Kevin Nyango
Fear is one of the most detrimental aspects of life because fear can hinder you from success. – Ndeyfatou Ceesay
TechInAfrica – Ndey Fatou Ceesay is the CEO and NFC’s Creative Director. She has an experience partnering with the Italian fashion house, Diesel. In 2015, she was invited to showcase her brand at Fashion Week London and attended the Creative Business Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is now working on a project with her clients to internationally promote Gambian fashion.
During her career’s journey, Ceesay has worked to develop and grow her business, including joining the Startup Incubator Gambia (SIG)’s program. She claimed that it has impacted much on her career and business until now.
Startup Incubator Gambia (SIG) is a non-profit organization that was established in 2015. It focuses on empowering young Gambian entrepreneurs to succeed in their careers and businesses. The program has supported these youths by providing services and resources developed by the management team. Moreover, it also provides young entrepreneurs with appropriate mindset, skills, and connections to succeed in their career and business journeys.
SIG’s specialty is not only in entrepreneurship, but also many other specialties, such as Innovation, Business Consultancy, Business Training Program Development, Business Development, Business Economics, Business Plan Development, Business Model Development, Financial Analysis, Management, Research, and Sustainability Development.
Speaking of Ndey Fatou Ceesay’s career’s journey, her specialty is in fashion designing. Before starting the business, she had worked in many types of industries. However, she never really enjoyed what she did and got bored easily. Until then, she decided to quit her job at the Gambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Protocol Officer.
Ceesay has a degree in Politics and Spanish Language while is also good at sewing clothes herself. When she started sewing clothes for some clients, she began to love what she was doing and felt more enjoyment the more she did it. Because she did not know where and how to get a help, she decided to start it from the very beginning.
She said that there were four major challenges she faced when starting the business: Capital, Expertise, Fear or Doubts, and Work Ethic. The last mentioned challenge is about work ethic in Zambia that she finds appalling while the rest is pretty common challenges faced by most entrepreneurs.
Despite the challenges and multiple failures, she managed to grow his business. She never stopped trying new techniques and learned from mistakes. She said that failure had taught her life lessons. Without failing, you could never learn. Moreover, it kept her being always humble.
Ceesay highlighted that health is her real wealth and everyone’s who runs a business. Without it, you will not be able to run your business. Therefore, she always tries to balance her life and take a day off every Sunday. She calls it ‘a No-Sunday policy’ where she does not do anything related work but relaxing.
Finally, she advised young entrepreneurs who think about starting a business. She simply said: “Just do it!” start it anywhere and take a leap of faith in what you are doing without worrying too much about capital. However, she also pointed out: “don’t bite off more than you can chew”, meaning that you do what you can do and trust yourself. As you try hard for it, you will get your reward and what is yours.
Visit http://www.startupincubator.gm/ to know more about the Startup Incubator Gambia. You can also follow NFC’s Social Media accounts to know about her works.
Facebook: Ndeyfatou Ceesay or Instagram: ndeyfatouceesay
