Melissa Kiguwa’s background spans three continents— Europe, the United States, and Africa. Currently, she is based in Los Angeles where she is CEO of Obánj, the luxury sustainability company she co-founded in 2021.
Before co-founding her company, Melissa worked as a radio and television host and a producer for both commercial and broadcast radio including the BBC World Service. She currently hosts the podcast, Grit & Grace, in collaboration with the London School of Economics Accelerator for Women Founders where she interviews brilliant women with an audacious vision for the world.
She is also building a reputation as one of the best emerging writing talents from the African continent. Her first collection of poetry, Reveries of Longing, was published in 2014 and selected as one of “This is Africa’s 100 best books in fiction, poetry, memoir, and non-fiction.” She has also been recognized as an influential African artist to know and celebrate. Melissa is a 2020 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and is working on an adventure memoir about her international exploits.
She graduated from the London School of Economics with her MSc in Media, Communication, and Development in 2015.
What is Grit & Grace all about?
In this insightful bi-monthly podcast, entrepreneur, and host Melissa Kiguwa spans the globe interviewing brilliant women with an audacious vision for the future. These women are talented and extraordinarily tenacious. Grit & Grace is sponsored by elleSE, and the London School of Economics Generate Accelerator for Women Founders.
Tell us a little bit about your background – how, and why you started your podcast?
I am the CEO of Obánj, a luxury jewelry company, where for as low as $29/month members borrow Dior, YSL, Gucci, and more. I launched the business during the pandemic, and as a way to build community during an arduous year. I started a podcast sponsored by the London School of Economics called Grit & Grace.
On Grit & Grace, I interview brilliant women (mostly entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists) about their audacious vision for the world. Our listeners tend to say our podcast is incredibly inspiring, insightful, and motivates them to do more and be more.
I publish every other week and we use the podcast as a way of accessing high net-worth women that we would like to work with. Two of the women we interviewed have become advisors for our business, and others have facilitated introductions on our behalf.
What was the biggest problem you encountered launching your podcast and how did you overcome it?
The biggest problem was figuring what I needed to start—it can be as simple as just having a mic on your laptop and recording on Zoom or it can involve creating a sound-proof room in your home with an external mic and mixing board. I first made a list of the podcasts I wanted to sound like, and then, I researched what those podcasters did. In some cases, I even reached out to find out what mics they used, etc.
What are some mistakes you made as a podcaster?
In the beginning, the audio for the podcast was quite terrible. I recorded the show on Zoom, and you can tell—there were crackles in the audio, and it sounded muffled and tinny. It was horrible because the audio quality did not match the quality of the conversation. Finally, I switched to Zencastr, which has some issues but is free for podcasters during the pandemic. The audio quality has dramatically improved.
Do you have any other projects or businesses you working on?
My startup Obánj monopolizes most of my time.
Do you monetize your Podcast, or plan on monetizing, tell us how or how you plan to do it?
My podcast is sponsored meaning they pay for all costs associated with the podcast, but nothing else. I intentionally wanted to be sponsored so I could attract a certain caliber of guests with the name of my sponsor. I hadn’t thought about it at the time as I didn’t see the podcast as an income-generating per se. If I could go back, I would recommend making sure to include some sort of compensation for myself in the sponsorship budget. It is a lot of labor putting together a quality podcast, and any podcaster should be paid for it.
How do you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business and podcast?
When I launched both my business and podcast, I knew this would take up the next 10 years of my life, come hell or high water. A pandemic doesn’t change that.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your audience?
Social media and leveraging email listservs (get blurbs, write-ups, etc.).
What is your definition of success?
Success is being able to externalize whatever gifts, talent, work ethic, and wisdom is in you internally.
If you had to start a brand-new podcast today, what are the steps you would take?
I would develop a marketing plan from the beginning. Initially, I thought the name and gravitas of the guests and the sponsor would be enough to entice listeners, but I realized quickly I still needed a marketing plan.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new podcasters?
Sometimes you will know who your audience is straight away, other times you will learn through seeing who comes to you. One is quick, the other is slow. But the only way you will know is to keep on going.
What is your favorite quote?
“… I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life… to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…”
Henry David Thoreau
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can visit my company website Obánj, my podcast Grit & Grace and follow me on Instagram at @mkiguwa or @obanj_jewelry
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