26 February 2022 The Birthday Journal as I experienced. I’d already lost a bit of independence after six years of living in England and the café when I finally completed it became a haven for me. This brings me to a point that is very important to me. The root, the intention, the seed of every venture. It’s something every budding entrepreneur should ponder over. Although, my mother wasn’t sure about the location, at the time Airport Residential was exactly that, residential, she still supported me and was excited about getting into business again, even in her old age. She had lost the location in Accra at the point when her caféwas doing verywell. Cuppa Cappuccino became a source of new excitement for her. It was challenging to start with. The café culture was not yet established in Ghana. Most people went to the few high end hotels or hung out in homey, little spots where beer, soft drinks and kebabs were sold. There were days where we sold only one sandwich and I used to pray to God for 100 ghana cedis sales. I think God must have laughed when that prayer went up to Him, rolled his eyes and said, “Child! Please!” I used to think the focus for marketing should be expatriates but I am so humbled by how my Ghanaian clients have sustained us. In the year 2000, I realised that people were coming back to Ghana after living abroad many years, a number of whom had left in the 1980s during the economic and social unrest. Young graduates were also choosing to come back home and there was a flurry of activity in the country. I saw the café begin to blossom and to be a hub and a haven for many people. Couples got engaged in the café, there were some private marriage proposals that thankfully went well. First dates, beautiful memories. Husbands driving through traffic to pick up sandwiches and smoothies to fulfil their pregnant wives cravings. Then the Cuppa babies were being born and now visiting the café. I wondered if some of them knew how many sandwiches they had consumed in the womb. I remember one child when his mother opened the front door, stepping into the café declaring, “I know this place.” We’vebecomeacommunity, abusinessplace that is a home for creatives and people who appreciate creatives. Our support for the poor and needy, street children and orphans is an integral part of our existence as a business. We’d like to make a difference for having existed in this space. It’s important that lives are impacted positively because Josie’s Cuppa Cappuccino came into being. Last year in 2022, we hired two deaf staff members. It was a fulfilling move and one that we’d been trying to undertake for a long time. Hopefully, we will be looking at hiring more staff from within the deaf community and creating opportunities for them to fulfil their dreams.
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