Spotlight

Introducing Edward Kwaw ….

 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

 I am a Tadi boy through and through and attended Chapel Hill Preparatory school, did quite well in the common entrance exams and got accepted into Achimota Secondary School in 1975.

 Achimota was my first choice because my older siblings were there, and my Dad happened to be an Akora as well. The house selection process is a bit of a blur now, but G’berg seemed to be the house of choice at the time because my eldest brother was in that house. I remember the house master (I believe he was called “Ablorz”- Mr Ablordeppey) really selling the “pros” of being in G’berg house to my parents while I wandered around the dorms and went through the process of choosing my perch in one of the junior dormitories upstairs.

It was all a bit strange at the time, being so far away from home as an 11 year old, having to consider pleading with the old folks to take me back home or putting up a brave front and hoping for the best.  I decided on the latter of course. I vaguely remember Ablorz confirming how safe the box rooms were to my parents after I’d deposited my “chop-box” there. My box got broken into a day after the seniors arrived, an interesting prelude to my days in Motown.

My path through Achimota wasn’t very exciting, with the only dramatic part being my having to repeat form 3 because there was this impression that I needed to do better in science.  Friendships broke as a result of that and I had to reckon with being junior to my mates.  That was quite a bitter pill to swallow. My journey continued with a sixth form stint at Achimota Sec school the year after my GC 80 mates had left.

I then went to the University of Science and Technology (UST) now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), to study Civil Engineering. UST was great because I had a second home there.  Any time I felt I needed to eat good food and had the need to be in a home environment, I would walk to Nana Kegya’s home.  Auntie Bertha, Nana Kegya’s mum of blessed memory, would ask me if I’d like to eat fufu, and the obvious answer would be yes.  Well, Nana is my first cousin, I call her my best cousin and needs no introduction here. My mums’ maiden name is Amonoo-Neizer.  I always looked forward to my next visit knowing very well that I’d be well fed and watered.

 

My working life began with the German construction firm Adolf Lupp where I designed and built a couple of hospitals for the Catholic church in the Volta region, played a key part in the construction of the Bauxite conveyor belt system at the Takoradi harbour and supervised the reconstruction of the Calbank building in Takoradi. The itch to do something else saw me move to the UK in 1990 to pursue a Masters degree in Structural Engineering and Construction Management at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

What about Family life?

 After my studies at Newcastle, I was faced with the decision of either going back to Ghana or moving to Germany where my long-term girlfriend Gloria, now my wife, was studying.  As anyone can imagine, this wasn’t a difficult decision to make.

Gloria and I got married in Germany in 1995, had our first child a year afterwards and still managed to complete our studies. We are now blessed with three children. Our first currently works for Hitachi and is working from home just like all of us are, because of the COVID-19 situation, and our last two are in secondary school.

What brought you back to the UK?

Germany came with its own challenges with me having to learn the language, work to make ends meet, deal with racism in the 90s and study.  I had decided to go back into academia and completed a PhD in Computer Graphics and Software Ergonomics.

 I got “headhunted” close to the completion of my PhD dissertation, and since our siblings lived in the UK, the prospects of re-uniting with them made this a dream come true.  I was moving straight into a job and would be close to our respective families again.  What more could one ask for?

With my PhD, I had completely moved away from Civil Engineering and entered the IT world going through a series of roles ranging from Customer Success Management, to Account Management and Senior Support Management. I started off by working for a company called Parametric Technology Limited in 2000, moved to Hewlett Packard (HP), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and am currently working for a company called Micro Focus Limited as a Senior Enterprise Security Software Support Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

 

You’ve recently started a new side venture. Can you enlighten us as to what it is and also the reasons behind your new start up?

 Well, my wife said I’m going through a late mid-life crisis and she may be right.

I’ve worked for other people all my working life and thought I’d like to have something that I could call my own.  Something that I could continue doing even beyond retirement.  That’s how the KONCO Limited idea was born. I am currently focussing on “Design and Print” with KONCO Apparel and have clothing stores on Amazon, RedBubble and Teespring. I have other projects at the back of mind as well but will defer discussing those for now.

The aim with KONCO Apparel is to give people the opportunity to express themselves through bespoke print on demand designs that would make them feel good about themselves when wearing those designs. It is still early days with this business venture, and I am very thankful to GC 80 for supporting this idea so far.

The first year of a fledgling business is usually fraught with difficulties. Have you come across any potential roadblocks yet and is there anything that GC might be able to help?

 Indeed, I know of many people who have given up on their business ideas at the early stages because of the difficulties they’d had. I started this venture knowing things wouldn’t be easy and that I’d have to just hang in there somehow. My current challenge is driving traffic to my stores regularly to generate a steady sales stream month on month. 

I’ve had a lot of great feedback from GC members and hope that this will result in recommendations to various GC contacts.  I have already received some private orders from a few GC members, and I am very appreciative of that.

Below are links to my website and to some of my stores.

Website: https://www.koncoapparel.com

RedBubble: https://rdbl.co/2WeSsgA

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3a7Cih2

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/3oO4z08

 

Are you involved in any voluntary/mentoring activities?

 I am currently a member of a church group founded by my wife 10 years ago called Basingstoke African Caribbean Catholic Association (BACCA). The purpose of this group is to provide people of African and Caribbean origin or affiliation an opportunity to increase their sense of belonging in our church parish and the community, based on their faith and common background.

We tend to organise a lot of events centred around strengthening our support and social networks and ensuring that we involve our kids in everything we do.

 

What are your hobbies?

Other than family time and travelling, I am a nonprofessional DJ.  Yes, I know, a DJ and I didn’t sign up for the GC 2020 reunion DJ competition. Well, I guess my focus was on presenting my business and felt I’d skip the DJ competition at the time. In hindsight, I should have joined and challenged Emma.

Below is part of my setup. I’m known to organise get togethers’ on the spur of the moment, get a few friends together in a hall with a bar, and just “jam”. It’s always great fun.

Where is your favourite place to visit on holiday and why?

 I am widely travelled and I’m sure the typical places to mention would be towns in Europe, USA, the Caribbean etc., but my favourite place to visit on holiday is currently Ghana, purely because my parents are still there and I like to catch up on all the time I am unable to spend with them because I am away.

  

Outside of work, what do you do for relaxation?

My time outside of work is spent writing blogs, exercising, watching TV/movies and going for walks in the woods. I’ve discovered a health application on my phone and use that regularly to reach my goal of a minimum of 6000 steps a day.

And finally, what are we likely to see the Kwaw Family doing on a Sunday?

 Going to church first and foremost, eating “brunch” together, going for a walk in the woods and cooking for the week ahead. We try to make our Sundays as light as possible in readiness for the hectic week ahead.

  

Edward Kwaw

1C, 2C, 3C x2, 4S3, 5S3, L6(E), U6(E)

Guggisberg House