Most people assume successful creative duos begin with intention: a clear vision, a strategy, a shared goal. The starting point that sounds good in interviews and looks even better in hindsight.
But for Afi Tsegah and Zulfiquer Gbedemah, the voices behind Stay By Plan, it didn’t begin that way at all.
This conversation formed part of WopeCar’s 8 Heroes Series, an anniversary spotlight celebrating individuals whose journeys reflect leadership, faith, and the courage to create change.
In conversation with our episode host Sheena Sue Biney, Afi Tsegah and Zuu reflect on how Stay By Plan began: not with a plan, but with familiarity, trust, and time.
It grew out of shared friends, shared spaces, and crossing paths at the University of Ghana, without any sense that those overlaps would later matter. What stood out in their conversation wasn’t a dramatic origin story, but how ordinary the beginning was, and how, over time, that ordinariness became its strength.
From “Should We?” to “Let’s Try”
The decision to start a podcast didn’t come from momentum or pressure. It came from hesitation.
Zuu had been sitting with the idea for a while, listening to podcasts and quietly considering whether he had something to say that people might want to hear. What he knew for certain was that he didn’t want to do it alone.
Afi wasn’t chosen because she fit a particular brand persona or audience profile. She was chosen because she felt familiar. Trusted. Balanced. Someone the conversation could rest on, not fight against.
That choice, quiet, instinctive, and unglamorous, shaped everything that followed. But as with most creative partnerships, the real test didn’t come at the beginning.
Why Disagreement Didn’t End the Partnership
Creative partnerships rarely fall apart at the start. They tend to fracture later, when opinions harden, personalities clash, and small tensions go unmanaged.
Afi and Zuu don’t pretend those moments don’t exist. They acknowledge disagreement openly. What’s different is how it’s handled.
One avoids escalation. The other doesn’t suppress emotion. Neither turns conflict into spectacle. The result is a dynamic that absorbs tension instead of being defined by it.
That restraint is part of why Stay By Plan has lasted nearly five years in a space where many podcasts quietly disappear. The full conversation reveals how that balance works in practice, beyond the banter audiences see on camera, and why it’s far more intentional than it appears.
What This Conversation Teaches Us (Without Trying To)
One of the quiet takeaways from Afi and Zuu’s conversation is that creative partnerships don’t have to be perfectly aligned to work.
They just have to be honest. They speak openly about disagreement, not as something to avoid, but as something to manage. Afi is candid about being more expressive, more feisty. Zuu, by contrast, is level-headed and intentionally avoids escalation. Neither style is presented as superior. What matters is the understanding between them, and the decision not to let tension turn into spectacle.
There’s also a lesson in how Stay By Plan evolved. Their personalities didn’t immediately define the podcast. That came later through experimentation, through moving from audio to video, through letting audiences see the dynamic rather than explaining it. Growth, in this case, wasn’t rushed. It was observed, adjusted, and allowed to settle.
And then there’s the most understated lesson of all: longevity is rarely about constant harmony. It’s about knowing when to push, when to pause, and when to let the work speak louder than ego. Four, almost five years on, Stay By Plan hasn’t lasted because everything has always been smooth, but because disagreement never became the reason to walk away.
The full conversation offers even more moments like this, unscripted, funny, occasionally uncomfortable, and deeply familiar to anyone who has tried to build something with another person.
Watch the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Tap the links to hear the stories, side comments, and gems we couldn’t unpack here.
