Future Readiness with Za

In this inspiring episode of Future Readiness with Za, I am in conversation with Monde Twala, a global media influencer and Senior Vice President at Paramount Africa & BET International Lead. Monde reflects on his upbringing in Soweto, crediting his grandparents and the community for instilling values of respect, learning, and storytelling. His early fascination with cinema, along

Monde emphasizes the power of the African creative economy and the potential of young Africans to lead global storytelling. He discusses the need for authenticity,

Tune in for a conversation filled with wisdom on leadership, creativity, and the future of African storytelling.

Throughout her extensive career, Pearl has held key leadership positions across diverse industries, where she has driven transformative initiatives and steered companies in their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and psychologically safety sustainability.

She joins me on the podcast and we dive into her different interests and how her personal and professional journeys have unfurled thus far. We speak on her spirituality and how she balances this gift with the practicalities of being a Psychologist.

We also talk about the challenges of being the only one in a room, the only Black or Person of Colour and the confidence required to thrive in spaces where one might not be seen or heard.

She invites us to understand how to self-define, to balance duality and thrive in spaces known and unknown.  Pearl’s story is as unique as she is and is rich with wisdom.

#FutureReadinessWithZa Presents Sizakele in conversation with Glenda Venn – an award-winning creative with experience in designing and brand strategy. A new connection that already feels deep.

She is smart, explosively creative, kind, benevolent, wise, and human-centred. She has walked multiple paths from working in a challenger ad agency (at which I have also worked but our times did not overlap) to running her own design practice and in her latest pivot, she is the Senior Design Strategist at Tetris Design and Build, working with global research and industry specialists to understand how resetting the return to office culture requires creativity throughout an organisation and its infrastructure.

In this episode, we explore foundational creative concepts worth a re-fresh such as transitioning from customer-centricity to human-centred. We laugh about our early mistakes and delight in our emergent wisdom. She reflects deeply on the role of design in improving environments and then drops a magical bomb with her definition of Future Readiness…

Glenda invites us all to lean into the bits that petrify us with courage You’ll learn how to challenge socially imposed boundaries about what creativity means and is, start betting on your own ideas and become more secure from the inside out.

You can watch the interview on YouTube.

You can connect with Glenda here:

LinkedIn - Glenda Venn and Tetris Design and Build

Website: https://practise.biz/

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“Joy for me feels a lot more dense than happiness.”

How do you nurture your joy?

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“If you are going to wait for the perfect conditions, then your boat is never going to leave.”

A good friend of mine once said “Boats are not built to stay in the harbor”, and this remains true.

The truth is that conditions will never be perfect and you cannot control or create an excellent external condition, what you can do is build a brand/life that you are proud of.

Phakamisa Ndzamela is an award-winning former business journalist for Thomson Reuters, E-News Africa, Moneyweb, Business Day, Financial Mail and Financial Times of London. He holds an honours degree in journalism from the University of Witwatersrand. He lives in Cape Town.

 The story of black business in South Africa remains under-explored

In this episode, Sizakele and Phakamisa explore the root causes of the

“When you place the human at the centre of everything that you do, then you can truly design for inclusive futures.”

Designing for inclusivity is not about meeting a quota, it is about considering the complete human and how their daily experiences may be intertwined with your business. These futures ensure that no community is marginalised and that the collective thrives.

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Future-ready brands are understanding more and more that you pay attention to what is happening in culture... and apply your creative lens in a way that solves for society”

High-influence brands are intentional about placing humans at the centre of everything as this benefits them commercially and aids in their reputation.

Connect with us so that we can elevate your brand to a high-influence one.

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#FutureReadinessWithZa