In my husband’s words: Magatte Wade spent many months working with a perfumer in Grasse to develop each of Tiossan’s four fragrances. They would spend hours on the phone talking about the characteristics of the fragrances, then he would develop several variants, then they’d go back and forth again a few times. Then once she integrated the fragrances into her products, then they had to be refined yet again based on the interactions with the products themselves.
For the past five years I have spent hundreds of hours working on my recipes to perfect the look, feel, performance, and scents of my products. I have searched for the best ingredients from around the world, in some cases rejecting dozens of different varieties of the same ingredient before I found a supplier who could produce adequate quality. I’ve spent thousands of hours working on my designs, my brand, and my message, and am still constantly refining them. My husband complains about what a meticulous perfectionist I am, but this email that I received from a fan this morning explains why:
“This message is to say thank you. I am a Virgin coconut oil producer here in the Caribbeans. And I identify totally with your message as it relates to feeling that our products are not good enough for the world market.
In the words of Fredrick Douglass: ” your words have added much to my limited stock of language and enable me to give tongue to the many interesting thoughts which have often flashed thru my mind and have died away for want of words in which to give them utterance.”
I spend time reviewing your videos over and over again of speeches where you advocate your ideas. There are many times I see a more advanced version of myslef in you, Magatte. You have given me much inspiration and hope in taking my business to the international market. Thank you again.”
When I say that I want to “rebrand” Africa, in part my ambition is to produce such high quality products that no one questions African quality ever again. It is heartening that other entrepreneurs from around the world are hearing my message.
This past Thursday evening, something amazing happened. Something that I will never forget.
I met the Tribe. I met the Tiossan Tribe that so far I have only dreamed of. A group of women who embody the fully accomplished woman. It is true that I have met many Tiossanas since I started Tiossan, scattered around the world. But it was the first time I saw them in a group, full representatives of the Tribe.
For the first time, I was able to see, hear, touch and feel the Tiossan Tribe. And it was a majestic experience. These women are the perfect mix of brains + heart + spirit. They are not your typical do-gooder who think traditional charity is the sustainable way to cater to social issues. And they are not your typical power women who only care about being more powerful. No, these women are uber caring, yet no-nonsense as to how we achieve a better world. They understand me and Tiossan, its importance for women around the world (to lead authentic, meaningful lives), its importance for Senegal (the jobs, the supply chain, the innovative schools) and its importance for Africa in general (the change of perception of Africa and Africans by Africans and non Africans). And they have a real love of fashion, style and beauty products. It was fun to see them trying our body creams on, smelling our perfumes in delight, talking about how soft our body scrub and body wash made their skin feel…
They represent what I call having it all: brains + heart + soul + looks
Thank you so very much to my dear friends Delilah Rothenberg and her amazing other half Spencer Wang for opening their NYC home and hearts and making this most memorable evening possible. And thank you to all the ladies for coming.
Just now, I received a fabulous message from a great fan and friend from Rwanda who returned home last year. In his message, Jean-Michel tells me:
“Here in Rwanda, I have been doing a lot of stuff that I wanted to share with you!! I started with some friends an education program called Idebate Rwanda (http://www.facebook.com/IdebateRwanda) and basically what I wanted to do was to create an army of critical thinkers and speakers that are gonna change Rwanda. We started in October and now it’s just amazing the way kids are really growing and being shaped. Most of them, their confidence level is growing and their minds are being opened.”
This is exactly why the Tiossan Schools in Senegal will feature a robust program to develop critical thinking through Socratic Dialogue and debate.
Often I like to listen to this song (also love its video above), one of my favorite when I was a teenager growing up in France.
This song has always spoken to me in the sense it makes me stop for a minute and think about how we become what we are. How everyone’s life is a series of circumstances. We form feelings, opinions, and then go act on those, based on circumstances that we often have no control over, as in which family and circumstances we were born. But it is important to be aware of that fact. I think that that awareness can help us change the course of our own life. So, often I like to check in with myself. That is the Femme in me who craves self-introspection. And this songs helps me do that.
In any case, in this song, Jean-Jacques Goldman, of Polish Jewish background, wonders what type of a man he would have been had he been born in Germany in Leidenstadt right after WWI where the German suffered a very humiliating defeat. Would he have been better or worse than these people, if he had been “brought up with humiliation, hatred and ignorance, fed with dreams of revenge”?
As for Jones, he wonders who he would have been if he had been living in tribal and industrial Belfast. Would he have had the courage to betray his and lend a hand to others.
The late Carol Fredericks, an African American woman from Springfield, wonders what would have happened if she had “been born white and rich in Johannesburg”. Would she have heard “those cries carried by the wind”?
In the end, we are all encouraged to think of what we really have in our guts. Do we have the soul of “a Brave or an Accomplice or an Executioner? Would we be those who resist or sheep in a herd?”.
See below for my English translation (the official French version is below):
What if I was born in 17 Leidenstadt
On the ruins of a battlefield
Would I have been better or worse than these people
If I was German?
Rocked with humiliation, hatred and ignorance
Nurtured with dreams of revenge
Would I have been one of those unlikely consciences
Tears amid a torrent
Had I grown up in Belfast docklands
Soldier of one Faith, one Caste
Would I have had the strength and against mine
To betray: lend a hand
What if I was born white and rich in Johannesburg
Between power and fear
Would I have heard these cries carried by the wind
Nothing will be as before
We will never know what we really have in our guts
Hidden behind our appearances
The soul of a brave or an accomplice or an executioner?
The worst or the best?
Would we be those who resist or sheep in a herd
If it was more than words?
[Chorus]
What if I was born in 17 Leidenstadt
On the ruins of a battlefield
Would I have been better or worse than these people
If I was German?
And may we be spared you and me for a very long time if possible
From having to choose a camp
French Official Lyrics
Et si j’étais né en 17 à Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d’un champ de bataille
Aurais-je été meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Si j’avais été allemand ?
Bercé d’humiliation, de haine et d’ignorance
Nourri de rêves de revanche
Aurais-je été de ces improbables consciences
Larmes au milieu d’un torrent
Si j’avais grandi dans les docklands de Belfast
Soldat d’une foi, d’une caste
Aurais-je eu la force envers et contre les miens
De trahir: tendre une main
Si j’étais née blanche et riche à Johannesburg
Entre le pouvoir et la peur
Aurais-je entendu ces cris portés par le vent
Rien ne sera comme avant
On saura jamais c’qu’on a vraiment dans nos ventres
Caché derrière nos apparences
L’âme d’un brave ou d’un complice ou d’un bourreau?
Ou le pire ou plus beau ?
Serions-nous de ceux qui résistent ou bien les moutons d’un troupeau
S’il fallait plus que des mots ?
[Refrain]
Et si j’étais né en 17 à Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d’un champ de bataille
Aurais-je été meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Si j’avais été allemand ?
Et qu’on nous épargne à toi et moi si possible très longtemps
D’avoir à choisir un camp
