And for fashion designer Viva Aderko of VAAD by Viva, this is a situation she is well familiar with because her journey into the fashion industry is one that happened quite by accident.

Nine years ago, Viva was a busy woman, trying to build a career in banking, until what she can now describe as a fortuitous meeting with a young man changed the course of her life.

The young man had been desperate; someone had brought him into Ghana from one of the African countries to work in their fashion shop as a tailor. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and he was left stranded.

When he met Viva, he not only asked for support, he also made an interesting proposal that she wouldn’t have considered on her own; he asked her to open a fashion shop which he would work in.

“I would say this was a divine circumstance because I don’t think I would have ever gotten into fashion on my own. Before I met him, I had been in banking for two years and was working my way into it, I wasn’t thinking of anything at all. I mean I love to look good, I love to dress up but I never thought about going into fashion until he made that proposal,” she told Graphic Showbiz in a recent chat.

A design by VAAD by Viva

After weighing her options, Viva decided to take that chance and opened the shop so the young man would sew and they would sell. She still kept at her banking job, maybe to play it safe but along the line, she decided to get more knowledge about the entire process.

“I told myself that there was no way I could run a fashion shop and not have any idea about what went into it so I decided to enroll in a fashion school. I got a tutor from the Joyce Ababio fashion school to give me lessons because I was still working and didn’t have time to get into a formal fashion school.

“That arrangement worked for me because I also needed to come back to the shop to see to the running of things because the workers had started misbehaving,” she explained.

The tutor taught her in his spare time and it must have really been God moving her in that direction because within three to four months she had picked up so much. She also learnt online and then on the job.

After doing a blend of formal work and running the business for some time, Viva decided to take the business more seriously and took a bow from banking in 2018.

“I had been comfortable sewing for a few friends including those abroad and other people but my friends encouraged me to take it more seriously. I didn’t even have a business name so somewhere along the line I got my friends to help me with a name and VAAD was born,” she disclosed.

Today, Viva, who is based at Community 7 in Tema is doing great; she currently has six workers including three technical staff, a supervisor and a digital marketing person. “It’s been good, I’m not where I want to be but when I look at where I am now I realise how far I’ve come.”

VAAD by Viva deals with mainly female clothes; everyday wear, Ready To Wear, corporate attire and branched into bridal wear last year. Her clients are varied and Viva disclosed that she gets about 80 per cent of them from social media.

Speaking on where she gets inspiration for her designs she said, “Inspiration comes from everywhere; what someone has done, leaf patterns etc, everything you encounter can be inspiration.”

Sharing her thoughts on the fashion industry at the moment, the Chartered Banker said it is doing well.

“The industry is now very attractive unlike in previous years. Back then, people saw those involved in fashion as those who didn’t make good grades or were dropouts.

“But today, you have graduates getting into the fashion industry, there are people from all sectors, architects, lawyers, bankers all getting into it and this has reflected in the top notch designs we churn out. Now, I’m sure we can compete with some of the big brands internationally,” she stated.

One of the biggest challenges Viva faces in her craft now is accessing quality fabrics. “I struggle with getting the kind of fabrics I want, especially for my Ready To Wear stuff. There are a lot of unique stuff and we don’t get the variety we want.

“Ideally, I should be able to travel and get more beautiful fabrics but unfortunately, I don’t have the resources for that so it’s more like I am settling. However, for the bridals, we get some quality fabrics from China, India, Dubai among others so that’s good,” she said.

Viva, who is married and has one child, obtained her first Degree in Psychology at the University of Ghana and got her Master’s degree in Industrial Psychology from Walden University. She is also a chartered banker.

She credits her husband for encouraging her to make the move into the fashion industry and helping with her work. “It’s not easy managing a home and a business but God blessed me with an angel. He is understanding and is even involved in my work. He supervises the workers and manages my social media accounts for me so I’ve been very fortunate.”

On where she sees herself in the next few years, she said she wants to get as big as can be. “I want to be able to do more than even Pistis is currently doing, I want my name and VAAD by Viva to go global and I am ready to work towards that,” she said.

She encouraged anyone interested in taking up any venture not to be afraid. “There is no better time to start than now; start with the little that you have, When I started out I had only a hand machine because I didn’t have the space and resources.

“You must also have a passion for whatever you’re doing and most importantly, don’t get into it without knowing anything about it. It is so important because when your workers misbehave you would be able to take charge.

“If it’s fashion you want to do, then take yourself through a fashion school so you can learn everything about it,” she said.

VAAD by Viva is also into bridal wear