, Prada,

Balenciaga, whatever brand, Michael Kors, whatever brand, you wanna be in those

conversations. Because why should we, especially even the

diaspora or even Ghanaians or even Africans, black people as well, why

should we spend all our money and give it back to them? Why can't we

just pull it back into our own Exactly. Our own economies, our own systems, our

own people so that we can grow even further and and bigger?

Why why won't we push a brand 1, 2, 3,

4, 5 brands up and say, we are building, like you said, the

Balasila of of Africa. And Africa has a

population. I am not too sure whether 1,200,000,000, 1,500,000,000.

That population alone can transform Africa without any

other buying from us. I'm

sure you've heard of After. After. Yeah. There's a program by

African Union that has supported inter African trade. Oh, yes.

So there's a big conversation around it. If my brand

Mhmm. Even decides to focus on Africa for the next

10 years and InterCell have a shop or have

a rat in a retail shop in Zambia, in Zimbabwe, in South Africa,

in in Kenya, in Egypt, imagine the

transformation. I don't need to probably even touch Europe or America. Yeah. That

alone That's a loss. It's transformational enough. Yeah. You

know? Those are the conversations we wanna have, and maybe we are not

there yet. That's the dream. Not the mission. That's what we are focused on.

Yeah. So you've been running for how long? Black and famous? This year will be

our 6th year. Last year, you turned 5 years. 5 years? Yeah.

And, there's a lot of that lineup. I'm sure it's a

lot of that lineup by the grace of God. Yeah. You wanna be able to

get to the point where you have your product across

Africa and hopefully across the world, but you are shipping across so which is fantastic.

What would you say in terms of, getting to where you are today?

Like, the evolution of your brands. Like, what's been some of the the key

things that you've picked up that you've learned along the way in your journey? I

think we focused on our customers. I'm big on my team will

tell you I'm very big on customers. I am I

probably tend to be a very difficult

boss when it comes to Mhmm. When a customer gets, and I get

so so so sad and so infuriated when a customer calls me and

says, I didn't like what I got. Mhmm. You know? Because

what we are selling is not just an outfit for you to put on, like

I said. My focus is on the brand. Yeah. My brand should be an experience.

Yeah. I do not want to have we are no. We can't be

perfect, and I'm sure some of our customers that have been disappointed in

the past watching this podcast were like, yeah, but we know you. The last time

we came, the service wasn't good. The time you promised to deliver,

was it? Yes. We we admit that we are a human institution. But for me,

what what has brought us here is, 1, our customers. We are

focused. Let me say 1 God because God is the ultimate. You know?

He guides everybody and guides me, especially in the team, my

my supportive team to get us to it. So God and then

to our customer base. I mean, we I'm really

there's a lot that I have in mind for to do to make sure

that our customers keep coming back and they are excited. For instance, my

Sudanese customer, my Australian customer That's amazing. My Congolese

customer, my Go land customer comes back and

smile. You know? And there's a lot of work because we need to

continuously churn out products that Yeah. Are exciting for

people to see. Yeah. If I tell you the number of products we

actually developed that never sees the light of day or

never comes out. So you you charge a lot just to make sure that what

comes out and you check out our social media handles, everything

there is very well, you know, put together because

I will not take anything standard. Yeah. And so on this on this note, I

would like to see anyone that has got anything from us that I didn't didn't

like Yeah. To personally reach out to me on our social media and all that.

That's very bold. Because we can't have Yeah. A brand

that does not deliver on its on its ethos or on its

Yeah. On its promise. That I find, you know, I don't find

acceptable by all standards. Oh, I totally agree with you. Nana, the

amazing thing is during filming the season, I've spoken to a lot of guests,

and some of the guests were doing really, really well. One thing that I've picked

up, which has been a common theme is they've been absolutely

obsessed with customer service. Yeah. Similar to, say, Jeff

Bezos from Amazon. His obsession with customer service got to where he is

1,000,000,000. Right? And I think that is the key. When you focus on your customers,

once you get them happy, they will then do the rest of your work for

you. Because the customers actually sell the business. It's not really the

the business that sells itself. The customers that keep it, the word that goes out

there. Mhmm. And I'll be you'll be surprised that I've got customers in Germany. They

want to shoot them for them. They want an umbrella done for

them. Why? Because somebody tells them, if you want anything from Ghana

that's exquisite, go to black and famous. That's what I that's what I live.

I'm not really the human I perform. Wow. Exactly. Yeah. Just keep

sending customers away. Exactly. Because we we can't I don't believe that

we make the best outfits in Africa. We could,

but it is not something that I can Yeah. Put on my shoulders

or on my shoulder to say, I think we are the best. I think we

actually do one of the greatest, but people will get fed up with

you with your desires. People get fed up with the quality they needed Yeah. The

last time. My people will never forget the customer service. People will never forget the

product you delivered to them. Absolutely. That is my focus. Yeah. It's

like my engine. Right? It's not what you did, but how you made them feel

this Exactly. And that's gonna keep in their minds forever. Exactly.

Exactly. And people say, yeah. So you think from afar, you you

think you are very expensive. I think I what I say to that is that

it's not it's not that we just do it. We it's quite deliberate. We want

to be an aspirational brand. We don't want something that we don't want to be

a brand that you can just you have to want to

own it, and once you own it, you keep it for years. Yeah. And I

need to consider that I have one piece or 2 piece that bought for me

5 years ago that I I take everywhere

important. That for me is is all gives keeps

keeps me going. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's brilliant. Because you don't you don't

want your your designs or fashion to be seen as something

disposable. You want you want it to be seen as fashion that, you know,

people can keep maybe for years. Yeah. And having the the wardrobes for years.

They're just, oh, I've worn this wig up for a wedding. Like, prime up or

something like that. A cheap fast fashion. Because it's not fast fashion. This is beautiful

bespoke luxury fashion that you wanna keep timeless. There you are. Able to keep in

the Timeless. If you go on our pages, Timeless 50. Timeless 50. That

you're waiting 10 years, and then you're like Fantastic. You know? Yeah. This is still

good. How do you keep you talked about your inspiration. You talked about some,

you know, figures that are doing great. You know, the Virgil's, you know, the,

what else do I mean, other people that you mentioned as well. I mean, all

of these amazing great people, you know, the in in the fashion space. How do

you kind of continue to, you know, continue to innovate

and as inspire yourself to continue to create something new?

Because innovation, I think, is a very important thing in fashion, right? So we keep

learning. I'll I'll be honest. We keep learning the kind of volume

of content I consume from the

Internet and social media. Sometimes I'm awake at 1

AM tossing in bed, and the next thing, I'm gonna make the kids looking at

what people are producing. Yeah. What can we do different? Yeah. You know, fashion

is Yeah. We sometimes you walk into a shop, and if you look at a

few, you go to mangoes, it looks like Banana Republic. You go to

banana. So how do we sort of not fall

behind when it comes to what we produce? So I my

biggest what inspires me or pushes me forward for me is what the

future holds, like I said. Yeah. The future is what we've we've

created now and what the next generation will carry forward. Mhmm. I

I watched a a movie recently. It's called the house of Gucci.

You you should watch that movie. House of Gucci? House of Gucci. Yeah. It's a

it's a piece of the Gucci story. How succession

failed at Gucci Yeah. But the brand didn't fail.

I don't know whether you understand. The succession succession failed at

a point Yeah. In the brand, according to the movie. Mhmm. But the brand

still stands. Okay. So the owner, according to the movie, the founder

had passed, had 2 sons. 1 was handling the business. The other

was just a shareholder. They needed to pass it on to the next generation.

A lot happened. The the guy that took over from the business

lost a full cost of the brand that needs to be built. And he

had unfortunately, he had to sell a 100% shares to

Wow. A a partner that came along. So as it stands now Yeah. There

isn't a Gucci family member that is a shareholder of Gucci.

That's sad. Yeah. I understand. So That's sad. If you are gonna

learn anything from that Yeah. It's but not what we are doing

now, but it's the next Next generation. Next year. Yeah. Because

if you are talking 2, 3 generations after here, after now Mhmm. They're

talking probably 1 50 years to 200 years. Where would the

brand be? We are not focused on how much we're gonna collect from customers now.

We are focused on where the brand will be. Because that's short term thinking, isn't

that? It's gonna be long term for Exactly. I went for a show in

Vegas last week. I think I've I told you about it. And it is the

biggest fashion event in the world. It's called sourcing our magic. So you

have all the manufacturers and the buyers in the fashion

industry, all players coming to one event

to showcase their stuff and to connect and all of that.

Now the number of people that came to our booth to see us,

the first thing they mentioned that they was they liked the the brand, Black and

Famous. So for me, that's the first thing we've got to write, by any

grace of the name, the name. Yeah. You know? And the ethos of

it and the fact that it is not just people think it's just targeted at

black people. I said no. It's weird because of color and people without

color to come and be part of this story. Yeah. Now

if you've got if you've gotten your name right Yeah. If you've gotten a name

that feels as good as Hanford or Gucci

or Louis Vuitton, how do you capitalize on it? How do you turn it

into the next biggest brand in Africa? And and you

don't just stop it our way. It's something that you you you

want to leave it out and leave it to the next generation. That is for

me what is inspiring me. How do I make sure that as

we do this Yeah. And we do it for the next 100, 150,

200 years, the name will still be there. And this podcast is

will be will be. Oh, so that is the story behind the brand, and that's

the vision we had for the brand. I think that's what what is right

to me. That's incredible. How do you plan to pass

on what you're doing to next generation? Whether it's teaching them the

same skill sets or maybe passing on generational wealth,

etcetera, or maybe opening doors that help people to go into this field? How do

you plan on on doing that? So Like, for for me, it's building the

structure for the brand. Well, I mean, the back to the movie, there

was a a whole there was a whole a guy

that was dedicated to keeping

the brand identity, the brand ethos. So his he he was

called the, I think, the conservative or the conservationist or something like

that, director of the brand in the movie.

And his job is to make sure that the brand doesn't move away Mhmm.

From why it was set up and what it's supposed to deliver.

Wow. So you can pass money to the next television, but they will

squander it or they'll blow it. But if you build a strong structure,

no one can take the structure away because everything is laid

out from beginning to end. And one of the things that I I

suffer from is I can't I don't see much, so I have a lot of

things stuck in my head. One of the things I'm working on now is

to get the whole team, okay, including my

wife who's a partner Yeah. To sort of write anything that we

want to do down Yeah. And we follow it. If we have a

10 year plan, a 10 year plan might not go to plan, but at least

it's a plan. So if it's not done in 10 years, it's done in 15

or 20 years. Yeah. It was still a plan that is being followed. So what

is driving all of this is where we are we are moving towards.

African apparel will come, has come to has come,

has come to stay, but you need to evolve. You cannot continuously

do African apparel from Africa and go global

because Africans will always like African apparel, but with the

whites like African apparel too, what can we offer them from

Africa? That still looks like what they have. Yeah. That

Yeah. That comes to being as commercial about it. Yeah. That's why

you guys I don't know what I'm making you say. No. It makes sense. It

makes sense. You wanna probably wanna be in those conversations, you know,

because that's how one way you could probably get your brand to go

global, property global, and and be in these stores where you go. I can

go in the store in Dubai and buy black and famous in in in a

store over there. Exactly. That's what you want. Going back to House of

Gucci, no. No. So, you know, that's a movie

you watch. Right? Yeah. I think last year, I watched a couple of similar movies,

I'll say. I think the Lamborghini film and then the Ferrari film.

One thing I picked up was that, you know, with these brands, they didn't just

go into vehicles. They then pivoted into, like, boats,

clothes, hats. And I went to the Ferrari Museum in Italy, I

think, in 2022, and, you know, the different products that I saw

Ferrari in, I was just I was just blown away. Our Ferrari has this. They

do that. They do that. I was just blown away. Ben Glass furniture.

Mhmm. Do you have any plans to maybe ah, maybe

once you feel like you've you've done enough work in the fashion, which probably isn't

gonna be the case because of where you're going, do you feel like the black

and famous can be another brand, like an

accessory, or it can be maybe a car? You know? You

see all these different because all that collaboration. Right? Maybe you can collaborate with, I

don't know, whatever car manufacturer in in in

Africa or Ghana. Say, hey. We wanna produce the car seats or we wanna

produce, you know, the the the the stereo or or

the headrest. Do you have do you have has any of those thoughts come to

mind? So as part of what I was talking about that the

plan that I have to so that we roll it up Yeah.

Is not for us to be you know, I keep mentioning that you can't just

produce Afrikaans. It's to become a lifestyle brand. Yeah.

Okay. So when you talk lifestyle, you talk

clothes, you talk accessory, like sunglasses, you talk about,

you know, watches, you talk about shoes, you talk about

furniture, like, you're talking about Mhmm. So that's how you're gonna for me,

that's what I think. That's how you're gonna evolve Yeah. And become

what you wanna become. You know? If you look at the LV story, and I'll

go back to the LV story again. LV started off the owner of

LV started off by doing cases, luggage cases,

travelling case. Yeah. That's where that's where it started off. Today,

how many people even know that? You you usually see there are both cases and

all of that, but that's the that's the that's the source of the brand. They

didn't do anything. That's what they did for, like, the end years of the business.

So now where we are is doing Africa no problem. We are very focused on

that, but there are plans Yeah. To roll out our own

line of accessory, took off sunglasses, took off

shoes. Yeah. We have plans because we we have to look at the parts. We

need to we need to walk into this shop or into this outlet or in

other outlets that we're gonna have Yeah. And grab a watch or grab it and

grab a sunglasses and, you know Yeah. You you you

get what I'm saying? You you should they should be able to put everything together

for you when you walk into Ashford. Absolutely. You wanna have the same experience and

customer service passed on because I find the reason why people

like Uber might do fairly well is that people already know the

service they'll get from the cars. So okay. We're gonna do taxis. We're

gonna do trains. We're gonna do, helicopters. We're gonna do

boats. You know? So they've moved into these different areas. And people are

and food as well. Uber Eats. Right? They've moved into these different areas because they

know customers. Once they trust them with customer service, they know they can get their

trust into other areas. There there's this, there's this

saying I heard before. Listen to the customer. They are telling you

what what they're expecting from you. What your business should deliver and know what

you think you should deliver. Yeah. Because the customers will come and tell you, can

I get this? You know where I can get this? I'm getting married. Yeah. The

things they are telling you, that's where the business needs to Yeah. So all we

are doing is to reshape and refocus the business where it's

supposed to because we started with this, but you like you say, you never know.

Maybe what would actually break us to and make us go global

is probably not even close. Something in really a lifestyle.

I mean, fear not to, you know, catapult us. That's amazing.

Can I can I can I can I feel that I'm sweating? Yeah. Can I?

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Yeah, man. So I think I think one piece of advice I have for any

upcoming designer or fashion entrepreneur

is is that it's it's very just

like entrepreneurs could get very lonely Yeah. And you question

yourself. Mhmm. And sometimes I wake up and I question myself, what is

all this that I've gotten myself into? He's up to

nobody knew me. Not a lot of people knew me Yeah. That I'm

I mean, I'm into fashion. Today, my name is Aldeb. My brand is

Aldeb. Yeah. You don't want it to fail, do you? Yeah. Yeah. So

you you have to get get ready for what you you want

to get into because I see a lot of brands coming

up, and I think it's one of the things that excites

people. I own a brand. I'm a fashion designer. I think

one of the things that will amaze anyone that walks into this field is

that it gets low heat. It's very competitive. It's very demanding.

I I I I I crack a joke to my customers or to

my friend. I say, fashion is like witchcraft. It's so

involved. It sucks you in. Yeah. Imagine you getting tired. I mean, I don't know

how they do it. You you didn't call for a meeting. Yeah. Miss Rachel, that's

how fashion people want to see you. They want

appointment with you. If it doesn't go well, they want to speak directly to you.

They don't want to talk to any of so

it's very demanding, and there's, there's something there's a

space that requires a lot of time to go. Yeah. And at the same time,

you work with a team. You know, in my situation where I I don't

sell myself or I can use myself Yeah. I just

play my parts with design. I design almost about 80 to

90% of what we put we put. I've not been

to a design school before. So everything you produce, I didn't know I was

even, like, creating until I start. And You will learn on it, but it's

difficult. Yeah. People should not be, I mean, should

not be misled by the what they see on the Internet.

I see everything is glamorous and it's quite difficult. Yeah. It's

a difficult work, but it pays you because you get to meet

the people in my career in corporate for about, let's

say, for about I spent about 15

years plus in corporate, Ghana. The people I

met cannot compare to the people I have met in fashion. You won't be

there because it's in the low bus. I mean, I've gotten customers

all over the world. So I have people that chat me up. People call you.

I'm in Ghana. I want to meet you. When are you visiting? These are people

that have become my friends. These are people that's become my business partners or

business affiliates Yeah. Over the last 5 years. Either 2, I will start

if it's health care, I'm dealing with doctors. Yeah. In hospital, in

banking, I'm dealing with customers of my bank. Yeah. But

but if you talk of fashion, it it cuts across.

Some some are buying for their diet, some are buying for their breakfast, some are

buying for their themselves. So it cuts across. You have customers. Well, I never

had a business. I never run-in the business or painted a business that has customers

from from from China to

Yeah. Australia to America to Canada to

Germany and the land. I mean, you don't you don't have it.

It's rarely do you have a business that, you know, has food things around the

world like that. Yeah. So that's something that I call the icing on the

cake or the the the the benefits that comes with it. Comes with it. But

it's not an easy work. It's not an easy work. But for those that take

it and they're successful, these are some of the benefits. Seeing, you know, customers from

all over the world buying the product. Yeah. I'm sure that makes you feel did

you ever think you were able to to get there? I I need anything. I

was gonna do anything fast. You were just focused on you didn't even you didn't

even think you were gonna do anything fashion, nor did you maybe even think you

were gonna I was gonna go outside Exactly. And have a brand on the continent.

So when people ask you how do you do it, I say, I don't know.

I can't do attribute it to God, really. Amen. You know? I can only

say it's God because the the ideas I get, it

it can only be God. Yeah. You know? Because I don't have we have a

creative team, but we are not as sophisticated as somehow. We just

are in house people that work long hours making sure that we

come out with something that our customers go like, wow. I like this. And it

takes hours and hours of of hardware. So to

build a brand like this that at least caught someone's attention,

someone as important as you. No. No. To pay attention to say,

you know what? Let's do this. Let's sit down and have a chat. I think

that that's in your fulfilling. Absolutely. That yeah. From I

I know that from this Yeah. We get a lot more coming in. You know?

Absolutely. I mean, I had friends from the 2, 3 years in

a black and famous agent. You got them a black and famous black and famous.

Didn't get a chance. Didn't get a chance to you know, now I'm here at

least. So I spoke to Mal. I said, I need to make some orders. And

let me use this opportunity to also say a big thank you

to all them. I mean, I call them our stakeholders that

have really helped build this up. 1st

was, Bola Ray Yeah. One of the most important media

personalities Mhmm. In in Ghana. He's he's like a big brother

to me, and we do business together too. And I

I would say that his contribution to the brand Mhmm. Is enormous.

So would you say that's one of your best ways of promoting the

brand? So I think that's what we're not talking about. But I use

influencers, and I use top people too because I know

where I'm going. Yeah. You know? So when it comes to Ghana, I focus on

people that that, like I said, make people that

have not just influence but are aspirational to the

youth or to the people coming out. It could be it could be a very

well-to-do person, but you still aspire to look or be

be in a certain circle. So I really work with that Yeah. You

know, psychometric. I I it's something that is

deliberate. I don't I mean, another guy is Quinta Jones. I mean Oh,

yeah. People actually believe or think it's his brand. And

I always go I answer, yes. It's this brand because I don't wanna be the

face of the brand. That's just so hard. That's that's something that yeah.

That's something that I I decided at the beginning of the brand. I don't

want it to be about me Yeah. Because it's not about

me, really. So anybody that has has

agreed or has come on board to work with us has

really worked I mean, as hard as I've done to

transform this this this this brand, to make it where to

bring it where it's got into because the the hours he's spending, you know,

doing one shoot, you won't believe it. Sometimes yes.

Sometimes you're doing 12 outfits with 1 person Yeah. In

one little space Yeah. For for hours, like, maybe

5 hours continuous. Wow. Yeah. And and probably, you

know, probably had I might even have break. You are there and, you

know, control you're you're controlling the tennis wheel, camera

light. It's really you know? I I I do I

I I I take my hats off of them for for for

for what what what they've done to the brand. And my models, I have a

lot of models that we use. I can't mention names because I buy some

All of them that are featured. Yeah. From even to James

Gardner to to to. To. And Natalia

Arthur and what's his name again?

But Chris Chris, Is it no. The sports

journalist. I mean, that's to to to all my friends that became

models because they wanted to support their background. Yeah. I say they have

been the the biggest I mean, if I'm gonna say the biggest part of

of the story because nobody knows what we do. The team that does it is

then that where the clothes start make it look nice for people to

want to wear. Nice. Buyers. Yeah. Amazing. It's it's incredible.

And now, of course, the business is growing to a point where, of course, you

know, you you got to own the dedicated production center where things are being produced.

Yeah. We have our own factory. We have we employ quite a number of

people, like I said. But now we want to go into

other products. So we might not just handle all the production

ourselves because you can't do everything yourself. Of course. The moment you become like that,

then you are not going because you can't Yeah. It's not a thing. For

instance, you want to go into sunglasses. How do you produce your own sunglasses? You

could do it here, but Yeah. Why do you add it to your your your

your production line when you can outsource it and get it done from

elsewhere? Yeah. What's going to? We call it the black and famous

essential. It's what I'm wearing Yeah. And what we have on our page. That was

people. So this is new. Yeah. Baseball caps. You know? Going

into things that we might not necessarily produce here in Ghana. Maybe we finish

here. But we are trying to look and feel global.

Let me put it that way. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think what you touched upon

earlier on was the the labor market. You wanna kinda help maybe

create opportunities Yeah. On the country, on the continent. So hopefully, when

you continue to expand, it's gonna create more of these jobs for people to

do. And of course, that's gonna help move the economy. As for the

local economy, we are passionate about it because that's where we all

get our bread battered, really. So we start from Ghana. We

go piecemeal from country to country.

Hopefully, we get our products in the shops across Africa,

into Europe. I mean, we'll do it. We don't know how it's gonna pan out,

but we'll go step by step and then put our food from business

across the globe. Do you wanna stay niche luxury

and kind of like a similar size to where you are? Do you or do

you wanna be, like, seen in stores over the world? So, yeah,

that question is a good one. We want to maintain our

our identity Mhmm. But we probably might bring products that will

require us to have, you know, like, we'll still

have our tailor to measure business, our bespoke business Mhmm. Right here in

Ghana where you have to order online or wherever, and it's produced here. Yeah.

But for instance, if you wanna produce just what we are wearing Yeah. For

summer for our guys in in the the states and the UK Mhmm.

You can't do it bespoke. It has to be done in sizes to put it

out there in shops. That's it. So, I mean, by this podcast, we also encourage

you. We are inviting people that are interested in partnering us to do that, to

have our products in their shops globally. Mhmm. You know,

globally, and then we we sort of increase production and

Of course. Yeah. You know, increase employment and make make I mean,

have a bigger impact with what we are doing. Yeah. Of course. You know? And

this is gonna, you know, it's gonna have a domino effect and, you know, it'll

probably even, you know, require you to hire more people and then maybe you

don't think we need to start training more people and start a fashion academy. Because

Have you ever thought about that? I think what the world is the whole of

fashion is going into is also sustainability. Mhmm. Sustainability in terms

of what impact is your product or is your brand having on

your community or the environment. Yeah. Are you using grain

Yeah. I mean, labeled products Mhmm. Or you're just producing for for

the money? Are you employing women Yeah. And the youth

in your business? That's our key focus now. Yeah. Even though we

started off as a male brand or as a member, we want to break out

a new other phase. Yeah. We want to do products that help

hire more women. Mhmm. You know? Because, I mean, if your if your

business or your there's a there's a principle I have.

If your business does not have any impact on the people around

you, from your family, to your friends, to your community, to

your country, then there's something wrong. Then I think it's it's being powered or it's

being followed by greed and not, yeah, and not

an inspiration or not a motivation to help anybody. Yeah. Because he needs

to touch lives then. Wow. Yeah. That's what so I think for you, that's you

doing your service, touching lives Yeah. Yeah. The clothes that they're wearing.

Exactly. Incredible. Yeah. I'm sure there's so many testimonies, we can

probably spend all day long talking about. I want this to kind of like

bring as we bring this to a close, I wanna talk about, of course,

you talked about where fashion is going. Yeah. I wanna

talk about where do you think culture is going in terms of, like,

where we are, like, in terms of Africa. I know fashion has a part to

play. You know, the culture right now is Africa is really rising and

music is rising a bit. The fashion is rising, the food, everything's moving.

Where do you see culture going and how do you see fashion playing a spark

in in the culture? I think where we are now

is about the influence that African culture and fashion is

having on blacks in the diaspora. You know, you

work you meet some red

random guy, you know, outside in

so mood to coming back to Ghana or

to Africa because of what he's seen on online. Could be clothes.

Could be the food he saw or the people, how they live, and

all of that. You know? I think that what fashion is

gonna do is gonna we are gonna influence a lot

of things that are happening outside of even Africa,

how people dress. Yeah. Either to probably I

mean, you're a UK guy. No. Parties, people keep in hoodies

and all of that. You know? But today, I'm sure that the

influence that Ghanaian or even African fashion is having and that you go for

parties, if it's a mixed party of colored and white

people, you realize that people are dressed more to fit where

they come from than Yeah. I mean, just to fit in the boots. Mhmm.

You know? Because the compliments you get, you'll be the you'll be you'll be surprised

because the people that wear African clothes always get

because people don't are not used to what to see what

the guy or the lady is wearing. Yeah. There are beautiful designs coming from

Africa. Oh, absolutely. Beautiful. I even love the ladies'

designs that modern India because they go they go, wow.

Some of the designs that come from here could match any designer

clothes you find in in Europe because the finish and bear in mind, anything

that's handcrafted cannot be compared to commercial production. And

the talent in Africa. The man hours. You know? If you're

gonna price our clothes according to the man hours that somebody must

hold an outfit from end to end to get it done,

It's it's gonna be very expensive. So we are gonna get there. I think

that, culturally, we are we are getting there, but Yeah.

It's gonna take time. Like I said, maybe the next 5, 10 years, things are

gonna change. You people are gonna wear our clothes outside and feel cool

about and also like, are you African? Yeah. People like, I

like what you're wearing. Yeah. Yeah. Because in the olden days, people were shy about

Yeah. We're shy. That's what I'm saying. Everyone's embracing. Exactly. There were jokes kind of

about how we sounded and how, you know, we wear our

clothes. Yeah. There are no sitcoms back in the day. When they said, oh, our

uncle from Africa is turned up. Yeah. You realize all he they are portraying is

all like little guys. But these days Yeah. How fashionable

we look, I'm sure you've been surprised. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's all over the

place. I mean, I remember watching, I think, Friday or next Friday, Michael Blackson walking

in. Yeah. And then that was our kind of interpretation of Africans, but

now it's Now it's clashing. It's classy. Yeah. It's classy. Classy. And they wanna come

here. They wanna show wear what I'm wearing. People will not believe in me that

it was made in in Africa. You showed to them, but this is Africa now.

Absolutely. Yeah. Africa is rising. Africa is rising. Absolutely. Nada's been a fantastic

conversation. Same here, I wanna end the conversation with there's a

there's there's, of course, there's a photo in your in your store. Okay. Right? And

it has Nelson Mandela on it. Okay. And it says, everyone can rise above their

circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated and

passionate about what they do. I want you to share your thoughts in

that quotation. Mandela is a big idol. To me, he's he's the

greatest African that ever lived. Mhmm. Emari compassion.

So I and if you realize the position of that photo, it's actually at the

center of all the other great African leaders. And that is my yeah. Now what

he speaks about is about what drives this business. You spoke about it

already. Yeah. By the pricing, what are we working what do we have in our

hand we are working with? We are not a global brand yet. Mhmm. We are

a Ghanaian brand that's trying to go global. How dedicated are we? How

passionate are we to buy with? We

might not be there today, but in the next 5 to 10 years, trust

me, our name will be on the on the on the

major on the major streets of the world. I think that is what

he he's talking about. South Africa is South Africa today because of Nelson

Park because he could have shattered it when he came out of prison, when he

became president. He could have drove everybody out of the country and made a

mess. He was dedicated and passionate about building a new

African country called South Africa. And today, we can see. We saw that African

Cup of Nations. Oh, yeah. We did. Exactly. Incredible. You know? So when for

me, it's about and I tell my team all the time, it's about how

much passion drives what you do. Yeah. Is it something

that you are really passionate about that you want to see succeed? If that's what

drives you, you're gonna succeed. That's all. That is it. 100%. Alright.

100%. Wow. This has been a fantastic, fantastic conversation. This

fantastic conversation. I'm I'm really, really blown away by what we've

discussed. Where can everyone find black and famous on there? Where

can they purchase it? And how can they connect the social media? We

are we are located in Accra. Yeah.

I call it our flagship shop. It's our Westlands on the

Westland Boulevard. Mhmm. So you put it on Google Map, Black and

Famous, it would it would bring you here once you're in Accra. Okay. If you

wanna shop online, we are still completing our e shop.

We had it and we had to pull it down to rebuild. So in the

next month, by in a month's time, you should have our e shop where you

can order all over the world. Yeah. But on social media, we are very active

on Instagram. We're active on Facebook as well. You can reach us and

then place an order. Whatever you see over there, we made it and we produced

it for you. So that's that's that's the plan. Amazing. So from start to

finish, the customer service is just expected to be Expected to be

good. And, I mean, you you have to you have to blame me

if it doesn't go well. Yeah. And I have to answer for it. That's that's

assurance. Yeah. Good. I mean, it has to be good. Yeah. There there there are

no there are no second chances, so we need to take the first chance. I

I love that. And I think with the customer service, how you're driving is amazing

because I spoke to one guest. I think Anders Barber. Right? And he he's in

East London. And he was saying that, he had a one

man from the diaspora come to have a haircut. I think from the US came

to have a haircut. He said it was the best haircut he ever had. Wow.

In Africa. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure with you, you want people to come

in and be like, this is the best piece of clothing you have a haircut

on regardless of where they're from. And that's what we are working towards. Yeah. And

I wanna throw the challenge out. Come try us. Mhmm. If we feel we'll

do it again and make sure that we replace it and make sure you get

the best, then we progress. That's it. It's more like iteration and Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That's right. We want you to leave me with a black and famous

experience. What a way to end the conversation. Fantastic. And,

Nana, thank you so much for having me. Too, my brother. Thank you so much.

So there you have it, guys. Nana Bwating, founder, CEO of black and

famous luxury black African with tailoring

fashion. Please do, check them out. Please do purchase from them. We'll

have all the links in the show notes and in the YouTube description and podcast

play description below. You can head over to the samocloud.comforward/blackandfamous.

That's famous spelled p h a m o u s. Don't get

it twisted. And, yeah. I hope you guys really

enjoyed this this season. I really, really enjoyed talking to

Nela, and I hope you guys got inspired from what he had to say. Do

you have any announcements you wanna make or are we good? We good? We good.

We good. We good. Alright, guys. So until next season. Thank you. Take

care.