Being a Mompreneur, Realities of Ghana & Building an Empire x Rochelle B. | S6 Ep.5

Adrian Daniels [0:00 - 0:52]: Q five. Yeah, four. Hey there, everyone. I got by the name of Adrian Daniels. Welcome to the Sound of Accra podcast. If this is your first time listening, this is the show where we speak with top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs and creatives worldwide with the aim of leaving you behind with meaningful takeaways that you can apply in your life, business and career. For today's show notes, you can head over to thesoundofaccra.com/rochelle. That's thesoundofaccra.com/rochelle. For all of the wisdom points, the links, the references, and all the Nuggets from today, today's episode that's spelled R O C H E L L E. Please do cheque, the YouTube description below or the podcast players for the link. And also if you're listening on the podcast players five star reviews very much appreciated on the Apple podcast and Spotify. So I'd like to introduce my guest today, the wonderful, talented, beautiful Rochelle B. How are you?

Rochelle [0:52 - 0:56]: Oh, wow. What an introduction. I'm jealous of you. That was so, like, smooth and flawless.

Adrian Daniels [0:57 - 1:04]: When you do almost 200 podcast episodes, you start to kind of, like, get it all nailed. Laser down. Yeah, that's what happens.

Rochelle [1:04 - 1:05]: I'm jealous.

Adrian Daniels [1:05 - 1:38]: Michelle, it's wonderful to have you on the show in terms of kind of my kind of first contact with you. Of course, it's been through YouTube. I have kind of caught some of your vlogs, you know, whether it's running around with Della or, you know, maybe running through the mall or going to maybe working on the property or something. And, yeah, I mean, it's been quite compelling watching your content because I know there's quite a few creators out here in Ghana do vlogs, but you've always got somewhere fun or something unique to go and do and to share the audience. So it's good to have you in the show. Yeah.

Rochelle [1:39 - 1:41]: Yeah, that's the baby.

Adrian Daniels [1:41 - 1:53]: Yeah. I mean, we all get to, like, you know, what it's like being, you know, a mother and balancing content creation and entrepreneurship, etcetera. But, yeah, for those people out there that don't know who you are and what you do, could you just share a little bit of the audience?

Rochelle [1:53 - 2:22]: Well, as he mentioned, my name is Rochelle, and I am a content creator and a restaurant restaurant owner out here in Accra. I moved to Ghana about three years ago now. So, yeah, I've been here for three years, and in that time, I started a. Well, myself, and my partner started a restaurant. It's called Crazy Burger, and it's doing well. And, yeah, so that's pretty much all.

Adrian Daniels [2:23 - 2:25]: Excellent. What part of gone is. What part of Accra. Sorry.

Rochelle [2:25 - 2:34]: So crazy burger is in east lagoon. It's close to the ANC mall. I use that as the point of reference. Everyone knows AnC mall.

Adrian Daniels [2:34 - 2:35]: Yeah. Got landmark, isn't it?

Rochelle [2:35 - 2:41]: Exactly the landmark. So we're not far from there. And we also have another location in je lu.

Adrian Daniels [2:41 - 2:41]: Wow.

Rochelle [2:41 - 2:42]: Yeah.

Adrian Daniels [2:42 - 2:44]: So we are Jolly jo lu.

Rochelle [2:44 - 2:45]: Yes.

Adrian Daniels [2:45 - 2:47]: Okay, I just say Jolie. Jo mulu.

Rochelle [2:47 - 2:49]: What is it?

Adrian Daniels [2:49 - 2:55]: Jolie. Is it Jolie or jowulu? Jolieu. Okay, maybe I got it wrong. Fingers pointed at me.

Rochelle [2:55 - 3:03]: It's spelled the Zorulu, but we won't get into it. Okay. The spelling. D z o R. Yeah.

Adrian Daniels [3:03 - 3:06]: Anyway, so I just got my ass kicked. Yeah, I got embarrassed.

Rochelle [3:07 - 3:20]: So when I was first, like, looking at that on the map, I would say, I'm going to Dezor Wooloo. And people would be like, what? I'm like, yeah, Dezor wooloo. I'm like, it sounds exactly how it spelt. Yeah, but I was wrong.

Adrian Daniels [3:20 - 3:24]: Sounds like something out of black Panther womanking, all that kind of stuff, doesn't it?

Rochelle [3:24 - 3:25]: Yeah, exactly.

Adrian Daniels [3:25 - 3:35]: Beautiful. Well, congrats with the crazy Bergen business. I know it's something you're not quite vocal on your personal platforms, but it's doing pretty well, isn't it, from what you shared off air.

Rochelle [3:35 - 4:08]: Exactly. And we were saying, I think you're asking me, why don't I post it in my Instagram page, for example? So I'm a little bit torn about it because majority of my followers don't live here, so they wouldn't be able to go to crazy burger. And I guess as an entrepreneur, I have myself as a content creator and I do other things as well, so that's not my primary source of business for myself. Right.

Adrian Daniels [4:08 - 4:09]: Yeah.

Rochelle [4:09 - 4:31]: So it's choosing between putting crazy burger at the front of my personal page or putting myself, which I am, the contents. Like, I promote my blogs and my videos through my Instagram. So I guess I just want to choose what the Instagram is gonna focus on.

Adrian Daniels [4:31 - 4:32]: Makes sense. Yeah.

Rochelle [4:32 - 4:38]: But I do integrate promoting the burger spot on my. On my page as well.

Adrian Daniels [4:38 - 4:39]: Okay.

Rochelle [4:39 - 5:04]: And people who follow me on Instagram, if they do get to visit Ghana, they know that I have a burger spot. So they come by. You know what I mean? Okay, cool. So, yeah, it's a mixture, but I think I try to keep the page aesthetic mainly, like, you know, my type of my. Not my type, my videos, my YouTube content and social media content.

Adrian Daniels [5:04 - 5:51]: Okay, brilliant. That's quite interesting because people tend to kind of like, link, link out their business. But what you've said is, makes a lot of sense. If most of your demographics come from outside Ghana, there's no need, and not everybody has to know all your business. You can just keep the main thing. The main thing, and then people can find out the other. Find out about the other things. Naturally. Um, you're doing pretty well on Instagram, and of course, your YouTube's doing pretty well, I think, almost 200,000 followers, as we are recording in February 2024. What's been your kind of secret in terms of like, as a content creator? I mean, you've clearly got it in terms of, like, socials and your following. What's been some. What's not secret, but what's been kind of like the key kind of principles you've kind of stuck by that's helped you to kind of grow. You're following your reach and your platforms.

Rochelle [5:51 - 6:07]: Right. So my content, if you aren't aware, is more. So vlogs mainly. So, you know, vlogs are essentially following me around in my day to day life. Right. So it's not like a production per se. Right.

Adrian Daniels [6:07 - 6:07]: Yeah.

Rochelle [6:07 - 6:35]: But you're just. I'm just being myself and doing what I'd normally do. So I think what is most important is being authentic. And we hear that over and over again and this type of, you know, these types of scenarios. So I just try to be myself and try to take it easy and I try to be, you know, truthful because people also enjoy, you know, seeing the real side of me or whoever that. Whoever they follow. Right.

Adrian Daniels [6:36 - 6:36]: Yeah.

Rochelle [6:36 - 7:29]: So I just try to be authentic. And I think that's what people are drawn to because they can relate to me. Right. Like, they can relate to my messy hair or they can relate to, you know, grocery shopping. It sounds really trivial, but those are things that most normal people participate in. Right. So I think that's a factor as well. So, you know, if you're going to be an influencer or anything in that realm, I think being authentic is definitely the number one thing to try to do. And as well, when you aren't authentic, you can't keep it up. Right. If you're not being yourself, how can you maintain not yourself? Do you get it right? It's almost like living a lie and eventually you'll get drained and you'll be tired of trying to keep up something that isn't true.

Adrian Daniels [7:29 - 7:30]: It's not sustainable, isn't it?

Rochelle [7:30 - 7:57]: It's not sustainable. Right. So just being yourself through and through. And I mean, even saying that there are some things that I do want to improve upon or change about myself. So it's almost like bringing them on that journey with me to become a better version of myself. So it's not that I'm changing into someone else, but, you know, as people evolve. Right. So just a natural progression of life and people like that. So all of that.

Adrian Daniels [7:57 - 8:12]: That's wonderful. I think you're right because you see other creators in this space, at least maybe in Ghana, at least like Ms. Drew Della, you know, when you see their vlogs, they don't just share the highlights, they share the downs and the bad stuff that they go through.

Rochelle [8:12 - 8:12]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [8:12 - 8:20]: And people can relate to that. And it's like you're going on a journey with them. And if it's just highs, it feels artificial, it doesn't really feel organic.

Rochelle [8:20 - 8:21]: It doesn't resonate.

Adrian Daniels [8:21 - 8:39]: Yeah. Because, you know, we look at some people's maybe Instagram profiles and it just looks too perfect. Like you want to see people like, you know, with a chip in your eye in the morning or that morning look, you know, people want to see that because if it's just too perfect, then it's like people start to question, are you even real?

Rochelle [8:39 - 8:40]: Right, right, right.

Adrian Daniels [8:40 - 8:41]: I guess it's that kind of thing.

Rochelle [8:41 - 8:41]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [8:41 - 8:43]: And how long you been vlogging for?

Rochelle [8:43 - 8:46]: Well, I've been doing it for about ten years now.

Adrian Daniels [8:46 - 8:47]: Consistency.

Rochelle [8:47 - 9:00]: Yes. Well, at times I haven't been as consistent. It's been ten years. So I've definitely had a moment or two where I've just, you know, been to myself and haven't necessarily posted as often as I would.

Adrian Daniels [9:00 - 9:00]: Yeah.

Rochelle [9:00 - 9:05]: And of course, you know, during my pregnancy, I didn't actually post much at all.

Adrian Daniels [9:05 - 9:05]: Yeah.

Rochelle [9:05 - 9:23]: And, you know, that's understandable because your body's changing. Yeah. You're carrying a baby, you're tired. Right. So I took a break at that time, but then I've also been posting since he's been born, so I've been working nonstop since he's been born, and it's catching up on me.

Adrian Daniels [9:24 - 9:30]: Congrats. Congrats on being a mother. And you've got another kid to the family.

Rochelle [9:30 - 9:31]: Right.

Adrian Daniels [9:31 - 9:41]: Number three. Number three, yeah. Congrats. Beautiful. And, of course, doing all these things and being a parent isn't always easy. How do you kind of balance all that?

Rochelle [9:41 - 10:01]: It's not easy. I don't know how I balance it because I have a very dynamic range of children. My daughter is 15, my son is eleven. And then I have a newborn. Those are three totally separate categories of stages of life. Right. So you got the teenager transitioning into a young adult.

Adrian Daniels [10:01 - 10:02]: Yeah.

Rochelle [10:02 - 10:14]: Then you got the boy who is transitioning into being a teen, but not quite. But he's not a baby anymore. He's not a kid anymore. And I got a newborn baby that I'm talking goo goo gaga to, so.

Adrian Daniels [10:14 - 10:14]: Right.

Rochelle [10:15 - 10:16]: I gotta learn three languages.

Adrian Daniels [10:17 - 10:19]: That's a lens. Yeah. Yeah.

Rochelle [10:19 - 10:48]: So. But I think the baby brings us together in a way, you know? You know, of course they all love each other. Right. But there's just something about having someone to be responsible for. For my older kids, they enjoy being responsible and helping and being helpful and taking care of, you know what I mean? A person. So I think that it brings us together as well.

Adrian Daniels [10:48 - 10:49]: Yeah.

Rochelle [10:49 - 10:49]: Yeah.

Adrian Daniels [10:49 - 10:57]: Okay. And how's it impacted how you've had to organise or manage, you know, content creation, entrepreneurship and, you know, your partner and things like that time? Your partner.

Rochelle [10:57 - 11:19]: Yeah. I'm just tired, man. That's all. I imagine I'm on, like, negative sleep. I'm even, like, sleep training him right now because he doesn't sleep so well throughout the night, and it's heartbreaking. Last night was the first night that the sleep training has begun. Essentially, you put them in the crib and ignore them. They scream their head off for, like, an hour, and you just have to let them do it.

Adrian Daniels [11:19 - 11:20]: It's painful. It's a painful.

Rochelle [11:21 - 11:21]: Yeah.

Adrian Daniels [11:22 - 11:26]: You got that. You know, deep down that, you know, maternal instinct. Exactly.

Rochelle [11:26 - 11:26]: Instinct.

Adrian Daniels [11:26 - 11:27]: That's what I thought.

Rochelle [11:27 - 11:34]: My baby. So I had to let him cry it out. It did actually help him sleep a little bit longer, but, like, it was just so mean.

Adrian Daniels [11:36 - 11:38]: Yeah. Wow, that's quite. It's quite something.

Rochelle [11:38 - 11:42]: So I think when I get my sleep back, I'll be like. I'll be so amazing.

Adrian Daniels [11:42 - 11:58]: Yeah. One thing that I've spoken to previous guests about, Michelle is when they've maybe had maybe a child or they have a kid, they have, like, a new kind of purpose or reason to kind of not live, but to kind of achieve something.

Rochelle [11:58 - 11:59]: Oh, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [11:59 - 12:06]: You know, I had this one guest I interviewed, he owns this puzzle company, and his daughter's a cosi oven.

Rochelle [12:06 - 12:07]: Oh, okay, nice.

Adrian Daniels [12:07 - 12:27]: And he's inspired to kind of, like, build this empire and hand over to her as generation of wealth. So when you've had kids, or even your most recent newborn, beautiful newborn, have you been kind of inspired to. Oh, look, since this kid's arrived or this child's arrived, I think I want to do something even greater. I want to do this and do that. Yeah, talk us through that.

Rochelle [12:27 - 12:35]: When I first got pregnant with my daughter, which was 15 years ago, that's exactly how I felt. Like, I went from child to adult immediately.

Adrian Daniels [12:35 - 12:35]: Wow.

Rochelle [12:35 - 13:24]: I was 19 when I got pregnant, so, yeah, I was a kid one day, and then I was like, what? I'm having a baby and no time for foolishness, you know? So I always had building an empire on my mind, you know, earning more money, making more money, getting the bag. Right. So that was always just something that just came natural to me since becoming a parent, you know, and that's also, you know, the inspiration behind crazy burger. You know, aside from wanting to bring something different to Accra, I wanted to have something I could actually leave my, like, an empire, could leave my child, you know? I would love for crazy burger to be like McDonald's. Imagine like, McDonald's CEO's children, you know, when he. I don't know if he's dead or what, but the children will get McDonald's. Right. So I would.

Adrian Daniels [13:24 - 13:25]: No, he's definitely gone.

Rochelle [13:25 - 13:55]: He's definitely gone. Right. So whoever it is next, right? So his children are gonna say, I own McDonald's, even though they haven't done anything to necessarily. Maybe, maybe not, but you know what I mean? Right. So, yeah, so I would like to hand over or hand down something like that. So, crazy burger. I hope not. I hope. I'm sure it will be, you know, that. That type of empire, that will be more than enough to share between three children. Right. So, yeah, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [13:55 - 14:14]: And it's quite interesting restaurant feel to go into because I think now, like, you got, like, Burger King in Accra and you got. I think there's another burger burger chain in Accra. I can't remember the name. I think it's start to see, but it's not many. So I think you still have an opportunity to play here.

Rochelle [14:14 - 14:26]: Room to grow, for sure. Exactly, yeah. And we want to expand outside of Ghana, you know, so Africa, right, yeah, Africa. So it's a big playground, so there's tonnes of opportunity right across the board.

Adrian Daniels [14:26 - 14:27]: Yeah.

Rochelle [14:27 - 14:29]: Um, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [14:29 - 14:43]: So beautiful. And have you managed to leverage your. Let's keep talking about crazy burger, if that's okay, a little bit more. Have you managed to leverage your influence, like, in terms of your following your platforms, to kind of raise awareness in maybe a little bit?

Rochelle [14:43 - 15:03]: Yeah, I have. But I also wanted crazy Burger to speak for itself, you know what I mean? I didn't want it to be something where you came because of an influencer. I just wanted you to come to Crazy BurgeR just because it's a good burger, you know what I mean? And remember it because it's a good burger.

Adrian Daniels [15:03 - 15:04]: Yeah.

Rochelle [15:04 - 15:54]: So I guess in a weird Way, maybe that's part of why I don't turn my personal profile into a Burger page. Yeah, right, right. I talk about it all the time in my content that I create, but my page, I just feel like if, you know, crazy burger is not because of me, it's because someone told you about it and you tried it and you love it. Right. So I want Crazy Burger to speak for itself. Right. I don't want it to be this kind of gimmicky extension of an influencer. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, influencers are always selling stuff. Sometimes it really feels like influencers are selling stuff. Yeah, this feels like they're selling stuff. Right. So I just didn't want to necessarily make that the reason why Crazy Berg.

Adrian Daniels [15:54 - 15:56]: Is successful, because I'm selling authentic, isn't it?

Rochelle [15:56 - 16:06]: Right. Super authentic. Yeah. So when I first started, it did well and it had nothing to do with my promoting it per se because that's a dream.

Adrian Daniels [16:06 - 16:09]: Right. If you don't have to promote something, you can focus on something else.

Rochelle [16:09 - 16:20]: We promote it in its own way. Yeah, but I didn't have to pour out my, you don't have to turn my entire page into a burger page to make sales, you know what I mean?

Adrian Daniels [16:21 - 16:22]: That's the dream though.

Rochelle [16:22 - 16:25]: Yeah. So I wanted to make a brand that's strong enough to stand on its own.

Adrian Daniels [16:25 - 16:26]: That's brilliant.

Rochelle [16:26 - 16:28]: Right. And I'll promote it here and there as well.

Adrian Daniels [16:28 - 16:35]: That's brilliant because, you know, you got like people such as Mister Beast, they've got Mister Beast Burger. And the thing about Mister Beast is.

Rochelle [16:35 - 16:37]: That I never even knew that Mister Beast has a burger.

Adrian Daniels [16:37 - 16:40]: He's got a burger chain in the States.

Rochelle [16:40 - 16:41]: In the States, okay.

Adrian Daniels [16:41 - 16:50]: And I think in the UK, but it's more like a dark kitchen. So you make it all then they kind of did. They do a delivery to you. But I think the thing about him, of course, he's used his platform to promote it.

Rochelle [16:50 - 16:51]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [16:51 - 17:08]: But it's more than just that. He actually obsessed with making the burger good as much as his content. So I guess, you know, some creators, they want to touch themselves, some creators don't. And I respect people such as, I guess it creates more time and opportunity for you to focus on other and not to worry about it in a certain way.

Rochelle [17:08 - 17:13]: So I don't have to worry about it. It's like, if I don't promote it, it doesn't mean that I won't get sales.

Adrian Daniels [17:13 - 17:17]: Absolutely. So, you know, because you can still market it without having to.

Rochelle [17:17 - 17:40]: Exactly. And as I said, because majority of my following doesn't live here, they can't get a burger. So it doesn't necessarily hurt the brand. I'm not a ghanaian influencer. I'm a western influencer, if you want to say at the moment. Right. So majority of my following is from there. So as I said, they can't walk over, get a burger as easily. Yeah, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [17:40 - 17:42]: I mean, yeah, of course. Yeah. They can't.

Rochelle [17:42 - 17:43]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [17:43 - 17:45]: And is it on the delivery platform? Is it just.

Rochelle [17:45 - 17:51]: Or just like restaurant walking on bolt foods? What's the other one?

Adrian Daniels [17:51 - 17:53]: There's loads. And Glovo.

Rochelle [17:53 - 17:55]: Glovo. When you find her.

Adrian Daniels [17:55 - 17:56]: Yeah. Okay.

Rochelle [17:56 - 17:57]: Yeah.

Adrian Daniels [17:57 - 17:59]: Because that will help. I'm sure that helps yourselves as well.

Rochelle [17:59 - 18:00]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [18:00 - 18:19]: Beautiful. Okay, great. So, you know, entrepreneur on side of, you know, other things in terms of content creation. Okay, let's keep this conversation going. So in terms of you creating content. So, of course, you moved to Ghana some years back and did you see that in terms of the content you were creating? Of course. Vlogs. Mainly vlogs.

Rochelle [18:19 - 18:19]: Right.

Adrian Daniels [18:19 - 18:32]: I know the music videos and things like that. Was it a lot more easier in terms of creating content here? Because there's a lot of creators, they've come here and they've created content and they've kind of jumped in the whole Ghana bandwagon.

Rochelle [18:32 - 18:32]: Right, right.

Adrian Daniels [18:32 - 18:37]: And they've been able to get lots of views and traction from it. Has that kind of helped you to grow or necessarily.

Rochelle [18:38 - 19:11]: So I kind of was very wary of putting myself in a box and becoming a ghanaian showcase. Sir of Ghana, if you get me. And so what I've noticed with a lot of creators, they do like a lot of Ghana heavy content, and then kind of when the content runs out, their page isn't relevant because they've toured all the houses or they went to all the beaches. So now the page is like, okay, what's next? Right. What's next?

Adrian Daniels [19:12 - 19:12]: Another country.

Rochelle [19:13 - 19:18]: I just didn't want to make my page a Ghana reference page.

Adrian Daniels [19:18 - 19:19]: Yeah.

Rochelle [19:19 - 19:21]: I just want. I still want the page to be about me.

Adrian Daniels [19:21 - 19:21]: Yeah.

Rochelle [19:22 - 19:45]: Right. So I knew that in some instances, there's opportunity to gain a lot of traction if I just focus on Ghana's top ten. This or Ghana's this or Ghana's that. Ghana's houses, Ghana's roads, Ghana's cars. But you know, I was just nervous of becoming, um, put in a box of a ghanaian or accra like, reference page. Right.

Adrian Daniels [19:45 - 19:46]: Yeah.

Rochelle [19:46 - 20:01]: Because when I, let's say someone's asking me about, you know, Ghana or Accra or living here, I might give them a reference page to get information about Ghana. Right. But if you ask me for any other content from that person.

Adrian Daniels [20:01 - 20:01]: Yeah.

Rochelle [20:01 - 20:05]: I don't really know, like, yeah, I wouldn't really necessarily recommend you for anything else.

Adrian Daniels [20:05 - 20:06]: Yeah.

Rochelle [20:06 - 20:28]: I only know you to talk about things in Accra, so I'm only going to look at your page because I want information about Accra. So I was just afraid that I would just put myself in that box. So I still try to remain generic in the type of content. Not generic, but just remain putting myself at the centre of my content. Yeah, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [20:29 - 20:30]: That makes a lot of sense. Yeah.

Rochelle [20:30 - 20:34]: So when I'm not doing anything about Ghana, you still want to watch, you know?

Adrian Daniels [20:34 - 21:15]: Yeah, I think that's a great idea and that's the way to go because, I mean, there's creators like Vanessa Camby. I mean, she also had kids and then she took time and then she moved back to Scotland. But what you notice is that she didn't put herself in the garner box. Maybe she did initially, but then she quickly kind of opened her rises and we're going to do travel content, we're going to do family content. So I think when you have a lot more content boxes to kind of put yourself into, it kind of helps you to kind of like, not put the limits on content creation. And I think I've noticed you've done a little bit, like, for example, you got a vlog where maybe shopping in UK or something like that. So you don't limit just to Ghana. And I think that helps you to kind of tap into other audiences as well, doesn't it?

Rochelle [21:15 - 21:25]: Yeah. And if I want to, like, pivot, it's easier to, you know, change directions. Right. If I wanted to, yeah. So, um, beautiful.

Adrian Daniels [21:25 - 21:36]: So, I mean, of course, before you came to Ghana, of course, you, you were content creating and you're doing some, some stuff. What would you say is some of the challenges in terms of being an entrepreneur, being a creator here compared to.

Rochelle [21:36 - 21:39]: Like the western, being a creator here in Ghana?

Adrian Daniels [21:39 - 21:40]: Yeah.

Rochelle [21:41 - 22:01]: Well, I guess the type of content I create, you know, I vlog, so I am the content. So no matter where I go, I can make a time of it, you know. So for me, there hasn't been any really big challenges. But let me get back to you on that question. I'm sure something will come up.

Adrian Daniels [22:01 - 22:09]: That's fine. No problem. Okay, cool. So that's quite an interesting one. And business side of things. You experience challenges on the business side?

Rochelle [22:09 - 22:11]: I mean, of course, any kind of business.

Adrian Daniels [22:11 - 22:14]: Not necessarily crazy burger, but any kind of anything.

Rochelle [22:15 - 22:44]: It's such a catch 22 living here in Ghana. I love living here in Ghana. I promote definitely relocating and, you know, coming home. This is, you know, where we're truly from. And, you know, I definitely promote that. And at the same time, there are other challenges that I've been, you know, in my experience, that have been shocking. And unfortunately, it's the whole country, seemingly. So I can't even say it because it sounds so mean.

Adrian Daniels [22:44 - 22:48]: Is there anything you can share that's not very political, if you will?

Rochelle [22:48 - 22:53]: It's just that, you know, coming from the west, we're so used to efficiency.

Adrian Daniels [22:54 - 22:54]: Yeah.

Rochelle [22:54 - 22:58]: And high level of service.

Adrian Daniels [22:58 - 22:58]: Yeah.

Rochelle [22:58 - 22:59]: Okay.

Adrian Daniels [22:59 - 23:02]: I mean, that's ironic because you can. Now you're a local restaurant.

Rochelle [23:02 - 23:02]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [23:02 - 23:04]: You can address that.

Rochelle [23:04 - 23:54]: Yeah. But not just in restaurant customer service. I mean, in any service that you can acquire it, something will occur that will shock you. You know, professionalism isn't quite where it should be. I've, I feel in ghana, and it's just everywhere you turn, everything you do, you, interactions with people who are providing services, there's always such a large room for improvement, and it can be just very frustrating. Things take longer. Right. You have to do things more than once. You have to be there. Let's say I'm not a plumber. I have to be there with the plumber, instructing the plumber. I'm not an electrician. I have to be there with the electrician to see what he's doing, to tell him what to do.

Adrian Daniels [23:55 - 23:56]: And they're getting paid.

Rochelle [23:56 - 24:07]: They're getting paid. So those are the types of things that are very frustrating. And you actually have to know more than the professional who's providing the service.

Adrian Daniels [24:07 - 24:08]: Sounds funny, doesn't it?

Rochelle [24:08 - 24:14]: Isn't sound funny. I have to. Yeah. So those are the challenges of living here in general.

Adrian Daniels [24:14 - 24:14]: Thank you.

Rochelle [24:14 - 24:21]: And I just definitely know that, you know, that gets to a lot of expats. It can eat away at you.

Adrian Daniels [24:21 - 24:22]: Yeah.

Rochelle [24:22 - 24:31]: You know, imagine just everything at 90%. Nothing's at 100, everything's at 90. And that 10%, it just drives you crazy.

Adrian Daniels [24:34 - 24:39]: I'm laughing because I've experienced. I've experienced exactly what you're talking about in so many different ways.

Rochelle [24:39 - 24:51]: Like people, I've heard this saying all throughout life, good help is hard to find. That is the definition of living in Ghana. Good help is hard to find.

Adrian Daniels [24:51 - 24:53]: Yeah. Trust is like the greatest currency I've also had, you know.

Rochelle [24:53 - 24:54]: Oh, yeah.

Adrian Daniels [24:54 - 24:55]: Yeah.

Rochelle [24:55 - 25:04]: So it is really difficult to find a team, a solid team you can depend on. You go through a lot of. A lot of people.

Adrian Daniels [25:04 - 25:10]: Yeah. Well, thanks for being transparent. I mean. Yeah. I mean, as good as it is, you know. Of course, it does have its downs.

Rochelle [25:10 - 25:10]: I mean, exactly.

Adrian Daniels [25:10 - 25:12]: Any country has its ups and downs.

Rochelle [25:12 - 25:13]: Every country has its ups they don't want to see.

Adrian Daniels [25:13 - 25:17]: So we don't want to just put gone in and sell you in a bad light, you know? Afghanistan.

Rochelle [25:17 - 25:18]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [25:18 - 25:19]: But, yeah, of course there's reality.

Rochelle [25:19 - 25:20]: It is reality.

Adrian Daniels [25:20 - 25:21]: Trying to get things done here.

Rochelle [25:21 - 25:48]: Yeah. That's the challenges, as you asked me, the challenges of living here. Right. So those are it. But at the same time, you know, everyone's super friendly. It's very, very, very safe. That's probably the number one thing about Lana, is the safety. You know, the environment is cool, you know, it's warm. I love the weather and all that type of stuff. So, you know, as much as I have those complaints, I still wouldn't choose anywhere else to live. Yeah. So I'd still live here.

Adrian Daniels [25:48 - 26:06]: Beautiful. That's quite interesting because, I mean, I have spoken to other creators and other entrepreneurs and who've come here or live here or still live here, and there's been a point where they've been this close to moving back to country. Have you been in a position where, okay, I think I'm gonna pack up.

Rochelle [26:06 - 26:07]: My bags and go back to the never.

Adrian Daniels [26:08 - 26:10]: You've just kind of put your power through. Push through.

Rochelle [26:11 - 26:32]: Yeah. I live with that. Because I know why they would say that. I get it. I know why they would just want to go somewhere where everything's super convenient and interactions are super smooth. Right. And everyone understands you. They get. I'm not talking about the english language. I mean, understands you. Right. Because everyone here speaks English, but that's not the issue.

Adrian Daniels [26:32 - 26:33]: Yeah.

Rochelle [26:33 - 26:40]: There's sometimes a breakdown in communication. Of course, you know, the service you're asking for is not what you thought you were gonna get. Right.

Adrian Daniels [26:40 - 26:43]: And they interpret things differently.

Rochelle [26:43 - 26:51]: Right. So, you know, sometimes not necessarily a fault of their own at times as well. Right. So there's that cultural difference that they might assume you meant this.

Adrian Daniels [26:51 - 26:52]: Yeah.

Rochelle [26:52 - 26:54]: Because they know this to be this or, you know.

Adrian Daniels [26:54 - 26:54]: Yeah.

Rochelle [26:54 - 27:00]: So. So I get why people do move back. I get it. I do get it, you know.

Adrian Daniels [27:01 - 27:01]: Yeah.

Rochelle [27:01 - 27:07]: I wouldn't, you know, it doesn't bother me. I guess I have a high tolerance. Yeah, for whatever, but it doesn't bother me.

Adrian Daniels [27:07 - 27:09]: That's good. Yeah, that's good.

Rochelle [27:09 - 27:11]: And a lot of people are like, nah, I'm going home.

Adrian Daniels [27:11 - 27:43]: I guess that's what you need, right? I mean, we could probably talk about what kind of, you know, traits, character. You need to kind of like, you know, be successful out here in countries like this. Not just going to be other countries as well, but. Yeah, I definitely understand what you mean in terms of interpreting one thing one other way. We did have a guest where I think she made an order. I think this is consume shop. One of our previous guests made an order and I think they were ordered number 24 yam something. Yeah, they thought she ordered 24 pieces of yam, so they brought 24 pieces of yam to a table, huh? Yeah.

Rochelle [27:43 - 27:51]: Well, so that's the daily interaction here. Sometimes daily. So, you know, I guess once you.

Adrian Daniels [27:51 - 27:53]: Get used to it, it's insane.

Rochelle [27:53 - 28:08]: It is insane. So, you know, I just, in that regard, I pray that somehow maybe the younger generation coming up will be different. Right.

Adrian Daniels [28:08 - 28:09]: Beautiful.

Rochelle [28:09 - 28:24]: And maybe the exposure that they're getting through social media will allow their minds to think outside of the box or just be more critical. Critical thinking is what it's lacking. Right. So I think the younger generation might change things, hopefully.

Adrian Daniels [28:24 - 29:05]: Yeah. Brilliant. Talking about the younger generation, of course you've got kids and of course they're probably going to school and they're eventually going to start looking at what job they're going to go in, what business, career, etcetera. What does that look like for you? Because of course, maybe generational wealth is something you want to build. And also, of course you're raising kids here in Ghana. I mean, if you're from Canada, you probably had a different upbringing. What does that look like for you in terms of what maybe the direction you want your kids to go in and the environments that they're in. Do you see them going to a certain field or you trying to push them into a certain field? You learn that kind of naturally take its place in the environments that they're in, if that makes sense.

Rochelle [29:05 - 29:41]: So right now, I mean, there's a lot of people making money online, right? Whether it be drop shipping or white label selling products. There's this other one, I can't remember the name of it. It's gonna come to me. What is it called? Affiliate marketing. Right. So you got all these ways to make money online, and I personally don't know what fields are going to be left in terms of jobs that people can work at in the near coming future.

Adrian Daniels [29:41 - 29:42]: True.

Rochelle [29:42 - 29:43]: With AI coming up.

Adrian Daniels [29:43 - 29:44]: Scary, isn't it?

Rochelle [29:44 - 29:54]: Scary? Definitely scary. I was looking at a video. AI is running a McDonald's. There's no humans in a McDonald's. Somewhere in the states. AI operating McDonald's.

Adrian Daniels [29:54 - 29:55]: That's crazy.

Rochelle [29:55 - 29:56]: No humans.

Adrian Daniels [29:56 - 29:56]: Yeah.

Rochelle [29:56 - 29:56]: Right?

Adrian Daniels [29:57 - 29:59]: I think Amazon fresh is almost up there, right?

Rochelle [29:59 - 30:23]: Amazon fresh. Right. So it's getting there, and I just don't see where people are going to go to school like we used to and work. And even in Toronto, the Uber drivers, they're all doctors from other countries. It's true. Right? You get a lot of people driving Uber with master's degrees or whatever. They can't get a job. There's no jobs.

Adrian Daniels [30:23 - 30:23]: Yeah.

Rochelle [30:23 - 30:24]: They're doing Uber.

Adrian Daniels [30:24 - 30:25]: To have to create your own job.

Rochelle [30:25 - 30:28]: Right? So imagine you spend all this money getting an education.

Adrian Daniels [30:28 - 30:28]: Yeah.

Rochelle [30:29 - 31:07]: And you got to pay that money back, and you're not even working in the field you expected to be working in because. You know what I mean? So, that being said, I want to, not I want to, but I do actively challenge my children right now to dabble in this online world of making money. Right. And they're smart, and, like, I don't even know. I don't know how to use a computer as well as my children. Okay. I asked them, like, Naomi, can you show me how to use this app? Like, they're telling me how to use it. Like, no, mom, this is what you do. And I'm like, so I don't see why they can't figure out how to make a website.

Adrian Daniels [31:07 - 31:08]: Yeah.

Rochelle [31:08 - 31:28]: How to code, like, you know, how to do social media marketing and all that type of stuff. Make an Instagram and sell something. You know what I mean? So I'm definitely, you know, more on the side of that. They'll be entrepreneurs, and it's just unlikely they'll work somewhere like that. You know what I mean?

Adrian Daniels [31:29 - 31:31]: That makes sense. I mean, I guess that comes from your experience as well.

Rochelle [31:31 - 31:56]: That comes from my experience. And, yeah, I just think entrepreneurship is just the way to go. You know? I like school for the. For the purposes of discipline, you know, of waking up early, getting your stuff together, doing tasks. Like, you get homework, you finish the homework, you return it. So those are healthy habits that. But that's. That, to me, is all school is good for. You know what I mean? So they do have to go to school.

Adrian Daniels [31:56 - 31:57]: Yeah.

Rochelle [31:57 - 32:21]: For that. But I mean, and even, like, I think about how much pressure the black community, not the black people, should I say, like, our parents coming from other countries, coming to the west, they put such high value in school. But if you say you're doing something entrepreneurial, it's just so foreign to them.

Adrian Daniels [32:21 - 32:21]: Yeah.

Rochelle [32:21 - 32:25]: And they don't, they don't get it. They don't like it, you know, because.

Adrian Daniels [32:25 - 32:26]: They'Re so used to, like the traditional.

Rochelle [32:26 - 32:36]: Go to school, be doctor, lawyer or whatever. Right. So when you're doing an entrepreneur, something like that, they don't get it and they don't feel comfortable about it.

Adrian Daniels [32:36 - 32:37]: Yeah.

Rochelle [32:37 - 32:54]: You know, when I first told my, not first, but when I was doing YouTube, my parents were like, what? YouTube? Right. So it just doesn't feel, they don't have a sense of pride to call their friends and tell them, yes, my dog, my daughter's a youtuber. You know, it doesn't sound as good as my daughter's a doctor.

Adrian Daniels [32:54 - 33:00]: I know, right? Yeah. But the ironic thing is that some of these creators can make more money than the doctor, but it's always necessarily about money.

Rochelle [33:00 - 33:22]: It is, yeah. No, but we know that for sure. But parents just can't accept that they're telling everyone, my daughter's a youtuber. What the hell is that? So for a while, I feel like my parents wished they could tell their friends, my daughter's a doctor. You know, it's the easier explanation. But how do people understand a youtuber? Right.

Adrian Daniels [33:22 - 33:38]: Yeah, I totally, I totally can relate because I didn't just do business management university many years ago, I did music technology. So I used to be like a music producer and my parents didn't understand. But then down the line, when I start to win all these awards and start to perform at different places, then they were, okay, we get it now.

Rochelle [33:38 - 33:39]: Right? It took them a while.

Adrian Daniels [33:39 - 34:06]: Yeah. And radio thing as well, so, yeah, definitely get it. Rochelle, it's been amazing, amazing conversation. I've enjoyed speaking to you. What would you give in terms of tips for people that maybe they have personal brands or they're content creators or they're entrepreneurs and maybe they want to do it in an environment like Ghana, Africa, or maybe they're out there in the states, in the UK or Europe. What kind of tips, general tips would you give to them?

Rochelle [34:06 - 35:06]: Go for it. I feel like it's such a simple concept, but we spend a lot of time thinking about doing it and thinking, but all that time wasted thinking you could be doing it. So what do they say? Fail forward. You're not going to get it right on the first try. Right. It just sounds so simple. But don't give up. Don't give up. You have to do it. I always say that if you're gonna create content, especially content creation, if you're gonna create content, right, do it as though no one's ever gonna watch it, right. So can you create this content and do it to the best of your ability with zero views? Right. You never will be tired of it. If it's something you genuinely want to do and something you genuinely love or you're genuinely interested in, if no one's watching, you don't regret creating the content. Right? So find something to do where it just is natural to you. That's what I'd say. That's powerful advice, right?

Adrian Daniels [35:06 - 35:07]: Yeah.

Rochelle [35:07 - 35:26]: Some of the best content creators, they've been creating when they had, like, zero following and zero views, and they kept creating. And what they create, they love it, right? So they weren't discouraged at the fact that no one was watching. Who cares? They still love that content and they still created it. And now a lot of them are, you know, super successful.

Adrian Daniels [35:26 - 35:51]: Yeah, that's right. I mean, you focus on, you know, the passion and why you did it in the first place. And that should kind of get you through tough moments when maybe you don't have all the views or maybe when you're not even monetized or when no one's listening to you. I mean, same thing with podcasting. You know, a lot. Most people can't get past seven podcasts. They give up a few. Yeah. So you definitely keepers of rim. Very, very, very good advice. So what does 2024 look like for you?

Rochelle [35:51 - 35:55]: Oh, wow. There's so much going on. I was asking him. I was asking you.

Adrian Daniels [35:55 - 35:56]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rochelle [35:56 - 36:00]: I'm telling them. I was asking you earlier when you're gonna drop this podcast.

Adrian Daniels [36:00 - 36:01]: Yeah.

Rochelle [36:01 - 36:05]: And the reason is I'm actually moving to Nigeria. I haven't told anyone yet.

Adrian Daniels [36:05 - 36:06]: Oh, is this exclusive?

Rochelle [36:07 - 36:07]: It's exclusive.

Adrian Daniels [36:07 - 36:09]: Well, we got exclusive.

Rochelle [36:10 - 36:13]: I'm moving to Nigeria for the 1 April.

Adrian Daniels [36:13 - 36:14]: Okay.

Rochelle [36:14 - 36:15]: Which is, like, in 30 days.

Adrian Daniels [36:15 - 36:16]: Oh, wow. Okay.

Rochelle [36:16 - 36:20]: Yeah. So we're doing a crazy burger in Lego.

Adrian Daniels [36:20 - 36:22]: No, you're expanding to Nigeria already.

Rochelle [36:22 - 36:24]: That's how quick. Yeah, it is.

Adrian Daniels [36:24 - 36:27]: Congrats. Three years of starting. Yeah. And you got.

Rochelle [36:27 - 36:49]: Is that quick? Is it? I guess. But you know what? That's quick for the west. And the west has so much red tape around this type of stuff. Right. But, you know, here in Africa, things are a little bit more accessible and easier. It's just easier. Right. You register your business, you do this, you do that, and you don't need billions of dollars. If you're going to do a restaurant in the UK, you must know.

Adrian Daniels [36:49 - 36:52]: Yeah. Or franchise or something. How much?

Rochelle [36:52 - 36:58]: Millions of dollars. Hey, it's expensive. Right? So we franchise out our east lagoon location.

Adrian Daniels [36:58 - 36:59]: Yeah.

Rochelle [36:59 - 37:09]: Right. And we're going to be moving to Lagos and doing one there. I have so many things that I want to do. It's just that I'm one person and I just had a baby. But as soon as I get some sleep.

Adrian Daniels [37:09 - 37:10]: Yeah. Then you can kind of move on to the next one.

Rochelle [37:10 - 37:11]: It's gonna be crazy.

Adrian Daniels [37:11 - 37:39]: Well, congratulations on that. Hope to learn a little bit more about that off air in terms of the Lagos expansion. But this has been very, very insightful, I must say. All right, so I'm gonna close out with my traditional question. I do ask some guests. So, what is the sound of Accra to you? So when the word Accra is mentioned to you, Rochelle, what? Thoughts, vibes? Feelings come to mind. So, for example, someone might say traffic or partying trucks.

Rochelle [37:41 - 38:04]: Crazy burger. I'm kidding. No. So just like a melting pot of different. Why do you say that? Why are you laughing? It's a melting pot of different. Oh, God. Is it called socioeconomical people? I don't know, but different variations of people in different stages of life.

Adrian Daniels [38:05 - 38:06]: That's pretty accurate.

Rochelle [38:06 - 38:08]: That's why I said socio economical, isn't it?

Adrian Daniels [38:08 - 38:08]: Yeah.

Rochelle [38:08 - 39:05]: Right. See, I brought one thing from school, that word. And I say that to say that you have a mixture of the very wealthy and the average ghanaian local. You know what I mean? And that is actually what I do love. Right. So I'll give an example. When I went to Lagos, I went to the islands. I didn't. Victoria islands. Beautiful. But you don't get the level of locals in the islands as much as you do in Accra. Right? So you have these enormously big buildings, and I was like, where are the pedestrians? Like, where are the people? You don't even see? You don't even see people begging. Not that that's a good thing to see, per se, but I'm saying that you wonder, where is that population in the island?

Adrian Daniels [39:05 - 39:06]: True.

Rochelle [39:06 - 39:08]: They're not really there. And that was kind of weird to me.

Adrian Daniels [39:08 - 39:09]: Kind of tucked away a little bit there, were they?

Rochelle [39:09 - 39:26]: Yeah, exactly. So I. I appreciate that you can see people from all walks of life in the same place in Accra. You know what I mean? So I hope that doesn't change, because with all the expats coming over and all the changes, I hope they don't get pushed out with you know what I mean?

Adrian Daniels [39:26 - 39:35]: That's true. It's true. Because I know the government in Ghana, they've done certain things to kind of like maybe take some of the street hawkers off the road, which isn't quite fair because they need to eat, right?

Rochelle [39:35 - 39:35]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [39:35 - 39:38]: Yeah. Maybe not crazy burger, but they need to eat. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

Rochelle [39:39 - 39:39]: Right.

Adrian Daniels [39:39 - 39:43]: Michelle, you've been amazing. Where can everyone find you and, you know, connect with you?

Rochelle [39:43 - 40:14]: Yeah. So. Because I don't promote crazy burger enough, crazy burger number one is located, as we mentioned before, in Accra, East Lagans. You guys can look it up. You guys can google it. You'll find the two locations, Jolu or Dzorulu, as well as East Lagoon location on the maps. You can also call us, we do deliveries, or you can find us on bolt on the app menu finder. And what's the other one? Global.

Adrian Daniels [40:15 - 40:15]: There's so many.

Rochelle [40:15 - 40:23]: We also have a website you can order from. Right. It's crazyburgergh.com. all right. Is that enough promotion for you?

Adrian Daniels [40:23 - 40:26]: I think so, yeah. We want crazy burger to make the millions, so.

Rochelle [40:26 - 40:27]: Yeah, there's millions.

Adrian Daniels [40:27 - 40:27]: Yeah.

Rochelle [40:27 - 40:30]: And you can find us in links goes eventually, right?

Adrian Daniels [40:30 - 40:31]: If you guys come over.

Rochelle [40:31 - 40:31]: Exactly.

Adrian Daniels [40:32 - 40:33]: We'll come over.

Rochelle [40:33 - 40:33]: Yes.

Adrian Daniels [40:33 - 40:34]: We'll start the sound.

Rochelle [40:34 - 40:34]: Nice.

Adrian Daniels [40:34 - 40:43]: We'll start the Sound of Lagos podcast. Can I just drop an exclusive? I don't know. We'll cook it something.

Rochelle [40:43 - 40:45]: All right. I want the right to that.

Adrian Daniels [40:45 - 40:46]: Okay. We'll talk.

Rochelle [40:46 - 40:47]: Co founder.

Adrian Daniels [40:47 - 40:48]: We'll talk.

Rochelle [40:48 - 40:53]: We'll talk. Then you can find my personal page, which is Rochelle officially on Instagram.

Adrian Daniels [40:53 - 40:54]: Yeah.

Rochelle [40:54 - 41:06]: And you can find me on YouTube. You can put in Rochelle B. Or Rochelle vlogs. I'll pop up and there. You'll find me there. Where else can you find me? Yeah, that's what. That's finesse.

Adrian Daniels [41:06 - 41:07]: I think that's enough.

Rochelle [41:07 - 41:08]: I think that's enough.

Adrian Daniels [41:08 - 41:45]: Yeah. So we'll have everything in the show notes, all the links, references, the wisdom keys, etcetera. Head over to thesoundofaccra.com/rochelle, that's Rochelle . Sorry? R O C H E DOUBLE L e. The podcast description below, the YouTube description below. You grab all the links in the socials and crazy burgers, the links, and, yeah, let us know what you thought this conversation. Get in the comments. Maybe me and Rochelle might do, like, a live or something, depending on how this conversation goes. But that's it, guys. Thanks for tuning, and we'll see you in the next one. Thank you so much. Peace. How did you find that.