“I've got a woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it,” Margaret Thatcher.
Inspired by nature, forms, shapes and lines, Ms Constance Elizabeth Swaniker, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Accent and Arts Company Limited, uses creative arts to capture and translate the essence of various themes by using wood, wrought iron, metal, glass and other materials.
Over the years, she has excelled in the sculpture, furniture and wrought iron industry; building gates, furniture, balustrades, burglar-proof metal bars, accents, garden décor and hand-painted wrought iron chandeliers, among many others.
Having ventured into a male-dominated sector, Ms Swaniker works with a team of 40 men made up of welders, sprayers, carpenters and artisans.
She produces traditional and contemporary designs to meet the needs of home owners, architects, interior designers and construction professionals and her finished products can be found in reputable hotels, restaurants, offices and homes, including the African Regent Hotel.
Very passionate about what she does, she is not bothered when people call her names like super woman, which most men prefer to call her by. “Most people get disappointed when I appear as the leader of the company because I am a woman,” she said.
When this reporter asked how she was able to cope with all these confrontations, she said, “I am always on top of issues and well informed about the work I am doing. I do not easily get intimidated, so with all the confidence and toughness I go all out.”
“Being the leader of about 40 men means I have to be smart and tough at all times so that they do not take me for granted. By doing that I am always on top of issues concerning the job,” she added.
She said sometimes she had to come to the level of the understanding of her workers to promote good team work.
How it started
Growing up together with three siblings who were good at Science and Mathematics, Ms Swaniker’s interest was different as she was interested in Creative Arts. Though it was challenging for her, her mother encouraged her to pursue her interest.
After completing her ‘A’ level at the Accra Academy Senior High School, Ms Swaniker proceeded to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where she had her degree in sculpture.
“While at KNUST, I was working with some local carpentry shops during vacations and even when school reopens. So I gained five years practical work experience by the time I completed the university,” she stated.
With the experience and motivation from her family, she decided to pursue her dream by going into entrepreneurship immediately after school.
“I completed in 1999 and by May 2000, I had registered my business,” she said.
She recalled starting work from her backyard and after sometime, when she realised the business was growing, she had to look for a bigger apartment.
“Funds were raised from a loan I secured from my mother and with the little money I had raised from selling fountains, I built a shed and that marked the beginning of the journey of Accents and Art to date,” she said.
She recalled some unpleasant experience as the company was growing and added that those experiences provided her with opportunities to help the business grow.
Highlighting on some of the industrial challenges, Ms Swaniker mentioned the lack of government recognition and the importation of foreign goods.
“The importation of foreign goods poses a big challenge to us because we have to compete with them. Government can help us by creating an enabling environment to promote our locally manufactured goods in the country,” she said.
Family and Challenges
The 40-year-old single mother has two sons who currently live with their grandmother in Botswana.
“Combining work and family chores was very challenging, so I sent them to my mother,” she said.
Born to the late Mr Francis Swaniker and Mrs Edna Swaniker in Accra, she left to Botswana where some of her family members reside (at the age of seven) and returned to Ghana at age 18. She is the second of four children born to the couple and she had her basic education in Botswana.
Achievements and aspirations
Ms Swaniker has achieved and won a reputable image for herself and her company.
In addition to being one of the nominees of the Vlisco Be Your Dream Promotion in which Vlisco celebrated women who had lived their dreams, she was also honoured and recognised by Unilever Idea Trophy in 2012 and nominated the Best Entrepreneur in small and medium scale enterprise (SME) in 2010. She also won the Network Journal from the New York Achievement in 2010 and the Investor Excellence Award in 2007, among others.
“My greatest achievement would be to see the youth and women engaging and tapping into the Creative Arts Industry,” she said.
In pursuit of her dream, Ms Swaniker has established the Accent and Art Vocational Training School. It is intended to add value and skills to students’ education.
She has already trained over 100 students from the universities and polytechnics. They understudy her during internship.
Advice to women and parents
“The Creative Arts Industry has a lot of potentials which could be tapped, especially for the youth who complain of no job opportunity,” she said.
She has, therefore, charged students to pursue courses in technical and vocational courses, adding that parents should also encourage their children who have an interest and are willing to pursue their dreams in the vocational and technical courses skills to do so.
Ms Swaniker urged young women to work hard wherever they found themselves, saying that with determination to overcome every challenge, women should not be intimidated by their gender disparities but should rather take advantage of their feminine potentials and work hard towards their goals.
“Young woman should not stay in abusive relationships because of money but should rather find something to do for themselves and earn a living,” she advised.
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