Senior marketing and communications strategist Tumi Rabanye joins Listen To Your Footsteps to explore why the best brand and creative strategies start with endless questions, not quick answers. Growing up between law, music and broadcasting in Mafikeng, she learnt to look behind the mic and ask who decides how society speaks, thinks and sees itself.

In this conversation, Tumi reflects on the influence of her parents, the teachers who expanded her sense of possibility, and the early radio experiences that stripped away the glamour of fame and revealed the craft of storytelling. She tracks her zigzag journey through journalism, television and financial services into a life devoted to strategy, and explains why “the why” is the core skill that keeps her in demand.

We talk about South African schooling, representation and hair politics, how homelands shaped a surprisingly big thinking community, and what it means to raise children with access that removes the novelty from media and influence. Tumi shares a powerful “midwifery” metaphor for creative strategy, unpacks how to nourish ideas so they live in culture, and discusses why brands must choose between exclusionary declarations and inclusive invitations.

We also dive into how she uses artificial intelligence as a thinking partner rather than a shortcut, why tools do not replace the work of curiosity, and how voice, writing and journaling help us hear ourselves more clearly. If you care about brand building, African creativity, or simply making braver decisions in a noisy world, this episode will shift how you think about strategy, power and possibility.

Recorded at Vodcast TV