Shades & Layers

About Shades & Layers

Shades and Layers is a storytelling platform celebrating Black women and women of colour who are building something of their own — on the African continent and across the diaspora. The podcast launched in 2020 and is now more than 100 episodes strong. In 2025, the show was nominated for Best Long-Time Podcast at the Black Podcasting Awards. In each conversation, host Kutloano Skosana sits down with founders to explore business ownership, representation, and what sustainability and success really mean in a complex, interconnected world. The conversations are wide-ranging — part masterclass in entrepreneurship, part wisdom for living well — and always a space for women to be fully human: to share the quirks, the doubts, and the vulnerabilities behind the highlight reel. These days, Shades and Layers is two things woven together. Alongside the podcast, Kutloano — now exploring a new chapter of her own in Italy — sends Life Notes: honest monthly letters on identity, motherhood, reinvention, and the business of building a life. Shades and Layers’ founding philosophy is: a story well told can change your life, you don't need big accolades for your entrepreneurial journey to matter. The guests span beauty, fashion, and wellness, North and South: Dr. Theo Mothoa-Frendo on building a science-based African skincare range with USO; Taryn Gill of The Perfect Hair on supply chains and brand-building; Katonya Breux of Unsun Cosmetics on melanin and sunscreen for every skin tone; Abiola Akanni of IYA Well on non-performance in yoga; and designers like the late Maria McCloy of her eponymous fashion label, Nkuli Mlangeni-Berg of The Ninevites, and Candace Lawrence of Modern Gesture, championing handmade, custom, and circular production. Whether you're here to listen, to read, or to build something of your own — welcome to the circle.

Publisher

Kutloano Skosana Ricci

Category

arts · business · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

12 Jun 2020

Latest episode

18 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

107 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Mar 2026

   A Simple Bank Account System for Business Sustainability

   Send us Fan Mail This is an oldie but goodie from the archives. This conversation was recorded in 2024, but its principles and teachings are timeless. Susanne Mariga is an expert in finance and she's been doing taxes for clients since she was a 14-year old in her dad's accounting office. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If your business is busy but your bank balance never reflects it, something is broken and it’s not...

2. 

   10 Feb 2026

   Speak with Confidence, Cash in With Clarity (Magogodi Makhene) - S10E1

   Send a text In this episode we connect with Magogodi oaMphela Makhene, author, speaker and founder of Love As A Kind of Cure and thought leadership coach. We trace her entrepreneurial journey from her focus on social enterprises, how she was led to writing and then became a coach who helps Women of Color to turn their stories into intellectual property and income. Magogodi is a sought after keynote speaker and communicator who walks the talk. Her trademarked C.R.O.W.N framework i...

3. 

   16 Sept 2025

   Embracing Fear and Following Your Dreams with Bisila Bokoko

   Send us a text Bisila Bokoko is an international business woman who got her start in the corporate world in Spain and then eventually in the USA. Today she shares her journey from corporate executive to international entrepreneur, wine brand founder, and creator of the Bisila Bokoko African Literacy Project. Born to African parents from Equatorial Guinea in Spain, she jokingly calls herself a Decaf African and had a tough time navigating her African identity within a European cult...

Who has been a guest on Shades & Layers

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Isha Gaye
• Karabo Lediga
• Palesa Segomotso Motsumi

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

81

Social presence

91

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact Shades & Layers

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.