Shades & Layers
Shades and Layers is a podcast focused on black women entrepreneurs from across the globe. It is a platform for exploring issues and challenges around business ownership, representation and holistic discussions about the meaning of sustainability in an increasingly complex global context. Conversations are wide- ranging and serve not only as a Masterclass in Entrepreneurship but also provide wisdom and tools for Successful Living. It is a space for meaningful conversation, a place for black and other women of color to be fully human and openly share their quirks and vulnerabilities.
Guests include prominent figurers in the beauty, fashion and wellness industries both in the Northern Hemisphere and the Global South.
Dr. Theo Mothoa-Frendo of USO Skincare discusses her journey from being product junkie to creating an African science-based skincare range. Taryn Gill of The Perfect Hair is a brand development whizz who discusses supply chain and distribution of her haircare brands. Katonya Breux discusses melanin and sunscreen and how she addresses the needs of a range of skin tones with her Unsun Cosmetics products.
We discuss inclusion in the wellness industry with Helen Rose Skincare and Yoga and Nectarines Founder , Day Bibb. Abiola Akani emphasizes non-performance in yoga with her IYA Wellness brand and Anesu Mbizho shares her journey to yoga and the ecosystem she's created through her business The Nest Space.
Fashion is all about handmade, custom made and circular production with featured guests like fashion designer Maria McCloy of Maria McCloy Accessories; Founder and textile/homeware designer Nkuli Mlangeni Berg of The Ninevites as well as Candice Lawrence, founder of the lighting design company Modern Gesture. These are just a few the conversations on the podcast over the past three years.
Shades & Layers
Melanin and Medicine with Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo (S4, E1)
For the first episode of this season we have partnered with Melanin and Medicine, who are doing important work helping Black, LatinX, and Indigenous women in the medical field build, fund, and grow their own businesses.
Our guest is CEO and founder, Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo. In our conversation she discusses how a health crisis forced her to take a pause and reflect on her 15-year career as a pediatrician, professor and healthcare advocate. During her recovery, she took time to connect with her colleagues in the sector and found that she was not alone in her quest for an integrated and balanced life, and so she created Melanin and Medicine.
She also took the chance to use the program she offers through Melanin and Medicine, to co-found and launch her own social enterprise, Strong Children Wellness, where she continues her passion for bringing quality healthcare to children in black and brown and other marginalized communities.
In our candid chat, she gets in to the details of what she does on a day to day, being raised by a nurse, growing up in a Nigerian household and all the other factors that came together to influence her career trajectory and passion for social justice and advocacy.
I hope our conversation will inspire you to find the intersection of all the things that make you thrive in life and work.
LINKS & MENTIONS
If Dr. Omolara's mission resonates with you, feel free to reach out to her and the team for FREE and get a review of your ideas and answers to your relevant questions.
Strong Children Wellness - Co-founded by Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo , this is one of the companies that have been through the Melanin and Medicine incubator, a case of the doctor taking her own medicine if you will.
NPR - https://www.npr.org/
ESSENCE Magazine - https://www.essence.com/
Politico - https://www.politico.com/
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