Sometimes they are the values we were raised with, the traditions we grew up around and the memories of people whose lives continue to shape ours and that understanding sits at the heart of the business Angela has built in Scotland.

Born in Nigeria to Ghanaian parents, raised in both Ghana and Nigeria and now based in Alloa, Scotland, Angela's journey into entrepreneurship began long before Nathez Out of Africa. After studying Administration at Central University in Ghana, she worked as Personal Assistant to the General Manager of the Holiday Inn at Accra Airport, managing executive operations and looking after guests from around the world. She later stepped into entrepreneurship with Make up by the Duchess, growing what began as a home based beauty service into a studio serving brides, corporate clients and private individuals. Through both experiences, Angela learnt lessons that would follow her into her next chapter, to build something authentic, look after people and allow the quality of your work to speak for itself.

Moving to Scotland to be nearer to her husband's family meant building a different life and Angela continued to learn, completing a beauty care qualification with distinction in Glasgow City College while raising her family and working as a support practitioner in social care. Yet the connection to Ghana remained and eventually it found expression in Nathez Out of Africa, an ethical lifestyle business bringing handcrafted African homeware, baskets, jewellery, gifts and food to customers in the UK and beyond. Even the name carries a piece of Angela's own story because Nathez, with a silent T, was created from the names of her three children, placing family at the centre of the business from the very beginning.

There is something meaningful about the way Angela has chosen to build Nathez because the products are not simply selected for how beautiful they look. The handwoven Bolga baskets are made from elephant grass by artisans in northern Ghana, while other pieces come from craftspeople across Ghana and Kenya using skills and techniques that have been passed through generations. By sourcing directly from artisan communities, Angela is helping connect their work with customers beyond Africa while supporting fairer and more sustainable livelihoods. What arrives in someone's home as a basket, a piece of jewellery or an item of décor therefore carries another story with it, the hands that made it, the tradition behind it and the community that benefits when that craftsmanship is valued.

For Angela, celebrating African heritage also means allowing people to experience Africa beyond what they may already know about the continent. Nathez has grown beyond handcrafted objects to include teas, coffee, spices, snacks and other products that introduce customers to different parts of African culture through everyday experiences. Through the business, Angela is creating a bridge between the Africa she knows and the Scotland she now calls home, showing that heritage does not have to be left behind when we move somewhere new and that it can instead become something we share.

Angela's belief that business should make a difference goes beyond the artisans Nathez works with and perhaps the most personal part of her story can be found in the Teiko Foundation. Named in memory of her mother, Teiko, who Angela remembers as a generous woman who cared deeply about helping others, the foundation supports mothers and families experiencing difficult circumstances, including helping to cover hospital bills. In creating it, Angela found a way for her mother's kindness to continue reaching people she would never have the opportunity to meet.

There is a thread running through Angela Potter's story that connects Ghana, Scotland, her children, her mother and the artisans whose work fills Nathez Out of Africa. Each represents something worth carrying forward, whether that is a family name, a mother's generosity, a traditional craft or the pride of knowing where you come from. Angela has taken those different pieces of her life and built a business where commerce, culture and community can exist together.

Angela Potter is building more than an African lifestyle brand in Scotland because every piece that travels from an artisan's hands into a new home carries something much bigger with it. It carries someone's skill, someone's livelihood and a piece of a culture that deserves to be valued and perhaps that is the real meaning of taking something out of Africa, making sure that wherever it goes, its story travels with it.