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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry has been widely impacted. Only essential travel has survived–with multiple airlines and train carriers taking big hits. This also affects travel agencies and trip planners, as well as the countries with economies dependent on tourism.
But in the middle of the crisis, many people have also taken the opportunity to rise up through the chaos. This is the case of Rashad McCrorey the owner of Rashad McCrorey Entertainment LLC and Africa Cross-Culture, through which he organizes tours to various countries in Africa including Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
“I started the business in 2016 and thus far, we have taken approximately 350 first time visitors to the continent and over 400 visitors overall.” Rashad says.
The inspiration behind this business venture is the “African Dream”, as Rashad describes. This refers to the many Americans whose ancestors come from Africa beginning in the 1600s and want to know their roots and explore the continent, to then return to the US with a stronger sense of self.
“Before this I was a successful New York City party promoter. During my second trip to the West African country of Ghana, I was seeking business opportunities and I realized, ‘if I can get 30 to 50 people to party every week with me in NYC, I can surely get 30 to 50 people a year to visit this beautiful country.’” Rashad shares.
And so Rashad started his business, only to face right away many challenges such as the various stereotypes of Africa. He claims that in the United States, Africa is almost solely portrayed as a poor and dangerous country. The commercials we see of Africa are of famished children or dangerous attacks.
“America treats Africa as if it was one big country, not respecting the fact that Africa is one entire continent with 54 different countries, with different cultures, histories, traditions and languages.” Rashad states.
This is why it was crucial for Rashad to have the correct mindset when he started his business, as it is helpful when motivation is low or when things are not going your way. He also practices mindfulness to relax and take things one day at the time.
“I advise those trying to start their own business to believe in yourself. When you are first starting a new business, many people will knowingly and unknowingly place seeds of doubt into your mind. It is your job to stay confident and move forward. Sometimes you have to believe in yourself even when all the evidence around you is telling you otherwise. You never know how close you are to making your dreams come true.” Rashad advises.
All this advice is helpful particularly when it comes to fear–which for Rashad is false evidence appearing real. For Rashad, thanks to his mindset, fear is actually exciting. He sees it as an opportunity to do something great or overcome a situation. Having this thinking towards fear facilitates achieving success.
“Success for me is an internal feeling of happiness. I have been successful on paper and been totally broken on the inside. Find what makes you happy and anything you do that feeds that happiness is success.” Rashad shares.
This is precisely what Rashad did when he started his business: he realized he loved networking, meeting new people, being on his own schedule, and being free to live and travel to the many places he loved. This is why today he can say he is totally in love with his career.
At the moment, Rashad is working on overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected all travel and tourism activities. He is focusing on finishing his book, which should be published in the next few months, and on engaging future customers.
“We are about six weeks in and as of now I am doing a great job at increasing my authority in my business space and continuing to book future clients. I am also building my portfolio in other areas of my life such as writing, as I prepare for business to resume.” Rashad says.
Rashad is certain that when this is all over, his business as well as travel and tourism in general will pick up rather quickly. This will give him an opportunity to continue to provide to many people the opportunity to explore the diverse African continent in a safe and fun way.
“I am currently in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Rashad shares, which underlines how close he is to the countries he travels to. “I love flying, I love paying for hotels, I love the countries I visit, I love working, I love visiting Africa. This is a place I could stay in indefinitely.”
If you’ve ever wondered what Africa is like, you should definitely check out Rashad and all his future projects. For that, you can go here.
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