Listen To Your Footsteps

In Episode 145 of Listen to Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe speaks with Tshiamo Maremela, founder of A Very Cool Studio, about the journey from a curious childhood in Wedela to art, media, cultural strategy and business leadership. Tshiamo reflects on the different selves we show the world, leaving university with a portfolio rather than a degree, and learning to lead while grieving the loss of a mentor.
Their conversation turns to a question facing African creative industries: who benefits when a brand draws on culture? Tshiamo explains why contracts, ownership and business systems matter as much as the work people see, and why a strong creative business needs to function beyond its founder.
This is a conversation about making space for many interests while building something that lasts.
Listen now, follow Listen to Your Footsteps, and share the episode with a creative or founder who is thinking beyond the next project.
#ListenToYourFootsteps #TshiamoMaremela #AfricanCreativeIndustries #CreativeEntrepreneurship #CulturalStrategy

A powerful shift in language changes everything. In this LTYF Moments, sangoma and author Nokulinda Mkhize explores how swapping the word "sacrifice" for "investment" transforms not just how we think, but how we feel about the choices we make particularly in our relationships and in raising a family.

Check out the full episode.

What does it mean to build a life in music when the world tells you to choose something more certain?
In this episode of Listen to Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe sits down with celebrated South African bassist, composer, bandleader, producer and educator Concord Nkabinde. From his earliest memories of church music and family harmonies in Soweto to a career shaped by jazz, curiosity, collaboration and independent thinking, Concord shares the story beneath the sound.
He reflects on the defining support of his mother, who backed his decision to study music when others saw it as a hobby; discovering the bass by transforming an old guitar; and learning to navigate both the academy and the realities of the music industry. Concord also speaks candidly about the humility required of a session musician, why technical ability must serve the song, the importance of making space in music and life, and why he continues to learn from younger musicians.
This is a rich conversation about creative conviction, the business of music, mentorship, African storytelling and refusing to let one idea of success limit what a musician can become.
Listen if you are a musician, creative entrepreneur, music student, independent artist or anyone building a life around the work they believe in.
In this episode, Concord Nkabinde discusses:
Growing up in Dube Village and Diepkloof, Soweto, surrounded by church, choirs, radio and family music.

The life-changing belief and financial sacrifice of his mother.

Moving from guitar to bass and understanding the bass as the foundation of a song.

Studying jazz at the University of Natal and learning through experience, risk and “baptism by fire”.

Why there was never a Plan B.

The creative ecosystem beyond performing: composition, production, teaching, workshops, film music and music solutions.

Why humility, listening and service matter more than musical “gymnastics”.

Independent music releases, ownership and learning the music business from the ground up.

Working across generations and creating opportunities for young musicians.

Ladies on Bass and the importance of making space for women bass players.

Why silence, space and restraint can make music more powerful.

His continued commitment to African narratives, new music and the stories that connect us.

If this conversation resonates with you, follow Listen to Your Footsteps, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone finding their own creative path.
#ListenToYourFootsteps #ConcordNkabinde #SouthAfricanMusic #JazzMusic #BassGuitar #IndependentMusic #CreativeJourney #AfricanStories

From hip hop's entrepreneurial spark to forging his dad's signature to chase a dream, Fortune Masina reflects on the moments that shaped him - his mother's quiet creative power, the grace of growing up, and the wisdom that "this too shall pass." A meditation on staying true to yourself while embracing the people who make you better.
Check out the full episode with Fortune Masina.

The most valuable asset in marketing is not data, budget or reach, but the willingness to actually see people.
In Episode 143 of Listen To Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe sits down with Kgaugelo Maphai - seasoned marketer, entrepreneur and founder of Matrix Communications Group - for a conversation that moves from a nomadic South African childhood to the boardrooms shaping how the continent talks to itself.
Kgaugelo shares how growing up between Atteridgeville, Makapanstad, Diepkloof, Cape Town and a formative year in the United States taught him that "South Africa is nine economies, not one country". We trace his path through Sacred Heart College and Rondebosch Boys, into the SABC's African language stations, East Coast Radio, e.tv, Peermont, a partnership at Brandswell and his tenure as Managing Director of The MediaShop Johannesburg, where he grew the agency to 70% Black and won Financial Mail AdFocus Network Agency of the Year twice.
You will hear how he read Steve Biko as history rather than politics, why he believes the thinkers we lost - Biko, Hani, Sobukwe - would have re-engineered a different country, and how that same instinct to re-engineer showed up when he built one of South Africa's first influencer businesses in 2009, in the middle of a global meltdown.
Kgaugelo unpacks the philosophy behind Matrix Group: an Afrocentric, integrated marketing and communications collective built during COVID that works with owner-run agencies, C-suite decision-makers and foresight strategists, and refuses the traditional above-the-line hierarchy. As he puts it, "we can start anywhere and go any direction".
We also go personal - parenting daughters into their own creative careers, life measured in quadrants after turning 50, why he is a self-described loner, and the 70/20/10 model he uses to portion his time between the business, the projects and the pure risk.
This is a masterclass in marketing psychology, cultural intelligence and long-view leadership from one of the sharpest thinkers in South African communications.
In this conversation:
Why South Africa is nine economies, not one market
Sacred Heart, Rondebosch Boys and being seen inside two worlds
Steve Biko, Chris Hani and the thinkers who could have shifted the trajectory
Building South Africa's first influencer business in 2009
Leaving corporate during global catastrophes — twice
Inside Matrix Group SA and the "start anywhere" model
Cultural appreciation programmes and immersions as leadership tools
Parenting adult children, quadrants of life and the 70/20/10 rule

Guest: Kgaugelo Maphai - Founder and CEO, Matrix Group. Former MD, The MediaShop Johannesburg. Director, Social Cohesion Foundation of South Africa.
Listen, subscribe and share wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review if this conversation moved something in you.
#ListenToYourFootsteps #KojoBaffoe #KgaugeloMaphai #MatrixGroup #AfricanMarketing #MarketingPsychology #InfluencerMarketing #SouthAfricanPodcast #BusinessPodcast #AfricanEntrepreneurs #BrandStrategy #Leadership #CulturalIntelligence #Empathy #Storytelling