The Artist and The Business Coach

Alldens Lane is truly blessed to have Dionne Wilson intern with us through Summer 2015. Last week was Dionne’s first week with us, and I wanted to hear from her first hand what the experience has been like thus far. In true consulting fashion, I chose to make the activity of sharing her experience a little challenging by asking her to document that experience in a blog piece that we would uploaded on The Business Woman – and I gave her less than 24hrs notice.

Demonstrating core Alldens Lane business values of leadership and excellence, Dionne submitted the following unedited blog piece, summarising her first week’s experience, as well as the insights she has already gained, on female entrepreneurship in Ghana.

The first week of my internship at Alldens Lane was nothing short of fulfilling. As an intern I had the privilege of working directly under the CEO of Alldens Lane, Ruka Sanusi. In this blog post, I will summarize my experiences during the week and share some of the invaluable lessons I have learned thus far.

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Dionne Wilson. I graduated this year from Swarthmore College, USA with a degree in Studio Art. In case you were wondering why an artist would intern with a business coach, I am a ceramicist but also an aspiring entrepreneur who has always had a deep interest in business. Prior to my graduation, I started seeking opportunities to learn more about business, the business climate in Ghana and most especially what that looks like for women in the industry. Needless to say. Alldens Lane was the perfect match and I was mighty pleased to be given an opportunity to intern with Alldens Lane during the summer.

This past week, I have been to two client meetings and worked with the Alldens Lane PR team on two occasions. I also had the pleasure of accompanying the CEO to a meeting with one of Ghana’s leading banks. This was truly one of the highlights of the week for me and I’ll talk about that later in this post.

Here are some 5 major lessons I picked up during the week:

1. The Unpredictable Hectic life of the Ghanaian Entrepreneur:
It is no secret that the life of most entrepreneurs is busy and unpredictable like their work. Ghanaian entrepreneurs are no different. Racing through Accra traffic to make appointments and a late night rendevouz with Microsoft Power Point are only a few signs of this busy life. Plans change and priorities shift in an instant and as an entrepreneur or at least someone who works for one- like me- you have be flexible enough to keep things afloat.

2. Mastering Multi-tasking:
This is closely related to the first lesson. Our first client meeting was with the staff of a fashion design house. Their tasks included buying fabrics, holding fittings, designing spreads, sending things to the workshop and managing the retail store. To accomplish these tasks efficiently and properly, you have to be one gifted multi-tasker. All it takes, I learned, is foresight, planning and preparing ahead of time and constantly being on the look out for ways to save time and travel costs. Before you go anywhere or do anything, is it something that could be accomplished with a phone call or an email?

3. People Problems:
I learned that sometimes as an entrepreneur you may be a magician multi-tasker with a stellar product or service, however, if your staff isn’t as hard-working or remotely in sync with your vision you will encounter a lot of problems. I learned this week that finding the right people to work with is one of the major difficulties Ghanaian entrepreneurs face. On the bright side, it is not impossible. At the second client meeting, there was a mini-celebration for a project that had been successfully completed with the help and contribution of her team that she described as family.

4. No Vision No Mission:
One consistent theme that kept coming up during the week was the need for a company or business to have a clear vision. Without a vision and a clear idea of your identity and who your clientele are, it will be very difficult to maintain consistency in product or service delivery and set achievable goals.

5. Women make the world go round:
Lastly but certainly not the least, I attended a breakfast meeting organised by one of Ghana’s leading banks. The CEO of Alldens Lane Ruka Sanusi is an ambassador for the bank’s initiative to empower and inspire women in business. I was privileged to be given the opportunity to network with other highly accomplished women in business in the country. It was truly an inspiring morning!

That was my first week at Alldens Lane and I am looking forward to what the future holds.

by Dionne Wilson

Dionne Wilson is a Studio Art graduate of Swarthmore College, USA. A Ceramicist, Dionne is an aspiring entrepreneur who has always had a deep interest in business. Prior to graduation, she started seeking opportunities to learn more about business, the business climate in Ghana and most especially what that looks like for women in the industry. She approached Alldens Lane for a Graduate Internship Programme to find insights, and to gain some experience, in the thematic areas of business management and female entrepreneurship in Africa.