New Business Traveler: Work Trips Are a Way for Beauty Entrepreneur Abena Boamah to Reconnect With Her Ghanaian Heritage

06.09.2023 - 23:29 / cntraveler.com

When I speak Abena Boamah, founder and CEO of clean beauty brand Hanahana, she's Zooming in from Accra during a month-long stay in the city, partially motivated by business and partially personal. In fact, it's one of many trips that have brought her back to the country she has lived in on-and-off again. Luckily, having a shea butter-based product and lots of family throughout Ghana will do that. “I'm Ghanaian, and when I started a company that uses shea butter as an ingredient, I decided that it was important for us to source raw shea directly from producers in Ghana,” says the now Chicago-based Boamah. “Ever since I launched Hanahana, it's allowed me to reconnect with my culture and with my family back home. I can work and build a life in Ghana at the same time.” 

Born in DC, raised in various parts of Ghana and Ohio, then split between Chicago and Accra in her adult years, Boamah is tied between the two continents. So, when her grandmother passed away recently and a celebration of life was planned in Ghana, Boamah decided to fly over and stay a while so she could connect with her family. Naturally, she ended up extending her trip so she could check in with her shea butter producers while she was there, and even host a health fair for her producers, as part of an ongoing effort via the brand's non-profit, Circle of Care, to offer living wages and healthcare to those who make shea. These multitasking trips are a short-term approach to working out longer term questions. “Ultimately, I want to be able to live and work in Ghana, so being here for an amount of time also allows me to test that out,” she says.  

Below, the skincare entrepreneur shares a dispatch from her summer trip—and the beach excursions and bowls of red red she enjoyed along the way. 

What was the destination?

Ghana for a month, based in Accra, but with side trips to places like Tamale, where shea butter is mainly produced. 

And the purpose of the trip?

Half of my trip was with family, and now I'm transitioning back to work. At the end of my trip, I'll be going to Tamale. I need to be there for our healthcare days, which are bi-annual for the producers that we source our shea from. We have an outreach team of doctors who come to the neighborhood and do check-ups. 

My travel buddies: 

I started my trip with my family. My brother was here, but he just went to Berlin. My dad has been here, but he's going back home to Columbus. And my mom is still here, but she's in another city, in Kumasi, where part of our family is. So I have family all around, but I'm definitely fine being a solo traveler too. I'll have other team members that are coming later on. 

Hanahana founder Abena Boamah (right) with shea producer Samantha (left), a shea