Here in the Puttyverse, we have always enjoyed connecting people from around the world, in different time zones, languages, and cultures. The MultiPod is no exception.
We’re delighted to welcome Mapalo, our first guest from Zambia, to share her story of being born and growing up in the US, but then moving to her family’s native Zambia in her formative teenage years.
Mapalo is now busy building, with her business partners, an innovative and original business in Lusaka, providing digitization services for organizations that currently process information and tasks manually. It’s an idea bursting with opportunity, and, in true multipotentialite fashion, has tremendous potential for variety.
One’s mind is drawn immediately towards government or business clients, but they are also looking at ideas like giving amateur athletes access to a digital database so scouts and colleges can more easily find them. Or college students who need to find a dormitory or similar residence, and could tap into an app that shows them available space and what their options are.
Along the way, Mapalo has come to recognize that she’s more drawn to entrepreneurship than following along the lines of her parents’ structured careers, at least for now. In fact, she was a step away from pursuing medical school, but fate perhaps intervened and sent her in a different direction.
Mapalo also tells us a bit about life in Zambia, learning the local dialect and even adjusting to the more British English that is spoken there, as opposed to the American English she grew up with.
Moving back then amounted to a sort of “reverse culture shock,” where things seem familiar, and arguably should be, but it’s still a massive adjustment to actually live through it. The conversation is reminiscent of our episodes talking about Third Culture Kids, and the adaptation that goes with it. It’s all part of the international flavour of our community.
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