Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Your Voice Shapes Your Identity

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Your Voice Shapes Your Identity · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

• 0:03
  Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Chatting with the Experts where
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  I speak with impressive women from Africa, from the Caribbean, and in the diaspora.
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  These women are entrepreneurs and professionals, and we also speak
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  with a few men, but they share my mission, which is to educate,
• 0:26
  encourage, and empower women globally.
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  Today on this episode, we are going to be talking about Your Voice, Your Balance.
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  My guest says, your voice shapes your identity.
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  So when you speak with clarity and confidence, you define who
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  you are and you set the standards for how others engage with you.
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  She believes that balance is a power strategy.
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  She is the founder and CEO of Vessels of Virtue, and she's also an alum
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  of the Cherie Blair Foundation, and she's also AGIBS alumni.
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  I always have such impressive guests.
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  Their bios are always so... blows my mind and I know I probably haven't
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  touched on everything about her, but I'll do that as soon as she
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  joins us, which will be right now.
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  So welcome Precious Nyarambi to Chatting with the Experts.
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  Thank you so much for joining us.
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  Thank you so much Paula.
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  It's an honor to be on your platform.
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  And greetings to the audience that's joining us from all over.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Absolutely.
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  You're very impressive.
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  I mean, I love what you're doing.
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  I know that I didn't touch on everything because it's oh, mind boggling.
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  So is there anything that I left out regarding you and what you have
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  achieved before we jump into the show?
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  By the grace of God, I think recently I received an award, which was anonymous for
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  me, and I'm very grateful for it because it's really from my country of birth.
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  And, I was nominated as one of the women in the diaspora who are doing the little
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  that we are doing to empower communities and , yeah, so I'm grateful for that.
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  I think in the new year there are a lot of other new things we are implementing.
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  We are actually inaugurating to try and enhance the women in the business front.
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  That includes launching our own insurance company.
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  It also includes launching our own women empowerment fund.
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  That we believe is gonna transform an average entrepreneur, particularly
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  women and youth, to be able to implement things that are practical,
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  that makes sense at bottom level.
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  Yeah.
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  Wow.
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  That's impressive.
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  Really impressive.
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  And I guess that's why, we are gonna be talking about Your Voice and Your
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  Balance, why they go hand in hand, and how your voice can shape your identity.
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  Because when you empower women.
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  Absolutely.
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  That's so good.
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  So let's talk a bit about, you say your voice shapes your identity.
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  What do you mean by that?
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  I thought I could talk about something that I find to be deeply personal.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Yet I universally powerful.
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  I believe your voice is your balance.
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  In a world that is constantly demanding us to give more from our
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  time, our energy, our presence.
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  Many of us are busy being available, but not always being aligned.
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  And when we lose alignment, we lose clarity.
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  When we lose clarity, our voice softens even when our responsibility grows.
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  Today I had a conversation with another gentleman who was telling me about how
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  anonymously without a track record of where he is coming from or where he's
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  going he wants to mentor me, and I did say to him that I appreciate the offer
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  and the opportunity, but I also don't want to feel like I'm drowning in the
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  voices of many other people speaking.
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  I do have mentors already, and with all due respect, I
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  still want to be able to hear.
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  So the world is so loud that sometimes it can really come
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  in and close your inner voice.
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  And I think when you hear more of yourself as well, of course, guided
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  by other people that speak in to your life, you are able then to carry power.
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  Not only power, but authentic power for that matter.
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  Yeah.
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  Yes, yes, yes.
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  Authentic power is absolutely necessary because, you know, you can carry power,
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  as you correctly said, and emphasize authentic power goes a longer way.
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  So you mentioned the personal thing, that somebody wanted to mentor you,
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  but you realize that you have so many other, you have mentees that are
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  already mentoring you and you don't wanna add another voice to your head.
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  And possibly, I guess, sometimes when we have too many voices,
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  we can lose focus, correct?
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  Mm-hmm.
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  So that makes me think about balance.
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  You know, you're trying to balance things and you said it's a personal strategy.
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  Yeah, it is.
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  It is.
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  It is.
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  So it gives you clarity.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  It helps you to be focused.
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  And it has to be clear from within as well, what it is
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  that you're set out to do.
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  Because sometimes I feel like, when we allow too many voices to
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  speak, our own becomes so diluted that we kind of like lose way.
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  Even if a mentor comes in and nudges us.
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  They speak to who we are on the call aligned with their
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  experience, their expertise to help the inner person become better.
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  Because I think we need to be aligned.
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  We need to be whole and function from that place of completeness and wholeness
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  , so that we are true to ourselves.
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  And we are authentic to ourselves.
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  And when we are true to ourselves, the world can tap into that authenticity of
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  what we are bringing in to the world.
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  Absolutely.
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  So I know you're the founder and CEO of Vessels of Virtue.
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  Tell us more about this Vessels of Virtue.
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  I think one of the days when, way, way, way back, I think 2010 to be precise.
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  I had left my home country to come and live in South Africa and I was just
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  reading and meditating on the word of God.
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  And I saw one of the scriptures, it's in Isaiah, that spoke of vessels,
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  that there are vessels that are of honor and some that are of no honor.
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  And subconsciously when I read that part of the scripture, I felt like
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  God was speaking to me to being one of those, you know, vessels.
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  That will carry virtue in my lifetime.
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  Not easy.
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  Yes, of course.
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  But I thought that if each one of us could carry some virtue, we can be
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  able to make the world a better place.
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  So that's where it started.
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  And one way or the other, that's how we carry ourselves even with the people
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  that, working with us that are on board, different stakeholders is on those basis
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  that can we carry some virtue into the world and make it a better place like
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  a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.
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  Let our light so shine in a way that transforms others
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  positively one way or the other.
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  Yeah.
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  Awesome.
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  So this is based on biblical principles, obviously something
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  that you believe in and trying
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  Absolutely.
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  Hmm.
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  So I also noticed, or you also mentioned that you were an alumni of the Cherie
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  Blair Foundation, and I know...
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  Yes.
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  Somewhat connects with the Vessels of Virtue, to those in the audience.
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  Tell us about that, because from what I remember, from the research I've done,
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  it's a global, nonprofit organization that's dedicated to helping women.
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  Am I correct?
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  Absolutely.
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  , so they've embarked on empowering women, particularly in the
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  African continent, to enhance leadership entrepreneurship skills.
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  So I participated in one of their cohorts and some of the programs
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  that they have running in Africa.
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  And as you know, , Cherie Blair is a wife to the former prime minister of UK.
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  So it has been an honor participating in such platforms
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  and learning as much as I can.
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  They're very intentional about women empowerment, in every sense of it.
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  Yeah.
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  Congratulations on being an alum of that foundation.
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  And how does that intertwine a bit with the work you're
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  doing, with Vessels of Virtue?
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  Do they, I mean, do you get funds from them?
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  Do you get advice from them?
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  Do you get mentors from them?
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  How does that quite work?
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  So you get support, but not financial as yet.
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  You also get exposure to different stakeholders that can enhance your work.
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  You get mentorship.
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  You get wisdom, advice.
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  They give that liberally without any restrictions.
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  So, for me it's always a good thing to learn from some of the women
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  leading women out there who are doing outstanding work bigger than my little
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  organization that's doing what I'm doing.
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  And so, you know, there is a quote that says that if you want to see far,
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  you stand on the shoulders of giants.
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  So I believe they are giants in the space of women empowerment and so we
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  look up to them to be able to do things differently because it's a terrain
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  that comes with its own challenges.
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  And so sometimes even when you feel like you've also burned out from doing
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  it, you then must glean from others that are doing it exceptionally well.
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  You learn also how they navigated frustrations,
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  challenges, and things like that.
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  So, yeah.
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  I count it a blessing that I participated in the wonderful work that they do.
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  I can see that they've been very instrumental in your business in
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  particular, but in like I know in Africa in general, they have really helped
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  empower women, especially in rural areas where they may not have as much
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  support in getting educated or even awareness, just bringing awareness to
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  those areas so that women are encouraged to move forward because when you better
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  a woman, you are actually impacting the community in ways, a lot more ways that
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  people sometimes, you know, understand.
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  Women are the nurturers and typically women are the ones who
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  bring up the children and children become the adults in the community.
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  So when you don't have a strong female base, many times your community is
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  not as strong as you'd like it to be.
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  Absolutely.
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  Absolutely.
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  I agree.
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  And again, you know, when we touch on your voice, how it shapes your identity.
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  It's more like when your voice is more than sound.
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  It's how you define who you are.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  When you speak with clarity, when you speak with confidence, you set the
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  standard for how people engage with you.
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  When you hesitate, or if I explain or shrink, the world often follows your lead.
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  And so I believe that in some of the work that we have done, we've been
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  able to champion women to be more confident, to listen to themselves,
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  to be true to themselves, to work with their inner power, to work with the
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  support structures that are around them.
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  You know, it's even an honor that I can be on this platform.
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  It's another woman who has created that platform for me to amplify my voice, to
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  amplify the work that I am doing, which I believe resonates with your core.
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  I believe that your voice carries values.
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  It carries boundaries.
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  Your belief in yourself and then leadership then begins the moment
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  your voice matches your truth.
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  Not your fear, not your past, not your need to be liked, you know?
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  But, it begins with that moment when your voice matches your truth.
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  So it's important.
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  That's why I was speaking of that authenticity, being true to myself,
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  being honest with myself, and then factoring in other positive attributes
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  that other women bring into my space to make the world a better place.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  I love it, Precious.
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  And because we are all about empowering women, both you and I, is there any
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  story if there any women in particular, you don't need to name, you know,
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  give names, who, when you think of you could see how what you're doing
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  has impacted her life, impacted her family, impacted the community?
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  Yes, yes, yes.
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  On so many levels.
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  And I think that's why I never stopped doing this even when it didn't make sense.
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  . I think I gave you an example of the other time, the cleaning company that we
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  founded in 2013, how it has empowered, women over 5,000 women on jobs and
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  predominantly from the SADC region.
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  I also believe that figuratively it's 5,000, but the impact is more than 5,000
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  because then if a woman is given a job, then she can take care of a family.
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  So there's a, like more of a ripple effect on that.
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  So it's some of those women that we empowered through the cleaning company.
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  It's also women that we have trained through our entrepreneurship program,
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  financial literacy program is also some of the women that we have
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  had, when we do some of our tours internationally, that will come back and
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  say their lives were changed for good.
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  So I believe that would be a countless number.
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  I wouldn't be able to quantify it at this stage of some of the impact
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  that we have been able to do.
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  And one in particular is one lady, and I believe I've shared this story
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  with you, that was handed over to me when she was crossing the border,
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  from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
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  And then on doing that, it was an illegal trip and then she found herself abused.
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  The time I met her, we could not even understand each other.
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  I could see that she was in pain, but she could not communicate
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  in a language that I understood.
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  But with time, with love, with opportunities, we have
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  become more like sisters.
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  I was able to get her a job, even though she couldn't communicate with me.
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  There was someone else who could, who took her in, gave her job,
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  and gave her an opportunity.
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  So it's a number of those encounters that I've had with women that are coming from
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  broken families that are trying to put food on the table, take care of their
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  children, and when you give them a job.
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  You have given them hope.
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  You have given them a sustained livelihood.
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  Yeah, so I think some of those testimonials that we
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  receive on an ongoing basis.
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  Yeah.
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  And the reason I asked you that was to give them, give more light
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  to the work that you're doing.
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  Yes.
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  You and I have spoken it probably like four or five years ago, but your
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  work is still... It still goes on.
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  It's still impacting lives, still changing lives, you know, and
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  because this is a global show.
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  I love to highlight, you know, instances where it is not just in the Western
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  world per se, but also in parts of Africa and in the Caribbean and the
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  diaspora on the whole, where people are doing, where women in particular are
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  doing work that is changing communities, changing lives, and as we change
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  lives, we change the world, obviously.
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  Absolutely.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yeah.
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  And I think it is sometimes we want to give it numbers and sometimes
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  it doesn't have to be numbers.
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  You know, there's some piece that comes with knowing that I changed
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  a life positively somewhere.
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  I don't know.
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  For me, I always tell people when I go to my bed and sleep, I know
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  I did what I could have done.
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  And even when we are launching the new products that we are launching.
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  I count it an honor, because I'm launching them from places of experience of what
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  I've had to go through, the frustrations.
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  You know, as an entrepreneur, we always then have to address the challenges, the
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  frustrations that we find on our way as we are building what we are building.
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  And , I believe that the work is still there.
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  We are the people that we are waiting for.
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  We are the change that we want to see.
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  We have to do what we have to do to make an impact and change, and
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  sometimes we don't need to have much.
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  It's just your willing heart to want to do something.
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  It's a chat that you can have with someone that will leave them
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  empowered, that will leave them with hope, and then they are able to pick
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  themselves up and run their own race.
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  Yeah.
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  Love it.
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  Pick themselves up and run their own race with dignity, with power,
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  with confidence, and knowing that
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  absolutely.
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  The race they run is never for themselves.
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  It's for themselves.
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  Yes.
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  But so many others are looking to them.
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  Looking at them, being encouraged to see what they can do.
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  Absolutely.
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  And it speaks to what you even shared earlier, that the beauty of empowering a
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  woman is that you have not just empowered one, you have empowered a community.
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  There is an African adage to that.
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  More people then get empowered from just one woman.
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  So you can imagine the impact when all of us collectively do what we have to do
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  to hold another woman's hand to say, no.
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  This is the level where you are, but with this opportunity that's there.
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  I can also take you, I can open this door for you to shine,
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  for you to get further support.
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  Maybe I can only do so much, but here others will take over and then
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  they can be able to empower you more.
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  Yeah.
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  Yes, yes.
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  I absolutely believe in that adage that says, you know, if
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  you wanna go fast, go alone.
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  But if you wanna go , far, bring others with you.
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  Absolutely.
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  Everybody brings, yes, everybody brings something to the table, you know, and
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  collectively, we can make a change.
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  Absolutely.
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  I agree.
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  Wow.
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  Precious, I'd like you to tell the audience if they like to get in
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  touch with you how they can do that.
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  Thank you, Paula.
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  So I am on LinkedIn.
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  I am on Instagram.
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  I'm on Twitter, Facebook.
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  You can find me as Precious Nyarambi.
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  And the organization Vessels of Virtue, those pages you'll
• 20:27
  still find them on LinkedIn.
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  You find them on Instagram, , Facebook and Twitter as well.
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  Yeah.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you so much.
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  We will drop it in the show notes for those who need, you know, to , who
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  would like to get in touch with you.
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  'cause as we say, one woman can impact only so much, but
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  collectively we can impact the world.
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  Absolutely.
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  And for those of you listening in.
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  Just like Precious Nyarambi has been a guest on my show.
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  If you'd like to be a guest on Chatting with the Experts, I ask that
• 21:03
  you reach out to me on my website, which is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
• 21:08
  I'm also on LinkedIn on my business page called Chatting with
• 21:11
  the Experts .On Facebook, it's also Chatting with the Experts.
• 21:16
  And on Instagram, my handle is at chat_experts_podcast.
• 21:24
  And last but absolutely not the least, we have a YouTube channel.
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  We ask that you subscribe and like the videos that are there because
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  it's all about women from Africa, women from the Caribbean, and in
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  the diaspora, empowering, educating, and encouraging women globally.
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  So thank you again, Precious.
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  Patient Precious, because you I know have been doing this for some time.
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  And now let's open up the floor to those who joined us so that they in turn can
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  ask you even more questions and you can explain to them and let them know the work
• 22:04
  that you're doing that is changing lives.
• 22:07
  Thank you.