Student Experiences in Ghana Spring 2023: Brittney Hayes

Interviewer: Thank you for sharing your experience. To start off, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Brittney Hayes (BH): Of course. I am in the Professional MBA Program and will be graduating this summer. I have worked for a company called Summit Venture Studio for the last year. Last September, I was named president of one of our portfolio companies. It’s called SegoEd and it’s a higher education assessment tool. I have been doing that for about 6 months or so. Besides that, I grew up in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. I have lived across the US, including West Virginia, Kansas, Nevada, and California before moving to Utah.

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little bit about why you decided to register for this course?

BH: It was one of those things that when I first saw it as an option, I knew I had to take it. I haven’t done a lot of traveling in my life. I have been to Mexico and Canada, and that is about it. I haven’t had a chance to see more of the world and that is something really ingrained in me that I really, really need to do. Getting a shot to go to Ghana – that’s probably not something I would ever get to do on my own. This is the type of trip where you get to meet people. We met members of Ensign Global College, and the team at Cedi Beads, the business that we chose to work with in Ghana. To me, it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am glad I took it.

Interviewer: Are there any other reasons why you felt it was important to jump on this opportunity and go more global with your education?

BH: You know, something that has always been important to me is working with underprivileged populations. I was a college dropout my sophomore year – this was 15 years ago. I waited tables, I worked odd jobs. So, I experienced poverty myself. It was nothing like what other people experience in Africa or homeless people in the U.S., but I thought it was a taste of that. So since then, it was really important to work with these communities and help them in any way I can. Since the COVID pandemic, I haven’t been able to do as much volunteering. I have been really itching to get back into it. I work with The Road Home. I would go down to Pioneer Park and pass out breakfasts and water. So just working – it’s not global, but I was able to lend a hand here and it was important for me to see what that is like in other parts of the world as well.

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little of the prep work that you did before heading to Ghana to prepare for the business consultation part of the course?

BH: Yeah, we obviously did our prep in class. Professor Barney prepared us well. Maybe even too well – I definitely overpacked. I will say that. We read many of books, including Half the Sky. It talked about poverty across the world, and different things people face in different part of the world, including Ghana. I love the book and I would recommend anyone to read it. There’s a documentary on it as well.

For me personally, I did a lot of googling. I didn’t know what Ghana looked like. There are parts that are similar to what you would see here; there are nice houses. And you have the parts where you would never see anything like that here, like grass huts. So, I wanted to have a good idea of exactly what I was getting myself into. It ended up being pretty much what I thought it would be. There weren’t any surprises. It was hot, humid, and very green. The people were super friendly. There was a bunch of beautiful jewelry and clothing.

Interviewer: Can you tell me what was the most rewarding part of this course and travel?

BH: Working with Cedi from Cedi Beads was the most rewarding part of the course. This gentleman has been making these beads since he was six years old, and he had made a successful business of it. He has been featured in Paris Fashion Week, his beads have been in Vogue, which is really cool, but he didn’t really have a business plan and he was undercharging tourists. He didn’t have any marketing. So we were able to come in and build him a website, TripAdvisor account, and get his prices all in order. And he just seemed so grateful, so kind, and had a great spirit about him. It was amazing. There were definitely a few tears shed.

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little more about what kind of recommendations your team gave to Mr. Cedi?

BH: We ended up breaking the group into two teams. There was the marketing team, which I was a part of, and then we had the financial team. Mr. Cedi had been keeping books. He had been keeping decent records of his incoming and outgoing transactions, but he hadn’t analyzed his profits or profit margins.

The financial team went in and worked on his books. Our group discovered that he was profitable, but other bead manufacturers were charging much more. So, we came up with an entire new pricing strategy. When tourists visit Ghana, they obviously spend a lot of money and may even be willing to spend more. Ghanaian beads are beautiful and the production of a single batch can take an entire day.

In terms of marketing, he had a Facebook page that someone else had set up for him. Our group added more information about the company’s location and advised him to start responding to some of the many positive reviews posted on Google, Facebook, and TripAdvisor. We helped him set up accounts on these platforms so that he could communicate directly with the people making these reviews.

Interviewer: Would you recommend this course?

BH: I would 110% recommend this course to any student. If I could convince even one student to do it, I would feel like I did my job. The group of people who came on the trip were amazing, and we were all eager to make a difference and help those in need. Professor Barney was amazing. I know he is retiring this year, but I’m sure whoever teaches this course from here on out will do an amazing job. Getting to know the people of Ghana and experience their culture was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would definitely rank it in the top 5 experiences in my life so far.

There are people who are living a completely different life than you. There is a little bit of peace and happiness in that simplicity, and how they are happy to get to know you. It makes you think about what is important in your life, what you need to be grateful for, and how to spread that sense of gratitude to everyone.

Interviewer: What was the most exciting or fun highlight of this trip for you?

BH: That’s going to have to be a tossup between the canopy walk and going on the safari. During the canopy walk, we were walking in between trees in the jungle, about 50 to 100 feet above the ground. We were on the canopy walk with a group of locals too. During the safari, we were about 20 feet away from this huge bull elephant that was knocking over trees and making noise. It was absolutely amazing to see this huge, huge animal in the wild.

Interviewer: How will you take what you learned and experienced in this course and apply it in the future?

BH: During the COVID pandemic, the places where I volunteered stopped accepting volunteers, and I haven’t been able to get back into it since then due to being enrolled in a full-time school program and working full-time. However, going to Ghana really lit that fire within me again. I love working with people and doing what I can to make a difference, and I’m hoping to seek out some volunteer experiences this summer.

Interviewer: How has informed how you approach your volunteer work now?

BH: I think I will look at it with a renewed sense of passion after going to Ghana.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. Any final thoughts?

BH: Going to another side of the world, meeting new people, and being in a different environment can be scary, but if anyone is on the fence this course is worth taking. It will change you; it will change your perspective on life to things that are bigger than you and outside of yourself. I am really glad I had the opportunity to do this trip.