Women Who Rebrand

This week, the ladies are fed up with the four-seasons-in-one-day weather in the UK and take Women Who Rebrand to sunnier climes, namely, back to West Africa. Sareta reveals her African ancestry, and they discover they are actually cousins…ish…kinda…maybe…

They fail to agree on the definition of first and second-generation British. The hosts and their special guest swap thoughts on the new Netflix show, "Young, Famous and African", which follows the peaceful lives of a group of the super-rich, super-dramatic. African celebrities in "Real Housewives of" franchise style. Can you guess how much they love it…? Here's a hint: a lot!

In a slight deviation from their usual format, Sareta and Chioma welcome their first male guest. British-Ghanaian producer, composer, rapper, singer, and filmmaker (Yes, he really is), Bondzie Mensa Ansah, known professionally as M3NSA.

M3NSA has a career spanning over 20 years. Performances include Glastonbury and headlining at numerous music festivals across Europe and Damon Albarn's Africa Express Tours, and a MOBO nominated album. M3NSA talks to the ladies about the pressure of being a creative in a family full of creatives. The trio discuss the relatively recent reinvention of African music, dance, art and culture as "cool" and its acceptance into popular culture. They also get deep and bust some myths about Africa.

Their conversation covers how the pandemic put a hard stop to M3NSA doing what he loves as a creative in the performing arts. He shares how he was forced to reflect on previous decisions, slow down and channel his art in a new direction. His new way of thinking culminated in the 2021 release of his self-titled solo album, "Bondzie". A series of visuals, content and a short documentary, "The Making", was released last month.

During the show, M3NSA also breaks down his experience of fatherhood and the newly formed post-pandemic relationship with his children.

Thank you for being a great, first male guest, M3NSA!

Episode 16 - "Getting Real About Business with Katty Janneh"

"Dearest listeners", in honour of the return of Bridgerton season 2, this week, Chioma and Sareta talk all things royal tour of Jamaica and high society, plus they meet the queen of headwraps and hats and founder of The Realness in Business, Katty Janneh.

Katty is a business coach who supports creative entrepreneurs to make self-employment work for them, enabling them to be as proficient in running their businesses as they are in honing their craft. In true creative style, she has a portfolio career in which she has also created a sideline in the most beautiful, bright and bold affirmation prints. In this episode of Women Who Rebrand, she shares why she felt compelled to coach entrepreneurs into, among other things, charging the right price for their work.

The ladies have an honest and open conversation. They discuss owning everything about yourself, working to your own clock rather than the expected timelines, learning to ask for help from the "good people around you", and the mental health benefits of swearing.

They also reveal the top five cities in the UK for women-led business start-ups to flourish and thrive – you may be surprised…

We know you'll enjoy this episode. It's definitely a fave for us! Thank you, Katty.

Episode 15 - Yvadney Davis: Fashion Stylist & Contemporary Artist

In this episode, among other things, Sareta and Chioma create their own Dictionary of Long and Complex Words and demand an entourage! They deserve it, dammit!

And to highlight that rebranding does not mean saying goodbye to what went before, they also welcome back a special guest, Yvadney Davis, a London-based portrait artist championing the Caribbean Diaspora and the middle years. After realising that life is too short not to do what makes you happy, she returned to her art practice for the first time in over 15 years whilst enjoying a career as a Fashion Stylist. Homeschooling her two children in the middle of the global pandemic gave her the time to create, pause, reflect and pick up her paintbrush. Yvadney has transitioned creatively and found a way to enjoy both of her passions simultaneously.

Yvadney talks to the ladies about fashion styling for kids and adults, dopamine dressing, radiators and drains, being inspired in her art by her working-class, Caribbean roots and prejudice faced by her and the models that she works within the predominately white, creative industries.

And how does she do it all? In her own words, "learn to stay no to things…find your real-world inspiration…your cheerleaders…actively make time for things…and celebrate the good and the joy".

Episode 14. Getting to know the moon with Dee

Have you ever taken a moon bath? What about making your morning cuppa with some moon water? No, but sounds good, right? Do you even know what your moon sign is? Well, you’re in luck because the next full moon is coming this week (18 March – yay!) and our guest this week is here to tell you all about how to make the most of it in your life.

Dee is a proud Palestinian, an empath and a spiritual wellness guide. She is co-founder of the Goddess Temple Twickenham, a spiritual wellness centre dedicated to celebrating the Divine Feminine. The Goddess Temple offers the opportunity to celebrate the seasons, hold spiritual events and workshops (We are going to attend a smudge stick workshop, stat!) and is a sacred space for quiet contemplation.  Dee also runs a podcast, We Knew The Moon, in which she shares loads of interesting information about the moon, crystals, guided meditations, and everything witchy woo-woo.

Oh - and Dee is a fundraising consultant for empathic entrepreneurs and not-for-profit charities.

Episode 13: Celebrating IWD with Johanna Rossi, the Soul Gardener.

(Spoiler Alert: This episode contains some major Love is Blind Season 2 spoilers from 2:40 to 16:12. Don't say we didn't warn you! 😇)

Episode 12: Back to Motherland with Tetyana Denford

Sareta and Chioma speak to Tetyana Denford, author of the beautifully haunting novel ‘Motherland’, about the Russian government’s invasion into Ukraine.

Tetyana, a Ukrainian-American who currently lives with her family in New York, speaks from the heart about the importance of her heritage and cultural identity plus why she has barely slept since Putin sent his forces into Ukraine.

The ladies talk about the stories that have been told, on both sides, and why we need to think critically before accepting any narrative.

Reiki with Leah - Indigo Healing. Episode 11

Sareta and Chioma catch up on their respective half-term breaks before discussing complementary and alternative therapies this week.

The ladies have a special guest this week, Leah, a certified distance Reiki specialist & crystal healer. You might think of Reiki as “hippie-dippy”, but did you know that Reiki originates from Japan. The home of the Samurai. Balance, right?

Reiki joins two words together – “rei,” meaning universal, and “ki,” meaning life energy.

Leah shares her journey into Reiki, post-pandemic (did you know that distance Reiki can be just as effective as in-person?), and how she can combine her love of crystals with her practice.

Leah and Sareta cover tips on how to remember exactly what each of your crystals does. How to charge them, where to keep your crystals inside your house (who knew there are best places to store them?), and where to keep your crystals, so you don’t leave the house without them.

Holistic therapies have had a place in Leah’s life for decades, for moments when she needed clarity, revitalisation balancing, regrounding and to step away from everyday life for an hour or two. The opportunity presented itself for Leah to become a Reiki and Crystal Healing Practitioner; the timing was perfectly aligned with a period in her life. Everything was telling her she was ready, listen to the podcast to find out how.

Episode 10 – Women Who Rebrand – “How Not to Start a Podcast”. 

This week, it’s back to just Sareta and Chioma. In episode 10, the topic is everything that they have learned about podcasting since working together on, not one, but two whole podcasts.

They spend their time together reminiscing on their first foray into podcasting, their podcast baby - “Come Wine With Me”, a visual podcast that involved them doing the absolute most, completely unnecessarily. (You can still catch episodes of Come Wine With me on YouTube, if you’re interested, btw…)

But, despite running before they could walk, every experience is a learning opportunity and Come Wine With Me led to Women Who Rebrand!

Inbetween the podcast chat, they also discuss Valentine’s/Galentine’s, their simultaneous love, and lack of knowledge, of horror movies and Peter Dinklage.

Finally, based on their own experience, the ladies give some words of advice on what to think about before embarking on your podcast, including the importance of the name, knowing your 'why', understanding who your audience is, getting the equipment that you need and what else you can do with your podcast – monetization and beyond.

.Episode 9 – Women Who Rebrand – “Blended Families & IVF with Jennie Guay” is out!

⚠Trigger/Content Warning: this episode tackles IVF and infertility ⚠️

In the first episode of 2022, Sareta and Chioma have a brief catch up, because it’s been way too long, before welcoming their second ever special guest, children’s author, Jennie Guay.

Jennie is the author of “Howie Blend - Playdate Adventures with Family & Friends”, the first of the “Howie Blend” series that aims to boost diversity in children’s reading.  (Howie Blend…How we blend…geddit? 😉)

The ladies spend this episode having a very open, honest and informative chat about Jennie’s move away from her steady 9-5 to life as a children’s author within a very niche genre, her family life as a stepmother to two children and the motivation for her book, the publishing journey and her plans to create a Howie Blend franchise (don’t be surprised if you see Howie Blend on a TV screen near you soon) and the minefield that is IVF – whew!

Jennie quit her high-flying, six-figure, financial services career in the city to move to the country to be with her wife and her two lovely stepchildren. However, when she realised that she was struggling to find books and toys for her stepchildren that reflect the realities of their blended family, she was determined to take things into her own hands and set off to encourage not just children but also parents to embrace differences and diversity.

This week, Chioma and Sareta discuss the latest variant of Covid-19 - Omicron…or is it Omarion? Or perhaps, Megatron…?  Whatever it’s called, it’s led to the return of masks and travel restrictions…just as we are heading towards Christmas. So, the question on everyone’s lips is - will there be another lockdown over the Christmas period? 😩 

Sticking with the politics theme, they reflect on the recent discovery that the Prime Minister held a Christmas party last year, while the rest of us were being advised to cancel ours! Obviously, the playlist was whack though, so it’s really no big deal 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

Episode 5 – Doing The Most

This week, Sareta and Chioma tackle a subject that has become increasingly relevant over the past couple of years - burnout.

They discuss recognising the signs and what we do when it all gets too much. Has hybrid working led to permanent blurred lines between work and home life? Is it possible to achieve work-life balance anymore? And, is the juggle even harder to manage when you’re a freelancer?

Chioma takes the NHS “Better Health - Every Mind Matters” quiz for some wellbeing advice… The question is - will she put it into practice?

Episode 4 – Code Switching. 

This week, Sareta and Chioma talk about having to adapt to fit into certain spaces – changing the way we look, behave and speak…or not 🤷🏽‍♀️

In an extended episode, we talk Tinie Tempah’s unapologetic venture into the property design world, Regé-Jean Page’s acceptance of code switching in order to open doors and our own experiences of adapting ourselves to fit in. 

FACT CHECK: During this episode, Sareta states that Regé-Jean Page was born in Zimbabwe and later moved to the UK.  He was, in fact, born in London, moved to Zimbabwe, then returned to the UK for secondary school. Apols Regé ✌🏽