Choose Africa

Lindsay Errico is a Resilience and Trauma Coach who specializes in empowering women in male-dominated industries. Lindsay ignites potential through strategic coaching sessions tailored to help women realize what's holding them back from moving forward with their dreams. In this episode, Lindsay shares more about her experience dealing with challenges as a female in the military, becoming more prof...

Throughout the process of making my family's s'mores costumes this year, I was again reminded just how helpful outsourcing can be. When it comes to your business, it's vitally important to know what things only you can do versus what anyone else could do for you. Whether it's video editing or cold calling, where can you buy back your time?

This week's episode is very important, because I'm going to be discussing why talking about social impact in Africa is overused and how we may actually be causing more damage than good by doing so. Tune in to hear 7 reasons why we should stop talking so much about social impact, the impressive work African professionals are doing, and what kind of funding could actually make a difference.

This week, I have on Hileena Gebreyesus, the ying to my yang and COO of CRDLE, to share her story, expertise, and the work that she's doing. In this episode, we discuss education in Ethiopia, working with CRDLE, and hiring out of Africa. Connect with Hileena: LinkedIn: Hileena Gebreyesus

Have you ever looked at your business as art? Today is a super special episode, because I get to sit down with one of my favorite authors, Charles Spinosa, along with his wife, Nancy, and son, Adam. With nearly three decades of experience as an acclaimed author and management consultant, Charles specializes in the dynamic intersection of leadership, culture, and innovation. He sees artistry in bus...

This week, I got to sit down with my lovely niece, Ruth, and hear more about her experience studying and working in Ethiopia. Ruth is CRDLE's first summer intern, and she is doing an amazing job! In this episode, Ruth shares more about life, education, and getting a job in Ethiopia.

Outsourcing sometimes has a negative connotation, but it is actually a powerful business tool that can benefit everyone involved. As Africa is often left out of the outsourcing conversation, it is important to acknowledge the massive social impact that outsourcing to Africa makes. In this week's episode, I talk about what CRDLE is doing, why you should hire from Africa when looking to expand y...

Keynote speaker, author, and executive coach Allison Graham inspires individuals around the world with a fresh perspective to rethink stress, resilience, and problem-solving. In this week's episode, Allison shares her insights on dealing with stress, trusting yourself, and delegation. Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: Allison Graham

Admira Adovic is an award-winning financial consultant with over 10 years of experience across financial analysis and change management with global institutions. The founder of KARE CFO, she is the go-to expert for small businesses in strategic financial management, quantitative analysis, and financial forecasting. She's also our CFO! Tune in to hear Admira's take on common mistakes small...

Ryan Dusick is an associate marriage and family therapist; the founding drummer of one of the world’s most popular bands, Maroon 5; a mental health advocate; and an author. His life has been a long and winding road from aspiring pop star with anxiety, to heartbroken alcoholic, to thriving mental health survivor and messenger of hope in recovery. In this episode, Valerie and Ryan talk about taking...

Bereket Kelile used to launch F-16s in the Air Force. Now he ​launches his clients on a mission of financial freedom. For the past decade, Bereket has researched and studied finances and money. He knows what it means to pay attention to the smallest of details and how to become an everyday millionaire. In this episode, Bereket and Valerie talk about how to make your money work for you, delegating...

Joe Galeas is a data maniac and operations guru. Starting as an individual contributor, Joe progressed through various management roles and eventually assumed positions as VP of Operations and COO. Along the way, he gained firsthand experience at every rung of the operations ladder, witnessing the essential elements necessary to inspire teams, effectively communicate expectations, and spearhead st...

Jared Gibson is the co-founder of Outworks.io, a company that specializes in LinkedIn engagement for B2B professionals. Jared played a crucial role in evolving Outworks.io from its initial focus on email lead generation to mastering LinkedIn as a powerful tool for building trust and generating leads. In this episode, Jared talks about how to be successful on LinkedIn and his experience working wit...

Do you need to hire an outsourcing team that is in a similar time zone as you? In this week's solo episode, I walk you through my friend's experience hiring a team in Columbia, why it's not working well, and the three things he should have done before hiring them.

Michael Rubino has helped over 1000 families heal from toxic mold exposure, and guess what? He’s just getting started. He believes we can change our lives — and the world — by changing the air we breathe, and has dedicated himself to helping you optimize your life by overcoming poor air quality and creating a safer, mold-free environment. In this week's episode, Valerie sits down with Michael...

Maurice Philogene is an investor, entrepreneur, coach, and philanthropist who teaches like-minded professionals how to Try Life On more. As a means to Try Life On himself, Maurice maintained 4 parallel careers for two decades. He was a 25-year Senior Executive for global management consulting firm Accenture, a 22 year Special Agent (Lt. Colonel) as part of military service, running field offices f...

Does outsourcing take jobs away from Americans? Spoiler: the answer is no. In today's episode, I dive into three reasons why. This will get your team and your customers not only on board with offshore talent, but excited for it. Let's dive in!

We rebranded! Welcome to the Choose Africa podcast! After hearing all your feedback, we decided to refocus this podcast on hiring from the continent, the benefits, and how to set it up correctly. If you want to hire from Africa, build a strong business, or you just love sales, stick around and subscribe!

What does creating 1 million jobs in Ethiopia look like? In this episode, I'm joined by Addis Alemayehou who is one of the most well known business leaders in Ethiopia. Addis shares: Why he returned to Ethiopia after living in Kenya and Canada His vision for creating 1 million jobs in Ethiopia (and how he is doing it!) Ideas for doing business in Ethiopia Do's and Don'ts for doing busi...

In this episode, we meet the team behind Kazi Yetu which makes a line of ethical teas that are exploding with flavor. We discuss the farmers they work with, the type of tea they produce, the challenges of exporting worldwide, the ethical flaws in with commercial tea production and so much more. Whether you are a tea lover, ethical consumer, or just want to learn how this Tanzanian brand is becomin...

This is an episode about how you can afford giving your team paid maternity leaves. It was inspired by our first Virtual Assistant who gave birth and how we made it work with our client. Mentioned in this episode is our amazing client Morlai Kargbo who is the founder of Moracle Limited-- an incredible award-winning accounting and auditing firm in the UK. To reach Morlai, connect with him on Linked...

Our guest today is Derek Gallimore . He is the founder of Outsource Accelerator and the author of Inside Outsourcing: How Remote Work, Offshoring & Global Employment is Changing the World  In this episode, we discuss: How outsourcing saved his hotel business in 2011 What the critics say about outsourcing The societal impact of outsourcing The future of a singular global talent economy The Outs...

Let's Talk Africa: How I Traveled, Lived, and Worked in Africa This is a live presentation I gave at Pittsburgh University in September 2023 for the Center of African Studies. We discuss: My backpacking journey (including safety tips) Jobs I had in Ethiopia Business and investment ideas in Africa Everything our organization CRDLE is doing Live Q&A with the students If you want to watch the...

Want to boost your sales? Here's the answer: a remote cold caller or appointment setter. In the episode I share: My very first cold-calling client in Texas who uses cold callers in Ethiopia to find new clients The three types of ways to use remote cold callers (outbound, inbound, and connecting to clients in your CRM) How to make sure your cold callers reflect your company culture The technolo...

This is short solo episode about why I stopped using the word empower when talking about Africa and what to do instead. In honor of my 7th wedding anniversary, I also share the story behind how I met my husband.