From school dropout to owning three fuel stations: Young Dee Group CEO shares his story of grit and persistence

From helping his mother roast plantain by the roadside to trying his hand at hunting, shoemaking, construction and food vending, Young Dee Group Chief Executive Officer Desmond Darko says he learnt early in life to make the most of every opportunity. His path to becoming a fuel retailer was far from straightforward. After struggling with a science course and deciding not to continue his formal education, he took on different jobs, including running a popular local food joint, before entering the fuel retail business as a pump attendant.

Today, Mr Darko owns three fuel stations, a journey he attributes to persistence and a willingness to take advantage of opportunities as they arose. Speaking on Joy FM’s Personality Profile with Lexis Bill on Thursday, October 29, he recalled supporting his mother’s roadside plantain business while he was in junior high school. “She wasn’t doing any, you know, active business,” he said, explaining that roasting plantain was the work she did at the time and that he helped her until she stopped.

A succession of odd jobs When it became clear that continuing his formal education would be difficult, Mr Darko decided to look beyond the classroom for a livelihood. “If I’m not going to continue the formal education, then whatever comes my way I should be able to take advantage of that and then move on with my life,” he said. He put that approach into practice, trying several occupations in search of a sustainable source of income.

He ventured into hunting, although the attempt did not work out. The experience took him into unfamiliar surroundings, including a cave where he said he once spent an entire week. “I’ve slept in a cave before. A whole week slept in a cave,” he recalled. He also worked as a shoemaker and took up various construction jobs before moving into restaurant work.

At one point, he operated what he described as one of the popular ‘check check’ joints around the Circle Station area, during the heyday of the local food business. Those experiences formed part of a working life shaped by trial and error, as he moved from one opportunity to another. Six years at the pumps Mr Darko eventually moved into the fuel retail business, starting as a pump attendant at a station in Sakaman before his employer transferred him to the Shell station at Stadium.

He spent about six years working at the pumps before being promoted to supervisor and later site manager. The experience gave him an opportunity to learn the operations of a filling station from the ground up, progressing from serving motorists to taking on greater responsibility for the business. His eventual move into fuel retailing marked a significant change in his circumstances.

Asked how many stations he now owned, Mr Darko replied: “I have three fuel stations.” Making opportunities count For Mr Darko, the journey from helping his mother sell roasted plantain to becoming a fuel station owner was not the result of a single breakthrough. Instead, his account points to years spent trying different jobs, acquiring experience and moving on when an opportunity presented itself.

His experience also illustrates the varied paths people can take into business ownership, with practical work and experience providing a route into an industry that he eventually came to operate as a retailer. Although his early ventures took him into several unrelated trades, his years as a pump attendant, supervisor and site manager gave him direct experience of the fuel retail business before he became an owner.

Mr Darko’s story is one of persistence through uncertainty and the decision to keep working despite setbacks along the way.