This week, we take you on a journey to Ghana in Africa so you can get a taste of what it’s like to be a bold and fearless media queen in a country where corruption, sexism, and bigotry against homosexuality is the norm. Nana Aba Anamoah is a Femcaster in her own right with millions of engaged followers on Instagram, a career in TV and radio broadcasting that spans decades, and a leader who prizes mentorship because she truly loves helping people succeed. Nana Aba has a strong voice, and she isn’t afraid to use it. She speaks with clarity of mind and truth in her heart to raise the voices of her people. She protects and serves the LGBTQIA+ community in Ghana, where it is literally illegal to be gay, and consistently supports the journey of those that are less fortunate than herself.

Nana Aba is fearless. She is bold. She is beautiful. And she has a heart of gold. We invite you in this conversation to think about what it would be like to spend a day in her shoes, of the sacrifices she’s made, of what it would be like to say goodbye to anonymity and live a life in the limelight. We love Nana Aba and we know you will too.

About Our Guest: Nana Aba Anamoah, General Manager of GH One TV + Star 105.3 FM, Founder of the not-for-profit: Hearts Wide Open

Nana Aba Anamoah is one of the most prominent journalists in Ghana. She is the Radio and Television Personality of the year; an award she has won for the second time in 3 years. Other awards include TV News reporter of the year, Current Affairs presenter of the year, Ghanaian woman of the year (Media Category), and Social Media Personality of the year. Nana Aba has become the leading voice on many issues on social media in Ghana with a staggering following of over 3 million on instagram alone.

Nana Aba is currently General Manager of GHOne TV and Starr 103.5 FM. She is the founder of the new charity, Hearts Wide Open, a Not for Profit Organisation registered in Ghana, whose mission is simply to spread joy. From jobs to school fees, funding for life changing medical emergencies and more, residents of Ghana can apply directly on their website if they need help of just about any kind.

Guest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenanaaba/

Guest Website: https://heartswideopen.ngo

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How Mentorship, Fearlessness + A Continual Commitment To Support The Story Created The Media Queen And Award-Winning Journalist That Is Nana Aba Anamoah

Today, we’re going to meet an incredible woman, the perfect fem castor. She leverages her position as a thought leader news icon and influencer for good. Her name is Nana Abba animo, and she is one of the most prominent journalists in Ghana.

She is the radio and TV personality of the year and a word that she’s won for the second time. In three years, other awards include TV dues, reporter of the year, current affairs presenter of the year and Ghanaian woman of the year. She’s a social media personality. She has over 4 million followers on Instagram, and that might be even much greater than the last time I got the chance to connect with her.

She’s a queen of social media in Ghana with a staggering following, and as currently serving as the general manager of GH one TV and star 103.5 FM. Nana Aba, Welcome!

Thank you very much, Corinna & Julie!

Now I know that you’ve spent obviously a great deal of time working in media and that you’re also now working to develop your own charity. So I was hoping that you could share with our community just a little bit about what your experience has been as a woman in broadcasting, in Ghana and the sorts of things that helped you to be successful.

Well, it’s been a roller coaster for me as a woman in Ghana because the terrain is very different. The media in Ghana is dominated by men in most newsrooms. You find more men than women. If you’re listening to the radio in the morning and in the morning, the belt is a morning show. It’s very hardcore politics current. At first you have more men doing it. If you find a woman, she would probably be handling lifestyle or entertainment. And that has been a challenge for me for the longest period. It took me a while to break that with my former employer, our TV through, because they thought that all as a woman you wake up in the morning, you may have cramps because you’re mistreating or you have responsibilities to your children or your husband, and saw it as not

It’s the same reason we don’t have a female president yet, here in the US.

Because number one, you’re dealing with men who are largely misogynist. Then, you are judged for the same mistakes that men will make and go free. A woman will not be forgiven. So for instance, I remember a couple of years ago I interviewed the then president of the country and I asked him very tough questions.

And then, I asked him towards the end of the interview, whether he could sleep at night given all the challenges the people of Ghana faced. At the time unemployment rates was really high and so was crime. It was a very challenging period for Ghana. Instead of holding him accountable for these challenges, there was a backlash against me, because people didn’t understand the question. They thought that I was asking if he’s able to have sex at night with his wife. That is how it was interpreted by a lot of people. They didn’t get it. So all the work that I had done, all the questions that I had asked him about the economy, about security, all of that was just brushed aside. And then they focus on that one question and it was such a huge backlash in the country.

So as a woman, I’ve had to deal with a lot. There was a lot of stereotyping. And they find it very difficult to control me. Even my employers struggle to control me — because I won’t allow them to interfere with my work. And so you find men fabricating stories… I’ve even been called a prostitute. They’ve labeled me as a lesbian because they know that in Ghana people look down on lesbians. There’s this whole. Stupid agenda against the LGBT community. So they try to say things that would get people to attack me every now and then it’s been very tough, but I have a very thick skin.

I have survived every time they throw it out to me at the way back at them like the times I’ve been called a prostitute. I said, well, it’s my body. I decide which one I want to sit with. It’s not their business. They call me a lesbian. I said, it’s my body. I decide what I want to do. It’s my decision.

If I want to be with a man or be with a woman, it’s my decision to make. So it’s, it’s been a journey now. Because I’m a very tough person and because I will probably dish it out to you more than you came at me. It has also shaped me to make me a better person. It’s made me stronger. It’s going to be positioned in a position where I can guide a lot of young women so that even when they meet challenges like mine, they know exactly how to cope with it.

One of the things that I love about you is your willingness to stand up for what you believe in, and also stand against those things that strike a chord in you.

And so when I got a chance to connect with you before, you shared the story of how you have had the opportunity to stand up for the LGBTQ community. And I think it’s just something that has helped. citizens of the world connect with your message. I wonder if you have any other issues that are striking a chord — issues that you’re working to bring awareness to.

In Ghana, I don’t know if it is hypocrisy, we don’t really understand the LGBTQ community. There’s a lot of learning to be done. And I don’t blame the people of Ghana, because sometime ago I was in a similar position because I didn’t understand the LGBTQIA+ community.

I have to be hit with a reality, and then I have to learn, read more and then understood the community. Then I was able to stand up for them. Another group of people that I, we all. Compare attention to in Ghana the members of the physically challenged community. So in Ghana, if you’re physically challenged, it means that you will not be employed.

If you’re blind, you are not going to be employed. If you can’t hear you, can’t be employed. If you’re sitting in a wheelchair is difficult for you to get a job. Over the years, I have tried so hard to use my influence to get government, to pay more attention to them. So for instance, in every recruitment that I have done, I bring in people from the physically challenged community, just so people know that disability is not inability.

The fact that we are disabled doesn’t mean your brain doesn’t work. They are able to work. I know if you, a few media houses tried bringing in a physically challenged people and what they did, which I found nauseating at the time was for them to focus on stories that consent the community. And I said that, I said to a few of my colleagues in other media houses that you can’t do that you can’t bring a blind person to your institution and ask them to cover issues of the, of the physical challenge, because you think it’s, he’s one of them or she’s one of them that that’s not how it works.

We need to integrate them properly. They have to be doing other stories, the stories that you feel that abled people should do, they can also do those stories. Another group of people is the mentally challenged. I’ve done so many stories in that area. In fact, at the time we were passing the bill there was a lot of delay in parliaments.

I led a lot of advocacy, a lot of campaigns, just so the bill could be passed. And when it passed, we’ve got a mental health authority. Even though things are not as great as I expected. It is way better than 10 years ago when we didn’t have an authority to fight for the rights of these people. All right.

You are at the forefront of the modern modernization of voices for the marginalized. I feel from what you just shared and Ghana, how does this even. Begin. Where was that seed planted as a young girl? Because I see it — and I see you smile. Someone cultivated your voice, so that you can’t help but just break down barrier after barrier.

I credit my father. My father is a fighter. My father always said to me that I mean, in my family, I’m the only one who like my dad, because my dad likes to talk. My dad is very animated. My, my other siblings are very shy. They like to keep stay in their shell. So I’m more vocal, just like my father and my father always said to me that you don’t need money to make a change in your community.

You must use your voice all the time. When you see ill, you must talk about it. You, you shouldn’t just think about yourself. You should think about other people because. It’s like a community. If you spend so much money building tall walls to protect yourself, somebody will climb over into that building and kill you one light.

So what do you have to do is to try and make life better for everybody in the community, if you can, so that you can live peacefully. When you go to bed at night, you know that you are peace with yourself, so you don’t spend too much money on your security. And so that’s the kind of training my father gave me.

And every single time I feel that I need to make life better for other people, not with money, but with the influence that I have, the little influence that I have, I just feel that I need to make life better for people so that when you are appointed. In another year, it’s time. You shouldn’t still be a point a, you should move to point B and it’s, it’s a process for everybody.

And I like to see people win with me. I, I don’t like to be the only person who is willing in, in my, in my community. I want everybody to be account with me. So that’s the kind of training I got.

It comes through in your actions. If you follow Nana Abba on Instagram, you can see the good work that she’s doing.

You have to mention her beautiful nails. I mean, those are like beyond.

So, if you do follow Nana Abba’s Instagram, you’ll see her raising the voices of other people, and in particular, the women that she’s leading in broadcasting…

And so I wondered if you could talk a little bit about that mentorship and leadership, because it’s coming through that, it’s like your dad’s sitting on your shoulder and telling you the same thing that you’re then enabling these other people to kind of champion as our own, which I just love.

I took up the responsibility of mentoring people, because I am a product of mentorship. Apart from the kind of mentorship my father gave me when I, when I started out as a presenter, I had a lot of people helping me and majority of them were men. So a lot of men held my hand. They thought, well, because I was very young.

I started when I was about 18 or 19, so I was very young. And so there were people in the newsrooms who thought they had to protect me. I don’t know from group, but they protected me a lot. They gave me opportunities. They guided me and because I benefited so much and it made life very easy for me in the newsroom.

And I had seen people who did not benefit from mentorship as well. And even though they were in the newsroom before I joined, because I was getting guidance and because I was listening and I had a teachable spirit, I was able to. Make inroads. I was able to first I was get on TV very early. I was doing big stories because I was constantly learning.

I was willing to learn. And so when I got into a position of leadership, I felt that I had to get back as well. And I had seen so many young people, especially women who wanted to be on TV. They wanted to be in the media, but they were not getting the opportunities. Either the women in the media houses who wanted to sleep with them before they gave them the role, or they felt that these people, these girls had to work extra.

But not just in the newsroom on the media house, but you have to send them when buy me food. They were. Behavior like mates to some of these people in the media houses. And I found it very repugnant that you can’t treat people this week. It’s like modern day slavery. You can’t do that because someone is looking for an opportunity.

And so I decided that I have to get back. I have to mentor people, so they don’t make the kind of mistakes that I made Ellie my career. And so that’s why I do this. And I’m happy that I’m doing it. Sometimes it’s tiring because almost everybody wants to mentor them. And I can only do so much. And it breaks my heart when I have to say no to people, because the look on their face as a so sad, it breaks my heart, but I also have to protect myself.

I need to focus on myself. And so I can only take in just as many as I can at a time.

Well, that’s just amazing. And I will just say that it’s been such a pleasure to watch that journey. And I know Julie, you have quite a few questions for Nana Aba as well.

Well, she blows my mind. She has 4 million followers. It does give you authority and also responsibility, being a good steward of this following.

I’m from Chicago. I’ve never been to Ghana and I’d love to know the differences between the American media, the way Americans present themselves, their voices and the voices in Africa as well.

Well, in Africa, I mean, in the U S you have a lot of freedom, even though in 2019 or 2018 Ghana went ahead of the U.S. in its ranking for press freedom for the first time. It shocked everybody. And I couldn’t understand it. At the time president Trump, Donald Trump was your president. And so there were a lot of interferences, but in the USA you have a lot of freedom. I mean, I watch ABC. I watch Fox News. I watch CNN. I watch MSNBC. I’m wanting to tell them a lot. And there was a lot of freedom. I mean, people go on air and the say whatever they want to say.

But in Ghana you don’t have that kind of freedom. I’ve had colleagues who’ve been killed in other African countries because of the stories they did. I’ve had colleagues in Ghana. Who’ve been beaten to a pulp because they dead criticized the government. I’ve had colleagues, who’ve been threatened, female colleagues who have been threatened that if you stay on this course, we are going to rape you. We will find you and break you.

Well, you’re not mentioning the times that you’ve actually also been threatened.

Yeah. And then I have been attacked, unfortunately, I don’t get some of these threats, but on social media, I get attacked on a daily basis because of my views, because I shared a certain opinion about a policy. So you get people attacking you it’s it’s and I call them attack docs.

The last time I used that line the government in power got so upset. And so, and they were reacting everywhere that I had called. The people are tagged books, but that’s, that’s what it is. You get attacked in, in Ghana, in most of Africa. And so sometimes you’re torn between, do I have to be a generalist, make my point, do the story the best way I knew, or should I be guided in a certain way?

Because if you’re not careful. You may not wake up the next day, the way people walk into your room and find a dead bird. Oh, you just disappear. And it happens a lot in Africa. Fortunately in Ghana, we don’t have a lot of these reports, but once in a while, some of these come in and it’s very heartbreaking.

A couple of years ago, one of our colleagues was shot and killed on his way to work because he had put together an investigative piece. And there were people who weren’t happy with a Wiki had done. He was threatened. He talks that he was a very vocal journalist. He had done his work. He was happy with the work he had done.

People had been arrested and people were being prosecuted on his way to work someone just on him, someone on a motorbike just shot and killed him. The guy’s dead. So date not arrest have been. Nothing has been done about it. And every year journalists talk about it and nothing happens and people will settle on radio and CV and threatened us guy.

I still walking about free and nothing has been done about them. So it makes you wonder, do I have to be the kind of journalist that I have to be? Should I go out and tell the story as it is? Or should I massage the story? So it’s very dangerous. For a lot of African journalists I mean, gradually things are changing.

People are becoming more aware. I hope one day we’ll have an audience like the us audience where people accept, use, they don’t go out attacking. I mean, the fact that I have a different view from yours doesn’t mean you are, you’re an enemy. Doesn’t mean I have to find you and kill you or beat you up. So I’m hoping that one day we’ll get there, but it’s better than what we have in Ghana is better than a lot of African countries, but it’s still not very good enough.

I wish that journalists would be free to go on and say whatever they like to say.

I mean, I I’m, I’m a speechless because I become very rested in the laurels of Liberty, whatever it looks like, no matter who the president is at the time. The you’re a warrior in the sense in enabling free speech and giving those viewpoints. And when viewpoints and voices are muted, that’s where bigotry starts.

That’s where racism starts. That’s where all the stuff that, I mean, it goes on in the United States, but it seems so amplified in Ghana and that you are standing there. A beacon of light of hope for people to give them that hope. But I mean, I am just in awe, to be honest, your story is so empowering and that you’re doing this as a woman in Africa.

I mean, how many other women in Africa are as bold as you are? I know that must have a circle around you.

Absolutely. We have a few women like that. I wish it would have more women, but a lot of them are afraid as well. Because number one another thing about being a very vocal journalist in, in, in this part of the world, it would affect your relationships.

You, the men wouldn’t want to be associated with you because they feel you are being attacked all the time. Your name is always on the lips of other people. And so the stay away from you. So you realize that there are a few of us who are very vocal even at 40, 41 42. And it’s not the main reason, but it is part of it.

It’s part of the reason. A lot of them are, a lot of us are single. I mean, the number of times that it’s been used against me, I make my views known one on issue. And the first thing that stood out to me, oh, wouldn’t find a husband. And I said, well, I mean, I don’t need a husband to make me a complete woman.

I am complete. As I, as, as I am, I’m very happy with myself. But yes, you find a few women who are very vocal. They stand their ground, they stand for something and I’m very proud of them.

Are you fearful because you are using your voice? I mean, because you are so bold and going against the grain.

No, I have no fears at all, not a single one. I feel this.

I love that. And I love you even more than I thought I could!

I think that’s one of the things that keeps me going. And my mom always says that I am CLS. And she thinks that it’s my weakness as well.

You scare your mom. Let’s be honest. You scared my mom.

She gets really worried. My mom gets really, really worried sometimes. And I think if she had her own way, I would just wake up one day and say, I’m looking to do the media again. I’m not going to talk about any issues again, but I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is just me. This is who I am on.

That’s it. But I am fearless. I, and I’ve said it so many times to people on social media that I am not in food of Amy for the, in this country. I’m not afraid of anyone in Ghana. I say what I have to say, because I believe in it. I believe it is. And I will see it any day anytime. And I stand by it and I don’t Brenda, any apologies.

You are unapologetically Nana Aba Anamoah. One of the things that I love about this whole story is that you are also creating an army of new young people who are willing to also take a stand as you mentor the next generation of broadcasters that work with you. And I just think that’s so incredible.

I know too that through fostering the active community that you’ve built, you also have people who come to your defense and social spaces. And one of the things that we talked about in an earlier episode with Chris Krimitsos, who is talking to a lot of podcasters… He said, “you know, there’s this rampant surge and people getting bullied online and cyber bullying in the podcasting community too, especially video podcasts where they criticize how the girl looks” and so I was thinking it would be helpful for our community to hear from you, how you have developed that thick skin to just let it roll right off your back.

Well, I don’t think I even had a formula for it. I just don’t like it when people try to mute to my voice. I mean, I don’t like it when people make me feel that I am stupid. And so I won’t allow anyone to, to cower me, to push me into any shell.

I know myself better than anyone. And so what you say about me is a lie. I don’t have time to prove to anyone that what you’re saying about me is a lie. If you believe that that is your problem, you’re stupid enough to believe anything that you read online about me. And so I don’t even waste my time trying to defend myself or trying to clarify anything.

This is what I signed up to do. I knew the repercussions. I knew the consequences it would come with and I accepted those consequences. I mean, I get bullied all the time on social media, every, I mean, every single day, even this morning, I saw a few posts. I just ignore them. If I don’t ignore them, I, I, I I’ll block you if I don’t block you and you find me.

Bad mood I may respond. And my response may just get you to deactivate your account. I’ve done that a few times and I have people coming back to my office to apologize to me that I never meant to say that to you. I was just in a bad place. That is why I said that. So I think that people are just sometimes mentally unstable and that is why they come to social media, to project their anger on others.

And I’ve learned that the hard way. I just think that no matter where you are, if this is what she wants to do, you need to understand that there are people who will come achieved. Not because you are doing something wrong, just because the feel that’s the position you are occupying is for them. They have to be there and they can’t be there.

There are others who are also looking for. Avenue to express themselves, protect their unhappiness. And that is what makes them happy. So you must develop a thick skin. If you can’t develop the thick skin, just look at these things, ignore them, move on and do what you’re doing. Because at the end of the day, majority of the people are going to like the work you’re doing, but just a few idiots who are going to be obsessed with what you’re doing.

And really it’s always a few really, it’s all.

Yeah, but it speaks to you Nana Abba for really having a strong sense of self and having a good parentage and being taught at an early age, not to be afraid to use your voice, not to harm others, but to raise others.

That’s why you are unfaltering, that’s why you should rise every time. There’s that hater. And I always say, if you have a hater, it means you’ve made it, right? It is a sense of your strength and who you are as a human being. You know the difference between right and wrong.

And you’re not afraid to say it. So, I’m sitting at your feet, honestly, I’m amazed.

I think we can sum up today in two words. BE FEARLESS.

Today we’ve focused on the power of mentorship and guiding people with faith to do what you know to be right. And really create that sense of community that comes with that, of being fearless and of caring for what your mission is and the power of your unique voice. And to just being true to that, regardless of what the naysayers may say. I think all of those lessons are things that we can all learn from. So I’m just appreciative of this message of the time, all the work that you’re doing. Thank you. I just love it.

Nana Aba, it’s our honor to know you.

Thank you very much.

What did we say Corinna at the end of our episodes? Kick it…

It’s a little silly, but as we lead into our intro music or exit music, it’s not like to ask. It’s very serious. It’s very serious. We like to ask all of our guests say two words and that’s just “kick it!”

Kick it!