Made To Lead with Aziz Garuba

On this episode we chat with The Honorable Ahmed Hussen, Canada's Minister for International Development. We discuss his path from being a refugee to rising to become a Minister in the Canadian government handling different portfolios.

We're back after a hiatus. New episodes launch on November 9, 2023.

Today we chat with Ifę Elizabeth Shabi, a prolific brand consumer brand builder, entrepreneur, CEO, and biochemist focused on creating products and businesses in the beauty industry. She's the founder of beauty brands including Loola Cosmetics, Serumize Skin, and HB Labs, and her work has been recognized by Forbes and Elle.  We discuss her impressive story as a young black female founder in a traditionally white space, including how she started her company and the challenges she overcame to get to this point in her life. 

This episode features the fascinating story of Dr. Opiyo Oloya , Superintendant at the York Catholic District School Board.  Dr. Opiyo's story is truly inspiring. He left Uganda, the country of his birth, as a refugee as a 23 year old university student. First into Kenya and then eventually to Canada where the World University Service of Canada sponsored his undergraduate program at Queen's University.   Dr. Opiyo's love for education led him to complete a Master's degree in Education at the University of Ottawa, which allowed him to begin an illustrious career as a teacher culminating in his appointment as Superintendant.  He eventually returned to his home country to work on research into child soldiers in Northern Uganda earning his PhD as a result. He also worked along side the African Mission in Somalia chronicling their successful war against terror. His work there and subsequent book earned him an honorary Doctorate of Law and a Heroes Medal awarded presented to him by the President of Uganda. 

Today we chat with amazing South African multi-award winning jazz pianist and vocalist, Thandi Ntuli . She shares her journey into jazz music, specifically on the piano, which started at a very young age. After high school, Thandi went on to study music formally at the University of Cape Town. In this episode we also discuss some of the emotional events in her life that inspired much of the work on her albums.  To date, her many collaborations with various artists and musicians around the globe display her fluidity in genres.  Her work has received many awards and nominations including a Metro FM award nomination (2015), a Mbokodo Award (2015) and a South African Music Award (SAMA) nomination (2019). She was also the recipient of the coveted Standard Bank Young Artist award for Jazz in 2018. You can find her incredible songs and albums playing on every music streaming platform.

We're joined on the show today by Mansa Chintoh , Director, Business & Legal Affairs at Entertainment One (eOne). She shares here story as a first generation Black Canadian finding her path in life that eventually led her to a career as a lawyer in the entertainment industry.  Mansa gives back by mentoring young individuals looking to get into the entertainment industry and volunteers with Artist's Legal Advise Services , a not for profit that helps creators understand their legal rights.

Before she became Head of Growth at ScaleUpNation, Kimberly Ofori had a very interesting journey that took her from the Netherlands to Dubai and to Spain. Without a colleage degree, she started her full time career in insurance at age 16 and, after a few years, moved on to investment banking and wealth management where she rose quickly up the ranks. An unfortunate turn of events turned an opportunity in Dubai into a mad scramble for survival.  Kimberly eventually became an entrepreneur in Spain, sold 2 companies and found her way back to the Netherlands where she helps start ups grow and scale their businesses.  We delve into her amazing story on today's episode. Listen now on Braided Media 

In our first episode of Season 3, we chat with Nicole Nomsa Moyo, an Urban & Architectural Designer. She has a passion for human-centric design, master planning, innovative and disruptive sustainable development, community engagement processes, intelligent future thinking and Africa her beloved continent. Her work “Rising”, was recently selected as one of six international finalists for the 2020 Miami Design District Commission. In 2019, her work was recognized on multiple international design platforms, including the World Architecture Community, Dezeen, and ArchDaily, where two of her drawings were selected as “The Best Architecture Drawings of the Year.” FRAME Magazine Issue 129, identified her as an "anthropocentric thinker and emerging designer'' focusing on future forward off-grid design concepts. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Made To Lead on Instagram Follow Braided Media on Instagram 

Welcome to Season 3 of the Made to Lead podcast hosted by Aziz Garuba. New episodes of this season are launching April 6 so follow/subscribe on your favourite podcast platform to get notified.

On this episode we continue our conversation with Mide Akerewusi, Founder and CEO of AgentsC. He shares how he got demoted from his executive role, leading him to quit and find another job, and how he eventually decided to venture out and start his own non-profit philanthropy agency.

On Part 1 of a 2-part episode, we sit down with Mide Akerewusi, a British born African living in Canada. Mide is Founder and CEO of AgentsC Inc., a Canadian based international company delivering equity philanthropy and social research services to the non-profit and private sector. He has worked in senior relationship fundraising roles and consulted for a number of the world’s leading non-profit organisations.We discuss how having a very fractured childhood filled with numerous failures and setbacks eventually led him to the world of philanthropy and the non-profit industry.

On today's show we chat with one of the youngest executives in a Fortune 500 company Omonye Phillips, Divisional Vice President of Pharmacy Operations at Rite Aid. Her role involves overseeing the operations of 180+ stores and managing a budget in excess of $2B. Omonye has dedicated countless hours to other business, service and philanthropy efforts all focused on empowering others. She shares with us how a personal tragedy led her on a path towards a career in Pharmacy and how she eventually became an executive. We also discuss her leadership mindset and how it propelled her to run a marathon even though she was not a runner at all.

Our guest today is Horace Matthews, Vice President, Digital and Information Technology / CIO at World Vision Canada. Horace discusses his life story from growing up in Mandeville, Jamaica to eventually moving to the cold country of Canada in search of a better life for his family. He also talks about how his faith helped him through the initial tough times upon getting to Canada and how he eventually got a breakthrough into the Canadian workforce, ultimately leading him to executive roles in major companies.

From initially hating banking to eventually becoming an executive at Goldman Sachs, this episode is the exciting journey of Mary Mosope Adeyemi, a passionate, people-oriented and purpose driven woman who lives out these traits in various spheres. She is an experienced investment professional currently working as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs supporting the risk focused deployment of credit capital in the Technology, Media and Telecom Sectors. We discuss her journey into investment banking and how she eventually launched viSHEbility, a talk show and social initiative through which she inspires, coaches and fosters a community of black women who aspire to lead.

Today's guest is Tapfuma Musewe, Founder of Eschaton Solutions, a boutique firm that promotes sustainable trade and investments with African markets. Having grown up a Canadian citizen, his passion led him to spend most of his working life across Africa. He began in community development, then pivoted to entrepreneurship and established a couple of companies including a logistics company that moved FMCG’s for a blue-chip company. He then worked in market intelligence, consulting multinational clients seeking to penetrate African markets.We discuss the motivation behind creating his own company and his mission to expose Canadian businesses and investment to what Africa has to offer. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts:Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2UcfLr7Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/33DsiqISpotify: https://spoti.fi/3djrpaW

On today's show we chat with Fenten Jagdeo, Co-founder and COO of Faculty, a venture capital-backed modern grooming company based in San Francisco. Fenton discusses how he went from working management consulting to become a young entrepreneur co-founding his start up in an industry that focused largely on women. He also talks about how his company ended up securing venture capital within a few months of launching.Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2UcfLr7Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/33DsiqISpotify: https://spoti.fi/3djrpaW

Today's guest is Kike Fischer, Chief Risk Officer at Leadway Assurance, the largest insurance company in Nigeria. Kike's rise to become a C-level executive in Risk Management began with a serendipitous encounter in an elevator that eventually led her to supervising a number of trading platforms including the London Stock Exchange.Her inspirational story takes us on her life and career journey across 2 countries (UK and Nigeria) as she found her voice in an industry largely dominated by men, and eventually learned to lead without screaming.

"Action without thought is empty, thought without action is blind" - Nkrumah. This is the philosophy that guides Sam Effah, a Canadian Olympic hopeful of Ghanaian heritage, and a 2-time Canadian Champion and multiple award winning athlete. In today's episode, Sam shares his story of triumphing as a track athlete despite many setbacks from injuries. He also tells how he landed a sponsorship deal with Nike at 21 all on his own with no agent. Sam has been able to combine his enthusiasm for sport, marketing and the Olympics seamlessly, and give back to his community in many ways. Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/d1Qo1WUn

On today’s episode we continue where we left off in our conversation with Seni Sulyman, an experienced executive on a mission to build and develop Africa through technology. Today Seni talks about how he made the decision to move back to Africa after turning down offers from tech giants like Facebook and Google. This decision ultimately led him to building an airline and eventually becoming an executive at Andela.Subscribe now and listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/d1Qo1WUn

From tinkering with cell phones in Paris, to negotiating with an unexpected individual in New York, to eventually becoming an executive at one of Africa's best Lagos-based tech startups.We discuss these and many other topics with Seni Sulyman, a Harvard MBA grad and business executive whose purpose is to develop exemplary African businesses and leaders who create value through ethical leadership and superior execution. Through our conversation, we learn about recognizing your strengths and having the courage to pivot your career/life to match what drives you.