Today I'm in conversation with Zimbabwean-born and Italy-based serial startup founder and entrepreneur, Tadiwa Mwashita. Her latest venture is the Italian Social Impact Startup, Feedel Africa. They provide services to innovation hubs and non-profit organizations on the African continent, with a special focus on women led startups.
Some of the services Feedel Africa offers include fund raising, grant writing and AI education. Join us and hear all about Tadiwa's ability to combine profit with purpose, and how she is elevating African innovation to global heights in the fields of B2B SaaS, fintech, and AI.
Our conversations takes us on a journey from Tadiwa’s home country, Zimbabwe, where she stumbled on entrepreneurship as a high school student. We discover that she hasn't stopped experimenting with ideas ever since, and how being in Italy forced her to fully embrace her entrepreneurial roots.
It has been nothing less than a complex journey of navigating language barriers and prejudice that has led her to the level of nimbleness and adaptability you will hear about. She also discusses her latest and soon-to-be launched venture in the pet space, which she created using a methodology she has mastered: .the magic of turning local insights into innovative business solutions
Don't miss this inspiring conversation with one of the most creative and resilient entrepreneurs you will meet.
LINKS AND MENTIONS
Tadiwa's LinkedIn Profile
Feedel Africa - Social Impact Startup founded by Tadiwa
Feedel Ventures - The Investment company that funds and provides other resources to Tadiwa's venture
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (00:04):
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your host, Kutloano SkosanaRicci, and today my guest is
Tadiwa Mwashita, founder of theItalian social impact startup,
Feedel Africa.
They are in the business ofproviding services to innovation
hubs, female-led startups andnon-profit organizations on the
African continent, and some ofthe services they offer include
(00:25):
fundraising, grant writing andAI education.
Our conversation takes us on ajourney from Tadiwa's home
country, Zimbabwe, to Italy,where she is currently based.
It's an account of resilienceand testimony to her own
strength as an entrepreneur, andthat is adaptability.
Tadiwa stumbled ontoentrepreneurship during high
school and hasn't stoppedexperimenting with ideas ever
(00:47):
since.
Even now, she's working on anew idea with two business
partners, but I think it'sbetter if she tells her own
story.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (00:55):
Okay, so the easy part is my name I'm
Tadiwa Mwashita, and I am aserial startup founder and
entrepreneur, which is thedifficult part, because
currently I'm wearing manyentrepreneurial hats, the main
one being as a startup founderfor a social impact startup
(01:17):
based in Italy that's calledFeedel Africa Feedel Africa and
I'm just launching a newinitiative, which is part of
Feedel Africa sort of, butfocused only on female
(01:39):
entrepreneurs in Africa, and Ialso work as a.
I have a couple of projectsthat I'm working on in the pet
industry, for example.
Oh wow.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (01:44):
Yes, let's start with Feedel.
Okay, it's a social impactstartup.
What does that mean and howdoes that manifest in reality?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (01:53):
All right.
So as a social impact startup,it's almost like an NGO, but it
should be a for-profit company.
So in the Italian system,there's so many different types
of companies or organizationsthat you can open and a social
impact company is basically aprivate company, but that
(02:14):
focuses on the social aspect.
So in my case, I work withAfricans, whether they're
African migrants here in Italyor Europe and Africans in Africa
.
So just on the social impactenvironment or sector.
So that's what I mean when Isay social impact startups.
(02:34):
It's a trending terminologythat is there right now.
So I'm not an NGO and don'twork like an NGO.
So my job is not to try andprovide funding, provide
assistance to, you know, lessdeveloped communities.
I am a for-profit company.
But how?
(02:55):
I make profit?
By providing services to, forexample, ngos, institutions,
organizations, companies.
Okay, I see, but your clientsthen are mainly in the
non-profit sector um in theentrepreneurial space, actually
because I do work with ngos andwith governmental institutions,
(03:19):
innovation hubs, incubators tohelp them, uh, co-design or
redesign their you knowinnovation hubs and the startups
that they're working with,incubators that they're working
with, so that they can be at youknow, european or international
standards for what's happeningin africa right now.
(03:41):
Most of the innovation hubs inlike southern africa are
actually just co-working spaces.
They're not real innovationhubs.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:49):
Right.
So how are you bringing in theinnovation, so to speak, to
those spaces?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (03:57):
So I was actually hired as an
entrepreneur in residence.
So, Feedel Ventures, which is aventure builder startup studio
and an investment fund in Italy,decided to create something
similar, but only focused onAfrica.
So, using the resources that wehave in Feedel Ventures, which
(04:20):
is where I started off as abusiness developer, we basically
I just use the services.
You know, I look for volunteerswithin the company and we use
the skills, the companies in ourportfolio, like an AI company
that does AI training, digitalliteracy training and then I
offer discounted prices to theorganizations and, in some cases
(04:45):
, where perhaps they don't havemoney, we can actually, you know
, apply for certain grants thatare there, whether they are EU
grants, usaid grants, localgovernment grants to fund our
project ideas.
(05:13):
Okay, and which countriesspecifically do you work with?
Okay, and which countriesspecifically do you work with?
We are now going to be workingin Zimbabwe, in the Zimbabwean
space.
So we have some partnershipswith some universities, like
Lopana University, and stillexploring possible projects
(05:34):
together with the Ministry ofHigher Education and as well as
some private institutions, sowe've got some projects in the
pipeline at the moment.
So, as a Zimbabwean, of course,the first place you're going to
look at is the country whereyou're from, where you come from
.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:52):
Yeah, exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (05:53):
Where you know.
You know you can knock on doors.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:57):
You can get around.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (05:58):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
But at the same time, we've gotsome talks, because part of my
team is the co-founder of FeedelVentures.
One of the co-founders is on myteam of Feedel Africa and when
he's invited to present or to bea guest in some African
(06:18):
countries like Tunisia, he goesand he pitches Feedel Africa
there as well.
So we have some potentialprojects that we're trying to
work on in Tunisia as well, butin that case, what we're doing
is trying to connect countrieslike Tunisia to enter into the
Italian market.
So there is a big push in Italyright now to try and be
(06:42):
international, to try and linkwith and work with African
countries that have potential.
So, for example, b2b SaaScompanies, startups or fintech,
or if there are any AI startupsin Africa, you know there is
potential to get investment forthem to do business in Italy,
(07:04):
for example, or to partner withItalian startups.
So we facilitate those kinds ofsynergies as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (07:11):
Right, I mean, this is quite a change
in tone, particularly for Italy.
I mean, can you talk through,like you know when you first
started out there, to where youfind yourself now, because
you've always worked in thestartup space?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (07:25):
yep, I've always been in the startup
space, I guess since high school, um, and so when I came to
Italy, it was actually to tryand run away from the
entrepreneurial scene and try toget a nine to five job in the
corporate world.
You know, uh, how, if I wasn't,it was very challenging, uh,
given my age, and you know theprejudices, discrimination,
(07:49):
stereotypes that everyone knowsexist in Italy, so it was very
difficult for me to findemployment.
Uh, so at one point in time Istarted my own, I created my own
startup, called, and it died.
It was a failed startup,unfortunately.
You know, trying to enter in aman's world as a woman is not so
(08:10):
easy sometimes.
So it failed In Italy yeah, inItaly, because in Zimbabwe it
would have worked.
But the problem was, you know,the Italian scene is a little
bit, you know, traditional whenit comes to doing business.
So that failure was actually alearning experience.
(08:31):
And also, with my previouspodcast, you know, the African
Dream, I was motivated and Ilearned a lot, and that allowed
me to apply for a businessdeveloper position at Feedel
Ventures, and it was because ofmy startup and entrepreneurial
experience that they hired me.
(08:51):
While working in that company Iworked with at least I think at
one point in time I'd likeseven startups that I was
helping doing their businessdevelopment globally and locally
.
Helping doing their businessdevelopment globally and locally
, for example, in differentsectors real estate, sustainable
(09:17):
fashion, ai, I think, tenders,consultancy so a whole scope,
you know.
And so I learned a lot aboutthe different startups that
exist in Europe and thepotential that Africa also has.
So, you know, while I was inFeedel Africa, you know, even
day one I told them look, I wantto work Feedel Venture.
Sorry, I was like I want towork in Africa, I want to help
the African community.
(09:37):
Because Zimbabwe, you know Idon't know how much you know
about the colonialism days ofIan Smith where at one point in
time we had I'm forgetting theterm for it but basically
Zimbabwe was cut off from, orRhodesia was cut off from the
rest of the world.
Then we started producingourselves our own goods and we
(10:01):
became these strongentrepreneurs and became the
breadbasket of Africa, etc.
Etc.
So we've always had that, youknow, entrepreneurial mindset in
Zimbabwe.
However, you know, we didn'thave the opportunities or the
platforms to learn what othersare doing.
(10:21):
So that is what motivated me towork for Feedel Africa and with
Feedel Africa to be like okay,look, we have the intelligence.
Egypt is doing it, Nigeria isdoing it, Kenya is doing it.
What's stopping SADC, forexample, from doing the?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:39):
same thing.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (10:40):
Let me just give them that access, that
platform, whether it's throughtraining or just matchmaking
with other businesses.
All right, let's see what wecan do.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:51):
Yeah, okay, sounds great.
This is Shades and Layers, andmy guest is Tadiwa Mwashita,
founder of Feedel Africa, asocial impact startup based in
Milan, Italy.
One of the things I was curiousabout was how she navigates
language and gender challengesin a non-English speaking
(11:12):
country and, having lived inDenmark myself, I know that
language competence can shapeyour entire professional
experience in the early years ofliving in a foreign country.
So let's hear more from Tadiwa.
You know, what's interesting tome is that you mentioned this
whole.
You mentioned that it's verytraditional, the work culture.
The one thing that you don'tmention is language, because, I
(11:33):
mean, you come from an Englishspeaking country, so that was
that's something that made mecurious, also because,
notoriously, I mean, I've livedin Denmark where language
barrier was a huge thing thatstood in the way of progress.
Basically, and I think, incomparison, denmark is probably
more internationalized, wellkind of, than Italy in terms of,
(11:54):
you know, having access to theoutside, and also there is a
little bit of English within thecountry.
But you know Italy, I know,when I first started coming
there, no one, not a singleperson, even bothered to speak
in English.
So how has that been for you?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (12:08):
OK, that's very interesting,
something that I love talkingabout, because so yes, in Italy,
I think, like only like 35percent or so of the population
of 60 million people speakEnglish.
Ok, and it's not people speakEnglish.
Okay, and it's not really greatEnglish as well.
Fortunately, I live in Milan,which is the capital city of
(12:33):
business, okay, so let's becareful here.
No, no, no, that's why I said ofbusiness, you know, so if you
want to do business you have tobe in Milan also, which is why
I'm stuck in Milan.
So you know, everyone is kind offorced to speak in English and,
(12:55):
to be quite honest, betweengraduation and working for
Feedel, I was an English teacherfor, you know, multinational
companies, so they wouldn't hireme to be an employee but they
would hire me to teach thembusiness English and that kind
(13:16):
of helped me understand my placein society in the context of
Italy and how I could the job atFeedel Ventures because of my
English language skills and myknowledge of, you know, the
different industries, industrialsectors, because before Italy I
worked for a logistics company,I worked for an NGO and then
(13:37):
teaching in multinationalcompanies in Italy, so I kind of
knew my way around thedifferent sectors already.
And so I mean, right now myEnglish level is, I would say,
lower, intermediate, partlyintentional, because, you know,
sometimes or many times I'vebeen in situations where I try
to speak Italian with anon-English accent and I get the
(14:02):
asylum seeker treatment youknow, which is not so great.
And then when I speak in English, when I speak Italian with an
English accent, I get bettertreatment.
So I intentionally do it thatway.
I've never lied to anyone andI'm very open and honest about
it that you know, in Italy, whatworks for me personally is to
(14:23):
speak English more than Italian.
So that is it.
I mean it does have itsnegatives, in the sense that
there are some job positions Iwould love to have or apply for,
but I don't speak fluentItalian because that's what they
want.
If they do want you as aninternational person, they want
you to speak fluent Italian,which I don't speak, and
(14:46):
naturally I'm bad at learninglanguages.
So I don't know how manydecades it will take for me to
speak fluent Italian anyway,right, right, okay, all right.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:00):
So that's uh, that's Feedel.
What's your ambition for thiscompany?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (15:17):
For Feedel Africa.
I really do believe that it'sbeen a difficult year in this
position to try and build it,rebranding, coming up with a new
vision and services productoffering and then trying to
approach different organizations.
Institutions sell the productsand services.
As you know, tadiwa fromZimbabwe living in Italy, trying
(15:39):
to sell to you know, thesegovernmental institutions or
40-something, 50-something yearold men, and they're like who
are you, where are you comingfrom?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (15:53):
And also coming up with my team that I
said look, you know, I do have ateam that I work with that I
have access to in Italy, but ifI'm going to sell to Africa, it
needs to be a good combinationof Africans and Italians.
So I've got my African advisorsthat I call on and speak to and
then the team I work with aremostly Italian because I'm
(16:16):
taking from Feedel Ventures asvolunteers and a couple from
Ethiopia and Nigeria from FeedelVentures as volunteers and a
couple from Ethiopia and Nigeria.
So it's been a struggle, but Iwould say in the past I mean
since July, end of June,beginning of July people have
started taking me seriously,started, you know, listening,
(16:39):
being willing to work onprojects together.
So that's why I said you knowI've to work on projects
together.
So that's why I said you knowI've got some projects in the
pipeline that you know I'mhoping to have launched in 2025
some really great projects inthe incubation, women
entrepreneurship, african events, mainly focused on women right
(17:00):
now, but and also in the aispace, trying to really bring
forward the opportunity forafricans to learn how to use,
you know, something as simple asuh chat gpt for prompt
engineering.
You know it's.
It's a game changer.
Countries like india alreadydoing it, and they're on
platforms like fiverr, charging$20 to do something for you, and
(17:25):
then they just use chat GPT.
I'm like come on Zimbabweans,you can make some passive income
doing exactly the same thing ifyou learn chat GPT.
So trying to bring thateducation to especially southern
Africa is something that I'mpersonally advocating for, as
well as mentoring some startupsand helping them along the way
(17:47):
to win grants, to wincompetitions.
So yeah, that's some fantasticstuff.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (17:54):
And then, how are you funded?
Is it all internal?
Or do you also employ the samemodel of going to funders to, to
finance these, the provision ofall these services?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (18:06):
So, yes, as a startup, I apply for
funding in Italy, also apply forstartup or accelerator
opportunities in other Europeancountries or in Africa or in
Africa.
However, investors don'tactually like investing in
social impact startups becauseas a social impact startup, your
(18:27):
goal is not to become amillionaire, your goal is to
help the community, but to bringin enough income to stay afloat
.
So I do have some investorsthat I'm in close contact with
looking to invest in Africanstartups, but they can't invest
in me because they're like look,we want to make money, we want
(18:50):
to invest in something that wecan sell a startup that we can
sell at the end of the day, anda social impact startup isn't
that.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (18:59):
Why did you choose a social impact
format, like what's yourattraction to this space?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (19:06):
Well at the moment, realistically
complete.
You know, honesty, transparency.
I was fired as a businessdeveloper by Feedel Ventures and
hired as an entrepreneur inresidence because I had to work
in Italian, and again, you know,as an international employee
(19:28):
working with Italian companies.
They feel much better workingwith an Italian who speaks
fluent Italian and can switch,you know, between English and
Italian.
But on the business side I doreally well on entrepreneurship.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:43):
So that's how this was a way to
keep you about Exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (19:47):
Yeah, some organizations see it as
corporate social responsibilityby working with Feedel Africa as
well, so they pay for us tohelp them in whatever activities
that they have.
And working as a social impactstartup gives me the opportunity
to then also work on personalprojects.
(20:09):
You know, personal projectsthat can bring in my millions
one day, I hope.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:16):
Great, let's talk about those projects.
You said you're doing somethingin the pet space.
Tell me a bit more about thatventure.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (20:22):
Okay, so this is kind of like still in
the pipeline.
I've always had a passion forpets and have been exploring
this for quite a few months now,which is kind of like how I
went to Zurich in the past monthand a half.
It was also partly research,testing the markets, seeing what
(20:42):
opportunities are there, andZurich is the most innovative
country in the world right now.
So, learning from the biggestinnovative mind innovation minds
is you know what?
That was my opportunity.
So it's a product and a servicetwo-pred approach.
You know, I'm offering productsand I'm offering services in
(21:04):
the pet space.
I don't want to give away toomuch because I haven't launched
it yet.
Okay, I literally finished theprototype today.
Tell me I, literally.
Yeah, I I launched the, the.
Uh, the prototype not launched,but I created the prototype
(21:25):
today.
I have two partners already,one from Kenya, one from Italy.
All women team, and it's Italyis a pit.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (21:37):
Oh yeah .
Another place with more dogsthan humans.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (21:42):
Yeah yes , yes, there are 14 million
registered pets in Italyregistered so I won't even talk
about the population.
Yeah yes, there are more petsthan born babies, apparently, so
it's a.
It's a very big space that'sthere and a market with a lot of
(22:03):
opportunities, so I'm veryexcited um positive feedback.
I came up with my idea, pitchedit to a couple of people and
they were like, yeah, I want tobe with you in this project as
one of your partners, and we'vejust been working through it for
like a month and a half, sotime is money and sure, yeah, um
(22:26):
.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:26):
So what's what's?
What's your methodology as a?
As an entrepreneur like youknow, where do you find your
ideas first of all and how doyou put them together?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (22:36):
number one is okay.
So I started off in theentrepreneurial space when I was
in Zimbabwe and, for example,junior achievement in high
school, we had our littlebusiness.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:48):
Yeah, I remember that from my own high
school.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (22:50):
Yeah yeah, I was the ceo, apparently
I was.
I looked good as a boss andthen at solusi university I was
in a transportation kind ofproject that I went into.
I've never most of the projectsI've been in have never been
for profit but to serve a need.
(23:11):
So with the transportationthing as well, there was a need
wanted to go home, and I wasable to solve the problem of
logistics of people going homeand it ended up being profit
making.
And then from there I dabbledin cake baking, like every other
woman these days in SouthernAfrica, but I was really bad at
(23:34):
decorating.
To be quite honest, I washorrible at decorating.
I'm not artistic.
So instead I did my researchand I found a product that could
be sold, you know, like edibleprints, yeah.
So I bought the machine,borrowed money from my mom,
bought the machine from somecompany I didn't know in South
(23:56):
Africa, and then I startedlearning how to print, you know
edible prints, like Cinderellaor people's you know, faces.
And at the time, yeah, it was anew thing in Zimbabwe and I
started it.
My brother took over because Iwas I always want.
I never wanted to be anentrepreneur.
(24:18):
So I got the opportunity to goto Angola to appoint NGO.
My brother continues thebusiness successfully.
So I got the opportunity to goto Angola to appoint NGO.
My brother continues thebusiness successfully and I'm
still jealous.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:29):
Well, you started it.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (24:31):
I did, I did so.
You know, I've always believedthat business ideas are not
especially.
People don't wake up and knowexactly what kind of business
that they want.
Sometimes you start off withone thing, which in my case, was
baking cakes teaching peoplehow to bake cakes and then I saw
(24:51):
a weakness in myself and myproduct and another idea came
from that.
So same thing with the pitindustry.
I didn't see it as I want to bein the pit space.
I was actually looking just fora way to escape Milan in summer
and the heat and fish, air andtravel.
(25:12):
And I was doing research and Idiscovered the pit world and the
opportunities that the pitindustry has.
And that's when I was like, ohinteresting, let me, you know,
dive deep into this, let me playaround with this.
In my past I did dabble inrabbit breeding, so I kind of
(25:35):
have some experience with takingcare of pets, animals, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:39):
Yeah exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (25:41):
And so, again, you know, it's never
something that you think aboutfor many months, but something
that one day comes to you andyou say look, let me really
research into this.
What are the strengths,opportunities, weaknesses, SWOT
analysis.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:59):
What's your strength as an entrepreneur
?
Would you say as a reluctantentrepreneur?
Would you say as a reluctantentrepreneur.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (26:03):
I should say my strength is I adapt.
I'm quite flexible.
I think that's something that Ialso learned during my time as
business developer in FeedelVentures, which really helped me
a lot, which was you can startoff today.
As you know, Feedel Africaright, Feedel Africa services
(26:27):
all Africans, but it was throughFeedel Africa that we were like
look, we're forgetting thefemale space.
Female entrepreneurship spaceis quite big.
Let's focus on helping femaleentrepreneurs.
There are so many of them.
Most of the informal businessesin Africa actually buy females.
They just don't have thesupport support for financing,
(26:50):
support for learning orplatforms.
They just need to learn aboute-commerce, platforms, etc.
So you adapt and you developinto something bigger.
You learn from mistakes.
Don't quit, take a step back.
You know, take a month, takefive years.
De Dele was three, four yearsago and I just sat and I said,
(27:11):
look, I want to get intobusiness, but I need to have the
right product that I want tosell, that I believe in, that
can work, and I'm not an ITexpert, so I can't, you know,
create some AI tool, some AIcompany, but I'm a product
person.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (27:29):
So that's what I look for.
Okay, that's very nice.
That's a really, really great.
Hey, this is Chasen Lez Up.
Next we'll get to hear moreabout how Tadiwa built up and
continues to strengthen herentrepreneurial mindset, what
success means to her, what itmeans to thrive abroad, as well
as Shades and Layers, rapid Fire.
So someone wants to follow inyour footsteps, you know, and
(27:57):
yeah, just be adaptable, thrivein a foreign country, you know
where would you know?
Where would you?
How would you advise them to goabout it?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (28:06):
would I call myself thriving in Italy?
Hmm, I, I think now I'm in agood place today.
A year ago, no.
So I would say the advice Iwould give to someone is really
think carefully about thecountry that you're in and what
opportunities are possible andare there and can work for you,
(28:29):
and do not copy.
The problem that I found with alot of people, and you know,
trying to motivate people to beinnovative is I'll give you a
perfect example of anotherproject that I've kind of
partnered in my brother came tome and he wanted to get into the
(28:49):
cheese making industry and hesaid, well, I want to make gouda
and cheddar in Zimbabwe.
And I said, well, you can't dothat because you know, if you go
to every supermarket, you canalready found goda and cheddar.
Try to make something unique,something different.
That is your brand.
So that is the mindset that Itry to encourage people to do.
(29:11):
So my brother now is well,actually it was the wife that
came to my brother and then hecame to me.
So, yes, she entered thecompetition because I encouraged
her and I said, well, it's youridea, it's not my idea, it's
not my brother's idea, it's youridea, let's do this, you know,
(29:34):
let me support you, let me helpyou with this.
And she actually made it to thetop 15 finals of Zimbabwe.
Uh, for the total energiesstartup challenge, startupers
challenge.
You know, the thing is she wasafraid to talk to me about it
because she didn't think that itwas possible.
(29:55):
She had to go through mybrother, who then talked to me
and I said well, your idea isgreat.
Why are you limiting yourself?
Why are you afraid to putyourself out there?
You know, afraid to take thatleap.
Do your research.
If the interest on the marketis there, why not Try it out?
You have nothing to lose.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (30:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So your advice be innovativethink carefully about the
country where you find yourself.
Can you expand on that part,like you know?
Think carefully about thecountry where you find yourself.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (30:27):
Okay, so I'll give again the example of
my sister-in-law.
The reason why she loved thecheese industry was because I
went home with some Italiancheese about a couple of years
ago and you know I gave samplesof the snacks.
You know everyone was used tocheddar and goda and feta.
Everyone was used to cheddarand goda and feta.
And suddenly I brought cheeseslike grana padano and pecorino
(30:52):
and I talked about mozzarellaall the time.
So she tasted it and she waslike, oh, you know, this taste
is actually pretty great.
I would love something likethat for Zimbabwe.
But in her mind she was thinkinghow open are people when it
comes to this?
(31:12):
I do want cheese, I do thinkthere's a possibility to make it
.
Also the price points that Itold her of Italy.
But then she wasn't.
She was afraid, fear of theunknown, wanting to only stick
to the traditional ways ofmaking peanut butter, you know,
with the grinding, the stonegrinding thing.
And once the machine came out,people were still like no, no,
(31:33):
no, I want to do it the oldfashioned way, you know, because
I know it works.
So just taking that leap, youknow you yourself like it.
Why do you think someone elsewon't like it?
And sometimes innovation doesn'thave to be you are the only
person in the whole wide worldwho has created it.
Sometimes innovation is, forexample, we have PayPal
(31:56):
internationally and in Italy,some startups, some founders,
came up with an Italian versioncalled Satispay, which, in my
opinion, is exactly like PayPal,but they're the only ones to
bring it to the Italian market.
Same thing with Prosecco therules.
Prosecco is Italian, from aspecific region of Italy, veneto
(32:17):
, but international rules saythat if no one has brought
Prosecco to your country, orItalian Prosecco to your country
, and you decide to startselling your wine as Prosecco as
number one, it'sinternationally accepted.
That's why now we have Proseccofrom Australia, prosecco from
Albania, because they were likehey, I like that idea, I'm gonna
(32:41):
make my own they didn't followthe champagne law ah no, because
Italy also wasn't smart enoughto kind of like put laws into
place.
That's the thing If you act slow, you give the opportunity for
someone else to just introduceyour idea in their country.
So that is sometimes innovationyou are just the first person
(33:05):
to bring something, so in mysister.
In this case she's not, youknow.
She's bringing the innovativeaspect of african cheese yeah,
doing cheese differently?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:16):
sure, yeah, exactly, but it's cheese,
it's cheese, absolutely.
So let's get into the rapidfire, and first question is if
you had to write your memoirtoday, what would you call it
and why?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (33:28):
The grass isn't always greener on
the other side.
Okay, I think it'sself-explanatory, Because
sometimes, you know, we alwaysassume and I think a lot of
people have been talking aboutit that what you see on social
media isn't always the grass isgreener on that side.
(33:48):
And for me to be in this placethat I am in today, in 2024,
since 2016,.
I can think of the many nightsand the many months where I was
like will I have a salary, WillI have an income next month?
Because I came to Italythinking that it was better and
offered way more opportunitiesthan Zimbabwe.
(34:10):
Of course, yes, it ultimatelydid.
But now I've got the second part, which is okay.
Now I'm in Italy.
I have to stay in Italy tillI'm 65 to get my pension.
If I leave Italy beforeretirement, I'm going to lose my
pension fund and then I'll goback to Zimbabwe and I'm stuck
to lose my pension fund and thenI'll go back to Zimbabwe and
(34:30):
I'm stuck.
So is it greener to be in Italyor is it greener to be in
Zimbabwe, where your family is,where, if things go wrong, they
can take care of you?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (34:35):
Yeah, that's the immigrant dilemma.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (34:38):
Yes, as a startup, you know there are
some funds that are there whichI can't access or I have
difficulties in accessing,simply because I don't have a
family backer in Italy.
So sometimes there are somefunds in Italy for startups to
get 80% funding, but you need toshow some collateral Okay got
(35:02):
it, got it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (35:03):
And who would your choice be for lead
actress if you had to make thatbook into a movie?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (35:08):
And who would your choice be for lead
actress if you had to make thatbook into a movie?
So I've recently oh, okay, no,oh, that's a difficult one
Because I love Danai Gurira.
Oh, yay, I love her.
I think she's a very strongwoman, also because she's
Zimbabwean.
But at the same time, I've beenwatching've been following
(35:30):
lupita nyong'o, the movies thatshe's been making, like a quiet
place three, and now she's got apodcast.
She does a lot of traveling inafrica and she's very relatable
to me as a person, as a blackwoman, you know it's lana is
more quiet, but she's zimbabwean.
But she plays very strongcharacters in wakanda, the
(35:50):
avengers and, you know, thewalking dead.
So, oh, I would have to see whowould be willing to be she's
also quite the activist.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (36:01):
Uh, danai she's, she's quite the
activist also.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (36:04):
So yeah, but she does it kind of like in
the background she's verylow-key but you know she does
some really impactful work shedoes, she does.
No, I don't discount that atall.
I just like I'm saying withlupita.
She's really pushing forwardright now, like I think so yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah listen, listen, listen.
This is africa.
This is the african experience.
(36:24):
Blah, blah, blah.
People, I've got the platform Iwant you to.
I'm going to make you payattention.
She has American citizenshipnow she could disappear and be
more American, but she hasn'tforgotten her African roots and,
like I said, I just startedreally supporting her.
In the past.
That was 99%, michonne.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (36:45):
Yeah, Cool, cool, cool cool.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (36:53):
So how do you define success?
Success is oh, that's adifficult one.
Oh my gosh.
For me today, what I see as mebeing successful is being 100%
happy.
So the day I'm 100% happy, Iwill be successful.
I mean, yeah, I will besuccessful, because how do you
(37:13):
achieve happiness?
That is the ultimate question.
You know I wake up.
I am, I would say, 70% happy.
Now, really difficult to behappy in rainy, cloudy weather
in Milan, cold weather it reallyaffects your mood.
It's really difficult whenyou're a startup because before
(37:35):
you become rich and successful,especially with a social impact
startup, every day there's aconstant fight fighting for
clients, fighting to be acceptedand recognized and getting
bashed by people because theydon't understand you or they
look at you and say, oh, thisAfrican woman, what can she
teach me?
It's really difficult to behappy and also in my recent trip
(38:01):
to Zurich, I did see thatclassism plays an important part
in happiness.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (38:09):
You can buy happiness to an extent and
to buy happiness, you must befinancially successful so you
want all the right things inplace exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (38:22):
so everything you know, socially,
romantically, financially,emotionally to be happy in all
those aspects, I will.
Once I achieve that, I will besuccessful Okay.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (38:36):
All right.
And if somebody wants to workwith you, enlist your services
or just you know, give you money, where can they find you?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (38:46):
They can find me on LinkedIn Taniwa
T-A-D-I-W-A.
Linet L-I-N-E-T Mwashita onLinkedIn.
I will always respond toLinkedIn messages and I think
that's the easiest way to see meand my profile in what we do as
Feedel Africa.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (39:06):
That's great.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate you givingme your time.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (39:12):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited and I'mactively looking for female
entrepreneurs with ideas andprojects that want to get some
advice, mentorship, you know,looking for finance as I
mentioned before, we do actuallywork or have some investment
(39:34):
partners that are willing toinvest in African entrepreneurs,
and that is all from me thistime around.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (39:43):
Thanks to Tadiwa for her generous
account of her journey so far.
I can't wait to hear whatshe'll do next, and thanks to
you also for listening.
Please visit the show notes tolearn more about her work and,
while you are there, please rateand review the podcast so that
others can find us.
Five stars would be amazing.
Thank you, I'm Kutlu AnuskosanaRitchie, and until next time,
(40:07):
please do take good care.
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your host, Kutloano SkosanaRicci, and today my guest is
Tadiwa Mwashita, founder of theItalian social impact startup,
Feedel Africa.
They are in the business ofproviding services to innovation
hubs, female-led startups andnon-profit organizations on the
African continent, and some ofthe services they offer include
(00:25):
fundraising, grant writing andAI education.
Our conversation takes us on ajourney from Tadiwa's home
country, Zimbabwe, to Italy,where she is currently based.
It's an account of resilienceand testimony to her own
strength as an entrepreneur, andthat is adaptability.
Tadiwa stumbled ontoentrepreneurship during high
school and hasn't stoppedexperimenting with ideas ever
(00:47):
since.
Even now, she's working on anew idea with two business
partners, but I think it'sbetter if she tells her own
story.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (00:55):
Okay, so the easy part is my name I'm
Tadiwa Mwashita, and I am aserial startup founder and
entrepreneur, which is thedifficult part, because
currently I'm wearing manyentrepreneurial hats, the main
one being as a startup founderfor a social impact startup
(01:17):
based in Italy that's calledFeedel Africa Feedel Africa and
I'm just launching a newinitiative, which is part of
Feedel Africa sort of, butfocused only on female
(01:39):
entrepreneurs in Africa, and Ialso work as a.
I have a couple of projectsthat I'm working on in the pet
industry, for example.
Oh wow.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (01:44):
Yes, let's start with Feedel.
Okay, it's a social impactstartup.
What does that mean and howdoes that manifest in reality?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (01:53):
All right.
So as a social impact startup,it's almost like an NGO, but it
should be a for-profit company.
So in the Italian system,there's so many different types
of companies or organizationsthat you can open and a social
impact company is basically aprivate company, but that
(02:14):
focuses on the social aspect.
So in my case, I work withAfricans, whether they're
African migrants here in Italyor Europe and Africans in Africa
.
So just on the social impactenvironment or sector.
So that's what I mean when Isay social impact startups.
(02:34):
It's a trending terminologythat is there right now.
So I'm not an NGO and don'twork like an NGO.
So my job is not to try andprovide funding, provide
assistance to, you know, lessdeveloped communities.
I am a for-profit company.
But how?
(02:55):
I make profit?
By providing services to, forexample, ngos, institutions,
organizations, companies.
Okay, I see, but your clientsthen are mainly in the
non-profit sector um in theentrepreneurial space, actually
because I do work with ngos andwith governmental institutions,
(03:19):
innovation hubs, incubators tohelp them, uh, co-design or
redesign their you knowinnovation hubs and the startups
that they're working with,incubators that they're working
with, so that they can be at youknow, european or international
standards for what's happeningin africa right now.
(03:41):
Most of the innovation hubs inlike southern africa are
actually just co-working spaces.
They're not real innovationhubs.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:49):
Right.
So how are you bringing in theinnovation, so to speak, to
those spaces?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (03:57):
So I was actually hired as an
entrepreneur in residence.
So, Feedel Ventures, which is aventure builder startup studio
and an investment fund in Italy,decided to create something
similar, but only focused onAfrica.
So, using the resources that wehave in Feedel Ventures, which
(04:20):
is where I started off as abusiness developer, we basically
I just use the services.
You know, I look for volunteerswithin the company and we use
the skills, the companies in ourportfolio, like an AI company
that does AI training, digitalliteracy training and then I
offer discounted prices to theorganizations and, in some cases
(04:45):
, where perhaps they don't havemoney, we can actually, you know
, apply for certain grants thatare there, whether they are EU
grants, usaid grants, localgovernment grants to fund our
project ideas.
(05:13):
Okay, and which countriesspecifically do you work with?
Okay, and which countriesspecifically do you work with?
We are now going to be workingin Zimbabwe, in the Zimbabwean
space.
So we have some partnershipswith some universities, like
Lopana University, and stillexploring possible projects
(05:34):
together with the Ministry ofHigher Education and as well as
some private institutions, sowe've got some projects in the
pipeline at the moment.
So, as a Zimbabwean, of course,the first place you're going to
look at is the country whereyou're from, where you come from
.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:52):
Yeah, exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (05:53):
Where you know.
You know you can knock on doors.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (05:57):
You can get around.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (05:58):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
But at the same time, we've gotsome talks, because part of my
team is the co-founder of FeedelVentures.
One of the co-founders is on myteam of Feedel Africa and when
he's invited to present or to bea guest in some African
(06:18):
countries like Tunisia, he goesand he pitches Feedel Africa
there as well.
So we have some potentialprojects that we're trying to
work on in Tunisia as well, butin that case, what we're doing
is trying to connect countrieslike Tunisia to enter into the
Italian market.
So there is a big push in Italyright now to try and be
(06:42):
international, to try and linkwith and work with African
countries that have potential.
So, for example, b2b SaaScompanies, startups or fintech,
or if there are any AI startupsin Africa, you know there is
potential to get investment forthem to do business in Italy,
(07:04):
for example, or to partner withItalian startups.
So we facilitate those kinds ofsynergies as well.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (07:11):
Right, I mean, this is quite a change
in tone, particularly for Italy.
I mean, can you talk through,like you know when you first
started out there, to where youfind yourself now, because
you've always worked in thestartup space?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (07:25):
yep, I've always been in the startup
space, I guess since high school, um, and so when I came to
Italy, it was actually to tryand run away from the
entrepreneurial scene and try toget a nine to five job in the
corporate world.
You know, uh, how, if I wasn't,it was very challenging, uh,
given my age, and you know theprejudices, discrimination,
(07:49):
stereotypes that everyone knowsexist in Italy, so it was very
difficult for me to findemployment.
Uh, so at one point in time Istarted my own, I created my own
startup, called, and it died.
It was a failed startup,unfortunately.
You know, trying to enter in aman's world as a woman is not so
(08:10):
easy sometimes.
So it failed In Italy yeah, inItaly, because in Zimbabwe it
would have worked.
But the problem was, you know,the Italian scene is a little
bit, you know, traditional whenit comes to doing business.
So that failure was actually alearning experience.
(08:31):
And also, with my previouspodcast, you know, the African
Dream, I was motivated and Ilearned a lot, and that allowed
me to apply for a businessdeveloper position at Feedel
Ventures, and it was because ofmy startup and entrepreneurial
experience that they hired me.
(08:51):
While working in that company Iworked with at least I think at
one point in time I'd likeseven startups that I was
helping doing their businessdevelopment globally and locally
.
Helping doing their businessdevelopment globally and locally
, for example, in differentsectors real estate, sustainable
(09:17):
fashion, ai, I think, tenders,consultancy so a whole scope,
you know.
And so I learned a lot aboutthe different startups that
exist in Europe and thepotential that Africa also has.
So, you know, while I was inFeedel Africa, you know, even
day one I told them look, I wantto work Feedel Venture.
Sorry, I was like I want towork in Africa, I want to help
the African community.
(09:37):
Because Zimbabwe, you know Idon't know how much you know
about the colonialism days ofIan Smith where at one point in
time we had I'm forgetting theterm for it but basically
Zimbabwe was cut off from, orRhodesia was cut off from the
rest of the world.
Then we started producingourselves our own goods and we
(10:01):
became these strongentrepreneurs and became the
breadbasket of Africa, etc.
Etc.
So we've always had that, youknow, entrepreneurial mindset in
Zimbabwe.
However, you know, we didn'thave the opportunities or the
platforms to learn what othersare doing.
(10:21):
So that is what motivated me towork for Feedel Africa and with
Feedel Africa to be like okay,look, we have the intelligence.
Egypt is doing it, Nigeria isdoing it, Kenya is doing it.
What's stopping SADC, forexample, from doing the?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:39):
same thing.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (10:40):
Let me just give them that access, that
platform, whether it's throughtraining or just matchmaking
with other businesses.
All right, let's see what wecan do.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (10:51):
Yeah, okay, sounds great.
This is Shades and Layers, andmy guest is Tadiwa Mwashita,
founder of Feedel Africa, asocial impact startup based in
Milan, Italy.
One of the things I was curiousabout was how she navigates
language and gender challengesin a non-English speaking
(11:12):
country and, having lived inDenmark myself, I know that
language competence can shapeyour entire professional
experience in the early years ofliving in a foreign country.
So let's hear more from Tadiwa.
You know, what's interesting tome is that you mentioned this
whole.
You mentioned that it's verytraditional, the work culture.
The one thing that you don'tmention is language, because, I
(11:33):
mean, you come from an Englishspeaking country, so that was
that's something that made mecurious, also because,
notoriously, I mean, I've livedin Denmark where language
barrier was a huge thing thatstood in the way of progress.
Basically, and I think, incomparison, denmark is probably
more internationalized, wellkind of, than Italy in terms of,
(11:54):
you know, having access to theoutside, and also there is a
little bit of English within thecountry.
But you know Italy, I know,when I first started coming
there, no one, not a singleperson, even bothered to speak
in English.
So how has that been for you?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (12:08):
OK, that's very interesting,
something that I love talkingabout, because so yes, in Italy,
I think, like only like 35percent or so of the population
of 60 million people speakEnglish.
Ok, and it's not people speakEnglish.
Okay, and it's not really greatEnglish as well.
Fortunately, I live in Milan,which is the capital city of
(12:33):
business, okay, so let's becareful here.
No, no, no, that's why I said ofbusiness, you know, so if you
want to do business you have tobe in Milan also, which is why
I'm stuck in Milan.
So you know, everyone is kind offorced to speak in English and,
(12:55):
to be quite honest, betweengraduation and working for
Feedel, I was an English teacherfor, you know, multinational
companies, so they wouldn't hireme to be an employee but they
would hire me to teach thembusiness English and that kind
(13:16):
of helped me understand my placein society in the context of
Italy and how I could the job atFeedel Ventures because of my
English language skills and myknowledge of, you know, the
different industries, industrialsectors, because before Italy I
worked for a logistics company,I worked for an NGO and then
(13:37):
teaching in multinationalcompanies in Italy, so I kind of
knew my way around thedifferent sectors already.
And so I mean, right now myEnglish level is, I would say,
lower, intermediate, partlyintentional, because, you know,
sometimes or many times I'vebeen in situations where I try
to speak Italian with anon-English accent and I get the
(14:02):
asylum seeker treatment youknow, which is not so great.
And then when I speak in English, when I speak Italian with an
English accent, I get bettertreatment.
So I intentionally do it thatway.
I've never lied to anyone andI'm very open and honest about
it that you know, in Italy, whatworks for me personally is to
(14:23):
speak English more than Italian.
So that is it.
I mean it does have itsnegatives, in the sense that
there are some job positions Iwould love to have or apply for,
but I don't speak fluentItalian because that's what they
want.
If they do want you as aninternational person, they want
you to speak fluent Italian,which I don't speak, and
(14:46):
naturally I'm bad at learninglanguages.
So I don't know how manydecades it will take for me to
speak fluent Italian anyway,right, right, okay, all right.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:00):
So that's uh, that's Feedel.
What's your ambition for thiscompany?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (15:17):
For Feedel Africa.
I really do believe that it'sbeen a difficult year in this
position to try and build it,rebranding, coming up with a new
vision and services productoffering and then trying to
approach different organizations.
Institutions sell the productsand services.
As you know, tadiwa fromZimbabwe living in Italy, trying
(15:39):
to sell to you know, thesegovernmental institutions or
40-something, 50-something yearold men, and they're like who
are you, where are you comingfrom?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (15:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (15:53):
And also coming up with my team that I
said look, you know, I do have ateam that I work with that I
have access to in Italy, but ifI'm going to sell to Africa, it
needs to be a good combinationof Africans and Italians.
So I've got my African advisorsthat I call on and speak to and
then the team I work with aremostly Italian because I'm
(16:16):
taking from Feedel Ventures asvolunteers and a couple from
Ethiopia and Nigeria from FeedelVentures as volunteers and a
couple from Ethiopia and Nigeria.
So it's been a struggle, but Iwould say in the past I mean
since July, end of June,beginning of July people have
started taking me seriously,started, you know, listening,
(16:39):
being willing to work onprojects together.
So that's why I said you knowI've to work on projects
together.
So that's why I said you knowI've got some projects in the
pipeline that you know I'mhoping to have launched in 2025
some really great projects inthe incubation, women
entrepreneurship, african events, mainly focused on women right
(17:00):
now, but and also in the aispace, trying to really bring
forward the opportunity forafricans to learn how to use,
you know, something as simple asuh chat gpt for prompt
engineering.
You know it's.
It's a game changer.
Countries like india alreadydoing it, and they're on
platforms like fiverr, charging$20 to do something for you, and
(17:25):
then they just use chat GPT.
I'm like come on Zimbabweans,you can make some passive income
doing exactly the same thing ifyou learn chat GPT.
So trying to bring thateducation to especially southern
Africa is something that I'mpersonally advocating for, as
well as mentoring some startupsand helping them along the way
(17:47):
to win grants, to wincompetitions.
So yeah, that's some fantasticstuff.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (17:54):
And then, how are you funded?
Is it all internal?
Or do you also employ the samemodel of going to funders to, to
finance these, the provision ofall these services?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (18:06):
So, yes, as a startup, I apply for
funding in Italy, also apply forstartup or accelerator
opportunities in other Europeancountries or in Africa or in
Africa.
However, investors don'tactually like investing in
social impact startups becauseas a social impact startup, your
(18:27):
goal is not to become amillionaire, your goal is to
help the community, but to bringin enough income to stay afloat
.
So I do have some investorsthat I'm in close contact with
looking to invest in Africanstartups, but they can't invest
in me because they're like look,we want to make money, we want
(18:50):
to invest in something that wecan sell a startup that we can
sell at the end of the day, anda social impact startup isn't
that.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (18:59):
Why did you choose a social impact
format, like what's yourattraction to this space?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (19:06):
Well at the moment, realistically
complete.
You know, honesty, transparency.
I was fired as a businessdeveloper by Feedel Ventures and
hired as an entrepreneur inresidence because I had to work
in Italian, and again, you know,as an international employee
(19:28):
working with Italian companies.
They feel much better workingwith an Italian who speaks
fluent Italian and can switch,you know, between English and
Italian.
But on the business side I doreally well on entrepreneurship.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:43):
So that's how this was a way to
keep you about Exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (19:47):
Yeah, some organizations see it as
corporate social responsibilityby working with Feedel Africa as
well, so they pay for us tohelp them in whatever activities
that they have.
And working as a social impactstartup gives me the opportunity
to then also work on personalprojects.
(20:09):
You know, personal projectsthat can bring in my millions
one day, I hope.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (20:16):
Great, let's talk about those projects.
You said you're doing somethingin the pet space.
Tell me a bit more about thatventure.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (20:22):
Okay, so this is kind of like still in
the pipeline.
I've always had a passion forpets and have been exploring
this for quite a few months now,which is kind of like how I
went to Zurich in the past monthand a half.
It was also partly research,testing the markets, seeing what
(20:42):
opportunities are there, andZurich is the most innovative
country in the world right now.
So, learning from the biggestinnovative mind innovation minds
is you know what?
That was my opportunity.
So it's a product and a servicetwo-pred approach.
You know, I'm offering productsand I'm offering services in
(21:04):
the pet space.
I don't want to give away toomuch because I haven't launched
it yet.
Okay, I literally finished theprototype today.
Tell me I, literally.
Yeah, I I launched the, the.
Uh, the prototype not launched,but I created the prototype
(21:25):
today.
I have two partners already,one from Kenya, one from Italy.
All women team, and it's Italyis a pit.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (21:37):
Oh yeah .
Another place with more dogsthan humans.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (21:42):
Yeah yes , yes, there are 14 million
registered pets in Italyregistered so I won't even talk
about the population.
Yeah yes, there are more petsthan born babies, apparently, so
it's a.
It's a very big space that'sthere and a market with a lot of
(22:03):
opportunities, so I'm veryexcited um positive feedback.
I came up with my idea, pitchedit to a couple of people and
they were like, yeah, I want tobe with you in this project as
one of your partners, and we'vejust been working through it for
like a month and a half, sotime is money and sure, yeah, um
(22:26):
.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:26):
So what's what's?
What's your methodology as a?
As an entrepreneur like youknow, where do you find your
ideas first of all and how doyou put them together?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (22:36):
number one is okay.
So I started off in theentrepreneurial space when I was
in Zimbabwe and, for example,junior achievement in high
school, we had our littlebusiness.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (22:48):
Yeah, I remember that from my own high
school.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (22:50):
Yeah yeah, I was the ceo, apparently
I was.
I looked good as a boss andthen at solusi university I was
in a transportation kind ofproject that I went into.
I've never most of the projectsI've been in have never been
for profit but to serve a need.
(23:11):
So with the transportationthing as well, there was a need
wanted to go home, and I wasable to solve the problem of
logistics of people going homeand it ended up being profit
making.
And then from there I dabbledin cake baking, like every other
woman these days in SouthernAfrica, but I was really bad at
(23:34):
decorating.
To be quite honest, I washorrible at decorating.
I'm not artistic.
So instead I did my researchand I found a product that could
be sold, you know, like edibleprints, yeah.
So I bought the machine,borrowed money from my mom,
bought the machine from somecompany I didn't know in South
(23:56):
Africa, and then I startedlearning how to print, you know
edible prints, like Cinderellaor people's you know, faces.
And at the time, yeah, it was anew thing in Zimbabwe and I
started it.
My brother took over because Iwas I always want.
I never wanted to be anentrepreneur.
(24:18):
So I got the opportunity to goto Angola to appoint NGO.
My brother continues thebusiness successfully.
So I got the opportunity to goto Angola to appoint NGO.
My brother continues thebusiness successfully and I'm
still jealous.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:29):
Well, you started it.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (24:31):
I did, I did so.
You know, I've always believedthat business ideas are not
especially.
People don't wake up and knowexactly what kind of business
that they want.
Sometimes you start off withone thing, which in my case, was
baking cakes teaching peoplehow to bake cakes and then I saw
(24:51):
a weakness in myself and myproduct and another idea came
from that.
So same thing with the pitindustry.
I didn't see it as I want to bein the pit space.
I was actually looking just fora way to escape Milan in summer
and the heat and fish, air andtravel.
(25:12):
And I was doing research and Idiscovered the pit world and the
opportunities that the pitindustry has.
And that's when I was like, ohinteresting, let me, you know,
dive deep into this, let me playaround with this.
In my past I did dabble inrabbit breeding, so I kind of
(25:35):
have some experience with takingcare of pets, animals, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:39):
Yeah exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (25:41):
And so, again, you know, it's never
something that you think aboutfor many months, but something
that one day comes to you andyou say look, let me really
research into this.
What are the strengths,opportunities, weaknesses, SWOT
analysis.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (25:59):
What's your strength as an entrepreneur
?
Would you say as a reluctantentrepreneur?
Would you say as a reluctantentrepreneur.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (26:03):
I should say my strength is I adapt.
I'm quite flexible.
I think that's something that Ialso learned during my time as
business developer in FeedelVentures, which really helped me
a lot, which was you can startoff today.
As you know, Feedel Africaright, Feedel Africa services
(26:27):
all Africans, but it was throughFeedel Africa that we were like
look, we're forgetting thefemale space.
Female entrepreneurship spaceis quite big.
Let's focus on helping femaleentrepreneurs.
There are so many of them.
Most of the informal businessesin Africa actually buy females.
They just don't have thesupport support for financing,
(26:50):
support for learning orplatforms.
They just need to learn aboute-commerce, platforms, etc.
So you adapt and you developinto something bigger.
You learn from mistakes.
Don't quit, take a step back.
You know, take a month, takefive years.
De Dele was three, four yearsago and I just sat and I said,
(27:11):
look, I want to get intobusiness, but I need to have the
right product that I want tosell, that I believe in, that
can work, and I'm not an ITexpert, so I can't, you know,
create some AI tool, some AIcompany, but I'm a product
person.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (27:29):
So that's what I look for.
Okay, that's very nice.
That's a really, really great.
Hey, this is Chasen Lez Up.
Next we'll get to hear moreabout how Tadiwa built up and
continues to strengthen herentrepreneurial mindset, what
success means to her, what itmeans to thrive abroad, as well
as Shades and Layers, rapid Fire.
So someone wants to follow inyour footsteps, you know, and
(27:57):
yeah, just be adaptable, thrivein a foreign country, you know
where would you know?
Where would you?
How would you advise them to goabout it?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (28:06):
would I call myself thriving in Italy?
Hmm, I, I think now I'm in agood place today.
A year ago, no.
So I would say the advice Iwould give to someone is really
think carefully about thecountry that you're in and what
opportunities are possible andare there and can work for you,
(28:29):
and do not copy.
The problem that I found with alot of people, and you know,
trying to motivate people to beinnovative is I'll give you a
perfect example of anotherproject that I've kind of
partnered in my brother came tome and he wanted to get into the
(28:49):
cheese making industry and hesaid, well, I want to make gouda
and cheddar in Zimbabwe.
And I said, well, you can't dothat because you know, if you go
to every supermarket, you canalready found goda and cheddar.
Try to make something unique,something different.
That is your brand.
So that is the mindset that Itry to encourage people to do.
(29:11):
So my brother now is well,actually it was the wife that
came to my brother and then hecame to me.
So, yes, she entered thecompetition because I encouraged
her and I said, well, it's youridea, it's not my idea, it's
not my brother's idea, it's youridea, let's do this, you know,
(29:34):
let me support you, let me helpyou with this.
And she actually made it to thetop 15 finals of Zimbabwe.
Uh, for the total energiesstartup challenge, startupers
challenge.
You know, the thing is she wasafraid to talk to me about it
because she didn't think that itwas possible.
(29:55):
She had to go through mybrother, who then talked to me
and I said well, your idea isgreat.
Why are you limiting yourself?
Why are you afraid to putyourself out there?
You know, afraid to take thatleap.
Do your research.
If the interest on the marketis there, why not Try it out?
You have nothing to lose.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (30:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So your advice be innovativethink carefully about the
country where you find yourself.
Can you expand on that part,like you know?
Think carefully about thecountry where you find yourself.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (30:27):
Okay, so I'll give again the example of
my sister-in-law.
The reason why she loved thecheese industry was because I
went home with some Italiancheese about a couple of years
ago and you know I gave samplesof the snacks.
You know everyone was used tocheddar and goda and feta.
Everyone was used to cheddarand goda and feta.
And suddenly I brought cheeseslike grana padano and pecorino
(30:52):
and I talked about mozzarellaall the time.
So she tasted it and she waslike, oh, you know, this taste
is actually pretty great.
I would love something likethat for Zimbabwe.
But in her mind she was thinkinghow open are people when it
comes to this?
(31:12):
I do want cheese, I do thinkthere's a possibility to make it
.
Also the price points that Itold her of Italy.
But then she wasn't.
She was afraid, fear of theunknown, wanting to only stick
to the traditional ways ofmaking peanut butter, you know,
with the grinding, the stonegrinding thing.
And once the machine came out,people were still like no, no,
(31:33):
no, I want to do it the oldfashioned way, you know, because
I know it works.
So just taking that leap, youknow you yourself like it.
Why do you think someone elsewon't like it?
And sometimes innovation doesn'thave to be you are the only
person in the whole wide worldwho has created it.
Sometimes innovation is, forexample, we have PayPal
(31:56):
internationally and in Italy,some startups, some founders,
came up with an Italian versioncalled Satispay, which, in my
opinion, is exactly like PayPal,but they're the only ones to
bring it to the Italian market.
Same thing with Prosecco therules.
Prosecco is Italian, from aspecific region of Italy, veneto
(32:17):
, but international rules saythat if no one has brought
Prosecco to your country, orItalian Prosecco to your country
, and you decide to startselling your wine as Prosecco as
number one, it'sinternationally accepted.
That's why now we have Proseccofrom Australia, prosecco from
Albania, because they were likehey, I like that idea, I'm gonna
(32:41):
make my own they didn't followthe champagne law ah no, because
Italy also wasn't smart enoughto kind of like put laws into
place.
That's the thing If you act slow, you give the opportunity for
someone else to just introduceyour idea in their country.
So that is sometimes innovationyou are just the first person
(33:05):
to bring something, so in mysister.
In this case she's not, youknow.
She's bringing the innovativeaspect of african cheese yeah,
doing cheese differently?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:16):
sure, yeah, exactly, but it's cheese,
it's cheese, absolutely.
So let's get into the rapidfire, and first question is if
you had to write your memoirtoday, what would you call it
and why?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (33:28):
The grass isn't always greener on
the other side.
Okay, I think it'sself-explanatory, Because
sometimes, you know, we alwaysassume and I think a lot of
people have been talking aboutit that what you see on social
media isn't always the grass isgreener on that side.
(33:48):
And for me to be in this placethat I am in today, in 2024,
since 2016,.
I can think of the many nightsand the many months where I was
like will I have a salary, WillI have an income next month?
Because I came to Italythinking that it was better and
offered way more opportunitiesthan Zimbabwe.
(34:10):
Of course, yes, it ultimatelydid.
But now I've got the second part, which is okay.
Now I'm in Italy.
I have to stay in Italy tillI'm 65 to get my pension.
If I leave Italy beforeretirement, I'm going to lose my
pension fund and then I'll goback to Zimbabwe and I'm stuck
to lose my pension fund and thenI'll go back to Zimbabwe and
(34:30):
I'm stuck.
So is it greener to be in Italyor is it greener to be in
Zimbabwe, where your family is,where, if things go wrong, they
can take care of you?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (34:35):
Yeah, that's the immigrant dilemma.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (34:38):
Yes, as a startup, you know there are
some funds that are there whichI can't access or I have
difficulties in accessing,simply because I don't have a
family backer in Italy.
So sometimes there are somefunds in Italy for startups to
get 80% funding, but you need toshow some collateral Okay got
(35:02):
it, got it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (35:03):
And who would your choice be for lead
actress if you had to make thatbook into a movie?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (35:08):
And who would your choice be for lead
actress if you had to make thatbook into a movie?
So I've recently oh, okay, no,oh, that's a difficult one
Because I love Danai Gurira.
Oh, yay, I love her.
I think she's a very strongwoman, also because she's
Zimbabwean.
But at the same time, I've beenwatching've been following
(35:30):
lupita nyong'o, the movies thatshe's been making, like a quiet
place three, and now she's got apodcast.
She does a lot of traveling inafrica and she's very relatable
to me as a person, as a blackwoman, you know it's lana is
more quiet, but she's zimbabwean.
But she plays very strongcharacters in wakanda, the
(35:50):
avengers and, you know, thewalking dead.
So, oh, I would have to see whowould be willing to be she's
also quite the activist.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (36:01):
Uh, danai she's, she's quite the
activist also.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (36:04):
So yeah, but she does it kind of like in
the background she's verylow-key but you know she does
some really impactful work shedoes, she does.
No, I don't discount that atall.
I just like I'm saying withlupita.
She's really pushing forwardright now, like I think so yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah listen, listen, listen.
This is africa.
This is the african experience.
(36:24):
Blah, blah, blah.
People, I've got the platform Iwant you to.
I'm going to make you payattention.
She has American citizenshipnow she could disappear and be
more American, but she hasn'tforgotten her African roots and,
like I said, I just startedreally supporting her.
In the past.
That was 99%, michonne.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (36:45):
Yeah, Cool, cool, cool cool.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (36:53):
So how do you define success?
Success is oh, that's adifficult one.
Oh my gosh.
For me today, what I see as mebeing successful is being 100%
happy.
So the day I'm 100% happy, Iwill be successful.
I mean, yeah, I will besuccessful, because how do you
(37:13):
achieve happiness?
That is the ultimate question.
You know I wake up.
I am, I would say, 70% happy.
Now, really difficult to behappy in rainy, cloudy weather
in Milan, cold weather it reallyaffects your mood.
It's really difficult whenyou're a startup because before
(37:35):
you become rich and successful,especially with a social impact
startup, every day there's aconstant fight fighting for
clients, fighting to be acceptedand recognized and getting
bashed by people because theydon't understand you or they
look at you and say, oh, thisAfrican woman, what can she
teach me?
It's really difficult to behappy and also in my recent trip
(38:01):
to Zurich, I did see thatclassism plays an important part
in happiness.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (38:09):
You can buy happiness to an extent and
to buy happiness, you must befinancially successful so you
want all the right things inplace exactly.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (38:22):
so everything you know, socially,
romantically, financially,emotionally to be happy in all
those aspects, I will.
Once I achieve that, I will besuccessful Okay.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (38:36):
All right.
And if somebody wants to workwith you, enlist your services
or just you know, give you money, where can they find you?
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (38:46):
They can find me on LinkedIn Taniwa
T-A-D-I-W-A.
Linet L-I-N-E-T Mwashita onLinkedIn.
I will always respond toLinkedIn messages and I think
that's the easiest way to see meand my profile in what we do as
Feedel Africa.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (39:06):
That's great.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate you givingme your time.
Tadiwa Linnet Mwashita (39:12):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited and I'mactively looking for female
entrepreneurs with ideas andprojects that want to get some
advice, mentorship, you know,looking for finance as I
mentioned before, we do actuallywork or have some investment
(39:34):
partners that are willing toinvest in African entrepreneurs,
and that is all from me thistime around.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (39:43):
Thanks to Tadiwa for her generous
account of her journey so far.
I can't wait to hear whatshe'll do next, and thanks to
you also for listening.
Please visit the show notes tolearn more about her work and,
while you are there, please rateand review the podcast so that
others can find us.
Five stars would be amazing.
Thank you, I'm Kutlu AnuskosanaRitchie, and until next time,
(40:07):
please do take good care.
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