The maxim “there are no problems in life, only opportunities” and working his passion has enabled Ebrahim Tootla, fondly known as Toots to clock up many achievements in just four years of having qualified as a chartered accountant. In this inspiring discussion, Toots shares how he self-funded his studies initially and how stayed the course after the devastating loss of three of his grandparents in his honors year, the same year he helped to start a bank within a bank. He discusses his lessons learnt working in remote parts of Africa, the barriers in setting up a bank within a bank, what it takes to overcome the challenges and the competitive edge that won them the 2020 Global Islamic Finance award making it the best emerging Islamic bank in the world. He shares how being a Chartered Accountant is not just about the numbers, it’s about understanding what drives the numbers and how banking has a role to play in facilitating the whole business ecosystem. Hard work and a never-give-up attitude have allowed him to merge a formally excluded part of the financial sector into the formal economy. This solution not only touches South Africa but has the potential to reach deep into unbanked Africa − which is where his next challenge lies. An inspirational story of a millennial leader making a notable impact… toot toot watch this space.

Work life balance

Fear of the future is obliterated in this intriguing interview with Futures Alchemist, Charlotte Kemp. She’ll excite you with her infectious optimism and expansive outlook, from how you can recover from extreme loss and thrive to expressing your internal genius and thinking like a futurist. She shows how designing the future is about planning for all eventualities and how this trains your brain to be ready for whatever challenges may arise and mitigate potential disasters. All the rules are broken right now which makes it the perfect time to experiment with new ideas, take advantage of the agency we have over our future and create that next big opportunity. She shares ways we can trigger new ideas and three practical steps we can take right away to implement futurist thinking.  She sees the accessibility we have to people anywhere in the world as an opportunity to learn from each other, break out of our comfort zones and expand our own universes. With futures thinking in your toolbox, the future does not have to be scary, it can be an exciting and fulfilling journey if you choose to use the tools to create a future by your design.

Episode Themes

How to get rave reviews

Connect with Charlotte Kemp - Futures Alchemist

Connect With Carmen Wilde

Dr Andre Vermeulen passionately shares practical insights you can start using today to continuously out-think, out-learn, out-create, out-perform and succeed in a highly volatile, uncertain world. He uses the analogy of us having to be as dexterous as ballerinas if we want to succeed in a complex world of business. He emphasises the importance of knowing who we are and what we’re going to do with the potential we have and that if we keep multiplying what we have, we become liberated and a far better version of ourselves than we ever thought we could be. He shows how intelligence and technical skills are not enough to succeed and thrive. We may be smart but without neuro agility we can still be mediocre. Without neuro agility it’s harder and takes longer to succeed. When we tap into our brain power, we are unlimited in what we can achieve. Dr Vermeulen shares practical ways we can tap into this power by explaining how the brain works like a movie. When we tap into our brain power, we get into the driving seat of our own lives and realise we have no limitations except for those we impose on ourselves. This episode will not drive you to want to use the power of your brain to reach new levels of thinking, being and achieving!

A deeply honest story by Professor Steyn Heckroodt of how failure ignited a different level of thinking, an inspiring personal transformation, the development of the Connected Leadership Framework and an unexpected level of success. Steyn’s willingness to be vulnerable and act on tough life lessons enabled him to build a framework that empowers leaders around the world to tap into their potential, think differently and develop greatness on a personal, team, organisational and world level. He shows how Covid-19 has introduced massive levels of uncertainty and fear and asks the question: “How innovative are you as a leader, how good are you at managing ambiguity and uncertainty?” He then goes on to share the five levels at which leaders are to start thinking differently to excel in a VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity). He shares the mistake leaders make when looking to get different results and how to rectify this and how to take into account the three contributors to success or failure. Steyn may be a professor, but he does not believe in teaching a curriculum, he connects deeply with his mentees to enable them to tap into their potential. He shows how it’s not expertise that will enable us to conquer the challenges we’re facing. To thrive we need to tap into our deeply human qualities and embrace all levels of diversity, which he sees as the only true internal competitive edge in an organisation. He ends off asking the questions, “what can you do to ensure happiness in your career?; what can you do to ensure happiness in your family?; what are you going to do to stay out of prison?” The latter question may seem like an odd question, until you consider a situation like Enron. A very real conversation with a true leader who turned failure into a leadership framework that now develops greatness worldwide!

An alternative stance to bringing up children

Connect with Professor Steyn Heckroodt

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Business without Barriers Podcast:

In this riveting interview, Louis Carstens, high altitude mountaineer, shares the highs and lows of summiting the seven highest peaks in the world… where there's the very real possibility of not coming home. When he summited Mount Everest he became only the 293rd climber in the world ever to complete the Seven Summits. Having spent his childhood in mining towns in South Africa, the mine dumps were a stark contrast to the monstrous peaks he now finds freedom in climbing. Louis’s fearlessness, optimism for life, adaptability and never give up attitude was honed through his failures. One of his toughest challenges was turning back just 450 meters from his first attempt to summit Mount Everest. He gives us a taste of the moments after summiting Mount Everest one year later…12 years of hard work and dedication were realised in those few majestic moments on top of the world. Louis has learnt to overcome mental & physical barriers of the highest order. Apart from peaking mountains, he has five degrees to his name (3 cum laude) and constantly pushes himself to his edge yet he’ll tell you he’s the average Joe next door which makes him even more exceptional. He’s proven what’s possible when you decide that failure will not get the better of you…Louis’s success on mountains started with failure on mountains. A captivating discussion filled with insightful lessons on how to peak in any area of life.

The meaning of freedom

Business without Barriers Podcast:

Whether it be couture design or executive recruitment Hanna’s hallmark for excellence has an impact. Packed with practical insights on how to be ‘most wanted’ if you’re in the market for a job, Hanna reveals the mistakes people make in composing their CV’s and social media profiles such as LinkedIn. She shares how your story and key successes matter – whether you’re new to the job market or a CEO! Hanna developed a system to de-risk the hiring process, a critical process given the astronomical costs of a recruitment failure. She provides a fascinating account of the dangers of inverted leadership, provides practical advice of making the transition from being an employee into entrepreneurship and explains why working in your gift is crucial to fulfilment in your career. Hanna believes that “If we can come together and work together for better outcomes, we can go much further, much quicker.” Whether you’re in the market for a job, wanting to make the leap into the entrepreneurial world or a hiring manager this episode is filled with meaningful insight and practical tips from a most wanted recruiter!

Episode Themes

Couture Designer

Business without Barriers Podcast:

Mastering complex situations and successfully launching groundbreaking technology ahead of its time and getting record breaking results is revolutionary thinker and CEO, Angus Brown’s playground. This insightful and intriguing interview with Angus covers topics ranging from the future of money, how Bitcoin is shaping the future, crypto payment processes, banking backed digital currency to the insider track on revolutionary thinking. He shares his experiences and lessons learnt from being part of a maverick team that launched the world’s first banking backed digital currency, the acclaimed eBucks at FNB Bank. His uncanny ability to ‘see what it could be’ and relentless entrepreneurial drive has led to innovate solutions in the financial services arena. He shares how Centbee, a Bitcoin SV is changing the payment landscape of both domestic and cross border payments. Angus explains why we should hold our views gently and why getting into a boat on a dry riverbed is exciting. Not a minute of this interview goes by without a profound insight delivered by this thought-provoking, revolutionary leader.

Episode Themes

The future of money

Connect with Angus

Connect With Carmen Wilde, Founder & Host of Business without Barriers & Co-Founder of Wilde Success Limited

Business without Barriers Podcast:

A world of possibility opens up when you know what you want and go after it! Even though Anisha was born and raised on the tropical island of Mauritius, carefree days, catamarans and cocktails were far removed from her humble beginnings in a village of less than 1,000 people. In addition, she often felt like she was unnoticed due to her high achiever brothers who stole the spotlight. Her Dad’s teaching that when one door closes, God opens hundreds of other doors left a mark on her and led to a remarkable journey where today she's a high performing, investment professional and a beacon of light for other women to show up and speak up to forge a path of success. She’s won multiple awards and her recent appointment at the World Bank is testament to how being intentional and adding value breaks through barriers and makes the seemingly impossible possible!

Business without Barriers Podcast:

Every interaction with Dr Gladys Ato, fondly referred to as an effervescent, leaves you feeling energised, joyous and inspired to extract the juice from life. Author of the book, The Good Goodbye: How to Navigate Change and Loss in Life, Love, and Work, Clinical Psychologist, former University President, entrepreneur, mentor and winner of the Women Worth Watching in Education Award, Dr Ato inspires with the story of how she went from childhood hardship, trying to be invisible as an introverted young person and deep self-doubt to becoming a phenomenal and confident force for change in the Latino community and beyond. She broke though confidence barriers and mined the power inside her by saying YES to every opportunity and developed an infectious enthusiasm for life and the power we have to make things happen. Her wisdom, personal experiences and practical approach to living a life of gratitude and abundance carries powerful, life changing lessons for all who want to experience a life of substance. Gladys illustrates the immense value in bridging our spiritual intelligence with our physical intelligence in order to lead from the eye of the storm and bring about positive and lasting change. She shares practical steps on how to say a "good goodbye" whilst still being able to celebrate the positives and opportunities arising from adversity, loss and crisis. She believes we need to be mindful of our children’s needs in order to co-create and shape the required leadership of tomorrow and challenges humanity to re-think and re-prioritise itself at the very heart of business and community.

Lovebug

Website & social media links for Gladys Ato

Website: www.drgladysato.com

Email: [email protected]

Business without Barriers Podcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BwBTV

Wes Carlson is an entrepreneur with a magic touch. His entrepreneurial journey started at the age of 8 when he turned his love for magic into a business and by his early 20’s had already started and sold a restaurant. His open minded approach, value driven work ethic and relationship focus has enabled him to create business success across many different industries. He challenges the immediate gratification mindset that leads to money struggles and believes that rather than having a bit of candy now, sustained success is created by owning the candy store. Wes’s extraordinary ability to seamlessly run a myriad companies simultaneously makes for a captivating discussion, which is exactly what this episode delivers. From magic to sovereignty, bitcoin and real estate, this is an episode filled with intrigue.

- The World of Magic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIUutz0ZGIxVgLcD1W7enA?view_as=subscriber

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