The Business of Influence

Style ID Africa
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Welcome to the ultimate podcast for all things influencer marketing. Join our hosts, Style ID Africa Director Tami Ruschin and award winning influencer Leroy Marc, as they delve into the dynamic influencer landscape. Every week, we bring you engaging conversations with a diverse range of guests, including brand managers, influencers, content creators, PR and media experts, and entrepreneurs. With a finger on the pulse of the industry, we explore topics that matter, from social and digital media to online trends, monetisation strategies, new technologies, and the ever changing landscape.

  1. 5d ago

    Ep. 14 Virality by Design #foundersdesk

    VIRALITY IS NOT LUCK, IT IS ENGINEERING AND MIKE SHARMAN HAS THE CASE STUDIES TO PROVE IT.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Mike Sharman, founder of Retroviral, sits down for one of the most entertaining and strategically dense conversations this show has hosted. From Hollywood acting classes and catering for wealthy London households to building one of South Africa's most culturally influential creative agencies, this is a founder story that defies the conventional path and is better for it.The career conversation that opens this episode is worth the watch on its own. Mike's early experience in telephone marketing built the thick skin that every founder eventually needs. His time studying acting and comedy in Hollywood gave him something far more valuable to a marketer than a reel. It gave him a framework for understanding why things resonate. Marketing and stand-up comedy, he argues, are cousins. Both rely on identifying a shared truth, a premise that an audience already feels but has not yet heard articulated, and then delivering it in a way that creates a reaction. That insight runs through everything Retroviral has ever made.The virality conversation is the centrepiece of this episode and it dismantles one of the most persistent myths in the marketing industry. Virality is not a happy accident. It is a deliberate outcome built on remarkable content that captures a real human insight, seeded to the right people at the right moment to spark network effects that the algorithm then amplifies. Mike has done this consistently enough to call it a system, and this episode is the clearest articulation of that system he has ever put on record.The Nando's campaigns that defined an era of South African social media, the Mugabe lookalike activation that generated international recognition by engineering FOMO through controlled access, these are not just great creative stories. They are case studies in how cultural intelligence, strategic distribution and a willingness to take calculated risks combine to produce work that the industry talks about for years.The agency culture conversation is equally sharp. Retroviral's emphasis on diverse perspectives is not a values statement. It is a creative necessity in a market as culturally complex as South Africa, where tone deafness is not just a reputational risk but a commercial one. Mike is direct about the importance of asking the right questions upfront, setting clear parameters early and approaching collaboration with no ego, because the best work comes from teams that compete in execution and align in purpose.The episode closes with a commercial reminder that grounds everything that came before it. No amount of creative virality can save a broken product. The goal was always sales, acquisition and business impact, and creativity is the most efficient path to get there, not the destination itself.His advice to young entrepreneurs is the most honest thing anyone in his position could say. Chase your dreams while you are young and the weight of life's commitments has not yet made risk feel impossible. The current era, with AI reshaping what is creatable and distributable, is the best time in history to start something worth talking about.If you work in marketing, advertising, brand strategy or the creator economy, this episode is essential viewing.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.----Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Mike Sharman: https://www.instagram.com/mikesharman/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#ViralMarketing #CreativeStrategy #Retroviral

    Ep. 14 Virality by Design #foundersdesk

  2. Sep 3

    Ep 18 The Next Brief #businessofinfluence

    THE MARKETING INDUSTRY IS NOT BEHIND BECAUSE IT STOPPED LEARNING. IT IS BEHIND BECAUSE IT STOPPED UNLEARNING.In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Yuvisti Ramgulam, a seasoned voice across client, consulting and production roles, sits down for a conversation about what the marketing and advertising industry needs to confront honestly before it can build anything worth building next.The framing that runs through this entire episode is precise and uncomfortable. The industry is no longer in its foundational phase but it has not yet arrived at what comes next. It is sitting in the middle, carrying the weight of outdated practices, inflated expectations and a volume obsession that has quietly crowded out the creativity and strategic clarity that made this industry matter in the first place.The production conversation is one of the most important reframes in this episode. Production has been treated as a support function, a line item that gets what is left of the budget after everything else has been decided. Yuvisti makes the case that this is exactly backwards. Production is the bridge between strategy and the consumer. It is where the idea either lands or falls apart, and an industry that treats it as an afterthought is an industry that has already lost control of its own output.The agency triangle insight is equally sharp. The persistent expectation that work should be quick, good and cheap is not a negotiating position. It is a contradiction, and the clients and agencies that keep having that conversation instead of a value driven one are the ones producing work that nobody remembers. The shift required is not tactical. It is cultural.The AI conversation in this episode is one of the most grounded takes on the subject this show has hosted. AI is an input, not a solution, and the industry's job is not to hand over the work but to decide what AI should do and what human judgment, talent and experience must retain ownership of. That distinction is the one that will separate the agencies that thrive in the next era from the ones that dissolve into it.The South African market insight closes the episode with something worth amplifying beyond this conversation. Local marketers operate in one of the most complex, fragmented and diverse markets in the world, and the resilience and adaptability that is required is not a limitation. It is a competitive advantage that the rest of the world has not yet fully reckoned with.This is the next brief and the industry needs to read it.If you work in marketing, advertising, production, brand strategy or the creator economy, this episode will challenge how you think about what needs to be unlearnt before the next era can begin.The Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluenceListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and Guest Leroy: https://www.instagram.com/leroymarcn/?hl=en Yuvisti Ramgulam: https://www.instagram.com/yuvisti/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#MarketingStrategy #AdvertisingIndustry #FutureOfMarketing #TransformationStrategy

    Ep 18 The Next Brief #businessofinfluence

  3. Aug 25

    Ep. 13 The 54-Market View #foundersdesk

    LEADING MEDIA ACROSS 54 AFRICAN MARKETS DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN EXPERT IN ALL OF THEM. IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO LISTEN.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Amanda Hoosen-Ramguthee, integrated media leader across 54 African markets, sits down for a conversation about consumer intelligence, influence and what leading a digital strategy at continental scale actually teaches you about people.The career insight that anchors this episode is deceptively simple. Do not be a jack of all trades, specialise deliberately, master a skill, move to the next, and eventually those seemingly unconnected experiences form a strategic view that no single discipline could have built on its own. The leaders who get this right build it on purpose. Everyone else stumbles into it too late.The humility conversation is where this episode gets most interesting. Leading across a continent means accepting that you cannot be the expert in every room. The role of a continental leader is to be the glue, connecting local specialists and holding the strategic framework together while giving the people closest to each market the authority to lead within it.The marketing argument Amanda makes is one every brand needs to hear. Formulaic campaign thinking causes brands to lose sight of the human on the other side of the screen, and consumer centricity is not a philosophy, it is a practical operating model built on data, empathy and the willingness to meet people where they actually are rather than where the media plan assumes they should be.Her closing thought on the future of marketing is the one worth sitting with. As AI absorbs the repetitive and the mechanical, the irreplaceable skill becomes the ability to distill data into human insight and translate that insight into creativity. Stay curious, ask why, and never let a silo define the ceiling of what you understand.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Amanda Hoosen-Ramguthee: https://www.instagram.com/amandaramguthee/?hl=en Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#IntegratedMedia #AfricanMarketing #ConsumerIntelligence #MediaStrategy

    Ep. 13 The 54-Market View #foundersdesk

  4. Aug 19

    Ep. 12 The Architecture of the Live Experience Economy #FoundersDesk

    ANYONE CAN PLAN AN EVENT. VERY FEW PEOPLE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING.In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Greg Walsh, founder of G&G, the Goosebumps Company, sits down for a conversation about what it actually takes to build one of South Africa's most respected experiential marketing firms from a university side hustle into a premium live experience business with a global vision.The story starts where most great business stories do, with someone who refused to ignore what was working. Greg began his career in events while still at university, graduated, spent eighteen months as an investment banker in the UK, and eventually made the decision that most people in his position would not have had the courage to make. He walked away from a stable financial career to pursue the thing that was already making him money and, more importantly, making him feel alive. His advice to students considering the same move is worth noting. Finish the degree first; the discipline and strategic foundation it builds is an advantage that reveals itself later in ways you cannot predict at the time.What Greg brought to the events industry was not just ambition; it was structure. A sector historically dominated by organisers without formal business training met someone who understood strategy, process and the architecture of scale, and the gap he stepped into was significant.The pandemic conversation is one of the most honest parts of this episode. The events industry did not slow down in 2020. It stopped entirely. Greg speaks candidly about the collapse of his business and the decision he made on the other side of that devastation: to rebuild deliberately, to move into the luxury and premium market, and to work only on projects that genuinely excite him. That pivot was not just a survival strategy. It was a clarity that most founders only find after a crisis forces it.The episode goes deep into what scaling actually looks like in practice, moving from a founder-led hustle to a structured organisation with formal processes, clear departmental objectives and role accountability. Greg credits mentorship as the critical ingredient that made that transition possible and is honest about what he could not have figured out alone.The ROI conversation challenges how brands measure the value of live experiences, moving beyond traditional metrics toward the soft but significant impact of deep emotional engagement, and Greg's team is actively building models to quantify what the industry has always known but struggled to prove.The episode closes with a vision that is as ambitious as it is specific. South African festivals on the global stage. The country is a destination for international audiences and a legacy built on the belief that on the other side of great fear lie great rewards.If you work in events, experiential marketing, brand strategy or entrepreneurship, this episode will change how you think about the business of creating moments that matter.Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa.—Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestTami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/Greg Walsh: https://www.instagram.com/gregwalsh/ Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#ExperientialMarketing #EntrepreneurshipAfrica #LiveExperienceEconomy

    Ep. 12 The Architecture of the Live Experience Economy #FoundersDesk

  5. Aug 14

    Ep. 17 The Whole Person Economy

    THE CREATOR ECONOMY IS BRILLIANT AT BUILDING AUDIENCES. IT IS TERRIBLE AT TAKING CARE OF THE PEOPLE BUILDING THEM. In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Hakeem Lesolang, Gugulethu Nyatshumba and Makungu Valoyi sit down for a conversation the creator space has been avoiding for far too long. Mental health. Burnout. The cost of performing for an audience that never clocks off. And why the industry that profits most from human creativity is often the last to invest in the humans behind it. The conversation opens with a reframe that sets the tone for everything that follows. Creators are assets. Not content machines. Not engagement metrics. Assets that require protection, maintenance and genuine care, and an industry that treats them as anything less is an industry that is quietly consuming the very thing it depends on. The panel draws a distinction that most people in the creator space have never been forced to articulate. The difference between an online following and a real community. Followers provide engagement. A community provides support. They are not the same thing and conflating them is one of the most dangerous mistakes a creator can make, because no amount of comments and DMs replaces the people who show up when the camera is off. The burnout conversation is where this episode gets most honest. Burnout is not a personality flaw or a sign of weakness. It is a workplace phenomenon caused by long term unmanaged stress, and the performance cycle that the creator economy demands, always on, always visible, always optimised for virality, is one of the most efficient burnout machines ever built. The panel breaks down what it actually looks like to set boundaries inside a career that feels boundless, why understanding your why is the only sustainable defence against chasing trends that lead to misalignment, and how block recording and intentional scheduling can protect a creator's output without destroying their wellbeing. The most provocative insight in this episode is the concept of disappointment as a survival skill. The fear of losing belonging drives creators to overperform, overshare and override their own limits, and learning to disappoint the expectations of others is not a failure of character. It is an act of self preservation that the industry desperately needs to normalise. The episode closes with a conversation about systematising success, building a circle of influence made up of advisers who provide real accountability, and treating a creative career as a business with the same rigour and intentionality that any other business demands. This is the conversation the creator economy still refuses to have at scale. It is happening here. If you are a content creator, a brand strategist, a mental health advocate or anyone operating at the intersection of visibility and vulnerability, this episode is essential listening. Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa. Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluence Listen and Follow Us Apple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaB Spotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYi Instagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqI TikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1 LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0 Follow Our Host and Guests Leroy: https://www.instagram.com/leroymarcn/ Makungu Valoyi: https://www.instagram.com/advocacy4mentalhealth/ Hakeem Lesolang: https://www.instagram.com/hakeemthehypnotherapist/ Gugulethu Nyatshumba: https://www.instagram.com/gugulethu_nyatsumba/ Email: info@styleid.africa Music Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/ #MentalHealthAwareness #CreatorEconomy #Burnout #WholePersonEconomy

    Ep. 17 The Whole Person Economy

  6. Aug 7

    Ep. 16 Clicks vs Classrooms #Businessofinfluence

    CLICKS VS CLASSROOMS: DOES FORMAL CREATIVE EDUCATION STILL MATTER IN THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS?In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, Kamva-Eliqaqambileyo Namba, academic and head of programmes, sits down for one of the most relevant conversations in the creative industry right now. Can a traditional degree compete with a TikTok following? Does formal education still have a seat at the table in an economy where a ring light and a smartphone can generate a six figure income? The answer is more nuanced than either side of the debate wants to admit.The conversation opens with the tension that most creatives are living in right now. Social media moves faster than any curriculum can keep up with, and for a generation that has watched peers build careers on content alone, the value proposition of spending three to four years in a classroom is increasingly difficult to justify on face value alone. Kamva does not dismiss that reality. Instead, she reframes it.What formal education offers that the school of Instagram cannot is the infrastructure around the influence. Legal contracts. Business management. Tax compliance. Long-term career strategy. The ability to contextualise your work culturally, socially and philosophically so that it contributes to something larger than the next viral moment. These are not glamorous skills, but they are the ones that determine whether a creative career lasts five years or twenty-five.The longevity conversation is particularly sharp. Kamva makes the case that education builds the kind of versatility that allows creatives to pivot as they evolve, because the performer who is relevant at twenty-two is not always the same performer who is relevant at thirty-five, and the ones who survive that transition are the ones who understood their industry as a business from the beginning.The episode also holds academia accountable. Kamva acknowledges that institutions have historically been reactive rather than proactive, slow to integrate social media, performance analytics and influencer strategy into their curricula, and even slower to respond to the rise of AI. However, the conversation ends with a clear directive. Academic boards are beginning to change: shorter courses, vertical content formats, real industry insights built into programmes, and the institutions that remain agile are the ones that will continue to matter.This is not a conversation about choosing between a degree and a following. It is a conversation about what happens when you have both.If you are a content creator, an aspiring creative, an educator or anyone thinking seriously about the future of the industry, this episode will challenge how you think about knowledge, longevity and what it actually takes to build a career that lasts.Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa.-----Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluenceListen and Follow UsApple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaBSpotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYiaInstagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqITikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0Follow Our Host and GuestLeroy: https://www.instagram.com/leroymarcn/Kamva-Eliqaqambileyo Namba: https://www.instagram.com/kamvalethu_eliqaqambileyo/Email: info@styleid.africaMusic Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/#ClicksVsClassrooms #CreatorEconomy #FormalEducation

    Ep. 16 Clicks vs Classrooms #Businessofinfluence

  7. Jul 28

    Ep. 11 Soft Skills, Hard Money #foundersdesk

    THE MOST UNDERRATED BUSINESS SKILL IS NOT MARKETING. IT IS NOT FINANCE. IT IS KNOWING YOURSELF. In this episode of Founder's Desk, hosted by Tami Ruschin, Amanda Sibiya, founder and lead strategist at Branding Africa, sits down for a conversation that most entrepreneurship content completely avoids. Emotional intelligence is not a soft skill. It is the infrastructure that holds a founder, a team and a business together, and this episode makes that case in a way that is impossible to argue with. The conversation starts where most business conversations refuse to go. A founder's personal struggles, values and blind spots do not stay at home when they walk into the office. They show up in every decision, every interaction and every culture problem that eventually becomes a business problem. Amanda is direct about this because the evidence is everywhere and most founders are still pretending otherwise. The definition of EQ that anchors this episode is one worth sitting with. It is not about being nice. It is about discernment, knowing which emotion to express and when, being empathetic when the situation calls for it and being stern when it does not. That distinction matters enormously in leadership and almost nobody teaches it this clearly. The episode goes into the myth of the cutthroat founder who compartmentalises their humanity at the office door, why servant leadership consistently outperforms task focused management when it comes to staff retention, and the fine but critical line between honest feedback and emotionally unintelligent communication. Critiquing the outcome of a project and attacking a person's character are not the same thing, and the difference determines whether your team trusts you or tolerates you. The entrepreneurial isolation conversation is one of the most important parts of this episode. Founders carry weight they cannot always share with their teams, and without a deliberate support structure, whether that is fellow entrepreneurs, a mentor or a therapist, that weight accumulates in ways that eventually show up in the business. Amanda's closing advice is the most grounded take on founder wellbeing this show has heard. Before you learn marketing. Before you learn finance. Sort out your mental health. Because none of the technical skills will hold if the person operating them is running on empty. Founder's Desk is brought to you by Style ID Africa. — Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #FoundersDesk Listen and Follow Us Apple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaB Spotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYi Instagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqI TikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1 LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0 Follow Our Host and Guest Tami: https://www.instagram.com/tami_blend_ruschin/ Amanda Sibiya: https://www.instagram.com/amandasibiya/ Email: info@styleid.africa Music Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/ #EmotionalIntelligence #FounderMindset #LeadershipDevelopment #MentalHealthInBusiness #ServantLeadership #WomenInBusiness

    Ep. 11 Soft Skills, Hard Money #foundersdesk

  8. Jul 23

    Ep. 15 The Business of Fitness #BusinessOfInfluence

    ANYONE CAN POST A WORKOUT. NOT EVERYONE SHOULD BE TELLING YOU HOW TO TRAIN. In this episode of the Business of Influence Podcast, hosted by Leroy Marc, we are joined by three fitness professionals who are done watching their industry get flattened by a feed. Mthandazo Nathan Mthembu, Thato Banda and Mpho Mapheto bring a combined depth of real world experience to a conversation that the health and fitness industry has been needing to have out loud for a long time. The digital fitness space is oversaturated, and the three guests are honest about what that actually means for the people consuming that content. Misinformation. Unrealistic expectations. Burnout. A culture of performative fitness that prioritises expensive gear, aesthetic goals and consumerism over sustainable health and genuine progress. The algorithm rewards the visual. The problem is that health does not always look the way social media wants it to. The conversation draws a clear and necessary line between a fitness influencer and a fitness professional. Personal trainers and group exercise instructors operate in the real world, building face to face relationships with clients who view health as a non-negotiable rather than a trend. That distinction matters because the consequences of bad advice in this industry are not just a wasted gym membership. They affect people's bodies, their mental health and their long term relationship with movement. The episode also gets into the business of staying sustainable in a volatile economy. How do fitness professionals build practices that last when the loudest voices in the room are the ones with the most followers rather than the most credentials? The answer the guests return to consistently is integrity, consistency and a commitment to the scientific fundamentals that no amount of viral content can replace. The regulation conversation is one of the sharpest parts of this episode. Rather than waiting for top down intervention, the guests advocate for consumer education as the starting point, alongside greater transparency from influencers about their actual qualifications and the reality behind their training journeys. This is a conversation about who gets to lead, who gets to influence and who gets to earn in an industry where the barrier to entry has never been lower and the stakes have never been higher. If you work in fitness, health, wellness, brand strategy or the creator economy, this episode will challenge how you think about authority, trust and the real cost of influence. Business of Influence is brought to you by Style ID Africa. —- Enjoyed the podcast? Join the conversation using #BusinessOfInfluence Listen and Follow Us Apple: https://tr.ee/7S9Qw2RYaB Spotify: https://tr.ee/8yFVYi Instagram: https://tr.ee/9MFBqI TikTok: https://tr.ee/F5wHS1 LinkedIn: https://tr.ee/72U7z0 Follow Our Host and Guests Leroy: https://www.instagram.com/leroymarcn/ Mthandazo Nathan Mthembu: https://www.instagram.com/nate.neanderthal/ Thato Banda: https://www.instagram.com/tee_smilefitt/ Mpho Mapheto: https://www.instagram.com/mpho_summerbodynation/ Email: info@styleid.africa Music Produced by Emcee: https://www.instagram.com/emceeiii/ #FitnessIndustry #HealthAndWellness #DigitalHealth #FitnessMarketing

    Ep. 15 The Business of Fitness #BusinessOfInfluence
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About

Welcome to the ultimate podcast for all things influencer marketing. Join our hosts, Style ID Africa Director Tami Ruschin and award winning influencer Leroy Marc, as they delve into the dynamic influencer landscape. Every week, we bring you engaging conversations with a diverse range of guests, including brand managers, influencers, content creators, PR and media experts, and entrepreneurs. With a finger on the pulse of the industry, we explore topics that matter, from social and digital media to online trends, monetisation strategies, new technologies, and the ever changing landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Style ID Africa
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Style ID Africa
  • Show Website
    The Business of Influence