Latest / The Dianne Dusaidi Podcast / S2 E01 | Dianne Dusaidi with Duaa Mohammed: From Toronto to Kigali — Career & Entrepreneurship

Transcript

S2 E01 | Dianne Dusaidi with Duaa Mohammed: From Toronto to Kigali — Career & Entrepreneurship · The Dianne Dusaidi Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the Diane Decidie Podcast.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Conversations at the intersection of strategy, culture, and purpose.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: Each week, we explore the ideas, people, and systems shaping how we live, work, and lead across Africa and the world.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_04: Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Vitalo Stillwater.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_04: Vitalo is here for you.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_04: Stay hydrated, stay fresh, and choose Vitalo.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_07: Hi everyone.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_07: Today we're doing something totally different.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_07: I'm gonna hand over the reins to my good friend Dua, Dua Mohammed.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_07: Dua, it's all yours.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Diane.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hi everybody.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Dua Mohammed, and I'm here to interview.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Not even interview.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: We're here to get to know Diane, right?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you've made it this far without knowing who you are.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's just it's time for you to really let everybody know who Diane Dusidi is.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, let's get into it.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_07: Who am I?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_07: It's such some chick, man.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Do you remember when we were in Nairobi and we were driving and it was like what 1 a.m.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: and you're like, guys, this is CBD?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, how do you know that?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_07: I do remember that.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_07: It's funny because you were like, who are you?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_07: Like yeah, so I feel like I've lived in Nairobi, first of all.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I haven't.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_07: I do enjoy that city.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but yeah, I think generally I've lived in a lot of places and I've done a lot of things.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, I'm I'm Rondon, as you know, very, very proudly Rondon, and also Canadian.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_07: So born and raised in Toronto, moved to Kigali um at 12 and a half because the half is important at that age.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, turned 13 in Kigali.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_07: Um, my dad passed away a month after, so we moved in July.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_07: My birthday is in October, he passed away in November.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_07: So that was a hard year.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, it was a hard introduction um as we're trying to settle in.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but yeah, did high school there.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_07: And that experience was really interesting because you know, you walk into an all-black school, very different from Toronto, where I was like one in four black kids in the whole school.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_07: So now it's like your cousin is in S2, your cousin is in S6, you know, like grade 10 and grade 12, or you know.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so it was just nice to be surrounded.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_07: And then people are speaking the same language.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so that was a cultural shock in a good way.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_07: Then came back to Toronto for university, went to Ryerson, which is now TMU.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and I really wanted to study political science after my dad.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_07: But when I was registering for at University of Toronto, it was just so theoretical.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, Rhonda's new and young and it needs practical solutions.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_07: So I went to Ryerson, which I ended up doing uh public administration and governance.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_07: And because I was like, it's practical.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_07: It's like, you know, public administration, like how do I actually um govern a team and then institution?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_07: And um, I thought it's what Rhonda needed at the time, and I think it was.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_07: Um, it was a good choice.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So interesting.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: At such a young age, you're already thinking about what your country needed or what looks good.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_07: I think what the country needed for sure, I think it's just the upbringing of the family.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_07: Like it's you know, it's a very political family.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_07: Um even before they they had a country to be political about, they were just political people, right?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_07: Um, very aware, always, you know, CNN was CNN and BBC were always in the background, Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, you know, just we were always in the no.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_07: So I think, you know, having a focus on Rwanda, the Rwandan values were instilled in us very young.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_07: So, you know, planning for Rwanda and knowing that this is a new country, you need it needs everybody, right?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_07: It needs all of your experiences and stuff.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_07: How do I um add value?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_07: How do I contribute?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_07: So I did put I did uh public admin.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_07: And then I was like, my plan was to go home and work for two years, see where they need me, come back, do a master's in public policy, or go to law school.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh imagine best laid plans.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine Diane's a lawyer.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think that would be good, no?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think so too, because if you're always defending us, then you're always on like yeah, not people, women.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Women.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: You're always defending women, yeah.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I could defend the brothers a bit better.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Could have been.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_07: I could.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_07: Um yeah, so I really wanted to, yeah.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_07: I think being a lawyer was probably going to be my path.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_07: And then, you know, one thing led to another.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I got my dream job at the president's office, uh, the president's republic of Rwanda, and it was uh in the strategy policy, you know?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_07: And I was there for one week.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Your dream job, your dream job, you were there for one week.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: At most, it was like 10 days.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my, okay, what happened?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_07: So if you look at my CV, you'll never see it, right?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_07: Because we didn't even get to like the contracting phase.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: You like so you were you were just getting was this interviewing?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Were they interviewing, or were you getting onboarded?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_07: So they interviewed me.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_07: There was a there was like a panel, I was interviewed.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_07: There were other people in the waiting room to be interviewed.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_07: I got the job, and they're like, okay, we're we're gonna send you the paperwork, but you know, like work is urgent.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_07: Can you start like now?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, okay.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_07: So then after a few days, I was like, Where's my contract?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_07: And they're like, oh yeah, yeah, about that.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_07: We want to talk to you about something.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_07: And I was like, okay.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_07: And they're like, so you know, you're young, you're you're you're exposed.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_07: We want you to go to a different institution, still within government, okay, but a different institution.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_07: I legit thought I was being fired.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my god.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_07: I went home and cried.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, they don't want me.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_07: I don't know what I did.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_07: It's only week one.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_07: My dream job.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_07: My dream job.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we wanted to work with this XLC for so long, but wanted to work in Gang so long.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_07: And then she was like, Where are you going?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_07: Like, where did they send you?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_07: So I said, Oh, it's this new institution.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_07: They're calling it um it's it's seven institutions coming together.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_07: They're calling it Sarana Development Board.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_07: RDB.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_07: Unique Kigali.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, yeah.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_07: I went to RDB um and worked there, you know.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_07: One of the first people to work there.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_07: I think it was like higher number five for one week.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_07: No, okay.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, okay.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, let's get that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_07: Um, RDB's mandate was foreign direct investment.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, I was like, I don't know anything about business.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_07: That's not my path.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_07: My path was political science or law.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_07: So I was like, I don't know anything about business.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_07: What am I gonna do?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_07: And she was like, you'll learn.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_07: And that's what they were telling me.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_07: They're like, you'll learn, you have the energy, you'll figure it out.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_07: We need people who can figure it out.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, that's crazy because when you think of diary.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know me as an all business.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: SME this, SME that, like, wow.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_07: It started with RDB.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you stayed there for four years.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: You only came for two years, huh?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I ended up staying for four years.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_07: So funny enough, when I went to RDB, they put me in the HCD department, human capital development, institutional development department.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_07: And I didn't really like the training part, to be honest.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_07: And I could see a lot of activity happening in the investment promotion department.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_07: So I asked to be transferred and they transferred me.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_07: And at the time, we had nine priority sectors.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_07: Media was one of them.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_07: And foreigners did not want to invest in media.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, we had not yet liberalized the airwaves, so it was we were about to get there, but we're looking for for foreign direct investment to do that.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and they just didn't want to invest because media played a big role in that in the genocide against the Tutsi.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_07: So they didn't want to do that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, you know, if I ever have money, I will invest in in media.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_07: So I ended up working in the tourism uh sector for investments, um, and just got interested in understanding business from the other side, right?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_07: Because I understood it from the government and how we, you know, did the investment promotion policies and stuff like that.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_07: How did you leave the government though?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_07: So that's how I ended up leaving, because I ended up going to do my master's eventually.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_07: And I did an MBA in international business in in Holland at Maastricht.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_07: Um and then from there I said, okay, I think I've done my time.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_07: I think I need to contribute differently.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_07: I want to go into the private sector and you know, start my own business, and I'm gonna do a a production company, media.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I'm gonna invest my own like five dollars.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_07: So I have very little money.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_07: I don't even think I had money to register the company at the time because we were still paying, it was like a small fee.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_07: But we were, you know, my former colleague who was upstairs uh in the building when I was there registering, lent me the money to to to register the company.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_07: That's crazy.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing, actually.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_07: That's incredible.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, two years, so how I ended up doing that is I always mean I wanted to just to do something in media, but I didn't know how or when.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_07: So my sister joined me in Toronto.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_07: I was finishing university she was starting.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_07: No, I was finishing and she was like in her last year or two of high school.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, Wouldn't you and then she did a media course in high school and she loved it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_07: I said, you know what?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_07: I'm too it's too late for me to to to do anything.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_07: I'm about to finish.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_07: You, whatever you end up studying, just do a minor.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_07: So she did a minor film.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_07: Then when I did an MBA, we said, Great, let's bring it together.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_07: You're the business person, I'm the creative person.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then you guys did it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_07: Let's do it together.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_07: So we called it Legacy 45 Entertainment after my dad, because my dad passed away at 45.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_07: And he, you know, a lot of people remember him as a politician, but before that, he was a teacher.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_07: Um, he even worked in Kenya uh teaching French and drama.
• 10:01
  unknown: Wow.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_07: And we have pictures of that.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_07: And so we're like, let's dedicate the creative side to him.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_07: That's amazing.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_07: And our our our real big project, we did of a number of things, but I think what people remember is Rise and Shine Rwanda.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, even I know Rise and Shine Rwanda.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: The TV show.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_07: So we did that for the national broadcast.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_07: Does it still exist?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_07: No, it stopped after maybe five years.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's a very it was a very expensive show to do.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_07: Uh daily television, big crew, big team.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, the the business of media is advertising.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_07: It run as a very small market.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and it it was just a very expensive show to do.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_07: So we did it for about five years.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_07: And then one of the donors, because we got um development partners to help us uh lift it off, said, you know, this is really popular with the diaspora.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_07: You should look into Kickstarter or Indie in Indiegogo and try and do crowdfunding.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_07: You should try and do crowdfunding Verizon Shine.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_07: Verizon Shine Ronda's from the diaspora if you can't get enough advertisers.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, okay, so I looked into it and they didn't have um, they didn't like the payment system was very tricky for Ronda at the time.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, you know what?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_07: I'm gonna create my own and I'm gonna link it.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_07: The payment system is gonna be mobile money and credit cards and bank cards, etc.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_07: And when I was doing my master's, I my thesis was on mobile money and international remittances, and I literally called it the next big thing because mobile money was very new.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, I did my master's in 2011.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_07: Mobile money, I think, launched maybe a year or two before that.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_07: So it was very new, and you know, even doing it from like MTN Rwanda to Airtel within the country was hard.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_07: So to do it cross-border or uh, you know, uh abroad was was just not, it was not happening at the time.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_07: So I said, I'm gonna create it.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_07: That took a very long time.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_07: It took a very long time, and I was, you know, the startup crew will know this, the entrepreneurs, you know this.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_07: You go, you hustle, right?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_07: You look for the money, you do the grants, and I ran into this lady uh who was also pitching her business.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_07: I think it was called uh not the the business called Casha, but the the um the pitch was I think it was Seed Star.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_07: We're pitching for the same thing.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_07: She won.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_07: And she told me about her business.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_07: It was like, um, we know we're selling personal healthcare products, healthcare products, including pads.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, it's really about, you know, people can buy things in privacy.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, you just think of young girls getting the period for the first time, you know, they don't have to go to the store, they can just do and it was on USSD.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_07: It was amazing.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_07: And beyond that, other things that people don't want, like maybe contraceptives and stuff like that.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, Oh, that's a really great idea.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_07: If if I had money, I would invest in you.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_07: And it's not even that we became friends or we exchanged numbers, nothing.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_07: We just had a great conversation exchange, and that was it.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_07: And then a year later, when the fintech is called UPlus Mutual Partners, because it's like all of us contributing funds together.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_07: Um, when that was just taking long and Rise in China was becoming really expensive and really hard to maintain.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_07: I said, I think I have to go get a job.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_07: This is why I have multiple degrees.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_07: Let me go get a job.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_07: And I reached out to a recruiter, uh, Denise, with right seat.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_07: Shout out to Denise in White Seat.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_07: Um, she said, you know, Cash was looking for a country director.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_07: I think it'd be great for it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_07: So I ended up applying, getting the role John is amazing.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_07: I I really learned a lot from her in terms of business, in terms of also there's a difference between having an SME, small and medium enterprise versus a startup, and trying to scale and you know, do an IPO or be acquired or that's different from having a small business or a mom and pop shop.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_07: And I think that clarity, um seeing it in action uh was very eye-opening and it was it was it was an a mini MB uh MBA in practice, right?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_07: Um so that was great.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_07: And then as country, so you were there as a country director?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_07: Wow, how long?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_07: Not long.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_07: I did I did it for two years.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_07: That's good, that's weird.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_07: Then I joined the foundation and then they asked me to join the board, and I was on the board for maybe another two years, and I think I advised informally for like a year.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_07: So I feel like my cashier time was maybe five years.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, maybe five years in total.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_07: Um, then joined the foundation, took me back to my tourism roots.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_07: Nice.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_07: Um, because the foundation, the mascara foundation, was uh focused on tourism in Rwanda.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_07: In Rwanda, and yeah, I had tourism experience from RDB.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_07: So I ended up doing that, and because now I had the experience of entrepreneurship, infused a lot of that into the program I did there.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, been there for you know ever since, as well as doing other things, right?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_07: Um the board.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_07: I sit on a bank board, uh a chair.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_07: So what happened is there's this lady called Lucy, big shout out to Lucy.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_07: Lucy, um, you know, one of the key uh players, uh women empowerment in Rwanda, um, German, uh, I believe Mary Tyrandum or Bergen, and had been a Rwanda for a number of years.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_07: And she they approached her and she said, uh, I think she was unable to do it for for a number, maybe she had other commitments, and she reached out to me and said, You have great entrepreneurship SME experience.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_07: That's the experience that they're looking for.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_07: She recommended me.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_07: And I went for the interview and met the shareholders and were chair of the board at the time and et cetera, and joined as a board member, a normal board board member, independent board member.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_07: And then after a year, became chair, and I've been chair ever since.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_07: So I've been on the board for we changed from commercial banking to microfinance.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_07: And you were the first.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, I was so I wasn't the first.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_07: I think they they uh misspoke uh in the papers when they printed it.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_07: They said I would think I was the the first female chair, yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_07: But I think I was the youngest.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_07: I think there was one or two uh before me in other banks.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, um, at least in the financial sector.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_07: So I was not the first, but you I mean You were the youngest.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_07: Youngest, yeah.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Which I mean, I don't know if I'm young, but thank you.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: But at the time, like I you know, it's a big deal.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was a big deal.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_07: It was a big deal.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_07: I don't know why you're it was a big deal, but also I mean, there's something about being the first or being the youngest or being the this the that like you have to make room for others.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_07: And it's all it's also like I'm the first or the youngest in the 21st century.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_07: Why?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we have to make room like that that's a problem.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, yes, I understand.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, um, and I think since then, you know, we've we brought some more people in, and I think they're more female um chairs, but also more female um CEOs in the financial space in Rwanda.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_07: So it is improving.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I that's one thing I think I I really appreciate about you or admire about you is that you always call it out.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Where you see a challenge or a gap or a problem, you're always calling it out, which I really appreciate.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_07: I have to reel it in sometimes.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: It can get me into trouble, but it's just like Yeah, yeah.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean it's like part of you.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's part of who you are, it's part of the advocacy, your big sis, you know.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have your big sis.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_07: The big sis in business thing is something I just started.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_07: I haven't registered it or anything.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_07: It's just like something I do for fun.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_07: Uh-huh.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_07: Um I started it during COVID.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_07: I literally was, you know, when like you feel like, okay, if I survive this thing, what have I survived for?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_07: What should I do with my life?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_07: And I just asked started asking friends and family, what do you think I'm good at?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_07: And they're like, oh my god, your network and your advice and your da-da-da.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_07: If if I could get your network and your advice.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_07: So I said, okay, let me start something.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_07: And they're like, but everything you do is kind of like a lecture because you're a big sister to everybody, right?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_07: So I said, okay, I'm gonna call it big sis in business.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_07: Which I haven't really formally done it.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I just do it for friends and family.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_07: I think I just need to figure out how to scale it.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you're really being really humble because I feel like you're a mentor, you're a big sister, all of us, regardless of age, regardless of where we are in life, you're always there kind of really guiding us and helping us and calling us out.
• 18:24
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Always calling us out, always calling out too.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_07: I think it's, you know, it's sisterhood.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_07: It's just like you want the best for people.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_07: So sometimes it's just like, how do we show up?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and you know, I've done a lot of I've worked in many sectors, right?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_07: Finance, um, tech, health.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_07: You didn't tell us about Tunis, by the way.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's lived in Tunis before and Tunis.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_07: So I lived in Tunis during a really tough time, right?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_07: Um, it was right after I did a short stint in Tunis uh at um as an intern at the AFTB, African Development Bank, which is another dream job.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_07: It was like either work for the government of Rwanda or I work at FTB.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_07: Those are the two things I won in this lifetime.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_07: I did both of them, and you know, they were both short-lived.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_07: One was a little big, one was three months or four months.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Improved the year, you know.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so two so I lived there right after the Arab Spring, or um, the Tunisians was a the the Tunis Revolution.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_07: So it was a tough time, but it was a good experience.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_07: Uh AFDB is very Africa, like it's fully represented, you know.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_07: So it felt in a way like RDB, like a bigger RDB.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_07: And after that, um, unfortunately or fortunately, um, they were on a hiring freeze.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_07: So I couldn't uh do the professional program or get in, you know, as a normal hire.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so I said, okay, if A B AFDB has no room and I've done my time at RDB, let me go and start my business.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_07: And that's how really the entrepreneurship journey began.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_07: And I think I've never looked back as much as it can be a struggle sometimes.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_07: I don't know.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_07: There's something about creating something from scratch.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_07: Like it's in my mind, and then I can see it and it comes to fruition, and maybe it impacts one person or two, and you know.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Do you remember when we were talking about this podcast?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like two, what was this, three two, three years ago?
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: In Ghana, on your couch.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I want to set this podcast.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_07: I in, you know, I've kind of been fumbling with it.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_07: Like, should it be like a mixes podcast?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_07: Should it be this?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_07: Should it be this funcast?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_07: Should it be, you know?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, let's just um talk about what we know, which is Africa.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_07: And all of its glory.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_07: You know, there's business, but you also need the politicians, you need the creatives, you need everybody.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_07: So I think that's really why one of the reasons why I decided to do it now, and the, you know, in and the format that it's in.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_07: Uh also everything in its time.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, everything does take time.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_07: Everything in its time.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_07: Even Rise and Shine, we started that conversation two years before we did it.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_07: Well, uh, it took that long to negotiate, two years.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_07: And then, I mean, Legacy 45, by the time my sisters, you know, we were saying we're going to do something in media, we'll start starting some kind of production company.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_07: So you go do the so by the time she was finishing high school, applied to University Garden, did a four-year degree, moved to Ronda, da da da da da.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_07: That was like six, seven, eight years before we actually started it.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_07: So everything in its turn.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and this is now now's the time for this.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm so happy that you yeah, incredible.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And here I am interviewing her.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_07: I'm a community person, I'm a people person.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so I gravitate to people.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I always find I was on this Ronda panel a few, you know, maybe a year ago, and I was saying the biggest hack is join a WhatsApp group, you know.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_07: There's always a WhatsApp group for the Ronden community and and other, you know, communities.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_07: And then for me who's in business and in various business uh industries, um, I'm always in, you know, a fintech group, uh health group, uh, media group, etc.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_07: So then I think it's the number of countries, the number of sectors, the different roles, right?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_07: Um yeah, so I think that's part.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_07: It's just first of all, Ron is small, uh, you know, the diaspora is large, like because of our history, we've lived everywhere, we have people everywhere, and then you know, you meet their friends.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_07: I mean you, and then now I know your your siblings and your husband, and you know, you it's just it becomes a network, yeah, right.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but in terms of I think it's a very good question in terms of boundaries and you know, balancing it all, because not everybody that you know is your friend, and I don't mean that in a negative way, it's just people can be kind, yeah, and I think that's important to always be nice to people.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_07: Um and not that you want something in return, right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_07: It's just like be a good person, just be a good uh human being.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, I went to I started therapy in I don't know, 2018, 2019.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_07: And I think everybody should go to therapy.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_07: I've I've done it twice, and I I really found a lot of value in it.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_07: And I remember saying something along those lines, like, I feel overwhelmed.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, because I also take uh on energy, right?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_07: Energy is really important to me, and your energy, if you cut came into this room sad, I would absorb that energy, yeah, right?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_07: I would worry about you, and then I would also absorb it.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_07: So I was telling the therapist, I was like, I feel like what I think there's a word for it.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_07: Um empath.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, you're right.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_07: She's like, you're an empath, and you also need to learn the difference between tribe and community.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_07: People in your community.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_07: And when we think of community, we think of those aunties we haven't seen in a long time, right?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_07: No, but community is also people who are not your core.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_07: Your tribe is your core, right?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_07: Your community is everybody, you love them, they're your community.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_07: You wish them well, you're happy to see them when you see them, but they're not invited to the table birthday party, right?
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_07: Like if your birthday dinner is a dinner table, 10, 5, 10 people, maybe they're not the top 10.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, right?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_07: Maybe they're in the top 20, maybe they're in the top 200, right?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_07: That's your community.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_07: And you're you should be blessed that you have such a large community and respect that you have that respect people in it, but they're not your tribe, and you just know the difference, right?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_07: So I think that was really eye-opening.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_07: I actually even um ended up getting two phones just to put it into practice, right?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_07: So that I could in my mind, my mind needs to compartmentalize, right?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_07: So now it's my Africa phone, right?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_07: So it's my everybody's on it.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_07: But at the at the time, it was just an exercise.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_07: Like, let me get two phones, and the people who have this number are my tribe.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_07: The people who have this number that I've had for a hundred years is a community.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_07: So if you can't get me, if you can get me any time of the day, you are my tribe.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_07: If you can only get me during working hours or when I'm awake and happy, that's my community.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_07: If I'm going through something or if I'm tired as hell, and but if you need me and I'm there, that's the that's the other form.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_07: That's my tribe.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_07: So that was an exercise that I just without telling people.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_07: So I think at the time they were like, why give you phones?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, oh, you know, maybe one's a word phone or something, right?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: No, but that's it.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's really interesting how you compare, you know, you separate the two.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I like the notion of like community and tribe.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's unforeseen.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_07: I think I think an easy way to think about it though, without going into the technologies of getting another phone and paying another phone bill, is if you were to take a group trip for something really personal.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_07: Because I think weddings, people naturally think of community.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_07: But like your milestone birthday.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_07: Or something just really special and specific.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_07: You want who would be on that list?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_07: That's that's your tribe.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_07: That's very true.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, because you can't travel with anyone.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_07: You can't travel just anyone.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_07: True.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_07: You can't spend a week in a foreign destination with just anybody, you can't get lost in translation with just anybody.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_07: Um, yeah, I think that's that's a good test.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's really funny because whenever we're trying to host something or we're planning something, do you remember how I always come for you?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Diane, this is not a community event.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Bring, let's invite so-and-so, invite so-and-so.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_07: So, like, how do you like she will literally tell me this is not a community center?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: And um, that's true.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I love that about you.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love that about you.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_07: To me, it's like the more the merrier.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_07: Because I love people, but also I'm a networker.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_07: Like, and then not I think networking gets a bad rep.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_07: It's it's like you want something, it's like transactional.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_07: But I think in my head, I'm always simulating things and like do what's really great at this.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_07: If she could only meet this person who's really good at this, who you might not meet because maybe you're in different sectors, right?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_07: Or you live in depressive world or whatever.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_07: So now, like, we're all in New York at the UN General Assembly.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_07: This is a great time to bring everybody together.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, because when else are you gonna meet?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and then you'll be like, I have been on my feet, I have been in these meetings for 14 hours, I'm exhausted.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_07: I don't want to meet one more person that I don't know.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_07: I can't network, I can't stump, you know, tell my story when you do it, and I'm like, please just meet this one person.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_07: You know, you just never know.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that one person will change your life or connection forever.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's true, it's true.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just came back from UNJ, and you're like, what do you mean you didn't network?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I just don't know how.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Diane's my go-to when I want to network.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm not even a great networker.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: You're so good at like you're just a natural, no matter what color, size, or you know what I mean, where they're from, you're really good at it.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: It it does uh, you know, I'm naturally shy.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't believe that.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: I refuse to believe that.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_07: So, two things I'm naturally shy, and I'm an introvert, mainly because I'm shy.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_07: Make it make sense, but nobody in my circle believes me.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_07: No, guys, it's a lie.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_07: No, no, no, no.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_07: Let me tell you, it's so I think I should be an actress because it's a great act, and I'm so happy that I've convinced the entire world, everybody, everybody knows me, that they think I'm an extrovert.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_07: I am not an extrovert.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, at all.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Once this is launched, I want you to open the comment section and I want people to comment.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think she's lying or she's not?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's no way.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_07: Anyways.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not, I'm not in, I'm not in.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_07: We can have a whole conversation.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: We can go on a debate.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: But there's one thing about Diane.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: She you're no, no, go ahead.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_07: No, I was just gonna say, I think the reason I say is that it's an act because it was intentional.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_07: I was so pain-stackingly shy growing up.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_07: And then um when my dad passed, my dad was such a social person, he was a social butterfly, loved people, there were always people in the house, every you know, all the time.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_07: And he when he passed, I said, we cannot forget him.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_07: We cannot forget him, and we cannot forget everything he worked for.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_07: So I have to, as the firstborn, and we have no, I have no brothers, there we have no there are no sons in the family.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_07: Um, as the first wedding, people always just be like, Oh my god, said he didn't have boys, hung he had girls.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my, I'm gonna show these people.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_07: Because you know, that's the feistiness and Yama Scorpio and forgive me.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_07: Anyway, so you know, I'm gonna show these people, and we're not gonna forget him, we're not gonna forget the work that he did.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm gonna be everywhere.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_07: So I did everything.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_07: I went to every wedding.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_07: They asked me to serve, I served.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_07: You asked me to be a rise man, I'd be at what age did you start this?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Just after he died, like 13, 14.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was like like independent independence clicked at that age.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_07: It wasn't even independence, it was like defense of legacy.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_07: Like I needed to to to cement the legacy.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_07: Cannot be forgotten, yeah.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_07: Cannot be forgotten, but also this is the decide way.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_07: We are people first.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_07: So it was really important to me.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_07: So I had I made it, it was intentional.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_07: I didn't have to have to be everywhere, I have to do everything.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_07: I have to embody the family values, can I say, right?
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_07: And then, but to do that, you have to be in front of people, you have to talk to people, you have to, you know.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_07: So I became that person, but intentionally, right?
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_07: So that's why I find it so funny when people were always like, you're an extra.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_07: I'm like, I wish you the conversations I had with myself at 13.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_07: And by legacy, I don't mean he did a he did great work for Ronda, but I mean the the the family values, that's who he was as a person.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, cannot be forgotten.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, it's incredible.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_07: That was pain stuck and shy.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: I still am.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: And your sister doesn't have to do any your sister's really lucky because you did it all.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like you she didn't even have to serve anywhere, doesn't have to go to any let me tell you, firstborn suffer.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Trust me, guys.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_07: You're firstborn, you know.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_07: I know it.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_07: I know we suffer.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_07: The funny thing is, my sister's not shy.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_07: She's she's an extrovert.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_07: She's an extrovert.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_07: She's an extrovert, but she's also much better at public speaking.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_07: She really took after my dad in that in that lane.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_07: She's much better at public speaking, she's also a public servant, sweets multiple languages.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_07: She was very much like it has his humor.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_07: Like, I did all the work and I got nothing.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Not big heart, that's what you got.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: But, anyways, guys, one thing about Diane, if you know Diane, is that she's organized, and I had to come organized to this with my questions already.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanna I wanna, you know, let's take it back a notch and and go a little bit lighter.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: Really curious.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: What's a guilty pleasure TV show or podcast you would never miss?
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to sound ridiculous.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_07: So okay, when I lived in Ronda or anywhere else besides Georgia, um I I really enjoyed watching Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Can you say that louder?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_07: Real Housewives of Atlanta was my guilty pleasure.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_07: Right?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_07: It's well, it was only the Real Housewives and keeping off the cut with the Kardashians.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_07: Those two, the reality shows.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_07: But let me tell you something.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_07: Ever since I'm moving back, I'm addicted.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_07: It's like ridiculous.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_07: I'm addicted to soap offers.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_07: I know.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_07: Are you singing along or like no?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_07: Like, first of all, me and Victor Newman, we are one.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_07: Do you know Victor Newman?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_07: Right?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_07: Young and the Restless?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_07: Love him.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_07: Love him so much.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_07: General Hospital kicks me on my toes.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_07: I love this too.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_07: General Hospital and um Young and the Restless.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_07: And of course, I mean they come under in the days I have to like record them.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_07: And also, but I'm obsessed.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_07: Nice.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_07: Which is ridiculous because Victor Newman is like a hundred years old.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_07: But he's still powerful.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_07: He's a good actor.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_07: And he's a great actor.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_07: Actually, I met him when I was a kid.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_07: Talk about networks, guys.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_07: I told you.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_07: We have a love affair with Victor Newman.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_07: I met him when I was like maybe nine years old.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_07: So Jana Finch Mall was our mall.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, it's a very urban area, right?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_07: And Victor Newman, you know what celebrities used to do um uh what do they call them?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_07: Like meet and greets at malls.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_07: And they used to do meet and greets at malls, and he came to Jana Finch.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_07: So I saw him right there, and I was like, I want your autograph, and he was so nice.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_07: Sorry.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_07: The thing is that because I was so young, he was so old to me, even then.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_07: So when I see him on TV now, I'm like, there's no way, Victor.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_07: Norman is still yeah, but it's still going hard.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_07: It's still the boss of young and the restless.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I can't, I can't, I don't know.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I just I is Jaina Finch or you meeting him.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: I can't like he's just not correlating.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's so interesting.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Let's let's leave that aside.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, coffee or tea?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm uh uh originally a tea person.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_07: Um I don't really like milk in tea.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_07: I do drink milk, but not milk in tea.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_07: I prefer herbal tea um or black tea.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_07: Um but I swear, over the past maybe five, six, seven years, I've been become a coffee drinker.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_07: So now I drink straight black coffee.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_07: I need to have black coffee at at least one cup a day.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_07: And let me tell you something.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_07: The other day I had a really bad headache and a headache for three days.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_07: Is that when you asked us the question in the group chat about the coffee?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_07: So I had a really bad headache and I tried everything.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_07: I had miltilano, everything.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_07: Um and then I went to the to the walk-in clinic and they were like, you should go to the emergency room.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_07: And I was like, okay.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_07: You can tell us that.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_07: So then I grabbed a cup of coffee.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_07: And I was completely fine.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_07: Wait.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_07: And I have not had a headache since then.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_07: Because the doctor was like, You saw my camera migraine.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_07: You should go to the ER.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_07: Because the, you know, it's a walk-in clinic, so they don't have the MRI machines and stuff.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_07: And I was like, okay.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_07: So I grabbed a coffee cup of coffee, and I felt completely fine.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_07: So since then I'm obsessed.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_07: Uh a cup of coffee a day.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you're an addict now.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: So you're a coffee?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_07: I'm a coffee dr but no, but before the because this is you love tea.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_07: I'm definitely a tea person.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_07: I can have like five cups of tea a day.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_07: But coffee, but it also affects me.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_07: Like I can't drink coffee after 11.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:15
  unknown: Right?
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_07: 11 a.m.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_07: or like 11 a.m.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_07: a.m.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_07: a.m.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_07: to be in bed by 10 p.m.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_07: I can't drink I can't drink coffee after 11 a.m.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_07: That's how much it affects me.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_07: We have a friend who drinks like five cups.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_07: But she it's she's not means cultural because she's from uh Eritrea.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_07: Eritrea, yeah.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_07: So I was like, oh that makes sense.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_07: You you grew up with it.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_07: I I didn't, I was a coffee drinker until like yesterday.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_07: I mean a tea drinker until like yesterday.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's crazy.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't I didn't realize that was the first like that around the first time that you're drinking.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: No wonder your question came on.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_07: Like I was so confused.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_07: I was like, what is going on here?
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_07: This is a like why do they give us advil and we could just drink coffee?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_07: I don't want to like if you have a migraine, please go get help.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: But what helped you or try cucumber?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: Cucumbers are really good for your headaches.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like eat the whole cucumber?
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you because it's hydrating, and sometimes, oftentimes, when you have migraines and headaches, it's you need you need the soul to have a cucumber.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I go to medicine as as a last result, as a last result.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_07: Um, yeah.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tell them about your ginger pills.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_07: Ginger to what works for me.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_07: I have I used to have really bad cramps.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_07: Ginger pills, like the pills, so it's like 500 milligrams in one pill.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_07: Take it 30 minutes.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: Thank me later.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I really want to ask, since you're a business person, you're all about numbers, how do you personally measure success beyond numbers and reports?
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I think you know, when you do something that goes beyond you, right?
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_07: So when I did Rise and Shine, for example, uh Rise and Shine Honda, I remember some people would come up to me, you know, like months after whenever I've aired, and they would say, you know, I used to watch a show, and you know, I got so inspired.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_07: I that's why I'm here, you know.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_07: I remember one person telling me, I decided to move home because I watched your show, and I was like, if that person can do this, I can do something as well.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_07: Right?
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_07: Because we'd feature a lot of young entrepreneurs.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, we're all young at the time.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_07: I turned 30 on that show, right?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_07: Um, the the team, the the the cast were all very young, like early 20s.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_07: Um, the the beh the the the crew behind the scenes were a bit older, but honestly, everybody was young.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so we just talked about what we knew.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_07: Some people were like, Oh, you feel you featured really young people on the show, that was amazing.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_07: You get them platform, I was like, we just uh interviewed our friends.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_07: Like we were all young.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_07: So it inspired other young because they're like, if that young person can build this business from scratch, what can I do?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_07: You know?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so I think that's impact, right?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_07: I can't tell you how many people saw the show and then moved home, but I can tell you I know a few people came up to me, and I think it's not just moving home, it's knowing that they can, right?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_05: Whether it's start the business or make the move, or to I think that's impact, um, showing the possibility uh and having people actually make that change.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: You brought up young people.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: Curious on what role do you see young African youth playing in shaping the global economy or just you know the world in the next 10 years?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_07: Young people just have so many they have much more opportunity than I think uh we did or the people before us did.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_07: You know, now with AI, honestly, they can do anything.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_07: Anything.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_07: You don't really I think it's like an equalizer, right?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_07: You it's it's easier to start things.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_07: I remember when I was starting getting a business plan done was either time consuming or expensive, right?
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_07: Now ChatGPT and others can do it for you in seconds, right?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_07: Of course you have to feed it, you know, you have to give it your ideas and it will it'll structure it for you and stuff like that.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_07: But I think you know, in the advent of AI and um the entire continent is young, right?
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_07: And I think now young people are able to go into sectors that we weren't traditionally allowed to go into.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_07: Like I said, I wanted to be a lawyer, it was either that or or become a doctor.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_07: Because even engineering was fairly new, yeah, you know.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so now I know so many people in the creative industry is making money.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_07: I think that's fascinating.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_07: But also there's other sectors like ed tech, you know, it's not just fintech, it's like health tech, it's you know, all of these other things um that I think they can go into.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_07: I think with YouTube and um TikTok, and they're different ways to learn.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_07: So you can learn faster.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_07: You don't need to buy expensive courses, you don't even really need to do an MBA.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, you should go to school.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_07: I I I'm still uh an advocate for education.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_07: You can be an entrepreneur, but still get your education.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_07: Get your because did you hear the beginning where I had to fall back on the multiple degrees?
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_07: So still get your education, but there are different ways to learn skills and to learn them fast.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_07: So I think with the help of AI and then the speed, I think young people, 10 years, we don't even know what 10 years will look like.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_07: Forget for Africa for the world, yeah, you know?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_07: 10 years.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, just what was the world two years ago, three years ago.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_07: So 10 years, we don't even know what the what the world will look like, what Africa will look like, but I know it will be bright.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, but young people have so many opportunities at their fingertips.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: I heard um uh in the next well, within the next 10 years, we're gonna have flying heli like helicopters as Ubers.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_07: Love the technology, yeah.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_07: You know, love where it's going.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_07: It's so funny to me how much the world today looks like the Jetsons.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_07: Because didn't they have that?
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_07: They did.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_07: They would like to pick up their coffee in their in their helicopter taxis.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_07: That's crazy.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's crazy.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: I would never, you know, me and flying.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: But, anyways, you mentioned there's a lot of new things in the world now and a lot of opportunities for young people, new, you know, new career path, like different pathways.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what career would you be in?
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: Would you still would you want to go back and be in law, or would you be in something else?
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I think the sensible thing would have been law or policy making.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_07: So um camera, but like uh the policy level.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_07: Sure, this would be shocking.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_07: But I think uh huh I have a great musical ear.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_07: Even though I can't sing a tune, I think I'd be a great music producer.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: I would have never guessed.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_07: I think so.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, but why?
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_07: I just I can I hear things and I'm just like they shouldn't, they should have not they should have done it a different way.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_07: I hear I hear something, I hear a song, and I'm like, wow, they missed this.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_07: Is it the beat or is it the word, or what is it about the sometimes it's both, or either or it yeah, I don't know.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_07: I just feel like I could produce it better.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_01: Any criticism on Whitney, any of Whitney Houston's?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_07: No, she's perfect.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Burner Boy?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_07: No, actually Burner Boy is very professional, like his production is top tier.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I would say.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_07: Um I hope he sees this.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I know Burnaboy is the other great people are like Adele, Adele's Arika.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_07: Um yeah, they're just I just hear songs and I'm like or or like a music exec because sometimes I'll hear a song like, why did they make that the single?
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_07: Like that's annoying.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_07: There are other things on the album that could have been um that's true.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's true.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_07: So just I feel like you know, like like an author would wordsmith things.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_07: I feel like I could wordsmith or music smith.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I don't know.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_07: I just that's really interesting.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, actually, that's really that's a fun fact that I've never learned, like I would have never have guessed.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: And my sister hates this one fact.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_07: She's like, you are delusional.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_07: If there's a delulu verse.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we can tell what's one song that puts you in a good mood, and that's not a Whitney Houston song.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_07: Not a Whitney song?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_07: Anyways, I am very old school so anything 90s.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, what's your morning anthem if you have one?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_07: No, I listen to gospel music every morning.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_07: Every morning in the shower.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_07: It's what like gets me through my day.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_07: It's uh every morning religiously.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'm just really curious.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think of DMX?
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because DMX is my morning anthem.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_07: I have a friend who sleeps.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, I can't sleep to him.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: He wakes me up to DNX.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_07: Wow.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_07: I thought that was strange.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_07: As much as I love DMX, I was just like, that it's like the the beat, like how do you feel they wish me?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_07: But that's that's the rhythm.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_07: Interesting.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_07: Do what works for you.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_07: I need total silence, do you would have been?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I don't sleep well like we can generally.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_07: I don't get enough sleep, but anyways, I track everything.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm starting to track my sleep, my eating habits.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_07: Because sometimes you can go to the gym every day and not lose weight, and it's really what you eat.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_07: That's why you consume it.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_07: You're like, I'm not that much of a snacker, but your portion control is out of control.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_07: Or you're not eating enough protein, or you're not, you know.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm just starting to track.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_07: Um, not starting, I've been tracking for a while.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I track everything.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_07: So yeah, that's my thing.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: My yeah, I think that's one thing I learned about you in Ghana, because like you were tracking everything.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: I track everything, which is good.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_07: Everything from my steps to my water intake, the kind of food I eat, the working out, the I don't know.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_07: I just track everything.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_07: The alcohol intake.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_07: If you start tracking how many times you drink, you'd be surprised.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_07: A lot because I said I'm only a social drinker, which is true.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_07: I I don't buy alcohol in the house.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_07: I never have alcohol in the house.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_07: So if I have it in the house, it's because you're coming over.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_07: Like somebody's coming, you don't drink, but other friends are coming over.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_07: And I'll buy it for them.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_07: I'll buy on you know, I'll buy it for them as they as they come.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_07: But it's just not my thing.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_07: So I was like, because I'm a social drinker, I don't drink much.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_07: Then I started tracking it.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_07: Little knowing, gotta cut back.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_07: I think this is a problem in some parts of the world.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you started tracking how much coke I drank, so yeah, I just just and now you're tracking now you're doing a lot better.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: But now I'm doing better because I track it now too.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a habit, so yeah, it's a good habit, honestly.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good habit because you feel it in your body, so yeah, yeah, and your skin is doing a lot better.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_07: No, honestly, coke is.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, I enjoy Coke.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_07: We we had a Coca-Cola earlier, but not like you.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_07: People can get addicted to coffee, you know.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_07: That was you and Coke.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_07: That's not good.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're working on it, but it's all all thanks to you because you really kept me on it.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: So you've worked in spaces, in different spaces, development, law, policy.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: You work with youth, finance, you know, you've done it all.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you see the most untapped potential?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_07: Untapped.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_07: Um I think for young entrepreneurs, and I guess development spaces in the commercial bank, the untapped really is the missing middle, right?
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_07: How do we fund the missing middle?
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_07: Because again, like the back the mom and pop shops or the SMEs and the startups, there's uh there's capital for both, both ends of the spectrum.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_07: But the missing middle, you know, the the middle is really missing uh financing.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_07: And just like training, like how do you jump from one level to the other, right?
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I think I think that's that's the untapped potential, really.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_07: And if we could lock that or unlock it, as they would say, in our spaces, um, oh my god, the flow of capital, the flow of ideas, the the growth of businesses, I think that would really transform uh Africa.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what's really interesting because like living on the continent, you see it, you see the need there.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: But then when you come on this side and you see all of like, you know, the refugees that are coming into Canada from, you know, African countries and and the gap that's here too.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the lack of resourcing.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, there are gaps everywhere in every industry, you know, every industry.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_07: Um, yeah, I guess redistribution of wealth, um, but really just more opportunities um across the board.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: No, good.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I'm gonna go into these what's okay.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: Most of the times these what's are fun.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: You see in other podcasts, they're fun, but I think because you know your background, your wealth of knowledge, and whatnot, I made it a little bit serious.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but we can have some fun with it.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I want to start with what's a moment in your career that shaped the the way you approach leadership today.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, leadership.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_07: So, I mean, it happened in my career, but it reminded me, you know, back to what I was saying about um about legacy and and wanting to continue uh what what previous generations have started.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_07: So when I was working at RDB, my boss at the time, Claire, shout out to Claire, Claire Gamonzi, uh, who's now the CEO of NBA Africa.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_07: Uh at the time.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, but I she wasn't CEO.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, she was deputy CEO, to be fair, uh, of RDB.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I didn't say anything, I'm just saying.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, she's always been great.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_07: So Claire was my boss, and I remember us having a meeting, you know, a team meeting.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_07: And, you know, our we were in charge of foreign direct investment uh to get foreign direct investment in the country.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_07: And I think maybe we're lacking on our numbers, or maybe we're planning an event and it just wasn't coming together as quickly as she wanted it to, etc.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_07: And she just got so mad.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_07: Not mad, but she was just like, you people are not taking this seriously.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_07: Like, if we do this, we get to do this, if we do this, we get to do this.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_07: Like, you need to think of it beyond the task, right?
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_07: It's it's you need to think of it as legacy.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_07: Like, what legacy are you leaving in this job, in this institution, in the country, you know, as as yourself?
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_07: Like, what is your legacy?
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_07: What are you trying to build here?
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_07: Like, we're all trying to build something, and we need to come together and build it.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_07: Like, she was just very passionate uh about about that.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_07: That that always stuck with me.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_07: And I was like, you know, she also wasn't very old.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_07: She was also a very young leader at the time, and maybe under 30 uh at the time of this conversation.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, to see her think of legacy like that, you know, and that's that's that's why she was in the role that she was in, right?
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_07: And why she's continued to excel.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_07: So I think also just leading by example, like watching Claire, watching Joanna from Kasha, this the founder, uh, at the time she was co-founder, now she's founder and CEO of Casha, just the way she works.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_07: And I think with Joanna, what was so interesting watching her was how she balances her time.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_07: She sent us an email at some point uh when I was working there, the whole team, about how she distributes her time.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_07: She's like, Casha is very important to me, the growth of Casha, um, the employees of Casha, the products, the services, the people that are customers.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_07: But if you call me between 6 to 7 p.m., I'm ignoring you.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_07: Why?
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_07: Because I'm having dinner with my family.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_07: You know, and it's like she's a great mom, you know, great wife, has a great husband, um, was very supportive of Kasha.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, she was a great mentor to me.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_07: And she was also in the details of Kasha.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_07: Like nine to five, Joanna was in the weeds.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_07: She wasn't like his high-end CEO.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_07: She was in the weeds, you know, making sure everything goes right and that really hopefully the customer first.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_07: Like, does this product, does the service make sense for the for the customer?
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_07: But after that, she was going to her kids' karate class.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_07: She was going for dinner with her husband, she would have birthday drinks, she would take the team out and you know, chat up with the team, crack jokes, we'd go dancing, like completely different, you know.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_07: And I loved that divide.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_07: I think, you know, it it really showed like leadership and action.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_07: And female leaders, right?
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_07: I had a I was very lucky to have I've had a number of female leaders uh in my career, and to see the ones that really stood out were the ones that um really embodied legacy, but also like they cared about the people, they cared about the work, you know, and you you they cared about having families, they cared about, you know, you could do it all.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you could do it all.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so interesting because now now that you're saying that, I see that like even especially with your when it comes to scheduling and timing.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, I had this time blocked.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: I did nope, I'm not available from this time, I'm available from this time.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm addicted to the calendar, but you're good at it, like you balance your time.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's very important.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_07: I learned that from Joanna.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then you got the patch from Claire.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's true.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_07: Sorry about going about it.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_07: Oh, that's true.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_07: I never thought of it that way, but yeah, I definitely learned the cut calendar blocking uh from Joanna.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_07: You know, simple things like that.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_07: Also, I remember, I don't know, I hope she doesn't mind me saying this, but she would also block like certain hours in the morning to learn more about the industry she was in.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_07: Wow, so she would block, and it was like her research, even before Chat GPT, before like literally, you know, getting the trade magazines or whatever, um, you know, the whatever subscriptions you want, just to know what else is happening in the health industry, what else is happening in the tech industry, what else is happening in tech in Africa, whatever, you know, just to learn more and make sure that you're one step ahead or you're at least at more par.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and that you're also you're always still learning, right?
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I think I I learned that from her too.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_07: I think people would be really surprised to know uh how you know how much of a nerd I can be.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_07: Um you're a nerd, actually a nerd.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my god.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_07: You're still like I deep dive into everything, right?
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I like I don't do anything without knowing what I'm talking about, you know.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but also I just like learning, just generally, like I'm uh an uh you know an avid subscriber of masterclass, uh the the platform, the learning platform.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_07: I can go uh deep dives and you on YouTube, just doing different things at Chajit and Google and all these things, just on various topics.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_07: Like this year, I decided I was gonna learn more about the brain, just the brain and how it works, and um, you know, this different supplements and nutrients of food that you could eat to really stimulate the brain because I just felt like my short-term memory.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_07: First of all, I don't have a great memory, right?
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_07: But my short-term memory in particular, I could put something here, and for I'm like, I this has got to change your long-term memory, you know.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, my long-term memory is better, but my short-term memory is is tricky.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_07: It's because you have a lot on your plate.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_07: Like I have a lot for your so it's like it's a lot of it is stress and and all of that.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_07: But I just, you know, so I've been deep diving on the brain.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_07: I have a number of books and stuff like that around it.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_07: So I think, but that's something I learned from Jana.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_07: Like, if you want to know something, you don't have to become an expert.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_07: Like, I'm not gonna become a neuron a neurosurgeon, a neuroscientist, but I want to understand it to the extent that it could be useful to my life, right?
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_07: Are there certain foods that help with it?
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_07: Are there, you know, um, yeah.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: But no, that's really interesting because UNDA, Claire was there, and you you can hear the passion, yeah, in her stories.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, amazing, absolutely amazing.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_07: And she's passionate about everything she does, like who in here she'd be in basketball.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_07: But I don't think, I mean, I haven't had this conversation with her, but I don't think it's about basketball.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_07: I think basketball is is is like a tool, right?
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_07: It's about the development of Africa and basketball is one tool to develop.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_07: Um, which and investment promotion was another.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and you know, this is why she can she can do both um to the extent that she does it.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing, amazing.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like the the the the point in this is that you need to have leaders around you, like as for sure.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_07: And I don't I thought I don't think if you asked Claire, do you know you're one of Diane's mentors, that she would say yes.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_07: I don't think it would ever, you know, because that's another thing that you know we've talked about on this podcast.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_07: You don't have to, your mentors don't know who have to know who you are.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I've got mentors that either I was blessed to work with, it's easier when you work directly with them.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, so you could watch them because it's not about the speech, right?
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_07: A lot of these leaders give keynote speeches and different things.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_07: It's not about the speech, it's about the work and it's the everyday, right?
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_07: It's not how they get up, how they lead people, how they talk to um junior staff, yeah, how they organize their day, um, you know, things like that.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so I think you don't it's better if you know them and you work together.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_07: But if not, there are lots of people I admire and I've learned a lot from even online.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_07: People who I would they'll never know my name.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know, I'll probably never meet, but I love them and I've learned a lot from them.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_07: Obama.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: And they're many people, yeah.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_01: What's the best uh best advice you've ever received and the worst?
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_07: Best advice, I think just as an entrepreneur, multiple streams of income.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, have multiple streams of income.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_07: It doesn't mean that you have to have many businesses.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_07: If you can multitask like that, great.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_07: It's hard to do many great things, right?
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_07: So if you have one successful business, that's really great.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_07: Um if you have or if you have if you are employed.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_07: It doesn't mean that you need to get promoted every year.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_07: Maybe it's a bonus.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_07: You have the salary, then maybe it's an end-of-year bonus.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_07: And then maybe you get the salary and you put some money in savings, and maybe you put some money in um in bonds, and maybe you put some money in stocks and in crypto, maybe you start a side hustle.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_07: How many incomes are those?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_07: Right?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_07: So I think just having multiple streams um is important because also this life is expensive.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_07: It doesn't matter how extravagant you are you are, and I know I can be a little on the higher end because I like nice things.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, but life is just so expensive, and it gets more and more and more expensive.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_07: I was having this conversation the other day with some girlfriends around you know, retirement.
• 56:34
  unknown: Yeah.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_07: And it's like the world really ready for people to live longer, you know?
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_07: If you retire at 60, can your pension schemes it would not just run under Canada like anywhere in the world?
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_07: Can they help you live until you're 90 or 100?
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_07: When we were growing up in those some of the countries that we live, you know, were blessed to live in, the estimate to to of life was around 4550.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_07: Now it's like 70-80.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hold on, 45 then and 70-80 now?
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_07: I feel like second 30 years.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_01: But I feel like in our great like in our grandparents and mashallah, like they I know, but um That's interesting.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can tell us the worst advice you receive.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the worst advice.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, you know, you take advice advice is to you can either take it or you can love.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_07: So I just leave a lot of things.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_07: You just leave it.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_07: I just leave it.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_07: It doesn't think no, yeah.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_07: Like if if I don't agree, it just like doesn't even register.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_07: But probably something like you need to focus.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah or something.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_07: I'm just like, oh, focus on what?
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_07: I focus on living, you know?
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_07: Focus on living and living my best life.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_07: And if that means I do 10,000 things, that means I do 10,000 things.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_07: Like, uh, what's it to you?
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_07: You know, you know, I guess like you know, some of the jobs that I have, people would be like, Why would you do a podcast?
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_07: That's just not serious.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_07: It's fun.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_07: I enjoy talking to you and to all the people that have been blessed to, you know, I've been blessed to have on the show, um, to get to learn what they're doing.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_01: Anyways, we'll leave that.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_01: We'll leave that.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_07: So if if things don't apply to you, feel free to leave them.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't even need to say they're bad advice, but it's just not crazy.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, thanks.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you walk away.
• 58:18
  unknown: Yeah.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what's a small daily ritual that you that keeps you grounded?
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_07: Um okay, so like my morning ritual, like I said, I I listen to gospel music uh every morning uh in the shower.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_07: It were like as I'm getting ready.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_07: And I would say taking all my vitamins.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_07: Like I cannot function before I take all my vitamins.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_07: And there's certain things I need to do in the morning.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_07: I need shower, I need to listen to my gospel music, and take all my vitamins, and I need to have a cup of tea.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_07: So in the morning, it's either lemon ginger, okay, or peppermint, or something that's a pick-me-up, like a natural uh uh stimulator.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_07: Um if if I want a bit of caffeine, maybe it's green tea.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_07: I don't have coffee first.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_07: You shouldn't have coffee after eating.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_07: So I don't, I will have my vitamins first, so I take a bunch of vitamins.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_07: Um if you can just do a multivitamin.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not pushing anything on anyone, but what I do is I take a multivitamin.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_07: Um I thought I needed to take vitamin D just because I lived in Canada.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_07: But actually, a lot of even black people still need vitamin D, even if you live in Africa.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_07: And to take vitamin D, to absorb it, you need vitamin K.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, I know.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_07: K, I think K tube.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_07: And sometimes it's it's packaged together, sometimes it's separate.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_07: Um what other thing do I take?
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_07: Magnesium.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_07: I think everybody needs magnesium.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 59:44
  unknown: Okay.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_07: So just some of those things.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_07: That's interesting.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_07: And I have to have breakfast.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_07: I'm a breakfast person.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_07: I've tried intermittent fasting, it doesn't work for me.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_07: Like it works.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_07: It definitely slimmed down when I try it, but I'm starving and I'm just not nice.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, I've not eaten.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm laughing because every time we're on trip together and we're like, okay, see for breakfast, and I'm not a breakfast person.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Dan, you should have your breakfast, and yeah, you're always surprised by people who don't want to have breakfast.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just I don't understand.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_07: Like, I can wake up at five just to make sure I have breakfast.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, really, I do it for other people.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_07: I'm just not nice when I've not eaten, what I've not, you know.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_07: No.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_07: I have to be centered, yeah, full, vitamins, induced, gospel, praised.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_07: The Lord is helping me is bless you to have a great day.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_01: I can't even imagine you being mean, but, anyways, what's a message that you'd share with someone listening from half across the world right now?
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: What if it was someone in Rwanda, someone in Sudan, or you know, aware?
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_01: Halfway across the world.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, just whatever you want to do, do it.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_07: Don't be afraid to fail.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_07: So when I started Legacy 45, uh, my former colleagues would be like, they'd come to me like, you're so brave.
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_07: I really didn't understand it at the time.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_07: Because I guess I was still in my twenties, and you know, when you're young, you're like naturally brave.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_07: You don't even realize what that means.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_07: And I think the more I keep doing, I understand why people say that.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_07: It really does take a lot.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_07: It takes a lot to step outside your comfort zone.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_07: Um, you know, have people see a different side of you, and it might not be successful.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_07: I don't even know what success looks like for this podcast, right?
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_07: To me, success really is one person saying, Oh, that was really insightful or really interesting or really funny, or you know, I learned a lot from that, or I didn't know we'd do that in Africa, or didn't any because there are many different people on the podcast, right?
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_07: From different countries.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_07: So the representation also matters.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_07: So um, to me, that's what success looks like.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_07: Um, yeah.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_01: What's one food you could eat every day and never get tired of?
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_01: Pizza.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_07: Pizza 100%.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_07: It's a problem.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_07: I need to have my Friday pizza.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_07: It's just a thing.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_07: Everywhere you go.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_07: Even in Rwanda, would you eat pizza?
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_07: All the time.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_07: I even have them on speed dial.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_07: I have the driver's number.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_07: But so funny.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_07: I I bypass the because you know you have the apps to order the food.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_07: No, that takes too long.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_07: I'm just like, I have my guy.
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they know they're like, they even tell me, Welcome back.
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_07: You remember when you came to my house in Kigali?
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_07: Ordered pizza from that.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_07: Remember?
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_07: Same person.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_07: Same place.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, it was good pizza though.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_01: What superpower would you choose if you could have one for a week?
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_07: Maybe listening to people's thoughts.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_07: Mind reader, huh?
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_07: Mind reader.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_07: Can you handle that?
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_07: So there's actually a movie about this.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_07: I know.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_07: Same with Jim Carrey.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_07: And it actually becomes overwhelming because you're like, people are crazy.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_07: No, no, no.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_07: You don't want to.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but maybe if I if I actually had a superpower, I think I would just like make everybody kind.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_07: Because I think we need some peace and kindness in this world, you know?
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_07: But if the question is, what is my superpower?
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_07: I think my superpower is bringing people together.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_07: You know, I just I get to know I get to meet so many people, so just bridging them.
• 1:03:02
  SPEAKER_01: The mobilizer.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you could instantly learn any skill in the world, what would it be?
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_07: Skill.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_07: I think to be multilingual, which I feel like AI will solve this problem soon, if they haven't already.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_07: You know?
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but I think, you know, just seeing uh, you know, growing up with my dad, watching him, and then seeing my sister bounce between languages and um, you know, everyone else who's multilingual, just heck how they uh how they support communities, you know.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_07: I think um that's it's just so interesting because it's language unifies, right?
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_07: And it brings cultures and communities together.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you could host a dinner party with three people, dead or alive, who would they be?
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my god.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_07: Uh three?
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_07: No, I need more than three.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_07: Who has a dinner party with three people?
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_01: Three.
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_01: No, I keep it at least.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_07: No, I need a few more people.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_01: You you would need a hundred.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_07: That's true.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my god.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_07: Every time I'm doing like a birthday thing or something, so I'd always be like, oh guys, we're gonna keep it small this year.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_07: Small to Diane is like 50 people.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_07: So for them, they're thinking like a like a dinner table.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_07: Still more than three, but they're thinking like maybe ten.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_07: First of all, they're like seven.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_07: So I'm like, how is it ten?
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_07: So I need my I need my anyways, I need my.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm challenging you right now.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_01: Pick three.
• 1:04:25
  SPEAKER_07: No, I can't do three.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's a challenge.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_07: You know, so funny.
• 1:04:29
  SPEAKER_07: I asked one of the the guests on the show something similar, and I think I said five, and she was like, No way, you're gonna give me trouble.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_07: Now I understand being on the other side.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_07: Um Jay-Z.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_07: Cultural influence.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_07: I also just like the way he moves in business.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_07: I think it's interesting.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_07: Um, my dad because miss him much.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_07: Um lesson.
• 1:04:53
  SPEAKER_07: I'm gonna give him all the three.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_07: Uh Princess Die.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_07: Uh-huh.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_07: Miss her.
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_07: Don't know her, obviously, but I just loved what she represented.
• 1:05:02
  SPEAKER_07: She like didn't give a heck, right?
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_07: But at the same time seemed so kind.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_07: And I loved her love for her boys.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_07: I'll give you until five.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_07: I'll give you five.
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_07: Because I lived in Tunis during that time, the young person who set themselves on fire set themselves on fire and started the revolution.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, I think his name is Mohammed.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_07: And because I'm always just like, we Africa needs to be in spaces that it's not.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_07: Literally, there's a young person from Nigeria who has an organization or a business called Space in Africa.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_07: I think that would be interesting.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_07: Like, what are you doing?
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_07: What are we doing in Africa for space?
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_07: Because yeah, we need to be in the conversation, in every conversation.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_07: And then we need some more women.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_07: Let me think.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um Diane, that's it.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_01: I said No, but you have to balance old Okay, give me one more woman.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_01: African, non African Okay, give me one.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_07: There's a young girl from Kenya.
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_07: She was on the podcast, Charlotte.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_07: Climate activists, climate action, because I think climate is a big, big uh part of what we need to worry about.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and you know, she's one of the solutions.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_07: She recently won the Earth Shot Prize for Prince William, million dollar prize.
• 1:06:14
  SPEAKER_07: Um, multi-million dollar prize, actually, because it's over a million.
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I think she would be interesting.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_00: These are really interesting names that you could have.
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_07: You know who else I would really love?
• 1:06:24
  SPEAKER_07: Venus Williams.
• 1:06:25
  SPEAKER_07: I love her comeback story.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_07: Like, what is that?
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_07: Like, why?
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_07: You don't need to.
• 1:06:30
  SPEAKER_07: Well, she did say she needed insurance, health insurance, which I thought was hilarious because of the wilds.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but yeah, I do love tennis.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_07: I fell in love with tennis in Ghana.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_07: I remember.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:06:42
  SPEAKER_07: I I actually enjoy playing it because I feel like it helps me hitting the ball.
• 1:06:45
  SPEAKER_07: Like with the frustration.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_07: I tried golf, it's like, this is not getting my frustration out.
• 1:06:49
  SPEAKER_07: And my frustration is not working, it's just like life.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_07: Like life, you know, it's just like hitting the balls.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_07: So I enjoy uh playing, and I think just like you're Venus Williams.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_07: You don't need to.
• 1:06:59
  SPEAKER_07: But the fact that she's come back at her age, at the level that she's at, I think that would be just like and I feel like also with tennis, we need to do better in Africa generally, as a sport.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_07: I think we do a lot of great sports football, basketball, um, even cricket.
• 1:07:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um do we have the infrastructure for it though?
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_07: We could we could we do a lot of a lot of tennis courts, um you just don't see it a lot.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you don't see it a lot.
• 1:07:26
  SPEAKER_07: Just like football, just like basketball, like you have to eat it's grassroots, right?
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_07: So I think tennis would be interesting to join to the conversation.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_07: So we have sports, we have music, culture.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, we're done.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_07: Politics, yeah, old.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're going back to the questions.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you're young, I'm dying because I know you're still thinking about it.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm still thinking of people.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_07: It's a funny.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, the dinner table will turn into 50 people.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_07: It's true.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_07: But then that's a party.
• 1:07:52
  SPEAKER_07: You just say dinner party.
• 1:07:54
  SPEAKER_01: But I said a dinner, a dinner.
• 1:07:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I will edit this.
• 1:07:57
  SPEAKER_01: A party to you is like a hundred.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_07: No, but you also need people who can like vibe and learn from each other and like have an interesting conversation.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_01: If your younger self could see you now, what would surprise her the most?
• 1:08:11
  SPEAKER_07: Oh my god, I think everything.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_07: I think just generally.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, we went from Jane and Finch to this, you know.
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_07: I think my younger self would be like, Yeah, you did that.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_07: You did everything you said you're gonna do, or everything you wanted to do, and then some and you're still going.
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_00: Good for you.
• 1:08:27
  SPEAKER_07: You know, back to bravery, like keep pushing.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you know?
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_07: Um I now I would looking back to tell my younger self, like, stop worrying.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_07: But life works out.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_07: It all works out.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_07: It all works out whenever you feel like you're running out of time, you're you can't do this, we can't do that, you can't multitask, you can't you don't know how you're gonna do it.
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_07: First of all, by the time you have a thought of of something, that com I believe that comes from God.
• 1:08:53
  SPEAKER_07: Like, and God's not gonna let you, it's not gonna give you what you can't handle.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_07: I think it's just stop worrying.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_07: It will just what you have to do is start, and that's where the bravery comes in.
• 1:09:02
  SPEAKER_07: You start, and then you get get some momentum, then God sends people on your path to help you.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it all falls into place.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you could swap lives with anyone for a date, who would it be?
• 1:09:15
  SPEAKER_01: A beach bum.
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_07: Relaxing that's so nice.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, you are a beach girl.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_07: Nice.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_07: I am a beach girl.
• 1:09:26
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I love being on the beach.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_07: I don't have the body for it, but whatever.
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_07: I enjoy it.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_07: I enjoy just chill because it's like so rare that I get to just chill.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_07: So I think or like like a housewife that's not on TV.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_07: Like just like a rich housewife, like for real.
• 1:09:40
  SPEAKER_07: And you just get to enjoy your millions and um your kids and you're you know, you're just chilling.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_01: How has your background shaped the way you approach challenges?
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_07: I mean I love being random, I love being African, I love being black, I love being female.
• 1:10:01
  SPEAKER_07: Period.
• 1:10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_07: Love it.
• 1:10:05
  SPEAKER_07: Love it because and to be born and to be alive at this time feels so blessed.
• 1:10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because I feel like a lot of us even remember when I randomly always messaging me, like, we just share kingami for our one day.
• 1:10:19
  SPEAKER_07: That's one of my favorite things when people say so because I travel so much, uh, for working for other things.
• 1:10:24
  SPEAKER_07: People will always tell me, Do you remember, can you lend us yeah, your landlord in Ghana was like we need him.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_07: But the funny thing to me is that it's young people, it's old people, it's people in Africa, other people, people were like, Can you lend us your president?
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_07: It's uh President I don't know if President Kagami watches podcasts, but if you ever do, please know you are loved by your people and by other people.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_07: And that is really a true testament to his work ethic and to his vision.
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it's for sure.
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, if you're ever thinking of another country, please come to ours.
• 1:11:00
  SPEAKER_01: You need you.
• 1:11:01
  SPEAKER_07: To Sudan.
• 1:11:02
  SPEAKER_01: To Sudan.
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, do us from Sudan.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Very proud Sudanese, but yeah, very proud Sudanese.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_01: I actually wanted to say, like, for those who are watching, African, non-African, but especially our African folks who are watching this podcast.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you've never been to Rwanda, you should go.
• 1:11:17
  SPEAKER_07: Visit Rwanda.
• 1:11:19
  SPEAKER_07: Visit Rwanda, like the perfect taglang, right?
• 1:11:22
  SPEAKER_07: Not sponsored, but not sponsored.
• 1:11:24
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_07: But anyways, I'm a brand ambassador for my country.
• 1:11:27
  SPEAKER_07: Everybody knows that.
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:11:29
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Loud and proud.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_07: Loud and proud.
• 1:11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Loud and proud.
• 1:11:32
  SPEAKER_07: I loved it.
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_00: You already told us why you started this podcast.
• 1:11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us again.
• 1:11:36
  SPEAKER_07: So the podcast really, I wanted to, I because I get to meet so many people around the world, Africans and Africans in the diaspora, or non-Africans, but people contributing to the to the development of Africa.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_07: I really wanted to showcase that.
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_07: Because I think maybe earlier in the story I I might have skipped over the fact when I finished high school, um, you know, just the nature of finishing senior six and taking Cambridge, and by the time you get your results and you have to apply for universities, and but then you get a callback and all of that, um, is like a forced gap year, or like six months or something, right?
• 1:12:16
  SPEAKER_07: So I had nothing to do, and I would party a lot, and my mother was so sick of me partying.
• 1:12:22
  SPEAKER_07: She's like, I need you to go get a job.
• 1:12:25
  SPEAKER_07: Because this she let me be for like a month or so, and then she was like, Please, you're stressing me out.
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_07: Go get a job.
• 1:12:32
  SPEAKER_07: I need you, because you being idle, you don't know how to be idle.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously, I can't even, I've never imagined you or have ever seen me be idle.
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_07: So imagine idle and young and broke.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_07: You could really get into some destruction, right?
• 1:12:46
  SPEAKER_07: I went to get a job.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_07: Uh, my first job was with the Radio Ronda, and I broadcasted news uh with no formal training.
• 1:12:53
  SPEAKER_07: They trained me on the job, but I didn't have a bachelor's degree, I didn't study journalism or mass mass communications or anything like that.
• 1:12:59
  SPEAKER_07: Um, so doing that in 2003, when we had the first presidential elections, and people would be like, oh my God, I hear your voice on the on the whatever.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_07: I understood the impact and the power of media.
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_07: So I wanted to do the same for other people because I was like, if I can create a platform that and I get to share my network with other people and all amazing things that they're doing, why not do it?
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_07: So I, you know, I film this on the weekends and it's fun and I get to see my friends.
• 1:13:33
  SPEAKER_07: But it's really about building African people, building Africa.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_07: You don't have to be black, you don't have to be African.
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_07: There are lots of people, and everybody's welcome.
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, think about this.
• 1:13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you could put one message on a billboard for the whole for the whole world to say.
• 1:13:46
  SPEAKER_00: What would it say?
• 1:13:47
  SPEAKER_07: Um, I wouldn't think it would be about me, because the self-promotion, we all have challenges with it, right?
• 1:13:55
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but I would say um Africa is not for sale.
• 1:14:03
  SPEAKER_07: Africa's open for business, but it's not for sale.
• 1:14:06
  SPEAKER_07: So come partner with us, work with us, learn from us, learn with us, teach us.
• 1:14:13
  SPEAKER_07: Um but we're going to do this together.
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_07: We're in it together and we're in it for the long haul.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but it's not for sale.
• 1:14:21
  SPEAKER_07: That's what I would say.
• 1:14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 1:14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that.
• 1:14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Africa's not for sale, guys.
• 1:14:27
  SPEAKER_07: It's open for business, it's open to travel.
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_07: I think there's so much that we can learn from each other, even within Africa.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and we there's so much business we can do together, and yeah.
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_00: So many great things.
• 1:14:39
  SPEAKER_00: I really like this.
• 1:14:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love this.
• 1:14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for doing this.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I really hope the world gets to see who you are and who this Diane to say decide.
• 1:14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, I I I love this.
• 1:14:50
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I I have a now I now know an extra layer of you of Diane.
• 1:14:54
  SPEAKER_07: And you've known me for a few years now.
• 1:14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Forever.
• 1:14:56
  SPEAKER_01: I feel it feels like forever.
• 1:14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:14:58
  SPEAKER_07: It does feel like much longer than it's been, yeah.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_01: It does, it does.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I really hope everybody really gets to kind of see this and see who you are from a fun side and a professional side and a serious side.
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think because this will be online, I feel like if there are questions, don't feel shy.
• 1:15:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, just reach out, send a DM, put a comment.
• 1:15:18
  SPEAKER_07: But thank you, Dua, so much for this, you know.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_07: So shout out to Dua who's been cheering me on from the sidelines.
• 1:15:25
  SPEAKER_07: Shout out to the crew, Mike and team.
• 1:15:28
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you to everybody who's watched, everybody who's come on the show.
• 1:15:32
  SPEAKER_07: You know, it takes a team, a small and mighty team.
• 1:15:35
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you all.
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_07: Take care.
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_07: Bye.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_07: Yay!
• 1:15:40
  SPEAKER_04: Hi, bye.
• 1:15:42
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Diana Decide Podcast.
• 1:15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube, follow on Instagram.
• 1:15:49
  SPEAKER_02: We'd love to hear from you.
• 1:15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, live strategically and with purpose.
• 1:15:54
  SPEAKER_02: See you soon.