Made to Lead

Today we chat with Ifę Elizabeth Shabi, a prolific brand consumer brand builder, entrepreneur, CEO, and biochemist focused on creating products and businesses in the beauty industry. She's the founder of beauty brands including Loola Cosmetics, Serumize Skin, and HB Labs, and her work has been recognized by Forbes and Elle. We discuss her impressive story as a young black female founder in a traditionally white space, including how she started her company and the challenges she overcame to get to this point in her life.

This episode features the fascinating story of Dr. Opiyo Oloya , Superintendant at the York Catholic District School Board. Dr. Opiyo's story is truly inspiring. He left Uganda, the country of his birth, as a refugee as a 23 year old university student. First into Kenya and then eventually to Canada where the World University Service of Canada sponsored his undergraduate program at Queen's University. Dr. Opiyo's love for education led him to complete a Master's degree in Education at the University of Ottawa, which allowed him to begin an illustrious career as a teacher culminating in his appointment as Superintendant. He eventually returned to his home country to work on research into child soldiers in Northern Uganda earning his PhD as a result. He also worked along side the African Mission in Somalia chronicalling their successful war against terror. His work there and subsequent book earned him an honarary Doctorate of Law and a Heroes Medal awared presented to him by the President of Uganda.

Today we chat with amazing South African multi-award winning jazz pianist and vocalist, Thandi Ntuli . She shares her journey into jazz music, specifically on the piano, which started at a very young age. After high school, Thandi went on to study music formally at the University of Cape Town. In this episode we also discuss some of the emotional events in her life that inspired much of the work on her albums. To date, her many collaborations with various artists and musicians around the globe display her fluidity in genres. Her work has received many awards and nominations including a Metro FM award nomination (2015), a Mbokodo Award (2015) and a South African Music Award (SAMA) nomination (2019). She was also the recipient of the coveted Standard Bank Young Artist award for Jazz in 2018. You can find her incredible songs and albums playing on every music streaming platform.

We're joined on the show today by Mansa Chintoh , Director, Business & Legal Affairs at Entertainment One (eOne). She shares here story as a first generation Black Canadian finding her path in life that eventually led her to a career as a lawyer in the entertainment industry. Mansa gives back by mentoring young individuals looking to get into the entertainment industry and volunteers with Artist's Legal Advise Services , a not for profit that helps creators understand their legal rights.

Before she became Head of Growth at ScaleUpNation, Kimberly Ofori had a very interesting journey that took her from the Netherlands to Dubai and to Spain. Without a colleage degree, she started her full time career in insurance at age 16 and, after a few years, moved on to investment banking and wealth management where she rose quickly up the ranks. An unfortunate turn of events turned an opportunity in Dubai into a mad scramble for survival. Kimberly eventually became an entrepreneur in Spain, sold 2 companies and found her way back to the Netherlands where she helps start ups grow and scale their businesses. We delve into her amazing story on today's episode. Listen now on Braided Media

In our first episode of Season 3, we chat with Nicole Nomsa Moyo, an Urban & Architectural Designer. She has a passion for human-centric design, master planning, innovative and disruptive sustainable development, community engagement processes, intelligent future thinking and Africa her beloved continent. Her work “Rising”, was recently selected as one of six international finalists for the 2020 Miami Design District Commission. In 2019, her work was recognized on multiple international design platforms, including the World Architecture Community, Dezeen, and ArchDaily, where two of her drawings were selected as “The Best Architecture Drawings of the Year.” FRAME Magazine Issue 129, identified her as an "anthropocentric thinker and emerging designer'' focusing on future forward off-grid design concepts. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Made To Lead on Instagram Follow Braided Media on Instagram

Welcome to Season 3 of the Made to Lead podcast hosted by Aziz Garuba. New episodes of this season are launching April 6 so follow/subscribe on your favourite podcast platform to get notified . Also subscribe to Braided Media to stay up to date on all things Made to Lead.

On this episode we continue our conversation with Mide Akerewusi, Founder and CEO of AgentsC. He shares how he got demoted from his executive role, leading him to quit and find another job, and how he eventually decided to venture out and start his own non-profit philanthropy agency.

On Part 1 of a 2-part episode, we sit down with Mide Akerewusi, a British born African living in Canada. Mide is Founder and CEO of AgentsC Inc., a Canadian based international company delivering equity philanthropy and social research services to the non-profit and private sector. He has worked in senior relationship fundraising roles and consulted for a number of the world’s leading non-profit organisations. We discuss how having a very fractured childhood filled with numerous failures and setbacks eventually led him to the world of philanthropy and the non-profit industry.

On today's show we chat with one of the youngest executives in a Fortune 500 company Omonye Phillips, Divisional Vice President of Pharmacy Operations at Rite Aid. Her role involves overseeing the operations of 180+ stores and managing a budget in excess of $2B. Omonye has dedicated countless hours to other business, service and philanthropy efforts all focused on empowering others. She shares with us how a personal tragedy led her on a path towards a career in Pharmacy and how she eventually became an executive. We also discuss her leadership mindset and how it propelled her to run a marathon even though she was not a runner at all.

Our guest today is Horace Matthews, Vice President, Digital and Information Technology / CIO at World Vision Canada. Horace discusses his life story from growing up in Mandeville, Jamaica to eventually moving to the cold country of Canada in search of a better life for his family. He also talks about how his faith helped him through the initial tough times upon getting to Canada and how he eventually got a breakthrough into the Canadian workforce, ultimately leading him to executive roles in major companies.

From initially hating banking to eventually becoming an executive at Goldman Sachs, this episode is the exciting journey of Mary Mosope Adeyemi, a passionate, people-oriented and purpose driven woman who lives out these traits in various spheres. She is an experienced investment professional currently working as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs supporting the risk focused deployment of credit capital in the Technology, Media and Telecom Sectors. We discuss her journey into investment banking and how she eventually launched viSHEbility, a talk show and social initiative through which she inspires, coaches and fosters a community of black women who aspire to lead.

Today's guest is Tapfuma Musewe, Founder of Eschaton Solutions, a boutique firm that promotes sustainable trade and investments with African markets. Having grown up a Canadian citizen, his passion led him to spend most of his working life across Africa. He began in community development, then pivoted to entrepreneurship and established a couple of companies including a logistics company that moved FMCG’s for a blue-chip company. He then worked in market intelligence, consulting multinational clients seeking to penetrate African markets. We discuss the motivation behind creating his own company and his mission to expose Canadian businesses and investment to what Africa has to offer. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts:Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2UcfLr7Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/33DsiqISpotify: https://spoti.fi/3djrpaW

On today's show we chat with Fenten Jagdeo, Co-founder and COO of Faculty, a venture capital-backed modern grooming company based in San Francisco. Fenton discusses how he went from working management consulting to become a young entrepreneur co-founding his start up in an industry that focused largely on women. He also talks about how his company ended up securing venture capital within a few months of launching. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2UcfLr7Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/33DsiqISpotify: https://spoti.fi/3djrpaW

Today's guest is Kike Fischer, Chief Risk Officer at Leadway Assurance, the largest insurance company in Nigeria. Kike's rise to become a C-level executive in Risk Management began with a serendipitous encounter in an elevator that eventually led her to supervising a number of trading platforms including the London Stock Exchange. Her inspirational story takes us on her life and career journey across 2 countries (UK and Nigeria) as she found her voice in an industry largely dominated by men, and eventually learned to lead without screaming.

"Action without thought is empty, thought without action is blind" - Nkrumah. This is the philosophy that guides Sam Effah, a Canadian Olympic hopeful of Ghanaian heritage, and a 2-time Canadian Champion and multiple award winning athlete. In today's episode, Sam shares his story of triumphing as a track athlete despite many setbacks from injuries. He also tells how he landed a sponsorship deal with Nike at 21 all on his own with no agent. Sam has been able to combine his enthusiasm for sport, marketing and the Olympics seamlessly, and give back to his community in many ways. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/d1Qo1WUn

On today’s episode we continue where we left off in our conversation with Seni Sulyman, an experienced executive on a mission to build and develop Africa through technology. Today Seni talks about how he made the decision to move back to Africa after turning down offers from tech giants like Facebook and Google. This decision ultimately led him to building an airline and eventually becoming an executive at Andela. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/d1Qo1WUn

From tinkering with cell phones in Paris, to negotiating with an unexpected individual in New York, to eventually becoming an executive at one of Africa's best Lagos-based tech startups. We discuss these and many other topics with Seni Sulyman, a Harvard MBA grad and business executive whose purpose is to develop exemplary African businesses and leaders who create value through ethical leadership and superior execution. Through our conversation, we learn about recognizing your strengths and having the courage to pivot your career/life to match what drives you.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Made to Lead Podcast. I'm excited to welcome you to Season 2! We’ve been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare for this Season and I’m hopeful that you’ll enjoy it. First, I want to say a big thank you to our listeners and guests. This show would not have been possible without you, and I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you. I also want to say thank you for making our first season very successful. When I started this podcast, I did not imagine how many people would be positively impacted by it. The feedback and comments in my inbox and on social media have been amazing to see, read and hear and it’s motivation to keep doing more. This Season builds upon where we left off in Season 1 as we continue to share stories of courage, incredible determination, hard work, hardships and undeniable excellence. You’ll hear from a black entrepreneur disrupting the beauty industry for men, a black female executive in a global financial institution working to create spaces for other black female leaders, an Olympian who merged his passion for marketing and sports, and many other remarkable leaders of African descent. Each story will deeply move you, rekindle your passion for leadership and most importantly, give you hope for our future. It has been such a fulfilling and exciting journey making this season. I hope that you enjoy listening to it as much as I have enjoyed making it. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts, and please share with others. Also take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts as well and give us a 5* rating :). This helps us improve and also get discovered by others. You can also support by following us on Twitter and Instagram @madetoleadshow, and by visiting our website madetolead.co.

Today's episode features Beau Sackey, Co-founder of Plendify, a B2B market place app for connecting buyers and suppliers in Ghana. Prior to co-founding Plendify, Beau spent over 15 years in management consulting working with Accenture, Deloitte and PwC. He has a breadth of experience working for Fortune 500 companies across several industries including banking/finance, telecommunications, manufacturing and retail. We discuss Beau's journey across 4 different countries before eventually starting his own company and moving back to Ghana. He shares the importance of having a good network of people that you can trust in order to help you achieve you goals. Beau believes in servant leadership and not asking someone else to do something that he wouldn't be willing to do himself.

Our guest today is Lisandra Rickards, Founder & CEO of Soul Career, Former CEO of the Richard Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, and a Harvard MBA. She helps executives, entrepreneurs and high-achieving professionals succeed by connecting them to knowledge, opportunities, and systems that support their growth while staying aligned to their authentic selves. She's also done economic research for the book Superfreakonomics, worked as a management consultant in the Private Equity Group at Bain & Co in New York City, consulted for the Ministry of Finance in Jamaica, and worked in corporate strategy for a Caribbean conglomerate On the show, we dive into how she ended up leaving her home in Jamaica to attend school (undergraduate and graduate) in the US. Lisandra talks about the mental health challenges that she experienced while going through school both at University of Chicago and Harvard Business School, and what that led her to feel like she was a failure despite the opportunities she was afforded. She highlights how focusing on self care helped her discover where her true passions lay, allowing her to unlock her full potential in coaching entrepreneurs, executives and professionals. Lisandra's advice is to explore more than just what's right in focus and try and have some fun.

Today we sit down with Amoye Henry, the Co-founder and Executive Producer of the AfroChic Cultural Arts Festival, a program that has created opportunities for over 350 local and international artists, entrepreneurs and cultural practitioners. Amoye, who started her first business at age 12, discusses her journey to becoming a young entrepreneur in the creative space and the challenges and obstacles she had to overcome to bring her vision of AfroChic to life over the span of 10 years. Her work and efforts have earned her recognition as one of Canada's Top 100 Accomplished Black Women (2018).

Today we're pleased to have as our guest Tim Akinnusi, CEO and Co-founder of MortgageMarket, a first of its kind South African FinTech company that lets customers apply online and get approved for a mortgage from any of the 5 large South African banks without ever having to set foot in a branch or meet with anyone. On the show, Tim discusses his career path from graduation through to working in banking and eventually leaving to start his own company. He shares the stories behind many of the career opportunities he was fortunate enough to have which eventually saw him become an executive at one of the big 5 South African banks at under 30 years old. Tim's confidence is founded on focusing on the work at hand and demonstrating as much value as possible and it will ultimately be recognized and rewarded. He concludes by advising to take more risks because there's no glory on playing things too safe.

Our guest on this episode is Hali Farah, a Senior HR Consultant for the City of Toronto, leading the Diversity and Next Generation Programs. Hali shares her story from her upbringing as a young Somali-Canadian kid growing up in Hamilton to graduating with a psychology degree and somehow becoming a pharmacy technician to finally ending up in as an HR professional. She also discusses where her true passion truly lies which is in giving back to Black Youths, especially to the youths from the Somali community who over the years have had such a bad reputation. Hali closes off by talking about her philosophy to lead with compassion and that she is cognizant of how her behaviour and leadership style will impact others. She is governed by the old saying : "treat others how you want to be treated, not how they treat you".

Today's guest is Walter Ajogbor, an award-winning commercial banker who's spent the last 10 years in the financial services industry. Walter recounts his journey from his humble beginnings as a customer service representative to being a top-notch commercial banker. He discusses how moving from country to country as a kid helped him develop really good relationship building skills that have become a great advantage to him now. He also shares why he believes that it's important to understand that things and situations are bigger than just you and it's crucial to put others first. He encourages us to not skip the process on the way to the top and don't despise the days of small beginnings.

My guest today is Linus Akanoh Jr. a crisis recovery Senior Manager with a global consultancy who works to help public sector organizations develop and operationalize resilience in response to man-made and natural disasters. His experience spans some of the largest and most complex disasters events in recent U.S. history and focuses on helping communities leverage federal assistance to recover in an expedited, cost-effective, and compliant manner. In this episode, Linus talks about the personal crisis he faced losing his father and how that propelled him towards being the leader he is today. He also shares what it means to be first authentic with yourself before you can be authentic with the world.

Sabaa Quao joins us as today's guest on the show. He's a serial entrepreneur who started his first company at age 26. Over the past 25 years, he has had the opportunity to innovate and collaborate with creative producers, markerters, and technology teams in over a dozen countries. Born to Ghanaian and Nigerian parents, Sabaa grew up in Montreal, built his career in Toronto and London (UK), and his closest collaborators and biggest inspirations are still scattered in cities all over the place — Bucharest, Bangkok, New York, Helsinki, Tokyo, and more. As a creative director, he launched the Toronto Raptors and Playdium, a game and TV platform for Electronic Arts (EA) VirtualMe, the Rogers WAVE identity, and completed the major rebranding, signage, and wayfinding for the CN Tower. As a business strategist and consultant, he has completed special projects for IBM, KPMG, Levi’s, Norton Rose Fulbright, Suncor, BMO, Jack Daniel’s, Selfridges, and TD. He is also the co-founder of Filminute, the international one-minute film festival now in its 15th year. He launched Filminute in London UK a few years after losing almost everything during the dot-com meltdown. Sabaa's newest entrepreneurial venture is called Wealthie Works Daily, an investment and financial literacy platform for kids (0-18) and their families. The Wealthie Works Daily platform combines ecommerce, content marketing, and financial services built around a continuous news network. Wealthie’s ultimate goal is to build a strong financial future for generations of new investors locally, nationally, and internationally.

Today we chat with Rumbi Mugwagwa, a Fixed Income Associate with the Portfolio Advisory Team at Bank of Montreal (BMO) Nesbitt Burns. As the Guaranteed Investment product expert she is the principal liaison between Issuers and advisors. She also supports daily trading and provides product advice to the Wealth broker channels. Prior to the role Rumbi was the Business Team lead in trade management services within the BMO securities operations division where she managed the processing team and oversaw business automation and change management projects. Rumbi holds a degree in Economics from University of Toronto. She is also a CFA level 2 Candidate. We discussed: How she ended up in a finance career despite graduating during the 2008 financial crisisThe challenges of being a black woman working in financeHer influential mentorsBeing flexible and not focusing on just a single path

On this episode we chat with Chiedza Museredza, a lawyer working at a prestigious Bay Street law firm in Toronto. Chiedza was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. She left Zimbabwe at 18 years old to pursue her studies in Law and International Relations at the University of Cape Town. During her time at the University of Cape Town, Chiedza was involved in student governance and lead projects that aimed to connect female students (mainly of colour) to executives of companies such as Deloitte, PwC, Standard Bank, McKinsey and Company, and to promote social entrepreneurship. After completing her studies at the University of Cape Town, Chiedza decided to relocate to Toronto, Canada with the ultimate goal of practicing big law at one of the Bay Street law firms. She completed her LL.M in International Business Law at Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in June 2019. She is now practicing at a Bay Street law firm with a focus on Employment, Labour, Privacy and Cybersecurity. Chiedza shares her upbringing story including the challenges of growing up in Harare, being a B and C average student with not much confidence in high school, making a fresh start at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and encountering a lack of representation in Canada. She also tells us about leaders who have inspired her and shares some of the things she's doing to give back and be a leader as well.

On today’s show, I interview Dr. Jude Obi Nzeako, a fully qualified and practising Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon with specialist interests in Trauma. He graduated from the University of Manchester in the UK then completed a prestigious Orthopaedic Surgical Training programme in London before moving to complete fellowship training in Trauma Surgery at the University of Toronto in Canada. He is a member of the British Orthopaedic Association and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He’s a passionate teacher, who enjoys speaking and writing within his field. He is active on social media with a following of approximately 25,000 followers across Instagram and Youtube, where he aims to inspire and motivate. On the show, we discussed the impact of having support and positive affirmation from family and mentors, his challenges as an African with ADHD as a child and teenager, finding balance and being focused on excellence. We also talked about how Dr. Jude got into storytelling through photography and videography. His pursuit of excellence has driven him to try to be the best he can possibly be, despite having to work twice as hard as a black doctor. Dr. Jude also shared his leadership philosophy, which was derived from his love for Mike Tyson and what the champion boxer was willing to do to be the best. Dr. Jude focuses on not being average, always being intentional and always striving to be excellent. Follow Dr. Jude on Instagram (https://instagram.com/drjude_) and YouTube (https://bit.ly/3a9mt6x).

Hello and welcome to the Made to Lead Podcast. I am your host Aziz Garuba. If you have just subscribed or downloaded this podcast, it means you are looking to be inspired by inspiring leaders. That’s the goal of podcast, to inspire you to take action in your own leadership journey. Over the last 12 years in my career and throughout my travels around the world, I’ve met and interacted with some truly amazing individuals of African descent who are making a real difference in their spaces. Some of these people are leading large teams and implementing large scale organizational and societal change and others are just starting off, finding their place in world but committed to making an impact and leaving their mark on the world. As Africa continues to rise in prominence and global importance, the stories of these movers and shakers needs to be highlighted for the world to see. That’s why I created this podcast. I want to shine a light on the many talented African gems that are hiding in plain sight, working hard whether in the diaspora, the Caribbean or on the African continent, so they can serve as an inspiration to us all. In each episode, I will have a candid conversation with dynamic individuals from across many industries including healthcare, non-profit, engineering, finance, government, technology, education, entrepreneurs and many more. In each interview, we will discuss their achievements, challenges, dreams and aspirations as well as their leadership philosophy. And at the end of each episode, my hope is that you can take away some tangible and actionable pieces of advice and channel that into your lives as you work to become a leader in your own right. I encourage you to take that leap of faith because you were made to lead.