Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nana Arasah. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

Everyone defines success differently but what I think every self-made entrepreneur can agree on is the rollercoaster you’ll be on.

One crucial aspect is being comfortable with the F-word: Failure, because you will fail at some point within your journey but it’s a crucial stepping stone. I have a collection of failure stories and I’m not afraid to say that. The real truth lies in the ability to bounce back, learn from setbacks/mistakes, and view failure as a teacher rather than an adversary.

I’ll share this, my first group trip that I hosted in 2019 had only 3 guests and one of them was my cousin, Omo LOL (love you). Hannah and Viola, shout out to you both too! I will never forget them because they believed in what I was trying to do which was to inspire women to travel internationally in community and not wait on others to visit that bucket list country. We had the best time together! I didn’t care how low the number was, I kept going and learning. Now, in 2023, my business, The Ladies Abroad, has hosted and planned trips for over 150 travelers from all over the United States.

For the entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur who is complicating quitting, don’t. You’ll get there and I want to share 5 ways on how I did while still working to get to exactly where I want to be.

Continuous Learning

It’s the secret sauce to success because you don’t know everything and there are always ways to better yourself and your business. Every misstep is an opportunity to gain valuable insights, refine skills, and evolve into a better version of yourself. It’s not about avoiding mistakes but using them as stepping stones for growth.

Craftsmanship

It’s a vital aspect, regardless of your field. Whether you’re an artist, coder, etc, dedicate yourself to honing your craft. Commitment plays a pivotal role; treat your goals like a long-term relationship, nurturing and investing in them consistently.

Perspective

This is a game-changer! Success often hinges on how you perceive challenges. Changing your viewpoint, turning problems into challenges, can transform setbacks into setups for a great comeback.

Remove distractions

Distractions can come in the form of people, a person or situation and they are saboteurs of success. Treat them like little thieves who don’t want to see you reach your potential. You have to get to a point where you remove procrastination and reclaim your focus.

Last, but certainly not least, let’s talk faith

Personally, my story wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging God. I mean it. I take no credit because there have been many times where I’ve said “This is God.” I’m known for being very optimistic and this is why. I have experienced and have been in situations where I can’t even deny that it’s God. Faith provides guidance and strength, making it my top reason on how I got to where I am today.

Nana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I first got into the travel industry when I moved to London for graduate school in 2016. I’ve never been out of North America except when visiting family in Nigeria when I was younger but I was with my parents. This time, I was truly there by myself and I have to say it was the best thing that has happened to me.

I found myself always shopping on Oxford Circus because the shopping in London is on another level. If you’ve been, you know lol. After a while, I realized that I could be traveling rather than spending money on clothes. So, after educating myself on safe solo female travel trips, I booked a flight to Rome. I loved it and was so proud of myself. I could have let myself get discouraged from the “what ifs” but I believed in myself and went. I was also into photography so I was taking pictures of my travels and was posting it on social media and also started a blog. Blogging back then wasn’t like what it is today, so I honestly didn’t care to monetize it. I just used it as a visual diary for myself and friends and family back home who care about my adventures. From there, I got into the world of solo traveling and was doing it throughout Europe.

I would get messages from IG followers who tell me they admired what I was doing and wish they had the courage to travel alone. Months later, I was still traveling and getting the most out of my student visa before it was time to head back to the USA. After graduation, I have had 20 countries under my belt and tapped into a version of myself that I was not willing to give up. So, I prayed about it and God reminded me of the women who were in my instagram Dms’ and what they expressed to me, which was wishing they could do the same but were hesitant to travel alone or had no one to travel with. So, The Ladies Abroad was created. I laid out my business plan and got to work. It was hard because a lot of it was trial and error and I was wearing multiple hats but it all worked out. I’ve now had the opportunity to host hundreds of women on trips.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The whole world will remember this…COVID-19. My business was just starting to pick up and then this came in the blink of an eye. I was in the worst industry to be in, which was hospitality and travel. It wasn’t just one country that was dealing with this but the entire world. I remember just sitting in my room confused and not understanding what was going on. Just like the majority of us were. I put so much time and effort into my business that I couldn’t wrap my mind around having to shut it down for good, but I had two choices.

One was to just close everything because this is something with an unforeseen future during that moment or I could keep working on it to get things streamlined better for when the world does open back up. I obviously chose the second option. It was tough because everyday we were hearing just how bad it was getting and trying to plan trips with an indefinite date was obviously difficult and it was a sensitive time and I didn’t want to come off tone deaf. So, I didn’t have any set dates but I worked on building a community of women who loved to travel and were looking forward to it in the future.

I could have given up but if I did The Ladies Abroad wouldn’t be where it is today. When people ask me how I am so resilient I simply tell them that it’s my faith in Jesus. If I shared all the challenges I went through this section would be never ending and your mouth would probably drop not understanding how I got through it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped me was that I was already traveling internationally before I started my business and I lived abroad for two years. I shared my travels on Instagram which is how I built a following. A lot of my travels were done solo so my audience trusted my recommendations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theladiesabroad.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theladiesabroad/

Image Credits
Myself and/or my business, The Ladies Abroad have rights to the photos. The photos with other ladies in them are guests from my trips and they acknowledge that photos we take on the trip we have full rights to use. This is in our terms and conditions.