MADEINC
MADEXXX
butter, I decided I wanted to help them
sell their product to global markets. That's
when I became the Butta Boss. I would
spend the remaining time in my Peace
Corps service further developing the idea
and when I returned to the US I moved to
DC and launched Shea Yeleen. The mission
was to create high quality natural organic
shea butter products that generate living
wages for women in rural African villages.
I had very little money, zero business
experience, a tiny network, and frankly no
idea what I was doing. The only tangible
thing I had was a deep belief that women in
Africa deserved a chance to benefit from a
global supply chain that they were actively
involved in. I decided no matter how long
it would take I would work to make that
vision a reality. Over the last decade, I took
a volunteer experience and turned it into
a beauty brand that distributes products
in select Whole Foods Markets, MGM
Resorts, natural independent food stores,
and boutiques. My supply chain involves
800 women in Northern Ghana and
our model creates living wages for the
women we work with.
On this entrepreneurial journey I have
learned so many things about myself. The
most surprising has been how believing
in my dream has drawn me closer to
God and deepened my spiritual practice.
There were so many moments when I felt
completely defeated and questioned my
ability to preserve and at the most unlikely
of times things would turn in my favor. I
experienced moments I never could have
imagined from our shea butter producers
traveling to the US to meet our buyers
at Whole Foods to being appointed to
President Obama’s Advisory Council
on Doing Business in Africa. The most
powerful of all the lessons I’ve learned thus
far is the power of believing. Whatever it
maybe, believing is always the first step in
achieving.
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