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 Imagine a space where you are free to be you, a space where there's no judgement and you have nothing to prove to anybody.

South African yogis and spiritual seekers have found such a place at The Nest Space Yoga Studio and Wellness Center in Johannesburg.

Started by Dr. Anesu Mbizvo in 2018, and later joined by business partner, Banesa Tseki, the small studio was aimed at black and brown yogis  and grew into a healing space where you could go and enjoy treatments and shop at the zero waste cafe. 

Nowadays, Anesu and Banesa are spreading their mission through their online Yoga Teacher Training courses that have so far produced 50 black and brown graduates in South Africa and beyond. 

In this conversation, Anesu Mbizvo shares her journey from medical doctor to yoga teacher, lessons learned and future dreams. 

There are countless gems in this episode;  all  relatable and can be applied to your own business and life journey. 

Thank you for sharing your story Anesu! ❤️🙏🏾

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If you've ever considered going plant-based/vegan/vegetarian, or even turning your foodie passion into a business, then this episode is for you. My guest today is Chef Mokgadi Itsweng, Creative Director and Head Chef at Lotsha Home Foods.

Today she shares all the wisdom she's gathered throughout her 17-year journey in the food industry. And now that she's got many skills and lessons under her belt, she's ready to share it with us all through the products she sells on your supermarket shelf, her cook book Veggie Licious, the farmers she supports, her speaking engagements and teachings on various platforms, including Shades and Layers.

In today's episode, she talks about:

-Food sustainability
-Organic Farming IRL
-Consciousness vs. Convenience
-Pivoting a Business (Agility)
-And of course, her very own personal story since childhood

Definitely don't miss this one! We had loads of laughs and I hope you'll share in the joy of this conversation.

LINKS AND MENTIONS

Sechaba Mogale – Co-founder of Iconic South African clothing brand, Loxion Kulcha: https://loxionkulca.com/

 SPAR’s – When Mokgadi mentions what sounds like ‘spas’, as in wellness centers, South Africans understand that she’s actually referring to the supermarket chain, which is also present all across Europe: 

 Siyakhana Food Garden: https://siyakhana.org/temp/

 Future Food Institute: https://futurefoodinstitute.org/

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In this week’s episode, we talk to Zema Sokanyile, the founder of MieCup, a South African menstrual cup brand. I’m a huge fan of menstrual cups so when I found out that there is a South African brand founded by a black woman, I had to speak to her! 

Zema is originally from the Eastern Cape province of South Africa and has found success in the Western Cape where she studied Engineering. During the day, she ensures the safety of the country’s military ships and the rest of her time goes towards growing Mie Cup, which includes educating South African women on alternatives to traditional period products. 

As always there is a lot to learn about entrepreneurship and also enjoy about Zema's story. 

She shares about:  

-       Educating a new audience, introducing a new product and changing attitudes towards menstruation

-       How to transfer your skills into a new environment 

-       Chasing dreams and self-discipline 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

 Nolitha Fakude -  https://www.702.co.za/articles/440111/nolitha-fakude-i-am-in-the-first-generation-of-women-to-have-opportunities 

 Amanda Dambuza - https://amandadambuza.com/about-amanda-dambuza/ 

 Rihanna - http://www.rihannanow.com/ 

 Mathebe Molise - Founder of South African online beauty store, BeautyOnTapp and a former guest on Shades and Layer. Check out our conversation on the episode titled Accidentally Beautiful  

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DON'T GET IT TWISTED, YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE HIM ...⁠
⁠
So, we recently ran a survey to ask what other content you’d like to hear and some of you requested corporate success as a topic…  So, if you want to lead the team that launches the next Fenty or eventually start your own global beauty brand or fashion line, then stick around. ⁠
⁠
My guest today, Kimberly Lee Minor,  wears many hats. In addition to being the founder and CEO of Bumbershoot, a botique consulting firm that focuses on diversity and equity across brand and content, she is also the co-founder of Women of Color Retail Alliance; and this is what we are talking about today.

Kimberly has spent her 20-year plus career climbing the corporate ladder at some world-famous brands like Macy’s, Footlocker and London Fog.  But on her way up to the C-Suite, she found that the hoops she was jumping through to make it there, were unreasonable. Furthermore, she was always the first, the only and often felt that she had to justify her presence in the room. ⁠And so, to make sure that the road is smoother for other women of color seeking a career in retail, she co-founded and co-funded Women of Color Retail Alliance with other industry heavyweights including the co-president of Savage x Fenty Christiane Pendarvis.  ⁠
⁠
In our conversation, she reflects on her journey in an industry that she stumbled upon while studying a Bachelor of Arts degree  at Temple University in Philladelphia. At the time, she was nurturing her dream of becoming the next Oprah. But a campus recruiter for Macy’s pointed her towards their graduate programme and the rest as they say is history. ⁠
⁠
As always there are many gems in the conversation and you will have a few takeaways for navigating work in a post-George Floyd world. Follow the link in the profile to listen. ⁠
⁠
Thank you @kimberly.l.minor for being so generous with your time and your story! ⁠


MENTIONS AND LINKS IN THIS EPISODE

Christiane Pendarvis (Co-President at Savage x Fenty) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPxwM0rFwyw

Morehouse - https://morehouse.edu/ 

Michael Weiss (Retired CEO of XPress) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn76z5LWXaE

 May 25th 2020 – George Floyd is murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis and the Black Lives Matter movement makes international headlines and gives America a pause - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd 

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Dr. Sharleen St. Surin-Lord is a Washington DC-based dermatologist and she joins me in this episode to add to our ongoing conversation on hair care for black women. There is no shortage of product choices available for black women’s hair care out there. It is in fact overwhelming to know what would be good or not good for you especially in the world of influencers. 

In this episode we invite you to forget Dr. Google for a little while and hear what Dr. Sharleen St. Surin-Lord has to say. Inspired by the many questions she received from patients who were experiencing hair loss and her own journey and interest in haircare, Dr. Sharleen went about creating a product that follows strict green beauty guidelines. In this conversation, she explains how to be selective and discerning when making decisions about your hair care products. She also gets into the details of why it's so difficult to develop green beauty products. 

There are so many gems in this conversation and I hope you will use them as inspiration and part of your resources to take your business idea or project further. 

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IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR

Terran Lewis is one half of the founding team at the soap making and skincare brand from Atlanta, Herb ‘N Eden. Terran and her husband Quinton Lewis founded their brand about 7 years ago with the aim of building a household name and leaving a legacy for generations to come. 

When it all started, Terran was studying agriculture and doing her internship at a local urban farm. At that time, she had bohemian lifestyle dreams where she would live in a commune and contribute to the community with a useful skill that also allowed her to be independent and self-sufficient. For her, this turned out to be soap making and that’s where she focused her attention. She quickly immersed herself in the farmer’s market culture and while selling her soaps, her life partner made her aware that this work had the potential to serve even more people and that is when they started building their all natural and sustainable brand. 

 Some of the knowledge you will walk away with includes how to build a community around your brand, the challenges and joys of scaling a business, financing a small business as well as the pros and cons of working with your life partner. 

 It was a great pleasure to be in conversation with Terran Lewis and to hear about her big dreams for Herb ‘n Eden.
 
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Hey Friends, 
Please take a moment to fill in our brief survey on the episodes you’ve heard so far: https://forms.gle/jxjCgHba6ko3LrbS8 
This will allow us to give you more of the content you would like to hear and tell us where we can improve our efforts. 
Thanks again for your support!    

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This week, my guest is Amber Anderson, who is the co-founder of Tote and Pears, a women-plus insights and brand studio. What that means is that they use data to help clients in designing brands, content and campaigns that center women.  

 Tote and Pears helps clients in three core areas: Diversity in the Workplace within the Tech  industry, Healthcare as well as Education. 

 Amber will explain how they work with their clients and share why she thinks these are crucial areas in which an organization like hers can and should make an impact. 

 Our conversation also gets into why she became an entrepreneur in the first place (hint hint, it has to do with motherhood) and how that journey is going so far.

 This was a fun chat with a lot of gems that you can hopefully use in your own entrepreneurial journey. 

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IYA - Non-performative Yoga

Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers. I’m Kutloano Skosana Ricci, your host, and this is episode 3 of Season 4. 

Today my guest is Abiola Akanni, a yoga educator who has successfully cultivated inclusive wellness spaces that encourage other’ed communities to develop their personal yoga practice. 

The Nigerian-American yoga instructor and entrepreneur
is the influencer behind Yoga by Biola and founder of IYA, the online yoga
platform committed to non-performative yoga. Akanni is committed to disrupting
competitive yoga standards found in western culture and cultivating practices
that nurture instead of criticize.

Her inclusive mission
promotes yoga as ritual while teaching individuals how to re-mother their
bodies for generational healing. 

We recorded this conversation during the northern hemisphere summer of 2021 and she had just received her first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. It was also just as she graduated the first cohort of her Yoga Teacher Training on Iya. 

As you will discover, Abiola is a highly ambitious person and for her, pursuing an entrepreneurial path is much deeper than financial reward. 

MENTIONS AND LINKS 

Yoga By Biola - Abiola Akani's very own YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/YogabyBiola 
Trap Vinyasa - https://www.trapvinyasa.com/ 
Yoga Behind Bars - https://yogabehindbars.org/ 

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EVE MILAN NY

Today’s guest on Shades and Layers is Eden Gilliam, founder of the award-winning luxury skincare brand, Eve Milan New York. 

Eden is an esthetician and went all the way to London to study skin nutrition during the past decade or so of her practice as a skincare professional. 

There are two factors that contributed to the start of Eve Milan New York. First came the need to provide for a baby. Eden was 19 years old when she had her first daughter and like she says, this put a fire underneath her to make something of herself.  

Second: while helping her clients to reach their skincare goals, she also wanted to offer them luxury products with no toxins or harmful ingredients. And when she heard her customer’s concerns, she coined the phrase, “ Wear Make Up because You Want To, Not because you have to.”™   

In 2021, the sheet mask (first product she launched) won a Best In Beauty Award from ALLURE magazine and she’s been growing from strength to strength since then.  

Our conversation centers around the work that she’s been doing to establish and grow her brand, we explore some industry trends and the importance of being realistic and patient while building a legacy.  

I was so glad to finally connect with Eden after three failed attempts and I hope you enjoy our conversation. 

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For the first episode of this season we have partnered with  Melanin and Medicine, who are doing important work helping Black, LatinX, and Indigenous women in the medical field build, fund, and grow their own businesses.

Our guest is CEO and founder, Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo. In our conversation she discusses how a health crisis forced her to take a pause and reflect on her 15-year career as a pediatrician, professor and healthcare advocate. During her recovery, she took time to connect with her colleagues in the sector and found that she was not alone in her quest for an integrated and balanced life, and so she created Melanin and Medicine.

She also took the chance to use the program she offers through Melanin and Medicine, to co-found and launch her own social enterprise, Strong Children Wellness, where she continues her passion for bringing quality healthcare to children in black and brown and other marginalized communities.

In our candid chat, she gets in to the details of what she does on a day to day, being raised by a nurse, growing up in a Nigerian household and all the other factors that came together to influence her career trajectory and passion for social justice and advocacy.

I hope our conversation will inspire you to find the intersection of all the things that make you thrive in life and work.

LINKS & MENTIONS

If Dr. Omolara's mission resonates with you, feel free to reach out to her and the team for FREE and get a review of your ideas and answers to your relevant questions.

Strong Children Wellness - Co-founded by Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo , this is one of the companies that have been through the Melanin and Medicine incubator, a case of the doctor taking her own medicine if you will. 
NPR  - https://www.npr.org/ 
ESSENCE Magazine - https://www.essence.com/
Politico - https://www.politico.com/

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