Africa and Ghana to the world ๐. Super proud of Eric and the team at Elmina restaurant in DC and kudos to my mantse @BBSimons for checking it out.
Looks like we both like the same bofrot dessert.
Despite the African & Diaspora African population in the United States being twice as large as the Vietnamese population, somehow, there are way more Vietnamese restaurants in America than there are African ones.
As of last year, there were more than 8500 Vietnamese chow houses but just a little over 1100 African food joints. Consider that Vietnamese cuisine is actually only sold in 7% of Asian restaurants. Thus, within the broader Asian segment, Vietnamese is niche. Yet, it eclipses African cuisine by a stretch.
Surely, African chow can hold its own against any regional cuisine? The issue must be branding.
Anyway, the African contingent is even where it is because of those enterprising Ethiopians. Ethiopian restaurants constitute a whopping 60% of all African commercial food joints.
Africans who travelled to the US, therefore, often struggled to find places that catered to their palate, especially in the mid to high range. If you didn't want Ethiopian but needed your spice and aromas, you usually had to settle for low-end service somewhere in the suburbs in the one or two places that served Ghanaian or Naija or Kenyan food.
In Washington DC, Swahili restaurant has been holding the fort as best as they can for the mother continent. But every occasional or regular African visitor has long yearned for variety.
Enter Chef Adjepong, a brother from the Bronx.
Born to Ghanaian parents in the New York borough where Ghanaians have historically constituted the largest African migrant group, Adjepong grew up immersed in the tastes and smells of proper ebunubunu and dried fish.
The celebrity chef has decided to do something about the low representation of high end African cuisine and set up Elmina, a chic restaurant in central DC.
Jollof supporting duck breast, part rare part done to crispy? Check. Sobolo sorbet? Check. Waakye with the oxtail simmered to tender blues? Check. Bofrot doused with cinnamon sugar and enthroned in caramel and hazel? Well, check, check, and check!
As the Akans say, glory like this is better tasted than read about.
Tip: the fried plantain is crepe-like so best to envelop around the beans sauce and pop half and half.
Mind Gone Blank? Public Speaking SOS Strategies Here!
What do you do if suddenly you forget what you have to say right in the middle of your presentation? Hi, my name is Kafui Dey, Public Speaking Coach, and in this video I'll show you two things you need to do should your mind go blank right in the middle of your presentation or your speech.
And this happened to me a couple of weeks ago on a TV show that I present. Right at the beginning where I introduce myself and tell the viewers what to expect. I was going to introduce the name of my guest sitting right across from me and blank. I just couldn't remember. Very very terrible feeling and internally I was panicking.
Number one, I remained quiet. So fight the urge to say, um, um, or God forbid, oh, have I forgotten this person's name? Don't say anything. Just fight the urge to say anything. Remain quiet.
And then second thing is to smile. I've realized in my broadcasting and communication career that when you smile, people can't really tell what's going on inside of you. So I smiled and this whole process took just 8 seconds because I reviewed the recording of my show after I had done it. But it felt like 8 minutes. So, I remained quiet, I smiled and then like magic, the name of the guest just popped right back into my head. I said it and I continued with the show.
So these are the two things you need to remember should you have a brain freeze in your presentation or your speech and hopefully what you wanted to say will pop right back into your head.
Thanks for watching this video and I'll see you in the next video.
#publicspeaking #tips
P.S. Check first comment for a free offer.
Ebi Atawodi (@ebiatawodi) is Director of Product Management at @YouTube, a former Head of Product at @Uber, and a former Director of Product at @Netflix.
In todayโs episode, we dive deep into the skill of crafting a vision and strategy, including:
๐ธ The four key elements of a good vision
๐ธ Tips on how to structure a strategy session
๐ธ How writing helps you gain clarity
๐ธ How culture influences product
๐ธ The four pillars of great product management
๐ธ Advice on building team culture
๐ธ Whatโs coming soon at YouTube
๐ธ Much more
Whatโs the name of your pet, high school, and mothers maiden name? ๐ค
We covered this and more with the @FrontEndHH team during our chat on security/login/passwords/identity along with with my colleagues Tony & Charlie. Check it out!
https://t.co/3mc5CBQzCh
Wow. End of an era. Kudos @panos_panay for a stunning 2 decade run at microsoft.
I was fortunate to meet & interact with panos during my time at microsoft, and as many will attest, Panos or โPโ took time to make everyone feel seen and heard. Iโll miss his famous fist-bumps ๐๐ฝ.
After 19 incredible years at Microsoft, I've decided to turn the page and write the next chapter. Iโm forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with.
2023 has produced exciting works of literature. And this weekโs recommendations consist of our favourite books so far this year.
Our selection is based on recommendations from Leila Aboulela, Wole Talabi, Omolola Ogunyemi, and more.
For their recommendations, read on.
SIX LESSONS
**************
In 2001, I completed junior high school with the best result in the Krachi District (now Krachi West, Krachi East, and Krachi Nchumuru municipalities and districts). When the results were released, I looked forward to a miracle, but it did not happen.
Prompt engineering has gone from esoteric to essential for PMs.
5 skills you need to know to up your game:
1. Writing documents
2. Building tables
3. Understanding users
4. Analyzing competitors
5. Responding to email
"I try to make myself a bridge builder between people and opportunity." - @cwartemberg, Netflix Product Manager and Public Speaker
Listen to Charles' full episode, Giving Back In Tech ๐ https://t.co/0qxBwqUxkt
Most people trying to break into Product Manager do it the wrong way:
1. Obsess over having a "perfect" resume
2. Apply to all/any PM job
3. Try to get referrals
4. Pay for expensive (and mostly useless) certifications
Instead, I believe in 4 ways to become a PM ๐๐งต
Let me let you in on a little secret: your manager doesnโt want to manage you.
They want you to manage leadership.
Upward management for PMs: How to get what you deserve & your company needs๐งต
Wondering why @cwartemberg's manager was reading his LinkedIn? ๐ญ Join me for this inspiring conversation on the #StateofMind about #leadership, work-life balance & #careercoaching with @netflix's Product Manager and prolific public speaker ๐๏ธ https://t.co/yjhH9l3OtQ #podcast