Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone, and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact.
The next series of Purpose 360 episodes were taped in person on site at the One Young World Summit that was held in Montreal this year. For those of you who are not familiar with One Young World, I hope that these conversations will get you very, very excited to follow them online because they are making terrific impact around the globe. At the conference, there were nearly 2,000 changemakers. And you have to apply to get accepted to this amazing event. And some leaders at the conference say, "You know, it's harder to get into this conference than it is to get into Harvard." Wow. The young ambassadors represented 190 countries, and you should think of this like the Olympics for changemaking. Also in attendance were leaders across the board, around the world. Think older individuals like myself, who have worked in the field for so many years helping to make change.
I am so excited to interview a world-renowned... Are you a medalist too?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, a gold medal.
Carol Cone:
Gold medalist. Oh, he didn't bring his medal, though. Tendai. And he's known as The Beast. He's an amazing rugby player. So welcome to the show.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Carol Cone:
And Tendai, give us your full name and also where you're from, and why are you attending the One Young World Summit.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, so my name is Tendai Mtawarira, aka The Beast, and I'm from Durban, South Africa, and I'm here at the One Young World Summit in Montreal as a counselor to inspire the youthful delegation that's presented.
Carol Cone:
And how many years have you been doing this?
Tendai Mtawarira:
It's my third year now.
Carol Cone:
And I bet it gets better and better every year.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, it certainly does.
Carol Cone:
Oh, that's exciting. So let's just talk a little bit about your career because we just... I mean, rugby was hot at the Olympics, the Paris Olympics, and you were there. So how was it for you?
Tendai Mtawarira:
No, it was amazing, incredible to witness rugby being showcased on a global stage. Yes, we do play rugby internationally, but a platform like the Olympics, that's where in the world... the entire world is watching. So the rugby matches that we saw there were a spectacle.
So I think we got actually a new group of rugby fans and followers across the world purely because of that. So I think rugby is going to grow in leaps and bounds going forward, even in the women's side as well, women's rugby. So it's really exciting for the sport.
Carol Cone:
Oh, that looked great. What year and where did you win your gold medal?
Tendai Mtawarira:
So I won my gold medal in Japan, played South Africa, and I'm one of the most decorated rugby players of all time. I played for South Africa for 12 years and played the game for entirety of 15 years. And yeah, broke many records in my time. And yeah, the gold medal is definitely my most prized position.
Carol Cone:
So let's talk about your nickname's Beast. And so, how did you get the nickname? And then let's talk about the foundation that you've created, The Beast Foundation, and why that's such an important part of your soul.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes. Yeah, so the nickname The Beast, I've had that forever. I got that nickname when I was nine years old in primary school.
Carol Cone:
Okay.
Tendai Mtawarira:
It was because I was a bit of a man-child. I was very aggressive and my best mate at the time decided that the name Beast was going to suit my mold and it stuck with me since that time, and obviously through my playing days and until now and has become my persona. And obviously, The Beast Foundation is an entity that I created when I retired from the game in 2020, basically did it purely because I want to give back.
I want to inspire the next generation. A lot was given to me when I started my journey. A lot of people invested in me. I don't come from much, and I had a lot of people that just believed that I could be a world champion one day. So they gave me the means to be able to climb up this ladder and get to ultimate success. So I want to do that for the next generation and invest in them through education and sport and life skills development.
Carol Cone:
So can you give us a story or two about some of the favorite moments with The Beast Foundation?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes. Oh geez, there's so many. We obviously been growing over the last four years. We started The Beast Foundation in 2020, got an amazing team on the ground that is just executing all our programs in a amazing manner. And we've got this new program that we started last year. It's called Lead Like a Girl.
Carol Cone:
Okay. So where did Lead Like a Girl come from? Maybe your daughter influenced it a bit, and then what does it do?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, so Lead Like a Girl was born out of the fact that a lot of young girls that come from marginalized communities, especially in South Africa and Africa as a whole, don't get the support they need. And some of them end up not attending school, and then they're vulnerable to gender-based violence, domestic violence, early childhood marriage, low income.
So we decided that we want to change this narrative. So fortunately, through our partner based in Geneva, they're called Elyseum Family Office, they decided to invest in this project and join hands with us. And we obviously... we designed it and exactly to see obviously what we wanted to actually do with this young women. So we target teenage girls at the age of 13, and we give them this 360-degree scholarship, which covers their schooling support, and they have ongoing mentorship.
And then they go on leadership camps, and we invite profound female leaders across the continent, like Professor Thuli Madonsela, to come and inspire them. So it's a life-changing opportunity, and we want to obviously build an alumni of young women that will change the world one day.
Carol Cone:
Oh, that's fantastic. I assume you bring in sponsors.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
Yeah. So we've got sponsors listening on this call. We've got corporate brands, things like that. What do you want to share with them about why they should partner with The Beast Foundation?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes. Oh, it'll be incredible if we could get some more new partners because the work we do on the ground is significant. And obviously, our dream is quite big. We want to impact the whole of Africa. It's a lot of scale. So we're a Pan-African organization, and we focus on youth across the entire continent. So we obviously want to do it in stages, but the work we're doing around the education space has been quite significant.
And we would love to have new partners, and you can go to our foundation website, thebeastfoundation.org, to see firsthand the projects that we are involved in and partner with us here. Come alongside, and together, we can make a huge difference and be the change that we want to see.
Carol Cone:
So let's give a shout-out to your current partners because I know that you're very special, and they have made a decision to partner with you. So what are some of their names?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes. Yeah, so we have partnered with the Elyseum Family Office that are mentioned that are based in Geneva. They've been tremendous. They've really helped us to get to where we are today. And other partners like Aspen Pharmacare, which is a big internationally.
Carol Cone:
Great.
Tendai Mtawarira:
We work with the South African Contingent, and they've been very helpful to us. And also, the Oppenheimer Foundation-
Carol Cone:
Nice.
Tendai Mtawarira:
... invested in us on the education pillar. And yeah, we've also worked with other partners, Imbizo. You won't know them, but obviously based in South Africa, Imbizo Foundation, some of our pipeline partners that help us to activate our projects on the ground. So yeah, we want new partners. We definitely have more space and more room. So yeah, come and join hands with us.
Carol Cone:
So are you giving any advice to the young people here at the summit? Do you have some breakouts where you're talking to young people, and what's the conversation like?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yes. Yeah, I definitely have the mentorship sessions, and I've done a couple of them. So it's always quite fascinating because the delegates, they bring a lot of questions and they're always... they're not trying to catch you off. But some of the questions, they're quite interesting, and it's awesome that they're very inquisitive.
They want to ask if they don't understand something. And it's always talking about, obviously, for my foundation work, it's talking about the work that I do with UNICEF and also how am I using my platform to create change. And so it's all those sort of line of questioning and obviously the rugby part as well. There's an interest in the gold medal stories, how I got there, and so forth. So it's always quite interesting to interact with the young delegates.
Carol Cone:
So are there one or two things that you learned from rugby and being a gold medalist rugby champion on a team? So one or two things that you share with young people that will help them advance their change-making endeavors.
Tendai Mtawarira:
I always encourage the young people to firstly dream big.
Carol Cone:
Dream big.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Dream big because you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. And I always kind of tell them that it's almost like the Parable of the Seed. You got to start with that seed and plant it in the ground. And then you water it every day with hard work, with discipline, professionalism, that seed is going to start to grow. And then, one day, it'll eventually become a big tree.
Ad so you got to be able to do the time, you got to have the patience, and you got to stick to that commitment. And over time, you see, you obviously realize your wildest dreams. And for me, that's always my message. And also, coming from difficult circumstances, you can be discouraged that, "Hey, I can only go so far because my parents don't have the means to send me to whatever the school and so forth." But you can rise above difficult circumstances and be able to propel and achieve greater things.
Carol Cone:
So was there one barrier that you... that really stuck out when you were playing rugby, and then when you talk to young people, you say... you tell them your story but then help them to advance? Just...
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah. So, obviously, for me, my parents come from very humble beginnings. My parents were only able to do so much so there were a lot of financial constraints. So the finances were probably one of the things that kind of tried to limit me from pursuing, especially the game of rugby because it's quite expensive to own the rugby kit, to purchase the rugby kit. So I had to almost rely on third parties.
Carol Cone:
Right.
Tendai Mtawarira:
And fortunately, at the age of 16 or 17, I got a scholarship that changed my life because of my talent. I got the scholarship to a big private school, and it was there where my journey to the next level began because I had all the facilities that I needed. So financial constraints were such a big difficult thing, but because of the people that invested in me and gave me the opportunity, I was able to move past that.
Carol Cone:
So in terms of young people listening to this, and this podcast has heard all over the globe, and some of our best listenership are young people, do you have a few, two, or three suggestions to them as they pursue their change-making dreams?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah. So my message is simple. Be the change that you want to see, and you have to work hard at your passions every single day. And because sometimes, as I alluded to early on, that if you look at the world's problems, if you look at some of those issues that we're facing, it's easy to get discouraged, but you got to stick to your guns, and you got to work on your passion every day. And eventually, you'll be able to get to a stage where you have a platform and impact change. So you got to trust the process.
Carol Cone:
Trust the process. Great.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, there's people alongside you that will help you. And that's why we have all the summits. We have organizations like One Young World, that's what they want to do. They want to come alongside and walk the journey with the young people and I know and help you achieve your wildest dreams. So you just got to start by doing that. Do the work first, and eventually, your change that you seek will come to fruition.
Carol Cone:
Absolutely. Now, how about for people in the C-suite? What's your advice to the adults who are looking at young people today and go, "Wow, they really want to change the world, but I want my company to engage with young people."
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah. I think my advice to the adults is be willing to work with the young people, be willing to invest in them because, without that, they won't be able to propel to the next level, the next stage. As adults, we need to be able to say to ourselves, make a conscious decision that we want to invest, and be intentional about it. Don't wait. There's avenues, many avenues to partner with young people.
And I think One Young World has got a big fundraising program that they run, and proof is in the pudding. For every dollar that's given to One Young World, there's, in turn, $16 of social values that is added. So there's a lot of many ways that you can impact and make a difference, and also affording your time.
It's not just financially. Affording your time, spending time with these young people, mentoring them, advising them, and just being a fountain of knowledge and wisdom to guide them. So there's so many ways of how adults and businesses and private and public sector can impact the youth.
Carol Cone:
That's great. So I hate to end this, but I know you've got lots of other interviews, but I always like to give the last word to my guest, so it's over to you.
Tendai Mtawarira:
I really enjoyed this interview. And for me, it's always about partnering and working with people like yourselves to raise awareness because it's so important to address some of these issues that we are faced with today globally. We can only do that through collaboration. So by you amplifying my voice out there and the work that I'm doing is something that I don't take for granted. So thank you. And to the people out there listening, please do reach out to us. Check out the work that I'm doing with my foundation, thebeastfoundation.org, and then we'd love to partner with you and work together and create a much better world.
Carol Cone:
Thank you. And I like to just say to our listeners that it may be called The Beast Foundation, but this is a man that's got the biggest heart, and he just wants to have the great impact he had on the field on the pitch, right. Was it a pitch?
Tendai Mtawarira:
Yeah, it is a pitch.
Carol Cone:
Okay. It's a pitch. Got that right. Okay. And that on young people in all of Africa join with him. He's amazing. And I know that he will deliver. He is authentic and sincere and the biggest heart in the world. So thank you.
Tendai Mtawarira:
Thank you so much. (singing)
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people, and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone On Purpose. Pete Wright, and Andy Nelson, our crack production team at TruStory FM. And you, our listener, please rate and rank us because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening. (singing)
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