Maintaining stardom is difficult—Abena Kyei
ABENA Kyei, host of Fontomfrom on Kantanka TV, has advised people aspiring to enter the entertainment industry to look beyond the luxury clothes, endorsement deals, cars, glitz and glamour that come with stardom.
What they may not know is how hard it is and how real the struggle is to maintain that stardom.
She is therefore advising people to be careful what they wish for because being a star is not easy. According to her, one of the questions she had had to answer from her followers was how to become a star.
Abena Kyei
“I have had to answer this question over and over again but I would like to use this medium to make things clear. The truth that most of those in the limelight do not talk about is that being a star is not difficult but sustaining it is where the work is.
“Look, you just do something crazy and the next minute, you are all over the media but what you do with it, how you sustain it, is where the challenge is. There are many people who became stars in a matter of weeks, days, etc. but months down the line, they are nowhere to be found.
“To be able to answer this question, one needs to ask what made you a star? If it is through hard work, then I will say it will be easy to sustain. If you build the brand over time, then you can sustain it and it will be so easy to do that.
“However, if it is not, then there is an issue, that is when you will have to engage in all kinds of things to be able to stay relevant. Desperation sets in, then you start misleading people by doing things that you know are not right.
“I believe life is a journey and that journey is a process, it is like climbing a ladder, you do it one step at a time,” she told Graphic Showbiz recently.
Abena Kyei was third runner-up at Ghana’s Most Beautiful 2011
Abena, who participated in Ghana’s Most Beautiful in 2011 and emerged third runner-up, has been hosting the morning show on Kantanka TV for three years and said the journey had been worth it.
“Nothing good comes easy, everything comes with a price you pay and hard work is the ultimate price if you ask me. It might look slow but consistency, endurance, focus and prayers have always been my watch words.
"I have lived by these words and so far, I’m enjoying my work. I am proud of myself,” she stated.
On the lessons she had learned, she said, “It has changed a lot of perceptions I’ve had. Initially, I used to see people who do what I do as competition, especially those who are ahead of me but now I know better.
“I know that there is nothing wrong in learning from those ahead of you. So, I have a few of them I go to learn from, I consult so that I also become better at what I do", she added.
Talking about what the future held for her, Abena Kyei, who is also an entrepreneur, said, “I have big dreams, it is my prayer that I become one of the renowned morning show hosts in Africa and I am putting in the work to make that happen.”