Listen to Black Women Thrive in Shades and Layers Podcast
Updated: Oct 26, 2023
Black businesswomen across the globe are forging pathways to success in an increasingly competitive and transnational environment. The Shades and Layers podcast brings them together to share stories about how to thrive personally and professionally on that journey.
Black Businesswomen Are Thriving Across the Globe.
Nordic Black women. That's not exactly the first phrase that comes to mind when entrepreneurs search the internet for business ideas and inspiration – but it should be.
Business ownership isn’t just locked into the boundaries of a single nation. Black businesswomen’s ambitions shouldn’t be either.
In her podcast Shades and Layers, Host Kutloano Skosana explores Black business owners' issues and challenges on an increasingly transnational playing field. Through storytelling and holistic dialogue, Skosana connects the experiences of Black businesswomen across the globe to share best practices and discuss successful living, representation, and the meaning of sustainability.
It takes more than business savvy to survive in a global marketplace. Shades and Layers brings Black women from around the world together to share with and support each other as they navigate the obstacles and opportunities presented to them in the workplace, at home, and in their bodies.
Black Businesswomen are Thriving on their Terms.
As a Black woman from South Africa who was a business owner in Copenhagen, Denmark, who currently resides in the Northwestern United States, Kutloano Skosana is a living representation of what it means to be a Black woman thriving in a competitive global marketplace. She also knows what feeling disconnected from the more significant diaspora is like. In her own words, Kutloano explains, "I've always felt that black women are underrepresented in everything…and I've always wanted to hear the stories of people who look like me. Since my long-ago radio and television career began, it's been my passion to tell our stories and amplify our voices."
“I’ve always felt that black women are underrepresented in everything…and I’ve always wanted to hear the stories of people who look like me."
As a wife, a mother, and a Black woman, Kutloano knows that the obstacles that Black women, especially Black mothers, face are very different from the challenges presented to White men. She rejects the notion that the best business models can only be found in Silicon Valley and uses Shades and Layers to discuss models of success forged by and for Black women.
Kutloano emphasizes:
"I do not believe that the Silicon Valley version of entrepreneurship is the only model we should look to to define or measure entrepreneurial success. My mother, her sisters, my cousins, and many other black women around me have taken children to school by sewing clothes, selling Tupperware, selling fruit and vegetables at the market, running laundry services, etc. These women have lifted their families from poverty and changed lives through these seemingly small actions and activities. I believe that the definition of success is individual, personal, and dependent on circumstance and context. Therefore, our approach to celebrating entrepreneurial success should be broader and more inclusive."
"I believe that the definition of success is individual, personal and dependent on circumstance and context."
Do you want to join the network of powerful listeners learning how Black women can thrive in the global marketplace? Follow Shades and Layers on Instagram, visit shadesandlayers.com, and tune in wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the trailer and latest episode below.
