Hello Podfriend!

Happy November! Or is it Dezemba? Winter is settling in very nicely up here in the north, and my social feed is showing me that Dezemba may already be in full swing in the Southern Hemisphere. While I’ve learned to love a wintry December over the 15+ years I’ve been away from Mzansi, nothing will ever compare with Dezemba, and it is my goal to experience that joy again soon.

I’m fresh from the Black Podcasting Awards , which took place in Baltimore. Although we didn’t win, we already are winners since Shades and Layers was a nominee in the Best Longtime Podcast category. It was lovely to meet so many amazing Black podcasters from the USA and the diaspora. You can read more about how it all went down, later in the newsletter. You can clearly see in the main pic that a good time was had at the Motor House, a creative space with a cafe and a theatre. I quite liked their African wax print decor and the intimate theatre where the ceremony was held.

In this edition we have:

-SAL Update

-And now for that something special

-On My Mind, and

-Giving me Joy

Before we get into the newsletter, I have one favor to ask you: please share this newsletter with a friend and ask them to join the squad. If this edition was shared with you, the click on the button below to get all the editions and be the first in the know about everything SAL.

Alright pod friends, let’s do it!

As I’ve said many times before, Shades and Layers is nothing without you the listeners and the guests who share their time to tell their stories. This month I’m urging you to revisit an episode from Season 3 which was published in November of 2021, just over a year after launching. It features Thabisa Mjo, the vivacious and talented founder of the Johannesburg-based design company, Mash T Design Studio. The studio is famous for the Tutu Light and Mjojo Cabinet . Since it was founded nearly ten years ago, the studio has been rising in profile and growing from strength to strength, winning multiple awards and collaborating with famous international design houses, including Dolce & Gabana Casa. The aforementioned designs are part of the Louvre's collection at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 

In this conversation we not only talk the ins and outs of running a creative company, but also the passion behind the work, the nature of collaboration in this industry, having a seat at the table, the meaning of accolades and the importance of being validated by your family. 

The reason you should hear this conversation with Thabisa again (or for the first time) is because Mash T Design Studio is featured on our upcoming inaugural Gift Guide/Inspiration as one of the founders making objects to treasure or gift to someone special. She is one of the founders who are aligned with Shades and Layers’ mission to support entrepreneurs who are dedicated to their practice and making an impact through amplifying their cultural heritage and/or preserving cultural crafts and artisanal practices. This year’s featured brands serve as catalysts to ideas for gifts, and are inspired by the conversations that Shades and Layers favors. As a newsletter subscriber you will be the first to catch a glimpse of our special guide. Please look out for it in your inbox and share it with others and encourage them to be part of the fun.

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After being nominated for a Black Podcasting Award I was determined to have my moment in the spotlight, and so I went to Baltimore for the ceremony. The awards were timed with the Afros and Audio podcasting conference for the Black podcasting community, so this was great for killing two birds with one stone. Most of the nominees were also attendees at the conference.

“You know you’re in the right city when your Uber driver is an elderly Black woman blasting Jodeci on her stereo,” was my answer when someone asked me what I thought of Baltimore. I loved everything about the city: the people, the food, the ease of navigation … and I know that it was because I stayed in the gentrified part of it, but even in that fancy part of town I got to see Black people occupying places as though they belonged. Having lived in Massachusetts and Washington State there is quite a difference, not only in the number of Black people that you get to see, but in the places that Black people get to claim as theirs too. What I experienced in Baltimore, is something I’ve only ever felt in South Africa - maybe in other African countries too. I’m also not ignorant of the realities in of the communities of color in Baltimore - or elsewhere in the USA for that matter - think HBO’s The Wire. Like one of my friends put it when I told him that Baltimore was nice: “Yeah it’s like Joburg... Everything is nice and fun until it isn’t, and if you don’t know how to spot the signs when things are about to go down, you can end up in trouble.”

Anyway, I was glad to have attended the first day of the Afros and Audio conference. It was really great to meet other podcasters and hear from the talented speakers in the lineup. My favorite session was by far India Tizol’s talk/workshop titled The Space Between: Building Real Relationships Beyond the Mic. I was introduced to fellow podcasters Kola, who runs the podcast Better Informed Immigrant, as well as Lola Soyebo Harris from the The Kadara Woman Podcast. Lola was a nominee in the Best New Podcast category and it was fun to be seated at the table with her. I had a little chuckle when she told me that her attempt at staying open-minded about Baltimore was shattered by television news reports of juvenile violence when she switched on her hotel room TV. Eteng Ettah from the Consider This For Comfort pod was also a pleasure to meet. I loved meeting all the nominees and just to give you an idea of the vibe, check out this IG post from Black Women Stitch, who is also the creator of the Stitch Please podcast. Speaking of Stich Please, it was a big night for its creator Lisa Woolfork, who walked away with three awards, including the ‘Best Long Time Podcast’ category, in which SAL was nominated. Shout out to Anthony Weaver from About That Wallet who was also a nominee in the same category.

It was back in 2022 when my DM’s were overflowing with recommendations to watch the Netflix mini-series, From Scratch about an Italian chef and an African American artist (with a South African name, Amahle) who fall in love and navigate the joys and challenges of cross-continental, intercultural and interracial relationships. If you know anything about me, then you know I’m a hopeless romantic 🥰. You’ll also know that the love of my life is a kind soul who’s lowkey more romantic than I am, and also happens to be Italian. So, given the most obvious similarity between my story and the series, what else could I do except watch this tearjerker and enjoy it thoroughly?

Naturally I went down a rabbit hole after discovering that it was originally a book, and got even more excited to find out that the book was a memoir by American actress, Tembi (a South African name) Locke. 🤩 FUN FACT: Tembi’s parents were in the Black Panther Movement and she was named by South African singer, Miriam Makeba who was married to Stokely Charmichael/Kwame Toure, one of the movement’s founders. The memoir became a New York Times Bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. As the story goes, Tembi met the love of her life, the late Rosario ‘Saro’ Gullo, on a street corner in Florence where she was studying Art History and they went on to make a life in the face of rejection from his family, sickness and other life and love challenges. After the launch of the Netflix adaptation of her memoir, she also went on to create a podcast called Lifted, focusing on the themes from the memoir and mini series - with a focus on what it takes to create something beautiful from life’s challenges. This month, Ms. Locke is on my radar again because she has a follow up to her incredible love story called Someday,Now and I can’t wait to get into it.

What are you reading at the moment? Hit reply and let me know.

That’s all from me this time around pod friends. I’m ready for Christmas to roll around.

Look out for our Gift Inspo in your inbox in the coming weeks. Let me know which founder you supported or what gift ideas were sparked by the products and founders featured.

Until next time, please do take good care.

Cheers,

Kutloano

(your host with the most)