Raw Stories Podcast
By Fungai Mettler
Raw Stories PodcastFeb 14, 2021
S2 E11 Natalia Sierra - Artist, filmmaker, human rights advocate, social entrepreneur tells her story.
Natalia Sierra grew up in the cosmopolitan Bogotá, Colombia. She was raised in a Christian family and to the day she is still driven by love, divine purpose and faith in Jesus Christ.
After finishing her studies in documentary filmmaker her passion for human rights and social justice led her and her family to flee Colombia and look for political asylum in Switzerland.
Ever since she has initiated various projects in the intersection of art, activism, urban space and social entrepreneurship. Her story has been featured in such context as Art Basel, The UN agency for refugees, Swiss national tv and radio channel SRF and more.
Her story is inspiring!
Website: https://nataliasierrapoveda.wixsite.com/nataliasierra
Facebook: Natalia Sierra Poveda
Instagram: @Natalia.sierra.nevada
@pttp.walks
S2 E10: Iwona Fluda and her mission to bring more creativity to the world.
This week’s guest is a powerhouse! Her name is Iwona Fluda and she is on a mission to bring more creativity to the world. She founded the Ministry of Creativity LLC which is the umbrella company for Creative Switzerland and Organic Cosmetic. She shares her journey, the obstacles she has faced and lessons learnt in such a relatable manner!
Creative Switzerland - https://creativeswitzerland.com/
Organic Cosmetics - https://organiccosmetics.ch/
Purpose, Mindfulness and Sustainable Well-being: A conversation with Mona Dawood
Mona Dawood is the Founder of Mona Dawood Consulting and Co-founder of Design your purpose.
She is committed to a sustainable and more humane world and believes we can create such a world through personal development, mindfulness, and a change in mindset. She provides counselling, facilitates workshops and guides people in the journey towards inner sustainability, wellbeing, and well-doing. Her journey is inspiring - listen for yourself!
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mona-dawood-b70738133/
S2. E8: Starting where you are and with what you have: The story of Gracious Muzivanhanga
Gracious Mazivanhanga is a 23 year old Chemical and Process Systems Engineering student living in Harare Zimbabwe. She is the CEO and founder of Shining light Foundation, a non-profit organisation that has the children and youth of Zimbabwe at heart. Her story of that of starting where you are and with what you have - she is simply impressive!
S2 E7 Narratives of Purpose Podcast Host Claire Murigande Shares Her Journey
S2 E6 The journey of a professional orator - Isabel Gambura
Her journey is that of overcoming, turning pain into power and becoming who she was always meant to be - a force to be reckoned with.
Her storytelling page: www.facebook.com/PaidaIzzy-thestoryteller-704107213273035.
S2 E5 The incredible Sandra Fischer shares her journey and the importance of a creative playground.
S2 E4: Trailblazing and paving her own path: The story of Dr Tu Nguyen
She is a writer, a traveler, a global citizen having lived and worked in 4 countries, including the US for 10 years. Tu is passionate about making the world a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable place.
She currently lives with her husband, her adopted cat, and adopted dog in Canada.
Website:
www.linkedin.com/in/tnnguyen1/
tunguyeneconomics.com/
vietsisters.com/ (still in beta mode)
S2 E3: Dreaming beyond what you can see - the story of Calvin Madula.
Calvin Madula is Multi Award Winning Actor / Fashion & Lifestyle Model / TV Host and Voice Over Artist. We are excited to welcome him to the Raw Stories Podcast and are so grateful to him for opening up and sharing about his journey.
He has set his sights on invading the world’s capital of acting, Hollywood after securing a spot at the prestigious Model and Talent Convention in New York next year. A giant in his space and a great person with an incredible story!
S2 E2: Susann Kühne - The Passionate Hiker and World Explorer.
Susann is an explorer, facilitator and active learner that strongly believes that action brings change. She loves inspiring and developing people as well as exchanging to bring people and ideas forward. Beyond her incredible career, hers is a journey of exploration. The lessons she shares are simply incredible, from the power of starting, owning our paths and also remembering to stop from time to time and look around us. Listen to what she has to say about travel after 40 countries across 3 continents.
S2 E1: Reflecting with Kondwani Mwase - An incredible and inspiring storyteller.
Kondwani is a Canadian based compelling storyteller whose pursuits and passions have culminated in the creation of 54Lights podcast.
54Lights Podcast is dedicated to telling under told stories (out of Africa). While a charismatic host to some, he’s known to others as a consultative strategist.He is a marketer who is skilled in translating insights into action. His keen eye for authentic audience engagement delivers a vision where products, customers and corporate reputation align.
54 Lights - https://54lights.com/your-host/
Speech Simplified - https://speechsimplified.co.uk/about
17. Valentina Coco, the golden connector shares her inspiring story.
I welcomed Valentina Coco on the Raw Stories Podcast and I am simply in awe of her! She is the chief connection diversity and story telling officer of Coco Consulting and Coaching. She is an experienced leader with an engineer mindset and a passion for making connections and making things happen.
As a purpose driven leader and mental health advocate she knows first hand how important community, inclusion and finding your own purpose is for a balanced life - and that’s why she decided to dedicate her energy to this mission.
Her podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/0F6ki7sqp1GBUuhHO5CY6B
Her consultancy - https://www.linkedin.com/company/coco-consulting-and-coaching/
16. How Thuba Sibanda is shattering glass ceilings and driving social change.
People, you are going to need shoes when listening to this episode of the Raw Stories Podcast! My guest, Thuba Sibanda is shattering glass ceilings! Her dream is to run sport in the world, listen to this episode and you will understand why she will!
Thuba is a TEDx speaker, Obama Leader 2019, FIFA Master and FIFA women’s football technical expert. She is the Program Director at Physically Active Youth Namibia, a sport for development organisation operating in marginalised and informal communities of Namibia. Thuba is the Head Coach of the University of Namibia women's football team and a passionate speaker and advocate for female empowerment and leadership in sport. Her story starts in the township of Mpopoma in Zimbabwe. It is one of valiantly thriving to make a difference and breaking the status quo in a society that desperately needs it.
Off the sports wagon, she dons caps as a writer, blogger and consultant in strategy, project management and leadership. Brilliant is an understatement, she is pure magic!
Website - http://thubasibanda.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thubasibandastory/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thubaelihle-sibanda-85997a63/
What strength, what faith and what courage. Nanjitaswa Banda shares her story.
Nanjitaswa Banda is the Founder of Dignity Africa Foundation an organisation aimed at restoring the lives of people who are suffering emotional, Mental, Physical and social trauma and bring them to a place of healing to live a life of dignity, inner peace and joy. Nanji is nearing the end of her studies in theology and is writing a book focusing on her life and journey.
In this podcast she opens up about her journey and how she has battled depression. She talks about post-natal depression as well as how she battled with smiling depression. One day she made a decision that she thought would end it all. Everything was in place and then something unexpected happened.
14. Dorcas Dube and her pursuit to leave the world better than she found it.
This week's episode is with Dorcas Dube who is an award-winning Marketing and Communications professional. She has been recognized in the top 4 Youth Wonders in South Africa. She is passionate about Human Rights, Humanitarian Work and Social Justice. She believes that the world can be a better place if we work together as one to add value to communities, solve issues such as poverty, inequality and an ailing education system therefore active citizenship/advocacy is key.
This woman is on one mission - to leave the world better than she found it and she has taken incredible strides to get there!! Her story is that of growth, ambition and never giving up!
https://www.instagram.com/dorciedee/
13. Anna Stando - A woman with the strength of a thousand moons tells her story.
In this episode, Anna Stando shares her story openly for the very first time! It is one of strength, overcoming, growing and healing. The lessons that she shares are not to be missed.
Who is Anna? She is a Diversity and Inclusion Professional working at Advance Gender Equality in Business, a Lean In Leader, and board member at an organisation called Capacity. Her experience spans across 7 countries in three continents, impressive!
She is a mum first and most recently has newly found interest in entrepreneurship, having founded Baby Miles. She wears these multiple hats with grace and elegance.
Company Website - https://babymiles.ch
12. Chengetai Mukuku shares about her battle with depression and how she took control of her life!
I am not sure I know anyone as strong as Chengetai Mukuku. Growing up in a culture that hardly recognises depression as a real sickness. She opens up about the first time she attempted suicide at just 11 years old. It took 20 years after losing our mum for her to open up and start speaking to a counsellor that has helped her work through the pain.
One thing that is clear from speaking to Chengetai is that many times in life, our pain point becomes our ministry. She is the Head of Accounting and Finance at SwiZim Trust and we are so glad we can depend on her expertise. She is also the genius behind our child headed homes projects because she knows what it is like to head a home as a child.
She shares her story and offers anyone struggling with depression to reach out to her. I am in awe of your strength Chenge, thank you for sharing your story and for talking about a topic that is often swept under the rug.
11. Reflections and mind-blowing lessons
The last three months since launching the Raw Stories Podcast have been incredible. I have shared about my life, my husband joined and we talked about our journey as a couple. I have had six incredible guests, all of them multi-passionate creatives. In this podcast I extract the main lessons from the conversations so far. I also explain the difference between a jack of all trades and a multi-passionate creative! I enjoyed this and I know you will too. If you haven't been able to listen to all the podcasts, this is your fix. All the lessons consolidated in 13mins 50seconds!
I will continue to share raw stories with you every 2 weeks and already excited! Thank you for listening, I appreciate you!
10. What a woman, what a story. Dina Mahlabegoane shares her life journey.
Dinah Mahlabegoane is an influencer, traveller, social media entrepreneur and a renowned businesswoman. She helps women build and market their brands so that they can create a life they love. She holds an MBA in music and creative industries. Has work for multiple companies including DSTV and SABC in South Africa.
Although she grew up in a poverty environment, she always took advantage of opportunities that she came across. She also learned to overcome obstacles and beat the odds along the way. She now inspires people around the world to do the same.
She has a high energy persona and inspirational teaching style which is why she is known as #Berekamosadi. Over the years she has trained professionals to achieve new levels of sucess. She is passionate about working with winners to actualise their full potential.
She has been featured in various publications including True Love, PrimeTV Zambia, Capricorn FM, Radio 2000 to name the few.. She is also a resident judge on a game plan TV show on SABC 2 in South Africa.
Website - https://thedination.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dinahmahlabegoane/
9. Melanie Kalberer and her pursuit for happiness. A story of dedication, love and following her passions.
I have not had my mind blown on this level in a very long time. This conversation with Melanie Kalberer (Meli) on the Raw Stories Podcast completely changed how I view life!
Meli is a multi-passionate creative. She started her career in a bank in Zurich in 2007 and this job gives her the financial stability to pursue all her passions. She decided to seek more from life and pursued dancing, first as a hobby and now at a professional level. She has also studied and became a yoga teacher and has opened the Mas Energy Centre. Alongside, she is studying a degree in Applied Languages in Zurich.
Her foundation is love – it comes first for her. Love for her boyfriend, her family, friends and for her dog.
When Meli was training for her dancing exam – she needed to put in 25hrs of practice for a whole year. That makes a staggering 1’300hrs of training...for a 2hr performance/exam. Listen to what she has to say about this.
You can find all her work and projects under https://instabio.cc/happymeli
8. Willard Kachere shares his story - one of both taking and creating opportunities wherever he goes.
William Kachere is a serial entrepreneur that left Australia to build up his life back home, in Zimbabwe. He owns several start-ups with a global network system of partners and friends. Willard’s companies are in distribution, finance, transport, sport, entertainment and in the tech industry.
Behind every success story are obstacles to be overcome. He is a master at what he does and his story is one of both taking and creating opportunities wherever he goes. It is one that shows the power of the right mindset and the takeaways are filled with wisdom!
7. A story of how Pragati left everything behind to start afresh in Switzerland.
A conversation about how Pragati Siddhanti left India and moved to Switzerland as a trailing spouse. The decision was hard to make as it meant leaving everything behind (family, friends, an accelerating career and a social circle) and starting over. Hers is a story of being deliberate about her adaptation and pursuing her passions.
6. You Don’t Need To Be a Millionaire to Become a Philanthropist!
5. Mindset and Action - A story of how Michelina Chindiya decided to take control of her life and health
At 20, as she was walking up the stairs, Michelina Chindiya realised that she was struggling to breathe, her blood pressure had sky rocketed and she did not feel good. 20kgs had crept up in a space of 2-3years making her weight unhealthy. She decided to do something about it. In this podcast she shares her story and some key takeaways on how to approach goals.
4. Our journey as a couple and how we got here.
3. Stories are powerful for human connection
2. Orphans are not cursed!
1. “It takes a village to raise a child” - Reflecting on my journey.