The Allegory

Every year I select six inspiring and diverse individuals to speak to on The Allegory podcast – and only then is the season released. For the Season II finale I’m so pleased it’s with my friend D'bi Young Anitafrika– she is truly a force of nature. D’bi is an inspiration. An honourable dub poet. An academic. A political and social activist. She is highly decorated – around her collar she wears The Canadian Poet of Honour, the Global Leader in Theatre & Performance by Arts Council England, amongst many other high achieving accolades. She’s currently completing a phd – her research is entitled Decolonial, Praxis, Performance & Pedagogy. She has developed a framework of using art as an intervention medium to decolonising and to healing. She is now teaching this method to practitioners of any background at her international Decolonial Arts Centre in Costa Rica. This is a joyful & deeply intellectual conversation – we cover how to: Align your passion with the universe; Face adversity with pragmaticism, and Act in integrity with who you are and hold yourself accountable when you deviate. Take a listen to the season finale, an honest conversation with me and D’bi. Connect with D'bi on Instagram and Twitter, and learn more about the Decolonial Arts Centre here. 

Brian is the CEO of Space Canada and was the 33rd Premier of New Brunswick, Canada.  He is a phenomenal person who has achieved phenomenal things. He grew up in a socio-economically disadvantaged Canadian household, and channeled the difficulties from his upbringing to changing the world and to help other families. So, he became the youngest Premier of New Brunswick – it’s akin to being a governor of a state. For my non-Canuck listeners, New Brunswick is a Canadian maritime province – the only bilingual province in the country, famous for its lighthouses, and a population less than a million. Many of the anglophones are decedents of British loyalists who fled the American Revolution. It is also home to the largest population of Acadians – an ethnic group Brian identifies with. The Acadians are decedents of the French and were inhabitant of Acadia – it was a French colony in the new world covering parts of the Canadian maritime and Maine. The Acadian people have had a difficult history marked by wars, English oppression, and forced displacement. An interesting fact, Cajun culture in Louisiana is attributed to the Acadians. Brian manifests the strength and fortitude of the Acadians. He is a change-maker. He work hard to secure his dream job at such a young age, but after he left office, he had to go through a period of discovery to figure out what to do next and who he is. Something I really resonated with. He tells me his greatest life lessons: 1) Be impact driven: Decouple the impact you want to make from the job title. It opens the possibilities of what you can achieve. 2) Enjoy the journey: The process is even more important than the outcome. 3) Come prepared: when you prepare for your dreams, you’ve increased your luck’s landscape and ready to seize the opportunities when they present themselves to you This talk is full of joy. Humility. Inspiration. And enlightenment. Get ready for this journey. Connect with Brian on Linkedin and twitter @BrianGallantNB

Connson Locke is a Professional Lecturer in Management at the London School of Economics, an author of a new book "Making Your Voice Heard". She is a psychologist, author, and speaker with over 25 years’ experience working in nearly 20 countries across Europe and Asia Pacific as well as the United States and Australia. her work focuses on power and influence, culture, gender, and organizational change.  In my conversation with Connson you will gain a better understanding on: How to build influence with the individual to get the directed outcome; How to speak up in the workplace to aid you in moving up the ladder or how to assert yourself as a woman in a way that gains the confidence of those around you; and How to build resilience even if it isn’t in your DNA – and what is resilience? This is one that’s relevant for anyone at any point in their professional trajectory looking to improve as a leader. We also get philosophical – understanding how to maintain the authentic self – Connson’s journey is very unique,  she grew up in different places, an introvert trying to understand the world around her and was influenced by her mother’s passion to read.  What’s even bigger she tells us the meaning of life. You can connect with Connson on linkedin, twitter @connsonlocke, her website

Sohaila Ouffata is the Director of Platform at BMW iVentures Europe, the venture capital arm of BMW Group. She is focused on developing and implementing strategic growth initiatives to help the portfolio companies grow and scale. I met Sohaila right before the pandemic. We stayed in touch and when she set up African Tech Vision I wanted to support her work and I became a mentor a for the entrepreneurs in the cohort.  She’s a person who knows who she is and exudes a positive aura – and that trickles into the conversation she and I had. From our chat, you can walk away with a perspective on: How can I find the right mentor? How can I be more strategic about where I want to go? How can I protect my energy? Sohaila and I get real. I’m excited to share this with you. Alrighty, let's press the start button.  You can connect with Sohaila on Linkedin and Twitter. 

Dipjyoti “DJ” Deb is a Venture partner at BSH in Germany. DJ and I can speak seamlessly for long periods of time and cover any topic under the sun. He has a treasure box of knowledge and wisdom to dispense at a moments notice. It gives you the feeling he’s lives many lifetimes. This conversation will stimulate your thinking in parallel to keeping you informed and feeling good. We speak about his early childhood growing up in a middle class family in Calcutta India and how his parents helped him shape his curious nature. It’s that very curiosity that let him to study physics, and eventually to becoming a Venture capitalist without a business degree. Amongst explaining what nanotechnology and quantum physics is, in very layman terms anyone can finally understand, he also tells you his strategy for picking winning entrepreneurs; how to stay resilient; and how to make tough decisions in tough times. Alrighty take a listen for yourself!  You can connect with DJ on linkedin

Let's go on a journey with Kim Gebbia Chappell.  I recorded this with Kim back in Jan 2021. under a global lockdown, amidst her work and family commitments, she made time to give me this opportunity to speak with her That’s the sort of person that she is. It was a joy to speak with Kim. She speaks with passion and authenticity – you get to know who she is and what drives her. I walked away knowing that: 1. She has a growth mentality: She talks about how she discovered her interest in journalism, but years later she walked away from her dream anchor job after feeling an itch to explore her full potential 2. Family is important to her: She emphasizes the supportive role her parents had in helping her develop a growth mindset – Encouraged to fail 3. She let’s you in on who has inspired her the most. She talks about her brother Joe Gebbia - the co-founder of Airbnb – building a mission and impact based business. This is a masterclass on life, family, and building confidence -  how to negotiate your pay, when to know you need to quit and start a new journey, and so much more. You will feel uplifted & refreshed – like taking a sip of a chilled glass of lemonade on a hot summers night – this one is timeless - Take a listen. Connect with Kim on Linkedin and Twitter

It’s been a while. When I started this journey in late 2019, I didn’t anticipate a global pandemic. I mean who did? Life changed for all of us. One thing that stayed consistent is my commitment to continue to find the most incredible people with interesting stories to learn from and be inspired by. You can take these lessons and apply it to your own development journey. In this season we get down right real and personal to get to the human blueprints that have shaped who they are. These are stories you don’t typically come across and from people you may not come across. This took a while to wrap up, because I was selective on thee stories I wanted to share with you. I’ll release a new episode every couple of weeks on an early Tuesday morning. Alrighty, what do you say, let’s get this show started!

Get in the mind of Stewart Rogers. A multi-talented and prominent journalist at GritDaily, technologist and entrepreneur at Badass Times, prolific public speaker, and the seventh most influential person in marketing technology globally. You get the picture he’s uber talented! He’s not only a wonderful human being, but also a good friend of mine whom I’ve had the pleasure of spending part of the pandemic with. This is a two part series where I have a human conversation with Stewart in his Berlin home. In Part II we will cover what it takes to succeed in startup land: The pressures startup founders are under;  How VC’s kill their investments; and The processes and methods to work 10x smarter. To check out Badass Empire and be a contributing writer for Badass Times, see here: https://www.badasstimes.com  To get to know Stewart and opportunities to connect with him, see here: https://www.stewartrogers.me/ #theallegorypodcast

Get in the mind of Stewart Rogers. A multi-talented and prominent journalist at GritDaily, technologist and entrepreneur at Badass Times, prolific public speaker, and the seventh most influential person in marketing technology globally. You get the picture he’s uber talented! He’s not only a wonderful human being, but also a good friend of mine whom I’ve had the pleasure of spending part of the pandemic with. This is a two part series where I have a human conversation with Stewart in his Berlin home. In Part I we get to know how Stewart got started: The impetus behind being a nomad - his life in one backpack;  Going from selling computer games at 12 years old to running his first software house at just 21; and Sales secrets in tech to get your product in the hands of customers. To check out Badass Empire and be a contributing writer for Badass Times, see here: https://www.badasstimes.com To get to know Stewart and opportunities to connect with him, see here: https://www.stewartrogers.me/ #theallegorypodcast

Anthony Hsiao is cool as a cucumber co-Founder and CEO of Matterway, a SaaS enterprise  tech company based in Berlin. He's a German serial entrepreneur, having created multiple businesses around the world, including India.  In this episode, we'll get to know Anthony's business journey; the defining traits of an entrepreneur; books that have enlightened him; his uplifting sense of optimism; seeking truth in our divisive world; how to alter your mindset, controlling the ego, and many more lessons along with some funny German idioms involving a goat!