From 300 Rejection Letters to Building Entrepreneurs Across Africa | Anisha Mordaunt
Grab a Coffee
258 views
She searched “we regret to” in her inbox—and 300 emails appeared.
She once hid behind a barista station so an old classmate wouldn’t recognise her. And she grew up watching her grandmother run a nursing clinic with remarkable skill, but without knowing how to make it work as a business.
In this episode of Grab a Coffee, I sit down with Anisha Mordaunt, founder of AfriBao, to talk about the two years of unemployment that shaped her, whether entrepreneurship can genuinely help solve unemployment in South Africa, and the question she asks every founder she works with:
“If your business closed down tomorrow, what would the world actually lose?”
▫️We talk about her grandmother’s clinic,
▫️the belief that you need significant capital to start a business,
▫️why collaboration matters when small businesses are trying to grow,
▫️and why Anisha believes we need to build the founder before we build the business.
We also trace the journey that brought her here—from leaving medical school and struggling to find work to corporate life, entrepreneurship and eventually finding the work that makes her come alive.
If you’re building a business, reconsidering your career or trying to find the work that lights you up, this conversation is for you.
Get in touch with Anisha here: www.afribao.com
🔹️Subscribe to Grab a Coffee for more honest conversations about work, identity, entrepreneurship and navigating seasons of change🎙☕️
#Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #GrabACoffee
00:00 Cold Open: The Highlights
00:34 The Confession
01:04 Meet Anisha Mordaunt
01:31 "Ni Hao" & Confessions of an Introvert
02:29 Miss Academic Colors to Dropping Out of Med School
04:24 300 Rejection Letters
05:22 Hiding From an Old Classmate
08:09 Her Grandmother's Clinic
12:34 Building AfriBao: What Problem Are We Solving?
16:27 Can Entrepreneurship Solve Unemployment?
18:21 Starting a Business With Nothing
20:47 If I Were Minister of Small Business
23:14 Funding, Grants & Real Problems
24:45 Why Township Businesses Don't Scale
26:53 The Khayelitsha Cookies & Corporate Loyalty
28:56 A Faith-Anchored Business
30:27 What Sparks Joy: Her Daughter
33:20 What Does the World Have to Lose?
34:44 Where to Find Anisha
2 Comments
From 300 Rejection Letters to Building Entrepreneurs Across Africa | Anisha Mordaunt
Grab a Coffee
258 views
She searched “we regret to” in her inbox—and 300 emails appeared.
She once hid behind a barista station so an old classmate wouldn’t recognise her. And she grew up watching her grandmother run a nursing clinic with remarkable skill, but without knowing how to make it work as a business.
In this episode of Grab a Coffee, I sit down with Anisha Mordaunt, founder of AfriBao, to talk about the two years of unemployment that shaped her, whether entrepreneurship can genuinely help solve unemployment in South Africa, and the question she asks every founder she works with:
“If your business closed down tomorrow, what would the world actually lose?”
▫️We talk about her grandmother’s clinic,
▫️the belief that you need significant capital to start a business,
▫️why collaboration matters when small businesses are trying to grow,
▫️and why Anisha believes we need to build the founder before we build the business.
We also trace the journey that brought her here—from leaving medical school and struggling to find work to corporate life, entrepreneurship and eventually finding the work that makes her come alive.
If you’re building a business, reconsidering your career or trying to find the work that lights you up, this conversation is for you.
Get in touch with Anisha here: www.afribao.com
🔹️Subscribe to Grab a Coffee for more honest conversations about work, identity, entrepreneurship and navigating seasons of change🎙☕️
#Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #GrabACoffee
00:00 Cold Open: The Highlights
00:34 The Confession
01:04 Meet Anisha Mordaunt
01:31 "Ni Hao" & Confessions of an Introvert
02:29 Miss Academic Colors to Dropping Out of Med School
04:24 300 Rejection Letters
05:22 Hiding From an Old Classmate
08:09 Her Grandmother's Clinic
12:34 Building AfriBao: What Problem Are We Solving?
16:27 Can Entrepreneurship Solve Unemployment?
18:21 Starting a Business With Nothing
20:47 If I Were Minister of Small Business
23:14 Funding, Grants & Real Problems
24:45 Why Township Businesses Don't Scale
26:53 The Khayelitsha Cookies & Corporate Loyalty
28:56 A Faith-Anchored Business
30:27 What Sparks Joy: Her Daughter
33:20 What Does the World Have to Lose?
34:44 Where to Find Anisha