The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low

81: Introverted Tech Pioneer Transforming Africa’s Food Supply Chain with Pretty Kubyane

• Serena Low, Introvert Coach for Quiet Achievers and Quiet Warriors

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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:


  • Follow Pretty Kubyane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prettykubyane/


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This episode was edited by Aura House Productions

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Serena Loh. If you're used to hearing that introverts are shy, anxious, antisocial and lack good communication and leadership skills, then this podcast is for you. You're about to fall in love with the calm, introspective and profound person that you are. Discover what's fun, unique and powerful about being an introvert, and how to make the elegant transition from quiet achiever to quiet warrior in your life and work anytime you want, in more ways than you imagined possible. Welcome, welcome to the Quiet Warrior podcast.

Speaker 1:

Today's guest is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and tech lead and the co-founder of ePharma App. Her entrepreneurial journey began at the age of six, inspired by her late father's business ventures, and these early experiences shaped her leadership in a family-run consulting firm scaling businesses across Africa. As ePharma's tech lead, she holds over 20 certifications in cloud computing, cybersecurity, blockchain, scrum mastery and FinOps. She co-founded ePharma to transform Africa's agricultural supply chain by connecting farmers directly with buyers. Under her leadership, epharma has secured support from the NIR Foundation, standard Chartered, apsa, visa and AWS. Named a rising star in 2022, she is recognized as a leading voice in technology for social impact, driving innovation and empowering communities across Africa. Welcome, priti Kubiani to the Quiet Warrior podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, Serena. Thank you for having me. I was very excited when you actually invited me to be a part of the podcast because you're such a great conversationist and you make it so easy to talk to you.

Speaker 1:

Oh, thank you. I'm really looking forward to this conversation too. So let's start by asking tell us a bit more about your story, of how you came to be an entrepreneur.

Speaker 2:

No, absolutely that's a great question. So I was raised by a family of very industrious entrepreneurs my mom and dad. So it was during the mining boom in South Africa. So most fathers they left our village to go to really far away towns, mining towns like Johannesburg and other bigger cities. So my dad decided to stay at home so that having him around when other kids would only see their dad in December was so special. Also, it kind of taught me that you can build a business but you don't have to sacrifice your family. It's possible to do both.

Speaker 2:

So my father also ran a woodcutting business where we will source wood and sell it to local butcheries, funeral parlors, and we'll sell it to households. Because we didn't have electricity so we cooked with wood. So 30% of that wood will be given to women-led homes, because most women had to travel for like 20 kilometers to go and source wood. So most of the time that will be done by the men. So for women to just go by themselves it was not safe and elderly women obviously no longer have strength to go there. So my dad would make sure 30 percent of the wood would go to them. So that kind of introduced very early impact that business can coexist with impact where we are and, lastly, a car fixing workshop that we had. I think that's where the love of engineering actually comes from, because growing up around toolboxes and engines really really engraved that engineering mind of like you can be an engineer, you can fix things. Obviously not at the level where I am now, because it was a very small village and everything that we did was a bit was a bit smaller. So later on I started public relations because you know, sometimes when you grow up around your even though I knew I want to run my own family business one day but when you grow up around your parents, you become a bit familiar in a way that you start like you're just curious about like what else is out there. So that's why I started public relations.

Speaker 2:

By by the moment I completed my qualification in public relations, I found myself back working in corporate, but on the CSI department, where we will find NPOs and NGOs and we'll be given a fund by mining and manufacturing companies to manage. I was just drawn to impact and community development, so I worked there and then again I went and worked when I met Shadrach. Now we started running a management 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 more for lifestyle types of brands. They would want to place it in the bigger retail shelf. So I would work with them to either create a franchise system or open a new store or package the brand in a way that it will be bought by a big corporate.

Speaker 2:

So that's actually what pivoted us to technology, because there was this annoying thing whenever we we have quality product, like your genuine leather human head station at 100% beauty products, that requires a certificate of ethical sourcing, we'll always hit a brick wall in terms of bigger corporates certification and that was super expensive and it was a barrier for a very long time because, speaking to bigger companies that do quality assurance was not affordable. Like on average, you can pay up to 50 000 us dollars a year and a smaller brand cannot afford to do that. So we would ignore it to like well, if you started a brand with like five, five hundred dollars and now it's making two million, that's success. So I mean it could go far with technology or with that tapping into bigger retailers, but we just didn't have a solution at all until one day we're like maybe we should build it.

Speaker 2:

And, mind you, we had no experience in technology whatsoever, but we were very lucky because an american technology company and the biggest retailer in the world of food and everything was actually building a tracking and traceability um, a product that track and trace from the source up until the product is on the shelf, for the sole purpose of quality assurance and supply chain inclusion of multiple farmers that were supplying their food retail store. So it happened that a family friend was a tech lead for the product, so we begged him to like, could we just take a look? We just want to learn something, because this technology is solving exactly what we want to solve and we have no idea to start. And he was kind enough to let us to take a long. We learned so much for that six months After that, we were ready to start putting together, working with few engineers and putting together our own pilot of that, and then from there, this is where we are.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that is quite the journey. And you've answered my second question when I was going to ask you how do you build something from the ground up? So what I heard you say is that some of it was due to the influence of your parents, having been entrepreneurial to start with. So you grew up in an atmosphere where you're familiar with business. You have some kind of insight and introduction into the business world and how it affects community. So you mentioned being passionate about impact. You mentioned community development, which is very important, and how your father would put aside 30% of produce in order to direct it to women-led families and businesses right. And then also you mentioned the six months of tagging along somebody who knows what they are doing and is already doing the thing that you want to build, and so having them as your mentor, as your guide, in that process, and then using that experience to put together your own pilot. So that sounds to me is that about right? That that's your formula for building something from the ground up.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. That comes in very, very handy for you to kind of get and get your foot in it, but I think not to stay in that, you will need consistency. You will need conviction in what you are about to do. When I speak of consistency, for example, being able to show up no matter what I remember one of the leaders of Amazon once spoke about everything that could go wrong will go wrong, so plan for it. So that's what happens in business Everything that can go wrong is going to go wrong. Things will go terribly wrong before they can go amazingly right.

Speaker 2:

So if you are not passionate, I've seen people just quitting just before the breakthrough because that conviction of being there was not there for them. And then, when it comes to consistency as well, focus is everything, and it's difficult when you start because it's hard to stick to one thing when you're starting a business, because one, you need money for your family if you already have a family or for yourself. So like who are you to say no to certain opportunities? But that may dilute your brand. So it's very important to say okay, maybe in the next three years, I want to be known for one thing For now, I'm just surviving. I'm hustling to survive, but within three years, I want to be known for just one thing, and that's all that I'm going to do and I will say lastly, as well is the clarity of your vision. That's very important.

Speaker 2:

For example, when we started IFAMA, we started by saying in 10 years from now we started in 2023, in 10 years from now, we would like to have at least half a million farmers being able to sell on our platform, one million people buying from our platform. Did we know how we're going to do that? Of course not. We didn't know where the money was going to come from. We didn't know where the first farmer was going to come from, even though we knew some farmers in our ecosystem.

Speaker 2:

But we just nailed that on the wall. And each year, we'll have a whiteboard and say what are the top three things that will make this year's success? For example, how about we get the first 100 farmers out of them 500,000. And then, before you know it, the year finishes, maybe one or two media's going to write about you, and then the following year, a few corporates will start wanting to beg you and then, before you know it, 10 years is finished, even though you started not knowing exactly where to start, not having any resources that you needed to accomplish your vision. You find that those things have happened.

Speaker 1:

So what I heard you say there, Priti, is you set a 10-year goal and you were very clear on what is it your company wants to be known for. And you mentioned also the three C's of conviction and consistency and clarity. So where does your conviction come from for this app that you're building?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. Some entrepreneurs like myself are very privileged because we get to solve problems that we face. So when I was raised by a family, our home was just by the road, so every stranger that couldn't find transport would end up staying at our home. So my parents always like cooked extra. So my mom loved feeding people. So, like I just I can't help myself, I just want to feed people, so I get that from her.

Speaker 2:

But more than anything, I grew up in a poverty stricken environment, and when I speak poverty, it's not just not having food today, it's having no dignity. When you go for health, for example, is having no dignity? When you go for health, for example, having no privacy at all? You'll be consulting about women-related issues, the nurses will be shouting things that nobody should know about, but there's men in the room. But that's what happened to poor people. So I hate poverty with a passion. I don't like going out there. I'm scared of speaking in public, but my fear of public speaking is way smaller when it comes to my hate towards poverty. So it's just, I don't like poverty 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, knowing that I just, I just don't want to see people being poor.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. That's a different level of conviction altogether, and you said also consistency in relation to being someone who doesn't like public speaking or doesn't like putting yourself out there. Would you say that you are more of an introvert than an extrovert?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I'm 100% an introvert. It's more obvious because some people like my husband and business partner. He's very outspoken, he's got a warm personality, so people mistaken him for an extrovert. But when he comes home he just want to crawl into a small space.

Speaker 1:

But me, I, from the word go, I come across as an introvert, so I'm a very introverted person and you mentioned that what helps you to push yourself out there and show up consistently is because your dislike, your hatred of poverty is stronger than your fear of public speaking. And I like how you've compared those two things, because a lot of times introverts and quiet achievers we hold ourselves back because we think, oh, this is not my personality, I'm born this way so I can't do all this customer facing stuff. It's just too, it feels too exposed. But what you're saying is, when there is something bigger that's at stake, something is more important than my personal discomfort or my fear, then that thing has to take priority. That's the thing that drives Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And I also thing that drives Absolutely, and I also think that things have changed. I remember I had a conversation with this impact investor who invests in Africa and invests in the US market and I was asking her those are total different markets. How do you make a decision when it comes to a founder in Africa and a founder in America, when it comes to a founder in Africa and a founder in America? And then she went on to tell me that when it comes to American founders, they actually communicate their vision better than any nation she has ever invested into. She has seen people getting funded by just Figma screens. They don't even have one line of code, because they are good. They are good at pushing their brand, they are good at telling their story, they are good at speaking up, but when it comes to Africa, they want to see traction, because sometimes we are reserved in Africa in terms of speaking, so they say, okay, if you're not going to talk, then let your results talk for you. So they want to see technical competency and they want to see traction. And I was telling her that.

Speaker 2:

I really think that no matter where you are, whether in America or you are in Africa, you need both. You cannot choose between the two. Your story, you speaking up when 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 out there in the media and then, when we have to deliver on our promises, we can't deliver. So you can't choose and you actually really have no choice at all.

Speaker 1:

I love that that is such a balanced approach and I think a lot of our listeners are going to agree and be nodding along when they hear this part, because sometimes in the extrovert bias culture we emphasize too much on talking and volume and words and personality, but it's not always backed up by the substance. But then you also have the quiet achievers who are very heavy on the substance, very cognitively capable, but then they don't want to talk about themselves, they don't want to promote the work, they don't want to shine a spotlight. Because I'm used to being uncomfortable in the background, hiding in the shadows. I'll just stay here and be safe. So what you said is actually a fantastic formula that really works. You actually need both. You need to be strong with the storytelling and you also need to be strong with the substance. So thank you for spotlighting that. So what were some of the challenges you faced in the early days and how did you get good at overcoming them?

Speaker 2:

the early days and how did you get good at overcoming them? Yeah, so I think both men and women. A question like that could be easy to ask from a man, like what did you face? But for us, we face things as women because for some reason in 2025, you still have to be reminded that you are a woman in the boardrooms. I'm like why it's 2025 now?

Speaker 2:

So some of the challenges that I actually faced were around the tokenism, for example, in the farming industry. If you look from far, you will find that in Africarica, there is more than 60 percent women in terms of the workforce and farmers. 80 percent of the decisions around food are made by women. But when you start following the money where it's going, when you start following the decision making where it's going, you'll find that most of those decisions are made it it's a boy's club and women we're just following very, very slowly. In tech, if you are a woman, you have only 3% chances of funding, because VC funding goes to less than 3% of women, and if you're a woman of color, it becomes even worse when it comes to that. So that was the first one. The second one as well, was being underestimated. I think even the word underestimated. It doesn't really cover exactly the experience.

Speaker 2:

I remember one time we were speaking to this global payment gateway. We wanted to integrate their payment gateway into our mobile application. So during that time one of the person there asked me that, okay, this sounds good, we understand the business logic. Let's set up a nurse meeting, then bring your tech lead, I'm the tech lead. And there was like awkwardness because I said it in my introduction I'm pretty, I'm the co-founder. I said it in my introduction I'm pretty, I'm the co-founder, I'm a tech lead. As a tech lead, this is the kind of work I get to do. But he did not hear that. On another occurrence, we were hiring a recruitment company so that they can hire technical talent for us. Again, somebody asked me like two people, I tried the other person and then we, it didn't work. And then the second time, six months later, same company. The second person asked me would you like to invite your husband, shadrack, so that when we have to make decision, those decisions are made very quickly? And I'm like what do you mean? I'm the decision maker, I'm the tech lead, I hire technical talent and then other one.

Speaker 2:

In terms of this being looked down upon, what broke my heart the most was when these meetings and these comments actually come from women, where I'll come into a meeting and then they'll start sending the technical question to the junior engineer in the room who reports to someone who reports to me, and that one really breaks my heart. It doesn't make me angry. I think I've gotten used to the ignorance from men who think women don't, really are not good at technical stuff. But when it's us women it shows sometimes the low self-esteem that some women have and they try to project that into you.

Speaker 2:

And the last one, which actually very connects with that, is that internal voice.

Speaker 2:

I mean I was raised in a very traditional community where, as a woman, you can ask for what you're worth, you can be demanding who's going to marry you. If you are this demanding, if you are this loud, like literally some cultures in Africa, you have to lie down when men are passing. So we've raised to behave like that, in a way that I will be pitching everything but I'll be scared to ask because, like I've been trained to do that uh, over and over and over. So I often have to deal with that voice that is inside that says I think you're being, you're coming across as very aggressive now. Would you like to like tone it down a little bit, because I'll say something, or I'll think of saying something, and then my co-founder will say it and I actually thought to say that and it we were received. Nobody was gonna see anything wrong with it. It was just me who thought like I'll never, should never be asking that at all. So those are some of the challenges.

Speaker 1:

Wow, I particularly noticed that you said the the two biggest deterrents, I think, were the voices, the external voices as well as the internal voices.

Speaker 1:

And it's interesting how we we started well. We're used to expecting, perhaps, that men might underestimate women, but then, when women do it to other women, that is a very disheartening narrative and I wonder if it's like a perpetuating of some kind of a trauma cycle that we take on those limiting beliefs based on our conditioning, based on our background, our own experiences, and then we somehow we know that we don't agree with those types of beliefs, but somehow we still absorb them and we perpetuate them onto the next generation of female entrepreneurs, female founders and anyone who is doing anything that's entrepreneurs, female founders and and anyone who is doing anything that's regarded as a male dominated profession. So you, you mentioned women in agriculture and also women in tech and also being a woman of color. So it's like there are all these invisible barriers that women have to surmount in order to get ahead. So what keeps you, what keeps you focused and what keeps you strong when you encounter this kind of pushback?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I think. For for me, compassion I had to learn compassion because I somebody said, had people had others, because I don't think that somebody just wakes up and decide to be toxic. So some people, they again, like you said, they've faced this kind of pushback and then they're just projecting it on other people. That's why I'm always heartbroken not judging, not angry at that at all and I think I've made a vow by myself to say whatever experience that I go through, I think maybe it's a lesson or it's a message from God to say don't be like that woman.

Speaker 2:

I remember I attended a conference by one of the banks and the head of cybersecurity was showing very concerning statistics there about women representation in cybersecurity. Yet cybersecurity is a very new industry and it's not like we can say now. It's male dominated. How did it become male dominated when we are here? And then she had a very shocking study that actually today is women that are keeping women out of these industries like cyber security, frontier tech it's no longer men at all. In her experience she found that men are always willing to teach her, always willing to train him.

Speaker 2:

So for me, after that meeting, I made a vow with myself to say I don't want to be that woman Like so help me God. I don't want to grow bitter when I experience all this kind of abuse from other women. I want to be that woman in the room that is able to lift others because I know how it feels. So I feel like me encountering this has nothing to do really with the other person, but it has something to do with me to say if you ever find yourself in a position of power and influence, make sure that you leave no one behind. Make sure you know that other woman who's making other women to feel insecure in everything that they do, but do the opposite of what was done for you thing that they do, but do the opposite of what was done for you.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love how you've turned that pain into power and how you've made a conscious choice that when something negative happens, you take the lesson from it and you use it to do better, and so it doesn't become a personal it's not a personal offense against you, but how can you turn that around, how can you do even better and how can you reverse that trend? So I love the way you think with that. Now we talked about you working across different countries. What is the importance of cultural intelligence in cross-country collaboration?

Speaker 2:

It's very, very important. I'm very lucky because I grew up in a village, so tradition is more important than innovation. Villagers will never, ever do business with someone who doesn't know who they are and who doesn't seem to respect their culture and their way of doing things. The second thing that makes me privileged 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 or my brother or my aunt or my sibling. So that actually helped, because I never approached any farmer from a business perspective. It's always in a relational. Most of our best decision and best contract was signed around the fire, just sitting down and eating food. And lastly, again I'm very lucky because my husband was my co-founder can speak all the 11 languages in South Africa, including some languages that are spoken within the Southern Africa, so 90% of the time we speak to people in their own language, with respect, earlier on I spoke about how in some cultures, when men passes, women must lie down.

Speaker 2:

I joined them because it's a culture of where I am. I'm switching heads when I'm there to be a daughter, to be like other wives. You're not going to see me sitting outside with the rest of the men talking business. I'll go join the wives in preparing food for everyone, because my husband is representing me there and I found that people really appreciate that and then when I do that, they are the ones who are actually wanting to hear from me. So culture is very important to actually understand, because people are not going to care about what you are saying until they know you actually care about their culture, you care about their problems, that you are implying to say you're going to solve them.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that is so much wisdom that you've just articulated there in terms of cultural intelligence, and I think we need to do a lot better in being sensitive and the way you've explained you know what that looks like, in including, you know, going to sit with the women doing what they do and not putting yourself as an outsider or I'm better or because I'm more educated or because I rebel against this system. Instead, you are making yourself part of the system so that it reduces that sense of we are the outsiders, we're coming into this space that somebody else owns and what you're doing is you're showing respect, you're showing sensitivity, you're not making it difficult for them, you are sort of sliding in and being part of things. So there's no friction, there is no reason for them to get upset. So you've made it as easy as possible, taking the traditional roles and then, when you've built that rapport, you can start talking and explaining and sharing what is it you are doing?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. You've summarized it so well.

Speaker 1:

That is just so brilliant, Thank you. As an introverted entrepreneur, how do you protect your time and energy, given that you are in so many meetings? You're always talking to different organizations, different individuals, and you have to do a lot of selling and pitching and all?

Speaker 2:

that, or this event that we call social, fast on our calendar, and it didn't come as a trendy name that it sounds like today. It actually came during a very great time of pain In 2019,. We had a tragic loss in the family and I remember our grief counselor talking to us that sometimes, when something tragic happens, your brain doesn't process it at once. It sends most of it to the subconscious because you can't deal with it at the same time, because it's too tragic. And then I remember I was like I'm not ready to deal with even 1% of it at all at all. So I did what most workaholics do I threw myself at work. I started working because I'm like 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 the laptop because I've like slept like this on the laptop and somebody must come and wake me up to actually go to bed. I was like passing out every day. So from there, and then we had events and lots of social related things, and then from there, I had like the worst burnout that I've ever had. Now. I had the level of anxiety where it's like it was just too much was difficult to fall asleep, crazy insomnia, hallucinations, and I was so scared 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 to snap out of it, the exhaustion? I don't know how to stop working because I don't want to just sit and do nothing.

Speaker 2:

So from there, one day my husband comes through with what I would say it was like just a divine instruction, with this piece of paper, written social contract, and I'm like what is that? And he's like we need to issue a day in a week where we fast from everything, even during the day. We need to have those times of quietness. We have to fast from relationships that are not bringing back anything but instead they are adding. You know one of those friendship dinners and stuff like that, where you go, the agenda was to come and eat, but it was not really that, and then it becomes the whole thing like we are in high school. So we had to take a break from that and we had to take a break from good things also that really benefit us, because at some point we have to really rest.

Speaker 2:

I remember once, uh, during that time my my friend, uh, was asking me for to come and join her for some celebration of what was happening and I was telling her, no, I'm not, I'm not coming, sorry, I'm busy. And then a week later she's confronting me. She's like well, I saw on your schedule it was blocked with the word nothing. But you said you were busy and I'm saying, of course I was busy doing nothing. That's exactly what I was busy doing. You'll always find that word in my calendar where it's blocked to say nothing. I would be cooking one of those traditional hard-bodied chickens that takes five hours to cook on a slow cooker and cooking salmon beans the way my mom used to cook it, and doing absolutely nothing. Because we need that, we need that nothingness, we need that social fast, sometimes even from the good thing, not just from the toxic things, even from the good things.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad you made a difference between fasting from the good things and fasting from the toxic things, because usually people think when you say fast, oh, you know, I will fast from social media, I will fast from getting distracted, I will fast from getting distracted, I will fast from Netflix or something like that. But you're saying that even when the things are good where the activities are, you know there's nothing wrong with them. They are essential to health. But still there has to be that balance. There needs to be a day, there needs to be some kind of block of time, there needs to be a way for us to schedule that nothing time for ourselves. Because we have this, you're right, we have this urge to keep doing, doing, doing, and the culture encourages it. The more you hustle, the more people look at you with admiration and respect. And then you feel compelled to keep hustling. And of course it depends too If we've grown up in that kind of culture, that kind of family, where you are always encouraged to work hard, to not give up.

Speaker 1:

Sitting down to rest is like for lazy people you can sleep when you're dead. That kind of saying right. So that is counter-cultural. That's almost like an act of rebellion. To say nothing means nothing. I don't feel obliged to do anything. I don't have to respond to anything, I don't have to go anywhere, I'm just going to be still. And you've mentioned divine instruction and you've mentioned God. How has your faith played a part in your journey as an entrepreneur?

Speaker 2:

It has played a really big part. Now we have experienced the level of success where we sometimes get invited to come and share our story. Like tomorrow, I'm delivering a lecture on a group of graduate engineers on how to pitch, either whether they're going into business or whether they are going to look for a job. That is totally based on our experience in the industry. But if I ever, ever have to tell someone that give them 10 step, I always have 10 step to give everywhere. They have 10 step to everything because it helps me. But if I forget to tell them how God is in all of it, I think I will be shortchanging people.

Speaker 1:

Wow. And what is a final piece of advice you have for introverts listening who are in business or thinking of starting a business, what's important for them to know?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. This is very important to be yourself. One of my mentors once spoke about I need to focus on my strong points, because I was feeling so under pressure when it comes to things like just when you speak. You need to just take over the room when you show up, and I know a friend once was saying when she arrived at work, her team is like oh, fun has arrived.

Speaker 2:

I'm like nobody's ever gonna say that about me, something is wrong with me. So I started wanting to take over, take up certain things that are totally the opposite of my personality and I was not enjoying a single one of it. But I realized when I became deliberate in terms of improving what I'm good at, that became my really superpower. So that's the thing I would say is that don't feel under pressure to behave like people who are very outspoken, people who have the energy that just is so taking over the room. Be yourself and be the best that you are. If, by the end of this year, you can say I'm good with project management I got six certification in project management you would have done so well instead of saying I'm not very good with ABC. So I was studying ABC, but it really doesn't align to who you are. You are better as a specialist in what you do.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful and where can people connect with you, Priti, and work with you?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. Our website is very simple, it's just efama, e-f-a-m-a dot africa and linkedin. We are mostly active on linkedin. We're active in all social media. If my app is also on on netflix not netflix on instagram, it's on, uh, it's on facebook, but linkedin or for on a personal level.

Speaker 1:

For some reason we are not on other social media as well, just on LinkedIn only it makes a lot of sense when you have that many platforms, you don't want to spread yourself too thin as well, so I think focusing for the kind of work that you do with fellow professionals which is where LinkedIn, you know, comes in really useful for connecting, because that's how we met as well. So I think you are doing all the right things and I'm really so grateful to you for joining us today. So thank you for sharing your wisdom and your time with us.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. It was such a privilege to be here.

Speaker 1:

If you've enjoyed this conversation and want more like this, make sure to leave a five-star rating and review so the Quiet Warrior podcast can reach more introverts around the world. See you on the next episode. I'm so grateful that you're here today. If you found this content valuable, please share it on your social media channels and subscribe to the show on your favorite listening platform. Together, we can help more introverts thrive. To receive more uplifting content like this, connect with me on Instagram at Serena Lo Quiet Warrior Coach. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me. See you on the next episode.