Molly Jensen

Molly Jensen Speaking Topics

• The African Opportunity

  Living in Kenya for 4 years, Molly has worked in the audio space• specifically podcasting, and has been instrumental to the advancement of the industry alongside some of the most important and exciting names in audio on the continent. With business on the continent, and as Africa is the fastest digital growing market in the world, there is an inspiring story of entrepreneurship, innovation, and disruption across nearly all vertical.

• Podcasting in Africa

  Africa is a continent of rich orated history and with it being the fastest growing digital market in the world, it made sense that podcasting would be a natural fit. African people are natural storytellers and orators and I believe there is nothing more fundamental to the DNA of African people than telling stories. Podcasting gives African people the ability to tell stories their way, capture & memorialize language, and digitally take up space as they previously may not have been able to before. With radio being the most consumed medium on the continent, and its rich history as a staple in society, it’s exciting that with digital opportunities the audience to capture potentially becomes much bigger. At Afripods, it is a way that we can contribute to building the ecosystem of sharing narratives, educating people, and being leaders in a new medium while keeping our north star creating the opportunity for African people to take up as much space as possible while also seeing African people getting paid for their work.

The Global Audio Climate, with a focus on Africa

There are many barriers to entry on any digital platform in Africa. Podcasting needs technology, electricity and space. You face that in any type of digital first role but there is an abundance of opportunity when it comes to those who are entering the audio space.

From research available from the continent, it shows that some barriers to entry are due to market constraints, ie. Internet stability, price of internet is still most unaffordable in the world and according to research from AIA (Affordable Internet Alliance), bandwidth, and storage limitations. As the internet becomes more affordable, I think we will see Africa continue to take up more space globally from a digital front across all mediums. Podcasting is unique in the sense that a creator can have and start a successful podcast only with their phone. That said, some creators prefer to have access to a studio or choose to build their own. In the event a creator is renting a studio space, there are some constraints if they don’t live close to the studio or can’t afford it. Additionally, if a creator prefers to buy the equipment to build their own studio, there may be specific pieces of equipment they would like to purchase that have to be shipped in, or are unaffordable in terms of price.

In Africa, there are quite a few players who focus on research or content creation but at Afripods we focus on the technical infrastructure which positions us as the leading platform capturing market share in the region solely focused on the continent. According to research, podcasting is still globally seen as an elite activity with global research showing most podcast listeners are college educated, well traveled and highly curious. I believe as we get more information and research on the continent, we will continue to build data to support the rise of the digital medium which we are experiencing firsthand on the ground.

The opportunities for digital in Africa are abundant and as a continent I believe governments and businesses need to create more free digital spaces available for people to use. For regions where podcasting is still emerging as a new digital media, I think traditional media has an opportunity to be at the forefront of growth while being an ally to those creators who may have not felt seen by big business before. For places where podcasting is more developed, I specifically believe we can continue to advocate for creators to capture advertising opportunities.

New Media & Digital Transformation in Africa and Emerging Markets

We’re seeing many creators begin their podcasting journey as an additional vertical in the digitization of their personal brands. You have creators who were previously in radio now stepping into podcasting and becoming incredibly successful in it, like The Mics Are Open. You are seeing podcasters use their content to help them get to the TED stage like The Spread, and you are even seeing creators who have YouTube brands enter podcasting like Over 25. You see journalists pivot their interviews into podcasts like Afrobeats Intelligence.

Cross disciplinary creators are leveraging the strong opportunity for the continent but it’s not just podcasters who are entering the space as creatives. Creatives are leveraging as many digital opportunities as possible in order to create a strong personal brand that remains digital first in order to maximize the ability they have to generate value as well as financial opportunities. There are businesses who are using the digital transformation opportunity to attract new audiences, businesses who are creating content and people who are engaging with the content. Afripods leverages the open environment of podcasting to build a robust library of stories from the continent & diaspora to help establish the cultural exchange of people from all aspects who can learn and listen to new thought leaders. It creates the opportunity to learn from across borders and get access directly to creators on the continent. Afripods is setting the stage for what podcasting might become in Africa in alignment with what the podcasters want to achieve.

It’s exciting to see creative people play in new spaces, create audiences in each of those verticals and become true multidisciplinary artists in their own right.

Empathy and Leadership

Trained at 6 Six Seconds, the leader in emotional intelligence data and certified as an EQ Assessor and EQ practitioner. Molly can speak on how to make EQ practical and applicable to work environments as well as how to engage with staff to get the best productivity out of your team. With a special interest in neuroplasticity, Molly has been able to effectively become a better and more empathetic leader.

She has additionally attended events with Jon Kabat Zinn at Lincoln Center and Daniel Goleman at the UN in NYC.