July 13, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode, I sat down with Pretty Kubyane, a multi-award-winning tech entrepreneur and co-founder of eFama, an app revolutionising Africa’s agricultural supply chain. From humble beginnings in a South African village to leading a pan-African tech movement, Pretty shares how growing up with impact-driven parents shaped her conviction to build businesses that serve both community and innovation.
A self-proclaimed introvert, Pretty opens up about navigating the tech world as a woman of colour, facing underestimation in boardrooms, and how compassion—not bitterness—fuels her leadership. You’ll hear how her hatred of poverty, deep spiritual grounding, and fierce belief in dignity over hustle gave her the courage to speak up, stay consistent, and lead with vision.
In this episode, we explore:
- What Pretty learned about leadership and purpose from her father’s woodcutting business
- How eFama started as a response to systemic barriers for small producers
- The 3 C’s of entrepreneurial growth: Conviction, Consistency, and Clarity
- Cultural intelligence in working across African communities
- The power of social fasting to protect your energy and mental health
- Why introverts should build on their strengths, not chase extroverted norms
- How faith and vision sustain Pretty’s entrepreneurial mission
This episode is a masterclass in quiet conviction, community-focused innovation, and redefining what leadership can look like when it’s grounded in both substance and soul.
Resources & Links:
- Learn more about eFama and their work with African farmers:https://efama.africa
- Follow Pretty Kubyane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prettykubyane/
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This episode was edited by Aura House Productions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Serena Loh.
If you're used to hearing thatintroverts are shy, anxious,
antisocial and lack goodcommunication and leadership
skills, then this podcast is foryou.
You're about to fall in lovewith the calm, introspective and
profound person that you are.
Discover what's fun, unique andpowerful about being an
(00:21):
introvert, and how to make theelegant transition from quiet
achiever to quiet warrior inyour life and work anytime you
want, in more ways than youimagined possible.
Welcome, welcome to the QuietWarrior podcast.
Today's guest is amulti-award-winning entrepreneur
(00:42):
and tech lead and theco-founder of ePharma App.
Her entrepreneurial journeybegan at the age of six,
inspired by her late father'sbusiness ventures, and these
early experiences shaped herleadership in a family-run
consulting firm scalingbusinesses across Africa.
As ePharma's tech lead, sheholds over 20 certifications in
(01:04):
cloud computing, cybersecurity,blockchain, scrum mastery and
FinOps.
She co-founded ePharma totransform Africa's agricultural
supply chain by connectingfarmers directly with buyers.
Under her leadership, epharmahas secured support from the NIR
Foundation, standard Chartered,apsa, visa and AWS.
(01:26):
Named a rising star in 2022,she is recognized as a leading
voice in technology for socialimpact, driving innovation and
empowering communities acrossAfrica.
Welcome, priti Kubiani to theQuiet Warrior podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Thank you so much, Serena.
Thank you for having me.
I was very excited when youactually invited me to be a part
of the podcast because you'resuch a great conversationist and
you make it so easy to talk toyou.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Oh, thank you.
I'm really looking forward tothis conversation too.
So let's start by asking tellus a bit more about your story,
of how you came to be anentrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
No, absolutely that's a great question.
So I was raised by a family ofvery industrious entrepreneurs
my mom and dad.
So it was during the miningboom in South Africa.
So most fathers they left ourvillage to go to really far away
towns, mining towns likeJohannesburg and other bigger
(02:30):
cities.
So my dad decided to stay athome so that having him around
when other kids would only seetheir dad in December was so
special.
Also, it kind of taught me thatyou can build a business but
you don't have to sacrifice yourfamily.
It's possible to do both.
So my father also ran awoodcutting business where we
(02:51):
will source wood and sell it tolocal butcheries, funeral
parlors, and we'll sell it tohouseholds.
Because we didn't haveelectricity so we cooked with
wood.
So 30% of that wood will begiven to women-led homes,
because most women had to travelfor like 20 kilometers to go
and source wood.
(03:12):
So most of the time that willbe done by the men.
So for women to just go bythemselves it was not safe and
elderly women obviously nolonger have strength to go there
.
So my dad would make sure 30percent of the wood would go to
them.
So that kind of introduced veryearly impact that business can
coexist with impact where we areand, lastly, a car fixing
(03:37):
workshop that we had.
I think that's where the loveof engineering actually comes
from, because growing up aroundtoolboxes and engines really
really engraved that engineeringmind of like you can be an
engineer, you can fix things.
Obviously not at the levelwhere I am now, because it was a
very small village andeverything that we did was a bit
(03:58):
was a bit smaller.
So later on I started publicrelations because you know,
sometimes when you grow uparound your even though I knew I
want to run my own familybusiness one day but when you
grow up around your parents, youbecome a bit familiar in a way
that you start like you're justcurious about like what else is
(04:18):
out there.
So that's why I started publicrelations.
By by the moment I completed myqualification in public
relations, I found myself backworking in corporate, but on the
CSI department, where we willfind NPOs and NGOs and we'll be
given a fund by mining andmanufacturing companies to
(04:40):
manage.
I was just drawn to impact andcommunity development, so I
worked there and then again Iwent and worked when I met
Shadrach.
Now we started running amanagement consulting firm where
we were working with brands.
I gave somebody started a brand, for example, a beauty brand, a
home where I was working morefor lifestyle types of brands.
(05:01):
They would want to place it inthe bigger retail shelf.
So I would work with them toeither create a franchise system
or open a new store or packagethe brand in a way that it will
be bought by a big corporate.
So that's actually what pivotedus to technology, because there
was this annoying thing wheneverwe we have quality product,
(05:22):
like your genuine leather humanhead station at 100% beauty
products, that requires acertificate of ethical sourcing,
we'll always hit a brick wallin terms of bigger corporates
certification and that was superexpensive and it was a barrier
(05:43):
for a very long time because,speaking to bigger companies
that do quality assurance wasnot affordable.
Like on average, you can pay upto 50 000 us dollars a year and
a smaller brand cannot affordto do that.
So we would ignore it to likewell, if you started a brand
(06:04):
with like five, five hundreddollars and now it's making two
million, that's success.
So I mean it could go far withtechnology or with that tapping
into bigger retailers, but wejust didn't have a solution at
all until one day we're likemaybe we should build it.
And, mind you, we had noexperience in technology
(06:24):
whatsoever, but we were verylucky because an american
technology company and thebiggest retailer in the world of
food and everything wasactually building a tracking and
traceability um, a product thattrack and trace from the source
up until the product is on theshelf, for the sole purpose of
(06:45):
quality assurance and supplychain inclusion of multiple
farmers that were supplyingtheir food retail store.
So it happened that a familyfriend was a tech lead for the
product, so we begged him tolike, could we just take a look?
We just want to learn something, because this technology is
solving exactly what we want tosolve and we have no idea to
(07:07):
start.
And he was kind enough to letus to take a long.
We learned so much for that sixmonths After that, we were
ready to start putting together,working with few engineers and
putting together our own pilotof that, and then from there,
this is where we are.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Wow, that is quite the journey.
And you've answered my secondquestion when I was going to ask
you how do you build somethingfrom the ground up?
So what I heard you say is thatsome of it was due to the
influence of your parents,having been entrepreneurial to
start with.
So you grew up in an atmospherewhere you're familiar with
business.
You have some kind of insightand introduction into the
(07:47):
business world and how itaffects community.
So you mentioned beingpassionate about impact.
You mentioned communitydevelopment, which is very
important, and how your fatherwould put aside 30% of produce
in order to direct it towomen-led families and
businesses right.
And then also you mentioned thesix months of tagging along
(08:10):
somebody who knows what they aredoing and is already doing the
thing that you want to build,and so having them as your
mentor, as your guide, in thatprocess, and then using that
experience to put together yourown pilot.
So that sounds to me is thatabout right?
That that's your formula forbuilding something from the
ground up.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely.
That comes in very, very handyfor you to kind of get and get
your foot in it, but I think notto stay in that, you will need
consistency.
You will need conviction inwhat you are about to do.
When I speak of consistency,for example, being able to show
up no matter what I remember oneof the leaders of Amazon once
(08:53):
spoke about everything thatcould go wrong will go wrong, so
plan for it.
So that's what happens inbusiness Everything that can go
wrong is going to go wrong.
Things will go terribly wrongbefore they can go amazingly
right.
So if you are not passionate,I've seen people just quitting
just before the breakthroughbecause that conviction of being
(09:16):
there was not there for them.
And then, when it comes toconsistency as well, focus is
everything, and it's difficultwhen you start because it's hard
to stick to one thing whenyou're starting a business,
because one, you need money foryour family if you already have
a family or for yourself.
So like who are you to say noto certain opportunities?
But that may dilute your brand.
(09:36):
So it's very important to sayokay, maybe in the next three
years, I want to be known forone thing For now, I'm just
surviving.
I'm hustling to survive, butwithin three years, I want to be
known for just one thing, andthat's all that I'm going to do
and I will say lastly, as wellis the clarity of your vision.
That's very important.
(09:57):
For example, when we startedIFAMA, we started by saying in
10 years from now we started in2023, in 10 years from now, we
would like to have at least halfa million farmers being able to
sell on our platform, onemillion people buying from our
platform.
Did we know how we're going todo that?
Of course not.
We didn't know where the moneywas going to come from.
(10:18):
We didn't know where the firstfarmer was going to come from,
even though we knew some farmersin our ecosystem.
But we just nailed that on thewall.
And each year, we'll have awhiteboard and say what are the
top three things that will makethis year's success?
For example, how about we getthe first 100 farmers out of
them 500,000.
And then, before you know it,the year finishes, maybe one or
(10:40):
two media's going to write aboutyou, and then the following
year, a few corporates willstart wanting to beg you and
then, before you know it, 10years is finished, even though
you started not knowing exactlywhere to start, not having any
resources that you needed toaccomplish your vision.
You find that those things havehappened.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So what I heard you say there, Priti, is you set a
10-year goal and you were veryclear on what is it your company
wants to be known for.
And you mentioned also thethree C's of conviction and
consistency and clarity.
So where does your convictioncome from for this app that
you're building?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Absolutely so.
Some entrepreneurs like myselfare very privileged because we
get to solve problems that weface.
So when I was raised by afamily, our home was just by the
road, so every stranger thatcouldn't find transport would
end up staying at our home.
So my parents always likecooked extra.
So my mom loved feeding people.
(11:46):
So, like I just I can't helpmyself, I just want to feed
people, so I get that from her.
But more than anything, I grewup in a poverty stricken
environment, and when I speakpoverty, it's not just not
having food today, it's havingno dignity.
When you go for health, forexample, is having no dignity?
(12:08):
When you go for health, forexample, having no privacy at
all?
You'll be consulting aboutwomen-related issues, the nurses
will be shouting things thatnobody should know about, but
there's men in the room.
But that's what happened topoor people.
So I hate poverty with apassion.
I don't like going out there.
I'm scared of speaking inpublic, but my fear of public
speaking is way smaller when itcomes to my hate towards poverty
(12:31):
.
So it's just, I don't likepoverty at all.
So that actually drives me,even when I'm like okay, this is
a bit too challenging.
Now I'm driven by that, knowingthat I just, I just don't want
to see people being poor.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Thank you.
That's a different level ofconviction altogether, and you
said also consistency inrelation to being someone who
doesn't like public speaking ordoesn't like putting yourself
out there.
Would you say that you are moreof an introvert than an
extrovert?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, I'm 100% an introvert.
It's more obvious because somepeople like my husband and
business partner.
He's very outspoken, he's got awarm personality, so people
mistaken him for an extrovert.
But when he comes home he justwant to crawl into a small space
.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
But me, I, from the word go, I come across as an
introvert, so I'm a veryintroverted person and you
mentioned that what helps you topush yourself out there and
show up consistently is becauseyour dislike, your hatred of
poverty is stronger than yourfear of public speaking.
And I like how you've comparedthose two things, because a lot
(13:46):
of times introverts and quietachievers we hold ourselves back
because we think, oh, this isnot my personality, I'm born
this way so I can't do all thiscustomer facing stuff.
It's just too, it feels tooexposed.
But what you're saying is, whenthere is something bigger
that's at stake, something ismore important than my personal
discomfort or my fear, then thatthing has to take priority.
(14:09):
That's the thing that drivesAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And I also thing that drives Absolutely, and I also
think that things have changed.
I remember I had a conversationwith this impact investor who
invests in Africa and invests inthe US market and I was asking
her those are total differentmarkets.
How do you make a decision whenit comes to a founder in Africa
and a founder in America, whenit comes to a founder in Africa
and a founder in America?
And then she went on to tell methat when it comes to American
(14:35):
founders, they actuallycommunicate their vision better
than any nation she has everinvested into.
She has seen people gettingfunded by just Figma screens.
They don't even have one lineof code, because they are good.
They are good at pushing theirbrand, they are good at telling
their story, they are good atspeaking up, but when it comes
(14:58):
to Africa, they want to seetraction, because sometimes we
are reserved in Africa in termsof speaking, so they say, okay,
if you're not going to talk,then let your results talk for
you.
So they want to see technicalcompetency and they want to see
traction.
And I was telling her that.
I really think that no matterwhere you are, whether in
America or you are in Africa,you need both.
(15:18):
You cannot choose between thetwo.
Your story, you speaking upwhen I started finding our voice
.
Customers started finding us,investors started finding us,
media started finding us.
But when those people find us,they need to find competency
because we still need to deliver.
We cannot be blowing a horn outthere in the media and then,
(15:40):
when we have to deliver on ourpromises, we can't deliver.
So you can't choose and youactually really have no choice
at all.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I love that that is such a balanced approach and I
think a lot of our listeners aregoing to agree and be nodding
along when they hear this part,because sometimes in the
extrovert bias culture weemphasize too much on talking
and volume and words andpersonality, but it's not always
backed up by the substance.
But then you also have thequiet achievers who are very
(16:11):
heavy on the substance, verycognitively capable, but then
they don't want to talk aboutthemselves, they don't want to
promote the work, they don'twant to shine a spotlight.
Because I'm used to beinguncomfortable in the background,
hiding in the shadows.
I'll just stay here and be safe.
So what you said is actually afantastic formula that really
(16:32):
works.
You actually need both.
You need to be strong with thestorytelling and you also need
to be strong with the substance.
So thank you for spotlightingthat.
So what were some of thechallenges you faced in the
early days and how did you getgood at overcoming them?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
the early days and how did you get good at
overcoming them?
Yeah, so I think both men andwomen.
A question like that could beeasy to ask from a man, like
what did you face?
But for us, we face things aswomen because for some reason in
2025, you still have to bereminded that you are a woman in
the boardrooms.
I'm like why it's 2025 now?
(17:15):
So some of the challenges that Iactually faced were around the
tokenism, for example, in thefarming industry.
If you look from far, you willfind that in Africarica, there
is more than 60 percent women interms of the workforce and
farmers.
80 percent of the decisionsaround food are made by women.
(17:37):
But when you start followingthe money where it's going, when
you start following thedecision making where it's going
, you'll find that most of thosedecisions are made it it's a
boy's club and women we're justfollowing very, very slowly.
In tech, if you are a woman,you have only 3% chances of
funding, because VC funding goesto less than 3% of women, and
(18:00):
if you're a woman of color, itbecomes even worse when it comes
to that.
So that was the first one.
The second one as well, wasbeing underestimated.
I think even the wordunderestimated.
It doesn't really cover exactlythe experience.
(18:22):
I remember one time we werespeaking to this global payment
gateway.
We wanted to integrate theirpayment gateway into our mobile
application.
So during that time one of theperson there asked me that, okay
, this sounds good, weunderstand the business logic.
Let's set up a nurse meeting,then bring your tech lead, I'm
(18:43):
the tech lead.
And there was like awkwardnessbecause I said it in my
introduction I'm pretty, I'm theco-founder.
I said it in my introductionI'm pretty, I'm the co-founder,
I'm a tech lead.
As a tech lead, this is thekind of work I get to do.
But he did not hear that.
On another occurrence, we werehiring a recruitment company so
(19:04):
that they can hire technicaltalent for us.
Again, somebody asked me liketwo people, I tried the other
person and then we, it didn'twork.
And then the second time, sixmonths later, same company.
The second person asked mewould you like to invite your
husband, shadrack, so that whenwe have to make decision, those
decisions are made very quickly?
(19:24):
And I'm like what do you mean?
I'm the decision maker, I'm thetech lead, I hire technical
talent and then other one.
In terms of this being lookeddown upon, what broke my heart
the most was when these meetingsand these comments actually
come from women, where I'll comeinto a meeting and then they'll
start sending the technicalquestion to the junior engineer
(19:48):
in the room who reports tosomeone who reports to me, and
that one really breaks my heart.
It doesn't make me angry.
I think I've gotten used to theignorance from men who think
women don't, really are not goodat technical stuff.
But when it's us women it showssometimes the low self-esteem
that some women have and theytry to project that into you.
(20:10):
And the last one, which actuallyvery connects with that, is
that internal voice.
I mean I was raised in a verytraditional community where, as
a woman, you can ask for whatyou're worth, you can be
demanding who's going to marryyou.
If you are this demanding, ifyou are this loud, like
literally some cultures inAfrica, you have to lie down
when men are passing.
(20:30):
So we've raised to behave likethat, in a way that I will be
pitching everything but I'll bescared to ask because, like I've
been trained to do that uh,over and over and over.
So I often have to deal withthat voice that is inside that
says I think you're being,you're coming across as very
(20:53):
aggressive now.
Would you like to like tone itdown a little bit, because I'll
say something, or I'll think ofsaying something, and then my
co-founder will say it and Iactually thought to say that and
it we were received.
Nobody was gonna see anythingwrong with it.
It was just me who thought likeI'll never, should never be
asking that at all.
(21:14):
So those are some of thechallenges.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Wow, I particularly noticed that you said the the
two biggest deterrents, I think,were the voices, the external
voices as well as the internalvoices.
And it's interesting how we westarted well.
We're used to expecting,perhaps, that men might
underestimate women, but then,when women do it to other women,
(21:37):
that is a very dishearteningnarrative and I wonder if it's
like a perpetuating of some kindof a trauma cycle that we take
on those limiting beliefs basedon our conditioning, based on
our background, our ownexperiences, and then we somehow
we know that we don't agreewith those types of beliefs, but
(22:01):
somehow we still absorb themand we perpetuate them onto the
next generation of femaleentrepreneurs, female founders
and anyone who is doing anythingthat's entrepreneurs, female
founders and and anyone who isdoing anything that's regarded
as a male dominated profession.
So you, you mentioned women inagriculture and also women in
tech and also being a woman ofcolor.
So it's like there are allthese invisible barriers that
(22:23):
women have to surmount in orderto get ahead.
So what keeps you, what keepsyou focused and what keeps you
strong when you encounter thiskind of pushback?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
yeah, I think.
For for me, compassion I had tolearn compassion because I
somebody said, had people hadothers, because I don't think
that somebody just wakes up anddecide to be toxic.
So some people, they again,like you said, they've faced
this kind of pushback and thenthey're just projecting it on
(23:01):
other people.
That's why I'm alwaysheartbroken not judging, not
angry at that at all and I thinkI've made a vow by myself to
say whatever experience that Igo through, I think maybe it's a
lesson or it's a message fromGod to say don't be like that
woman.
I remember I attended aconference by one of the banks
(23:23):
and the head of cybersecuritywas showing very concerning
statistics there about womenrepresentation in cybersecurity.
Yet cybersecurity is a very newindustry and it's not like we
can say now.
It's male dominated.
How did it become maledominated when we are here?
And then she had a veryshocking study that actually
(23:44):
today is women that are keepingwomen out of these industries
like cyber security, frontiertech it's no longer men at all.
In her experience she foundthat men are always willing to
teach her, always willing totrain him.
So for me, after that meeting, Imade a vow with myself to say I
don't want to be that womanLike so help me God.
(24:06):
I don't want to grow bitterwhen I experience all this kind
of abuse from other women.
I want to be that woman in theroom that is able to lift others
because I know how it feels.
So I feel like me encounteringthis has nothing to do really
with the other person, but ithas something to do with me to
say if you ever find yourself ina position of power and
(24:28):
influence, make sure that youleave no one behind.
Make sure you know that otherwoman who's making other women
to feel insecure in everythingthat they do, but do the
opposite of what was done foryou thing that they do, but do
the opposite of what was donefor you.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I love that.
I love how you've turned thatpain into power and how you've
made a conscious choice thatwhen something negative happens,
you take the lesson from it andyou use it to do better, and so
it doesn't become a personalit's not a personal offense
against you, but how can youturn that around, how can you do
even better and how can youreverse that trend?
(25:07):
So I love the way you thinkwith that.
Now we talked about you workingacross different countries.
What is the importance ofcultural intelligence in
cross-country collaboration?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's very, very important.
I'm very lucky because I grewup in a village, so tradition is
more important than innovation.
Villagers will never, ever dobusiness with someone who
doesn't know who they are andwho doesn't seem to respect
their culture and their way ofdoing things.
(25:43):
The second thing that makes meprivileged is because I was
raised by farmers.
So whenever we go to farmers by, naturally I see myself talking
to my mom, talking to my dad ormy brother or my aunt or my
sibling.
So that actually helped,because I never approached any
farmer from a businessperspective.
(26:03):
It's always in a relational.
Most of our best decision andbest contract was signed around
the fire, just sitting down andeating food.
And lastly, again I'm verylucky because my husband was my
co-founder can speak all the 11languages in South Africa,
including some languages thatare spoken within the Southern
(26:24):
Africa, so 90% of the time wespeak to people in their own
language, with respect, earlieron I spoke about how in some
cultures, when men passes, womenmust lie down.
I joined them because it's aculture of where I am.
I'm switching heads when I'mthere to be a daughter, to be
like other wives.
(26:46):
You're not going to see mesitting outside with the rest of
the men talking business.
I'll go join the wives inpreparing food for everyone,
because my husband isrepresenting me there and I
found that people reallyappreciate that and then when I
do that, they are the ones whoare actually wanting to hear
from me.
So culture is very important toactually understand, because
(27:06):
people are not going to careabout what you are saying until
they know you actually careabout their culture, you care
about their problems, that youare implying to say you're going
to solve them.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Wow, that is so much wisdom that you've just
articulated there in terms ofcultural intelligence, and I
think we need to do a lot betterin being sensitive and the way
you've explained you know whatthat looks like, in including,
(27:38):
you know, going to sit with thewomen doing what they do and not
putting yourself as an outsideror I'm better or because I'm
more educated or because I rebelagainst this system.
Instead, you are makingyourself part of the system so
that it reduces that sense of weare the outsiders, we're coming
(27:59):
into this space that somebodyelse owns and what you're doing
is you're showing respect,you're showing sensitivity,
you're not making it difficultfor them, you are sort of
sliding in and being part ofthings.
So there's no friction, thereis no reason for them to get
upset.
So you've made it as easy aspossible, taking the traditional
(28:21):
roles and then, when you'vebuilt that rapport, you can
start talking and explaining andsharing what is it you are
doing?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Absolutely.
You've summarized it so well.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That is just so brilliant, Thank you.
As an introverted entrepreneur,how do you protect your time
and energy, given that you arein so many meetings?
You're always talking todifferent organizations,
different individuals, and youhave to do a lot of selling and
pitching and all?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
that, or this event that we call social, fast on our
calendar, and it didn't come asa trendy name that it sounds
like today.
It actually came during a verygreat time of pain In 2019,.
(29:17):
We had a tragic loss in thefamily and I remember our grief
counselor talking to us thatsometimes, when something tragic
happens, your brain doesn'tprocess it at once.
It sends most of it to thesubconscious because you can't
deal with it at the same time,because it's too tragic.
And then I remember I was likeI'm not ready to deal with even
(29:39):
1% of it at all at all.
So I did what most workaholicsdo I threw myself at work.
I started working because I'mlike the only time I'm not doing
something is when I'm sleeping,and most of the time I always
have to be woken up from thelaptop because I've like slept
like this on the laptop andsomebody must come and wake me
(30:01):
up to actually go to bed.
I was like passing out everyday.
So from there, and then we hadevents and lots of social
related things, and then fromthere, I had like the worst
burnout that I've ever had.
Now.
I had the level of anxietywhere it's like it was just too
(30:22):
much was difficult to fallasleep, crazy insomnia,
hallucinations, and I was soscared because I thought, like
I'm never gonna come out of this, like what if I'm like this for
a very long time?
Because I don't know how tosnap out of it, the exhaustion?
I don't know how to stopworking because I don't want to
just sit and do nothing.
(30:44):
So from there, one day myhusband comes through with what
I would say it was like just adivine instruction, with this
piece of paper, written socialcontract, and I'm like what is
that?
And he's like we need to issuea day in a week where we fast
from everything, even during theday.
(31:04):
We need to have those times ofquietness.
We have to fast fromrelationships that are not
bringing back anything butinstead they are adding.
You know one of thosefriendship dinners and stuff
like that, where you go, theagenda was to come and eat, but
it was not really that, and thenit becomes the whole thing like
we are in high school.
So we had to take a break fromthat and we had to take a break
(31:28):
from good things also thatreally benefit us, because at
some point we have to reallyrest.
I remember once, uh, during thattime my my friend, uh, was
asking me for to come and joinher for some celebration of what
was happening and I was tellingher, no, I'm not, I'm not
coming, sorry, I'm busy.
And then a week later she'sconfronting me.
(31:49):
She's like well, I saw on yourschedule it was blocked with the
word nothing.
But you said you were busy andI'm saying, of course I was busy
doing nothing.
That's exactly what I was busydoing.
You'll always find that word inmy calendar where it's blocked
to say nothing.
I would be cooking one of thosetraditional hard-bodied
chickens that takes five hoursto cook on a slow cooker and
(32:13):
cooking salmon beans the way mymom used to cook it, and doing
absolutely nothing.
Because we need that, we needthat nothingness, we need that
social fast, sometimes even fromthe good thing, not just from
the toxic things, even from thegood things.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I'm glad you made a difference between fasting from
the good things and fasting fromthe toxic things, because
usually people think when yousay fast, oh, you know, I will
fast from social media, I willfast from getting distracted, I
will fast from gettingdistracted, I will fast from
Netflix or something like that.
But you're saying that evenwhen the things are good where
the activities are, you knowthere's nothing wrong with them.
(32:52):
They are essential to health.
But still there has to be thatbalance.
There needs to be a day, thereneeds to be some kind of block
of time, there needs to be a wayfor us to schedule that nothing
time for ourselves.
Because we have this, you'reright, we have this urge to keep
doing, doing, doing, and theculture encourages it.
The more you hustle, the morepeople look at you with
(33:15):
admiration and respect.
And then you feel compelled tokeep hustling.
And of course it depends too Ifwe've grown up in that kind of
culture, that kind of family,where you are always encouraged
to work hard, to not give up.
Sitting down to rest is like forlazy people you can sleep when
you're dead.
That kind of saying right.
So that is counter-cultural.
(33:38):
That's almost like an act ofrebellion.
To say nothing means nothing.
I don't feel obliged to doanything.
I don't have to respond toanything, I don't have to go
anywhere, I'm just going to bestill.
And you've mentioned divineinstruction and you've mentioned
God.
How has your faith played apart in your journey as an
(34:00):
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (34:02):
It has played a really big part.
Now we have experienced thelevel of success where we
sometimes get invited to comeand share our story.
Like tomorrow, I'm delivering alecture on a group of graduate
engineers on how to pitch,either whether they're going
into business or whether theyare going to look for a job.
(34:24):
That is totally based on ourexperience in the industry.
But if I ever, ever have totell someone that give them 10
step, I always have 10 step togive everywhere.
They have 10 step to everythingbecause it helps me.
But if I forget to tell themhow God is in all of it, I think
(34:46):
I will be shortchanging people.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Wow.
And what is a final piece ofadvice you have for introverts
listening who are in business orthinking of starting a business
, what's important for them toknow?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Absolutely.
This is very important to beyourself.
One of my mentors once spokeabout I need to focus on my
strong points, because I wasfeeling so under pressure when
it comes to things like justwhen you speak.
You need to just take over theroom when you show up, and I
know a friend once was sayingwhen she arrived at work, her
(35:28):
team is like oh, fun has arrived.
I'm like nobody's ever gonna saythat about me, something is
wrong with me.
So I started wanting to takeover, take up certain things
that are totally the opposite ofmy personality and I was not
enjoying a single one of it.
But I realized when I becamedeliberate in terms of improving
(35:50):
what I'm good at, that becamemy really superpower.
So that's the thing I would sayis that don't feel under
pressure to behave like peoplewho are very outspoken, people
who have the energy that just isso taking over the room.
Be yourself and be the bestthat you are.
(36:11):
If, by the end of this year,you can say I'm good with
project management I got sixcertification in project
management you would have doneso well instead of saying I'm
not very good with ABC.
So I was studying ABC, but itreally doesn't align to who you
are.
You are better as a specialistin what you do.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Beautiful and where can people connect with you,
Priti, and work with you?
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Absolutely so.
Our website is very simple,it's just efama, e-f-a-m-a dot
africa and linkedin.
We are mostly active onlinkedin.
We're active in all socialmedia.
If my app is also on on netflixnot netflix on instagram, it's
on, uh, it's on facebook, butlinkedin or for on a personal
(37:01):
level.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
For some reason we are not on other social media as
well, just on LinkedIn only itmakes a lot of sense when you
have that many platforms, youdon't want to spread yourself
too thin as well, so I thinkfocusing for the kind of work
that you do with fellowprofessionals which is where
LinkedIn, you know, comes inreally useful for connecting,
because that's how we met aswell.
So I think you are doing allthe right things and I'm really
(37:26):
so grateful to you for joiningus today.
So thank you for sharing yourwisdom and your time with us.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was such a privilege to behere.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
If you've enjoyed this conversation and want more
like this, make sure to leave afive-star rating and review so
the Quiet Warrior podcast canreach more introverts around the
world.
See you on the next episode.
I'm so grateful that you'rehere today.
If you found this contentvaluable, please share it on
your social media channels andsubscribe to the show on your
(37:59):
favorite listening platform.
Together, we can help moreintroverts thrive.
To receive more upliftingcontent like this, connect with
me on Instagram at Serena LoQuiet Warrior Coach.
Thank you for sharing your timeand your energy with me.
See you on the next episode.
Hi, I'm Serena Loh.
If you're used to hearing thatintroverts are shy, anxious,
antisocial and lack goodcommunication and leadership
skills, then this podcast is foryou.
You're about to fall in lovewith the calm, introspective and
profound person that you are.
Discover what's fun, unique andpowerful about being an
(00:21):
introvert, and how to make theelegant transition from quiet
achiever to quiet warrior inyour life and work anytime you
want, in more ways than youimagined possible.
Welcome, welcome to the QuietWarrior podcast.
Today's guest is amulti-award-winning entrepreneur
(00:42):
and tech lead and theco-founder of ePharma App.
Her entrepreneurial journeybegan at the age of six,
inspired by her late father'sbusiness ventures, and these
early experiences shaped herleadership in a family-run
consulting firm scalingbusinesses across Africa.
As ePharma's tech lead, sheholds over 20 certifications in
(01:04):
cloud computing, cybersecurity,blockchain, scrum mastery and
FinOps.
She co-founded ePharma totransform Africa's agricultural
supply chain by connectingfarmers directly with buyers.
Under her leadership, epharmahas secured support from the NIR
Foundation, standard Chartered,apsa, visa and AWS.
(01:26):
Named a rising star in 2022,she is recognized as a leading
voice in technology for socialimpact, driving innovation and
empowering communities acrossAfrica.
Welcome, priti Kubiani to theQuiet Warrior podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Thank you so much, Serena.
Thank you for having me.
I was very excited when youactually invited me to be a part
of the podcast because you'resuch a great conversationist and
you make it so easy to talk toyou.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Oh, thank you.
I'm really looking forward tothis conversation too.
So let's start by asking tellus a bit more about your story,
of how you came to be anentrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
No, absolutely that's a great question.
So I was raised by a family ofvery industrious entrepreneurs
my mom and dad.
So it was during the miningboom in South Africa.
So most fathers they left ourvillage to go to really far away
towns, mining towns likeJohannesburg and other bigger
(02:30):
cities.
So my dad decided to stay athome so that having him around
when other kids would only seetheir dad in December was so
special.
Also, it kind of taught me thatyou can build a business but
you don't have to sacrifice yourfamily.
It's possible to do both.
So my father also ran awoodcutting business where we
(02:51):
will source wood and sell it tolocal butcheries, funeral
parlors, and we'll sell it tohouseholds.
Because we didn't haveelectricity so we cooked with
wood.
So 30% of that wood will begiven to women-led homes,
because most women had to travelfor like 20 kilometers to go
and source wood.
(03:12):
So most of the time that willbe done by the men.
So for women to just go bythemselves it was not safe and
elderly women obviously nolonger have strength to go there
.
So my dad would make sure 30percent of the wood would go to
them.
So that kind of introduced veryearly impact that business can
coexist with impact where we areand, lastly, a car fixing
(03:37):
workshop that we had.
I think that's where the loveof engineering actually comes
from, because growing up aroundtoolboxes and engines really
really engraved that engineeringmind of like you can be an
engineer, you can fix things.
Obviously not at the levelwhere I am now, because it was a
very small village andeverything that we did was a bit
(03:58):
was a bit smaller.
So later on I started publicrelations because you know,
sometimes when you grow uparound your even though I knew I
want to run my own familybusiness one day but when you
grow up around your parents, youbecome a bit familiar in a way
that you start like you're justcurious about like what else is
(04:18):
out there.
So that's why I started publicrelations.
By by the moment I completed myqualification in public
relations, I found myself backworking in corporate, but on the
CSI department, where we willfind NPOs and NGOs and we'll be
given a fund by mining andmanufacturing companies to
(04:40):
manage.
I was just drawn to impact andcommunity development, so I
worked there and then again Iwent and worked when I met
Shadrach.
Now we started running amanagement consulting firm where
we were working with brands.
I gave somebody started a brand, for example, a beauty brand, a
home where I was working morefor lifestyle types of brands.
(05:01):
They would want to place it inthe bigger retail shelf.
So I would work with them toeither create a franchise system
or open a new store or packagethe brand in a way that it will
be bought by a big corporate.
So that's actually what pivotedus to technology, because there
was this annoying thing wheneverwe we have quality product,
(05:22):
like your genuine leather humanhead station at 100% beauty
products, that requires acertificate of ethical sourcing,
we'll always hit a brick wallin terms of bigger corporates
certification and that was superexpensive and it was a barrier
(05:43):
for a very long time because,speaking to bigger companies
that do quality assurance wasnot affordable.
Like on average, you can pay upto 50 000 us dollars a year and
a smaller brand cannot affordto do that.
So we would ignore it to likewell, if you started a brand
(06:04):
with like five, five hundreddollars and now it's making two
million, that's success.
So I mean it could go far withtechnology or with that tapping
into bigger retailers, but wejust didn't have a solution at
all until one day we're likemaybe we should build it.
And, mind you, we had noexperience in technology
(06:24):
whatsoever, but we were verylucky because an american
technology company and thebiggest retailer in the world of
food and everything wasactually building a tracking and
traceability um, a product thattrack and trace from the source
up until the product is on theshelf, for the sole purpose of
(06:45):
quality assurance and supplychain inclusion of multiple
farmers that were supplyingtheir food retail store.
So it happened that a familyfriend was a tech lead for the
product, so we begged him tolike, could we just take a look?
We just want to learn something, because this technology is
solving exactly what we want tosolve and we have no idea to
(07:07):
start.
And he was kind enough to letus to take a long.
We learned so much for that sixmonths After that, we were
ready to start putting together,working with few engineers and
putting together our own pilotof that, and then from there,
this is where we are.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Wow, that is quite the journey.
And you've answered my secondquestion when I was going to ask
you how do you build somethingfrom the ground up?
So what I heard you say is thatsome of it was due to the
influence of your parents,having been entrepreneurial to
start with.
So you grew up in an atmospherewhere you're familiar with
business.
You have some kind of insightand introduction into the
(07:47):
business world and how itaffects community.
So you mentioned beingpassionate about impact.
You mentioned communitydevelopment, which is very
important, and how your fatherwould put aside 30% of produce
in order to direct it towomen-led families and
businesses right.
And then also you mentioned thesix months of tagging along
(08:10):
somebody who knows what they aredoing and is already doing the
thing that you want to build,and so having them as your
mentor, as your guide, in thatprocess, and then using that
experience to put together yourown pilot.
So that sounds to me is thatabout right?
That that's your formula forbuilding something from the
ground up.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely.
That comes in very, very handyfor you to kind of get and get
your foot in it, but I think notto stay in that, you will need
consistency.
You will need conviction inwhat you are about to do.
When I speak of consistency,for example, being able to show
up no matter what I remember oneof the leaders of Amazon once
(08:53):
spoke about everything thatcould go wrong will go wrong, so
plan for it.
So that's what happens inbusiness Everything that can go
wrong is going to go wrong.
Things will go terribly wrongbefore they can go amazingly
right.
So if you are not passionate,I've seen people just quitting
just before the breakthroughbecause that conviction of being
(09:16):
there was not there for them.
And then, when it comes toconsistency as well, focus is
everything, and it's difficultwhen you start because it's hard
to stick to one thing whenyou're starting a business,
because one, you need money foryour family if you already have
a family or for yourself.
So like who are you to say noto certain opportunities?
But that may dilute your brand.
(09:36):
So it's very important to sayokay, maybe in the next three
years, I want to be known forone thing For now, I'm just
surviving.
I'm hustling to survive, butwithin three years, I want to be
known for just one thing, andthat's all that I'm going to do
and I will say lastly, as wellis the clarity of your vision.
That's very important.
(09:57):
For example, when we startedIFAMA, we started by saying in
10 years from now we started in2023, in 10 years from now, we
would like to have at least halfa million farmers being able to
sell on our platform, onemillion people buying from our
platform.
Did we know how we're going todo that?
Of course not.
We didn't know where the moneywas going to come from.
(10:18):
We didn't know where the firstfarmer was going to come from,
even though we knew some farmersin our ecosystem.
But we just nailed that on thewall.
And each year, we'll have awhiteboard and say what are the
top three things that will makethis year's success?
For example, how about we getthe first 100 farmers out of
them 500,000.
And then, before you know it,the year finishes, maybe one or
(10:40):
two media's going to write aboutyou, and then the following
year, a few corporates willstart wanting to beg you and
then, before you know it, 10years is finished, even though
you started not knowing exactlywhere to start, not having any
resources that you needed toaccomplish your vision.
You find that those things havehappened.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
So what I heard you say there, Priti, is you set a
10-year goal and you were veryclear on what is it your company
wants to be known for.
And you mentioned also thethree C's of conviction and
consistency and clarity.
So where does your convictioncome from for this app that
you're building?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Absolutely so.
Some entrepreneurs like myselfare very privileged because we
get to solve problems that weface.
So when I was raised by afamily, our home was just by the
road, so every stranger thatcouldn't find transport would
end up staying at our home.
So my parents always likecooked extra.
So my mom loved feeding people.
(11:46):
So, like I just I can't helpmyself, I just want to feed
people, so I get that from her.
But more than anything, I grewup in a poverty stricken
environment, and when I speakpoverty, it's not just not
having food today, it's havingno dignity.
When you go for health, forexample, is having no dignity?
(12:08):
When you go for health, forexample, having no privacy at
all?
You'll be consulting aboutwomen-related issues, the nurses
will be shouting things thatnobody should know about, but
there's men in the room.
But that's what happened topoor people.
So I hate poverty with apassion.
I don't like going out there.
I'm scared of speaking inpublic, but my fear of public
speaking is way smaller when itcomes to my hate towards poverty
(12:31):
.
So it's just, I don't likepoverty at all.
So that actually drives me,even when I'm like okay, this is
a bit too challenging.
Now I'm driven by that, knowingthat I just, I just don't want
to see people being poor.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Thank you.
That's a different level ofconviction altogether, and you
said also consistency inrelation to being someone who
doesn't like public speaking ordoesn't like putting yourself
out there.
Would you say that you are moreof an introvert than an
extrovert?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, I'm 100% an introvert.
It's more obvious because somepeople like my husband and
business partner.
He's very outspoken, he's got awarm personality, so people
mistaken him for an extrovert.
But when he comes home he justwant to crawl into a small space
.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
But me, I, from the word go, I come across as an
introvert, so I'm a veryintroverted person and you
mentioned that what helps you topush yourself out there and
show up consistently is becauseyour dislike, your hatred of
poverty is stronger than yourfear of public speaking.
And I like how you've comparedthose two things, because a lot
(13:46):
of times introverts and quietachievers we hold ourselves back
because we think, oh, this isnot my personality, I'm born
this way so I can't do all thiscustomer facing stuff.
It's just too, it feels tooexposed.
But what you're saying is, whenthere is something bigger
that's at stake, something ismore important than my personal
discomfort or my fear, then thatthing has to take priority.
(14:09):
That's the thing that drivesAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And I also thing that drives Absolutely, and I also
think that things have changed.
I remember I had a conversationwith this impact investor who
invests in Africa and invests inthe US market and I was asking
her those are total differentmarkets.
How do you make a decision whenit comes to a founder in Africa
and a founder in America, whenit comes to a founder in Africa
and a founder in America?
And then she went on to tell methat when it comes to American
(14:35):
founders, they actuallycommunicate their vision better
than any nation she has everinvested into.
She has seen people gettingfunded by just Figma screens.
They don't even have one lineof code, because they are good.
They are good at pushing theirbrand, they are good at telling
their story, they are good atspeaking up, but when it comes
(14:58):
to Africa, they want to seetraction, because sometimes we
are reserved in Africa in termsof speaking, so they say, okay,
if you're not going to talk,then let your results talk for
you.
So they want to see technicalcompetency and they want to see
traction.
And I was telling her that.
I really think that no matterwhere you are, whether in
America or you are in Africa,you need both.
(15:18):
You cannot choose between thetwo.
Your story, you speaking upwhen I started finding our voice
.
Customers started finding us,investors started finding us,
media started finding us.
But when those people find us,they need to find competency
because we still need to deliver.
We cannot be blowing a horn outthere in the media and then,
(15:40):
when we have to deliver on ourpromises, we can't deliver.
So you can't choose and youactually really have no choice
at all.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I love that that is such a balanced approach and I
think a lot of our listeners aregoing to agree and be nodding
along when they hear this part,because sometimes in the
extrovert bias culture weemphasize too much on talking
and volume and words andpersonality, but it's not always
backed up by the substance.
But then you also have thequiet achievers who are very
(16:11):
heavy on the substance, verycognitively capable, but then
they don't want to talk aboutthemselves, they don't want to
promote the work, they don'twant to shine a spotlight.
Because I'm used to beinguncomfortable in the background,
hiding in the shadows.
I'll just stay here and be safe.
So what you said is actually afantastic formula that really
(16:32):
works.
You actually need both.
You need to be strong with thestorytelling and you also need
to be strong with the substance.
So thank you for spotlightingthat.
So what were some of thechallenges you faced in the
early days and how did you getgood at overcoming them?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
the early days and how did you get good at
overcoming them?
Yeah, so I think both men andwomen.
A question like that could beeasy to ask from a man, like
what did you face?
But for us, we face things aswomen because for some reason in
2025, you still have to bereminded that you are a woman in
the boardrooms.
I'm like why it's 2025 now?
(17:15):
So some of the challenges that Iactually faced were around the
tokenism, for example, in thefarming industry.
If you look from far, you willfind that in Africarica, there
is more than 60 percent women interms of the workforce and
farmers.
80 percent of the decisionsaround food are made by women.
(17:37):
But when you start followingthe money where it's going, when
you start following thedecision making where it's going
, you'll find that most of thosedecisions are made it it's a
boy's club and women we're justfollowing very, very slowly.
In tech, if you are a woman,you have only 3% chances of
funding, because VC funding goesto less than 3% of women, and
(18:00):
if you're a woman of color, itbecomes even worse when it comes
to that.
So that was the first one.
The second one as well, wasbeing underestimated.
I think even the wordunderestimated.
It doesn't really cover exactlythe experience.
(18:22):
I remember one time we werespeaking to this global payment
gateway.
We wanted to integrate theirpayment gateway into our mobile
application.
So during that time one of theperson there asked me that, okay
, this sounds good, weunderstand the business logic.
Let's set up a nurse meeting,then bring your tech lead, I'm
(18:43):
the tech lead.
And there was like awkwardnessbecause I said it in my
introduction I'm pretty, I'm theco-founder.
I said it in my introductionI'm pretty, I'm the co-founder,
I'm a tech lead.
As a tech lead, this is thekind of work I get to do.
But he did not hear that.
On another occurrence, we werehiring a recruitment company so
(19:04):
that they can hire technicaltalent for us.
Again, somebody asked me liketwo people, I tried the other
person and then we, it didn'twork.
And then the second time, sixmonths later, same company.
The second person asked mewould you like to invite your
husband, shadrack, so that whenwe have to make decision, those
decisions are made very quickly?
(19:24):
And I'm like what do you mean?
I'm the decision maker, I'm thetech lead, I hire technical
talent and then other one.
In terms of this being lookeddown upon, what broke my heart
the most was when these meetingsand these comments actually
come from women, where I'll comeinto a meeting and then they'll
start sending the technicalquestion to the junior engineer
(19:48):
in the room who reports tosomeone who reports to me, and
that one really breaks my heart.
It doesn't make me angry.
I think I've gotten used to theignorance from men who think
women don't, really are not goodat technical stuff.
But when it's us women it showssometimes the low self-esteem
that some women have and theytry to project that into you.
(20:10):
And the last one, which actuallyvery connects with that, is
that internal voice.
I mean I was raised in a verytraditional community where, as
a woman, you can ask for whatyou're worth, you can be
demanding who's going to marryyou.
If you are this demanding, ifyou are this loud, like
literally some cultures inAfrica, you have to lie down
when men are passing.
(20:30):
So we've raised to behave likethat, in a way that I will be
pitching everything but I'll bescared to ask because, like I've
been trained to do that uh,over and over and over.
So I often have to deal withthat voice that is inside that
says I think you're being,you're coming across as very
(20:53):
aggressive now.
Would you like to like tone itdown a little bit, because I'll
say something, or I'll think ofsaying something, and then my
co-founder will say it and Iactually thought to say that and
it we were received.
Nobody was gonna see anythingwrong with it.
It was just me who thought likeI'll never, should never be
asking that at all.
(21:14):
So those are some of thechallenges.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Wow, I particularly noticed that you said the the
two biggest deterrents, I think,were the voices, the external
voices as well as the internalvoices.
And it's interesting how we westarted well.
We're used to expecting,perhaps, that men might
underestimate women, but then,when women do it to other women,
(21:37):
that is a very dishearteningnarrative and I wonder if it's
like a perpetuating of some kindof a trauma cycle that we take
on those limiting beliefs basedon our conditioning, based on
our background, our ownexperiences, and then we somehow
we know that we don't agreewith those types of beliefs, but
(22:01):
somehow we still absorb themand we perpetuate them onto the
next generation of femaleentrepreneurs, female founders
and anyone who is doing anythingthat's entrepreneurs, female
founders and and anyone who isdoing anything that's regarded
as a male dominated profession.
So you, you mentioned women inagriculture and also women in
tech and also being a woman ofcolor.
So it's like there are allthese invisible barriers that
(22:23):
women have to surmount in orderto get ahead.
So what keeps you, what keepsyou focused and what keeps you
strong when you encounter thiskind of pushback?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
yeah, I think.
For for me, compassion I had tolearn compassion because I
somebody said, had people hadothers, because I don't think
that somebody just wakes up anddecide to be toxic.
So some people, they again,like you said, they've faced
this kind of pushback and thenthey're just projecting it on
(23:01):
other people.
That's why I'm alwaysheartbroken not judging, not
angry at that at all and I thinkI've made a vow by myself to
say whatever experience that Igo through, I think maybe it's a
lesson or it's a message fromGod to say don't be like that
woman.
I remember I attended aconference by one of the banks
(23:23):
and the head of cybersecuritywas showing very concerning
statistics there about womenrepresentation in cybersecurity.
Yet cybersecurity is a very newindustry and it's not like we
can say now.
It's male dominated.
How did it become maledominated when we are here?
And then she had a veryshocking study that actually
(23:44):
today is women that are keepingwomen out of these industries
like cyber security, frontiertech it's no longer men at all.
In her experience she foundthat men are always willing to
teach her, always willing totrain him.
So for me, after that meeting, Imade a vow with myself to say I
don't want to be that womanLike so help me God.
(24:06):
I don't want to grow bitterwhen I experience all this kind
of abuse from other women.
I want to be that woman in theroom that is able to lift others
because I know how it feels.
So I feel like me encounteringthis has nothing to do really
with the other person, but ithas something to do with me to
say if you ever find yourself ina position of power and
(24:28):
influence, make sure that youleave no one behind.
Make sure you know that otherwoman who's making other women
to feel insecure in everythingthat they do, but do the
opposite of what was done foryou thing that they do, but do
the opposite of what was donefor you.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I love that.
I love how you've turned thatpain into power and how you've
made a conscious choice thatwhen something negative happens,
you take the lesson from it andyou use it to do better, and so
it doesn't become a personalit's not a personal offense
against you, but how can youturn that around, how can you do
even better and how can youreverse that trend?
(25:07):
So I love the way you thinkwith that.
Now we talked about you workingacross different countries.
What is the importance ofcultural intelligence in
cross-country collaboration?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's very, very important.
I'm very lucky because I grewup in a village, so tradition is
more important than innovation.
Villagers will never, ever dobusiness with someone who
doesn't know who they are andwho doesn't seem to respect
their culture and their way ofdoing things.
(25:43):
The second thing that makes meprivileged is because I was
raised by farmers.
So whenever we go to farmers by, naturally I see myself talking
to my mom, talking to my dad ormy brother or my aunt or my
sibling.
So that actually helped,because I never approached any
farmer from a businessperspective.
(26:03):
It's always in a relational.
Most of our best decision andbest contract was signed around
the fire, just sitting down andeating food.
And lastly, again I'm verylucky because my husband was my
co-founder can speak all the 11languages in South Africa,
including some languages thatare spoken within the Southern
(26:24):
Africa, so 90% of the time wespeak to people in their own
language, with respect, earlieron I spoke about how in some
cultures, when men passes, womenmust lie down.
I joined them because it's aculture of where I am.
I'm switching heads when I'mthere to be a daughter, to be
like other wives.
(26:46):
You're not going to see mesitting outside with the rest of
the men talking business.
I'll go join the wives inpreparing food for everyone,
because my husband isrepresenting me there and I
found that people reallyappreciate that and then when I
do that, they are the ones whoare actually wanting to hear
from me.
So culture is very important toactually understand, because
(27:06):
people are not going to careabout what you are saying until
they know you actually careabout their culture, you care
about their problems, that youare implying to say you're going
to solve them.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Wow, that is so much wisdom that you've just
articulated there in terms ofcultural intelligence, and I
think we need to do a lot betterin being sensitive and the way
you've explained you know whatthat looks like, in including,
(27:38):
you know, going to sit with thewomen doing what they do and not
putting yourself as an outsideror I'm better or because I'm
more educated or because I rebelagainst this system.
Instead, you are makingyourself part of the system so
that it reduces that sense of weare the outsiders, we're coming
(27:59):
into this space that somebodyelse owns and what you're doing
is you're showing respect,you're showing sensitivity,
you're not making it difficultfor them, you are sort of
sliding in and being part ofthings.
So there's no friction, thereis no reason for them to get
upset.
So you've made it as easy aspossible, taking the traditional
(28:21):
roles and then, when you'vebuilt that rapport, you can
start talking and explaining andsharing what is it you are
doing?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Absolutely.
You've summarized it so well.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That is just so brilliant, Thank you.
As an introverted entrepreneur,how do you protect your time
and energy, given that you arein so many meetings?
You're always talking todifferent organizations,
different individuals, and youhave to do a lot of selling and
pitching and all?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
that, or this event that we call social, fast on our
calendar, and it didn't come asa trendy name that it sounds
like today.
It actually came during a verygreat time of pain In 2019,.
(29:17):
We had a tragic loss in thefamily and I remember our grief
counselor talking to us thatsometimes, when something tragic
happens, your brain doesn'tprocess it at once.
It sends most of it to thesubconscious because you can't
deal with it at the same time,because it's too tragic.
And then I remember I was likeI'm not ready to deal with even
(29:39):
1% of it at all at all.
So I did what most workaholicsdo I threw myself at work.
I started working because I'mlike the only time I'm not doing
something is when I'm sleeping,and most of the time I always
have to be woken up from thelaptop because I've like slept
like this on the laptop andsomebody must come and wake me
(30:01):
up to actually go to bed.
I was like passing out everyday.
So from there, and then we hadevents and lots of social
related things, and then fromthere, I had like the worst
burnout that I've ever had.
Now.
I had the level of anxietywhere it's like it was just too
(30:22):
much was difficult to fallasleep, crazy insomnia,
hallucinations, and I was soscared because I thought, like
I'm never gonna come out of this, like what if I'm like this for
a very long time?
Because I don't know how tosnap out of it, the exhaustion?
I don't know how to stopworking because I don't want to
just sit and do nothing.
(30:44):
So from there, one day myhusband comes through with what
I would say it was like just adivine instruction, with this
piece of paper, written socialcontract, and I'm like what is
that?
And he's like we need to issuea day in a week where we fast
from everything, even during theday.
(31:04):
We need to have those times ofquietness.
We have to fast fromrelationships that are not
bringing back anything butinstead they are adding.
You know one of thosefriendship dinners and stuff
like that, where you go, theagenda was to come and eat, but
it was not really that, and thenit becomes the whole thing like
we are in high school.
So we had to take a break fromthat and we had to take a break
(31:28):
from good things also thatreally benefit us, because at
some point we have to reallyrest.
I remember once, uh, during thattime my my friend, uh, was
asking me for to come and joinher for some celebration of what
was happening and I was tellingher, no, I'm not, I'm not
coming, sorry, I'm busy.
And then a week later she'sconfronting me.
(31:49):
She's like well, I saw on yourschedule it was blocked with the
word nothing.
But you said you were busy andI'm saying, of course I was busy
doing nothing.
That's exactly what I was busydoing.
You'll always find that word inmy calendar where it's blocked
to say nothing.
I would be cooking one of thosetraditional hard-bodied
chickens that takes five hoursto cook on a slow cooker and
(32:13):
cooking salmon beans the way mymom used to cook it, and doing
absolutely nothing.
Because we need that, we needthat nothingness, we need that
social fast, sometimes even fromthe good thing, not just from
the toxic things, even from thegood things.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I'm glad you made a difference between fasting from
the good things and fasting fromthe toxic things, because
usually people think when yousay fast, oh, you know, I will
fast from social media, I willfast from getting distracted, I
will fast from gettingdistracted, I will fast from
Netflix or something like that.
But you're saying that evenwhen the things are good where
the activities are, you knowthere's nothing wrong with them.
(32:52):
They are essential to health.
But still there has to be thatbalance.
There needs to be a day, thereneeds to be some kind of block
of time, there needs to be a wayfor us to schedule that nothing
time for ourselves.
Because we have this, you'reright, we have this urge to keep
doing, doing, doing, and theculture encourages it.
The more you hustle, the morepeople look at you with
(33:15):
admiration and respect.
And then you feel compelled tokeep hustling.
And of course it depends too Ifwe've grown up in that kind of
culture, that kind of family,where you are always encouraged
to work hard, to not give up.
Sitting down to rest is like forlazy people you can sleep when
you're dead.
That kind of saying right.
So that is counter-cultural.
(33:38):
That's almost like an act ofrebellion.
To say nothing means nothing.
I don't feel obliged to doanything.
I don't have to respond toanything, I don't have to go
anywhere, I'm just going to bestill.
And you've mentioned divineinstruction and you've mentioned
God.
How has your faith played apart in your journey as an
(34:00):
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (34:02):
It has played a really big part.
Now we have experienced thelevel of success where we
sometimes get invited to comeand share our story.
Like tomorrow, I'm delivering alecture on a group of graduate
engineers on how to pitch,either whether they're going
into business or whether theyare going to look for a job.
(34:24):
That is totally based on ourexperience in the industry.
But if I ever, ever have totell someone that give them 10
step, I always have 10 step togive everywhere.
They have 10 step to everythingbecause it helps me.
But if I forget to tell themhow God is in all of it, I think
(34:46):
I will be shortchanging people.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Wow.
And what is a final piece ofadvice you have for introverts
listening who are in business orthinking of starting a business
, what's important for them toknow?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Absolutely.
This is very important to beyourself.
One of my mentors once spokeabout I need to focus on my
strong points, because I wasfeeling so under pressure when
it comes to things like justwhen you speak.
You need to just take over theroom when you show up, and I
know a friend once was sayingwhen she arrived at work, her
(35:28):
team is like oh, fun has arrived.
I'm like nobody's ever gonna saythat about me, something is
wrong with me.
So I started wanting to takeover, take up certain things
that are totally the opposite ofmy personality and I was not
enjoying a single one of it.
But I realized when I becamedeliberate in terms of improving
(35:50):
what I'm good at, that becamemy really superpower.
So that's the thing I would sayis that don't feel under
pressure to behave like peoplewho are very outspoken, people
who have the energy that just isso taking over the room.
Be yourself and be the bestthat you are.
(36:11):
If, by the end of this year,you can say I'm good with
project management I got sixcertification in project
management you would have doneso well instead of saying I'm
not very good with ABC.
So I was studying ABC, but itreally doesn't align to who you
are.
You are better as a specialistin what you do.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Beautiful and where can people connect with you,
Priti, and work with you?
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Absolutely so.
Our website is very simple,it's just efama, e-f-a-m-a dot
africa and linkedin.
We are mostly active onlinkedin.
We're active in all socialmedia.
If my app is also on on netflixnot netflix on instagram, it's
on, uh, it's on facebook, butlinkedin or for on a personal
(37:01):
level.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
For some reason we are not on other social media as
well, just on LinkedIn only itmakes a lot of sense when you
have that many platforms, youdon't want to spread yourself
too thin as well, so I thinkfocusing for the kind of work
that you do with fellowprofessionals which is where
LinkedIn, you know, comes inreally useful for connecting,
because that's how we met aswell.
So I think you are doing allthe right things and I'm really
(37:26):
so grateful to you for joiningus today.
So thank you for sharing yourwisdom and your time with us.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was such a privilege to behere.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
If you've enjoyed this conversation and want more
like this, make sure to leave afive-star rating and review so
the Quiet Warrior podcast canreach more introverts around the
world.
See you on the next episode.
I'm so grateful that you'rehere today.
If you found this contentvaluable, please share it on
your social media channels andsubscribe to the show on your
(37:59):
favorite listening platform.
Together, we can help moreintroverts thrive.
To receive more upliftingcontent like this, connect with
me on Instagram at Serena LoQuiet Warrior Coach.
Thank you for sharing your timeand your energy with me.
See you on the next episode.
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