EchoHouse founders Beryl and Bright Agyekum-Ayaaba graduate as joint valedictorians

Nearly two decades after turning a university magazine into EchoHouse, a marketing agency operating in eight countries, married founders Beryl Agyekum-Ayaaba and Bright Mamud-Ayaaba have reached another milestone in their journey together, graduating as joint valedictorians from a Master of Business Creation programme.

Together since 2006 and married for 10 years, the couple has built their business and personal lives in tandem, learning to balance marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship and academic demands while growing EchoHouse from a campus idea into an international company.

For Bright, sharing the honour with his wife was both surreal and deeply personal.

“The experience of being called on stage as a valedictorian together with my wife was quite surreal,” he said.

“It’s not been an easy experience through the academics and working together as well, but we’ve kept pushing on. It’s been a whole year of rigorous assignments and meetings and all that, but we managed to combine that with work. It hasn’t been easy, but we are very proud of ourselves today.”

The achievement followed a demanding year in which the couple combined academic work with the responsibilities of running a growing business. It also reflected a partnership built around shared ambition, resilience and an understanding of each other’s strengths.

Even as they shared the spotlight, Bright was quick to credit his wife.

“For me, I’ve always said it should be Beryl. She pushes me more, so she basically deserves it. I’m the guy in the back, you know, so I was very happy when we both got it, but I’ll give it to her. It’s hers,” he said.

His remarks offered a glimpse into a relationship in which success is celebrated collectively rather than claimed individually.

The couple’s entrepreneurial journey began while they were university students. In 2008, they started what would become EchoHouse as a magazine intended to tell the university’s story.

The initiative eventually evolved into a full-service marketing agency, taking the founders into an industry far removed from their academic training.

Both studied civil engineering for their first degrees but went on to build a business in marketing and related services.

“We have a background of civil engineering, and that’s what we did for our first degree, and our business is in a totally different world, marketing services and all that,” Bright said.

Their transition into the industry required them to develop new skills, learn through experience and navigate the uncertainties of entrepreneurship. They also had to build a viable business model and confront the challenge of securing the resources needed to support growth.

Today, EchoHouse operates in eight countries, marking a significant evolution from its beginnings as a university publication.

The company’s growth has demanded more than an initial idea. It has required the founders to develop their leadership, understand the practical demands of expansion and establish a working relationship that allows both to contribute without competing for the same responsibilities.

For Beryl, the strength of their partnership lies partly in recognising that they bring different qualities to the business.

“Bright doesn’t need any motivation. He’s motivated by himself,” she said.

“But I think our dynamic, we’ve come to understand each other in terms of what I do versus what he does. Even in the business, we don’t do the same thing. If it’s a Bright thing, it’s Bright. If it’s my thing, it’s me. So we sort of have a dynamic that makes it work that way.”

That division of responsibilities has helped them work together while maintaining distinct roles. Rather than trying to lead in the same areas, they have learnt to recognise where each person can contribute most effectively.

Beryl serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Echo House Ghana Limited. Her career has earned her recognition in Ghana’s business community, including a place among the country’s Top 50 Young CEOs in 2019 and the Female Young Achiever’s Award at the 2020 EMY Africa Awards.

She has also been associated with the creation of Tidal Rave, a major youth-oriented beach festival that has become a prominent fixture on Ghana’s entertainment calendar.

Her experience reflects a wider theme in EchoHouse’s development: starting with an idea, learning through experience and continuing to build.

The Master of Business Creation programme gave the couple an opportunity to deepen their entrepreneurial knowledge and strengthen their approach to the business they have spent years developing.

Their experience illustrates the demands of building a company without a formal academic background in its industry. It also highlights the need for entrepreneurs to keep acquiring skills as their businesses grow and their responsibilities change.

For Beryl and Bright, the academic experience came with the added challenge of studying alongside a spouse who is also a business partner. Their success required them to manage assignments and meetings while keeping the company running.

The graduation, therefore, was not simply the end of a year of study. It marked another stage in a longer process of learning and adaptation that began when they were students building a university magazine.

Their journey has not been one of having every answer from the beginning. Instead, it has involved making decisions, learning new skills and pushing through difficult periods while keeping a shared ambition in view.

The joint valedictorian honour brings that journey into focus. The couple who began building EchoHouse as university students have continued to invest in their own development while managing the demands of marriage, parenthood and entrepreneurship.

They now hope to apply the lessons from the classroom to take the business to its next level.

For Beryl and Bright, the achievement is more than an academic distinction. It reflects a partnership in which both have had to grow, adapt and make room for each other’s strengths.

From a university magazine to a company operating across eight countries, their story traces the evolution of an idea into an international business—and of two young entrepreneurs who have continued learning together along the way.

At graduation, they stood side by side not only as business partners, but as husband and wife, sharing the recognition that followed years of building together.