According To B

Whoever convinced women that life peaks in their twenties has some explaining to do. 😭
Because if you ask us? The thirties are kind of giving.
This week, Nandipha Mqoco pulls up a chair at the A2B Café for a conversation about getting older, getting hotter, getting clearer on who you are and why there is so much more life waiting for women on the other side of 30.
We talk about the freedom that comes with knowing yourself better, our changing relationships with our bodies, style, confidence, friendship, career and the pressure women feel to have life “figured out” by a certain age.
And because we're still lover girls around here, we also get into love, dating and what romance looks like when you're older, wiser and perhaps a little less willing to entertain nonsense. 😂
Think Sex and the City, Girlfriends, Insecure-except this time, we’re the women in our thirties we grew up watching.
🥂 This episode of According to B is powered by Bernini.

✰ TIMESTAMPS✰
01:00- Coming up
02:23- Intro 
05:08- Bokang introduces Nandipha to A2B 
06:10- Game: The starter- for the plot
17:50- The main: The conversation
18:17- How Nandipha felt on the lead up to 30
24:44- What Nandipha thought 30 would look like vs the reality
32:27- Nandipha on the importance of living alone
40:31- Nandipha’s approach to love in her 30s vs her 20s
46:59- Nnadipha’s concerns about millennials and their inability to understand consent
48:37- How Nandipha’s decision to date differently has affected who she can date
49:50- Nandipha’s celibacy journey
56:53- How dating changed for Nandipha changed when sex was off the table
01:00:03- Other forms of intimacy that Nandipha enjoys
01:04:13- What 20 year old Nandipha would be surprised by
01:05:45- What Nandipha would tell 20 year old her about navigating the 20’s
01:07:19- Dessert: Nandipha is gifted her Bernini tote bag
01:08:03- Outro

✰ SOCIAL MEDIA ✰
Bokang
➜ Instagram: @sheisbokang-https://www.instagram.com/sheisbokang 
➜ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheisbokang 
 
The B Word
➜ Instagram: @thebword_za -https://www.instagram.com/thebword_za 
➜ Tik Tok: @thebwordza https://www.tiktok.com/@thebword_za 

Guest
➜ Instagram: @nandipha_mqoco-https://www.instagram.com/nandipha_mqoco-
➜Tik Tok:@nandipha_mqoco-https://www.tiktok.com/@nandipha_mqoco 

✰ BUSINESS INQUIRIES ✰
E-mail: hello@thebwordmedia.com 
✰ TEAM/CREDITS ✰
Producer: Bokang Lehlokoe & Tshegetso Moepi 
Videography: Shutter Scope
Post Production: Palesa Radebe

What happens when you get everything you worked for… and realise you might not want it anymore?
Bonge Gumede spent years building the dream. She left university to bet on herself, poured everything into becoming a full-time fitness creator and eventually built the career she had imagined — a global audience, six-figure earnings, major opportunities and even the chance to live abroad.
Then, at what should have felt like the height of it all, she walked away.
In this episode, Bonge takes us through the build, the cage and the unbecoming: the relentless work it took to create her career, what achieving her goals revealed about her relationship with productivity and success, and the six-month sabbatical that changed everything.
We talk about faith, ambition, burnout, family, fitness, social media, learning how to be still and the role God played in completely redefining Bonge’s understanding of womanhood, worth and what she wants her life to be built around.
Sometimes changing your life isn’t about chasing a bigger dream. Sometimes it’s having the courage to question the one you already achieved.
🥂 This episode of According to B is powered by Bernini.

✰ TIMESTAMPS✰
01:00- Coming up
01:48- Intro 
04:08- Bokang introduces Bonge to A2B 
04:42- Game: The starter- for the plot
17:50- The main: The conversation
18:14- What made Bonge begin her content creation journey
21:35- How content creation became a job for Bonge
23:59-The sacrifices the Bonge had to make to build her career
29:48- The peak and success of Bonge’s career
28:01- Bonge’s move to Dubai
29:47- The turning point
31:53- 2025:The year God humbled Bonge
36:13- What it was about the fitness industry and social media that wasn’t aligning
41:05- Bonge on stepping back and slowing down
45:49- The aspects of Bonge’s life that grewin the slowing down
53:51- How Bonge’s relationship with fitness and her body has changed
58:33- How Bonge defines success now
01:01:58- Younger Bonge vs who Bonge is now
01:06:24- Dessert: Bonge is gifted her Bernini tote bag
01:07:08- Outro

✰ SOCIAL MEDIA ✰
Bokang
➜ Instagram: @sheisbokang-https://www.instagram.com/sheisbokang 
➜ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheisbokang 
 
The B Word
➜ Instagram: @thebword_za -https://www.instagram.com/thebword_za 
➜ Tik Tok: @thebwordza https://www.tiktok.com/@thebword_za 

✰ BUSINESS INQUIRIES ✰
E-mail: hello@thebwordmedia.com 

✰ TEAM/CREDITS ✰
Producer: Bokang Lehlokoe & Tshegetso Moepi 
Videography: Shutter Scope
Post Production: Palesa Radebe

What happens when you stop building your life around the milestones you were told you should want  and start asking what you actually want instead?
Travel creator and digital anthropologist Popi Sibiya has built a life defined by curiosity, adventure and a willingness to take the road less travelled — literally.
Over drinks at the A2B Café, Popi and I talk about the choices that have shaped the life she lives today: travel, freedom, home, relationships, marriage, being child-free, taking risks and deciding what “enough” looks like when you’re not following the traditional blueprint.
We get into what she was really searching for when she first started travelling, whether constant movement can ever become another comfort zone, the things she's learned about herself from seeing the world, and what it means to build a life that actually feels like your own.
Because maybe there isn’t one right way to do womanhood. Maybe the real adventure is figuring out yours.
🥂 This episode of According to B is powered by Bernini.

✰ TIMESTAMPS✰
01:00- Coming up
01:18- Intro
02:44- Bokang introduces Popi to A2B
03:41- Game: The starter- for the plot
22:31- The main: The conversation
23:14- Who Popi was before the content
25:12- Why Popi chose to teach english in China
26:20- What prompted Popi to leave China and move back home
29:48- The moment Popi realised being a travel creator could be a job
33:22- How Popi decided to monetize her content
34:50- Popi on comparing her life with other peoples
37:20- Popi’s perspective on romantic relationships, marriage and kids
48:03- Popi on whether she believes the man she wants exists
51:12- Popi on living her dream life
51:55- The realities of being a travel creator
53:26- How sustainable The Popi Show is right now
56:58- Advice for corporate version of Popi
57:55- Popi’s message for the woman who doesn’t know what the next looks like
59:48- Dessert:Popi is gifted her Bernini tote bag
01:01:01-Outro

✰ SOCIAL MEDIA ✰
Bokang
➜ Instagram: @sheisbokang-https://www.instagram.com/sheisbokang 
➜ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheisbokang 
 
The B Word
➜ Instagram: @thebword_za -https://www.instagram.com/thebword_za 
➜ Tik Tok: @thebwordza https://www.tiktok.com/@thebword_za 
Guest
Popi
➜ Instagram:@popi_sibiya-
-https://www.instagram.com/popi_sibiya
➜TikTok: @popi_sibiya- https://www.tiktok.com/@popi_sibiya 

✰ LISTEN ON ✰ 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XnqZ7b...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id5426930?...

✰ BUSINESS INQUIRIES ✰
E-mail: hello@thebwordmedia.com 

✰ TEAM/CREDITS ✰
Producer: Bokang Lehlokoe & Tshegetso Moepi 
Videography: Shutter Scope
Post Production: Palesa Radebe

Shudufhadzo Musida has never been afraid to dream beyond what seems realistic. From entering Miss South Africa when she never considered herself a “pageant girl,” to eventually wearing the crown, pursuing her studies at Columbia University and living out a New York dream she first imagined as a little girl Shudu’s life is proof of just how far a dream can take you.
But big dreams can also require big sacrifices.
In our first conversation at the A2B Café, Shudu and I talk about keeping a dream alive when your circumstances give you no evidence that it’s possible, refusing to choose between your ambitions, the years of work behind the achievements we celebrate, and the time, relationships and rest that can sometimes be sacrificed along the way.
We also get into what happens when you finally find yourself living inside a life your younger self once dreamed about — and have to give yourself permission to dream even bigger.
🥂 This episode of According to B is powered by Bernini.
✰ TIMESTAMPS✰
01:26- Coming up
01:27- Intro
04:58- Bokang introduces Shudu to A2B
06:48- Game: The starter- for the plot
19:25- The main: The conversation
20:06- Where Shudu’s New York dream started
24:36- Shudu on immersing herself into New York
28:53- What encouraged Shudu to keep dreaming big
31:35- Shudu on her first time applying to Columbia University
39:20- The Miss South Africa last minute entry
43:49- Shudu on navigating her mental health during Miss SA and her studies
50:28- The planned and unplanned dreams Shudu has achieved
54:08- The cost of achieving the dream
57:26- Shudu’s relationship with rest
01:02:29- Shudu’s pockets of joy in the busyness
01:10:34- Shudu’s advice to anyone that feels like their big dream is impossible
01:15:23- Unconventional desert: Shudu receives her Bernini bag
01:16:44- Outro

✰ SOCIAL MEDIA ✰
Bokang
➜ Instagram: @sheisbokang-https://www.instagram.com/sheisbokang 
➜ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheisbokang 
 
The B Word
➜ Instagram: @thebword_za -https://www.instagram.com/thebword_za 
➜ Tik Tok: @thebwordza https://www.tiktok.com/@thebword_za 

Guest
Shudu
➜ Instagram: @shudufhadzomusida-
-https://www.instagram.com/shudufhadzomusida
➜TikTok: @shudumusida-  https://www.tiktok.com/@shudumusida

✰ LISTEN ON ✰ 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XnqZ7b...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id5426930?...

✰ BUSINESS INQUIRIES ✰
E-mail: hello@thebwordmedia.com 

✰ TEAM/CREDITS ✰
Producer: Bokang Lehlokoe & Tshegetso Moepi 
Videography: Shutter Scope
Post Production: Palesa Radebe

This episode of According To B is in partnership with Bernini - the sparkling spritzer born from real wine.

Who are you beyond praise? Beyond approval? Beyond productivity?

This conversation is for the woman who has always done what was expected - and is now asking deeper questions. 

I sit down with Ursula Mariani and together, we explore what it means to outgrow versions of yourself that once kept you safe. From discipline and achievement to faith, conditioning, and authorship, Ursula shares how intellectual curiosity and emotional honesty can coexist - and how real freedom begins when you stop performing and start choosing.

Subscribe to The B Word here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBWord?su... 

✰ MEET OUR CO-HOST ✰

Ursula
Ursula Mariani is a lecturer, PHD candidate voice-over artist, and the host of the podcast: The Conversation Capital, where she explores the power of dialogue as currency-in relationships, leadership, and identity. Known for her clarity of thought and grounded presence, Ursula has become a trusted voice in conversations around womanhood, conditioning, faith, and personal authorship.
Her work sits at the intersection of intellect and introspection. Whether she’s in a lecture hall, behind a microphone, or leading nuanced discussions online, Ursula is committed to helping women question inherited expectations and consciously choose who they want to become.

✰ TIMESTAMPS✰

00:00 - Intro
03:23 - Meet Ursula
05:59 - Game: Toast or Ghost
19:51 - Ursula on being a good girl growing up
25:20 - The parts of herself Ursula left unexplored as a result of being a good girl
27:09 - Dilemma
34:11 - Ursula on growing into being independent and self-possessed
36:39 - Ursula on honouring parents without living according to their will
41:09 - The things Ursula has had to unlearn in the process of shedding 
43:10 - The parts of herself that Ursula is only discovering now
45:09 - The part of herself that Ursula is excited to step into more 
47:52 - What younger Ursula would think of her now
50:14 - Ursula receives her Breathe It In box
51:16 - Outro

✰ SOCIAL MEDIA ✰

Bokang
➜ Instagram: @sheisbokang-  / https://www.instagram.com/sheisbokang   
➜ Tik Tok:@sheisbokang-  https://www.tiktok.com/@sheisbokang 
 
The B Word
➜ Instagram: @thebword_za - https://www.instagram.com/thebword_za
➜ Tik Tok: @thebwordza- https://www.tiktok.com/@thebword_za 

Guest

Ursula
➜ Instagram: @ursulamariani  -https://www.instagram.com/ursulamariani 
➜TikTok: @ursulamariani- https://www.tiktok.com/@ursulamariani 

✰ LISTEN ON ✰ 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0XnqZ7bUlKg3TQS6LWZpZE?si=ad35431e1c1a474d 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/bw/podcast/according-to-b/id1686532135 
Castbox:https://castbox.fm/vh/5426930 

✰ BUSINESS INQUIRIES ✰

E-mail: hello@thebwordmedia.com 

✰ TEAM/CREDITS ✰

Director: Bokang Lehlokoe
Producer: Bokang Lehlokoe & Tshegetso Moepi 
Production Assistant: Senamile Dlamini
Videography: Looped Pictures  
Post Production: Looped Pictures