Podcast points to creator Gugulethu Nyatsumba’s bright future

FOR THE past two months, the After School is After School with Sis G.U podcast has remained in the top 10 charts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Over the past two weeks, the podcast has achieved the number one spot on the charts, showing consistency and an increase in listeners.

Host Gugulethu Nyatsumba, 24, is a full-time content creator from Durban that also runs the Uncomfortable Growth Youtube channel.

Nyatsumba began her podcast in November after she shared conversations with friends on video, via her Youtube channel.

“I got many comments from people, saying they enjoyed hearing my voice and they encouraged me to go on to radio,” she said.

“I realised there was a market for podcasts by South Africans and thought, why not translate my conversations on video into a podcast,” she added.

“The transition made a lot of sense to me. I wanted my podcast to act as a demo for when I decide to move into the radio space.”

After School is After School with Sis G.U is a podcast where Nyatsumba shares honest conversations about the battles she experiences in her twenties.

Some of her episode topics include dealing with people pleaser syndrome, hustling, boundaries and navigating sex.

Nyatsumba said the name was derived from memories she had during her primary and high school career.

“When someone used to tell you that ‘after school is after school’ it meant that something was happening after school,” she said.

She added: “It means it’s going down. It could have meant that a fight or a confrontation was going to take place, but it meant that something was happening.”

“After school was always something to look forward to. It’s where, as kids, we would let loose and let go.”

The podcast host said she wanted to create a podcast that was a safe space.

“I wanted it to be a space for real, unfiltered conversations, where I could say the things that I want to speak about. Eliminating the camera does that for me,” she said.

“I wanted it to have the feeling of, school’s out, work’s out; let us have real conversations.”

Nyatsumba said her experience or struggles inspired her content.

“I pray over the topics and I feel that through prayer, I get an answer or inspiration,” she said.

“The podcast has a lot to do with the internal conversations that I have with myself,” she added.

She records her podcast episodes herself. Kelvin Chilezi, the sound engineer, edits each episode.

Her advice to people in their twenties facing challenges in their lives is to start living and stop being afraid.

“You have the rest of your life ahead of you. Your twenties are for being selfish, discovering yourself and having fun responsibly,” she said.

In future, she would like the podcast to become a radio station.

“I would like to live stream it and have different shows throughout the day with different hosts. If I could bypass radio and create my platform, that would be a dream come true.”