Behind the Title with Anna Ambata

Veronica Mungonena’s career has taken her across offshore mining, telecommunications, the public sector and oil and gas. From initially wanting to become an accountant to building a career in procurement, she has spent years developing her expertise, leading teams and working across industries. But eventually, she made a decision she hadn’t originally planned for: leaving corporate life to build her own procurement consultancy, ED-Procurement.

In this episode of Behind the Title, Anna sits down with Veronica to talk about the experiences, decisions and people that shaped her career, and what led her to take a different path. She opens up about the realities of starting a business, redefining success and learning to prioritise time, family and purpose.

You’ll learn:

• Why choosing a career involves more than just following your interests or strengths

• What people often misunderstand about procurement and the strategic role it plays in business

• What it takes to move from corporate employment to building your own consultancy

• How to prepare financially, emotionally and professionally before making a career transition

Oluwagbemibori Obasola didn’t set out to build a career in impact advisory. From wanting to become a lawyer and later considering medicine to studying engineering and eventually working with organisations across Africa, Asia and Latin America, her career has taken plenty of unexpected turns.

In this episode of Behind the Title, Anna sits down with Oluwagbemibori to talk about the experiences, decisions and people that shaped her career. She shares how seeing the impact of environmental challenges during her engineering studies changed how she thought about her work, how she built a career around solving complex problems, and why finding your WHY can matter more than having a perfect career plan.

You’ll learn:

• How your WHY can connect seemingly different career chapters

• What it looks like to build a career around solving difficult problems

• Why letting go of perfectionism can open new opportunities

• How mentors and relationships can shape your career

• Why changing your mind doesn’t mean you’ve failed

• What it means to build a meaningful career without having everything figured out

Pamela Okutoyi didn’t set out to build a career in sustainability communications and storytelling. From dreaming of becoming a neurosurgeon and a pilot to studying environmental science and eventually building a career across sustainability, communications and consulting, her journey has taken plenty of unexpected turns.

In this episode of Behind the Title, Anna sits down with Pamela to talk about the opportunities, decisions and skills that shaped her career. Pamela shares how writing and public speaking opened unexpected doors, how she built a new career without a formal communications degree, and what she learned from taking the leap into consulting.

You’ll learn:

• How unexpected skills can open new career opportunities
• What it looks like to pivot into a completely different field
• Why you don’t always need a formal qualification to build a new skill set
• How curiosity, initiative and learning can shape your career
• What Pamela has learned about building a career that doesn’t follow a straight line