Shades & Layers – Details, episodes & analysis
Podcast details
Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.
Shades & Layers
Kutloano Skosana Ricci
Frequency: 1 episode/20d. Total Eps: 104
Shades and Layers is a podcast focused on black women entrepreneurs from across the globe. It is a platform for exploring issues and challenges around business ownership, representation and holistic discussions about the meaning of sustainability in an increasingly complex global context. Conversations are wide- ranging and serve not only as a Masterclass in Entrepreneurship but also provide wisdom and tools for Successful Living. It is a space for meaningful conversation, a place for black and other women of color to be fully human and openly share their quirks and vulnerabilities.
Guests include prominent figurers in the beauty, fashion and wellness industries both in the Northern Hemisphere and the Global South.
Dr. Theo Mothoa-Frendo of USO Skincare discusses her journey from being product junkie to creating an African science-based skincare range. Taryn Gill of The Perfect Hair is a brand development whizz who discusses supply chain and distribution of her haircare brands. Katonya Breux discusses melanin and sunscreen and how she addresses the needs of a range of skin tones with her Unsun Cosmetics products.
We discuss inclusion in the wellness industry with Helen Rose Skincare and Yoga and Nectarines Founder , Day Bibb. Abiola Akani emphasizes non-performance in yoga with her IYA Wellness brand and Anesu Mbizho shares her journey to yoga and the ecosystem she's created through her business The Nest Space.
Fashion is all about handmade, custom made and circular production with featured guests like fashion designer Maria McCloy of Maria McCloy Accessories; Founder and textile/homeware designer Nkuli Mlangeni Berg of The Ninevites as well as Candice Lawrence, founder of the lighting design company Modern Gesture. These are just a few the conversations on the podcast over the past three years.
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Apple Podcasts
🇬🇧 Great Britain - fashionAndBeauty
05/05/2026#99🇬🇧 Great Britain - fashionAndBeauty
04/05/2026#77🇬🇧 Great Britain - fashionAndBeauty
03/05/2026#48
Spotify
No recent rankings available
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
See all- https://www.sethgodin.com/
283 shares
- https://shadesandlayers.beehiiv.com
106 shares
RSS feed quality and score
Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.
See allScore global : 83%
Publication history
Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.
A Simple Bank Account System for Business Sustainability
mercredi 18 mars 2026 • Duration 27:29
This is an oldie but goodie from the archives. This conversation was recorded in 2024, but its principles and teachings are timeless. Susanne Mariga is an expert in finance and she's been doing taxes for clients since she was a 14-year old in her dad's accounting office.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If your business is busy but your bank balance never reflects it, something is broken and it’s not your work ethic. Suzanne Mariga, CPA, fractional CFO, and CEO of the award-winning Mariga Group joins me in a conversation about the money mistake she sees again and again: founders pushing for years, sometimes decades, and still having nothing to show for it.
Suzanne explains the Profit First method in plain language, including the five-bank-account setup that creates instant clarity around cash flow management: income, profit, owner’s pay, tax, and operating expenses. She explains why focusing on building net worth is a better strategy than “saving tax” through spending. She says, pay yourself properly so that your business stops quietly relying on your unpaid labour.
Other topics we discuss include:
- Preparing for a leap from corporate life
- The art of remaining flexible and open to change
- How fractional C-suite fiance support helps build stronger accounting systems
- A quick chat about AI Tools for Small Business.
If you want healthier margins, better cash flow, and a business you could one day sell, press play.
Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Roth IRA - The American retirement fund - similar to the RA contribution for South Africans and private pension funds of the EU region.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Speak with Confidence, Cash in With Clarity (Magogodi Makhene)
mardi 10 février 2026 • Duration 55:33
In this episode we connect with Magogodi oaMphela Makhene, author, speaker and founder of Love As A Kind of Cure and thought leadership coach. We trace her entrepreneurial journey from her focus on social enterprises, how she was led to writing and then became a coach who helps Women of Color to turn their stories into intellectual property and income.
Magogodi is a sought after keynote speaker and communicator who walks the talk. Her trademarked C.R.O.W.N framework is built around her lived experience, which she shares with vulnerability and generosity in our conversation.
Magogodi originates from my hometown, Soweto. She is the author of the award-winning short story collection Innards and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop programme. Find out how she made the pivot from business school to literature and how she combines the two today in her work. You will also discover how she helps her clients to see and honour their value.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out her podcast, Madame Speaker Says, you will be so inspired by all the guests that she has on there. And if you like this episode, please share it with a friend and send me a message to let me know what you think.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
From Passionate Intern to World Class Designer - Palesa Mokubung Part 2 - (S9,E6))
Season 9 · Episode 6
mercredi 9 avril 2025 • Duration 16:17
IN CONCLUSION
In the second part of this conversation with Palesa Mokubung, we discuss some of the challenges facing African designers, particularly when it comes to serving a market that is more and more shopping online.
We also get into the behind the scenes at Mantsho, Palesa's fashion brand as well as the Shades and Layers Rapid Fire.
Mantsho has been making waves in the fashion industry for the past 20 years, both in Palesa's home country, South Africa and more recently globally with an international collaboration with H&M. You can hear more about this in Part I of our conversaiton here: From Passionate Intern to World Class Designer (Palesa Mokubung Part 1)
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
I Love Natural Hair with Carriene Rendbo (S1, E3)
Season 1 · Episode 3
vendredi 10 juillet 2020 • Duration 31:04
If you are a black woman living in Denmark (or Scandinavia) and you wear your hair natural, then you have probably come across a company and web shop called 'I love Natural Hair'. Today's profile on Shades and Layers is Carriene Rendbo who owns the brand. We cover her entire journey from London to Copenhagen, from frustrated DIY naturalista to business woman and what lies ahead on her entrepreneurial journey.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Ade Organics with Ade Adejumo (S1, E2)
Season 1 · Episode 2
vendredi 26 juin 2020 • Duration 27:07
There are many ways to pursue entrepreneurship, an independent life, a meaningful career. Ade Adejumo, our guest on Shades & Layers this time around, knows all about this and she has found a way to encapsulate all her interests in her lifestyle brand Ade Organics. Ade first pursued a career in sustainability before finally deciding that it was time to give up the office life and go solo.
“….I’m sure a lot of Africans can relate; there are certain professions that our culture does not exalt. You either have to be a lawyer, a doctor … we tend to look down on certain professions,” she says
Have a listen to Ade’s story and learn more about her company (which includes a children's books publishing arm) and what is on offer at adeorganics.com
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Introducing Shades & Layers
mercredi 17 juin 2020 • Duration 01:06
Introducing Shades & Layers, a new podcast celebrating black women and their entrepreneurial journeys. This is the first season and it explores entrepreneurship in the indie beauty space. It is a celebration of black-owned beauty brands.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Barbara Mensah Profile (S1,E1)
Season 1 · Episode 1
vendredi 12 juin 2020 • Duration 27:12
This is the first episode of Shades & Layers, a podcast that celebrates the stories and lives of black women. The first season is all about black-owned indie beauty brands and the entrepreneurs within this space. Today you can enjoy a candid conversation on starting your own business, with Copenhagen-based make-up artist Barbara Mensah and host Kutloano Skosana Ricci. In this profile interview, the two women discuss various aspects of entrepreneurship including flexibility, support structures, staying motivated and balancing all of life's aspects while staying focused.
You can learn more about Barbara and her services on https://www.barbaramensah.dk/ or follow her column on the expat publication The International: http://www.the-intl.com/
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
From Passionate Intern to World Class Designer : Palesa Mokubung Part 1 (S9, E6)
Season 9 · Episode 6
lundi 31 mars 2025 • Duration 33:52
This is the first part of a two-part conversation with renowned South African fashion designer Palesa Mokubung. In this conversation, she shares her 20-year journey with Mantsho by Palesa Mokubung, the fashion brand she founded after working as an intern at another iconic South African fashion house, Stoned Cherrie.
This episode is both a celebration and a walk down memory lane with Palesa and here are some of the topics we discussed during our conversation:
• Founded Mantsho without formal education, working for seven years before hitting a ceiling
• Returned to school at 30, studying alongside teenagers to formally train in fashion design
• Describes education as transformative, bringing focus, technical knowledge, and business structure
• Collaborated with H&M in 2019
• Uses authentic South African cultural elements in designs, from specific color palettes to layering techniques
• Defines success as making a visible impact on African lives
• Attending trade show in Paris as a first step in global expansion for Mantsho
• Values sustainability and conscious production in fashion
• Maintains an informal "board of directors" to guide her in her business decisions
Keep an eye out for the second and final part of this conversation. Subscribe to the Shades and Layers newsletter on shadesandlayers.com or follow wherever you get your podcasts.
LINKS AND MENTIONS
Shweshwe (Seshoeshoe) - Traditional Bashoto printed colorful fabric
Stoned Cherrie - Iconic and seminal post-Apartheid South African fashion brand inspired by African aesthetics, as well as 50s and 60s urban African style with echoes of the Harlem Renaissance as seen in Janet Jackson's 'Got 'Til It's Gone' video
H&M Advert controversy - In 2018, the Swedish fast fashion brand faced a backlash over a racist advert featuring a Black child model wearing a sweatshirt that read "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle"
Amapostoli - United Apostolic African Church known for its iconic blue and white uniforms.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Embracing African Beauty: Amanda Sebolai's Journey with Dignify Afro Beauty (S9, E5)
Season 9 · Episode 5
mardi 28 janvier 2025 • Duration 36:41
Amanda Sebolai is the founder of the South African natural haircare brand, Dignify Afro Beauty and my guest in this episode of Shades and Layers.
Amanda's personal journey of embracing her natural hair led her to create a line of innovative haircare products that celebrate African beauty and self-love. Inspired by her daughters, Amanda's products are helping to transform hair care for African women in post-apartheid South Africa. Her story gives insight into how long it takes and exactly what it takes to build a brand step by step.
There is no entrepreneurial journey that is totally smooth and Amanda's is no different. In our conversation she highlights some of the bumps she hit while transitioning from homemade formulations to becoming a thriving business that seeks to own its entire value chain. She also credits customer engagement and feedback as the core of Dignify Afro Beauty's success. According to her, one of the most important pillars of her brand is being rooted in cultural identity and empowerment.
Amanda wants to build a legacy company and leave a meaningful imprint on the world. Find out how she plans to do it all.
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Designing Creative Futures: Dialogue and Collective Power with Palesa Segomotso Motsumi (S9, E4)
Season 9 · Episode 4
mercredi 18 décembre 2024 • Duration 50:37
In this essential episode of, we sit down with Palesa Segomotso Motsumi, a trailblazing creative social entrepreneur and curator. She is the founder of Sematsatsa Library, a creative consultancy and curatorial agency based in South Africa.
Palesa's work occupies a space where art, culture and technology meet - she uses dialogue as a tool for change, storytelling as social infrastructure, and uses feminist design thinking to reimagine how creative ecosystems on the African continent function.
She shares her journey from the corporate grind to the world of art and social change in her hometown of Bloemfotein and major centers like Cape Town and Johannesburg. Through her groundbreaking work with Sematsatsa Library and projects like "Hashtag That's What She Said," a fundraising initiative honoring Black women in art, serve as radical acts of archiving, advocacy and community funding.
This is a journey through the process of building cultural platforms, designing new futures and how to center equity in African storytelling. It's also a personal narrative that touches on how to balance between the need for financial stability while making a social impact.
Highlights from our conversation include:
-What it takes to build a cultural enterprise outside South Africa's major creative capitals
-The role of dialogue as a form of social and political technology
-African feminist leadership and the art of curating safe, critical spaces
-The power of art and storytelling in funding and healing communities
LINKS AND MENTIONS
Palesa's Social Media Accounts - Sematsatsa Library and Personal Profile
Lawrence Lemoana
Mary Sibande
Ruth Motau
William Kentridge
Zanele Muholi
NEWSLETTER, stay in the loop and subscribe to our newsletter
SUPPORT this work so that we can keep it free. Become a MONTHLY SUPPORTER
LISTEN ON Apple and Spotify
FOLLOW US ON Instagram and Facebook
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
