1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,200 So Kofi, tell me about your vision. 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:12,520 I would like to say my vision for my line of work, which is in the hospitality space, 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:24,880 is to be able to tell a story of mourning African culture through food, drinks, and 4 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,280 hospitality basically. 5 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:35,440 And doing that, we want to be able to take it to the rest of the world on the level that 6 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:41,020 is at par with current modern hospitality. 7 00:00:41,020 --> 00:00:45,360 We see hospitality changing in so many ways. 8 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:51,200 It creates opportunities for you to present something unique. 9 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:58,560 So if we take the kind of hospitality you have maybe in Europe, you realize that every 10 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,560 region has what they sell through their culture. 11 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,180 And it's done in a very beautiful way that it fits the times. 12 00:01:06,180 --> 00:01:08,760 It fits what people are looking for. 13 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:14,680 And that is what we are also trying to do with African culture. 14 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,800 Yeah. 15 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,960 Awesome. 16 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:30,000 Where did this vision, Kofi, where do you think this vision come from of portraying 17 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,600 or including people through your culture with food and drinks and life? 18 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:44,400 Well, I would say the vision has, it wasn't like this before. 19 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:52,960 As I grew older, my vision changed, as I gained more experience in the field of hospitality, 20 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,680 the vision got bigger. 21 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:02,800 When we first started our business, my business partner, who is a co-founder of our first 22 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:14,720 business seven years ago in Accra, Ghana, we saw an opportunity which was to be able 23 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:22,200 to give the middle class something different because at the time, it was either you were 24 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:27,080 going to a high-end space or you were going to a low-end space when it came to going to 25 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,340 bars and restaurants. 26 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:32,080 So it was either very expensive or very cheap. 27 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:38,440 But due to the growth in the middle class population and improvement in living standards 28 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:44,120 at the time, there was a huge influx of the middle class who were looking to do things 29 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:45,780 that were high-end. 30 00:02:45,780 --> 00:02:53,200 So we created a space that gave affordable hospitality, which came to food and drinks. 31 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,260 And we kind of milked that market. 32 00:02:56,260 --> 00:02:58,920 When I say milked that market, we did something that wasn't done before. 33 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:02,600 So we were the pioneers of that space. 34 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:10,200 And when we were able to meet that demand, that vision then was to do something for our 35 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:11,200 country. 36 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,440 It wasn't us planning to do something beyond the borders. 37 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:23,800 But given the opportunity after five years when we were top of the market and we were 38 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:29,120 the leaders in the market, it gave us the opportunity to interact with a lot of people 39 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,720 who were flying into Ghana at the time to experience our hospitality. 40 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,400 And we realized that people would respond to it as though they had traveled to Dubai, 41 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,360 as though they had gone to any other space. 42 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,640 And then it made us also know that whatever we had then was special because if people 43 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:52,040 were comparing us to places that they had experienced in all parts of the world, then 44 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,000 we might as well take what we have then to the rest of the world so they can experience 45 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,000 it. 46 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,160 You know, people who hadn't had the opportunity or would never travel there, we can actually 47 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,120 go to them for them to experience what we had to share, which is the experiences we 48 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:05,520 would create in our space. 49 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,880 So the vision grew bigger from there. 50 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:16,040 And then hence why we've been able to now open a branch of one of our pioneer brands, 51 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,600 which is called Bloom Bar in Atlanta, Georgia. 52 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,160 That's amazing. 53 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,160 You blew my mind. 54 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,560 I bet there's a story coming. 55 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,200 I'm actually an immigrant myself. 56 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,600 I came from India, born and raised and immigrated to the United States. 57 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,640 I don't know if you're based in Ghana right now or United States. 58 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:45,560 What's the, what's the, do you have a story to tell here if I say? 59 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:52,360 Like if you have a story behind your why or story you'd like to share? 60 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,080 Of course, yes. 61 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:59,560 Every entrepreneur I believe would have a story because there's a journey to, you know, 62 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,840 where you started and the things you go through that builds you to become the man or the 63 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,720 business person that you are. 64 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,400 So I do have a story. 65 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:17,840 And just to keep it short, what has, what has kept me going is I believe in growth. 66 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:24,800 I personally believe in knowing where I come from. 67 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:31,840 It has, it had always, it had crossed my mind that one day I would do something beyond my 68 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:32,960 country. 69 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:34,680 I had thought about it before. 70 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,520 I would, I had the opportunity to be traveling a lot at one night when I would travel and 71 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:44,400 I would sit in beautiful restaurants in maybe Spain or in Amsterdam somewhere or in Dubai. 72 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,080 Back in the day, I would say to myself, why can't I do this? 73 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,840 Is it, it's not, this is not impossible, right? 74 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:58,680 So I decided to make decisions to write my story and I needed to look at my inadequacies 75 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,880 to see how I can build on that to fortify my strength in the field that I wanted to 76 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:06,480 pursue, which is hospitality. 77 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:12,080 So one of the things I did for myself is after gaining the experience of working in Ghana 78 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,880 and I was about to pursue going beyond the borders of Ghana, the first thing I saw was 79 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,480 education because I felt like it's part of my story. 80 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:22,640 It would build me. 81 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:28,260 So I enrolled in the hospitality program at Cornell University, which is the number one 82 00:06:28,260 --> 00:06:31,080 hospitality program in the United States. 83 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:35,920 And I've done my two years masters over there in hospitality and it opened my mind to seeing 84 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,200 what I had always dreamt of doing in different perspectives and in a different light. 85 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,160 I was enlightened in a unique way. 86 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,400 I build connections that would help me not take certain things I'm doing to the next 87 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:47,440 level. 88 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,240 So the story just got more interesting from there. 89 00:06:51,240 --> 00:07:00,760 And like I said, through that, we've set up our first business here in Atlanta, Georgia, 90 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:06,840 and we are hoping to bring to not just Atlanta, but Atlanta is just a stepping stone to what 91 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,840 we want to do in the United States and in the rest of the world. 92 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:15,120 So if we are able to be successful here, get people to love the experience that we create, 93 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:20,800 bring this modern cuisine, modern international, we call it an international cuisine because 94 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,960 we don't want to call it a fusion because it kind of waters down what we have to offer. 95 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:30,920 But we have modified certain things that we eat back in West Africa, and we've been able 96 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,480 to get a chef that understands the concept and the direction of what we are doing to 97 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,320 present it in a manner that it can be consumed in a fine dining experience, a fine dining 98 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:41,360 space. 99 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,000 So creating that, we now will be able to get people to be a part of this story and take 100 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,840 things to the next level. 101 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:50,920 Thank you for being here today. 102 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,400 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 103 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,160 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 104 00:07:58,160 --> 00:07:59,800 This is going to get more and more fun. 105 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:01,840 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 106 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,200 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 107 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,440 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 108 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:23,800 Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.