- 2 days ago
OVAReact Podcast S05 E10 - With Waithera Ng'ang'a
Follow us on:
/ capitalfmkenya
/ capitalfmkenya
/ capitalfmkenya
Subscribe to Capital FM News for More: https://goo.gl/um4AGk
98.4 Capital FM
93.0 Western Kenya
98.5 Nakuru and Nyeri
104.5 Malindi
102.7 Garissa
103.9 Meru
106.5 Kitui
104.9 Voi
#CapitalFmKenya #OVAReactPodcast
Follow us on:
/ capitalfmkenya
/ capitalfmkenya
/ capitalfmkenya
Subscribe to Capital FM News for More: https://goo.gl/um4AGk
98.4 Capital FM
93.0 Western Kenya
98.5 Nakuru and Nyeri
104.5 Malindi
102.7 Garissa
103.9 Meru
106.5 Kitui
104.9 Voi
#CapitalFmKenya #OVAReactPodcast
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:01Welcome to the Overreact podcast in a society that tries to put women in a box.
00:06Let's overreact. It's your girl, Momohoya.
00:08It's your girl, Angela Wambui.
00:10And it's your girl, Lash Angela.
00:11And today we have a special guest. Please introduce yourself.
00:14Hey guys, I'm Widera Nganga.
00:16I'm the group director, corporate affairs at Biofoods.
00:19We're so happy to have you here.
00:21And we're so excited for having you guys overreact with us.
00:24We're thankful to Lockwood Furniture for being our set design.
00:28And we're excited for overreacting today.
00:31And if you haven't watched previous episodes, you can do so.
00:34And you can watch the episodes at Capital FM YouTube Kenya.
00:38And you can also listen to episodes through our podcast platform, www.sisterspeaksglobal.org.
00:46And don't forget every Wednesday, which is the last Wednesday of the month,
00:49you can catch up on The Fuse, where we are having an overreact hour with Anne Moora.
00:56Everything women, everything trending, everything, including a playlist from women,
01:01your favorite women artists.
01:03So make sure that you overreact with us then.
01:06And make sure that you catch us across our social media platforms,
01:09at Sisterspeaks254, at Overreact Podcasts, at Capital FM Kenya, and at Heels for Pags.
01:15Yes.
01:16And as Angela said, if you're not following Artisterspeaks254,
01:21then you might not understand what I'm about to share.
01:23So we have an event coming up at the end of May.
01:27It's called, we're switching it up.
01:28We usually have an event called Heels Connect,
01:30but this time we're switching it up to Sneakers Connect.
01:33And it's a women and health fit camp.
01:35So it's an opportunity to come and dance.
01:37So we have Martina Glez, who will be our lead dance facilitator.
01:41We'll also have the opportunity for you guys to interact with health experts,
01:46talking on nutrition, talking on wellness, talking on fitness.
01:50Your girl over here is going to be the moderator of the conversation.
01:53And there's an opportunity to replenish with Biofoods, who's one of our partners.
01:59And so we're so excited to have a conversation today
02:02around the participation of Biofoods with our event,
02:05but more importantly, learning about one of the women lead corporate members of Biofoods
02:11and how her story came to be.
02:14And so once again, welcome, Waidara.
02:16And congratulations on your recent new lead role.
02:21So your flowers.
02:23Yes, yes, yes.
02:24And we're so excited to have you here.
02:27Tell us, before we get into the conversation of your journey in leadership,
02:31also your contribution to why health is important through the organization.
02:37Tell us a fun fact about you.
02:40So something that most people don't know is that I loved agriculture from a young age.
02:45So when everybody was going for the really posh subjects,
02:49I begged my parents, please let me go and do agriculture, and they refused.
02:53So I went and did a business degree,
02:57and I'd been in media and marketing for a very long time.
02:59But the moment I got a gap, I dropped everything to go back to school to do agriculture.
03:05Oh, wow.
03:06Did you grow up in a farm?
03:09I grew up in a farm.
03:10So my mom was a farmer, and incidentally, farming for me was fun.
03:16So what would happen is I tell everybody I'm 44.
03:20TV used to start at 5 o'clock.
03:22That was KBC.
03:23So there's nothing to do during the day.
03:24So what would happen is you go and spend time milking cows, being in the farm.
03:29So for me, that was actually fun.
03:31So when I was done with primary school and I went into high school,
03:35and everybody was saying agriculture was shady, I didn't understand.
03:38Because I was like, that was my farm.
03:40So that's, yeah, that's a fun fact about me.
03:43You have a connection.
03:44We have a connection.
03:46I also grew up in the farm.
03:49And one thing that my grandfather never allowed, we never milked.
03:53So I wish I did.
03:55Oh, why?
03:55Yeah.
03:56He said those are men duties.
03:59Okay.
03:59So we never went close to the cow, but I used to love milk.
04:02Okay.
04:03And the byproducts of the milk.
04:05So all we used to do is, you know, I grew up in Yandara.
04:09It's very agricultural.
04:11You'll find everything green, everything beautiful.
04:14I had fun growing up at the farm as well.
04:16So that's something we have in common.
04:19Yeah.
04:19Fun fact, I tried to milk.
04:21My grandma took me to go milk a cow.
04:25It's the only time that cow whipped me with the tail.
04:28I was like, because it's not familiar with my hands and stuff.
04:33So I was like, yeah, let me just stick to my lane.
04:35The closest I've ever actually gone to a cow adder is,
04:39because I told the Shamba boy, can I try?
04:43And then I just kicked the bucket and all the milk was on the floor.
04:47That was it.
04:48And my grandfather was like, you should never go close to the cattle.
04:53But I'll tell you something about milking a cow.
04:56A cow's adder is as sensitive as a woman's breast.
04:58That makes sense.
05:01Look at you.
05:03I'm overreacting.
05:04That's a crazy fact.
05:06That makes sense.
05:07So I can understand why it almost kicked you.
05:09Yeah.
05:09Oh, no, no.
05:10It did.
05:10It whipped me with the...
05:12It whipped it still, not its hair.
05:16Okay.
05:17That's so interesting.
05:18So then that explains why even with what you do makes sense,
05:23because there's a merger of whatever you're already an expert on in terms of your marketing.
05:28And then there's the merger of you've grown up in this environment.
05:33You understand even farmer culture.
05:35You understand why it's important to figure out how to be better.
05:38We've had a guest before in our very first few seasons who is in the space of potatoes.
05:46And one of the things that she used to say is the country is, as you've said, green.
05:53There's so much opportunities.
05:55But the issue when it comes from like an exporting point of view is not growing things right, not growing.
06:02And what would you say about that?
06:05Like in terms of even your own journey through your...
06:08Do you farm currently?
06:10Yes.
06:10You do?
06:11Okay.
06:12Bananas.
06:13I'm from Moranga.
06:14Ah.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Okay.
06:17So, yeah.
06:17So, anyway, in terms of like even just that combination of understanding how farming culture
06:24is quite a challenge for people because of not farming things right.
06:30So then you end up finding that people are not contributing towards the market.
06:34So, like even how you choose your farmers is different.
06:37But before we get into that conversation, which we'll learn about your grass to glass strategy,
06:43your leadership journey is quite interesting.
06:46We have something in common.
06:47We had an off conversation.
06:49So a lot of people have heard me say this, that one of my inspiration has always been
06:53Sheryl Sandberg.
06:55And it's always about like the leaning culture.
06:58Do you understand the leaning culture?
06:59So, for those who don't know, leaning culture is really about putting yourself out there,
07:07going into boardrooms, not being as scared to like step out.
07:11And that's something that you really attribute towards your style and your leadership.
07:16Talk us through from what you learned from Sheryl Sandberg and how it's also contributed to
07:21your journey and how you also implement that with your staff and your team.
07:25The lovely Irene who might be watching here and June, who's here with us.
07:32So, first, thank you for the flowers.
07:36You're welcome.
07:37I really appreciate it.
07:38And I always say that, so today morning I called one of my best friends and I was like,
07:43I don't know what I'm going to say.
07:46And he told me, you know, women never accept, they never accept their flowers.
07:52So, if a man has done well and you tell him, you know, this has happened, you've been promoted,
07:58you've been appointed, I'll say, thank you very much, I work very hard, blah, blah, blah.
08:02But when you tell a woman, you know, congratulations, you say, no, you know, it's God, we must thank God.
08:12But it's, you know, it's like we have so many reasons, but we never, we never ever accept our flowers and our kudos.
08:21And what happens is, because we continuously teach other people not to thank us for the things that we've done,
08:28people stop doing it and they don't play what women do because women actually don't play what they do.
08:33So, for me, I'll say my journey of leadership, first I'm really grateful, I'm grateful to God,
08:41I'm grateful to my village because having children, being a single mom, doing my job is very difficult
08:50without a village around you to just support you and make sure that things run.
08:54Yeah.
08:55So, when people say work-life balance, I'm not, I'm like, there's nothing like work-life balance,
08:59it's work-life systems, you need to have systems that work.
09:03I like that.
09:03So that you're able to make life make sense.
09:07So, personal development and upskilling is something that I've always invested in.
09:14Like I'll tell you, oh, my first degree and then my second degree and then my third degree
09:17and now I'm on my fourth degree.
09:19Girl.
09:20Hey, I love it.
09:21Can you drop all of them, list them for us?
09:24Because, wow.
09:26So, basically, what I always say is, for me, I'm grateful.
09:31I'm grateful that I have the boss that I have because you cannot excel if you don't have the right environment.
09:36I agree.
09:37And my boss is, in Kenya, we just know him as Joakim, but he's actually a global leader.
09:43He's got business interests in sub-Saharan Africa, which you know as Biofoods and Highlands
09:49and Greenspoon and Maxim, but he also has business interests in Asia and other continents.
09:54So, I'm glad that I work for somebody who builds a pipeline for talent that he considers useful to the business.
10:04Yeah.
10:05So, that's the first thing.
10:06And then, secondly, he's an ally, like a true ally, not a peer ally.
10:11So, I always say sometimes you meet people and then you find that women have been tokenized.
10:16They're given positions because of the 70-30, blah, blah, blah.
10:18For him, when people come into our business, they get shocked because leadership, 60% of our business is women.
10:28Yeah?
10:28Okay.
10:29And he always says, if you invest in women, you run a very profitable business.
10:32Absolutely.
10:33Because women are invested in the business doing well.
10:37So, as long as the business is doing well by them, they are 100% invested in the business.
10:42So, I'm glad I work in the environment I work in.
10:46I'm glad I work with the boss that I work for.
10:49And I also have a fantastic leadership peer team within the business, but also the team that I work with.
10:56Yeah?
10:56Because there's no way, what do you say, no man is an island.
10:59So, without the team I have right now and without the culture that we have, I wouldn't be who I am today.
11:08So, that has basically been my leadership journey.
11:13I like that.
11:13I like that the leaning for you has also been easier because you have somebody who allows you to lean in, which is always important.
11:20And I guess as a result, you're fostering that same environment.
11:24Yeah.
11:25Definitely, Biofoods.
11:27It's a household name.
11:29And I think you just talked about the leader, you know, the visionary behind Biofoods.
11:36So, your values are all about equity, health, and putting your customers first.
11:44Would you say these are the key drivers that have either brought Biofoods to this position where it's a leading product and health product for many households in Kenya?
11:59Would you say those are the values that have carried you to where you are?
12:04Yes.
12:05Because one of the things, and I always say culture flows from the top.
12:14So, if there's a problem, whether it's with the business, with the country, whatever, culture flows from the top.
12:19So, my boss always says, I'd rather you tell me the truth.
12:26When you've done a mistake, come and tell me the truth.
12:28Then, we'll fix it together rather than lying and covering it up until it explodes.
12:34Because when it explodes, he doesn't want to listen, you know?
12:36Yeah.
12:37So, my boss has a culture of integrity.
12:40And what happens is, I always say, you're the sum of the five people you hang around with.
12:45So, he ensures that our environment is one that integrity runs, integrity is a value, transparency is a value, passion is a value.
12:55So, anytime you meet anybody from Bio, you automatically see the happiness.
12:59Once you start telling them about Bio, they're very passionate.
13:02They'll tell you, oh, you know, at Bio, we do this and we do that.
13:04Because you're part of the business we work in, yeah?
13:06And then there's also the element of trust.
13:09We do not take consumers' trust in our brand lightly.
13:14And as we go along, I'll just give you some instances where trust is what drives, or rather how trust drives the business.
13:24Because without that, I mean, we have no right to exist in this market, yeah?
13:27I wanted to say something around what you've just said.
13:32On our event in October, we had an event, Hills Connect Women and Wealth.
13:37And it was about finances and it was about creating a space for women to come and learn and be skilled.
13:44You brought your daughter.
13:45And I remember you saying you want her to learn too.
13:49And so you have a leader who allows you to lead.
13:55You're also leading a team.
13:56And you're also influencing that to your child.
13:59But I know from conversations that we've had that there's also how you grew up has played a role in how you also show up as a parent.
14:08But take us, for anyone who's listening, who's a mother, sometimes we tend to, or parents, sometimes you tend to think, no, that's for grown-up stuff, like I shouldn't take my child.
14:19But the more you expose your child, then it becomes easier for them to show up better in the world and even know how to negotiate for themselves, right?
14:27Well, so I'll start with my dad, the way he raised us.
14:35So when I was about six, seven years old, what would happen is my dad would go on Sunday and buy all the newspapers.
14:42So those nation standards, there's a Swahili paper called Taifaleo, blah, blah, blah.
14:48And he'd bring all the papers home.
14:50And then his friends would come over because then guys never used to have the culture of going out to pubs as they do.
14:55So guys would have a lot of house parties.
14:56His friends would come over, and my dad would make me sit there with the newspapers.
15:01And I'd read page by page.
15:03And so I started, today, moi, I go, I go, come what I did, and blah, blah, blah.
15:10So I'd read the papers, and he'd tell me, okay.
15:12Then his friend would say, no, this paper, I read page two, there's history.
15:16So they'd just sit there, and they'd just listening to me talk.
15:18And I'm reading, I'm reading, I'm reading.
15:20So what would happen, they'd have a conversation afterwards.
15:24And they'd say, you know, this, and I'd be there.
15:25And I'm like, all of six or seven.
15:27And I'm there, I'm saying, no, no, no.
15:29And my dad would say, you know, she's on read.
15:31Let her.
15:32And then I'd say, no, I read.
15:33Moi went here, here, here.
15:35He didn't go where you're saying he went.
15:37And we'd have that conversation.
15:39And I guess to them it was just funny because I was a little kid over there telling them about politics.
15:43But what happened is I learned to trust my voice, especially in the business space.
15:51So, and my team will tell you, it doesn't matter who I meet.
15:54You will not intimidate me.
15:56I don't care what title you have, where you come from.
15:59I'm comfortable bantering with anybody.
16:03It doesn't matter.
16:05So that was the first thing.
16:06Then, secondly, my mom is very, we like to call her a diva.
16:13Because even to the supermarket, she'll dress up and she'll say, no, you never know who you're going to meet.
16:19You don't know which opportunity you're going to get.
16:21So for her, everything must be done with excellence.
16:23Yeah.
16:23And growing up, I used to feel like, I mean, really, I want to go to the supermarket in my pajamas.
16:30And she'd say, the day you go to the supermarket in your pajamas is the day you meet the person you don't want to meet in your pajamas.
16:36So from a young age, I learned image was very important.
16:41Excellence was very important.
16:42And on my dad's side, that my voice meant something.
16:44So because he always involved me in a lot of things that he was doing as the only girl, so if he's meeting his friends, he'd tell me, if you want to come, come, just come, come and listen, come and ask questions.
16:58If his friend buys a new car, he'd ask me, hey, have you seen the car?
17:01Ask him to take you around in the car.
17:02Okay.
17:03Ask him how much the car was.
17:04Ask him how much money he's making.
17:06Ask him where he's making money from to buy that car.
17:09And, you know, I'd ask these questions.
17:12And then it's, oh, yeah, but I'm a lawyer.
17:13Oh, Amadeus, I'm doing this.
17:15Or we go to his friends, Mijengos, and I ask, okay, how is this house built, you know?
17:20And they'd explain it to me.
17:22So what happened is I also got a culture of I don't feel foolish asking questions.
17:28So even in meetings, even though everybody else is nodding their head, I'll be like, hey, excuse me, what does this mean exactly?
17:35Yeah.
17:36And sometimes you find, you'll ask a question, then you realize, oh, okay, everybody is nodding their head.
17:41Because they weren't the only one who needed that answer.
17:44Yeah.
17:44But I'm not afraid of feeling foolish in the process of learning.
17:48Yeah.
17:49And that is something that we need to shed off sometimes.
17:53So one of the things I do is I invite my daughter along.
17:57Same way.
17:58And I tell her, okay, we're going to Sister Speaks.
18:02I want you to come.
18:03I want you to listen.
18:03If you have any questions, ask.
18:05So there's this time when you tell us now to have a conversation.
18:09Yes.
18:09And she's there, and people are talking about their careers, and she's talking about the things she's doing, and people think she actually has a job.
18:17Then she says, so may someone ask her, okay, so what do you do?
18:20Well, I'm in year 11.
18:23But because she's learned to carry herself in certain spaces.
18:27So I love, and I always tell her, I'm not raising a child.
18:33I'm raising a global leader.
18:35I'm raising a global citizen.
18:36Yes.
18:37When we go to the airports, sometimes, and she always tells me, Mama, I can never get lost in an airport because it's the best labeled place in the whole world.
18:46Yeah?
18:46That's true.
18:47So we go in, and I'll give her, maybe she holds her passport.
18:50I hold my passport, and I tell her, okay, we're going to get this particular gate, get us there.
18:54And she'll just follow, she'll ask questions, and she'll get herself there because the idea is you're supposed to be preparing your child to be independent in this world.
19:05You're not preparing them so that they can keep, of course, I'd love for her to call me every day and ask me, Mama, how do I do this?
19:11But at the end of the day, if I have a child who can hold her own in this world, I've done my part.
19:19I love that.
19:20Oh, God.
19:20Congratulations on such a beautiful mommy-daughter relationship.
19:23I think it's really inspiring just hearing your motherhood journey and how you've instilled that confidence in your daughter from a young age.
19:31And you also touched a lot on the values of biofoods.
19:35So when it comes to even empowering the communities, and, you know, not only is biofoods, not only do your products taste amazing, but they're also nutritionally good in, you know, in terms of value and quality.
19:49Are there any outreach programs that biofoods does to empower communities in terms of, like, educating them on the importance of nutrition when it comes to choosing certain foods?
20:01Okay, so I'm going to answer that question in two parts.
20:06So the first is we don't talk about community outreach.
20:12For us, we talk about the fact that you're a sustainable business.
20:15And sustainability means that we embed it in each and every part of our value chain.
20:21So when you talk about the community, we make sure that every community that we operate in, whether it's the farming community, our supplier community, our employee people community, we are always giving back and making sure that they live their best lives.
20:36So how do we give back?
20:40I'll give an example.
20:41We're very heavy into backward integration with our farmers.
20:45So recently, June was part of that trip, and my boss, so they go down to, I won't tell you where, in Ruth Valley.
20:58Then they meet this farmer, and this farmer was not even part of the trip.
21:01And he's like, no, no, no, no, you have to come to my farm, you have to come to my farm.
21:04So eventually, they go to the farm.
21:05So this guy had a mud house and a quarrel for his animals.
21:12They went, and he had now a stone house.
21:16And he was so excited, and he was like, you know, because Bayou pays us the best, I was able to save money, and I was able to get a loan, and I was able to build this house.
21:25And if you follow my boss on LinkedIn, Jackie Mestervelt, you'll see the actual house that this guy had built.
21:30And he was so, so proud.
21:32So when people ask me, what do you guys do?
21:34I say, we are not in the business of buying milk.
21:38We're in the business of changing lives.
21:41One milk liter at a time.
21:43And does that speak to your slogan, grass to glass?
21:48For anyone who wants to know more, that slogan, what does it embody when it comes to buy our foods?
21:56Okay, so basically what we say is our integrity, our integrity, trust, brand love flows from grass to glass.
22:06Yeah?
22:06So one of the things that we do, so I'll just break down the value chain very quickly from grass to glass.
22:12Yes.
22:13One of the things that we do with our farmers is ensure that they have the right inputs for their milk.
22:18Yeah?
22:18So one, we educate the farmers.
22:21Two, we work with our farmers.
22:25So I'll backtrack a little bit.
22:27Agriculture in this country is a hobby for many people.
22:30So if you have a little farm or a big farm or whatever you've inherited from your parents, you go put some carrots, you come back to Nairobi, you remote control, how the cows, how the, you know.
22:43And it's not sustainable, right?
22:45Absolutely, yeah.
22:46And for those who actually live on their farms, this is at the very subsistence level, are not trained well enough so that they're able to get the best value that they can from the land that they have.
22:58At Bayou, we operate differently.
22:59We work with farmers like it's a business.
23:02It's not even like it's a business.
23:03It's a business.
23:04Okay.
23:05So we teach you how to do your documentation.
23:07We teach you how to calculate the value of inputs that go into the milk and that you get out.
23:12Yeah?
23:13So most of the times we'll even talk about margins after feed cost, which means that what are your profits after you've fed the cow?
23:21You've gotten the milk and you've sold it to us.
23:24We teach you how to manage your herd.
23:26How much of your herd is milking?
23:27How much of your herd is non-milking at this point?
23:30Because you want to consistently have a profitable herd that is making you money, right?
23:35So that's how integrated we are from the farmer level.
23:44We know, I always say, our milk, because we are so integrated, we understand we have dashboards in terms of how our farmers are feeding.
23:51If you, Angela, call me today and tell me there's a problem with this bottle of milk, I'll tell you, just send me a picture of the batch number.
24:00You'll send me a picture of the batch number.
24:01When we go back to the office, we'll be able to tell you which day the cow was milked, which herd it came from, what it ate on that day.
24:11Our traceability system is spot on.
24:13Amazing.
24:14So we're able to say, okay, on this day, it was from this particular farm.
24:18We called the farmer, what happened?
24:20Then you'll tell me, oh, maybe the milk smells a bit off.
24:23What happened?
24:24Oh, when we were going to the cattle dip, we passed blackjack.
24:28The cows ate blackjack.
24:29That is what you're smelling in the milk.
24:31And then you're able to know, okay, fine, this is what happened to this batch.
24:34We'll replace it.
24:35But at the end of the day, that is the level of quality that bio operates in.
24:41So all the way till the factory, we do 17 tests on our milk.
24:47So we test on the ground and we test on site.
24:51Let me tell you something.
24:53And I think I said this in your event last time.
24:56We supply a lot of major hospitals because we give you an antibiotic-free guarantee
25:02and an aflatoxin-safe guarantee.
25:05What does that mean?
25:06Antibiotics mean that at the end of the day, if you go to a hospital
25:10and they give you a cup of tea and you're heavily medicated,
25:14you should not get extra medication from the milk
25:17because that could end up being a very big problem.
25:21So we give guarantees.
25:22We are audited all the time by hospitals, by big chains, hotel chains,
25:26because they want to know that that guarantee we give is legitimate.
25:30Another thing, we talk about aflatoxin and we talk about health.
25:36Sorry, I'm going this way.
25:38No, no, no.
25:39When you talk about aflatoxin, aflatoxin is an endocrine disruptor.
25:45What does that mean?
25:46It means that it messes around with your hormones.
25:49What are your hormones?
25:50Hormones are the chemicals that allow your body to signal that you're sick,
25:55that you're healthy, that it's time to sleep, all that kind of stuff.
25:59If that is in your milk and your food continuously, what happens to your body?
26:04Yeah?
26:05You start getting sick.
26:06You start getting panther.
26:07You start getting all these things.
26:08So for us, when we promise the market and we say we're aflatoxin safe
26:13and we can't give you that guarantee,
26:14we're telling you that you as a lady who's pre-menopausal,
26:19you can trust our brand because we're not going to come and mess around
26:24with what's happening in your body.
26:25Body already.
26:26And some of this, I always say when the media reports that this food was not aflatoxin,
26:34this one, you need to go deeper and tell people why that is a national crisis.
26:41If you find that there's this in whatever food, I will not mention which food,
26:47there's a problem because immediately afterwards, what's going to happen?
26:50You'll find a lot of people saying, oh, I'm having thyroid issues.
26:55Oh, I'm having, but where is that coming from?
26:57It's coming from our food.
26:59Yeah?
26:59Yeah.
27:00So we all, I wish, it should just not be a bio guarantee.
27:05It should be every manufacturer, every farmer's guarantee that when you buy food from me,
27:10you're buying your health, you're buying your future.
27:13And I want to guarantee that I'm giving you good health, I'm giving you a good future.
27:17Amazing.
27:18Amazing.
27:19You definitely have given us a very detailed approach in terms of how bio foods work.
27:26So ethical farming, ethical sourcing, and whatever we find on our shelves is good for us as consumers
27:33and it's good for the planet because of the sustainable and smart practices that you train the farmers.
27:40I was going to ask you, you mentioned earlier that most of your workforce, they are women.
27:45And we've seen how, also going back, most of the households.
27:49Most is a good balance of gender.
27:51A good balance.
27:52Okay, great.
27:53So the reason why I'm going back to this is the support that we get from bio.
27:59We know most of the decision makers at household level.
28:02I'm going to go to the supermarket with my son.
28:05He's probably going to point at a yogurt.
28:07I make that decision.
28:09So we know empowerment is part and parcel of what you do.
28:13What does it mean for a brand like Cure to ensure that women are actually empowered from,
28:20whether you are a farmer, whether you're a school girl, whether it's what we do
28:24and the women that we reach with the work we do?
28:29That's a very interesting question.
28:30So one of the things that we do, okay, so I'm going to answer it again in two parts.
28:39One is in terms of the community.
28:43We always ensure that how we deal, okay, I'll give you an example, a project that we did, Safe Milk.
28:52So Safe Milk was a project that we did in partnership with some NGOs,
28:57educating consumers about why it is important to drink safe milk.
29:04Well, in the process of doing so, we realized that,
29:07because one of the riders that we got was that you're supposed to support women and youth.
29:12So when we went to the ground and we started engaging a lot of the women,
29:15women, we found out that a lot of the money that comes from farming does not necessarily,
29:23women do the work, but the money doesn't come into their pockets.
29:27So some of the things, as we are training, we also encourage them, like how to handle their money, what to do.
29:35You know, we don't say it's inculcated in the curriculum, but we're able to teach business skills
29:43so that they're able to better understand how to handle the business of farming.
29:48Two, even within the business, okay, I would say we try and help all genders,
29:56because even now the boy child, I mean, so it's not girl child or boy child.
30:01It's about how do we help our communities so that we're able to have a better, empowered next generation.
30:07So the second thing is you spoke about households.
30:11For us, what we've seen, as much as the woman is the influencer in terms of purchasing,
30:17what is happening is our households are becoming fragmented.
30:23So women are becoming more empowered, but then men are also shopping a lot
30:27because there are very many single men, yeah?
30:29So we have to talk to them.
30:31Where are they?
30:32That's important.
30:36I'm asking for myself, but anyway, continue.
30:40Okay.
30:41Say less.
30:43Okay.
30:43So one of the things we are noticing is demographics are changing.
30:48Before we used to talk to the woman alone.
30:50Now we cannot talk to the woman alone.
30:51We have to talk to the woman and we have to talk to the man, yeah?
30:55Women are interested in purchasing for their children.
30:58So we talk to them the language that they need to understand,
31:00how to feed their children better, how to handle their health better,
31:04how to support their nutrition.
31:07When you find platforms like yours, we really want to engage and support
31:10because that's the only way that you're able to spread our outreach
31:14because we can't do everything by ourselves.
31:16Yeah.
31:16And then for men also, and you can't leave the man behind right now.
31:20Yeah.
31:20Everybody's a sexy daddy.
31:23Yeah.
31:23Yeah.
31:24Yeah.
31:24Yeah.
31:24Men are taking care of their health.
31:26They're starting to work out more and they also need nutritional information.
31:30Yeah.
31:31So we're also trying to see how we can support women,
31:34but also how we can support men so that we actually have a healthy community
31:38and not just one side that is empowered and the other side has no clue what's going on.
31:42Violence.
31:43It makes so much sense and really aligns with the purpose of even just the fact
31:49that we're talking about nutrition, we're talking about health.
31:52I've had my own journey in terms of health, in terms of losing weight, gaining weight,
31:59losing weight, gaining weight, and even just understanding the body transformation.
32:04And some of the conversations that we'll be having is around hormonal health,
32:08which you touched on a bit.
32:09But in terms of like the products that Biofoods has and even maybe your own personal journey,
32:17how is like considering your nutrition and thinking about what you're putting in your body?
32:25You mentioned your age, so also age plays a factor in how we are as women in terms of
32:33who we were in our 20s, who we were in our 30s.
32:36Our body relates to food differently.
32:39The big M, menopause.
32:41Menopause, pre-menopause.
32:43In terms of like health and contributing, what are the techniques you use
32:50in terms of products that you use that are suitable for you?
32:54There's somebody who's a woman like you, high up, is a mother, has a high job.
33:02Also, you said you're running, you have your own farm.
33:04So you're doing so many things.
33:06How do you fit?
33:07What are some of the tips and tricks you're fitting into your day-to-day to ensure that
33:12you have health taken care of, fitness taken care of?
33:17So one of the things I do is I only buy Bio.
33:22Okay.
33:23I love that.
33:24And not because I work there, but because of the quality and cleanliness of the ingredients
33:31that go into the products.
33:32Yeah.
33:33And one reason I'll tell you why it's important is I'm 44 now.
33:38I told you that earlier.
33:39Nobody tells you that when you turn 39, 40, you start gaining weight in a way that does
33:46not make sense.
33:47Yeah.
33:48And you try and eat the way you used to, it's not working.
33:53You work out the way you used to, it's not working.
33:56Yeah.
33:56So part of it is because, again, hormonal imbalances because of what we're eating.
34:04So once I realized that what I put in my body has a direct correlation to how I look, this
34:09is in terms of skin, in terms of hair.
34:11One of the things that happens is as you grow older, you find that women are losing hair.
34:19Yeah.
34:20There's this whole thing.
34:22I rebeek that for myself there.
34:25And it doesn't have to be.
34:26It doesn't have to be.
34:27It's just a matter of food.
34:29Yeah.
34:29It's a matter of the chemicals that you're putting in our hair.
34:33It's the skin products that you're putting on our faces.
34:36And I always say, if I can't eat it, I don't want to put it on my skin.
34:40Yeah.
34:42Because if...
34:43That's a good way to look at it.
34:45So I try as much as possible to be natural.
34:48I buy natural shea butter, fenugreek oil, rosemary for my hair.
34:53Like, I try as much as possible to keep it as natural as possible.
34:56Yeah.
34:57That's the first thing.
34:58The second thing is, I mean, I was always between 70 to 75 kilos.
35:05Last month, I was doing 95 kilos.
35:08Now I'm at 91 kilos.
35:09I am trying my best to lose weight.
35:13And one of the things, so I went to a doctor some time back, and he told me, listen, you
35:17cannot work out like a young girl.
35:19You cannot run here, up, down, do 10 kilometers and think that's how you're going to lose weight.
35:24As you grow older, you have to do a lot of weight.
35:27Yeah.
35:28And to do weight, that means that you have to eat a lot of protein and good protein.
35:32And one of the products that I love, as I plug in our products.
35:35Yes, please.
35:36We were actually going to do that rapid fire.
35:38So go on.
35:38It's bioactive power.
35:40It's one of the, it's a high protein shake that we created.
35:44And why I like it is because it's direct injection.
35:47I don't have to eat a huge, I'm not a good eater.
35:49I don't, I don't have to eat a huge steak to get protein.
35:52Yeah.
35:52All I need to do is get one bottle, drink it, I have my 25 grams of protein for the day.
35:58Yeah.
35:58So it helps with the muscle replacement.
36:01So there's so many things.
36:02I mean, what, what do I do?
36:04I like peace.
36:06You don't want problems.
36:08I don't want problems.
36:09You want peace.
36:10I feel you go.
36:11So I'm, I'm very careful about the spaces that I'm at.
36:15Yeah.
36:16If you're toxic, I'm so sorry.
36:17I'll ghost you as fast as a Gen Z ghost's a job.
36:21No.
36:22Okay, let me, let me take that back.
36:26The pro is on the floor.
36:28I love it.
36:29Don't quit on us.
36:31Because I mean, why should, literally my peace of mind is what helps me make money, helps
36:37me raise my kids.
36:39It, it, it's what keeps me sane.
36:41It's what, it's what keeps me looking young.
36:43Yeah.
36:44So if I'm in a toxic space, I cannot handle it.
36:46It's not good for my health.
36:48Yeah.
36:49And the, some of my friends tell me you can disappear for four months.
36:52I say, yeah, imagine I had to disappear for four months because I had to concentrate on
36:56what was necessary, but I'll come back.
36:58But in the meantime, you'll have sorted out your behavior also.
37:01So, you know, the environment makes sense.
37:04So those are some of the things I do.
37:06And, um, the last thing is I put family first.
37:11And the reason I do that is because I grew up in a very, um, tight, integrated family,
37:17you know, like I took up with my dad and my mom and my brothers.
37:20And when you have a fantastic, uh, support system, my life has not always been smooth sailing.
37:26Yeah.
37:26There was one time I really dipped, um, I was doing business.
37:30I wasn't making money.
37:31It was like a really, really crazy time.
37:34And my family literally came around me and were my safety net such that as an outsider,
37:39nobody would know that I was going through all these issues because they insulated me,
37:43made sure my fridge was full, made sure my kids' fees were paid, like,
37:47made sure it was fueling my car.
37:48Um, and so for me, having a close-knit family is everything.
37:55Yeah.
37:56Yeah.
37:56Yep.
37:57So that's my health in depth.
37:58I love that.
38:00Well, very well-rounded advice.
38:02Um, and I, I love the fact that you, you know, you touched on family.
38:06So really protecting your mind, body, and soul 360.
38:08Um, when it comes to women's health in particular and maybe, uh, hormonal or nutritional gaps that
38:16are experienced, you know, there's osteoporosis.
38:19You know, uh, according to Osteoporosis Foundation, 50% of women over the age of 50,
38:24um, are at risk of getting osteoporosis due to maybe gaps in vitamin D.
38:31Um, so from a biofoods perspective, what are some other maybe gaps that you see in the market
38:37when it comes to women's nutrition due to lack of nutritional value when it comes to, uh, certain foods?
38:44Um, so this is because I sit in the MPD team and I listen to what's happening.
38:52Um, one of, okay, the first gap before you actually even get into supplements, the first
38:59thing is ensuring that you understand and read the label of the product.
39:04What's on the label should be what's inside the product.
39:11Some of the gaps that we see is that people don't understand what actually goes into food.
39:16Yeah.
39:16So, one of the gaps we have is lack of education.
39:21So, as biofoods, you're consistently educating people that, guys, you need to ask what's in
39:26your food.
39:27You need to ask what that means for you.
39:29When you talk about aflatoxin, people say, oh, it's a big one, it's a big one.
39:33And I'm like, oh my God, as a woman, if you ingest this, can you imagine you ingest it
39:37in your eyes, you ingest it in this, you ingest it in this.
39:39And you'd be so surprised how many things have aflatoxin in the market right now.
39:43And then it's loaded, loaded, loaded in your system.
39:46So, I say, like, sometimes I tell my mom, you know, my friend has speakers.
39:50And she says, you know, when she was growing up and when she had me, there were certain
39:54diseases you'd rarely hear about.
39:57And not because people are hiding them.
39:59It's just that they were not prevalent.
40:00And she's like, I don't understand how so many of your friends have because, how so
40:04many of your friends have this and that and the other.
40:06And it's because of the food we're eating.
40:08We're literally getting sick from what we're eating.
40:10So, the first thing I want to say, educate yourself, read the label.
40:13Always read the label.
40:15The second thing is ensure that what's going into your body is clean.
40:20Yeah?
40:21I'll give you an example.
40:25We always have consumer tools coming through.
40:29And many people would say, okay, I was lactose intolerant until I started taking bio.
40:35Now, I'm no longer lactose intolerant.
40:38I'm like, hold up.
40:40You're not allergic to milk.
40:42You're allergic to the dirt in the milk.
40:44So, once you start drinking milk that does not have, and let's be honest, sometimes in
40:49our market, people put hydrogen peroxide to keep it, you know, fresher for longer.
40:54But these things are not, they're not designed for human bodies.
40:57And all sorts of things happen.
41:00So, when you take milk, that is not good.
41:02And then you switch over.
41:03Then you talk, oh, yeah, but now I can stomach bio.
41:06I'm like, hmm, yeah.
41:08It's about the cleanliness in the milk.
41:10Yeah?
41:10When you're drinking something that is clean, it makes better sense for your body.
41:14That's the second thing.
41:17Third is, we need to take care of our guts better.
41:22Because the gut is the beginning of healthy skin, healthy hair, healthy, even healthy thoughts.
41:28I always say, I mean, if you've got a shitty gut, it's a shitty idea.
41:33So, you need, okay, cut that off.
41:40So, okay, let me take the gut.
41:43The gut.
41:44So, your gut, your health starts in your gut.
41:49Yeah?
41:49So, consuming something that has probiotics is very important for you.
41:53So, at bio, we have a probiotic range.
41:57We have the probiotic, we have the, we have the bioactive, we have the bioactive power.
42:05And these are created with probiotics that are good for you and good for your gut.
42:09Yeah?
42:11And, of course, low sugar and low calories.
42:16So, the last thing is about, you need to also monitor how much sugar goes into your products.
42:24Yeah?
42:25At bio, we try our best to use stevia and natural sugars.
42:30I'll give you an example.
42:33We have, so, Marquisine is a bio, is one of the companies within the group.
42:38Marquisine does ketchups, meals, jams, honey, and stuff like that.
42:45It's a condiment company.
42:47Our jams, we do not add any sugar in them.
42:53We get ripe natural fruit.
42:55We don't use any preservatives.
42:57We only use lemon juice for our jams.
42:59Yeah?
43:00That's the level of, that's the level of burn promise we have.
43:05Like, we're not going to give you anything that is not food free.
43:08Yeah?
43:09Our mails, we only use vinegar to preserve them.
43:13So, sometimes our shelf life is shorter.
43:15But, it means that whatever you're eating is good for your body.
43:22Yeah.
43:22So, for me right now, it's what's on the label, what's clean, the level of sugar.
43:28And, also, at the end of the day, I always say, let's go back to our traditional foods.
43:38Yeah?
43:38Because, it's so important for us.
43:42That's where the real nutrients are.
43:44Yeah.
43:44I remember when we were doing Guava Moringa last year, everybody was asking, why would you do Guava and why would you do Moringa?
43:54And, they're like, because one, Moringa is prevalent in our country.
43:59And, it's good for you.
43:59Moringa is readily available.
44:01Two, Guava is readily available in our country.
44:04Three, do you know what Guava and Moringa is good for?
44:08Tell us.
44:09So, it's very high in antioxidants.
44:12But, it's also very good for boosting testosterone.
44:19Mmm.
44:20Mmm.
44:21Mmm.
44:21Well, I'm too.
44:24Okay.
44:25So, we always say, at Bayou, we don't just produce products to produce.
44:30We try and understand what's going on in the market.
44:33And, make sure that we're able to support your health needs by producing products that make sense for you at that space.
44:39Yeah?
44:40Yeah.
44:40So, every time I tell guys, I tell all my guy friends, if you invite me for something, I'm not going to bring you a bottle of something.
44:46Mmm.
44:47I'm going to bring you Guava Moringa.
44:49Mmm.
44:49Yeah?
44:49Put it in your fridges, have it to drink, and let me tell you, every time, okay.
44:53Now, this is anecdotal.
44:55Every time I bring you to them, after a while, they're like, okay, just tell me which supermarkets can I get.
45:00I'm like, ah, good.
45:02Yeah.
45:03Okay.
45:04As, you know, you rightfully put it, like, you're very brand-focused, you know the market.
45:11There's a lot of movement around people being eco-conscious, eco-healthy.
45:16And, I'm just curious to know what's in the pipeline.
45:19You know, are we going to see more superfoods, a different range, and new products are in the near future from bio?
45:26Because I like working at bio, I'll not give you so many details.
45:30Well, we should be excited.
45:31Excited as a bit.
45:32You should be excited.
45:32Yes.
45:33So, basically, what is happening is our MPD team is working very hard, yeah.
45:40We are looking back to what is readily available in our market.
45:45Because, as we said, we love supporting our farmers, yeah.
45:49Like, McQuizzie and the fruits, we source a lot of them from our local farmers.
45:52So, we are looking at coming back home in terms of expanding our ingredients list for what makes sense locally.
46:01Two, we are also looking more into superfoods.
46:05Because, a lot of times, I told, there are different markets.
46:09We've had Moringa here for, I mean, since I grew up, I mean.
46:13Yeah.
46:13Then, all of a sudden, Moringa is a superfood.
46:16Like, yeah, but we knew it has always been a superfood.
46:19Oh, Guava is a superfood.
46:20Yeah.
46:20We have been eating it all our lives, you know.
46:23So, it's looking back, again, at what we have in our markets, locally available, and making it make sense in terms of product offerings we are putting on the table.
46:34Then, we're also shifting more towards less sugar in products.
46:39Okay.
46:40Because, one of the things that we've noticed is our market is becoming more and more conscious.
46:46They don't want sugar.
46:47They prefer stevia.
46:48So, you find, like, our bioactive power is sweetened with sugar.
46:55And, that is one of the directions that we are taking and introducing more products in our stable like that.
47:00But, most important is we are also expanding to the region.
47:08So, right now, if you go to Rwanda, if you go to Uganda, you go to, you know, the countries in the region, you'll find our product.
47:19But, more and more, we're thinking that we need to also support regional retail with our products.
47:25So, we're going hard into the region.
47:28Exciting, exciting.
47:30I want to test out what you guys have.
47:32So, for all your listeners in Uganda and Rwanda and Burundi, we're coming soon.
47:37Coming soon.
47:38I love that.
47:39And, we're really excited, once again, for our event coming up, the Sneakers Connect.
47:44And, we're excited that you guys will be on board.
47:46And, hopefully, we'll also have you sharing more facts about health and transformation.
47:52What's your parting shot as we come to a close, either from a leadership point of view or health point of view?
47:58What would be something that anyone who's listening that maybe wants to be in your position and become a groups director?
48:05Or, wants to be in your position and is a bit more conscious about health?
48:10Yeah.
48:11Your career is too precious to leave it in the hands of someone else.
48:15Girl.
48:16Girl.
48:16So, what that means is you're in charge of your competence.
48:20Yeah.
48:21So, be continuously upskilling.
48:23You can't say, I didn't get this promotion because I didn't.
48:26You need to have the skills.
48:27That's one thing.
48:28Two, pivot as much as you need to.
48:31Just because you started in engineering does not mean that you need to be an engineer until the day you die.
48:36If you want to go into music, be a musical engineer.
48:38If you want to do whatever makes sense.
48:40Because the world we live in has got space for musical engineers who are nutritionists and who, at the end of the day, want to be DJs at night.
48:48Then focus on your personal brand because you are in charge of your own image.
48:56You can't wait for your boss to put you out there.
48:58You can't wait for your colleagues to put you out there.
49:00You can't wait for your business to promote you so that you're put out there.
49:03You are in charge of your brand.
49:05Tell your story.
49:06Make sure you use LinkedIn.
49:07All the platforms that you can possibly use to tell your story.
49:10I love that.
49:11It's been a great overreacting movie and even learning from you.
49:14There's so many nuggets that I think we're all going to reflect on.
49:18Thank you all overreactors for listening to us.
49:21We also want to thank Lockwood Furniture for being our set design for today.
49:25And we look forward to seeing you with your sneakers, not heels, please, on Saturday, the 31st of May at the Junction.
49:33But we wouldn't go without letting you know our favorite bio products because the Bioactive Cucumber has me on charcoal.
49:42I love it.
49:43Yes.
49:43My two favorite is the Moringa Guava.
49:46I love that as a yogurt.
49:48But my favorite also is a tropical yogurt, the one that comes in the yellow bottle.
49:52I like the blueberry one.
49:55And I also really like Guava Moringa because I like Guava.
49:58She knows Guava is my favorite juice.
50:00We want to know what's your favorite bio food.
50:03Please put it here in the comments.
50:05Yes.
50:05We might send you a hamper.
50:06You never know.
50:07Or a free ticket.
50:08Yes.
50:11And also beyond our Overreact podcast, you can catch us every last Wednesday of the month where we collaborate with Anne Moira on The Fuse.
50:18And we have the Overreact Hour from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
50:21And, you know, we talk all things women and, of course, celebrating female artists from across the globe.
50:26So make sure you keep it locked.
50:27You can follow us across our different social media platforms.
50:31And that is Sister Speaks 254 Overreact on Instagram and Heels for Parts.
50:36Also, you can go to www.sisterspeaksglobal.org.
50:40And you can listen to the previous and last years and last seasons.
50:45And this very one right there.
50:47So, ladies, let's overreact.
50:50We'll see you next time.
50:52We'll see you next time.
50:52We'll see you next time.
50:52We'll see you next time.
50:53We'll see you next time.
50:53We'll see you next time.
50:53We'll see you next time.
50:54We'll see you next time.
50:54We'll see you next time.
50:55We'll see you next time.
50:56We'll see you next time.
50:57We'll see you next time.
50:57We'll see you next time.
50:58We'll see you next time.
50:59We'll see you next time.
50:59We'll see you next time.
51:00We'll see you next time.
51:01We'll see you next time.
51:01We'll see you next time.
51:02We'll see you next time.
51:03We'll see you next time.
51:04We'll see you next time.
51:05We'll see you next time.
51:06We'll see you next time.
Recommended
27:53
|
Up next
9:23
13:01
2:09
0:51
0:22