What left the group chat.

What left the group chat.

Hosted by three bold Black women — one Zimbabwean 🇿🇼, one African American 🇺🇸, and one Zambian 🇿🇲 — this podcast dives deep into everything including: - Navigating life in Australia - Balancing business, career & ambition - Marriage, friendship & womanhood - Culture, identity & everything in between This is the space where laughter, vulnerability, and real conversations collide.

Episodes

  1. 6 Aug

    Episode 12 - Why can't we just sit down?!

    In this episode, we explore the importance of rest, challenge cultural and familial norms around productivity, and discuss practical ways to integrate true rest into daily life. If you’ve ever felt guilty for taking a break or wondered how to model rest for your children, this conversation offers insightful reflections and actionable tips.Key topicsThe cultural narrative equating busyness with success and its rootsHow familial and societal models influence perceptions of rest and productivityRest as a fundamental human right, not something to earnThe psychological and emotional impact of guilt and trauma associated with restPractical strategies for incorporating intentional rest into busy schedulesThe importance of modeling healthy rest behaviors for childrenDifferent types of rest: social, creative, physical, and mentalTools and resources for teaching children about the value of restRevisiting traditional roles and expectations of women and how they shape rest behaviorsTimestamps00:00 - Welcome and episode overview: embracing the art of doing nothing01:18 - Introduction of hosts and their diverse backgrounds02:03 - Exploring personal experiences around rest and sickness02:50 - The question: Why do we collectively struggle to sit down?03:27 - The influence of familial sayings about doing versus being04:09 - Rest as resistance and the concept of earning it04:47 - How societal norms and stereotypes reinforce the hustle culture05:44 - Examining gender roles in rest and the cultural expectations for women07:12 - Childhood and familial modeling of rest and work ethic08:20 - The socio-cultural shame around sleeping or taking naps09:40 - Impact of traditional roles on rest and self-care for women10:21 - The importance of modeling rest for children and teaching them to rest differently11:28 - How trauma influences the perception of busyness and exhaustion12:47 - The role of cultural and generational values in shaping work and rest habits14:14 - Interrupting the cycle: the journey towards restful habits and self-care16:33 - Emotional responses to rest, guilt, and shame17:35 - Practical tools: how to pause, check in, and give oneself permission to rest18:25 - Recognizing different forms of rest and their importance19:06 - The importance of intentional rest and the dangers of perpetual exhaustion20:47 - How traditional values inform household responsibilities and gendered expectations22:44 - The balance between cultural norms and modern life realities29:20 - Teaching children to rest and model healthy behaviors for the next generation32:10 - Visualizing the concept of time and where rest fits into busy schedules33:19 - The challenge of finding moments of calm in a hectic day34:32 - Connecting with one’s inner child for restorative moments35:11 - The importance of being mindful of different types of rest36:16 - Practical tips for pausing and resetting during the day42:34 - Committing to a daily practice of rest and recharging43:03 - Closing thoughts: prioritizing rest as a right, not a reward

  2. 28 July

    Episode 11 - Wigs, Weaves and Waistlines, Beauty Standards 2.0

    In this episode, we explore themes of body positivity, hair, beauty standards, and self-love within the context of Black women’s experiences. Mati, Tahj and Jill share personal stories, cultural insights, and practical tips for embracing authenticity and diversity. Key Topics Body positivity and self-love Natural hair journeys and styling Cultural beauty standards and societal pressures Impact of media and reality TV on beauty perceptions Balancing health, confidence, and societal expectations The role of family and community in body image Cosmetic surgery and medication: coexistence with self-love Parenting and body image conversations with children Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Panel Overview 01:55 Personal Updates and Recent Experiences 13:02 Beauty Standards and Hair Stories 27:03 Body Image, Cosmetic Surgery, and Self-Love 45:06 Parenting, Children, and Body Positivity 52:49 Practical Tips for Embracing Your Body

  3. 8 July

    Episode 10 - Nobody's Coming to Save You - Life Without Our Village

    Nobody's Coming to Save You: Life Without Our Village.This week Jill, Mati & Tahj get into the one thing nobody warns you about when you raise a family in the diaspora: doing it all without your village. From the aunties, grandmothers and church family who raised us, to FaceTime grandparents 17 hours away, marriages that have to become a two-person team, and the bittersweet pull of a home that feels further away every day. Zimbabwean 🇿🇼 African American 🇺🇸 Zambian 🇿🇲 , pull up a chair, it's giving group chat.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━IN THIS EPISODE━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━- Why "the village" is about so much more than childcare, it's identity, belonging and autonomy- How raising kids far from family forces a marriage to become a real team ("nobody's coming to save you")- The romanticised village vs. the reality and the autonomy you trade for the help- Parenting gems: "big girl chats" and the mummy–daughter journal- Reframing the mental load as a team meeting, not a personal failure- The ache of FaceTime grandparenting across time zones━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━0:00 – We're back: Season 2 is here2:51 – Raising a preteen & the questions you're not ready for6:54 – Big girl chats & the mummy–daughter journal11:24 – Tahj's surprise for Reggie14:46 – 4 months off?! Long service leave vs America17:08 – Doing life without our village19:27 – Gogo & the village we grew up with25:38 – Why home still pulls at us27:20 – When it all falls on the two of you29:45 – Marriage back home vs the diaspora33:14 – The FaceTime grandparent struggle40:21 – "Ashy but on time": parenting & timing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ABOUT THE SHOW━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━What Left the Group Chat is a podcast made by us, for us,three friends in Naarm (Melbourne) talking relationships, culture, motherhood, identity and everything in between, from a diaspora women-of-colour lens. New episodes once a week.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━FOLLOW & LISTEN━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━▶ Subscribe on YouTube: @whatleftthegroupchat🎧 Spotify & Apple Podcasts: "What Left the Group Chat"📱 Instagram & TikTok: @whatleftthegroupchat🌐 http://whatleftthegroupchat.comIf this one hit home, tell us in the comments who your village is, and don't forget to like, subscribe and share with a friend who needs to hear it. 🤍#WhatLeftTheGroupChat #TheVillage #Diaspora #BlackWomenPodcast #Motherhood #Zimbabwean #Zambian #AfricanAmerican #Naarm #MelbournePodcast #Sisterhood #DiasporaDaughters

  4. 2 July

    Episode 9 - We're back. Peaks, Pits & Plot Twists

    Our first season was a massive achievement, marked by engaging discussions and heartfelt connections. We initially envisioned our audience as women like us, navigating life and its challenges. However, the feedback revealed a much broader demographic, including listeners from various backgrounds who found resonance in our conversations. This unexpected outreach has been heartwarming and proves the power of shared experiences.The very essence of What Left the Group Chat is about fostering community. In today’s world, where connections can sometimes feel fleeting, having a space where we can celebrate our stories is crucial. We aim to uplift women who look like us, empowering them to share their narratives and connect across the globe.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Audience Connection07:22 Personal Growth and Family Connections12:00 Navigating Life's Challenges25:03 Travel Experiences and Family Dynamics38:11 Community Building and Cultural ConnectionsWebsite - https://www.whatleftthegroupchat.com/TikTok - h  / whatleftthegroupchat  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/whatleftthegroupchat

  5. 6 Jan

    Episode 8 - The friendship hustle at our BIG age.

    In this final episode of season 1, Mati, Tahj and Jill explore the complexities of adult friendships, sharing personal anecdotes about friendship auditions, parenting, and the challenges of maintaining relationships. They discuss the importance of resilience, the dynamics of making new friends, and the emotional weight of friendship trauma. The dialogue emphasises the need for understanding and flexibility in relationships as life changes, and they reflect on their own experiences with friendship expectations and how they individually navigate friendship breakups.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Light Banter03:04 Audition Experience and Resilience06:08 Overwhelm and Life Events09:01 Friendship Dynamics in Adulthood11:50 Making New Friends as Adults14:57 Navigating Old Friendships18:02 The Role of the 'Mayor' in Friendships20:59 Friendship Expectations and Changes23:59 Handling Friendship Breakups26:56 Embracing Change in Relationships30:09 Conclusion and Reflections

  6. 23/12/2025

    Episode 7 - The Mental Load

    In this episode, Jill takes Mati and Tahj into the into the concept of the mental load, particularly as it pertains to women of colour in Australia. They discuss the unique challenges faced by black women in predominantly white spaces, the invisible burdens of responsibility in parenting, and the cultural expectations that shape their experiences. The conversation highlights the importance of partnership in managing these responsibilities and the need to break generational patterns that perpetuate stress and over-functioning. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Group Chat 01:15 Understanding the Mental Load 04:16 The Experience of Black Women and the Mental Load 07:40 The Invisible Burden of Responsibility 09:58 Cultural Expectations and Parenting 12:54 The Impact of Western Society on Parenting 14:00 The Pressure of Representation 19:30 Cultural Expectations in Relationships 22:31 Breaking Generational Patterns 26:05 The Importance of Partnership in Parenting 30:01 Shifting Perspectives on Responsibilities 35:35 Conclusion and Future Discussions

  7. 09/12/2025

    Episode 6 - Should we stay or go? Migrant stories in Australia.

    In this conversation, Mati, Tahj & Jill discuss their experiences as women of colour living in Australia, focusing on the current climate of unrest related to race and anti immigration protests. They share personal feelings of heaviness and anger in response to anti-immigration rallies and reflect on their identities as proud migrants who have contributed positively to the country. The discussion also touches on the challenges of raising children in a society where they may face discrimination, and the importance of building a supportive community that fosters resilience and cultural identity.TakeawaysWe need to see more representation in media.The feeling of unrest is palpable in Australia.Processing emotions around race is essential.Proud migrants contribute significantly to society.Anti-immigration sentiments can be deeply offensive.Belonging is a crucial aspect of identity.Raising resilient children is a priority for parents.Community support is vital for navigating challenges.Conversations about race should be ongoing.Hope and resilience can emerge from difficult experiences.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Community01:19 Feeling of Unrest in Australia03:03 Processing Emotions and Experiences06:21 Reflections on Race and Identity09:59 Confronting Anti-Immigration Sentiments12:46 Belonging and Cultural Identity16:00 Raising Resilient Children24:16 Building a Supportive Community

  8. 25/11/2025

    Episode 5 - How we met their daddies.

    In this engaging conversation, Mati, Tahj and Jill share personal stories about how they met their partners, the cultural expectations surrounding marriage, and the adjustments that come with married life. The discussion highlights the journey of love, the reality of marriage, and the growth that comes from shared experiences. Ultimately, they reflect on the importance of being intentional in relationships and the beauty of love in all its forms. Sound bites "We just lived our lives!" "It was an incredible high." "We're in the thick of it." Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates 02:58 Sharing Highs and Lows 06:01 Travel Stories and Adventures 09:00 The Golf Dilemma 12:04 How We Met Our Partners 14:58 Navigating Relationships and Connections 24:42 Summer Love to Lifelong Commitment 27:15 Recognizing the One: Signs of True Love 30:27 Navigating Long-Term Relationships 33:11 Adjusting to Married Life: Surprises and Challenges 36:47 Cultural Expectations in Marriage 39:12 Communication Styles and Conflict Resolution 45:15 The Evolution of Love: Stages of Relationships

  9. 18/11/2025

    Episode 4 - The Hood that is Motherhood

    In this episode of 'What Left the Group Chat', Mati, Tahj and Jill discuss their personal experiences as Black women raising children in a predominantly white society. They share highs and lows from their week, touching on the challenges of parenting, particularly in relation to cultural identity and racial dynamics. The conversation delves into their pregnancy and birth experiences, childcare challenges, and the importance of addressing racial issues in schools. They emphasise the need for open dialogue and systemic change in education to better support children of colour.Chapters00:00 Introduction to What left the group chat and Its Purpose01:17 Highs, Lows, and Buffaloes: Personal Updates15:45 Raising Black Children in a Predominantly White Society16:09 Pregnancy Experiences: A Comparative Discussion24:04 Navigating Pregnancy Challenges27:32 Experiencing Loss and Support in Healthcare31:40 Childcare Experiences and Racial Awareness34:47 Schooling and Racial Identity40:31 Addressing Racial Issues in Education

  10. 11/11/2025

    Episode 3 - Becoming our own standard of beauty.

    In this engaging conversation, Mati, Tahj and Jill explore various themes surrounding beauty standards, personal journeys, and cultural identity. They share personal anecdotes about family, reality TV, and the impact of community on self-perception. The discussion delves into the evolution of beauty standards, the significance of hair in identity, and reflections on aging and body image. The ladies emphasise the importance of representation and the influence of cultural backgrounds on self-image, creating a rich dialogue.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Weekly Check-In03:02 Family Dynamics and Unexpected Changes05:55 Reality TV Obsession: Love Island Discussion09:01 Exploring Beauty Standards and Personal Journeys12:02 Cultural Influences on Beauty Perception15:03 Experiences of Bullying and Identity17:58 Finding Community and Acceptance21:02 Navigating Identity in Diverse Spaces24:10 The Power of Community and Heritage26:50 Embracing Femininity and Identity32:09 The Struggle with Self-Image36:22 Aging and Body Image44:51 The Relationship with Hair and Identity

  11. 04/11/2025

    Episode 2 - Your authentic self at the J.O.B.

    This week, Mati, Tahj, and Jill dive into showing up authentically at work, with a focus on the unique challenges Black women face in professional settings. They talk about navigating code switching, staying true to themselves, and the ways that culture, hair, and appearance come into play in the workplace. It’s a real and insightful conversation about balancing professionalism with authenticity. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Catching Up 03:00 Highs, Lows, and Buffaloes: Personal Updates 05:59 Navigating Motherhood 08:57 Career Break and Self-Discovery 11:56 Hair Care and Cultural Expectations 17:51 Authenticity in the J.O.B 24:01 Code Switching and Identity 35:55 Current Affairs and Relationship Dynamics

    Episode 2 - Your authentic self at the J.O.B.

  12. 21/10/2025

    Episode 1 - Ok, here goes something.

    In this inaugural episode of 'What Left the Group Chat', Mati, Tahj, and Jill introduce themselves and share their personal journeys as women of colour living in the diaspora. They discuss the importance of creating a supportive space for women, the challenges and joys of navigating cultural identity, and the entrepreneurial spirit that drives them. The conversation highlights the significance of relationships and community, as well as the motivation behind starting the podcast. YoBgth4TyY2BJRa4QOXT

  • 12 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Hosted by three bold Black women — one Zimbabwean 🇿🇼, one African American 🇺🇸, and one Zambian 🇿🇲 — this podcast dives deep into everything including: - Navigating life in Australia - Balancing business, career & ambition - Marriage, friendship & womanhood - Culture, identity & everything in between This is the space where laughter, vulnerability, and real conversations collide.

Information

  • Creator
    What left the group chat.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © What left the group chat.
  • Show Website
    What left the group chat.

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