A Series of Ands Unwomanly Media

WELCOME TO SEASON 3 LAUNCH EPISODE!

In this episode, we connect with a heavy weight, a woman who is truly the epitome of an African Bawse! Nollie Maoto, the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at FNB Merchant Services, one of South Africa's largest Banks. She’s a proven leader in executing data analytics strategies while rendering business intelligence solutions. 

With the many hats she wears, Nollie was appointed as the Country CDO Ambassador for South Africa by the Chief Data Officer Magazine. She’s a world-renowned leader in data, a Fifty SA 2021 inspiring women in the STEM sector in South Africa nominee, she is also one of the 2022 Corinium Global Top 100 Leaders in Data & Analytics. A finalist for the inaugural Data Leaders Exchange - Data Analytics Leader of the Year awards,  and also made the prestigious Global Data Power Women List in 2022.

We dive deeper into her upbringing in South Africa, tackled a heartfelt conversation around the South African Apartheid and its impact in her early years. We explored her other passion areas and how she became a force to be reckoned with in a male dominated field. We wanted to know how a badass like her shattered the glass ceiling and became one of the top experts across business intelligence and data analytics.

Nollie is also a key member of Africa Tech Festival, which is the largest and most influential tech event on the continent, and the home of #AfricaCom and #AfricaTech. We discussed the rise of women in the tech industry in Africa and some of the strides and impact being made.

Nollie is a BAWSE and a Queen who lives an intentional, motivational, impactful,  and purposeful  life.

Connect with Nollie on all social platforms @nolliemaoto

Did you know that Kenya is home to Africa’s second-highest mountain, Mount Kenya? Standing at 5199m tall, it takes 4 to 5 days to climb. Did you also know that the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize is from Kenya?

In this episode we introduce you to our girl and boss babe from Kenya Muthoni Waigwa. She’s the Co-founder of Nifty Works Plus Ltd, a trailblazing graphic design and audio-visual production company that creates innovative and cutting-edge digital content from the African perspective. She’s also a producer, writer, creative director, digital media enthusiast, and podcast host of "Moments with Nderru," a series that showcases captivating & engaging stories. 

Muthoni is passionate about African storytelling, a visionary leader in her own rights, a truly dynamic and inspirational speaker. This episode was a treat filled with so many mic drops and inspirational moments. We dive deeper into Muthoni’s childhood and upbringing growing up in Kenya, some of her fondest moments and most trying experiences. Her vulnerability, openness, and transparency in sharing her story with us was quite remarkable. Muthoni's strength, passion, and resilience proves how real women with real experiences do not allow the curve balls life throws at them to deter them from their dreams and vision.  

With her unparalleled creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, we got the chance to discuss further her company Nifty Work Plus Ltd, what inspired her to build her own initiative, the ups and down of running a long-term business on the continent and owning your niche. We also highlighted her long-term vision for Nifty Work, their impact thus far and key barriers within the African content creation ecosystem.

We tackle systematic oppression, women empowerment, gender equity, inner healing, and finding peace through life's most dire circumstances. Muthoni is truly a beacon of hope, a resilient warrior, and the epitome of African Girl Magic! 

We are giving you a one-way ticket to “Africa Giant”, yes, the home of Burna Boy! We are talking about The Federal Republic of Nigeria! A country known for its vibrant music, diversity, and culture. Nigeria is Africa’s largest country with 200 million people with over 500 languages spoken.
Meet the dynamic Naija Boss Babe Onyinye Okonji. Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Sycamore. An online peer to peer lending platform where lenders, investors, and borrowers can access financial solutions with great returns. Sycamore offers investment products that provide competitive returns to savvy lenders and personalized loan products to individuals and SMEs to operate and extend capital. 
As a fintech expert, Onyinye is part of the budding number of female entrepreneurs on the continent who are taking the lead and trailblazing a revolution in Africa’s fintech industry. We tap into how she’s been able to break into the “boys club” as a female fintech founder. The challenges that come along with such a demanding and critical role, gender biases that stifles women’s ability to access finance, gain exposure, and grow their businesses.
With her leadership, she has built a dynamic team and c-suite executives who as a collective have been able to push Sycamore to the forefront of fintech on the continent. 
Onyinye is a passionate gender equality and women’s rights advocate, a rising philanthropist, with commitments to supporting sustainable women led ventures to expand their growth and economic  empowerment. She’s also an empath,  leading with compassion and empathy, defying the myths that empaths can be nice but still lead with fierceness.
We applaud a boss babe who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and hold her own in a predominantly male industry.

In this bonus episode, “a series of ands” signature effort in highlighting and investing in the next generation of African women leaders & Bawses. Leading with our feminist principles to attain transformative leadership.  We would like to introduce to our global listeners, Fancy Aromorach who originally hails from the “Pearl of Africa” the beautiful country of  Uganda.
Uganda is home to a startling array of natural wonders including Africa’s tallest mountain range, the source of the Nile, the world’s longest river and Africa’s largest lake.

Fancy is a feminist law student in Uganda who is passionate about promoting participation as a fundamental principle of the Rule of Law, particularly for women and girls in Africa. She’s also a budding entrepreneur who owns her own shea butter small business in Uganda. 

In this bonus episode, we shine light on Fancy and all her achievements at her young age, and her journey to becoming one of the next generations of African young women leaders to watch. We explore Her passion for gender equality, girls empowerment, human rights and her feminist approach to challenging oppressive patriarchal systems in her country.

At ASA and Unwomanly Media, we believe in putting women’s leadership at the forefront of our agenda. And we are more committed to introducing our audience to tenacious and diverse up and coming young leaders like fancy. 

You know we had to make a return right? Welcome to the Gold Coast of Africa- Ghana! Did you know Ghana was the first country in sub-saharan Africa to gain independence during post colonialism? Did you know Ghana is Africa’s second largest and the world’s 7th largest producer of gold?
 In this episode, we got a chance to connect with the one and only head honcho in charge and boss babe Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo. Cynthia is the Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Hollard Ghana. Cynthia is a marketing expert, branding guru, public, media, and government relations and corporate communications strategist. Under her leadership and management, her clients and companies have won several international awards and recognition, making them leaders across their industries.
We further discussed how she stumbled in the world of communications and marketing, how she’s been able to rise to the top of her game and make a name for herself and how she’s shattering the glass ceiling so effortlessly and gracefully. Cynthia is who we call a “silent killa”. She leads with humility and allows her accomplishments to speak for themselves. We also kept it real like we always do at “a series of ands”, on what have been some of her biggest challenges, valley moments, and obstacles that she’s faced but also overcome both personally and professionally. We dive deeper into some of her pivotal moments that inspired and set her on her path to success and international acclaim.
This badass boss has an astounding resume and impressive accolades under her belt. She’s truly an inspiring Queen and a force to be reckoned with. 

We are headed to  Naija so all onboard! Did you know that Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, the continent's biggest oil exporter, and the richest man in Africa is from and resides in Nigeria? 

Meet Amanda Etuk, a naija boss and founder/CEO at Messenger, a logistics platform that finances and aggregates end-to-end logistics and supply chain operations. In a male dominated field across the continent, Amanda is creating ingenious solutions and building teams to solve her country’s logistical challenges and problems. 

In this episode, we connect with Amanda to find out how she catapulted herself in the field of  supply chain management and logistics. How she seized the opportunity to innovate, and how she followed her passion and dove first into a male dominated industry with foresight, precise execution, and firm leadership. We also explored the surge a company experienced during the COVID Pandemic and how that helped expand her business, partnerships, and services. 

Even with this backdrop, the logistics industry remains one of the most male-dominated sectors in the world, and women are still severely underrepresented. This is more pronounced in Africa. And in the spirit of keeping things 100 like we always do. We unpacked the challenges and roadblocks that exist with women in this industry. But despite these challenges, through our conversation, Amanda stays optimistic and recognizes that here’s no frontiers beyond her reach and no roadblocks too complex for Messenger and her team to tackle. 

We applaud a boss babe who is a visionary and never afraid to tackle the unknown and bring solutions to the table.