Riël Malan - Shapers, makers, builders & breakers

It is both our honour and pleasure to share with our listeners our latest podcast interview with the highly-esteemed and internationally-acclaimed humanitarian relief activist and founder of Gift of the Givers, Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman.   He shares invaluable insights into the organisation's relief efforts, which is hinged on the motto: best among people are those who benefit mankind. More importantly he shares his personal motivation, vision and journey to becoming one of the most recognised humanitarians of our time. And in addition to this, as a son of South Africa, making us very proud. 

In this episode Riël Malan speaks to Professor William Duggan who is the author of three recent books on innovation, delving particularly into Strategic Intuition, Creative Strategy Expert. Professor Duggan also teaches about strategy and innovation at the Columbia Business School. He has BA, MA and PhD degrees from Columbia University, and twenty years of experience as a strategy advisor and consultant.

In this episode Riël Malan speaks to Joshua Ngoma who is the founder of Eyesizwe Coal and Enterprising Africa Regional Network (EARN). Poor health forced Joshua into early retirement from mining engineering and since his recovery he has redirected his time and efforts to his philanthropic hobby, which is teaching young African agricultural entrepreneurs how to grow profitable sustainable businesses, while contributing towards food security.

Take a listen to my thought-provoking conversation with Sarah Arnot Mulhern, who I would describe as a polymath. She is an author and has extensive experience as a business coach, currently coaching notable listed CEOs.  In our discussion, Sarah shares her views on organisational resilience, diversity, leadership and narcissism in the workplace among other things. #FindYourFocus #RielMalan #SarahArnotMulhern #podcast #leadership #diversity #coaching #resilience #neuroscience #successplanning #HR #narcissism #creativity #consistency #curiousity #empathy #deeplistening #socialintelligence #millennial #behaviouraleconomics #ShapersMakersBuildersBreakers

I speak to Ronen Aires, an African pioneer in the re-discovery of psychedelics. These ancient compounds have been part of human existence and medication for thousands of years. Yet it has fallen out of favor over the past 60 years. Currently, the use of psychedelics in the treatment of multiple disorders is receiving renewed focus from both alternative health practitioners and medical research institutions around the world. Ronen shares his own journey with us, and we will explore some of the benefits that he has experienced firsthand through the application of various psychedelic compounds.  

Ian Fuhr's name is synonymous with one of South Africa's most recognized brands, Sorbet, a chain of beauty salons that he founded in 2004. But his tireless work in building businesses based on fairness and equality is his greatest passion.

Riël Malan talks to Richard (Kiki) Fernandes, CEO of East-African-based Marginpar Floriculture, producer and exporter of flowers from three African countries. His empowering-, people-centric approach made Marginpar globally competitive and established a culture that serves as an example of what investment in people can achieve in Africa.

Riël Malan talks to Styli Charalambous, CEO & publisher of South Africa's leading news organization, The Daily Maverick. The Daily Maverick is credited (among many other things), to have broken the key state capture stories that catalyzed the Zondo Commission of Inquiry and leadership changes underway in South Africa.  Between Styli Charalambous & Branko Brkic, they lead a fearless group of die-hard journalists that bring South Africans the truth on a daily basis, often with little regard for their own safety, keeping politicians and anybody else wanting to misuse their power, in check.

Kelly Chibale's life unfolded like a movie script. Although success was not apparent at the start of his life. The conversation details his struggles and how he overcame the many setbacks on his way to the top of his profession in early-stage drug discovery. His life is an example of what education can do to the future of Africa's young population. This is the second part of a 2-part discussion, and focuses on why he came back to Africa, and what his vision is for African research capacity.

Kelly Chibale's life unfolded like a movie script. Although success was not apparent at the start of his life. The conversation details his struggles and how he overcame the many setbacks on his way to the top of his profession in early-stage drug discovery. In this in-depth discussion, he discusses perseverance and his philosophy for success, and his vision for Africa to play a much larger role in clinical trials and the pharma sector. His life is a real-life example of the tremendous power of education.

Riël Malan talks to Themba Baloyi and Reuben Olifant to discusses the role of the YPO Africa In-Forum Foundation in the continued execution of the YPO-Africa initiatives to alleviate the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Andy du Plessis is the CEO of  FoodForward, the largest food-redistribution program in South Africa. At a time when South Africa is reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, Andy and his organization's mission has never been more relevant. With more than 30 million people estimated to be in food distress at the moment, they distribute more than just food, they distribute hope to many that have been plunged into a desperate situation.

Louise van Rhijn's organisations Symphonia for South Africa and Partners for Possibility focus on working with school principles and business executives, by placing them in partnership relationships to lift the general level of management in schools. She challenges both sides to “cross the boundary” - to move out of their comfort zones and work in a closer partnership to create the education future our children deserve. Louise is also at the forefront of dealing with the additional challenges that the Covid-19 crisis is bringing to schools and communities. We salute her as a true Covid-19 Hero.

Matt Brown is the definitive “restless soul". He has travelled and lived across the world, and while doing this, started not less than 10 businesses by the time he hit 40. In 2015 he “fell into podcasting”, at that stage an unknown medium in mainstream circles. Fast forward to 2020, Matt has become a household name to many, with more than 200 episodes and 1m downloads of his podcast, "The Matt Brown Show." This also led to a bestselling book, "Your Inner Game", where Matt unpacks the key lessons and patterns he observed through the many conversations he had with exceptional individuals.

South Africa’s education system is broken. We know this from the graduation statistics that surface year after year. But we also know this from the unemployment rate - and specifically youth unemployment rate of more than 50% at the end of 2018. Not only is our economy in trouble, but our youth also seems unemployable after finishing school with no hope of further tertiary studies. John Chambers, previous CEO of CISKO once famously said: " The two great equalizers in the world are education and the internet." And combined, in the shape of what is commonly referred to as Eductech, we could have a major impact on the trajectory of our current generation. But why is this not happening? I sit down with Kirsty Chadwick, CEO & Founder of The Training Room Online (TTRO) to discuss how edtech and a few small tweaks to our approach to providing education, could completely change the legacy of a seemingly broken education system. She is a passionate trail-blazing teacher turned entrepreneur who has set her sight on “changing the world” through providing educate solutions in South Africa...and now also the Middle East

Allan Gray recently passed away. Leaving not only the largest fund manager in Africa as a legacy, but also two foundations he started with Anthony Farr. The leadership legacy that these two foundations will leave, will live on for generations to come. The approach taken,  and the impact that these two foundations will have on Africa is not well known and explained in this conversation with Anthony Farr.

Vusi Thembekwayo is at the top of his game as a sought after speaker on leadership & entrepreneurship topics. I caught up with him in Johannesburg, where his other business, My Growth Fund, is based and about to launch a great business training initiative into townships. Vusi is a master of clear and thought-provoking thinking. He is starting to play a significant role as an opinion former to many young, and increasingly cynical South Africans who are looking for guidance in life, and in business. He is no stranger to controversy, and the reason he articulates so well when he says: "Facts don’t care about feelings" In this conversation, he challenges "white thinking" and "black thinking" alike. He just generally challenges our societies' thining (or the lack thereof). But he does it in such a very constructive way, and I do believe if we can emulate his approach to such matters, we can progress our collective narrative to a point where we can really address the various biases in all spheres of society at its root. Please enjoy my though-provoking and inspiring conversation?

Gil Oved is the co-founder of the creative council, an iconic business that he co-created over the scope of the last 18 years from only an idea and recently sold to Publicis, the well known French Multi-National. Gil is probably publicly best known for his role as one of the sharks in the hit TV series, Shark Tank. He will be starting 2019 in his new venture LLH Capital - a Permanent Capital Vehicle in which he partnered with well known and seasoned ICT executive, Romeo Khumalo. We discuss topics covering fatherhood (04:00), building and preparing a business (33:00) with an exit in mind, his investment philosophy (48:00) in general, but more specifically in technology (1:16), the legacy he wants to leave (1:41), the advice he will give to young entrepreneurs (1:29) and very importantly how he has stayed ahead of the pack in a very demanding industry over the past 18 years. Gil has recently been listed as one of the ten people to watch closely in technology in South Africa

I am finishing this first season of Shapers, Makers, Builders & Breakers with a conversation with an extraordinary young man, Taps Mugadza. His life story reads like a movie script. Abandoned on steps of an orphanage when he was just 2 days old, he lived through a trying childhood where the little stability he had was taken from him a number of times. Over his formation years, he discovered he had an extraordinary musical gift and through a chance meeting with someone who saw his potential, he found himself on a plane to the USA, destined for great things as a recording artist. Taps Mugadza is a worthy role-model in Africa. Please join me in my conversation with this extraordinary man & musician.

This was the first episode of the podcast series aired in February 2019. Being the first episode in the series, I do believe that it did not receive enough attention and is worthy of a re-release. It was filled with tremendous life lessons and learning. Themba remains one of the most inspiring young business leaders in Africa and South Africa today. Themba Baloyi is a textbook example of what determination can overcome in the face of every kind of adversity - a challenging family structure, money shortages for education, various business rejections - none of which could hold back the rise of this young business leader to eventually found Discovery Insure. His vision grew from just an idea to a business unit receiving more than R4B of insurance premiums - and this recently culminated in him being honoured with the All-Africa Business Leaders Award as 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year.   He is in my mind thé role-model for any young ambitious South African wanting to go places, but seemingly have a shortage of resources to get there. His story is all-inspiring and very relevant necessary to be told.  

Today is woman’s day in South Africa. And my guest is a woman who is boldly opening new frontiers through the radical digital transformation of her family business, Associated Media Publishing. A company that her mother started three decades ago, and one that she has been leading for the past few years. Very few industries have experienced the extent of the disruption that publishing has experienced. Julia shares how she navigated the very stormy waters of disruption. And how she has now reached a place where Associated Media Publishing can now truly say they have transformed to “omnichannel media platform". It is a story that will be playing itself out in many industries in the years to come, and lessons that Julia conveys has a broad application to most businesses.

Keet van Zyl is the co-founder of Knife Capital. The leading South African venture capital firm specializing in the funding and scaling technology businesses. Knife had its origins in Mark Shuttleworth's "Here Be Dragons" Fund. Keet has a wealth of VC and startup experience. He writes and tweets extensively. Our conversation covers a great many topics and is a great resource for any established entrepreneur and potential business founders wanting to understand how a venture capitalist thinks.

Over the course of the past ten years, Gareth Ackerman engineered a massive corporate overall and turnaround of South Africa’s largest retailer, Pick 'n Pay with an entirely new senior leadership team. PnP’s turnaround and the Ackerman family’s repositioning of their business and family interests serve as a textbook example of a family-business generational transition, as well as the evolution of a business from family, controlled to a professionally managed business. In this podcast, Gareth candidly lets us into the ups and downs of the past few years and gives us a glimpse of the lessons learned and thinking behind many of the adjustments he personally made to ensure that the PnP legacy lives on long after him.

Musa Kalenga is a prime example of a new wave of digital entrepreneurs in Africa. In his concentrated and highly successful career, he managed to distinguish himself not only as a free-thinking entrepreneur but he also fitted in stints at some of the leading digital corporates as a trailblazing and transformative digital leader. These included positions at Nedbank & Facebook Africa. He has started businesses in research, adverting and marketing and now, recently, education. He is a thought leader, an author, a father and a tv personality. His insights into digital transformation resonated deeply with me, and I do believe with all listeners who want to understand the digital landscape in Africa.

Riël Malan talks to Nyimpini Mabunda, who left a highly successful corporate career for the uncertainty of the entrepreneurial world. We talk to him about his journey and how he planned and executed his "escape" from corporate life. His story is instructional to any corporate employee dreaming about rowing his own boat in an entrepreneurial venture.

Dr Michael Mol is no stranger to most South Africans. His face graced our small screens for 12 years in one of the most successful travel & lifestyle programs Top Billing - a show that is still running today. But Michael is a man of many talents - he’s a physician, he is an accomplished MC & media personality, and a master public speaker. And for the last number of years, he’s been working hard to change the way that medical care is distributed through a smartphone app and teleservice Hello Doctor (www.hellodoctor.co.za). The implications and experience of Hello Doctor are particularly interesting in the developing world. He is a family man, and with his wife, Jacky, is a very public & vocal poster-couple for family values. We discuss the influence of AI on the medical profession, his adventures with Hello Doctor in Africa and much more.

Allon Raiz is "a collector of entrepreneurs." He has built, in the words of The Economist, "the only true business incubator on the African continent”. And he has done this without any government assistance. Over 19 years, he has incubated 12500 businesses, of which over 500 are currently in his Raizcorp program. These businesses maintain an average revenue growth rate of 41 %, and 238% profit growth rate. He has developed a scientific process of identifying high potential entrepreneurs and assisting them to sidestep costly mistakes and be the best that they can be. He writes, he lectures, and generally, he is a prime example of how much of a difference one incubator and individual can make in the course of many people’s lives. And he is now taking his approach to business incubation further up in Africa, a continent that feels holds tremendous potential for entrepreneurs and his business incubator, Raizcorp.

There are few examples of successful African technology companies. In this episode, Riël Malan talks to the CEO's & co-founders of 3 tech startup companies based in Cape Town (South Africa) that has passed the 1000 day mark are gaining significant traction in the local and international markets. They discuss their journey with its highs and lows, how they identified their respective opportunities, raised funding, and how they went about turning the dream into a reality. Listen to Benjamin Shaw (HouseMe), James Paterson (Aerobotics) and David Torr (Ucook) tell their stories.

Ntombi Langa-Roys grew up in exile with a father that was actively involved in coordinating the struggle against apartheid. She sat around the table with her parents with many noteworthy struggle leaders as a child, while they debated the strategies and solutions to bring about change in South Africa. Over the years, this foundation guided Ntombi to play the guiding role that she plays on various high-powered boards on the JSE, to continue the transformation, and notably gender transformation in South Africa. Her laugh is infectious, and her approach to life is pragmatic and wise. She has a passion for people and leadership development at a time when we need everyone in powerful positions to re-think our approach to the development of a leadership pipeline for the future of South Africa. She is an icon, especially to young women in leadership positions, and much can be learned from her strong, but gentle approach to being an effective leader. Riël Malan has an in-depth discussion with her about her journey of change over the course of her lifetime at the heart of change in South Africa

A lot has been written about “the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.” Add to that the alluring prospects of Africa's population that are set to double by 2050. So theoretically, you have a cocktail of great potential on the African continent. However, Africa has remained the stepchild of global business, and whether it is real or perceived - the risk of doing business in Africa, still often overshadows the African investment decision. Riël Malan talks to a real-life example of a business that is thriving in Africa - and even more encouraging, it is thriving in Africa North of the Limpopo River. Vimal Shah co-founded BIDCO Africa in Kenya in 1985 with his father BD Shah, and brother Tarun Shah - as diversification for their small clothing & cotton manufacturing business at the time. The company has grown spectacularly from its modest beginnings to now having manufacturing operations in 4 countries, for the more than 40 brands that they distribute in 17 African countries. These brands run across six product categories, namely: animal feeds, fats and edible oils, baking products, food and beverages, detergents and laundry soaps, hygiene, personal care and beauty products The group has set an audacious goal to be the number 1 FMCG company on the African continent by 2030.  It now employs over 25 000 people and is still privately held by the Shah family.

In 1970. Philip Krawitz took over a single small specialized store, that was founded by his grandfather in 1933. Under his leadership that one store, grew to a group of over 260 stores (Cape Union Mart Group), employing more than 3000 people in the various brands it now owns and operates. It is the largest privately held clothing retailer in Africa. Philip is a thinker and keen observer of human nature and the habits and needs of consumers. He is also a passionate South African, with very interesting views about the country and why he is predominantly manufacturing in South Africa, and not in other global and commonly used manufacturing centres The business remains family owned, and many lessons can be derived from the way that the Krawitz family have managed the business, succession as well as the transition to professional management. Riël Malan talks to Philip about his life in retail, what makes a great brand and how to handle succession in this candid podcast conversation.

Richard Cock needs no introduction to classical music lovers in South Africa. He has been creating music for more than 50 years and weathered the storms through turbulent times in South African music world - to come out stronger. This emotional conversation speaks volumes about Richard’s passion for his art. He is also a poster child for what music can do in the educational context, how it can give young and troubled people an emotional outlet and place them on a path of discipline through mastering music. His life’s work and views send a powerful message about the uplifting nature of music. And the importance of what he calls " nurturing a nation’s soul." Listen to his amazing story in this inspirational podcast.

Arthur Gillis has carved a spectacular career in the hospitality sector over the course of more than four decades. From humble beginnings as a tour guide on an ostrich farm, to the building, and heading up Protea Hotels, who became the largest hotel group in South Africa employing over 16 000 people by the time it was sold. He has seen it all when it comes to the hospitality industry. The cherry on top of a great career, was when Protea sold the Marriot Hotel Group is one of the largest Foreign Direct Investment deals in recent years Arthur’s no-nonsense and candid approach to business and life is legendary, and it comes through very clearly in this conversation I had with him recently. He touches on the many lessons he learned over the years, his observations of where the tourism industry and the country is finding itself and the many opportunities that still exist for new entrepreneurs through what he coins “spectacular customer service.”..is inspirational. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Arthur Gillis

As humans, we often make excuses. We’re too young, we’re too old, we don’t have money, we don’t have connections, we don't have the right skills, we're not the right gender or race. My guest today breaks all of those myths. He is an inspirational young man, who in the course of his first 25 years of his life lost everything...including some of his limbs. The dark side of life threw all the challenges it had at him ...and then some more. But he had a grandmother, who instilled a sense of who he was and what he could be in him...and that carried him through this tough time in his life. His video and life story on Facebook went viral, with more than 500 000 views at the time of this conversation Thabu Dube (or Thabs as he is known) story is firstly inspirational, but also instructional for any entrepreneur who wants to see a practical example of how to start a business from nothing. But the lesson goes further and extends to seasoned business people and people in power and government, who wants to make a difference and help entrepreneurs succeed.  If you listen to Thab’s story, you realise there are no excuses. If you have 2 arms and 2 legs, you are already in a better position than he was, when he left the hospital after his accident. But he had the crucial ingredient of perseverance - that ultimately have opened the doors of success to him at his current age of 26. Although he lost a leg, he gained a life of purpose - and his story will inspire many to create businesses like LETZ (an acronym for his brand "Live Every Day to the End(Z)"

The New digital economy holds great potential for progress and disaster. We need to rethink everything - how we interact, how we do business, how we spend our free time - and fundamentally who we are as humans. And as a human race, we are struggling with the transition. My guest in this podcast is an expert in the field of Digital Transformation. He is someone who’s professional opinion I hold in very high regard. But he is also one of those unique individuals who lives both his personal and professional life with passion and purpose. The company he heads up is the largest digital service provider in Africa - and Accenture as a global company is one of the largest digital agencies in the world. They grapple daily with their clients on how to stay relevant and how to position themselves correctly in the years to come. We discuss where entrepreneurs should be looking for opportunities, how he manages his kids in the digital world, and we discuss where we should position our children for future success Please enjoy my fascinating conversation of the Managing Director of Accenture Digital Africa - Wayne Hull

"The beauty of being a researcher, is you keep on being reminded of your own bubble." Riël Malan has a discussion with Andrea Gevers, CEO of Ask Afrika, the largest independent market research company in Africa. The right data, and on a large enough scale, speaks volumes. We live in a world where data is described as “the new gold". And this data is used more and more to not only understand what our preferences are but increasingly used to understand how our minds work and where our society is heading. My guest today is someone who has made it her life’s work to understand the data, and someone who feels it her duty to use it to effect change around us. Andrea Gevers, is the founder of Ask Afrika, the largest independent and “home-grown" market research organisation in South Africa.

Riël Malan sits down with Anthony Farr the CEO of the Allan & Gill Gray Foundation to discuss the most interesting social entrepreneurial venture in Africa today. Alan Gray built the largest fund manager on the African continent over the scope of 45 years since 1973 - with a very a long term, value investment approach that has made them the benchmark to beat as a fund manager He then quietly donated the controlling stake in the 2 businesses that he built to two foundations, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and Allan & Gill Gray Foundation. With this step, the Gray family have duplicated their signature long term investment approach - and are now applying it to human capital on a philanthropic scale, and with a systematic approach to talent development, that this continent has never seen. The way in which Allan Gray decided to give back is profound. It will create a leadership pool of young leaders, the impact of which is almost impossible to quantify and will give back to Africa for generations to come It is a story that needs to be told.

Gil Oved is the co-founder of the creative council, an iconic business that he co-created over the scope of the last 18 years from only an idea and recently sold to Publicis, the well known French Multi-National. Gil is probably publicly best known for his role as one of the sharks in the hit TV series, Shark Tank. He will be starting 2019 in his new venture LLH Capital - a Permanent Capital Vehicle in which he partnered with well known and seasoned ICT executive, Romeo Khumalo. We discuss topics covering fatherhood (04:00), building and preparing a business (33:00) with an exit in mind, his investment philosophy (48:00) in general, but more specifically in technology (1:16), the legacy he wants to leave (1:41), the advice he will give to young entrepreneurs (1:29) and very importantly how he has stayed ahead of the pack in a very demanding industry over the past 18 years. Gil has recently been listed as one of the ten people to watch closely in technology in South Africa

In this first episode, I sit down for a candid conversation with one of the most inspiring young business leaders in Africa and South Africa today. Themba Baloyi is a textbook example of what determination can overcome in the face of every kind of adversity - a challenging family structure, money shortages for education, various business rejections - none of which could hold back the rise of this young business leader to eventually found Discovery Insure. His vision grew from just an idea to a business unit receiving more than R4B of insurance premiums - and this recently culminated in him being honoured with the All-Africa Business Leaders Award as 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year.   He is in my mind thé role-model for any young ambitious South African wanting to go places, but seemingly have a shortage of resources to get there. His story is all-inspiring and very relevant necessary to be told.  

We are launching Shapers, Makers, Builders & Breakers in January 2019. In this introductory episode, Riël discusses what you can look forward to in the episodes that will follow in 2019.