Boardroom Banter

In her early life as a professional, Mimi became increasingly aware of the power that the media had to shape people's lives and narratives. She has spent her years building a career around her unique perspective on how the power of storytelling can be harnessed to share impactful messages. After realizing there was a blanket approach being taken to communicating in Africa, Mimi launched ACG to provide companies and governments with the tools to tell better stories for better outcomes. She reflects on the tough but worthwhile decisions she had to make in order to align her passion and her work- and challenges us on our held belief of the true meaning of being authentic.

Mimi's Recommended TED Talk:

Enjoy!

College is quite the time! The awfully long study hours, exams, internships, parties, traveling and most importantly- the relationships that we build. The latter is also one of the most difficult things to navigate in our current time, whether platonic, romantic or professional. In this episode, we unpack our experiences building relationships at ALU with students from all across the African continent and some guiding principles that have helped us sieve through the noise and focus on the value-based interactions around us. From people we meet at parties all the way to the boardroom, listen in to our experiences with both relational and transactional relationships.

While at the helm of some of Africa's most recognizable companies, Nthabiseng Matshekga has turned her edge for marketing into a tool for change. In this episode, we explore the career and life of Nedbank’s head of group marketing, Nthabi, who walks us through her philosophy around storytelling and its power to connect people to the brands they love. From a deep dive into navigating diversity and inclusion inside large organizations, to understanding how the same dynamics apply to consumers- Nthabi takes us through a marketing masterclass like no other. If you’re looking to build a personal or commercial brand that will scale, gain visibility and connect deeply with a global audience, look no further than our conversation with Nthabi in the boardroom!

Today's Founders Friday episode takes a little twist as we look forward to our summer travel plans around the world. We challenge ourselves on how deeply can we connect with our roots back home in Kenya and a wider view of Africa, but with a little twist: backpacking! Literally packing up basic essentials in one bag and setting off on an adventure. Which countries are a must-visit? What would it take? Who would we need to involve? Can we pull it off? How crazy an experience would it be? Listen in to just how wild our summer this year might turn out to be!

For many young professionals, either stepping into the career space fresh out of college or deciding whether to leave that entry-level job they've been in for two years, life sometimes appears to hand you grapes expecting you to make lemonade. Without any leverage as a young upstart in the job market, it can seem like the entire world is looking to you to figure everything out without lending a helping hand. In this episode, Lara walks us through how she has explored her interests over the years and pivoted careers whenever she's felt drawn to add value to young people. Having also worked as the Chief Financial and Operating Officer at the African Leadership Academy, she looks back at the global network she has amassed over the years and credits her career progression and impact to open-mindedness and the ability to double down on her strengths while surrounding herself with intelligent team members. Listen to how she moves from making good choices to better, and better ones to the best.

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Drawn from the impactful lyrics of American rapper Big Sean’s 2015 song One Man Can Change The World, we discuss what it really means to influence society and create change. We speak about which companies we would buy if given a chance and analyze our own experiences creating value and impact through our own startups, both successful and failed ones. At times there is a lot of pressure to be 'that' leader that triggers a revolution, but what if you just want to take a back seat? Listen in to the thoughts we shared on this.

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Leveling the technological playing field is a task that Nelly Cheboi has successfully dedicated herself and her entrepreneurship journey towards. While we often fantasize about the growth of tech in rural Africa, Nelly brings perspective and experience to the work that we need to do to make this a reality practically. From policy reform to education, Nelly sheds light on how we can design a future where everyone on the continent has access to information, skills and employment through tech and internet access. Join us in the boardroom to learn about Nelly’s life, work and impact! 

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Are you changing with the seasons, or are the seasons changing you? Either way, the founders sit to reflect on the increased pressure to make decisions about our careers, academics, relationships and finances. Some of these are reactions to a world of wild new circumstances, and others are intentional by design. Regardless, we change and in this episode we discuss these internal and external growing pains as well as how they affect those around us. Step into the boardroom with us for yet another fun and fulfilling conversation.

The music industry in Africa has played an incredible role in our identity as a continent. From all corners, our cultural identities have been shaped by which tunes, rthymns and lyrics speak of our experiences and history within our various communities. Today in the boardroom, we sat down with David Jay, an international DJ from Mauritius who has seen the evolution of his industry over the past 25 years. DJ David discovered his passion at a very early age and nurtured his craft through traininsg and surrounding himself with the right people. He walks us through how his journey performing in different parts of the world, crazy experiences he has had DJeeing alongside icons such as Martin Garrix and also shares his genuine take on what it really takes to start, grow and succeed as a DJ at an international level.  

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How many times have you given up on something in the past year? Why did you give up on it and how did it make you feel?

This week the Founders get together to discuss what they would write about if given a chance to author a book, and as expected, that leads off on a tangent. They discuss the legendary book 'The Alchemist', the key lessons learned about the journey of discovering one’s true purpose in life and the reality they’ve all faced in the process: giving up.

From career paths and ventures to musical instruments, the Founders explore stuff they’ve given up on in their pursuit of purpose and why it’s not such a bad thing to pivot after all!