For her, the journey into entrepreneurship began not with a grand plan but with a painful twist of fate.
“It reminds me of where I came from,” she says quietly. “I would say it started from misfortune.”
Years ago, Miss Jean-Marie Akiwele Nabare was dismissed from her job after becoming pregnant.
“It wasn’t so clear that I was being sacked because I was pregnant,” she recalls, “but it was implied.”
The official reason given was a mistake that she says wasn’t even hers — one made by her employer’s son.
“Still, because he wasn’t happy that I got pregnant, he let me go and didn’t look back,” She told The Mirror in an interview in Accra on Wednesday.
At the time, she was working as an administrator in a private firm. Losing that job left her devastated, but she knew she had to pick herself up. After giving birth, she tried a couple of options.
A trained journalist, she tried her hand at hosting a TV show.
“I even recorded some episodes,” she recalled. But the footage got corrupted, and everything I worked on disappeared.”
Repeated rejections in the media industry followed, especially as a young mother.
“Every interview came down to whether I had someone to care for my baby, who was only a year old,” she said.
Miss Nabare later ventured into petty trading — buying and selling goods to support her growing family. But even as she made ends meet, something felt missing.
“I realised that buying and selling wasn’t my passion. I was just doing it for money. That realisation sparked a period of self-reflection. I decided to search myself and see what I really wanted to do. I looked at my talents — what am I good at?” she said.
Focusing on her talent
The answer was clear. She had always been a “crafty” person, someone who loved to work with her hands. And she wanted her work to mean something more.
“Entrepreneurship starts when you identify a problem. I looked around and realised I’m passionate about the environment. So I thought — how can I help the environment through my craft?” she said.
Her search led her to the world of upcycling, particularly the art of transforming old tyres into beautiful and functional pieces.
“I fell in love with the tyre craft,” she said with a smile. “Turning tyres into tables, chairs, corner pieces, even wall hangings and all sorts of things.”
Her creativity didn’t stop there. Soon, she found herself repurposing discarded bottles into elegant vases and home décor.
“Sometimes, I’d just see a bottle and think — I can make something out of this.”
Though she hadn’t done such work before, her curiosity pushed her forward. She enrolled in a three-day training to learn the basics of tyre craft.
“I could have stayed home and figured it out myself, but I didn’t want to buy materials and destroy them if it didn’t go well.” That short training turned out to be the start of something life-changing.
Challenges of starting a business
What started as a personal project — sofas, ottomans and even a baby seat for her child— soon caught the attention of friends who wanted their own.
Encouraged by the response, Miss Nabare started collecting discarded tyres, bottles and ropes to craft furniture and décor and eventually started Econiture Enterprise, a growing eco-friendly furniture brand built on resilience, creativity and environmental consciousness.
Today, she produces eco-friendly sofas, vases, mirrors and benches, outsourcing work to local carpenters, welders and seamstresses.
“It’s a social enterprise. I pay everyone who helps. It’s my small way of creating jobs and giving back,” she said.
Balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship, she admits, requires grit. “It’s just determination,” she said. “I’m passionate about what I do, and I’m determined to make this brand work. Some days I get help, some days I hire people — but I keep pushing.”
Running a business while raising young children has not been easy for her.
“If I say it’s been easy, it’s a lie. If you see my guest room, it’s full of wood, wool and nails. Sometimes, I strap my baby to my back and keep working,” the mother of three young children said.
Other challenges include transportation, funding and unreliable artisans.
“Sometimes I have to carry tyres myself or move materials into my living room to work while caring for my kids,” she said.
Her dream now is to train young people in upcycling skills.
“I can’t solve Ghana’s waste problem alone. But if I can teach others, together, we can make a bigger difference,” she said.
Leading training and innovation
Earlier this year, she picked up a new role as an Administrator and the Innovation and Training Lead at Environment 360’s Green Complex at Dodowa, where she leads skills programmes in upcycling, carpentry and DIY craft.
“We train people to make our products — from mirrors to tables — and even basic carpentry like using drills and saws. Many young people are hungry for skills, and I want to help.”
The hub also supports broader recycling initiatives, including turning plastic bottles into planters, combs and jewellery.
“We’re building a space where people can learn, create and protect the planet,” she explained.
Looking ahead, she envisions growing Econiture into one of the country’s biggest recycling factories.
“I want to create jobs and absorb the people we train. You can’t have a factory without skilled labour, so training is key,” she added.
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