Joyce Ababio, President of the leading creative college, Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design, has made an appearance on the most authoritative leadership show, Y Leaderboard series, hosted by Rev. Erskine on Y107.9.
YFM’s host Rev. Erskine engaged Joyce Ababio in an intriguing chat as she shared the fondest memories of her childhood days, her education, career and family life.
Ms. Ababio prided herself as an Achimota School Alumna. According to her, gaining admission to the Achimota School was a ‘do or die’ decision. “It had to be Achimota or nothing,” she said, recounting the experience she had when she furthered her studies in the United States.
“I went to one of those schools in a ‘college town’ and they were not very comfortable with blacks at the time. That was in the 80s.
It was not very comfortable with them. With us having an accent and they didn’t understand anything we said, it was just tough. My first-semester schooling in the US was very hard. It took sitting at the library every day for me to be able to catch up with what was happening in the class.”
Joyce Ababio disclosed that up to this day, she has no regrets pursuing fashion. “I feel like what I’m doing is a calling so I think I have arrived at what I was supposed to do in the first place and I’ve always followed it so I don’t have regrets in anything that I have done. I always knew fashion was an area I was going to venture into,” she stated.
Speaking on the misconceptions about fashion, she noted that some Ghanaians had the erroneous mindset that fashion was an industry for school dropouts. Even though she believes that she has contributed to changing the mindset through her fashion school, Joyce Ababio earnestly requested that Ghanaians change their mindset so that the Ghanaian fashion industry can flourish.
Delving into family matters, Joyce Ababio made known that even with her busy schedule, she still makes time for her family. She thus advised women who have to juggle motherhood with their work to make time for their families by adhering to strict schedules in such a way that work will not interfere with family time.
“Customers do not call me on my personal line. Everything business is done at work so that it doesn’t come home. So the weekend is spent with my children. So I advise mothers to find a structure in their lives that they will use to be able to run their businesses as well as manage the children at home.”
As a leader, Joyce Ababio encouraged the youth to remain focused on their career path. “I say they should stay focused, committed and dedicated in their thoughts and their minds and the direction they are going.”
Sharing her favourite quote with the youth, she read: “If it were easy, there will be no one to look up to. Keep walking, keep striving. Never Give up. Fall down seven times, stand up eight times. Without commitment, you will never start and without consistency, you will never finish. Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.”
Programmes Manager for YFM Accra, Eddy Blay, commenting on the interview, observed: “I couldn’t agree more with Joyce Ababio on the mindset that some Ghanaians have over the fashion industry. She is one person who has been instrumental in changing this mindset as she established the Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design.
I have no doubt that the youth will be stirred to know that Joyce began her business with a signpost in front of her house and now her business has become a household name. That alone is an inspiration to everyone that you do not need a million dollars to start your business.”
