Zimbabwean Voices

For episode 25 I had the honor of having a conversation with Michelle Nativel a leading digital content creator and the co-founder of the local dance studio - Dance Avenue. In our chat we spoke about the journey into content creation, opening her studio, and the struggles that come with LGBT intolerance in the Zimbabwean community. Enjoy!

For Episode 24 I had the privilege of having a conversation with Michelle Manzinde. A great woman who sits on the board of Abangane Platforms Founded by Zibusiso Munandi, “Abangane” translated in English means friends and the platform seeks to provide a safe space to talk for young people in Zimbabwe that have issues affecting them such as drugs & substance abuse, lack of access to recreation, and mental disorders. If their story inspired you in any way feel to reach out to them at Abangane Platforms on InstagramEnjoy!

For episode 23 I had. the honour of having a conversation with Tendai Jambga-Rokkones. A Zimbabwean wellness curator and yoga instructor with a passion for bringing enlightenment to the world. We touched on the impact of our ancestors, trauma, and reclaiming yoga as Africans in order to use it as a vehicle for healing, self-awareness & self-actualization. Enjoy!

For episode 22 I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Dominic Peters from the South African band Goldfish. Fun fact, Dom was born in Zimbabwe and spent his early childhood there before moving to Cape Town.His parents are also both Zimbabwean and in our conversation, he mentioned that his mother comes from Gweru. Now it finally made sense why their best songs were peppered with Shona lyrics!In our chat we spoke about his formative years, his journey to become a musician, and unpacked the underlying truths that run through all of Goldfish’s music.Enjoy!

For episode 21 I had the honour of speaking with Tinashe  “Nash” Maoneni, the lead singer of the band Flying Bantu.  The essence of our conversation was about how they use their music as a way to inspire people to live life without boundaries. To listen to our conversation, check out the link below:Enjoy!

For episode 20 I had the honour of speaking with Kalai Barlow, the co-founder of Obsurca Film.In our conversation, we touched on the value of representation, impostor syndrome, the battle between logic and intuition, and the importance of recognizing our shared humanity.Enjoy!

For episode 19 I had the honour of speaking with Yara Hanssen. Youth Olympic changemaker, an avid adventurer, and the Skotch Cart Company founder. Our conversation covered topics ranging from her background in Zimbabwean equestrian, her travel bug, and women empowerment. Enjoy!

For Episode 18 I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Tadzie Madzima, the founder of Ignite Youth. A non-profit organization based in Zimbabwe with a focus on helping young people find their purpose and then helping them to fan their inner flame.Enjoy!

For episode 16  I had the pleasure to speak with Dr. Anesu Musvosvi. We had a great conversation about how he grew up in different parts of the world and his inspirational journey which saw him pivot from media to a career as a dentist. Enjoy!

“We were trying to plan a trip to Zim but when we were looking online all we were finding were pictures of rhinos, lions & Ghonarezhou if you're lucky. Across the board, it was the same thing. Paida & I both traveled to places like Indonesia and you see pages like the Bali Bible that help you curate your whole trip off these simple pages that showcase all that there is to do in that country when you're on holiday. We thought that there is nothing like that for Zim. Not every person wants to do a safari so we decided that if it's not there let's create it. Create something that showcases the other stuff that there is to do in Zim besides Victoria Falls” - Sindi Kayembe@When in Zim

For episode 15, I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Dalumuzi Mhlanga, the founder of Notto Africa, a digital platform dedicated to helping people access affordable home loans. Prior to starting Notto, Dalumuzi worked as Chief of Staff for the Econet Group. As a highly decorated scholar, he completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and was thereafter awarded a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University for his postgraduate education. During his studies, he also founded a non-profit organization that provided leadership training to thousands of school children in Zimbabwe. In our conversation, we covered his journey to date and his passion for developing the African continent by uplifting the lives of its people. Enjoy!

For episode 14, I had the honour of speaking with Mukudzei “King Kandoro” A Zimbabwean standup comedian.In our conversation, we covered his journey to date, his career aspirations, and his desired future for the Zimbabwean arts community & comedy scene. ______________________________________My favourite excerpt from our conversation:“Art in Zimbabwe for the most part is being treated as a thing that is only available to people that go to private schools. Imagine treating fine art as a thing that is only available to private schools?So from a structural perspective, open up community centers. These centers are already there but right now most of them are local bars. So open up community centers, let people play sports, and let people have art classes. If it's music, percussion. There are these separations in art. Why is marimba an instrument that is played mainly in the ghetto but guitars, cellos, and violins up north?”

For episode 13 I had the honour of speaking with Nia. A Zimbabwean content creator, entrepreneur & author. In our conversation, we covered her story, passion for travel, content, and business.Most importantly, we spoke about how she is using her platform to shed a positive light on Zimbabwe______________________________________My favourite excerpt from our conversation:“I have a platform and with a platform people always want you do something with it. So for me showcasing the beauty of Zimbabwe. That is doing something.”Enjoy!

For the first episode of Season 2, I had the honour of speaking with Blessing Chinanga, filmmaker and co-founder of Invision Studios. In this episode, we covered his life story and career trajectory to date. Most importantly though we touched on the collective thinking needed to fix the Zimbabwean Film Industry.   My favourite excerpt from our conversation:_____________________________________________"How this industry is supposed to be structured, is that it's supposed to be structured in four pillars. You've got the first pillar which is your crew, directors, actors. etc. Then you've got the ministry, the Ministry of Arts and Culture, they play a major role in all this,  because they dictate policy. They dictate the conversation and they stimulate conversations with other countries that could lead to investment flow.The third pillar is societies or organizations like your National Arts Council, National Art Gallery, etc. Then you've got the commercial side which is the private sector. Banks, companies, private investors, etcWhat needs to happen is these four pillars need to understand that there is capital here with the asset-base of the Zimbabwean story. The Zimbabwean story is an asset in itself.  We have so many stories and we need to see those stories as assets."Enjoy!

For the final episode of Season 1, I had the privilege of talking to Zimbabwean athlete Farai Mudariki. Currently playing his rugby in France we spoke of his journey to where is now and the lesson he has picked up on the way.In our conversation some of the key takeaways include:Meditation & being present in each moment  The importance of representationUse reference points to help guide youHelping others find their inner greatness My favorite excerpt from our conversation_____________________________________________"This is this duty I have, as a Zimbabwean athlete, I'm not only playing to earn a decent amount of money. I'm a representation of a life you can build for yourself.I actually went to visit St. John's prep when I was back home recently and I went to speak to the kids. And these guys were in grade seven, some of them were in grade five. Initially, I was speaking to them thinking they may not be listening to me but I was shocked at the quality of the questions they were asked afterward.Questions like sorry, sir. Can you tell me if I wanted to play professional rugby can I build a life for myself and send my kid to school? And the feedback that I got from Mr. Mbundire and Welly who are the coaches, was that the talk was so good we need to do that again but at assembly, because these kids were phoning their parents telling them that “we had Farai who is a professional rugby player who came to speak to us today he gave us the rugby jersey. He was sitting here a couple of years ago. Mr. Mbundire was his coach and if Mr. Mbundire is my coach now, maybe I can also do the same thing.So I have a huge role to play in the sense of representation."Be Inspired!To reach out to Farai you can find him on: