The Salary Scramble With Lee Kasumba
by Shespeaksafrica
The Salary Scramble is a podcast born from one hard truth: payday can be one of the most challenging moments for entrepreneurs. It’s a high-stakes time that brings pressure, tough decisions, and emotional weight , the kind only a founder or entrepreneur can truly understand.
Episodes
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He Sold His Car 2 Weeks Before Opening.
"I was out of liquidity. I had two options: call a family member or figure it out myself." Assem Skaiki sold his car two weeks before Nevo Coffee & Co. opened its doors. That money paid for stock. That money paid for staff salaries. That money kept the dream alive. "I didn't want to make a call…
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From Beans to Billions? Assem Skaiki on Building Nevo Coffee & Co. in Uganda's Competitive Café Culture
In this episode of The Salary Scramble, we sit down with Assem Skaiki, the founder of Nevo Coffee & Co., one of Kampala's most exciting new players in the specialty coffee and dining scene. What does it take to build a coffee brand in a market dominated by giants like Java House and Café Pap? How...
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The Chicken Chasers: Flockify's Fight to Keep Small Farmers Alive
Tshepiso Malema lost R50,000 in a single poultry season in Hammanskraal. Ayanda Chunda watched small farmers get wiped out by disease, cheap imports, and a system that never showed up. Instead of walking away, they built Flockify, an AI-powered platform using smart cameras and sensors to help...
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Scoops & Stories: Kamogelo Modise on Building The Awesome Ice Cream Pot
"If The Awesome Ice Cream Pot were a character in one of my books, what quest would it be on?" That's just one of the questions we asked Kamogelo Modise, author, father, and founder of The Awesome Ice Cream Pot. His answer? You'll have to listen. This episode is a masterclass in building a…
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The Crochet Bag Architect- Lade Mayowa
From drafting buildings to designing bags. From Lagos to the world. This week on The Salary Scramble, Lee Kasumba sits down with Omobolade Kolade Mayowa, the "Crochet Bag Architect" and founder of Hooked by Lade. Lade is a trained architect from FUTA who turned a childhood skill into a global...
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"It's Our Duty" – Keeping Africa Breathing with Valerie Mpholle
She walked into an industry where no one looked like her. She built a company that keeps people alive. Valerie Mpholle, founder of Consuweld. Her first major contract was back home in Lesotho. Today, she supplies oxygen to 11 hospitals across 8 African countries. She's seen what happens when the...
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"Is She Fronting?" – The Scramble of Building in a Boys' Club
She founded the business by herself. But that didn't stop them from asking: "Is she fronting?" Valerie Mpholle walked into an industry where the room was built for older white men with engineering degrees, people who had opportunities her relatives never could have dreamed of. She dropped out of...
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From Microwave Explosions to Market Queues — Sharna Darko
On this episode of The Salary Scramble, Sharna Darko from Kingston Kitchen GH joins us, and we went there. She exploded an egg in the microwave as a kid. Now she's exploding queues at Green Butterfly Market. Jamaican, British, in Accra, selling patties and answering the question: is this just a...
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Jamaican Patties or Ghanaian Meat Pies? Stop Confusing Us
Sharna Darko from Kingston Kitchen GH joins us this week, and we went there.She started with just two dishes, jerk chicken and curry goat, pre-order only. No storefront. No grand plan. Just cooking and hoping someone would buy. Then word spread. Then queues started forming before the market even...
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Jerk Chicken, Curry Goat and a Dream
Sharna Darko from Kingston Kitchen GH joins us this week, and we went there. Rolling dough, chasing paychecks, she started with two dishes and a prayer. Now people are queuing at 9:30am before the market even opens. Is this the dream or just the beginning? She answered everything. New Episode Out...
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The Basis of Architecture Is People
Ohene Twum once said architecture can solve social issues. We asked him to break it down. His answer? The essence of architecture is people. If there were no people, there would be no need to create spaces that inhabit them. So the basis of architecture starts with listening. Listening to the...
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Ohene Twum: An Architect Who Serves, Heals, and Dreams Forward
Ohene Twum joins us this week, and we went there. He's the architect behind some of Ghana's most meaningful projects, from the Savannah Dialysis and Maternity Hospital in Tamale, the first of its kind in Ghana's five northern regions, to markets that honor local culture and homes that prioritize...
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Great Architecture Should Not Be a Luxury Reserved for the Rich
"Meaningful work is not always glamorous. But it is always worth doing well."Ohene Twum joins us this week to talk about what it really means to build for people, not just for profit. He designs hospitals in northern Ghana, markets that honour local culture, and homes that prioritise dignity over...
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Can AI Replace African Storytelling?
Louise from Earcandy has seen the AI hype cycle before. She knows what it promises, speed, scale, cost savings. But she also knows what it misses: the pause, the breath, the inflection that carries a story home. In this chapter, she takes on the question everyone's asking, Can AI replace African...
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Keeping Mother Tongues Alive, One Recording At A Time.
Louise from EarCandy has spent over 20 years in the business of language and culture, taking stories from one place and retelling them for another audience. She's localized over 1.5 million minutes of content into 28 African languages, worked with Netflix, Disney, and Paramount, and built a...
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The Language of Your Heart with Louise Callcott-Stevens
"It's the language you dream in. That's the language of your heart." Louise from EarCandy joins us this week to talk about what it really means to localize content for African audiences. She's in the business of language and culture, taking stories from one place and retelling them for another....
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The Hiring Paradox: Wanting Competence, Paying Less With Musa Jesse
"I want the world from you. But I don't pay you the best. That's the difficult part." Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims Specialty Coffee, gets honest about the guilt of firing someone when you couldn't afford to pay them what they deserved. He talks about the "duty feeling" that weight at the back…
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I Gave Up A Dangote Salary For A Dream - Musa Jesse
"Africa grows your coffee. You get the profit. That's theft."That's the kind of bold statement Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims Specialty Coffee in Zambia, isn't afraid to make. In this unfiltered episode of The Salary Scramble, Lee Kasumba sits down with Musa for a real founder-to-founder...
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"I don't pay you much, but I want the world from you."
Building a business in Africa often means navigating a brutal contradiction. You need to attract top talent and demand excellence, but the numbers on your balance sheet simply won't allow you to pay what they’re worth. In this raw episode of The Salary Scramble, Musa Jesse, founder of Pilgrims...
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The Strength in Our DNA with Papy Kaluw
"We can work ten times more than the Chinese. Our DNA is strength. But are we building to capacity? To quality?" Papy Kaluw on why Africa has the power but still ships everything in from somewhere else.
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Is There Actually Money In Fashion? Papy Kaluw On Where Fashion Stands.
The global fashion industry is worth $2.5 trillion. Africa's share? $31 billion, barely 1%. Papy Kaluw knows what that gap feels like. He left Congo as a child, dropped out of university, taught himself fashion, and built Urban Zulu from nothing. Today, he's dressed celebrities and opened pop-ups...
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"If I Knew Better I Would Have Left" - Papy Kaluw
Join us on The Salary Scramble With Lee Kasumba as Papy Kaluw breaks down the one thing every entrepreneur fears: your own paycheck taking a chunk out of your business.New episode out tomorrow!
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Who Sent You To Start A Company?! 'Oma Areh On Business, Burnout And Survival..
Oma Areh has worked with everyone from Coca-Cola to Davido to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She's a PR powerhouse, film producer, and now a pioneer in the $26 billion micro-drama industry. But her journey started with a column called "How to Get the Man of Your Dreams" at age twenty and a father who...
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Was This The Point with 'Oma Areh
You've worked with global brands. You've built a reputation over six years. You've done everything right. And then one client doesn't pay for six months. Your reserves disappear. Your staff is counting on you. And you realize: the business you built can't pay itself. In this clip from The Salary...
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I Was Meant to Be Something Else with Sanza Sandile
He became a vegetarian because meat was expensive and his student stipend was low. Then it became fashionable. Then it became political. Then he realized he was wearing leather shoes. In this chapter, Sanza Sandile traces his complicated relationship with food from hot dogs and boredom in a...
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Sanza Sandile: No Investor, No Ads, No Restaurant ??? No Problem.
Sanza Sandile Shabalala doesn't call himself a chef. He calls himself a cook, a storyteller, and a gastronomic smuggler. But somewhere between growing up in Soweto in the 80s, co-hosting the radio shows that shaped a generation at YFM, and building the legendary Yeoville Dinner Club, he became...
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“I Always Loved Breast and Thighs" and Other Things This Chef said Before Going Vegetarian.
He used to think Ethiopian restaurants were just shebeens with sour-smelling beer. He wanted to save the planet but couldn't pick an animal. And before he became one of the most beloved chefs on the African continent, he was just a guy in Yeoville who loved breast and thighs. In this teaser from...
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The Importance of Following Your Passion
When passion pulls you in a new direction mid-degree. After two years of engineering, our guest realized he was spending more time on his political science and economics electives than his core classes. The identity crisis he feared? It never came. Instead, he found surprising support and a…
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Victor Williams: Can Sports Transform Africa's Economy?
Victor Williams ran NBA Africa. But his story starts in Freetown, Sierra Leone. His parents could have stayed overseas. They chose to come home. That choice shaped everything. From a government school in Freetown to Harvard. From Goldman Sachs to launching the Basketball Africa League. Now he's...
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Victor Williams: Paper Tickets, Misspelled Names, and Building on the Continent
From torn paper tickets to double-booked seats, this episode unpacks a reality many still face across the continent. What seems like a small inconvenience reveals a deeper conversation about access, systems, and the true value of experience. This is the real Africa. No filter. New Episode Out Today!
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Defying Odds: Laila Zangwio’s Journey from National Hero to International Champion
Laila Zangwio, a powerhouse athlete and CEO of HIIT ME UP & SWIMPRO GH, shares her incredible story of perseverance and determination. From defying parental expectations to dominating national triathlons and competing on the world stage, Laila’s journey is a testament to the power of self-belief...
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Laila Zangwio: Know This Before You Become An Athlete In Ghana!
She went 2.5 years without paying herself. She taught class the day her sister died. Her mother told her she was wasting her time. This is Laila Zangwio. Relentless. Before she built HIIT Me Up Ghana, one of the country's premier all-female fitness communities she was a girl who didn't know how…
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"I Thought It Was Ok" - From Purge To Power, Laila Zangwio
She learned bulimia from her senior sisters. Eat until you can't breathe. Hands down the throat. She thought it was normal. Then she learned about gluttony. And prayed against it. She put herself on the streets. Walked. Jogged. Lost the weight. Then went straight into professional competition.…
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Peter Pearse-Elosia And The Courage To Choose Passion: What If The Dream Works?
Be honest: when was the last time you let yourself believe your dream could actually happen? Peter Pearse-Elosia decided to stop treating his passion like a hobby and start treating it like a future. While everyone around him pushed for safety, he pushed back with one dangerous question: What if...
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Your Creativity Isn't The Problem, Your Discipline Is with Peter Pearse-Elosia
Everyone wants to earn more but not everyone understands what actually drives salary growth.In this episode, Peter breaks down the gap between effort and reward, and why working harder doesn’t always translate into earning more. If you’ve ever felt stuck, underpaid, or unsure about your next…
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Tiffanie Anderson: Cutting Out The Middleman. How Away to Africa is Redirecting Tourism Dollars to African Entrepreneurs
She sat on the idea for 10 years. Now her company is about to turn 10.Tiffanie Anderson, founder and CEO of Away to Africa, joins Lee Kasumba on The Salary Scramble to talk about building a bridge between the diaspora and the continent on her own terms.From her first trip to Cape Town as a law...
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Tiffanie Anderson on Controlling The African Narrative
Tiffanie Anderson of Away to Africa on why ownership isn't just about business, it's about narrative. For her, building a company meant being able to control the story that Africa puts out into the world. It meant joining a wave of people across the continent demanding to tell their own…
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The Stillness of It All, Finding Africa's True Rhythm
Tiffanie Anderson of Away to Africa takes us to the places that move her. From the star-filled skies of Lamu, Kenya, to the raw beauty of Madagascar. In a world that never stops, she reflects on the profound power of simplicity and why it might be the key to moving forward.Plus, the moment she...
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Breaking Barriers, Building While on Maternity, and Leading With Intention
She designed her own prom dress at 16 because nothing in stores felt like her. Years later, she packed two babies, 13 months apart into a double pram and showed up to fashion class anyway. Her mentor took one look and said: "It's in you. You should start." Yousra Elsadig listened. In 2018, a…
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Yousra Elsadig: From Tradition to Trailblazer, The Sudanese Fabric That Changed Everything
She designed her own prom dress at 16 because nothing felt like her.She started her brand pushing a double pram with two babies, 13 months apart. Her viral Garamasis suit put Sudanese fashion on the map in 2018.Now she's shown at London, Paris, and Milan Fashion Week. Yousra Elsadig joins us to...
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Carrying On being Different with Yousra Elsadig
She googled a fashion class, packed up a double pram with two babies 13 months apart, and showed up anyway.That moment of survival became the start of something bigger.Yousra Elsadig on:The mentor who told her: "Carry on being different. You will get there."Why Sudanese fabrics "smell like home"...
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From Tradition to Trailblazer: The Sudanese Fabric That Changed Everything
So how does a skirt, worn with an Adidas jumper, no less almost end up in a museum? Ask Yousra Elsadig. She joined us on The Salary Scramble to trace the dots from her early days: the local fashion classes, the "light bulb" entrepreneurship programs, and the pivotal moment she committed to her...
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Abokuma Ellis: Building An Empire One Celebration At A Time
“The first time I realized I could actually do this as a business? Game changer.” — Abokuma Ellis Founder of Purple Twirl Events, Abokuma Ellis sat down with Lee Kasumba on The Salary Scramble and kept it all the way real. From landing her very first client on Facebook to building one of the most...
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Abokuma Ellis: Building An Empire One Celebration At A Time
Okay so you know how Oprah said the best part about having money is she can just do whatever she wants? Abokuma Ellis felt that. Just from the other side. She runs Purple Twirl Events now, but when she was starting out she noticed something interesting especially about the difference between the...
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Abokuma Ellis: Building An Empire One Celebration At A Time
It started with one client. From Facebook. Now Abokuma Ellis runs Purple Twirl Events, one of the most intentional event brands out there. In the first teaser for The Salary Scramble, she shares: ✨ How she turned a dream job into a real business ✨ Why her clients became her most powerful…
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The Reluctant Entrepreneur (The Why Behind The Salary Scramble)
First-class flights, soft girl era... that's what Lee envisioned for her future. Then the entrepreneurial wave hit, and suddenly, she had no choice but to dive in. Was she prepared? Nope. This podcast is the real, unfiltered story. We're sharing the nitty-gritty of being an entrepreneur and not...
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The Salary Scramble With Lee Kasumba
The Jingle of the Salary Scramble with Lee Kasumba
About this show
The Salary Scramble is a podcast born from one hard truth: payday can be one of the most challenging moments for entrepreneurs. It’s a high-stakes time that brings pressure, tough decisions, and emotional weight , the kind only a founder or entrepreneur can truly understand.
Hosted by
Shespeaksafrica
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