Yacine Ndiaye doesn’t think small. As a multi hyphenate creative whose client roster includes Afrobeat superstar Adekunle Gold and fashion trailblazer Dapper Dan, culture and community have always been the cornerstones of her ideology, and with her latest venture, Fly Trap Café, those concepts become three dimensional.
Born in Harlem to a Black American mother and a Senegalese father, Ndiaye was raised to trust her intuition and dream big. “My mom never made me feel like the world was small,” she tells GU. At 21, a desire to connect with her father’s side of the family led Ndiaye to take a trip to Dakar, Senegal. Once there, she was instantly charmed by the city’s serene, alluring energy. Following her initial visit, Ndiaye prioritized making the pilgrimage back to her paternal home at least once a year, forging her own connections in the process.
Over time, Ndiaye observed something puzzling: creatives in Dakar lacked dedicated third spaces where they could commune with one another. Sensing a need and an opportunity, she began to envision a center “that nourishes Black imagination and allows our art and our leisure to coexist.” It wasn’t until late 2024, however, that Ndiaye finally set out to bring the long held idea to life.
Back in New York, years after her first visit and nearly 4,000 miles from Dakar, Ndiaye spent 10 months bringing Fly Trap Café to fruition. Leaning into the skills she honed as a creative freelancer and enlisting the help of her cousin in Senegal, she communicated her vision to the construction crew and vendors, often going back and forth via video call until she got exactly what she wanted.
“I didn’t hire anybody to do the blueprint,” Ndiaye shared. “I didn’t hire an interior designer. I literally was pulling from Pinterest and moodboarding and had it on my phone.”
When asked about funding, Ndiaye revealed that she self financed the Café. “It was 100% me. Just working and saving. Putting the money aside as the projects were coming, ‘I need this much for the floors? Okay, here you go.’ ” This level of personal investment speaks volumes about her belief in the project and her dedication to its success. Her commitment meant taking on every aspect of the project, from the big picture vision down to the minute details of the flooring, all while thousands of miles away from the physical location.
Being a successful creative, no matter the medium, involves having conviction and backing yourself, even when others may not. For Ndiaye, this skill appears innate. With this project, the solopreneur decided to limit the noise by keeping her plans on a need to know basis. “…when you put things out there, you might not get the feedback that you want, and then it becomes discouraging…. so I didn’t want to say anything, and it’s like people are telling me why I can’t do it…I wanted my idea to be my idea, and I didn’t want anybody to have any contributions, whether it be negative or positive.” She shielded her creative spark from external doubt, allowing it to flourish without compromise.
For Ndiaye, the most rewarding aspect of this project is seeing a vision that began in her head manifest in the physical world. She urges any creatives who juggle multiple interests and struggle to produce tangible work to prioritize the one that is most important to you and focus solely on that. Doing multiple things at once may feel productive, but in reality, you’re just slowing down your progress. This focused approach is what allowed her to bring the Fly Trap Café from a simple observation in Dakar to a physical reality in a short amount of time.
Ndiaye’s final words of wisdom? “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.” Only you can determine what’s right for you. Fly Trap Café’s soft launch is set for Saturday, November 1, and will be fully open to the public by November 8. One thing is clear: Yacine Ndiaye doesn’t need to listen to anyone but herself. Her journey is a testament to the power of self belief and focused effort.