Hello Podfriend!

This is a short and sweet edition to say Happy New Year!

How did the festive season treat you? Are you doing Dry Jan? What health and fitness craze are we getting into this year as a society? My American friends, are you ready for the next four years?

Whew, January can be a lot with everyone declaring a new version of themselves and how this is going to be their year. Also, don’t forget the vision board warriors. Don’t get me wrong, I learned the power of vision boards back at high school leadership camps and have loved them ever since, but the performative and competitive online versions are just way too much. All the same, I hope all the goals and wishes you’ve sent out into the universe come to you. Happy 2025! 🥳

The top image this month is the iconic Space Needle in Seattle – any Grey’s Anatomy fans here? IYKYK. A big shout out to the city that gave us a soft landing during the wild days of November 2020 and welcomed our family the United States. I was homesick for you and your rain this festive season Emerald City, and for all our people who still call you home. Shall we see each other soon?

Boston! Beantown! You’ve been good to us too. Your grumpy locals are likeable in their own way. Shout out to our local auto mechanic who gave me DMV tips and tricks this past week. Beantown! It is my mission to fall in love with you this year. All I ask is that you love me back. 😬

Coming up later in this edition is a list of Top Episodes on Shades and Layers that I promised you at the end of last year. Not only have these episodes been popular, but I’ve received good feedback from you on each woman’s story. So, thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed them.

Hey, sharing is caring, so ask your friends to join our squad. If this edition was shared with you, please subscribe.

This edition features the usual:

-Studio Update

-On My Mind, as well as all the things

-Giving me Joy and Pause

Okay, Let’s go!

STUDIO UPDATE

A YEAR OF BLACK WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

It’s been a topsy turvy year by many accounts – for most people around the world – but one thing has been constant at Shades and Layers: awesome guests! And I am grateful to each and every woman who has taken time out of their schedule to share their journey. Hopefully you were touched positively by their stories and experiences on some level. Their stories are insightful and inspiring. It’s a great honor being a witness to each woman’s journey and also being part of a small moment when they reflect on their journey during our interview.

In 2024 Shades and Layers published Season 8 and 9 and featured fifteen guests. You can see a summary of the top episodes later in the newsletter. The latest episodes on the timeline include conversations with editorial hairstylist, Naeemah Lafond, pet treats brand builder and activewear designer Barbara Clarke Ruiz, art curator Palesa Segomotso Motsumi, serial startup founder Tadiwa Mwashita and coming up soon, we’ll have a conversation with natural haircare entrepreneur, Amanda Sebolai.

ON MY MIND THIS MONTH

SHADES AND LAYERS ‘REWIND AND OUTLOOK’

It’s always fun to review the year that was and look ahead at what we wish for. We do it in real life and increasingly online. And for the online version, we can thank Spotify for creating “Wrapped” because every single online platform that can track data, now has its own version of this review. Since SAL is published online, we have data on what we did and what you liked from the things that we published. And here are the top episodes for 2024 :

I’m always honored when people say yes to doing an interview on the podcast. Bonus that you actually listen to the conversations. So, thank you to all the guests and of course, to you for listening. I hope you enjoyed the conversations and that they were helpful for your business and to your life in some way.

 And who’s listening to these episodes? JOBUUUURRRRGGGG!!! JOZI, my dear love, my home, thank you for always supporting your homegirl. You were the top city for SAL downloads this past year. I love you!

Cape Town and Copenhagen, I see you and I love you too! You were among the top five cities. Cape Town and Copenhagen, my former homes and stomping grounds, I owe you a visit soon.

GIVING ME JOY AND PAUSE 

White House Blues and ‘Free Speech’

So, Donald J Trump is not even in the White House yet, and the circus has already begun. Let’s start with the cringey moment when one Bruce Fischer refused to shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand during the swearing in ceremony of his wife, Senator Deb Fischer. There was one conservative news outlet that tried to excuse this deplorable behavior by saying the guy had his hands occupied – holding a bible in one hand and a cane in the other. That’s all good and well, but the man wouldn’t even look at the VP or acknowledge her presence or her role in the ceremony. How in the world can you not show some respect for the sitting Vice President of your own country? A country you claim to love. Here’s another interesting take on the incident, this time from The Breakfast Club Crew who both agree and disagree with Bruce Fischer’s actions. The tone of this particular review just shows you how increasingly normal it will be (even among public officials) to shun basic human decency in favor of personal emotional reaction to somebody else’s existence. Maybe that boat sailed in 2016.

And that’s not all, folks…. Mark Zuckerberg is once again bending to the will of his his latest master. He says there will be no more fact checking on Meta platforms. So, you can say what you want, when you want and nobody will stop you. I mean, it’s not as if living in the US is like being in an alternate reality already, but what’s a little collateral damage in the name of free speech?

Ok America, my seatbelt is on. Let’s go on the longest roller coaster ride of our lives. As long as you know that it will last way longer than the next four years. Things are about to get real.

Storytime

 So, growing up in the black township of Soweto under South Africa’s apartheid regime was not a cake walk, but by most comparisons, my childhood was great. My maternal aunties were (and still are) borderline insane and funny as hell, as was my grandmother. I’ve been struggling to recall the sound of her laughter, but the image of her doubled over with laughter on her brown and plush armchair in the sitting room of her house comes to me more easily. She was an odd lady and someday I’ll write about her, but for now let me get to why I’m talking about her.

 It’s winter on my end and the weather outside is freezing cold, bright and sunny. No snow, but there is no socializing on the playground just before the school first bell at the moment. The wind gusts are strong enough to freeze your face. Nevertheless, the sun shines in a way similar to a Highveld winter’s day. It’s nearly lunch time and I can almost taste the pap (maize meal/polenta) and sour milk we would eat during the winter school holidays at my gran’s. But the best part of lunch time at Tsitsi’s (that’s what we called her), was the radio drama we would listen to around lunch time. Hands up if you once did the same!

So, just imagine my delight these days as I dig into the abundance of fiction podcasts that are out there right now. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many of these coming out of South Africa, but here’s one that I stumbled across via Arielle Nissenblatt’s podcast discovery newsletter Earbuds. It’s called Stripped and it’s based on the true story of Thomas W. E. Budge, a young gay man who resisted military conscription on religious grounds during apartheid. He was a member of the Jehovah’s Witness church. It’s probably better listened to in one sitting, but life be life-ing out here so I didn’t get the full experience as I would have in Tsiti’s kitchen. Still, it’s a good listen. I’m yet to find some audio dramas/fiction podcasts that are in local languages, but here’s one created by Sonke Gender Justice about surviving gender-based violence. Thuthuzeleka is created for use by community radio stations. I only caught the first episode and wanted to listen further. Are you a fiction podcasts fan? Hit reply and let me know. Bonus if you include a recommendation!

Music

On a lighter note, happy that Craig David and Artful Dodger’s Rewind made it onto my radar during the festive season. Of course, you know that took me down a rabbit hole that got me listening to his Born To Do It album from the early 2000s. No need to thank me, you’re welcome.

 Also on my radar, like everyone, is rapper Doechii. She really and truly is the real deal and too bad it will be a few years still before I can sit comfortably and listen to her with my first born who is still a tweenager. If only just to steer him away from those annoying TikTok ‘artists’ he’s into. And not to be derisive about making it on the internet, I mean Doechii rose because her song Yucky Blucky Fruitcake went viral on social media, and she was also a YouTuber before music success, so…Anyway being labeled an icon for fame that came after one very short viral song, and before you’ve done anything resembling a complete or respectable project in your field? Absolutely not. That’s not what we’re doing here.  

For Laughs – Is Santa real? 

As tradition dictates in the Ricci household, the boys went out and picked out a Christmas tree ahead of the big day. Decorations went up and while waiting for Santa to deliver the gifts, our 8-year old started figuring out that the math ain’t mathing with this red-suited guy. So, what else to do but call Santa’s hotline to see if we could renew his faith in the magic? LOL. Not sure that it worked, but he was a good sport about it and he expressed gratitude to Santa for bringing his gifts. The tweenager on the other hand stopped believing when I told him how we do Christmas in South Africa. That was at about age 6. He was horrified that we had no snow!

Shout out to my friend Natalie Parmenter over at Primary Focus for the Santa Hotline plug. Check out her YouTube channel for tips on getting your children ready for elementary school and navigating education during the early years.

 And that’s a wrap for this edition.

We shall be back to normal episodes and serious business in the next edition. Let me know who you want to hear me interview in 2025.

 May this be your best year yet.

 Cheers,

Kutloano