Maame Opoku, MamaSia
“HIRE BASED ON SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE”
“I wasn’t getting the opportunities I thought I deserved in my career, so I did something myself,” says Maame Opoku, co-founder of natural beauty brand MamaSia. “Although we bear the scars of our experiences, those are what shape you.”
Established in 2012, MamaSia brings Ghanian ingredients and products, such as shea butter, to Britain. “We use ancient techniques with a modern approach,” she says. Maame learned about Ghanian customs and culture when she went to live in her ancestral village aged 12. “I asked lots of questions: Why are you using this cream, why are you drinking this tea? Some family members found it annoying but the elders found it inspiring. I started the business to help the community back home but also to express the skills and knowledge I’d acquired in my childhood.”
Skills and knowledge are what she focuses on when bringing people into her business, made up of more than forty Ghanian women. “I feel that we should not be intimidated by one gender or the other shining at the gift they want to express,” she says. “Companies need to keep it simple and take people based on their skills and knowledge. If we were really authentic in that approach, we wouldn’t need to have these conversations anymore.”