An Unusual Business Opportunity From A Handsome American Soldier Onboard a USA Warship

In the summer of 2016, the American warship was touring West Africa to provide military training to the submarines.

If you have never seen how beastly a United States warship looks like, I’d love to hear your thoughts, after seeing this photograph.

©Sylvie Tamanda – America Warship/ DLA port.

Obviously, from the exterior, and judging by American standards and bigly they like to do stuff, especially when it comes to flexing their power muscle, you’d be in awe of what the interior looks like.

Certainly, for me, it was my first time getting onboard a war vessel. And that privilege was afforded thanks to my role as country financial manager for a multinational shipping company.

Our company was the calling port agent in charge of the vessel, therefore it was in my interest to meet the supply officer onboard the vessel on regular occasions to ensure that everything that our fellow Americans needed, they had, and of course to ensure that all invoices got signed on time for our company to be paid some US dollars… ahaha

I already wrote an article on how I built my interpersonal relationships professionally, in business, and on a personal level to scale the ladder. You may read it here The Power of Interpersonal Skills in Professional Growth

So… with my back-and-forth trips to the fancy ship, I happened to have caught the handsome soldiers having lunch one day, and it was a privilege to have a bite with them, as seen in my picture.

©Sylvie Tamanda – Onboard the America Warship/ DLA port.

I also developed a great relationship with Ed, the supply officer, and he invited me to the roof top where their military helicopter lands. Can you see the excitement on my face? lol.

©Sylvie Tamanda – Roof top of the American Warship/ DLA port.

If you know me, you know that I love my African culture… I am proud of who I am and where I come from. And that subconscious pride for my culture led me straight into a business opportunity.

The green T-shirt I am wearing in this photograph happens to have caught the eyes, attention, and love of the soldiers on board, and they approached me to ask me if they could get one.

©Sylvie Tamanda – America Warship/ DLA port.

For most of them, it was their first time ever setting foot on African soil. Some of them were even black Americans who were touching soil with their mother-continent (I don’t even know if this is a word, so bear with me and you dare not rebuke me for it) ahaha.

I saw it as an opportunity to promote my beloved culture to the cute soldiers and, why not, earn some extra change.

I called up my young friend who made the T-shirts for me and asked him if he could get the XXXXXL sizes (please don’t count how many Xes.. most of the guys were tall and muscular, hence ).

Anyway, he agreed, went to the market, got the sizes, and got to work. I made a few as gifts for the soldiers I fancied and charged the others I didn’t find so charming ( can you blame a single sister for trying her luck? Nooo).

On the day I delivered the shirts onboard, the guys were all so excited. Winking at me and taking off their shirts to try them on, i.e., showing off their 9 packs to a single African woman who was already trying to hold her emotions in… You see the movie scenes when a cute guy takes off their shirt in front of a girl, and she goes… wow! I lived through all of that. Hahaha

Image source: canva

Anyway, I digressed.

One of the guys onboard told me he loved them so much that he’d like to order a suitcase full of them. And I went… What??

So, he placed his order, but their port call was now over, and they were headed to another neighbouring country and then off to the USA. Instead of turning him away, I took up the challenge.

I told him he’d get the shirts sent to his USA address, but at the time, I had absolutely no idea how it was going to happen. However, I made a resolve to cross the bridge when I got there ( “Notin pass arrangement”, as we would say in my local slang).

I guess this is the point where you ask me, “How did you pull this off, Sylvie?

Well, for starters, I accepted the order, asked for desired designs, colours, and sizes. Next, I spoke to the tailor, we discussed production prices and working terms, and he agreed to make them.

Because I was working full time, I only had my office breaks, which I used to coordinate the production and monitor progress, making sure to rope the client in along the way.

A couple of weeks later, the shirts were now available, and I had to face the shipping dilemma. Sending a suitcase full of designed T-shirts to America wasn’t something I had done before, and it was time to put on my creative solution hat.

I went down to the DHL office and found out what the cost would be, and the amount was ridiculously high. Bearing in mind that it was imperative for the shirts to arrive urgently for an event in the USA, I had to explore other options.

After probing my contacts to see if they knew anyone, who knew anyone who was travelling to the USA, I eventually landed on a telephone number.

She was travelling the very next day—what are the odds.

I was so excited that I used my savvy business mind to negotiate for a rate that was 90% cheaper than DHL, and she took the suitcase.

To cut a long story short, my American soldier got his T-shirts, and I got my money and a very big American tip.

In summary

Be proud of who you are, and always show up as your authentic self.
Work on your interpersonal skills and build great relationships with the people you encounter.
Be generous with your time and knowledge, and always have a heart of service.
Try not to say no to challenges. Remember that where there is a will, there will always be a way.
Lastly, when faced with an opportunity, explore every avenue.