1. Adventures of Andrea Opoku
Founder, GreenBean Marketing
My name is Andrea Opoku, I’m a Marketing Consultant and the founder of GreenBean Marketing which
delivers marketing, branding and PR activities and consultancy services for small and medium sized
businesses.
GreenBean Marketing was born in 2008 out of a frustration in my then current role and of a need for me to fall
back in love with my profession again.
I got into marketing via what some would describe as the traditional route: I got an entry level marketing job
straight out of university, gained some experience and worked my way up, working in the US and France and a
few big brands in the UK. The seed to set up my business was sown, strangely, after I was turned down for a
job. The process made me realize how much I loved what I was doing, and ironically that I was pretty good at
it.
Some years later I was in a great role in which I had gained so much experience and had travelled extensively,
but I had reached as far as I was going to in that organization. I wasn’t being challenged and I was growing
increasingly frustrated with my job. A friend asked me to help her re-brand and re-launch her business. It
worked really well and I saw the effect it had on her business, most importantly I got a huge confidence boost,
and wanted to do more.
I had a decision to make, I could look for a more challenging role and leave the company or I could stay where
I was and ‘cruise’ while I focused on starting and growing my business. I choose the latter.
Just as I had made that decision a number of life events happened within a short period that made me feel at
the time that I had lost control of my life and the direction it was going.
In 2008 I was married and pregnant with my first child and my husband and I bought a house near my parents
and moved in in April. In May that year my then 36 year old brother had a stroke, my mother passed away that
same week and my son was born two and a half weeks later. Anyone who has been through anything like that
can relate to the feeling I had of the ground beneath my feet literally giving way and I was free falling. It was a
very dark time. Only my faith in God and my newborn son were my saving grace. A year later in 2009 my
father also passed away suddenly, I was pregnant with my second baby at the time.
It took me a long time to regain control of my life and in 2010 I was on maternity leave with my second son
and used the opportunity to start pushing my business again, networking and getting new clients. It was a real
struggle pushing myself mentally and emotionally, but the business community I entered was amazing, and
without knowing my whole back-story, helped me immensely. I gave up work completely towards the end of
2010.
Now my role involves meeting and speaking to business owners everyday; delivering client marketing and PR
campaigns, running workshops and speaking at events; writing articles and my blog. I also manage a very
small team of freelancers. I’m constantly looking for new opportunities and keeping abreast of developments
in marketing, social media, technology so I can serve my clients better.
I’m not one of those early risers, I work best late at night. However in the week I’m up by 6.45am to get my
boys up and ready for school and nursery. We leave the house at 8.30am and if I don’t have any events or
networking meetings I’m usually at my desk with a cup of strong coffee and a couple of slices of toast by
9.30am. Much of my time at the beginning of the week is spent responding to and sending emails, and making
client calls, checking with the team on the progress of client projects. In the middle and towards the end of the
week is when I do much of my reading/learning, writing and planning – for clients and GreenBean Marketing
as well.
2. I stop work late afternoon to pick up my boys, spend some time with them and get them feed, bathed and ready
for bed. At around 9pm I start what I call my ‘second shift’ and on a good day I’m in bed by midnight.
It is tough and the pressure to get everything done can take its toll on your body and relationships. But I’m
getting better at taking time out for myself and my family.
If I could go back and change anything in my career I would have got a mentor much earlier on. Someone to
keep me focused and help me navigate the politics and game playing that takes place in companies which you
don’t think about when starting your working life.
Another is I sometimes wish I had worked in a marketing consultancy/agency. The experience of having to go
out to get work and pitching for business would have set me up well in my current business.
It’s funny, at one point I considered doing something more practical, using my hands and helping people, like
being a paramedic or a doctor. With that said I did work as a care assistant whilst at university and didn’t like
it at all. It takes a special kind of person to work with vulnerable and ill people.
As a business owner I have that entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to start a business that doesn’t completely
centre on my profession. I’m still looking for the right opportunity…
In my career and my business I’ve been my biggest obstacle to getting where I want to be! My belief in myself
and my abilities was limited. Doing something every day that makes me afraid, seeing my successes and the
value I bring to my clients, as well as age and experience, has taught me to quieten and sometimes even silence
that little voice in my head that says I can’t do it.
This is something that comes up again and again as an issue with many, if not all, women. The glass ceiling
and other external factors that hold us back are there, but the biggest battle goes on inside our heads and our
hearts.
The recent publication of and all the activity around Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In addresses this issue and
really resonates with me, and most women I imagine. I’m sure many women can identify at which point they
leaned in or leaned back…
There is always the desire to have more clients and more profit, but I’m much happier with my life now than I
was in employment. I’m working in a business I created that challenges me and also makes me feel valued,
and I have the flexibility to spend time with my husband and play with my children. I would call that
successful! Or at least on the way to success, there’s always more one wants to achieve!
Women need to define success by their own standards not by what everyone else is doing and what the media
depicts as successful.
I don’t believe there is a secret to success! Seriously, its hard work and doing what works for you consistently.
Keeping in contact with people, being open to new opportunities but also knowing when to step back and say
no.
I surround myself with positive people who are doing well in life who will encourage and support me. I also
try and help others as much as I can. I got to where I am because of the support and belief others had in me, so
I like to pass that on.
In trying to balance work/family and life I try not to take on too much now – it’s a simple as that. When I first
started my business I wanted to be involved in and be a part of everything, just so I didn’t miss out on the
‘opportunity’. Now I take on projects that sit well with me, make business and financial sense and that don’t
compromise my time with my family.
My husband works hard and has long hours but on the weekends the boys are his, giving me time to catch up
on work or take time out. As a family we go to Church on a Sunday and once a month or so I go out for drinks,
dinner or a spa day with a group of girlfriends.
At the moment I’m training for a 1.5 km (64 lengths of a pool) Swimathon for Marie Curie Cancer Care, which
is hard but is keeping me fit and focused!
Women can really make a difference in the work place by:
having an unshakeable belief in themselves and their abilities
3. Putting themselves forward for everything they have a desire to do.
Leaving the insecurities and bitchiness at the door and helping and supporting other women.
Knowing and understanding themselves and what they really want in life.
Thinking bigger, aiming higher and not limiting themselves to what they see around them.
I could go on…..
Business and commerce really inspires me. I love my job and I love talking to my clients about their
businesses. Working with a client means being a part of their business – and I am right in there with them
making it work.
My job challenges me and gives me variety, everyday is different. Working with different people; working in
different types of businesses in varying industries. If I had to give advice to my younger self I would say…
Don’t be afraid to get it wrong and look stupid – sometimes in the effort to look like you know
everything, you end up not learning anything.
Get two mentors – a man and a woman, one of which should be in the same profession as you.
Surround yourself with positive people who have succeeded or are on their way to succeeding in their
professions or businesses.
Start networking professionally as soon as possible, whilst still in university if you can.
When starting a business…
If you have financial capital be extremely careful how you spend it. Most businesses can start with no or very
little money. Before you hire in or outsource a function to a company or freelancers make sure you understand
what the job entails. Lastly, it’s been said before and it will continue to be said: network, network and network
some more. It’s yourself and the people you meet outside of your business that will help it grow.
I want to leave a business that continues to promote entrepreneurism and support the small business man or
woman.
I want to instill in my sons the same values that my parents instilled in me – hard work and education is key,
help and respect for others, and always aim high. My mother worked full time throughout my childhood, and
like most 1st generation Ghanaians in the UK she had numerous businesses on the side. I’ve carried on that
entrepreneurial spirit and want to pass it onto my sons. The world is changing and having the ability to create
your own living will soon become the norm.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my adventures and in closing here is one of my favorite quotes:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It
is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You
are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
Andrea Opoku
Founder,
GreenBean Marketing
