In conversation 76, Ayo Ojo, known as The Fashion Roadman shares his unique journey into the fashion industry, discussing how he stumbled into fashion, the challenges facing London Fashion Week, and the evolving landscape of fashion journalism.

In this conversation, Simon shares his journey from journalism to public relations, beginning his career as a TV reporter for the BBC and then later a correspondent for the Financial Times. Simon discusses the evolving nature of crisis communication, the role of citizen journalists, and the skills necessary for effective communication in today's fast-paced world. Buckby also reflects on his experiences living and working in emerging markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead in these regions.

Austin is the co-Founder of Interscribe Global Communications Agency, which helps leaders navigate the complex intersection of politics and communications. He’s also an international election observer who's spent the last decade working across emerging democracies. His experience has taken him from observing elections in Albania and Georgia to working with global NGOs, think tanks, and advocacy groups on strategic communications challenges.

Alison Rehill-Erguven CEO of Cenomi Centers. What Emaar is to Dubai, what Westfield is to London, or Simon Property Group is to the US, Cenomi Centers is to Saudi Arabia. Her role is to bring strategic growth and transformation to Cenomi Centers' portfolio, which reaches over 80% of the Saudi population. Alison is leading the way for malls to be more than just malls in the kingdom, to be called “contemporary lifestyle centers” rather than malls with refined dining, better building materials used, a higher spec on design, internationally IP led entertainment, VIP lounges, personal shopping, and valet drop offs. To do this, she oversees development, operations, marketing, and asset management functions.

Russian born, Inga Rubenstein is also American. She’s St. Petersburg, turned New York City, turned fashion model, turned ardent art connoisseur. I first met Inga in Florence, Italy by chance and have admired her style, and the way she holds herself in a reserved manner. In this episode we talk about her life in Russia, modeling, NY, art, and her philanthropic work.

Mary Senkowska is an international entrepreneur, executive coach, and single mother who has built her career bridging continents and cultures. As the founder of Creative Brain, she has spent eight years developing leadership programs for executives across 90+ nationalities, from her bases in the Netherlands, Malaysia, New York and now Poland. Mary's work focuses on the intersection of emotional intelligence and high-performance leadership, helping executives navigate uncertainty.

Sebastian Norena is a hospitality executive, and his body of work includes experience in both major cities and international markets to generate successful and impactful brand messaging and revenue, that drive initiatives for his portfolio of clients.

Pierre Houssney is a Lebanese-American who has been in full time ministry with Horizons International (a mission organization founded by his father Georges). He leads a team of nationals and missionaries, running centers of evangelism and discipleship throughout Lebanon, as well as a school for refugee children and the Middle East Center for World Missions. I met Pierre in 2018 when I moved to Beirut and started serving with Horizons. In this episode we discuss the current need in Lebanon and how Horizons is responding to that need.

Matthew A. Swift is the Co-Founder, President & CEO of Concordia. Matthew has grown Concordia into the leading nonpartisan global affairs membership organization dedicated to forming innovative cross-sector partnerships that address the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time. Matthew has led conversations with preeminent world figures from U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden; President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe; The Carlyle Group Inc. Co-Founder David Rubenstein; former White House Advisor Ivanka Trump; her husband Jared Kushner; and Uber (NYSE: UBER) CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi. Concordia’s summits have been held in New York City, Miami, Bogotá, Athens, Madrid, London, Porto, and Guyana.

During this year’s Cannes Film Festival, I met Alessandro Sugar and Andrea Fabrizii- as well as Alessandro’s siblings. Both Alessandro and Andrea are part of CAM Sugar, a catalogue that represents Italian and French soundtracks, with over 2,000 original scores.

With a dual calling in fashion and the ministry, Zimbabwean born Vickie Samushonga works with fashion designers between Africa and India, connecting designers with manufacturers, fashion weeks, and exhibitions. In this episode she opens up about her journey in both fields, what African designers need most, and what India offers the fashion industry.

Yi-Hwa Hanna is an author and editor of a Middle East edition of a leading global travel magazine brand, based in Dubai. In this episode she talks about her journey in media, how to navigate through the rough media climate, and the ways to pitch to an editor.

Shohreh Aghdashloo is an Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated actress. In this episode Shohreh and I talk about her newest film Still Smiling, a film about domestic violence- a topic that she’s passionate about, we talk about her early life in Iran, and what she’s working on.

Tessy Antony de Nassau is a Wife, Mother, Social Entrepreneur, Business Woman, Philanthropist, Military Veteran, Public Speaker, Activist, and Co-Founder of a fashion brand.

Rebecca is the founder of Radical Radiance® - a podcast community where listeners are equipped to blend what they love with Jesus, who makes them shine. The episode centers around her new book “It’s Not Too Late,” where she unpacks how to deal with the experience of longing, whether that be for a spouse or a child, for a healing in a broken relationship, or for a clearer direction in our calling. Because of this waiting, we can fall into resentment about what we lack—or we can see our unmet desires as an invitation to draw closer to a trustworthy God.

Keni is a multi-talented media personality, philanthropist, film industry investor, woman empowerment activist and speaker, model, entrepreneur and certified divorce coach. In this episode we talk about her new book “Divorce As An Opportunity," a comprehensive guidebook empowering women to navigate divorce successfully and challenging the traditional narratives surrounding separation.

Nelson L. Schuman is an author, teacher, speaker, and founder and president of Restored To Freedom located near Dallas, TX. Before he does what, he does now, Nelson was successful in the banking world. But through family challenges, God guided him into full time ministry: helping people get free from soul wounds. Nelson’s focus is the restoration of lives and marriages, specifically helping people get healed from their past soul wounds and delivered from demonic strongholds. In this episode we talk about his calling and journey into inner healing, what inner healing is, how one can hear from God, and much more.

As a licensed clinical professional counselor with advanced specialized training in trauma care, Eliza Huie has just published a new book “Trauma Aware.” We chat about her work in equipping and training church leaders in how to deal with trauma, she explains how to deal with friends that may have trauma, and she outlines examples of trauma in the Bible. Enjoy this podcast episode with Eliza.

Since 2013, Sara Murad has been a media presenter in the Middle East. She’s a Senior TV Presenter on MBC 1 and a founder of her own fragrance brand, By Sara Murad. In this episode we talk about her country of Saudi Arabia’s bourgeoning growth, her work in media, her fragrance brand, and she gives advice to women about discerning the right man.

The Country Music singer opens up about his turnaround career as an independent artist at the 2025 C2C Music Festival in London.