SE4/EP 37: From Zambia to America: Nancy Mulemwa Siisii's Inspiring Journey of Resilience, Reinvention, and Finding Her Voice

It was such a great pleasure to have a fellow podcaster from Zambia, Nancy Mulemwa Siisii, the host of Concrete Pastures on Pánsá Pánsá conversation. We met through the connection of one of my guests Prof. Boukary Sawadogo who was featured on both our podcasts in promoting his recently published book. Before coming to the pansa pansa platform, I was also a guest on Concrete Pastures. I appreciate her willingness to talk about her experience as a fellow immigrant, a single parent raising two beautiful children, and Nancy Mulemwa Siisii's selfless work on her podcast. Nancy Mulemwa Siisii was born and raised in Zambia, Africa, but she later migrated to America and settled in New York, where she has lived for 20 years. She has over 15 years of experience in the financial industry as a financial center manager. As a dreamer, she continues to have a passion for making substantive bonds with audiences and inspiring people to reach for their dreams.Being an immigrant has been one of her life's most challenging and extraordinary experiences. Nancy was inspired to start her podcast “Concrete Pastures: An African Immigrant Story” as a platform to reach out to fellow immigrants and dreamers. She passionately stated, “my goal is to provide a platform for myself and others to share their stories as we deconstruct the world’s view of immigrant status, and unlock the joys, laughs, and bravery that being a dreamer brings about”.During our conversation, Nancy talked about her childhood experience growing up in Zambia and her relationship with her parents and maternal grandmother. We discussed why many immigrants leave their countries to migrate to another country for a better life or as a student to obtain an education. Especially for women, we discussed the challenges/struggles of being an African immigrant woman in America. Nancy talked about her first shocking experience of her first job in America, working as a nanny for a wealthy family in Manhattan, caring for five children for a peanut salary of $350.00 weekly as a sleep-in nanny/housekeeper. With ambition and a positive outlook on the future, suffering does not last forever. Nancy pulled herself out of the humiliating situation because she knew there were better opportunities. Today, Nancy Mulemwa Siisii is a financial center manager in a bank with 15 years of experience. As an African immigrant female in the financial industry, she discussed her experiences dealing with the politics of a cooperate world dominated by expected gender and race. Nancy talked about how all these experiences motivated her interest in starting Concrete Pasture Podcast. With the podcast, she said she continues learning and admires African immigrants' strength and resiliency. Nancy talked about the challenges of divorce and being a single parent of two adorable children. It is tough enough as immigrants living in a country in most cases without close relatives such as a parent, siblings, other extended families, and village or community that we have a commonality in the value system. It is even more challenging being a single parent raising children in a country with limited or no family support. This episode is more than one woman's story—it is a tribute to millions of immigrants who leave everything familiar in pursuit of opportunity while carrying their cultures, dreams, and families with them every step of the way.If you've ever wondered what it truly means to start over in a new country, build a career from the ground up, raise children far from home, or redefine success on your own terms, this conversation is for you.Please support Nancy Mulemwa Siisii by subscribing to Concrete Pastures: An African Immigrant Story and following her on Instagram. Her work continues to amplify the voices, experiences, and resilience of African immigrants across the globe.