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
Do Your Work, And Other Truth Bombs with Nokulinda Mkhize Horwood (S2, E5)
The Halfway Point
This is episode 5 of Season 2 of Shades and Layers, and I like where we are with the conversations today. We've talked mental and physical well-being.
It is not possible to speak Wellness, Well-being and Black women and not talk about African spirituality. Today, my guest and sangoma Nokulinda Mkhize Horwood discusses her profession, her own practice, her observations of changing attitudes towards sangomas over the past 13 year's since her initiation and some of the challenges she still faces in her work.
Nokulinda is known as @noksangoma on social media and she's also well-known for her often sold-out talks, Gogo Speaks. Judging by the popularity of these talks, not only is she providing a much needed service, but she is part of the zeitgeist of the de-colonial movement of young South Africans. Her presence and visibility are both liberating and deeply necessary for her peers.
Our discussion covers everything, from the role of family in spiritual well-being, alienation and anxiety in the city, capitalism-induced spiritual crises in South African urbanites, Covid-19, Nokulinda's own well-being and how it's changed her approach to life in general and her practice as a sangoma.
It might all sound serious, but it's a fun conversation and we do get super silly at the end of the conversation. You will love it!
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Indumba - A sangoma’s healing room, traditionally a hut. It is nonetheless a sacred space.
Amatwasa - Initiates training to become sangomas
Ukufemba - a healing process designed to trap and remove negative energies and/or evil spirits
uMgidi - celebratory ceremony
Amasiko - cultural ustoms
Ubuntu - I am because we are
Ubungoma - a spiritual calling
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