Why don't you do this? Mifie can do this. I can see especially when it

comes to travel at all. I've had a lot of people say, oh, so what's

next? Are you starting a tour company? Is Mifie going to be selling

packages? And I was just like, woah. Woah. You know, let's let's put

a stop on it. We really want to kind of establish what we're doing.

And like I said, there's so many opportunities, that, you know,

hopefully all on the way. Like I said, so many ideas, but we want to

make sure that we're focused in terms of what we're doing, make sure that

it's it's well established, you know, in terms of what we're trying to do. Because

like I said, the the vision is is is quite big where, you know,

we're in discussions with, like, beyond the return. We wanna get their endorsements

in terms of, like I said, really just really promoting Ghana. So, of

course, anything that promotes Ghana that kind of aligns with, you know, our vision and

what we're doing, definitely, I think in time, this year will grow, I'm sure, in

so many directions. But we really wanna, you know, get things right and

and make sure that we're quite established.

Hello there. Welcome to the a conversation series, a stand stand

alone series where we explore the life's journey and celebrate the success of

individuals from a Ghanaian heritage or interest in short and sweet

episodes on the Sound of Accra podcast. Today we're joined

by Ivy Adjei She is the founder and CEO

of Me Fie Limited. They are company dedicated to

promoting all things garden through exciting initiatives including

competitions and giveaways. And then also, she's also born in

Ghana and raised in the UK. So you're going to learn a little bit more

about Ivy in this short sweet conversation. Ivy, thanks for joining the show. How

you do how you've been doing? What you've been up to? Oh, thank you for

having me, Adrianne. I've been fine. Thank you. How are you? Have you been

getting on? Yeah. I've been I've been great. I've been great. It's been fantastic.

Season 6 has been running, and then we've got season 7 recording

starting, I think, at the end of the month, which is fantastic. We've got a

lot of exciting things we're working on in this in this in this area. So

everyone should keep their eyes peeled. Amazing.

Absolutely. So, Ivy, I'm thanks for the show. I know we're quite

limited in that time we have to get could you give a quick, 6 second

summary of of of Mifier and what you guys do over there? A quick 60

second summary of Mifier and what you guys do over there. Okay.

So Mifie is, a company, registered in the UK

Mhmm. That, as you said, is dedicated to promoting all things Ghana

by using through different, initiatives. And one of them, like you

mentioned before, is, competitions, raffles. And some

people call them competitions, some people call them raffles. And, basically,

using that as a way to show off, how beautiful thing,

Ghana is, different things, from Ghana. Yeah. The company launched in July

last year, and we run our 1st holiday raffle, which

was very successful. We took our winners to Ghana in December,

and we did other raffles as well. We've we've run a day experience at the

beautiful Bridgeview in Akosombo. We run a raffle for

someone to win a beautiful kate cloth throw set. And,

so we're doing, you know, loads of different raffles, like I said, to show off

how beautiful gone. And one of the other initiatives that we also use

is, give back Ghana, which is in line with the beyond return

initiative, where we're really using our platform to showcase different ways that

people can give back, to Ghana even if they've just gone

on holiday. And, you know, you can literally just pick an afternoon

out and go and do something to give back. Like, we did, the give back,

with, the Bus Stop Boys, and they are basically a group of young men and

young women just basically dedicated to literally just keeping the

places of Ghana clean and not just doing that by giving

their time and physically, literally just going out and cleaning gutters and stuff, but

also doing rolling out educational programs, really doing

preventative work as well as, you know, getting the places clean. So we

did a session with them, and we're doing we've got a few

lined up as well. So that's one of the initiatives that, you know, we

use. And then the other one that we're running at the moment that we're working

on, I should say, is we're building a directory for, the

Ghanaian, diaspora. Think of it as a place,

where you can come to the Fierce website and literally just find anything that you

need within the Ghanaian community no matter where you are in the world. So

we're really encouraging all the businesses, charities, school groups,

home groups. If you do anything that, you know, kind of is

specifically related to the Ghanaian community where, you know, it's free to register.

So come and register your business, come and register your, you know, your service, your

product, your charity. So if anyone is looking, restaurants, anything,

everyone's looking for something that is Ghana related, they'll be able to find

you on on on the directory. And we've got so many other exciting

initiatives, coming up. I hope that was 60 seconds.

Thank you for that summary, Ivy. It was more maybe, like, for more like 5

minutes, but in all in all, it was good. It gave me a flavor

of, every aspect of what you're doing up with you, which is

fantastic. I guess that sets the audience up in terms of what we're

gonna expand the conversation into. So thank you for that, summary, Ivy.

Yeah. I mean, I like what you're doing over there. The competition and and giveaways

seems to be quite a popular thing right now at the moment. For example, I

see what, the likes of Tram Ray Path are doing, you know, in the UK,

the the house giveaway. And I think they set up a version in Ghana called

or something like that. Jofia. Yeah. So where they're giving

away houses, I think, in Ghana as well. So they're just replicating the same model,

but in in Ghana. I think it's a very, you know, popular way to

get engagement from people online. And I think it does work especially when

it's something that people want, you know, who wants, who doesn't want money to to

go to Ghana and who doesn't want a house in Ghana or UK or who

who doesn't want, you know, travel and tourism and holidays and, you

know, hotel giveaways, you know, that people wanna show off in social media. Who doesn't

want all these things? I guess it's a good way to get engagement. I guess

it's also fantastic way to build a database as well. And I think

it's a good business model behind the back of it. So tell us a bit

of course, it's not necessarily a charity although you do have a a

foundation or initiative, a give back initiative tied to what

you're doing. We'll talk about that a little bit later. Talk us through

more of like the the the business model behind it. I mean, it seems maybe

maybe more quite kind of straightforward, but, of course, I'm sure you're not in it,

you know, for for free. Right? Oh,

absolutely. But, I guess, the fear was, you know, born out of my

passion, like I said, to wanting to find a way, to

give back to Ghana. So I think, you know, this whole

idea kind of came about, like you rightly said, you know, it's it's it's an

exciting way. Running the raffles are really just as an exciting way to catch people's

attention. And like I said, it's not just for Ghanaians. Of course, a lot of

the things that we do are like the directory and, it is

targeted towards Ghanaians. But what we want is we want to, like I said,

showcase Ghana off to the world. So anyone that wants to, you know,

to come to Ghana and learn more about Ghana because I think, you know, as

you know, through tourism, people will get to visit the country, they fall in love,

investments comes in. It also brings money into the into the

country. So the the the raffle itself, of course, it sits in

the, as the core of our business. And that's of course how we

generate our revenue. And a lot of it, like I said, goes towards the very

good work that we hope to do, I. E. The free, directory that we're building

for businesses, charities, etcetera, and also a way to

really, give back to Ghana. Brilliant. Absolutely

fantastic. Okay. I love what you're doing in terms of, using this

as a vehicle to connect, you know, businesses to each other and to connect the

diaspora to one another. So so this direction that you're building, I'm sure is

gonna maybe evolve MIFIA into something else maybe in the future. Am I

am I correct? Well, the vision is very big. The vision is

very big. But like I said, I I once the by time in terms of

it would be amazing. I think if we could

really just connect Ghanaians all over the world, I think

just coming together in in that way where, you know, all

our resources, all our, you know, any anything Ghanaian in one place.

And I think that can, you know, grow into something more because I know there's

a lot of, you know, we all have these conversations where we want to find

a way to make a difference in Ghana. And I think we've all got a

little pockets of, you know, groups of how, you know, we

imagine what that's going to look like, especially us in the diaspora. I think

we have a very significant part to play when it comes to making change in

Ghana. So I think even if we can connect in some way

and then come together, I think we can do amazing things. So,

you know, the vision is very big. We're we're starting with with the directory.

So definitely, I think, Nfie, like I said, has got a very long term vision

in terms of the difference that we can make as as part of the diaspora,

to Ghana. So definitely. Fantastic. That's awesome. And, of course,

you mentioned earlier on that we're probably gonna double tap on this, and the the

different giveaways and competitions that you guys are doing, you know, like the the money

and the flights and things like that. Has there been a particular competition

or giveaway that's really stood out the most so far? And is there any kind

of interest in stories that you have to share? Yes. Of course. The holiday

competition is what everybody talks about. The very first one that we did,

it was a holiday package for 2 and, to

Ghana fully paid. Everything was kind of set. In the the very first

competition that we did, it was set. So we had, arranged we had set the

dates and, you know, the winners would they stayed at the embassy

gardens, and they had a private chef, they had a private

driver. It was just it was a really lovely time and then lovely lady

called, Carolyn won, the competition. She's actually from Antigua.

She's from the Caribbean and she brought along yeah. She brought along her

cousin Elsa, and they just had an amazing time. We really

she they they didn't wanna stop. They wanted to eat everything and go everywhere.

So we had to squeeze everything in, like, 14, you know, the the

actually 10 days that they had. Then. It it was just it was

really just amazing. They're actually, you know, looking to go back. Every time they're like,

Ivy, why don't we go back? So it was just really lovely to show

them of you know, to show Ghana to them how beautiful they had

done, how lovely our food is. They went to Afro nation not Afro

nation. Sorry. Afrocella, at the, you know, at the time. So

it was just really lovely. Yeah. So a lot of people are

who are hoping, keeping their fingers crossed to win the competition that's

ended in July. Fantastic. That's fantastic. That sounds

incredible, what what you're doing with this platform. And, you know, you've you've

you've created an opportunity for people to, who are not

even from Ghana, who want to experience Ghana to come to the country and

and experience it. I mean, you're helping the Ghana Tourism Authority to do their job,

which is fantastic. Have you ever felt any kind of, like,

prompting or do you sometimes when you do some of these competitions and you see

the impact, do you see the response to some of them and how people react

to it? Have you ever felt pulled in another direction to maybe maybe

I should set a tourism agency? Maybe I should, you know, help. You know,

maybe I should launch a clothing company or maybe I should do this. Have you

ever kind of had that kind of, like, desire? Because it's easy to get pulled

in different directions and want to start lots of different things and back off something.

I see. And, you know, it it comes all the time. And it's not just,

you know, me. You know, we have loads of people say, oh, why don't you

do this? Why don't you do this? Mifia can do this. I can see especially

when it comes to travel and tour. I had a lot of people saying, oh,

so what's next? Are you starting a tour company? Is MiFIA going to be selling

packages? And I was just like, woah, woah. You know, let's let's put a stop

on it. We really want to kind of establish, what we're doing. And like

I said, there's so many opportunities, that's, you know, hopefully all

on the way, like I said, so many ideas, but we want to make sure

that we're focused in terms of what we're doing, make sure that it's it's

well established, you know, in terms of what we're trying to do, because like I

said, the vision is is quite big where, you know, we're in discussions with

like beyond the return. We really wanna get their endorsements in terms of, like I

said, really just really promoting Ghana. So of course, anything that

promotes Ghana that kind of aligns with, you know, our vision and what we're doing.

Definitely, I think in time, this year will grow, I'm sure, in so many

directions, but we really wanna, you know, get things right and and make sure

that we're quite established. Awesome. Awesome. Fantastic. I mean, I can

definitely hear it in your voice, like, the passion and drive to put God on

the map. And of course, it's been, you know, trending for quite a number of

years now. Where do you think this is zion

passion to to really, you know, connect the diaspora and really

put Ghana in the map from? Tell us a bit more about yourself, like your

background, you know. Mhmm. It's I think you said you were born in Ghana, raised

in the UK. Tell us about maybe is there anything maybe in your

childhood or in your earlier years that kind of was the kind of like

defining moment which kind of gives you this desire, this burning desire

to really, you know, put Ghana out there. Absolutely. So

yeah. So like you said, I I was born in Ghana, and I came here

when I was about 7. So I I came to join my mother who had

already migrated, to the United Kingdom. So I've essentially

grown up, in the UK and when I when I came I didn't go back

to Ghana until when I was 18. I went and,

celebrated my 18th birthday and of course it was the culture shock because I've

not gone back for such a long time, everything looked really different, everything was

so different from what I was used to here. You

know, it was very it was very far removed. Although we, you know, lived in

the UK, kind of grown up in the Ghanaian community, of course, you go to

church and there's Ghanaians around, you go to the Ghanaian party, there was that. But

there was still, I think, I felt like a this connect when I went there.

It was just, like, everything just felt so far away. I was

very, you know, kind of disconnected from, you know, home.

And, it took me a while going back to

Ghana to kind of just really kind of discover, I don't

know, I think that's the words I wanna use, just to kind of really fall

in love and really feel, you know, that connection. So because of my

own kind of lived experience and personal experience, I just feel and I've

heard, of course, even other people who have kind of in the same situation

as me talk about their lived experiences and how disconnected that

they they feel like Ghana is just a place, you know, and now it's just

a place for so many young people that may be born here, 2nd generation typeface,

like, Ghana is still the place they go on holiday, but it's not considered

necessarily as home. And for me, that's Mhmm. Mhmm. One of the

things I want to bridge that gap because I think that shouldn't be lost.

I think that's really important to know where we're from and also a way

to, like I said, I feel that we are in a place of privilege in

a way and I think we have got, you know, a

significant part to play in terms of, you know, giving back and, you know,

you know, making, you know, as there's so many things that, you know, need to

be kind of done in Ghana. And I think we if we have that connection,

it first needs to start with people going back, having that connection,

you know, feeling it for themselves. And then that

then takes you on that journey where I wanna go back and there's so many

things that I want to help with. I'm like, oh, we could fix this if

we could do this and could do it together, but you can't do it on

your own, you know, hearing so many stories about people that relocated, for

instance, to want to make a change And then it's just you, you

know, out there trying to make signatures. But all I say is if we can

all come together, if we can all connect, find our own ways to connect, and

then come together, I think we can do wonderful things. So

that's kind of where my passion has kind of come from, in

wanting to hopefully pass that on to others who are in the same

situation as I am or just, you know, want to connect to Ghana in

any way to want to go and make that that difference and, of course, enjoy

how beautiful our, our Ghana is.

Awesome. Wonderful. Thanks for that, Ivy. So that's a little bit more insight into

kind of, like, where this drive comes from. And I think you think your

kind of former experience living in Ghana and kind of seeing the problems and

the challenges out there, maybe wanting to make a contribution or maybe

be inspired by, you know, a a parent or, you know, a family

member to be to want to kind of contribute to Ghana. I think we're just

kind of, you know, kind of giving you this desire to want to help, you

know, build build the country. And I guess, you know, you wanna kinda play your

little part in terms of, you know, putting it out there, which is which is

pretty cool. So okay. Cool. So, I mean, how does platform actually come

about? Like, I mean, what was that defining moment that kind of led to this

platform being built?

You know, for Ghana and, you know, just kinda going through the process of thinking

of how that was going what that was going, to look

like. And like I said, this Missiya was born many years ago. It was

just sitting as many things do. It was just really sitting,

with me, until, like I said, last last

year, I think I went I went to Ghana and I I

just, you know, for me, I was just like, I I need to I felt

the need to want to to start something to really make that difference.

And it was just thinking of different ideas of what that was gonna look like.

And like you said, the raffle thing kinda came in because I thought this is

a good way to get people's attention because everybody wants to go to Ghana.

And also looking at ticket prices as well, that kind of also influences kind

of hotfix idea because if we could also get people

there as well, giving people an opportunity. Not everybody can afford,

to to to get to Ghana especially at certain times that people want to go.

So this whole kind of idea kind of came out of or what if we

could, you know, give one person an opportunity, one person at a time to

go to kind of and that was a way to kind of draw people's attention

to say, look, guys, we're doing this, but we are also trying to do this

and this as well. So that's kind of how it was Miffier in terms

of the structure that it looks like now came came about.

Okay. Thanks for sharing that, Ivy. And I think it kinda makes sense where the

where the name comes from, Mefier, my home, as in you want people to

you wanna encourage more people to come home to to Ghana. And I

can see that most of the competitions and the giveaways are based around

that, hence the money, the fights, etcetera. Absolutely. Really,

really fantastic. And, this platform that you're building,

of of course, I do come across I mean, I've spoken to a lot of

people and, you know, I do come across a lot of people who want to

build, like, more like a one stop shop you know, kinda like for Ghana, like,

you know, to cover and find, you know, all of the companies or the services

and products that you need, you know, for Ghana. And I've seen a lot of

people attempt to build things like that. What's what would you say some of the

challenges would be in terms of having this kind of, you know,

all in one platform where people can kind of find anything that they

need to have a services, partners, products in the in relation

to Ghana? I think somewhat I think for the

platforms that, I'm familiar with, some of them I think

are aren't free to to to list on. Of course,

there are things a lot of businesses will be quite concerned about in terms of

the reach, in terms of, like, you know, what that platform is actually

doing to, you know, to get people the foot flow

for people to actually come to their website, the advertising that goes in. Because, of

course, as a business, if you are listing something on, you know, a particular

platform, the expectation would be that, you know, they bring you business

and, you know, that the foot flow to, you know, the site

is is enough to, you know, to get to get them picked up if they're

paying for a service. Now the difference with Missy is, 1, at the moment with

the model that we have at the moment is not a paid because it's something

that we are as a company looking to give back. So we're hoping that would

be the first start to say, you know, just we're trying this out, guys. Just

come and register your business. Let's see what we can do for this. And because

we have the competition again, like I said, it's a way to get people to

come in because we have that. You know, come in list your business. Let's

see how far. If we're able to, you know, hopefully, the the the dream

is to get the competitions moving in a way that we can give back and

also run this service for free. We would love to not to get to a

place where we have to because, of course, it's cost to run it especially

Mhmm. Because what you know, I go to directories and I get really irritated when

you go and, you know, you're trying to look for something and it's outdated or,

you know, it doesn't work. You know, we fear we really wanna take things slow

because we wanna get it right because we want, you know, we're hoping

to capture, you know, global garner and that's big that's a big

database. So we wanna make sure that we get it right and we're

hoping to give it to the community for free. Now, of course, that

comes, you know, with with this issue. So what what we're saying is

businesses just come anyway. Come and come and register for free. You've got nothing to

lose just for a couple of minutes just listing your business. We will make sure

that we do all that we can to encourage as many people to come and

patronize, you know, your service. So that's the dream.

Fantastic. Thank you so much, Ivy, for breaking that down. Coming up on

time now, that's really, really, use useful insights for the audience

to know, you know, why you guys are going and and the kind of the

the grand vision for MiFIA, which really exciting, by the way. Thank

you. Okay. Cool. So, where can everyone find Mephea? What

and what's what's next for Mephea and yourself? So what's next

for Mephea? You can find us. We're on all the socials. So our

website is www. Mehyphenfie.com.

We are on Instagram. If you type in Mefieh, it's me_fie

and underscore, but you can find us quite easy if you type it in. We're

on LinkedIn. We're on TikTok. We're on YouTube. We're we're

we're everywhere. If you type us in, you you will come across the service like

I said, our website. And and in terms of, like I said, in terms of

what the bigger vision is for me for you, like I said, once we're running

these competitions, we're really looking to launch the direct you very soon. We're very

excited about that. So we want to encourage all businesses. Like I

said, it's free to list. Please come and list your charities, businesses,

products, school groups, home groups, you know,

impact groups. Whatever you do, come and list it, on our service and

also keep an eye on our give back projects that we're doing. Like I said,

we're showcasing them. So when we go out and see them, guys would like you.

If it's it's an area that you're passionate about because I know everyone's got a

different area. Some people are passionate about health. Some people are passionate about education. Whatever

it is, we showcase them. What we do is just to to to

mention is that before we do the give back, we vet them. So we ensure

that they are registered charities, that we've seen their certificates. Some of them, we

do ask to see their accounts and everything just to make sure that we're showcasing

businesses that are actually credible because I know that is a concern for a lot

of people that want to give back. They're just not sure if these people are

credible. So we do that very basic kind of vetting before we

do our give back with them, and then so that you're

reassured that at least there's been some, you know, some level of,

vetting done before we we showcase them on our platform. Brilliant.

Brilliant. Thank you so much Ivy. That is amazing. You've been

a great guest. So there there you there you have it everyone and we'll have

the links in the description below for where you can connect with Me Fie and

Ivy and the team. Again, look out for their, you know, their

prize draws and the competitions on their website as well. And, yeah.

There you have it guys. That's the 8 conversation, series conversation

with Ivy from Me Fie Limited, and we'll catch you in the

next one