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.
Shades & Layers
Art for Healing and Self-Acceptance with Puleng Mongale(S3, E8)
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This week, Shades and Layers is proud to present the story of Digital Collage Artist, Puleng Mongale.
Puleng grew up in the cultural melting pot of Soweto township. Her young years there are filled with joy, but they have also been a source of pain and a feeling of displacement. While Soweto is a cultural melting pot, it is also a place where South Africa's cultural and language groups compete for superiority on an imaginary cultural totem.
In our conversation we discuss dealing with displacement, radical self-acceptance, using art as a tool for healing.
Puleng has always had a passion for the arts (especially writing and fashion) and started out as a copy writer at an advertising agency. During this period, she was also sharpening her skills as a creative director and exploring photography. After being laid off at the start of the Covid pandemic, she bought herself a camera, learned to use it and never looked back. In our conversation, we discuss her various projects, putting a monetary value on her work and also how to approach life with curiosity.
I hope you'll enjoy this amazing conversation and will be inspired to follow your own authentic journey into the things that you're passionate about.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Latitudes - Online Art platform that represents Puleng and many other cutting edge contemporary artists from the African continent.
Seshoeshoe (Seshweshwe) - Cotton fabric named after the Basotho King Moshoeshoe and originally bearing designs inspired by traditional murals in Lesotho. Today it is a fashion staple at traditional weddings across South Africa and can be seen at other formal occasions as well as everyday fashion.
Jake - Famous and iconic public swimming pool in Orlando West area of Soweto. The link goes to a photograph captured by South African photographer Jodi Beiber.
Badimo - A SeSotho word meaning ancestors or spirits.
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