One day, while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a post sharing screenshots from an old Liberian cookbook.
The comments were full of affection and memories. People remembered their aunt or grandmother cooking with it. Others wanted a copy of their own and were asking where they could buy it.
But there didn’t seem to be a clear answer.
One commenter recalled buying a copy from the author at the 2026 Liberia Diaspora Conference, but she didn’t have the author’s contact information.
That stayed with me. Here were people expressing love for this book and asking how to get it, yet they couldn’t find a way to buy it. How many potential sales had the author missed simply because interested customers couldn’t reach her?
Finding talent shouldn’t depend on timing
It captured something I had been noticing as I discovered more businesses in Liberia and Liberian-owned businesses abroad: so much creativity, talent, and work—but finding them often depended on the right post, on the right platform, reaching you at the right time.
As a Liberian living in the United States, I kept coming across entrepreneurs creating everything from makeup and palm-wine champagne to snacks and wedding cakes. I was excited by what I was discovering, but I also wondered how many businesses I was missing because their posts never reached me.
That is one of the reasons I created MyPekin. I wanted a central place where people could search for businesses, discover what they offer, and find a way to connect—even after the Instagram post had disappeared down their feed.
“You know somebody?”
It’s a familiar question when we need a service or a recommendation. Those personal connections are valuable. MyPekin gives us another way to make those connections, including when we don’t already know someone who knows the business we need.
The directory brings together businesses operating in Liberia and Liberian-owned businesses across the diaspora. You can look for what you need by category and location, explore the businesses you find, and contact them directly.
What does that look like in practice?
For entrepreneurs, MyPekin offers another way to reach potential customers beyond their existing networks. A shareable profile brings their services, photos, and contact information together—even if they don’t have their own website. Listings are always free.
For customers, it means having a central place to search for businesses, explore their work, and contact them directly.
For those of us in the diaspora, it creates opportunities to discover Liberian-owned businesses where we live and connect with businesses in Liberia, including when we need services for family back home.
For our wider community, it makes supporting entrepreneurs easier. A discovery can become a purchase, a referral, or a connection that opens a new door.
Turning interest into connections
The cookbook stayed with me because the interest was already there. People remembered it, valued it, and wanted a copy. MyPekin is my effort to help close the gap between wanting to support a business and knowing where to find it.
I believe that helping entrepreneurs become easier to discover is one practical way we can create opportunities and contribute to Liberia’s future, wherever we live.