#13. Redefining Success: A Reformer’s Blueprint for Wealth, Purpose & Community

What if the secret to building wealth had nothing to do with your bank balance—and everything to do with how you think? In this episode, we meet Terrence Mugova, a Zimbabwean reformer and “son of encouragement,” whose journey turns personal struggle into community-building ventures. From almost being expelled over tuition deadlines to launching an education-financing company and a citywide feeding program, Terrence shows how asking “why?” can unlock practical solutions that serve people and build sustainable enterprise.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• Why mindset precedes money—and how beliefs about scarcity or “romanticising poverty” quietly cap our potential.
• How a near-expulsion led to an education-financing model that opens doors with affordable payment plans.
• What “money as a certificate of performance” really means—and how to charge without guilt.
• A developing-economy order of operations: make more → spend intentionally → save → invest.
• Why entrepreneurship is a mindset, not a job title—use it whether you lead a company or serve one customer (your employer).
• Lessons from Feed the City: moving beyond statistics by sharing meals, stories, and dignity.
• Zimbabwe’s under-told strengths—resilience, creativity, and natural beauty—and how to spot opportunity at home.

About our guest — Terrence Mugova

A finance-minded reformer and coach, Terrence helps people transform beliefs about money, discover their unique value, and build wealth that serves purpose and community. His ventures span education finance and food-security initiatives like Feed the City, and his teaching blends faith, practicality, and performance.

Links & resources

• 🌐 Khonapho: khonaphocom.co.zw
• 💼 LinkedIn: Terrence Mugova, MIFM
• 📸 Instagram: @terrencemugova
• 👍 Facebook: facebook.com/terrencemugova
• 🎓 Educate profile: educate.co.zw/terrence.html

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to WorldChangers HQ
• 0:46 Meet Terence: Son of Encouragement
• 2:25 A Lifetime of Reforming
• 6:01 The Mindset That Builds Wealth
• 9:12 Making Money Work For You
• 14:57 Increasing Career Engagement Levels
• 17:25 Definition of Success
• 25:18 Entrepreneurship With Kingdom Mindset
• 27:38 The Beauty of Zimbabwe

Transcript

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 0:02

Hey World Changers, welcome to your podcast. I'm Amiki Carroll and I travel the world with a sense of adventure and purpose exploring, learning, having fun and meeting remarkable individuals who are transforming their communities and beyond. Join me as we dive into the inspiring journeys of changemakers from every corner of the globe, tuning in weekly for stories that might just change your life, ignite your passion and show you how ordinary people can create extraordinary impact. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on social media at worldchangerspc, and get ready to take off. Hi Terence, how are you?

Terence Mugova: 0:48

I am very well.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 0:49

Oh, good, good, good. It's already been a lot of fun since you came. So, lovely to meet you. You came highly recommended and I really like your bio. It talks about you as being a son of encouragement. Oh yes, I mean, I really like that. Would you like to tell me a little bit about that?

Terence Mugova: 1:06

Yeah, sure. So I've always had this thing where I look at people and see the best in them, and even sometimes when they don't see it. So I often find myself being the cheerleader to people who I'm around. And there's a guy when I was in was it Texas, north Carolina, sorry? Who said to me do you realize you are such a son of encouragement, I'm going to call you Barnabas or something and I was like, oh nice, I like the way that sounds. And then another guy said the very same thing and I was like, oh, two witnesses, so this must be a thing. So I just started thinking, I just believed it and now share that as part of who I am.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 1:43

But that's not all. You also have other descriptors. Tell us about it.

Terence Mugova: 1:47

So reformer is another one, and reformer is because I ask why a lot? And the reason why I ask why a lot is I think I found myself in situations where I was in environments where I felt like there must be more than this. You know, when you grow up with not having a lot, I couldn't come to terms with saying this is just how it is, and I always ask myself who's doing life or doing this better than me, and how are they changing things so I can bring reformation to the space I'm in? So that's sort of where reformer comes in. So I'm constantly asking why, why does this work? Breaking it down, build the system and say, oh, now it's working for me too.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 2:24

I love that.

Terence Mugova: 2:25

Yeah.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 2:25

So tell us a little bit about some of the things that you're reforming, as it were.

Terence Mugova: 2:30

So every aspect of reformation in my life comes from a previous pain. So the first sort of like that turned into a venture was me almost being kicked out of college because we couldn't meet the payment deadline. And I remember asking myself is this what everyone goes through or is it just my experience? So I wanted to reform that and the first successful business was what if we gave a way of giving foreigners or Zimbabweans in my case access to these quality education opportunities with terms that are more palatable? So I created a company that did payment plans and got kids into really good schools on payment plans that their parents could afford. So that was an area of reformation.

Terence Mugova: 3:10

And then, on a random trip, I discovered something about hunger in America and I asked myself so if people in America are hungry, what is it like in my city? So I came back and I was like, oh, I need to find out more and see if we can reform that. And we partnered with this organization and started doing this program called Feed the City. The whole idea was we want to find out what hunger looks like, but not from the reports that we read, but from actually interacting with people and understanding what is the power of a meal to someone. So we started coming together as volunteers preparing meals, just going out on the streets of Blah and saying, hey, would you like to share a meal and have a conversation. And we did this and got to a point where it allowed us during COVID to go to a number of places, have really good conversations about what it looks like to get people out of poverty and how a meal can start that conversation.

Terence Mugova: 3:56

And yeah, I think the other aspect was seeing my dad, who'd been a career man all his life, work hard from having nothing. He wanted to be a priest, then left that. He went through that phase as well and then Nothing wrong with you, yeah, no, it was an amazing calling, I tell you. And seeing him get into work and rise through the ranks to a point where he felt like he'd paid his dues to the man and he was due a return, and then to watch that disappear with inflation and sometimes some bad investments, got me thinking about what does it look like?

Terence Mugova: 4:28

What does wealth really look like? And it took me on this 10 year journey of studying success and what wealth looks like for an African who wants to build wealth in their home country and not leave. So those are some of the areas where I've been applying my mind and finding some amazingly simple answers that have a lot to do with application, very similar to what I sort of jumped in or got a bit of when you were sharing. Just like you know, these simplify the concepts, make them relevant for the people you're talking to and they're more likely to want to apply them. So that's the reformation.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 4:58

Just a little bit of a backstory for those listening who weren't at the session. We're actually the team, the Avocado Foundation are in Zimbabwe at the moment, in Bulawayo specifically, where you are now. Yes, and we're delivering a world changes, entrepreneurship, training, and today you sat in on the funding and finance session, yeah, okay. So I'm really interested in some of those answers that you've discovered over the last 10 years, and I mean, dare I say, you don't look like you've been Around for that long yes exactly Like you must have been doing it from secondary school or something.

Terence Mugova: 5:33

I'm actually a bit older than I look, I think, not knowing how old you think I am, but let me say I'm upwards of 40.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 5:40

Okay, the expression on my face.

Terence Mugova: 5:41

So the expression on my face is mirrored by everybody else in this room and if I tell you I've got four kids, will you believe that?

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 5:47

I can believe that, come on having children if you're in your forties, that's believable. Yeah, yeah, I mean look, congratulations. Oh, thank you, you've taken the charge to be fruitful and productive.

Terence Mugova: 5:59

Exactly.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 6:00

Nothing wrong with that? Okay, well done. So tell us some of those answers that you've been coming up with in the last decade.

Terence Mugova: 6:06

Yes. So one of the things I discovered is it's the mindset right. I had this experience in college where I was able to go on these work and play programs and you work in these different environments. I was fortunate to get a hotel management internship position, so it allowed me to work in different divisions of this resort. A hotel management internship position so it allowed me to work in different divisions of this resort and I found it fascinating how I was working with 15, 16, 17-year-olds and they would share with me stories about how they're about to buy their first car. And I was like to myself what is the mindset that these kids are being given that makes them start talking about things that I would probably start thinking about in my 20s, maybe even 30s. So for me at that time I didn't realize it, but when I was back home I was asking myself how do they think that way?

Terence Mugova: 6:52

And when I had an opportunity to travel again and meet with entrepreneurs who built multi-million dollar businesses, one of the questions I asked them is what makes you believe, as an American, you are destined to succeed? And that was the first thing I unlocked. There was nothing, they were just told you'll succeed. They painted a wonderful picture of what the future could be for those who are willing to get it. So they believed in the possibility of more. So that was the first thing I realized, because, when I looked at my life, the possibility of more is not a conversation we often had. Like the neighborhood I grew up in, you were more accustomed to seeing people with less than enough than more than enough, and our story was one of you have to really work hard. It was like you felt like you were going to war if you wanted to build wealth. Yet to these other people, it was just the mindset A story told, believed and repeated, with multiple examples of people sharing. So for me, it all begins with a mindset. What is your belief system? If you believe that there's more than enough for you, that belief can fuel you through whatever challenge you go through. So that was, for me, number one the belief system. And then the second thing I started picking up on was I don't know if it was some churches or was it growing up Catholic.

Terence Mugova: 8:04

At some point in time we used to romanticize poverty. We made it seem like poor people were righteous. You know what I'm saying. So, like I'm not greedy, I don't like a lot. So yeah, you're good. But at the same time it was peculiar, because you then find the very same people are saying I don't like a lot. We worked very hard, like we wanted things.

Terence Mugova: 8:26

So it was like a conflict because, subliminally, we looked at money as a bad thing. So that's the other thing that I started asking myself how do I view money? Because how I feel about money is going to determine whether or not I attract it or repel it. So if I see money as this really good thing, that's a product of my service, then each time I make more money it's just a reflection of how much more dedicated I am to serve other people Then I'm going to enjoy making more of it.

Terence Mugova: 8:49

But if I see it as something that I get from cheating people and I realized a lot when I deal with these people who are skilled with their hands, whenever you'd ask them, how much does it cost for what you've just done for me? The first thing that would sometimes come out of the amount is I'm about to tell you a figure, but it's negotiable, and I'm like why are we negotiating before you've even told me the price? It's because we feel like we're stealing, we're taking away from people. So when I started realizing the more we look at money for what it really is and I got this really cool definition of it from a rabbi, and he says money is merely a certificate of performance- and the most objective measure that shows that you are someone who's dedicated to serving other people's problems in a way that they appreciate enough to give you something as a certificate of appreciation.

Terence Mugova: 9:33

So, with that being said, I was like, oh no, that's dope, I can do that. And then there's the aspect of now, from an African perspective, I think when I started the journey, there was lots of these principles that already exist right, save, invest, give all those things. And one thing I've discovered, more recently than anything, is if you're in Africa or in nations like ours, the order matters. The order matters, like if you're building wealth in a country like ours, how you go about it matters. If your focus is on saving, you may actually get frustrated by the saving because you've missed the first step.

Terence Mugova: 10:06

And I think the first step, from what I've noticed, is we must begin to become people who want to make more money. So the first step for us is always how do I make more money? And I think in that is a question of how do I find what's special about me that other people can find value in, and from a Christian lens, that is, what is that aspect of God's creativity that he's given me that makes me unique that I can apply to other people. So if we make more money, then the next step is not saving, it's how do we get really good at spending it.

Terence Mugova: 10:38

You got to really because I think a big part of money is to be enjoyed Absolutely, and I feel like a lot of coaches out there don't emphasize the aspect of enjoying your money. And when I say enjoy your money, it's how can I spend it on things that multiply my existence and make my expression of life the best of my life? So what are the things that would make my life amazing and how can I deprave my money to that, as opposed to putting my money to things? I worked in investment banking and we had this thing called lifestyle creep or lifestyle inflation, where people thought that if you were an investment banker, you need to wear a particular type of suit, you need to be driving a particular type of car.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 11:14

You live in a particular kind and hang out with a good-sized restaurant.

Terence Mugova: 11:16

Exactly I could care less what kind of car I'm driving. When I look at cars I'm like how much can I save on fuel? Because that's not important to me. You get what I'm saying.

Terence Mugova: 11:24

So the risk is always you start doing things to fit into a particular class or please certain people, but that's money going to something that's going to drain you. It takes away from your satisfaction. So you have this appearance of everything as well, but each investment in that area is draining you and, I think, a lot of people. That's how we end up not building the world we want, because we're spending on liabilities that are draining us. And then the third aspect is that's when only savings kicks in, and the way I started looking at savings is how can I put up my money for future spending that I really want to do, that I may not be able to afford right now, or that I may not be aware of that's coming on the horizon, but I want to be prepared for when that comes in. And obviously because I'd seen what had happened in our country. It was a conversation on how do I also prepare myself for these emergencies, because I think it's Liz Brown who says you're either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis or you're headed to a crisis. The last thing you want is to be in a crisis and be broke as well. You know, at least cry about to the ideal life that I want to build.

Terence Mugova: 12:31

Investing then comes in at that particular point in time. So I'm making more. I'm spending it the way I want to spend it. I'm putting it away because I see a future. There's a future I'm chasing and I'd love to be able to be financially able to pursue it, and the best way to accelerate that is to put that money to work right. So I think, from a kingdom lens, is how can I sow this money so it produces for me a harvest? Right? So sowing now begins to say who else is doing amazing things that I can lend my money to help. So stuff like the stock market how can I help support this listed company? How can I help this guy starting a business? And I think one of the best investments is in yourself, and I think we seldom. I loved what you said. I'm going to coach you. I could have a glimpse of it, but I was like this lady is speaking gold.

Terence Mugova: 13:18

What you spoke about investing in going to the Global Leadership Summit. I love that summit right. I dedicate time out of my year to do that, because it is an investment in my personal growth and in awareness of how the world is changing around me and the part I can play. So for me, one of the biggest investments is how can I invest in myself to make myself an even more powerful version of myself? And I don't think we do that enough, because, at the end of the day, it's your uniqueness that people gravitate to, and a talent that's not nurtured or developed is not enough to survive in the world we're in. You'll get things right when the environment is right. When you nurture that talent, you create environments that it always works in.

Terence Mugova: 13:53

So it's that aspect of investing in yourself and I think that's where I started looking at entrepreneurship as one of the key things that will allow you to build the wealth that you are aspiring to. I think it's probably the best way out of all the other ways. That is the best business you will ever get to enjoy or participate is your own, and the conversation is what kind of business is it going to be? Especially, and it has to leverage who you are, and my definition of entrepreneurship is just simply someone who solves a problem in a commercially viable way and we vary in our extent of entrepreneurship in that I may people sometimes call people employees. I think if you've got an entrepreneurial mindset you know that I am serving one customer and my job is to serve my one customer's other customers. So if I can consistently deliver value, I can get to a point where when people see employee, I am an entrepreneur who just prefers not to deal with hundreds of customers directly.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 14:47

I love exactly what you said. I mean, I think that most people, when they think about entrepreneurship, thinks that everyone should be an entrepreneur running a business, and I don't agree with that. Do you think everybody should have an entrepreneurial? 100% For sure.

Terence Mugova: 15:02

Not everyone has the grit to actually be in the trenches and build a business because, let's face it, it's hard, it's extremely hard and I think that's those guys who can go and build out businesses and scale them and, you know, be the person Like. You're not just providing a service but you are now beginning to take care of staff and their needs. There are lots of little pieces that we tend to forget that go beyond your gifts or your skill set. They, in my view, are like the growth entrepreneurs they can take on the pressure, but not all of us are built that way and, like some of our talents are better served in what other people call employee. But you have to have the entrepreneurial mindset. You have to get to a point where you can quantify.

Terence Mugova: 15:40

I did a lecture once at one of these universities and I called it the death of the employee, and I was just looking at just you know the statistics around employees and what's been happening, especially post pandemic, and you find that when you look at levels of engagement, only 14% globally, employees-wise, are engaged at work. So that means 86% are just showing up to get a paycheck and head out right. So the conversation becomes why is that? And for me, I realized that the way we've been brought up in the industrial revolution is that you are component labor. You are told what to do. So when you got a job, or when parents would say, look, I work hard, get a good job it's so that when you've got the job, you've got to the end. Like it's celebration time. Now let's wait for the salary to roll in.

Terence Mugova: 16:23

So, being an employee, the end goal was to get a job. And now I'm at the job. If I need to know what I need to do, my boss needs to tell me. Who pays me? My boss. If there's a training need, who discovers it? My boss. If I mess up, I'm not telling my boss I messed up. He has to discover it. But the answer to all these questions really show you the definition of modern day slavery you have no control over your financial fortune because you are relying on what someone else thinks of you, or even over your gifts and talents.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 16:53

Exactly, yeah, because it's more. I think I have such a different view of fortune. Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily cash. It was, yes, you know so, and I think most people very often get wound up because they can't afford something. All my life I've always said if I can't afford something and I need it, I get it for free and that's a wild man's side right.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 17:17

Yes, if it's important enough, if it's important, out of the way it will come to me because I need it and so, yeah, it's good for the journey, because we're all pilgrims here on earth, yeah, and we all have a purpose. Yes, but most people don't realize it. Most people don't live with a purpose mindset.

Terence Mugova: 17:34

Oh, that's so good. You know, there's this definition of success that one of my coaches uses and I was like this is power. There are many definitions of success and a lot of them get us to a point where we feel stuck in life because we're like, oh, I haven't made this amount of money, so I'm not making a million a year, so I'm useless. But some of those definitions and some people you look at actresses and people earn lots of amounts of money. You'd think they'd be happy, right, or they'd feel successful, but look at the suicide rates that you get there.

Terence Mugova: 17:59

So the definition I got was success is three aspects. So the first thing is discovering your purpose, which means what was I created to do on this earth. And the sweet spot or purpose, it's something that you are good at, it's something that energizes you, so it leverages your passion and, the most important thing, it's something that contributes to other people's lives beneficially. So if I can discover that and the fact that we're saying discover means it exists, you don't have to create it, it exists. Then the second aspect is how do I develop myself for this purpose? So, after having found it, can I develop myself so that I get so good at leveraging these aspects of me that are unique. And as I develop that and get good at it, can I get to a point where I'm so focused on only doing that? Can I dedicate most of the rest of my life to just that? And I think, when you look at that as success, but does it have to be one thing though it, and I think when you look at that as success, but does it have to?

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 18:54

be one thing, though it could be a couple of things, but I think I wouldn't have thought it was one thing. And I also think in life there are seasons and with every season there might come a new purpose, because we're always growing. And again, just because of my worldview I have a very strong Christian worldview. I believe that I'm not even my own. Yes, I'm here, you know exactly, and I've been sent on a mission, master, you know what I mean. Yeah, and I know you what it's. When I need to do it as well. I'm navigating because I've done so many different things in this life and I have no doubt that I'll do more things.

Terence Mugova: 19:30

100, and I think that's part of the whole discovery and develop right that you constantly because, like I, you, he knows in totality. You discover in parts the more you dedicate yourself to that right. When I look at that definition, what I like about it is it allows you to realize that it's not a monetary definition. Wealth is not a conversation around money. It has more to do with can you empty out yourself? Can you take that creativity which is in you and deliver it to as many people in as varied forms as possible, and you don't stop until you fill the earth right? So, whatever that looks like and I think it constantly changes but I think when you are allowing yourself to be submitted to the master's instruction, you're not resistant, like it allows you, allows you to start businesses without money. Yeah, right, yeah. And believe that.

Terence Mugova: 20:16

I remember when we started this business Educate we had money to cover finances for six kids and I had spoken to investors and one of the guys that said we in Zimbabwe, my friend, we've had so many guys who've spoken a big game, who we've trusted, and then they've gone on and just let us down. So we now reward execution more than ideas and I was like, okay, cool, I am going to take this risk. And if seven people had shown up, carol, I would have lost, the business would have shut down. So I really went by faith because at this point and I think that was such an amazing experience early on in the business in that anyone who joined me for the journey became incredibly prayerful because they knew that we needed to pray because what we were betting on, the risks, were so hard Unfortunately, we just got six students come in, wow, and then that was it. And then, you know, schools had to open. But that move alone of faith unlocked funding for the next stage, where someone said you went ahead and started like that and I was like, yeah, and God just came in. I believe that where I am today is just God's grace and his leading. So I've got a kingdom mindset and too much has happened in my life for me to want to take the credit. And I remember after doing that and the guys were like you started, okay, we'll invest in the business. And they invested and we went again and within three months we were on the verge again of saying, if we get one more person, we're in trouble. And God came through again and these were really unconventional ways of raising funding because I had no property. I didn't have. Like I said, you know, you want to start business without money. I had no property. So when you go to a bank, the bank was like, oh, it's an amazing business model, but do you have a house? And I was like, dude, if I had a house, do you think I'd be here right now? But it was just that whole.

Terence Mugova: 22:07

Going back to the conversation, and one of my friends who actually bailed us out to the point where he had to ask his father for help, was like at some point he's like Terrence with what you've built. It feels like you're on the precipice of fear and faith and what you're going to allow to win determines the rest of your years. And I remember coming back home with no money and saying I think I'm going to choose faith because fear kind of sucks. And he just came back and was like yo, I spoke to my dad, we're going to move some money that was meant for my sister's fees over to you and I was like, what are you going to do? And they did that and we continued to grow and I think there's just been so many things where you start realizing that entrepreneurship at its heart. It pushes your belief system in yourself and your willingness to want to add value to yourself. So the financial rewards are great, but what it does to you if you don't give up is remarkable.

Terence Mugova: 23:01

I remember being invited by this organization called Opportunity International to one of the inaugural global education summits. It was because of a relationship I'd established when I was working for another organization and the guys said we heard about you and how you think about funding education, which is very different from most people. Would you kindly come and be a speaker and talk to us about how you are funding education, or your spin to funding education on a tertiary level? I was like, yeah, of course it's in Dubai. Who doesn't want to go to Dubai for free, all expenses paid? I was like I'm there To talk, just talk, right, and I'm there. And it only hits me when I'm sitting in the conference room. But wait, I only have 20 loans for tertiary education. And I'm sitting around bank executives that have millions invested in here and I'm the expert. And I'm like, oh snap, what am I going to say here? And a bit of imposter syndrome wanted to get me. But I was like, hey, I'm already in Dubai, we got to do what we got to do, let's make it happen.

Terence Mugova: 24:01

And I remember growing up and doing my session and I spoke from the heart because that's all I know. I shared my experience of almost being kicked out and why that drives me, and my understanding of the local context and the importance of culture in finance. And if you can understand how culture influences people's decisions, you can actually build products off the intangibles. And I remember there's a lady, british lady, who, prior to my going on, had said I don't believe in this raising money for funding tertiary education financing. And she was the first to raise her hand when it was like Q&A session. I was like, oh man, she's going to murder me. And she's like do you realize? I never looked at it the way you looked at it, but you've just convinced me that this is an area we really need to fundraise for intentionally, because it makes sense Everything you've said. I'd never looked at it from that lens. And this lady from australia says dude, are you familiar with higher purchase? He's like, yeah, I am. And he's like did you just take higher purchase and turn it upside down? He's like like I'm glad you picked that up. He's like, yeah, I took something from that, worked in another industry and got it to work. And he's like, I love the way you think and just like it just sparked an amazing relationship.

Terence Mugova: 25:12

With every other conference, I was either speaking or in the panel and no one cared how big our business was. Right, do you still run Educate? Yeah, well, someone runs it. I help on the product development side, so we've got a CEO that works on the day-to-day Nice. Way better than I did. Yeah, yeah, okay, way better than I did, yeah okay, and they started in Harare so we based in Bali.

Terence Mugova: 25:37

So I moved over. Oh, you moved forward. Like I said, when you start your business without money, a friend of mine showed up. I quit my investment banking job because my dad had said my son, if there's anything that is of most value in this life, it's your name. So anything that goes against or threatens your good name, run away from it. So the bank I worked for got itself in a bit of trouble with the inflation situation in elections and some bad decisions were made and I decided to resign from the job.

Terence Mugova: 26:09

And when I resigned, my friend showed up a couple of weeks later and said Terrence, but you had started innovating in so many different ways, why don't you start a business that helps students get access to good education? I was like, yeah, sounds good, but I think. And he's like do you have a plan after you resign? I was like no, I just resigned because you know what my dad told me about a good name. I was like okay, comes up a few days later. He's like set up a company, would you want to start it? I was like okay, and I looked at my wife and I was like I think it's a good idea, terry.

Terence Mugova: 26:36

So I have a mathematical statistics background, so everything I do has a system and I need to see into the future, so I think also low-key. It's also one of my biggest weaknesses. I desire certainty, so it's also affected my faith walk. So that's one aspect god's really been hammering on me that look, trust in me, not in your models. But then I sat down, spent the whole night working on a model and I quickly realized the amount of money I had in savings was enough for two to three months of business expenses in Harare. Okay.

Terence Mugova: 27:08

But if I moved over to Bloaio I could have anything between six and nine months, and six and nine months felt really good than two to three months. So I told my wife let's move to Bloaio. She's from here and she's like huh. And I said why didn't you say you want to go there when you're much older? She's like yeah, but I think if you guys think it's a good idea to start a business, my mother tells me the best place to do it is in Blah. And she quit her job and we moved over to Blah.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 27:37

I love that Zimbabwe is quite a small country.

Terence Mugova: 27:40

Yeah.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 27:40

Relatively. Victoria is very well known. Oh, yes, yeah, brilliant people. Yes, I mean, I've been only a few days and the people are absolutely lovely. What would you say are some of the best things about this country? Because you're quite well traveled.

Terence Mugova: 27:54

One. I think it's the people. Yeah, we have some of the most resilient people you'll come across in the world, Some of the most friendliest people. We are so community driven, the aspect of greeting each other when we meet and I know we told don't talk to strangers, but I think we missed that memo right so we really love getting to know people and it's something that I think, if we go back to our history, some of the most intelligent folks. If you look at Great Zimbabwe, Great Zimbabwe is a story not told enough of the brilliance of being in Zimbabwe. So you'll find you'll probably find the best engineers in the world from Zimbabwe. You guys come a close second. Let me give you that Maybe the numbers will help you get there. But, like, organizationally also very strong, and I think if you look at just the country itself, small as it may be, has some of the most beautiful landscapes that are not spoken about as they should be. So you've got an amazing human capital.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 28:55

You've got just a natural landscape to die for there's so many places in this country that would wow people.

Terence Mugova: 29:00

Those wow places that you know, people should just hurry up like. Book the tickets, pack the bags if you're in zimbabwe, if you've been, blio matopo's right here is a great place to go. It's like really natural. What is Matopos? For those who don't know? So it's just outside the Blahio and it's got these wonderful. That's where you find the rock paintings. It's got these wonderful camps that you know infuse nature and rock formations. We attempt to go there every year for a vision retreat and we go up this mountain, pomongwe.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 29:26

Okay.

Terence Mugova: 29:27

And just you know, as you go up, use that as a metaphor for overcoming, for couples and all these things. So you've got that. I think I probably get the name wrong, but if you go to Nyanga Vumba, you've seen the Vic Falls. There are places in Wangi Vic Falls for those who don't know is Victoria Falls You're kidding, I'm telling you.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 29:52

Okay, I haven't seen it.

Terence Mugova: 29:53

Yeah, victoria's Falls is just a wonder. It really is a wonder. It's like it's extents the walls of falls, yeah, you can't ignore that. But there's so many places in Zim that if you went to you'd be like is this real, I'm telling you. And then there are lots of private resorts that are more exclusive to the affluent, so we get a lot of prominent personalities that come here and some of the locals we don't even know how nice that place is. So there's people who've found little pockets where, if you are a nature lover, zimbabwe is your country. And then the weather. The weather is amazing, like if you're in Vic.

Terence Mugova: 30:28

Falls, vic Force doesn't know winter we get a little bit of it in Loi, but just the heat, the warmth and all these things. So Zimbabwe is an amazing country and sometimes it hurts me because I feel like we spend so much time focusing on the disturbance and not so much on what's available. And having traveled to these different countries, I've realized that every country has got its issues. But the difference between the countries that get a lot of visitors is the fact that they don't focus on what's going wrong. They celebrate what works. And because they celebrate more, there's this idea of when you focus on abundance, you learn to ignore your lack. When you focus on your lack, you tend to ignore your abundance. That's true and I feel, like Zimbabwe, we get a lot of bad press because we as a people spend too much time focusing on our lack, that we ignore the abundance that could get us out of the lack that we're in. It really is a beautiful country.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 31:17

It is Even just flying in and looking over the landscape. It's amazing. I mean, when we were flying in a few days ago, because I used to do art, I just thought I'd love to just sit and paint. That was what I was thinking, as I, as you know, before we landed beautiful landscape and seascape and it's a landlocked country, interestingly. But you've got lots and lots of lakes yes, extraordinary.

Terence Mugova: 31:42

Yeah, there's so many places to go. Yeah, and I think even for someone who's an art lover, I think even the fashion and arts or the creative economy here is something to marvel at, and I think we're beginning to get more and more of them coming out and being bold about it. I think advances in tech and the fact that geography is just a conversation and not an essential to build your business that's allowing more and more people to get their work known by bigger audiences. I think you're going to really see some amazing stuff come out of our country in the next couple of years.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 32:11

Wow, so first time visitor, would you recommend that they start in Harare or Bulawayo?

Terence Mugova: 32:17

Definitely Bulawayo. Who wants to start in Harare? Who does that guys? Who does that Like? Really no, I definitely didn't. Bulawayo, I think, is such a great starting point Very peaceful and the people are very if you're someone who likes creative environments very creative, very musical, and I think there's a lot to see I think you'll get to, and I think I don't know if you guys have been driving here, but the roads are a lot wider. It's easier to sort of see things. So I think it's a great starting point because it's chilled, but it gives you an appreciation of what city life looks like, gives you an idea of what business could look like. We've got a lot of education institutions around us and that means you'll meet more and more people who are navigating the future better here and then you can go to the bigger city which is Harare, because it's a bit busier, I think, if you're from.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 33:10

Lagos. Maybe Harare may be up to your speed, because it may feel like it's.

Terence Mugova: 33:12

I mean from London for me that's yeah, yeah, yeah.

Terence Mugova: 33:14

So Harare, yeah, harare. I think the way the country's been configured, harare is where a lot of the decisions are made, because a lot of the head offices are there and tend to find people want to navigate. You know how everyone wants to go to the bigger city. So, in terms of being an economic engine, you'll probably get a lot more people believing that they can get their best shot, and it's been nice to see how the city's been transforming, because a lot of modern architecture is beginning to come in. I think there are lots of sons and daughters who left initially thinking the UK was a better haven for them, or the US or Canada, who are realizing that maybe the best they can do is middle class, but if they come with what they've learned and the exposure that they have and applied here, they can build reasonable wealth for themselves. So we're beginning to see a lot of people come back home and invest in things like agriculture, mining, you know, the digital economy, and that's changing the landscape.

Terence Mugova: 34:08

Some of the houses, some of the buildings. It's amazing to see. There are places where I go to and I feel like have I just stepped into New York? Have I stepped into Italy? You know? Really nice. You're beginning to see people come and take the good stuff that they learned overseas or wherever they were and apply it at home, which has been a nice thing. To see that more and more people, as opposed to making money here to spend it outside, they are making money from all over the place and beginning to invest some of it back home. And yeah, let's see if it continues to scale and change the narrative for everyone.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 34:39

Yeah, I do have to say if there's one thing I've been really impressed with, as you were speaking of agriculture, it occurred to me that your soil is so fertile, it is Because the fruits and vegetables, I mean we've seen even the most incredible gardens and farms and, of course, the country is very mineral rich. I wish we could carry on talking. We do have to draw this to a close, but just before we finish, all good things must come to an end. Can you tell us what you're working on? What excites you? These days.

Terence Mugova: 35:13

So right now, the mission I'm on really in helping people discover their talents in a way that allows them to unleash them, to add value to as many people as possible and build wealth for themselves. So I think that has been my expression how, how do I take what's unique about you and use that to build tremendous amounts of wealth? That's now forced me to start thinking around writing books, building assessments to sort of help people determine where diagnosed where they are in life and what are the strategic moves that they need to be on, and just creating a lot of material around financial literacy, performance improvements. That's exciting me now.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 35:48

And how can people find you?

Terence Mugova: 35:49

We've got a YouTube channel called Now Educated ZW, so that's where we're sort of sharing conversations and ideas on what we're doing, and they can check me out on my LinkedIn Terrence McGuire, my name. I've really spent, I've dedicated myself to sort of use that as a channel to sort of articulate my view of the world and what I'm working on. I think those would probably be the most active platforms I'm on here.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 36:11

Nice. Yeah, honestly, terrence, it's been such a pleasure chatting to you. Fellow traveler, pilgrim here on earth, yeah, world changer, trying to make a difference in as many ways as possible and to as many people as possible. Thank you so much for joining me.

Terence Mugova: 36:24

No, it has been a plumb pleasing pleasure and thank you for coming to our shows.

AmickyCarol Akiwumi MBE: 36:28

Oh, you're very welcome. All the best. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of World Changes Podcast. I hope you're feeling as inspired as I am by today's conversation. Remember the power to create changes within each of us. If you were inspired by today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review. It really helps to spread the word and inspire even more world changers. And be sure to follow us on social media at World Changers PC for updates, behind the scenes content and more inspiring stories.

Humanise Live: 37:02

Until next time, keep exploring keep making a difference and remember you can be a world changer. Visit theavocadofoundationorg to find out more about how the Avocado Foundation is tackling global inequality through education, stewardship and financial literacy.