Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard

Jo-Anne Richards burst onto the literary scene back in 1996 with the iconic novel THE INNOCENCE OF ROAST CHICKEN. Recently reprinted, this story has been loved by thousands over the years.

Jo-Anne joins Fiona and Gail to talk about how that book changed her life and to tell us about the inspiration behind her upcoming work of non-fiction - MEN I HAVE KNOWN.

She describes what she has learned in her many years as a writing tutor and shares some of her least favourite writing peeves.

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Alive Sunday Service, 25 October 2026 alivewithjoseph.com · website · facebook · twitter · insta

Alive Sunday Service, 25 October 2026 alivewithjoseph.com · website · facebook · twitter · insta

Media Partner to the Nedbank IMC Conference

Is Gen Z leaving South Africa behind, or reimagining what the future could look like?

Live from the Nedbank IMC Marketing Is Business event, Carmen Murray sits down with a Gen Z Guy to unpack the realities facing a generation navigating unemployment, safety concerns, global opportunities and a rapidly changing digital world.

From the brain drain threatening South Africa's talent pipeline to the growing importance of supporting local brands, the conversation explores how businesses can create opportunities for young people, invest in entrepreneurship and rebuild trust through authentic, community-driven marketing.

They also tackle the darker side of digital culture: social media's impact on self-worth, the pressure to perform online, rising disconnection, and the importance of protecting young people's mental well-being. The discussion highlights the need for intergenerational collaboration, reverse mentoring, and visible role models who help younger generations imagine what's possible. website · podcast studio · Join our community for free · Join our YouTube channel for more

Media Partner to the Nedbank IMC Conference

What if a barbershop could do more than cut hair, what if it could change lives?

At the Nedbank IMC Marketing Is Business event, Carmen Murray sits down with Sheldon Tachell, founder of Legends Barber, to unpack how a business that started with a clipper and a chair on the side of the road grew into a network of 88 locations across five countries, employing more than 800 people.

But behind the growth is a bigger purpose: tackling youth unemployment by equipping young people from disadvantaged communities with practical skills through a training and development academy.

Sheldon shares the principles behind scaling Legends Barber — starting small, committing to excellence in every detail, and treating every customer as an opportunity to serve with purpose.

The conversation also explores the deeper social role of barbershops as community spaces where conversations about gender-based violence, gangsterism and the challenges facing young men can begin. For Sheldon, barbers have an opportunity to do more than provide a service: they can help guide conversations, empower others and create positive change. website · podcast studio · Join our community for free · Join our YouTube channel for more

Are we genuinely assessing financial crime or ticking a box?

Is the Wolfsberg Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire genuinely helping to combat money laundering, or has it become another costly compliance exercise?

Dawn Pretorius challenges the value of the Wolfsberg Questionnaire and the many variations developed by banks and compliance officers around the world. Designed to assess the anti-money laundering, sanctions and financial crime controls of correspondent banking partners, these questionnaires include about 150 questions and require documentation updates and repeated exchanges of information.

But what does this process actually achieve?

Dawn questions why regulated financial institutions must repeatedly provide information about their licences, policies, procedures, training programmes and internal controls when information is already available through regulators and institutional websites. She explores the considerable administrative burden placed on compliance teams, particularly when banks and fintechs maintain relationships with numerous correspondent banking partners.

Knowing what controls a bank claims to have is not the same as knowing whether those controls actually work.

This episode asks an uncomfortable question for the global AML industry: are we genuinely assessing financial crime risk, or simply creating more paperwork to demonstrate that compliance has been performed?

Join Dawn as she challenges conventional correspondent banking due diligence and invites the industry to debate whether it is time to rethink the Wolfsberg Questionnaire.

The Laundromat — challenging conventional thinking about anti-money laundering and financial crime. Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn · The Shepherds of Inequality · Beyond Play

Billions of data points but little financial crime disruption at best!

Are We Fighting Money Laundering or Just Collecting Reports?

The global anti-money laundering system is built on a fundamental assumption: the more suspicious transactions we report, the better equipped authorities will be to detect and disrupt financial crime.

But what if that assumption is wrong?

In this episode of The Laundromat, Dawn Pretorius challenges the effectiveness of suspicious transaction reporting and asks an uncomfortable question: Are we generating actionable financial intelligence, or have we created an industry that measures success by the volume of information it collects?

Financial institutions face enormous pressure to report suspicious activity. Failing to report can be serious, while reporting a transaction offers some protection against accusations of non-compliance. The result is a system in which defensive reporting can become more attractive than making difficult, risk-based decisions about what information will genuinely help authorities identify financial crime.

Meanwhile, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) must process enormous volumes of reports, often with limited resources - valuable intelligence risks being buried beneath repetitive, low-quality and unnecessary submissions.

The problem goes beyond reporting volumes. It raises fundamental questions about how we measure the effectiveness of the global AML framework.

How many suspicious transaction reports lead to actionable intelligence? How many intelligence products result in investigations? How many investigations lead to prosecutions, asset seizures, or the disruption of criminal networks?

And ultimately, how much illicit money is actually prevented from moving through the financial system?

Dawn argues that we must distinguish between collecting information and producing results. The real value of an FIU lies in its ability to connect financial information across institutions and jurisdictions, identify patterns invisible to individual banks, and generate intelligence that enables authorities to act.

Perhaps the greatest weakness in the global AML system is not a lack of information, but our failure to collect information that translates into meaningful disruption of financial crime.

Are we measuring compliance or effectiveness?

Welcome to The Laundromat — where we challenge conventional thinking about money laundering and ask whether the systems designed to stop it are actually working. Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn · The Shepherds of Inequality · Beyond Play

Fresh Fire Wednesday, 21 October 2026 alivewithjoseph.com · website · facebook · twitter · insta

Strategist and researcher Zora Artis on the real work of alignment.

Leadership is messy, ongoing, and stubbornly resistant to five-step programs. What does it take for people to move forward together when they see the world differently?

Strategist, facilitator, coach, and researcher Zora Artis joins Daniel Atlin to explore what alignment means, what it costs when it is missing, and why sustaining it requires continual care and attention.

Zora’s story begins with a childhood moving between Yugoslavia and Australia, learning to read unfamiliar environments and find belonging while retaining her own perspective. That experience helped shape her curiosity about how people make sense of situations and work through differences.

Together, Zora and Daniel explore why apparent agreement can conceal very different understandings, what separates an executive team from a team of executives, and how avoiding difficult conversations means “banking future conflict.” Zora describes how ego, fear, and a sense that speaking up will change nothing can undermine alignment, even in seemingly successful teams.

She also explains how leaders can build shared clarity through dialogue: giving everyone a voice, listening to understand, and asking questions that uncover assumptions and meaning. These practices connect alignment with a central theme of Messy: collective sensemaking, or how people work through different interpretations to figure out what to do next, together.

As strategy cycles shorten and AI accelerates the pace of work, Zora argues that technology amplifies whatever alignment or misalignment already exists. The ongoing work of connecting purpose, priorities and everyday decisions becomes even more consequential.

The conversation closes with Zora’s advice to her younger self: nurture curiosity, seek out different perspectives, and keep asking questions when something is unclear. Connect with Zora Artis on LinkedIn · Jonathan Trevor - Strategic Alignment Research, Said Business School · Michael Bungay Stanier - The Coaching Habit and The Conspiracy community · IABC - International Association of Business Communicators · Website · Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn

Media Partner to the Nedbank IMC Conference

Meet Generation Alpha: the future, through the eyes of a 10-year-old.

At the Nedbank IMC Marketing Is Business event, Carmen Murray sits down with Desmond Koolen, a 10-year-old who went viral singing 'I Feel Good' and is already building a public profile.

From rugby and gaming to AI-powered robots and the realities of growing up online, Desmond offers a refreshingly honest glimpse into how his generation sees the world. His biggest insight? Adults could probably do with less screen time, too!

Desmond's mom joins the conversation to share the realities of parenting a child in the digital spotlight, from online safety and screen-time boundaries to managing a young person's digital footprint. Her approach is grounded in trust, transparency and helping children navigate technology rather than simply shielding them from it.

The conversation also explores Gen Alpha's ever-evolving slang, the pressures of childhood fame and an important reminder: being visible online doesn't mean giving up your right to privacy, boundaries or autonomy. website · podcast studio · Join our community for free · Join our YouTube channel for more