Meet Mungi Ngomane | Author, Public Speaker, Activist and Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mungi Ngomane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mungi, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
Progress is not linear. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard but I don’t think I actually listened to it until recently. I thought for the last 15-16 years that I would be a diplomat and I got my Master’s in diplomacy but then Trump was elected and I had to acknowledge I would be the worst diplomat in that instance. I had always felt lucky to have known from a young age what I was meant to do and this moment was sort of an “oh my god what next”. While I was in this “uh oh” moment someone, who turned out to be my book editor, reached out to me and wanted to explore a book on the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu. The book put me on a course that I never saw could be mine and it came in the midst of what I would have at the time considered a major setback. BUT without this setback I don’t think I would have agreed to write a book and to do the work I get to do now. My progress has not been linear but it has still happened.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work is still a work-in-progress. I remember people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up and in addition to being a diplomat, I used to answer that I didn’t think my job had been created yet. I still believe that. I’m an author with too many book ideas in my head, one draft on paper and switch day to day from facilitating workshops on Ubuntu to speaking at events, project managing for philanthropic organisations to agreeing to do anything that may be part of my soul work.

I’ve spent the last decade thinking I need to have it all figured out and that my work needs to look like those who came before me but I am proud to finally realise it can be my own. I’m excited to finally live into my purpose. It has not been easy, I’ve felt like I have gone two steps forward and then two steps back, I’ve left jobs after less than two years and I’ve started and stopped projects when they did not align. Today those things that people view as quitting but once I know something is not for me, I do not have time to pretend. It is difficult to give up but I am allowing space for what I believe is meant to be.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My friends know I’m a homebody so most of the time would be spent at my place on the couch watching Real Housewives, Traitors, or a British murder mystery. When I do go out I mostly likely to frequent the same places because you get taken care of and you know you won’t get disappointed. I love living in Buckhead because I can walk to my workouts, to my favourite restaurants and shops, I gave up my car during Covid and am not ready to start driving yet.

I would start the day at Barry’s to get in a workout before brunch at Le Bilboquet. After Le B, I would pick up an iced matcha from St. Germain and then do some shopping in Buckhead Village. You don’t have to go far and can go to Le B’s sister restaurant, Le Colonial, for dinner or go to Umi for sushi.

Buckhead clearly isn’t the only restaurant so dinner in Inman Park (MF Sushi is the best) is always good because you’re basically only the Beltline with lots of places to go to.

And if you’re looking for some treatments, go to Ellemes Med Spa where Lauren and her team will make sure you leave looking refreshed and with healthier skin.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a South African who was raised with Ubuntu as a principle and personal philosophy, there are A LOT of people who deserve recognition in my story. To save your readers from a very long answer I will give my shout out to one person though, my mom. She has been a constant in all the moments of my life, she has advised me through the difficult, encouraged me through the new, celebrated me through the good and laughed with me through the silly. I am who I am because what she has taught me and how she chose to raise me. She knew how the world stamped on Black girls and their magic and has made sure to never do that to me even when I have been a difficult teenager. She deserves all the credit I can give.

Website: https://mungingomane.co/

Instagram: @mungi.ngomane

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/mungingomane/