BsquaredC Podcast: The Black Woman Corporate Career "Brownprint"

How can you harmonize your life across your different priorities?

This is the key question in this month’s reflection episode on BsquaredC podcast. Inspired by our phenomenal guest Mo Sosanya- a powerhouse professional, a nurturing mother and partner, and a driven entrepreneur- Nancy and Akosua dive into their priorities and strategies for making time for them in their lives. Tactics discussed include the importance of carving out focused time for various tasks and mastering energy management, amongst other insightful tips. But above all, it's clear: discipline is the secret sauce to unlocking productivity💪 !

Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua: 

1. Planning and blocking time can help maintain focus and productivity in your activities

2. Shifting your mindset from managing your energy, not your time can result in productivity gains

3. Preparing your day ahead of time sets you up for success 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊 

Happy Women’s History Month! 

🌟 Join us as we continue to contribute to the record of women’s history of our time, by spotlighting the experiences of Black women! This month, we're thrilled to introduce Mo Sosanya, a thriving professional in the knowledge management industry in Berlin.  But that's not all—Mo is also a mother of three, an entrepreneur, and a dedicated volunteer at Girls Talk Corporation. How does she do it all? 🤔

Tune in to this episode for Mo's inspiring story and learn how she harmonizes these diverse facets of her life. As a professional, she adapted her skills to a new culture to translate her career from Nigeria to Germany. Additionally, her network continues to play a huge role in her success. And there's one more secret weapon in her arsenal: an amazing partner in her husband, who challenges traditional norms as an African man and in general.  Don't miss out on this insightful conversation!

Wisdom gems from Mo: 

1. Let everyone know who you are from the start. It will be difficult to break out of a false persona in the future 

2. Do not make yourself small. You deserve to be here and you are not being done a favor 

3. Have your receipts. Be true to the skills that you say you have and no one will dispute your talent. 

Follow Mo’ side hustle: https://www.instagram.com/savourevents?igsh=MW43bG04NDllc3h6eA== 

Check out Girls Talk Corporation on here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/girls-talk-london/ 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the Black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

🌟 What does embracing vulnerability truly entail?

 Join us this month as we delve into this question in our reflection episode! 🤔 Inspired by the incredible journey of our guest, Xolisa Mapatwana, who bravely sought help during a tough phase in her career, Nancy and Akosua open up about their own experiences with vulnerability. From Akosua's adaptation to her master's program in Germany to Nancy's mental health battle, our co-hosts courageously explore how they navigated through these challenging times. 💪 Feeling psychologically safe, especially at work, emerged as a pivotal aspect of their journeys, but we all know this isn't a privilege everyone has! 

Tune into this episode for more and be inspired to lean into your vulnerability!

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua are:

1. It’s ok not to be ok 

2. Supportive managers play a crucial role in creating a safe space for vulnerability

3. Let’s hold space for those who feel like they cannot be vulnerable because they do not feel safe in their environments

Have a listen to the following related episodes

Xolisa’s episode: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCXolisaEp

Omena’s episode ( season 2): https://bit.ly/BsquaredCOmena 

Follow Omena’s organization, Creative Jam Sessions: https://www.linkedin.com/company/creative-jam-session/

Read Nancy’s mental health crisis stories below! 

The original story: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/slowing-down-my-mental-health-crisis-what-i-am-from-nancy/?trackingId=UKVGbf3NTV%2B7F7r%2BCornrw%3D%3D

How psychological safety helped her: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-psychological-safety-personal-account-when-being-nancy/?trackingId=dggP%2FuHBTbeF7heZzwyhIw%3D%3D 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

🎉✨ Happy 2024, and welcome back to an electrifying season 3 of the BsquaredC podcast! We're thrilled to continue sharing captivating narratives of Black women making waves in the corporate landscape. Today, we proudly present Xolisa Mapatwana. 🌟

Xolisa, a force in product management, is  on a journey to redefine her equilibrium after her groundbreaking career move abroad to the Netherlands. Hailing from South Africa, she encountered a whirlwind of challenges amidst a pandemic, adapting to a new culture and work dynamics in her new international environment. In this episode, Xolisa unveils her career odyssey, delving into the essence of her recalibration amidst this transformative phase. Tune in and be enlightened by Xolisa's profound insights as she embraces vulnerability to realign with her values and steer her career trajectory. 🌍💼✨

Three wisdom gems from Xolisa

1. You are worthy. Don't hesitate to speak up and assert your ideas and opinions

2. Building a great network can help you navigate a lot of complexities

3. Being aligned to your values allows you to be more authentic as a person

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

🎉 Welcome to the grand finale episode of 2024! 🎊

While Season 3 is still unfolding, we're hitting the pause button to take a stroll down memory lane and reflect on the incredible journey of the BsquaredC podcast before we dive into the holiday season.

In this episode, Nancy and Akosua share what they have learnt from producing the podcast. This includes growing new skills that are making them better professionals as well as applying the profound wisdom dropped in the episodes to their own careers. Additionally they shared the  wisdom gems that captured their imagination this season. 

These include: 

• Be authentic and embrace your unique story and experiences

• Build a community of support, including mentors, sponsors, friends, and peers

• Embrace your lived experiences, they contribute to your personal growth  

• Sometimes you have to take a step back, in order to move forward and that is ok

Thank you to our guests so far this season for pouring their wisdom into the podcast! Thank you to all our listeners for continuing to support the podcast. We are back in the new year with brand new episodes and more empowering stories of black women making BOLD moves in the corporate world. 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

Welcome to the last reflection episode of 2023! 

As we wrap up the year, a huge SHOUT-OUT to our incredible community for continuing to tune into the podcast! 🎧 We cannot wait to tell more of your stories.  

🚀 Are you ready to strategically expand your network and forge meaningful connections? Then this episode is for you! 

Inspired by our last guest of the year Salome Chingaira, who navigated herself to a prestigious scholarship and a career across three countries through making powerful connections,  in this episode Nancy and Akosua share their own approaches to networking. Discover how your personality can shape your networking experiences, the most effective approaches to connect with people, the incredible power of curiosity in building relationships, and the crucial importance of following up with your connections.

 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua: 

1. Be strategic and targeted in your networking, be it on or offline

2. When in conversation, be genuine and curious about people, it takes you a long way 

3. Follow up and nurture your connections consistently 

Tune in for a dose of inspiration, practical tips, and real talk about the magic that happens when you cultivate a network that propels you forward! 🌐💼

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

This month, we are absolutely thrilled to share the awe-inspiring journey of Salome Chingaira! 🚀 . Starting her path as the lone girl in her entire electrical engineering class at her university, Salome stretched her talent outside of work and found impact in giving back to society through charity work. This extension of her life, opened up a world of opportunities for her, including gaining a prestigious scholarship to the UK to study her masters. Along the way, Salome also became part of One Young World, an organization that empowering and developing young leaders creating impact around the world. This experience has exposed her to  notable figures such as Meghan Markle and given her a chance to contribute to some world changing conversations. 

In this episode Salome shares powerful insights from her personal and professional journey so far, shedding light on how she continues to grow her career in engineering while maintaining a commitment to impactful endeavors beyond the 9 to 5.   

Three wisdom gems from Salome:

1. Carry yourself with confidence and continue telling the story of who you are

2. Continue to be curious and don’t stop reading

3. Don’t take yourself too seriously

The Chevening scholarship that Salome had: https://www.chevening.org/scholarships/

More information on One Young World: https://www.oneyoungworld.com/

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊

🌟 Are you itching for a change in your career? Does making a career change seem like an uphill battle? 🏔️ Then this episode is for you! 🎙️🚀

Join us this month as we draw inspiration from our incredible guest, Tosin Aniwofose, who made a remarkable shift from geology to tech recruitment! 🚀 In this episode, our hosts Nancy and Akosua open up about their personal career pivots, shedding light on the critical elements that guided their transitions.  Amongst other things, they discuss the importance of knowing your WHY, being able to articulate your transferable skills and the actionable steps that one can take to work towards a new career path.

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua: 

1. Knowing your WHY opens up a spectrum of options of potentially fulfilling choices for your career.  

2. Education is an effective career pivoting tool 

3. Articulating your transferable skills is key to position yourself in a new area

Tune into this episode and be inspired to take action to find a fulfilling career path. 

Listen to the related episode with Tosin: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCGraceEp

Season 2 episode on career pivoting: http://bit.ly/BsquaredCReflection9 

Nancy’s career portfolio essay: https://shorturl.at/fguGT

HBR articles on career pivoting: 

https://hbr.org/2023/02/how-to-make-a-career-pivot-without-taking-a-pay-cut

https://hbr.org/2023/08/how-to-make-a-pivot-in-the-latter-half-of-your-career 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊 

🌍🚀 From Geology to Tech Recruitment: HOW DID SHE DO IT? 🌟

This month, we're thrilled to share the incredible journey of Tosin Aniwofose! 🇳🇬 Born in Nigeria, Tosin is a dynamic tech recruiter and entrepreneur now thriving in Berlin. 🌆 Though she began her career in geology, Tosin fearlessly charted a course to a new country and even transitioned into a completely different industry through self reflection, humility, and resourcefulness. 🗺️✨But she didn't stop there! Tosin went on to carve out her own niche, using her extensive experience in tech recruitment to create a platform called Dear Candidate. 📚💡 With it, she's not only making a powerful impact but also leading the change she envisions! 🌟💪

Dive into this episode to be captivated by Tosin’s journey and the profound philosophies that underpin her remarkable career. 🎙️🌠 When was the last time you reflected on your own 'why'? 🤔🌱 

Three wisdom gems from Tosin:

1. Be authentic and embrace your own uniqueness and flavor

2. Continue to develop and expose yourself to new things

3. Know your why at every point of your life

Tosin’s platform: https://dearcandidate.org/

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️

🎙️ Are you a job seeker? Are you looking to expand your network online? Then this episode is for you!  LinkedIn can feel like a jungle, but it can be an organized jungle with the strategic tips we are sharing in this episode.

🌟 Inspired by our guest this month, Grace Kibwana, who masterfully harnessed the power of LinkedIn to navigate her career across diverse industries and geographies, Nancy and Akosua excitedly share their own LinkedIn journeys! 🌍🚀. They've been using this incredible platform to soak up knowledge, cultivate their thought leadership, and in Akosua's case, even land fantastic job opportunities! 💡💼

🎉 As a bonus, Akosua, a seasoned talent professional, generously offers invaluable tips for job seekers in this episode. 🌟 Stay tuned for some golden nuggets of career advice! 💫 

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua 

1. Through a combination of manual work and leveraging LinkedIn features, you can curate and optimize your experience of the platform 

2. When it comes to engaging with other people’s posts on LinkedIn, don’t overthink it. Keep it simple and just do it! 

3. Posting original thoughts on topics as well as your own consent helps you to  establish your own voice on LinkedIn.

Listen to the related episode with Grace: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCGraceEp

Nancy’s career portfolio essay: https://shorturl.at/fguGT

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/b_squaredcpodcast/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsquaredc/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BsquaredCPodcast/ 

To all the black women in the corporate world out there, KEEP MAKING BOLD MOVES AND KEEP TAKING UP SPACE🎙️🎊