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Correspondent. From Trappes to the USA, the stars of Mawa
Correspondent. From Trappes to the USA, the stars of Mawa – (SPECIAL SUBJECT / FRANCE 2)
Who would have thought that Mawa McQueen would become a millionaire in the United States? “Special Envoy” went to meet this woman of Ivorian origin, who grew up in Trappes and made her fortune selling pancakes in the very chic town of Aspen, in Colorado.
Mawa McQueen is a chef, black, famous… and a millionaire, a real surprise for this mother of Ivorian origin, who moved from the suburb of Trappes, in Yvelines, to Aspen, a luxurious ski resort in Colorado.
She launched a luxury creperie there where her homemade pancakes are sold at high prices. Now at the head of two creperies and two restaurants, with a total of 120 employees, she does not intend to stop there.
A revenge on “years of hardship”
She studied at the Yvelines hotel high school where, around twenty years ago, she was one of the rare black people. But it was in the United States that she found models and realized her dream because “France could not [lui] give what [qu’elle] wanted[t]”.
Her secret, she says, is patience, savings and… having a good banker to negotiate with. A beautiful story of tenacity, emancipation, and mixing of cultures.
A report by Lila Bellili, Baptiste Laigle and Arnaud Pacary broadcast in “Special Envoy” on November 30, 2023.
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