“There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others,”
Michelle Obama wrote in Becoming.
Pelontle Mosimege does just this with her platform She Brigade the Podcast. A platform where women come to share the stories and share inspiring insights on all that has led them to become the amazing phenomenal women that they are today. The podcast aims to empower and inspire through storytelling, to show young people how other women that look like them have navigated the spaces they are in or wish to enter.
When I first heard of She Brigade, I was intrigued. I thought that there was finally a podcast that afforded me the opportunity to meet with trailblazing African female leaders across different industries in South Africa and hear their story without having to catch up with almost every high-tea or seminar.
The women interviewed on She Brigade come from various industries including the Art Director of Forbes Africa- Lucy Nkosi, global Award-winning Chef and Founder of The Lazy Makoti- Mogau Seshoene, Africa’s First Female Dredge Master – Londy Ngcobo, Youth Activist- Amonge Sinxoto, Commercial Pilot- Sive Mfenyana just to name a few. She Brigade has also collaborated with the In Good Company Business Festival where on-site event interviews were conducted.
The podcast has received over 42,000 downloads to date and has a YouTube channel, a blog and a newsletter as supporting formats.
The Brains Behind She Brigade
From Mahikeng in the North West and currently based in Gauteng, Pelontle crafts the stories of black women’s lives. Stories that are unfiltered and authentic.
The consistency and effort that is put into the work pays off too. Pelontle was recently announced as part of the 2020 Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans under the Civil Society category. The Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans is a list of individuals the Mail & Guardian considers to be the most influential for the year.
Pelontle has a strong academic background, as she started her career in corporate, Information Technology(IT) in particular. During her journey in IT she noticed the lack of accessibility to female leadership minds that she could tap into and learn from. As a result, she decided to take matters into her own hands and created a platform to bridge this gap. Based on the premise that “you cannot become that which you cannot see”, Pelontle founded the She Brigade podcast.
A Business Analyst & Certified Usability Analyst by profession, she holds a bachelors and honours degrees in Informatics where her academic achievements earned her a Golden Key membership at the University of Pretoria.
The likes of courageous women such a Pelontle are paving the way for black, young and ambitious women who are looking to venture into the fast growing podcast industry, while still having a day job. The She Brigade platform acts a seed of service towards the success of others through its use of storytelling.
She is the kind of Imbokodo we Stan.
Watch our Insta Live with Pelontle here.
