Stories That Shape Us

Jimmy Samuel reflects on the profound impact that his military service had on his character, values, and life. He recollects joining the military in the early 90s, drawn by the challenge not found in civilian life. He underscores military values including selfless commitment, respect for others, loyalty, integrity, discipline, and physical and moral courage that shaped him. The selfless commitment...

Model Strangers with Christopher Ward: Unveiling Stories That Shape Us In this episode, our host Sam has a riveting conversation with Christopher Ward, founder of Model Strangers as he shares his experiences and insights as a street photographer. Introduction: - Learn about Chris' background and his mission to capture the essence of humanity through photography. Part 1: Growing Up in Apartheid...

Tolulope Oke, DEI multi-award winner and leader shares her personal journey through a dark and emotionally draining period, marked by the death of their father and feelings of resentment. She discussed the psychological metaphor of being stuck 'on a hamster wheel,' unable to escape their difficult feelings. However, she eventually began to experience gradual emotional relief and freedom, c...

Stories That Shape Us: Meet the Team, New Year Updates & Plans In this podcast, host Samuel and co-host Blessing welcome listeners to the new year for 'Stories That Shape Us'. They announce the expansion of their team, including Jerry, who is responsible for video content, and Joy, who will oversee written content. Blessing introduces herself, talking about her journey to becoming a co...

After an exciting, long, busy 2023, we are taking a break to recharge, re-organise and start stronger in 2024! Samuel, our host also shares some exciting updates about what to expect from the podcast this year.

Amidst all the Christmas celebrations, gifts, parties, have you ever wondered what the actual Christmas Story really is? Why do we celebrate it? Who do we Celebrate? Why is this story significant? Join David Forrest as he explains the Christmas Story and ends with a piece he wrote titled 'Nativity'. Many thanks to David for sharing this with us all!

In this episode of 'Stories That Shape Us', our host Samuel Agbede sits down with Niyi Oludipe, Director of Shepha Properties. The conversation ranges from Niyi's journey of moving from Nigeria to the UK, overcoming numerous challenges to establish himself in a new country and his eventual success in the property sector. He freely shares his personal struggles, life-changing decisions,...

Join us on this interesting conversation with David Forrest, a writer, software engineering tech lead, and a PhD holder in Experimental Particle Physics as he shares his experiences, life lessons, and perspectives. We delved into a variety of topics, circling the themes of self-worth, heart attitudes, diverse cultural appreciation, and love. Embracing Life's Script Authentically Our chat inclu...

Join us on this insightful conversation with Ken Nwokoroafor, a leading voice in the personal finance space, and the author of the book ‘ Financial Joy: Banish Debt, Grow Your Money and Unlock Financial Freedom in 10 Weeks ’. In this episode, we dive deep into the personal stories that have shaped him. Ken shares his journey from humble beginnings to financial independence and the pivotal moments...

In this episode, our host, Samuel interviews Jimmy, a military veteran with 26 years of service. Jimmy shares valuable insights, life lessons, and stories from his time in the military, highlighting the values of discipline, courage, respect, and the misconceptions surrounding the military. He discusses the challenges of transitioning to civilian life and the importance of gratitude and personal g...

Imagine sitting down with an amazing lady who's experienced life in several countries, founded an NGO and is a passionate advocate for child literacy and racial equality. That's us! We had the joy of having a conversation with Tabitha Nyariki, a Kenyan native who shares her life journey and the valuable lessons she's learned along the way. From her mother's influence that shaped he...

Join us on this deep conversation with Tolulope Oke, Global Head of Diversity At Diageo and Multi-Award Winning Diversity Champion where we discuss everything from the people who have had an impact on her life’s story to pivotal moments in her career to lessons she’s learnt from growing up as a minority in the United Kingdom. More specifically, in this episode, we spoke about: Her faith and the im...

In this episode, our host, Sam interviews Dr. Nike Folayan, a Chartered Engineer and the co-founder of the Association for Black and Minority Engineers (AFBE). As part of the Black History Month theme of celebrating sisters, they discuss Dr. Nike's journey and her work in advocating for diversity in the engineering industry. Dr. Nike shares her insights on the importance of courage and kindnes...

In this episode, we sit down with Peace Itimi, the founder of FoundersConnect, a platform that documents the African tech startup landscape and stories of founders on the continent. Peace shares impactful anecdotes from her life and the key takeaways that have helped her grow. She emphasises the importance of failure as a learning opportunity and how it can lead to growth and feedback. Her journey...

Welcome to another episode of our podcast, where we bring you inspiring stories that shape us. In this episode, we have an amazing guest, Ollie Folayan, a chartered process engineering consultant, visiting professor at the University of Dundee, and an award-winning diversity champion. Ollie shares personal stories on his family background, faith and upbringing. He further shares his experiences wi...

Join us on this fun and insightful conversation with Bayile Adeoti, a social entrepreneur and founder of Dechomai, an organization that helps individuals and communities overcome barriers to entrepreneurial success. In this episode, Bayile shares her personal journey to social entrepreneurship, the challenges she faced, and the lessons she learned along the way. We talked about the power of sharin...

Rough estimates put Yoruba (a popular language in Western Nigeria) at having roughly 50 million speakers and our guest today is one of those pathfinding teaching Artificial Intelligence concepts in this language (her mother tongue). She transitioned from being a full-time Pharmacist into becoming an expert Data Scientist. On this enlightening conversation with Technical Instructor at LinkedIn Lear...

Ebuka Mordi is a creative fashion and commercial photographer based in Nigeria. His work has featured in Vogue Italia and he currently advises Adobe on their Lightroom suite. Ebuka's remarkable journey started several years ago when he picked up his iPod and started to shoot photos with it. Ebuka's journey into photography, as you would discover in this episode is not just about capturing...

Sir Geoff Palmer is Scotland’s first Black Professor and is Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University. He was knighted by the Queen in 2014. His groundbreaking work, the barley abrasion process has revolutionised the world of brewing and has earned him the ⁠American Society of Brewing Chemists⁠  Award of Distinction, considered the " ⁠Nobel prize⁠  of brewing". Sir Geoff was also recently hon...

Sir Geoff Palmer is Scotland’s first Black Professor and is Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University. He was knighted by the Queen in 2014. His groundbreaking work, the barley abrasion process has revolutionised the world of brewing and has earned him the ⁠American Society of Brewing Chemists⁠  Award of Distinction, considered the " ⁠Nobel prize⁠  of brewing". Sir Geoff was also recently hon...

Sir Geoff Palmer is Scotland’s first Black Professor and is Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University. He was knighted by the Queen in 2014. His groundbreaking work, the barley abrasion process has revolutionised the world of brewing and has earned him the American Society of Brewing Chemists  Award of Distinction, considered the " Nobel prize  of brewing". Sir Geoff was also recently honoure...

Henry is an educator and storyteller committed to making quality education accessible to all, especially children and young people in low-income communities. His career journey started in Nigeria's media start-up scene, where he worked on press relations and created content to shape conversations across Africa. Simultaneously, he volunteered weekly at a local secondary school, leading leadersh...

Adora Nwodo is a multi-award-winning Software Engineer. She currently works at Microsoft where she builds Mixed Reality on the Cloud. She is passionate about the Cloud and Emerging Technologies. She is also the Vice President of the Nigerian chapter for VRAR Association. Her work there involves creating more awareness for Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies. Apart from building and advocati...

With a background in International Education Development and Economics, Odinaka Chukwu is an experienced professional with a passion for leveraging education as a tool for social and economic development. She brings a dynamic set of experiences in international education, non-profit leadership, and social change and transformation, including co-founding Sharing Life Africa, a nonprofit creating ac...

Growing up with hardworking parents who instilled the value of diligence, our remarkable guest - Sofiat has dedicated her life to making a difference in the world. This has shown in her founding ⁠Computer Science Academy Africa (CSAAfrica)⁠ - an initiative aiming to provide young Africans in STEM with access to quality computer science education and her numerous speaking/mentoring involvements. Sh...