MY MAGAZINE
READ ALL ARTICLES HERE
MY TRAVEL PLANACCOMMODATIONtrips & activitiesevents

The woman of many dreams, Annie E. Lusack

My Magazine 2023/07
18 min
Annie is a woman of many talents and a big passion for new projects. Apart from working as a teacher in an international school for the past ten years, she launched her own business, Annie's Honey, where she sells honey products. She has a degree in Development studies from the University of The Gambia in 2013. She is a writer and founder of a business group for women, where she is trying to empower women and share her experiences in the business world to push them to aspire to their dreams. We met Annie at the beginning of 2021 and decided to tell her story again in 2023 as she inspires many, especially seeing her succeeding in her career path every day since our paths crossed.

Her first project, which she started in 2019, was Annie's Honey. Annie got the inspiration for Annie's Honey while watching a cartoon with her twin nephews. It was about the bees being angry with people because they were destroying their environment. From there, she got the idea of starting her own honey business. "I believe if I have an inspiration, I have to work with it fast. If not, I would lose interest in it, and I wouldn't be excited anymore".

When talking about her products, she started with only the honey jar. Today, she offers a variety of honey-based products such as honey cream, honey lip balm, soap, and even peanut butter honey blend.

She has also written a book of inspiring quotations. She tells us the inspiration for Annie's Honey and the writing of a book came at the same time, so she had a double launching. The idea came to her in her dream. She has been collecting quotations since 2018, writing them down on her phone, and later publishing them in the book. In August 2020, she published the second book, a continuation of the first. Her latest book is called For a Queen, published in 2021.

But this is not the only thing she does. She has a business group, and she organizes seminars for women. She is not doing it for women who have already made it. She is trying to include them as mentors. But seminars are there for the women who are just starting up. She says some of them are very creative and doing much better than those already known in the market, so people should know about them. So far, Annie has organized two seminars called The Broken Woman Conference, one in December 2020 (where the Guest Speaker was from the UK) and the second in December 2021. She also does worship dancing, a gift she got through the Holy Spirit in 2013. She is inspired by worship songs and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

She realized you can do a lot when you are still single. She used to think she would start fulfilling her purpose after she got married, but later decided that it is good to set a foundation and then find someone to support you. 

Her customers come from church, neighbourhood, workplace, or are her friends and family. She started doing a lot of promotion of her products on Facebook and Instagram pages in 2019 and gained customers this way. She knows well that social media is a powerful tool for promotion. She hosts prayers on Facebook and WhatsApp called Emergency Prayer Hut on AniLize Events (on Facebook live) and Ladies at the Well Prayer Crew (a monthly session on Whatsapp), which she co-founded. For both online events, they have had international guest speakers on the platforms. The Ladies at the Well started with six members, and today there are over 40 members. The Emergency Prayer Hut has 1k+ views in each video.  

Her dad was an electrician, and her mother, a nurse. They had a small shop when she was younger, so she feels that her love for business and entrepreneurship may have come from there.  She just always felt inspired, and she wanted to realize it.

When asked what leadership is in her opinion and what kind of leader she is, she explained about the three types of leaders. The first is a boss walking in front of you, the second is the leader who helps and walks by your side, and the last leader is the one who walks behind, guiding and supporting you all the way. She is trying to be the third kind of leader. She knows she cannot do everything alone and invites others to help. She would be the one to organize and give everyone their roles. She is always trying to find new talents and showcase them.

The biggest challenge for her came in 2017 when her mother passed away (her father passed away in 2013). She felt her life crumble because she had lost her anchor. But she allowed herself to rededicate her life to Christ, and since then, many good things are happening in her life.

On International Women's Day in 2022, Annie received a YMCA Award for her contributions as a young woman, inspiring other women to also pursue their dreams. She has had some business radio interviews in 2021-2022 and was a guest speaker on Business Talks in 2022.

 

On the 5th of October 2020, she launched an organization called Rose's Nest Foundation. The foundation is named after her mother, Mrs Rose Ajuwa Lusack, and is a shelter for broken women, disappointed women, women that believe they cannot do it, single-parent women, drop-outs, abused women. widows, beggars and prostitutes. This foundation is where women can train for six months, learn vocational skills, horticulture, braiding hair, tailoring and so on. It also is a healing place for the emotionally distressed women and a place to share stories and inspire others.

She believes that if you create, people will support and patronize you. She also feels that it is always good to do something, even if it's a small-scale business, rather than to sit around doing nothing.

The Foundation is willing to accept volunteers, students who will come and work through their studies and women from foreign countries who can come and share their skills.

In a few years, she sees herself having her own established business. She wants ample land so she can have her own beehive to create honey and her honey-based products. Before turning 40, she wants to work solely for herself. She has been teaching for ten years (2013-2023) and also sees herself as the owner of an international school. She also wants to have a dancing school which was to start in 2022. She has not given up on this dream, but in the meantime, she has been asked to minister in different church programs and gospel concerts almost every month since January 2022.

At the moment, she is busy preparing for an upcoming gospel concert towards the end of July 2023.

Her message to the world is: "Once you dream it, you can achieve it".

Business Line + 220 670 6923

Contact Details

Annie Elizabeth Lusack
WA/T: +220 705 4697

Did you enjoy this article? Share it with friends >>>

JULY 2023
Subscribe To Our Magazine
No spam, notifications only about new issues.
Subscription Form za Mailerlite - landing
Subscribe To Our Magazine
No spam, notifications only about new issues.
Subscription Form za Mailerlite - landing

Other articles

Tune In: Miss Jobizz
It's been almost two years since My Gambia Team did an interview with charming Oumou Jobe, popularly known as Miss Jobizz, a singer, songwriter, actre...
Tip of the month: The Green Season Essentials
Welcome to The Gambia, a small West African country often referred to as the "Smiling Coast of Africa" due to the warmth and friendliness of its peopl...
Behind the lens: Njau
Njau is one of the hidden gem villages that we discovered recently and immediately decided to add to our wide selection of authentic experiences. ...
Best ideas for day trips
It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life, but sometimes we all need a change of scenery to recharge our batteries. That's whe...
JOBS
© MyGambia 2024
Developed by MarkLab

My Gambia Team

Typically replies within 30 minutes

We will be back soon.

Hey there 👋
We are here to help. What can I do for you?
Start Chat with us
chat