Exploring Life & Business with Tanyech Yarbrough of Wah Gwan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanyech Yarbrough.

Hi Tanyech, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In June 2019, I just came back from a two weeks vacation with my family. We traveled to Paris, Ethiopia and Zanzibar, Tanzania. That travel experience opened my eyes to the importance of my family and how much I wanted to get back the time I missed with my children. Four months after my travels, I wasn’t the same. I no longer enjoyed my job, I was unhappy with the person I became. I’ve always lived my life as someone who believes in changing your unhappy situation to have a better future outcome. I decided I was going to open a restaurant, which would allow people to experience my Jamaican culture and my partner’s Nigerian’ culture… We entertained our friends a lot on the weekends and I always loved how food brought us all together. My partner taught me how to prepare Nigerian dishes that we now serve at Wah Gwan. He was the force in me taking this leap of faith to open. He is my partner in business and in life. We are a partnership in Wah Gwan.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This has not been an easy road. When I gave my five weeks notice to my previous employer, I thought I would open in two months after my leave. Instead, it took two and a half months to get the city to approve my building plans. After the approval, we were hit with a pandemic, which resulted in a shutdown of the city. I did however use this time to put together all our blood, sweat and tears into the interior design concept of Wah Gwan. My partner showed me how to build tables and our wooden planters. He gave me my first drill set so I could build. My stepdad and I paid the plumbing and put up sheet rocks to build two bathrooms and the kitchen. There were times during this process I couldn’t see it coming to life but I continued to push through because I had just walked away from a career that was paying me a 6 figure salary and couldn’t turn back now. I was driven to see the end result.

As you know, we’re big fans of Wah Gwan. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Wah Gwan is a restaurant that offers Jamaican and Nigerian cuisine. When you enter, we want you to walk away feeling like you’ve eaten a great home-cooked feel. Once you walk in, you will be taken away by the very eclectic vibe that takes you to Jamaica or Nigeria. We pride ourselves on great customer service, great food and healthy ingredients that goes into all our dishes. We strive to use healthy oils such as Grapeseed Oil, Olive Oil and coconut oil that is in a lot of our dishes. This is what set us aside from other restaurants. We also believe in giving back. Some of our revenue goes to feeding people in the community. We also help fund the youth camp in Nigeria that is held every year through the John Allagh Foundation… This is near and dear to my heart. The kids there are so appreciative of the time and effort that goes into making the camp exist.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck. I do believe in working hard and faith that The Most High will carry you through to achieve your dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wahgwantan.com/
• Instagram: Wahgwan_tan
• Facebook: Wah Gwan tan