Seedpod

Zachariah George is changing the narrative in Africa. For a kid born in the South of India, raised in Muscat, Oman, who received his Masters of Finance at Standford, USA, he breaks out of all boxes. People assume there is no innovation coming out of Africa he says. Not if his initiative 'start up bootcamp' has anything to say about it.

A revolution is needed on this planet we call Earth. Sure, we sit where we sit because of first world greed, or Big Corporates right? Andries Rautenbach, a seasoned engineer and coach, urges us to look to our own contribution: we all know we cannot carry on this way. 

Continuing on from our conversation in episode 7... In today's world we are flooded with information, opinions, confusion, and isolation. We often think we have no choice but to join the rat race and feed into the system, a system which we do not think to question. Justin Maxwell, like many of us, grew disillusioned with this way of living and decided to make this change.

You have the passion, you have the dream, and you have the ability. What's stopping you? Fear, reckons Verity Price, fear of the unknown, fear of discomfort, fear of failure. Verity Price joins Seedpod to share her journey through fear and how it led her to and beyond her dreams.

What does a Jewish kid with a business science degree do with his life? Nik Rabinowitz defied his destiny and instead of a suit, decided that red fake snakeskin pants were more his thing. His “shy kid” childhood birthed the observer, and then the performer in him.
Many brave and brazen moments leading up to his first gig included cold calling for an acting job, digging long-drops around Africa for a theatre troupe (whilst cooking the books on the side), and jumping out from under tables in the bizarre phenomenon that is corporate theatre. The man is very, very funny, and very enthusiastic about it.

Glen Tyler is an environmental activist working for 350.org. 350.org empowers and supports people to take action against climate change. He believes that we need to act communally in order to attack the systemic problems, not just reactively treat the symptoms, which he aptly likens to putting a Band-Aid on an amputation.

For Ryan Fortune, the phrase, “the end of life as we know it” is not a concern for future generations; it’s a reality he reckons we will be facing within our foreseeable future. Fortune recalls his journey from a conservative 7th Day Adventist, who’s nose was permanently buried in a book and was taught to keep his questions to himself, to a man who has made it his mission to expose the realities we would rather not face. Once a trouble-making writer in the church journal, Ryan Fortune would soon be covering the stories of “the New South Africa” in a period of what he calls “absolute freedom” in South African journalism.

I would like to thank all those people who have helped me to get this podcast going and helped sustain it. And that includes you! Enjoy the Holidays. See you next year!!

Two young pioneering Mzungu’s and best friends, Tom David and Warren Handley, after summiting Kilimanjaro, undertook to walk home to South Africa. They survived on a mere $2USD a day, and the inherent kindness of strangers. 
Why on earth? To raise awareness about the frightening statistics of orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa, and to raise funds for early childhood development.
Those 6000 km took them six months. Six arduous months of illness, hunger, sore feet, exhaustion. They learnt that big plans fall away when you’re surviving day by day, and that walking is a slow way of getting somewhere, yet putting one foot in front of the other still means you’re moving forward.

Schalk Willem Jacobus van der Merwe is as (white) South African as you can get. By name only. Born and raised in Bellville, Cape Town in the 70’s, he ironically credits Apartheid, the National Party and the N.G. Kerk as his greatest influences. 
He believes you don’t have to be a struggling artist to be a good artist. 
He describes his work as raw, honest, emotional and visceral, and without bullshit. 
From a velvet dress-wearing musician, turned advertising mogul, turned full-time artist, (with enough Instagram followers to fill a rugby stadium), he shares insight into how his art has made it onto the global stage.