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Mark Sham is a dynamic entrepreneur, author, and speaker from South Africa, renowned for his passionate advocacy of informal education and his commitment to supporting small businesses. Despite being expelled from school at 17 and lacking formal education, Mark mastered the world of informal learning, leveraging his experiences and self-taught knowledge to propel his career forward. He is the founder of several innovative ventures, including Suits & Sneakers, The Tryst, and Like a Tourist.
Suits & Sneakers is a social enterprise dedicated to revolutionizing education. It hosts events and creates content aimed at promoting lifelong learning through informal education, believing in the power of continuous learning to stay relevant in today’s fast-paced world.
The Tryst is a multi-purpose content creation hub located in Johannesburg, featuring a hybrid event space, video studios, training areas, and a bar. It serves as a collaborative space for bold brands and innovative ideas, helping individuals and companies create meaningful and engaging content.
Like a Tourist focuses on creating unique travel content that highlights the beauty and diverse experiences available in South Africa, aiming to inspire both locals and visitors to explore and appreciate the country’s many hidden gems.
Mark’s entrepreneurial journey is remarkable, given his unconventional path to success. He speaks with a ferocious energy and passion, adept at synthesizing broad-based thinking into formats that audiences can understand. He is not only creating awareness around his vision to change education and training in South Africa but also forging a network of entrepreneurs and corporate businesses to champion these causes.
Mark has spoken at various notable events, including the EOH Finance Indaba and the CEO Series with Lee Naik. He has been invited to speak at events hosted by companies such as EOH, City Logistics, and Standard Bank.
Event planners should consider booking Mark Sham for their next event because of his unique perspective on education and entrepreneurship. His talks are insightful, humorously delivered, and filled with thought-provoking messages. He has a proven track record of captivating audiences and leaving them energized and inspired. His passion for transforming education and his commitment to lifelong learning make him a valuable addition to any event.
In summary, Mark Sham is a passionate entrepreneur and speaker who is making significant strides in revolutionizing education through his various ventures. His story of overcoming adversity and using unconventional means to achieve success serves as an inspiration to many aspiring entrepreneurs and lifelong learners. His dynamic speaking style and commitment to lifelong learning make him a sought-after speaker for events focused on education, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
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The Graeme Watkins Project brings a dirty, edgy, rough approach to a medley of pop, indie, rock and electronic genres!“Runner Up” in Idols, Graeme Watkins has returned to the big stage on his own terms, with his highly successful band, “The Graeme Watkins Project”.
But this band is not only about Graeme. It consists of phenomenal musicians who can be individually recognised – Ryno Zeelie (lead guitar), Rudo Pieterse (bass) and Matthew Marinus (drums).
The unit has managed to break the ‘cookie-cutter’ mould of the stereotypical SA-Pop Rock sound by producing fresh sounds!
Some background on the project:
The Graeme Watkins Project band exploded in South Africa in 2011, after the release of their debut album, ‘Corridors of the Mind” – a hot product at most events and festivals around the country.
The group were invited to Los Angeles to perform at A + R Worldwides Musexpo, where they had the opportunity to perform for industry legends such as Larry King, Seymour Steyn and Michael Chugg to name a few!
Whilst performing in LA, the band was spotted by international Producer and A+R specialist, Jeff Blue of Atlantic Records.
In the space of one year, they have produced five Top 10 hit singles from the album.
In 2012, they were nominated for 2 SAMA Awards (‘Best Rock’ and ‘Best Video’), 1 MK Award (‘Best Newcomer’) and a YOU Spectacular Award (‘Best Music Act’). See Speakers Inc list of Bands
2013 has seen their fresh new single, “Fight When We’re Young”, produced by LA-based producer, Jeff Blue. This song comes from their hugely anticipated album, due to be released in the middle of this year.
With a range of songs, incorporating a host of genre’s – from rock to indie, to pop, to deep and meaningful ballads – this band is full of surprises!
Their music has an ADHD inspired beat, which is designed to get the crowd into the mad-capped mind set of the band members – with the intention to get the audience to break out of their comfort zone and to rock out to the all-encompassing movement of this group’s melody!
“The front man’s massive amount of energy got the crowd going and before long I was jumping up and down and happy again. The Graeme Watkins Project performance sufficiently inspired me to purchase a copy of their CD at the door on the way out”
– The Urbanist
“[The album] is the perfect mix of rock, indie and electro and really is a step up for South African music”
– ontheradio.za.net
“You’ll recognise the band’s passionate foot-stamping and wide-eyes with their utter enthusiasm and pride in their music.”
– Looklocal.co.za
“Africa is listening and the fans can’t believe the music they are making”
– takealot.com
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Tshepo Mogale – Corporate Comedian started doing stand up comedy in 1999 in Cape Town. His first show was at a comedy competition at a venue called Hobnobs, where let’s just say he wasn’t welcome there anymore.
At about the same time that he started his comedy career was the same time that the Cape Comedy Collective was created, which was a collective of about 25 comics who some are very big around the country now.
So he performed all around Cape Town performing in classy and dingy venues with the home base being the Cape Comedy Club namely the Armchair Theatre in Observatory.
Tshepo Mogale then JOINED the CCC on a very successful Varsities tour in late 2000, which was a tour of all major universities in South Africa. The whole time as this was going on he was fully employed as a semi computer geek for an Internet company in Cape Town. While doing all of this he did television adverts for various brands including Smirnoff and also radio voice overs.
In 2000 Tshepo Mogale decided to MOVE to Joburg to broaden his comedy horizons and also to work in a financial services company. Tshepo Mogale immediately got onto the Joburg circuit and became a hit in the popular Joe Parker Comedy Express circuit. Performing in Joburg gave Tshepo Mogale a wider range of exposure, which resulted in him doing many stints on television doing stand up and various acting gigs, where Tshepo Mogale featured on the highly acclaimed Parker Comedy express dvd, which was released in 2001. All this was done while the brother was pushing a full time job.
Tshepo then started to more and more shows outside of Johannesburg in places like Durban, Bloemfontein, Vereeneging etc. which grew his exposure and popularity amongst the South African public. In 2002 Tshepo Mogale was invited to perform at the first all black comedy festival, the Smirnoff Comedy Blackout which featured some international acts from the U.S. While balancing his day job at a bank and doing stand up. Towards the end of 2002 Tshepo Mogale was again selected to perform at the biggest comedy event in South Africa the Laugh out Loud to an audience of more than 7000 people.
At this time Tshepo also partook in the Sprite Soul Comedy tour which took comedy to many South African small towns namely Kimberly, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg Nelspruit etc. This was also with a lot of CORPORATE EVENTS in between. Tshepo Mogale went to on to write some literature which got published in the popular Urban writers series. Tshepo Mogale then went on to open for Barry Hilton at some of his theatre shows and some of his CORPORATE EVENTS. Tshepo Mogale was invited to be one of the South African representative at the prestigious Smirnoff Comedy Festival which is the second biggest comedy event in the Southern hemisphere.
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Sho Madjozi is a rising star from Shirley Village in Limpopo who shot to fame after featuring in the hit track Gqi by OkmalumkoolKat earlier this year. She has since released tracks with Dj Maphorisa, Khuli Chana, Ghanaian artist Wanlov, Ms Cosmo and others.
Her single Dumi hi Phone with PS DJz went viral, gaining her bookings all over the country. The song has sat on the number 1 spot at Yfm, and been in the top ten of multiple national radio stations including Metro Fm.
While she calls herself a rapper she can often be found flexing her flows on Gqom beats.
Famous for bringing Xitsonga to the mainstream and for her exhilarating performances in which she wears a colorful Tsonga dancing skirt, Xibelani, Sho Madjozi has played some of the biggest shows in the country including Fill Up FNB, Afropunk, Castle Lite Unlocks and others.
Aside from music, Sho Madjozi was cast as Tsakani on Mzansi Magic Telenovela Isithembiso.
She is the new presenter for SABC 2 show Nhlalala ya Rixaka and Absolut vodka SA recently selected her to be one of their new Creative Revolutionaries.
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Mike Walsh is the CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing companies for the 21st century. A global nomad, futurist and author of the bestselling book, The Algorithmic Leader, he advises some of the world’s biggest organizations on digital transformation and disruptive innovation in this new era of machine intelligence.
A prolific writer and commentator, Mike’s views have appeared in a wide range of international publications including Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Each week he interviews provocative thinkers, innovators and troublemakers on his podcast, Between Worlds.
His latest book, The Algorithmic Leader: How to be smart when machines are smarter than you, offers a hopeful and practical guide for reinventing leadership and organizations.
Mike’s other books include Futuretainment (winner of the design award by the Art Director’s Club in New York), published by Phaidon, and The Dictionary Of Dangerous Ideas.
Mike travels over 300 days a year worldwide: researching trends, collecting case studies and presenting on the future of business and leadership.
Take a moment to sign up for Mike’s newsletter and receive a weekly thought piece on how leaders can leverage emerging technologies, new ways of working and transformative mindsets to reinvent their organizations and their role in them.
FUTURIST
Rather than focusing on the distant future, Mike takes an anthropological approach – scanning the near horizon for emerging technologies and disruptive shifts in human behavior, and then translating these into pragmatic plans for digital transformation. A prolific writer and commentator, Mike’s views have appeared in a wide range of international publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
Global Nomad
Constantly traveling the world for the best ideas, Mike Walsh spends more than 300 days a year on the road interviewing innovators, entrepreneurs and corporate revolutionaries to provide his clients and audiences with a fresh and compelling vision of tomorrow’s opportunities.
Speaker
Mike Walsh has delivered close to a thousand keynote speeches around the world to companies in almost every industry. His customized presentations leave audiences prepared and inspired to transform the way they do business.
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Zelda la Grange’s journey from a conservative Afrikaner upbringing in apartheid South Africa to becoming the trusted personal aide of Nelson Mandela is a compelling narrative of transformation and reconciliation. Her unique experiences offer profound insights into leadership, diversity, and the power of forgiveness, making her an inspiring figure on the global speaking circuit.
Born on October 29, 1970, in Boksburg, South Africa, Zelda pursued a National Diploma in Executive Secretarial studies. She began her career in 1992 at the Department of State Expenditure. In 1994, she joined the office of President Nelson Mandela as a senior ministerial typist. Recognizing her dedication and skill, Mandela promoted her in 1997 to one of his three Private Secretaries.
Upon his retirement in 1999, he personally selected Zelda to continue as his aide, a role she fulfilled with unwavering commitment until his passing in 2013. During these years, she played a pivotal role in establishing the Nelson Mandela Foundation, serving in capacities ranging from Private Secretary to Office Manager, Spokesperson, and Aide-de-Camp.
In June 2014, Zelda published her memoir, “Good Morning, Mr. Mandela,” which became an international bestseller. The book provides an intimate account of her 19-year journey alongside one of history’s most revered leaders, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at Mandela’s daily life and the profound lessons she learned from him.
Her dedication and service have been recognized with numerous accolades, including the Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International. In 2022, she established the Zelda la Grange Foundation, aiming to assist children in protective and foster care to realize their potential.
Event planners seeking a speaker who embodies resilience, transformation, and firsthand insights into leadership will find Zelda la Grange an exceptional choice. Her talks resonate deeply with audiences, drawing from her personal evolution and close association with Nelson Mandela. Zelda’s ability to weave personal anecdotes with universal themes of forgiveness, diversity, and inclusion makes her presentations both relatable and profound.
Her experience navigating complex political and social landscapes equips her to address topics such as ethical leadership, reconciliation, and the importance of embracing change. Her authenticity and eloquence ensure that audiences are not only engaged but also inspired to reflect and act.
In summary, Zelda la Grange’s remarkable journey from a product of apartheid-era South Africa to the trusted confidante of Nelson Mandela offers unparalleled insights into the human capacity for change and understanding.
Her experiences underscore the transformative power of forgiveness, the importance of embracing diversity, and the enduring impact of compassionate leadership. As a speaker, Zelda captivates audiences with her heartfelt narratives and profound lessons, making her an invaluable addition to any event seeking to inspire and educate.
Hashtags: #ZeldaLaGrange #NelsonMandela #Leadership #DiversityAndInclusion #Transformation #Forgiveness #Inspiration #Speaker #Author #GoodMorningMrMandela
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David Kibuuka is undeniably one of South Africa’s top comedic talents!
Having spent over ten years in the business, he has performed on various stages around the world from New York to London, Toronto to Kigali, Nairobi, Gaborone, Harare and of course, everywhere in South Africa!
Having garnered close to 50 000 Twitter followers from his comedic endeavors, David is widely known and he continues to thrill the different kinds of audiences where ever he goes.
Seen weekly on eTV’s twice-Emmy nominated comedy show, ‘Late Night News with Loyiso Gola’, (now in its 12th season), David has the opportunity to showcase his talents to a weekly audience of more than 800 000 viewers.
Hailing from Uganda and a graduated Finance Honors student from Wits University, Dave has a unique brand of humor that combines wit and intellect without losing touch with his audiences.
He broke into the comedy world when he won 5FM’s ‘Freshest Five Stand Up Comedy Nationwide Comedy Search’ and he hasn’t looked back since …
Equally comfortable MC’ing or performing at any event.
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