The day was 16th April, 2015 it was right after hrs and I was even now at get the job done.
I was done with operate and could have gone house but that was the very last matter on my thoughts. My brother had just established the two Fb pages I had requested. I had articles for 1 of them, all I had to do was load and publish. But boy was I terrified!
What if people laughed? What if nobody thought it was a good piece? What if no one discovered it inspiring? What was I even performing anyway? Self-doubt retained bombarding me with thoughts I experienced no solutions to. Just after hours of imagining and overthinking some thing I experienced presently been musing on for weeks, I determined to submit the first piece named ‘I see in you the magnificent lady your energy evokes me‘ to our new Fb web site identified as The Amazing Woman.
It was a piece I experienced composed about my mum and the points I had viewed her do which inspired me. After submitting it, I heaved a sigh of I-don’t-know-if-I-can-phone-it-aid, switched off the computer and went property.
The following day, I was stunned to see a few beneficial responses to my generate up. Huh! Properly what do you know? I experienced presently composed about a few friends as perfectly and so I started off publishing them one particular by a single as the days and weeks went by. At the time, my key intention of composing and submitting was to hone my writing expertise so I could finally fulfil a dream of becoming an creator.
Of program the only way I could publish was if I cherished what I was composing about. For me, when I am creating about girls who inspire me, the feeling is so beautiful that I can just go on and on. And so this I believed was the excellent way for me to practise composing (one thing I beloved carrying out as a child).
Inside of a shorter time period, our website page had 100 Likes! I took a screenshot. And then 200 Likes, an additional screenshot! 500 Likes, whaaaat?! Haha I will in no way forget about how I utilised to pay a visit to pages with 1000 Likes and daydream about possessing very same. For me, that was a massive deal. And the working day it transpired I was practically large! I remember calling my brother (and lover) when it got to 999 Likes. Gosh I couldn’t sit continue to. And then Bam! 1000 Likes! Oh I was so content! Glance, I just caught myself smiling as I reminisce.
Okay I lastly got my 1000 Likes, now what? I was baffled, what was occurring? By now I was interviewing women of all ages and sharing their beautiful stories, some of them reaching thousands of Fb users for every working day. We had been getting a good deal of optimistic suggestions from visitors. A colleague as soon as questioned me ‘so Ama, this Amazing Lady matter, is it providing you income?’ Haha no it was not, but the joy I felt was really worth far more than gold.
Finding to the stop of the 12 months, we determined to sign up it as a lawful entity and that is a story for another working day. Sooner or later, we obtained the name ‘The Fantastic Girl Network’ and so determined to modify the Facebook title to match the organisation’s title. We followed the Fb method by building an additional page with the new name and then merging the two.
Pricey Reader, our cloud nine pleasure came crashing down in torrents when we observed out that right after the merger we had dropped ALL the attractive stories plus comments, likes, shares…everything! All we had left was the 5000 Likes however intact! I could not believe this! How could this happen to us? This was on 9th November, 2015 (I have this date due to the fact I developed a WhatsApp team immediately after this calling it ‘Team TFWN – No Shaking’). We rapidly begun reposting as lots of outdated tales as feasible just to hold the new web page going. We ended up down, but not out.
All over this same time, I bear in mind becoming on a bus from Sunyani to Kumasi (returning from a Client Company schooling gig) when I experienced a call from my brother and now Creative Director: Maame Ama, do you see what is taking place on the page? The likes are just raising. Organise an function, individuals will occur!’
I laughed and replied, ‘you paa, are you sure?’ This minor brother of mine, the imaginative genius who has pushed me to the wall and again considering that he was a little one insisted that I organise it. Very long tale short, in December, 2015 we experienced our to start with party which was a non-public a person with about 30 invited girls from in my circles. We called it ‘Dinner With The Girls’. My then Typical Supervisor (at Golden Tulip Kumasi Metropolis) was these types of a blessing in building this function materialize.
My partner and two brothers from a different mother supported this celebration with money as nicely. A handful of buddies also supported with their products and services. I was so joyful on that day, it was just so lovely!
We later on splashed pics of the event on Fb and individuals arrived at out requesting to be knowledgeable of such in upcoming. Bingo! That was all the encouragement we desired to do our initially public party referred to as The Amazing Female Speaks on 6th February, 2016.
I keep in mind the frustrations, the tears, the disappointments…Oh the evenings I cried inquiring God why I felt so alone when points were being not heading the way they should really? Where was He? It was not until after this event that I thought ‘wow! God is really wonderful!’ The accomplishment of it was so remarkable to me. Of study course, it was also the first time I had authentic money owed to spend! Haha. While I experienced been given some amazing assist from organizations inside my network to cushion the charges.
We would go on to do numerous more functions and conferences. We even took a Ladies Trip to Dubai and have ideas for extra of this kind of. Nonetheless, I simply cannot clarify to you how significantly fear and self-question I have confronted right before just about every of these events. The worry, the dropping of urge for food, the confusion, the aggravation, the low sex drive and all its affiliated wahala!
Not to point out the phrase on the streets (only God knows which streets though!). For instance, who does she feel she is? Haha! Oh wait, did I point out the numerous errors we made in our posts with its associated emotions of inadequacy?
Our most current baby is a hub for girls termed Fab Hub Ashanti which has already hosted many situations for us and other businesses. Now the procedure we went as a result of is also a story for one more time. To God be all the glory.
On the private front, this organisation opened so quite a few doorways for me. I don’t forget getting on a telephone interview for a fellowship and when I described the name of my organisation the interviewer instantaneously checked it out on Fb and remarked ‘The Fantastic Lady Network is yours? Ah then you really don’t want this fellowship!’ In my head, I was like ‘this lady paa’ Haha.
I have been on quite a few excellent fellowships, had the possibility to do the job with some of the ideal brands in Ghana, spoken on levels that really should put the dread of God in me on a usual working day, and received numerous accolades by way of our get the job done in this organisation. Considerably extra than I could have imagined. Wait, how could I neglect to point out that I have authored two publications previously and am functioning on textbooks a few and 4!
These days as The Fantastic Woman Network celebrate 5 several years of staying in existence, I cannot help but thank God that I did not give in to anxiety, self-doubt and ‘word on the street’. I have experienced encounters with people who have attractive concepts but are so worried and so hardly ever acquire a stage. Other folks say, ‘oh I really do not have time’. Effectively for the latter team, the timing could not be extra fantastic in this Covid-19 Lockdown!
For people battling with concern and self-question, know this: you are never ever alone, you really can do all matters via Christ who strengthens you (no, this is not a cliché). Make sure you locate on your own in a group of persons who will really encourage, force, pray with and instruct you. They need to also be equipped to give you a knock on the head when you want it.
And do not stress about becoming critiqued some of them are really for your own superior, other periods way too, well… Pray to God for support in conditions of companions, staff associates, advisors, purchasers, and so on.
Rely on me, my Resourceful Director and I battle in advance of every solitary 1 of our jobs. There are periods he phone calls and I can notify he would strangle me experienced he not been in a different city.
He is a perfectionist who would want to just take his sweet time to do an admirably excellent work whilst I on the other hand just want to run with tips! There was a single certain photoshoot which had to be finished three distinctive instances on a few various days before he would choose 1! He is extremely hard and accurately what I require! Haha. I am also surrounded by fantastic fabulous women, some of whom have been there from working day a person.
Spend in your aspiration, this is not the time to fear about how a great deal it will cost you or no matter if you know how to do what you wish to do. Frankly the individual who stated ‘I never know what I am accomplishing until eventually I do it’ had me in intellect. Mentors participate in a huge function in your ‘how’. Also, consider about the larger photo how will the accomplishment of your dream enable other individuals? For us at The Fabulous Female Network, the many positive recommendations we have received from gals and even adult males make us know that this is not about us at all.
Even in this Covid-19 condition, we are busily mastering each individual working day in our Facebook group. You see, this is our company to God and that is why we cannot consider it for granted or suppose ‘we have arrived’
Dearest Reader, I want to challenge you especially if you are pregnant with an concept that is prepared to be birthed. Congratulations, you are about to have a child!
Ama xx
Creator and Founder of The Magnificent Girl Network (www.amaduncan.com)
