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Name: Peace Hyde
Occupation: Media personality, Forbes Africa correspondent, Founder of Aim Higher Africa
Location: Ghana
Social/Website: Instagram – Twitter – AimhigherAfrica.com
Bio: Peace Hyde is a TV personality, media entrepreneur and Forbes Africa Correspondent. She is also the founder of education advisory firm Aim Higher Consulting and its subsequent not for profit arm Aim Higher Africa which has a focus on building the next generation of entrepreneurs in Africa to bridge the gap between poverty and prosperity. As the Forbes Africa West African Correspondent, she is responsible for profiling the entrepreneurial success stories from the continent. Peace Hyde is the only personality on the continent who has interviewed Africa’s billionaires through her flagship Forbes Africa TV talkshow, My Worst Day with Peace Hyde.
EBONY: Can you give us a little insight on what Aim Higher Africa is?
Peace: Aim Higher Africa is a leading education not for profit committed to providing opportunities for the youth, women and communities by educating; inspiring and empowering them to make the change they want to see for a better Africa. Our vision is to build a dynamic network of Youngpreneurs that create sustainable and scalable businesses.
I started Aim Higher Africa with a simple goal of giving street children and children from impoverished communities in Africa an opportunity to be more than their situation and empower them with the tools to achieve their fullest potential. Since then the organization has grown into a network of what we like to call Youngpreneurs or young entrepreneurs with a common goal of creating sustainable and scalable businesses that creates employment for the youth and most importantly bridge the gap between poverty and prosperity. Today we stand at creating over 500 small businesses, which provide employment to over 2000 youths across Africa and that is such a great highlight for the organization. We have seen children who lived on the streets and worked long hours carrying heavy loads on their heads for less than $1 a day transform into young business leaders, running and even employing other youths from similar backgrounds. It has been a really amazing journey.
EBONY: What are your personal goals?
Peace: I truly believe you can achieve anything you put your mind to and I am a strong advocate in setting myself goals and targets. My process is quite simple. I believe you must take up one idea. Make that idea your life. Think of it, dream of it, live that idea. I have a number of goals I am always working towards but I would say my top 5 are:
1. Spread the Faith – I describe myself as a faith driven person. Everything I do is based on an unshakeable faith in God and his purpose for my life. I truly believe you can achieve anything you put your mind to with Faith. There are sometimes when your faith is tested and we all go through it. Having faith is having the confidence that no matter now bad things get, God is always going to have your back. I call all my supporters “Faithbuilders” because I believe it is only by building each other that we can all achieve our purpose. We all have what it takes to achieve our fullest potential. Sometimes all we need is a little faith.
2. Learn from Failure – The number one lesson I’ve learnt is that failure teaches you a lot and if you are going to be successful, you need to learn how to deal with failure. Every entrepreneur I meet had to overcome set backs in order to breakthrough. You owe it to your dream never to give up on it. No matter how hard it gets and even at times when it seems like it is all over, there is always something you can learn from that experience which will enrich your next move. Trust in the process and never quit.
3. Use the power of the media to inspire the youth – Forbes Africa is all about capturing the true essence of what it means to be an entrepreneur. It celebrates the success stories from Africa by providing an unbiased insight into the lives of the movers and shakers of our continent. The role is both challenging and rewarding. It is an honour to be given access into the world of some of the most illustrious entrepreneurs of our time. It is a huge responsibility because each individual story has to be told in such a way that reflects the true essence of the person. Each day is different and each story has a life of its own and it has the power to inspire other young people who want to embark on the challenging journey of entrepreneurship and it is my hope that my work with the magazine encourages more people to take that leap of faith and pursue their dreams.
4. Empower more women in Africa to be financially inclusive through Aim Higher Africa – Financial Inclusion for women on the continent is something that is tremendously lacking. There is a particular gender gap for men and women. Women do not have the same access to banking service that men do. In Sub-Saharan Africa the problem is greater and I was surprised that the place where the gap is biggest in Nigeria where the financial gap is 34 percent compared to 54 percent of men. This is one of the issues our “More Than A Woman” initiative aims to solve. It is my goal to provide a woman empowerment avenue to both develop female owned businesses and celebrate the success stories coming out of the continent.
5. Get Healthy – I believe it is extremely important to be healthy and the key to achieving this is a good balanced diet and exercise and it is my goal to be as active and healthy as I possibly can be.
EBONY: What are 5 things people don’t know about you?
- The furthest I’ve been away from home is Africa
- The 3 things I cannot live without are my make-up box. My iPhone. My Wi-Fi Connection.
- My Favorite comfort food will be apple crumble pie with whipped cream mixed.
- I am a strong advocator of the power of your mindset in shaping the direction of your future. If you can dream it then you can achieve it.
- One of the hardest things I had to do was to spend a day as a head potter in Ghana. To see what these poor girls had to endure was the catalyst for starting Aim Higher Africa.
