People KATIE BARNES guillemotright.cap MANAGING EDITOR guillemotright.cap SPA BUSINESS
THE WAY
I SEE IT
Dzigbordi K Dosoo
38, CEO, Allure Africa Limited, Ghana
Dosoo worked in fi nance for 10 years as a consultant for fi rms such as the International Finance
Corporation, before relocating to Ghana in 1998 and setting up beauty company Allure Africa. She
launched Ghana’s fi rst day spa in 2006. Today she operates two large locations, each with separate
spa (Allure Spa in the City), hair and beauty (Allure Beauty Palace) and male grooming (AllureMan)
facilities. Dosoo also owns a beauty product distribution company, a training college – which she
plans to turn into an institution for up to 100 therapists – and set up beauty expo, Iyaba, this year.
My early years were spent in Accra, Ghana, where I was raised by two
My life is on track – this is exactly
where God meant me to be at this
unique individuals who shaped my life. My dad was from a poor family,
moment and this time. I would de-
but educated himself to the highest level and became the f_i rst Barrister
scribe myself as the apple of God’s
eye, a child of destiny, a uniquely
at Law from his village. My grandmother was semi-literate, but had
committed mother and wife and a
a sharp eye for detail and a solid business acumen. She was a trader
driven and passionate entrepreneur,
although I’m still trying to achieve
and her strategy was: ‘let everyone assume you’re average, but learn a good work-life balance. If I lost it
everyday with consistent focus and discipline to surprise them all’.
all tomorrow, I’d still have my faith
so all would not be gone. It’s also my
fear of the wrath of God that keeps
me on the straight and narrow.
I love following grand slam tennis tournaments
on TV. It’s a fantastic game and watching it keeps Af_t er years of feeling unfulf_i lled in f_i nance and economics, I de-
me motivated. It teaches you that there is a thin
cided to quit my career and follow my dream. My critics might
line between risk and opportunity and success
and failure. I play myself and have had a coach for
call me a risk taker, but I had visited a few local salons in Ghana
some years now. I’d like to say that I practise in
and identif_i ed a gap in the delivery of beauty and spa services to
my spare time, but I just don’t have any, although
the emerging middle class and the expatriate market. It set a spark
I’m taking baby steps to address this.
in my heart, which grew into a f_l ame and then a burning f_i re.
Ghana is the most stable sub-Saharan country politically and oil has
T_h e best decision I’ve ever made was to
just been discovered here. Its spa industry is a f_i eld of dreams: there is
create a spa and beauty trade show for sub-
an emerging middle class who are beginning to embrace wellness as a
lifestyle and a strong expatriate community who know spa. However our
Saharan Africa. I conceived the idea years
tourism authorities do not regulate, recognise or include spas in their
ago, but this year I got a team of eight
promotions, as is the case in Asia. Yet Allure has started dialogue with
people together and brought it to reality
these authorities and I must say they’ve been very co-operative so far.
within three months. T_h e f_i rst Iyaba show
was held in June and was a phenomenal
T_h e dif_f erence between a good and a great spa is premium
success. It included 11 exhibiting brands
service: it’s that simple. T_h e Spa at Mandarin Oriental in
from North America, Asia and South
Washington DC is my favourite. It is luxurious and contem-
porary, but it also has a blend of traditional f_l avours, which
Africa and attracted 1,500 delegates. My
is important. T_h e fact that its deep tissue massage is great
aim is to reach those in the farther rural
doesn’t hurt either! No matter how many spa treatments I’ve village to help them fulf_i l their dreams.
had, a deep tissue massage with hot stones always gets me.
SpSPa BuA BUSINESS 4 2009SineSS 4 2009
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