Be a Pioneer. Be a Weed. | Lizz Mhangami | HUMHR Career Insights
Be a Pioneer. Be a Weed. | Part 2 | Elizabeth Mhangami Be a pioneer. Be a weed. Weeds survive where other plants cannot. Dandelions are food. Being a weed is not a consolation — it is a strategy. In Part 2, Elizabeth Mhangami, Principal Consultant at NDISU and founder of Vanavevhu (V² Enterprises), joins Batje Chibafa in studio for a conversation about building a career on your own terms. They go deep on entrepreneurship as a deliberate identity, what donor consulting actually looks like in practice, and why return-to-office mandates are not just a preference debate — they are a career equity issue. Elizabeth also calls out the inner critic work that nobody wants to talk about, and shares the coaching turning point that changed how she saw herself. This episode covers why letting certain jobs go might be the best move you ever make, the weed metaphor from permaculture that reframes everything, and the line that will stay with you: ”If you need to see me physically to consider me for a promotion, there is a misalignment there already.” Part 1 covers the AI hiring crisis and the 172-application story. Listen to both. HUMHR Career Insights is hosted by Batje Chibafa, Certified Professional Career Coach and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach. Listeners in 20+ countries.
Be a Pioneer. Be a weed. Weeds survive where other plants cannot. Dandelions are food. Being a weed is not a consolation — it is a strategy.
In Part 2, Elizabeth Mhangami goes deeper on what it really means to build a career on your own terms: entrepreneurship as a mindset, the donor consulting model that works without a pocket of donors, why return-to-office mandates are a career equity issue, and the self-worth conversation that changed everything.
What we cover in Part 2:
- Why letting the jobs go might be the best career move you ever make
- What Elizabeth actually does as a donor consultant — it is not a pocket full of donors
- The weed metaphor that will change how you think about your career
- Why return-to-office is a career equity issue, not just a preference
- "If you need to see me to consider me for a promotion, there is a misalignment there already"
- No one treats you worse than you treat yourself — the inner critic work
- The coaching turning point: cortisol, inflammation, and finally trusting what you were seeing
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Follow HUMHR on Instagram: @humhr2021 | humhr.org