Your Happy Hour - Global Peace Practice

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Welcome back to Your Happy Hour with Friday Feels!This week, we engaged in an enlightening conversation with Tshiamo Maseko Poisson - a Catalyst Coach, Global Peace Practice leader and founder of the Sankofa Feel Tank - a beautiful blend of thought leadership, coaching, indigenous wisdom, spirituality, and divine feminine principles to support conscious leadership. Tshiamo shared her journey from a corporate lawyer to now working towards helping others cultivate inner peace as a pathway to global harmony, embracing the significance of presence over performance and fostering true connections that lead with heart, wisdom, and integrity.How are you showing up in the contracts you engage in this week? Friday Feels is all about having those honest conversations, the power of community for personal growth and taking those actionable steps towards being our authentic selves.Thanks for tuning in! Keep it raw and real out there xYHH is produced by swartkat.co - captured via riverside.fm & shared via rss.com.

It's the Friday feels and we're back with your first sip of the weekend. You're now tuned in to this week's episode of your happy hour. I'm your host Nicole Carmine and it's amazing to have you here joining me this week as we uncover the truths about being a human and a working professional. What are you up to this Friday? Well whatever it is, this moment is just for you. It is week two of our theme, Contracting with Kindness. And I could not be happier to have an amazing guest join me today to delve into this topic a little bit further.

Um, you know, on my travels, I've specifically not been seeking out South Africans. Uh, no offense to the fellow Saf Safas out there, but I've always wanted to experience a bit of a local authentic culture and experience, integrate along the way and just let new things come to me, so avoid getting into familiar mindsets that I knew back home. And I never met one South African on all my travels in two and a half years of being away from South Africa until I came to Paris. And then it seemed like South Africans were finding me and we were finding each other in weird and wonderful ways. And today's lovely lady is someone that I got the pleasure of meeting in an interesting way at a conference that I didn't expect to go to about being a speaker. It was presented by JT Fox who hosted like a one-time event

in Paris. And so here we are. And a big welcome to the Friday Field Space, the Your Happy Hour podcast. You feel like family already and you are a bit like family to me in Paris. So a big, big welcome. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for having me, Nicole. I'm happy to be here. So you and I have chatted a lot about a few things. I've also had the pleasure of being one of your clients as a coachee, one of your coaching sessions,

which was amazing. And we've hosted an event together, which was just beautiful, the first divine woman in wine night here in Paris, which became such a special like soul sharing experience for me as well. Maybe you want to take us just a little bit on your journey of like how did you get to the place where you are now as I know a catalyst coach. I love that you refer to yourself as the shapeshifter, a wisdom weaver, all sorts of things but I know you haven't really walked just that path that's kind of been a journey to this point so maybe just tell us a little bit about that and then also what this topic means to you I know today we said we'd speak about global peace practice in relation to contracting with kindness with the world so yeah. Well that's you know it's always

difficult to try and put your path into a couple of words, but as you said, I'm South African, born and bred in South Africa. I am a lawyer by profession, French qualified lawyer. I've spent the last 12 years working and advising the corporate space, governments, NGOs across the continent in Africa on, you know, kind of business law, policy reform, economic policy and having done that for as I said more than a decade I have gotten to the point in my life where I felt the calling to a shift to continue to be working with people with the corporate space

and eventually in the government space as well but working as a coach and providing I like to say kind of conscious inspired coaching and training to these spaces and to people that allow them to to these spaces and to people that allow them to show up in a different way in the world. Oh, I love that. Thank you for sharing. And I know you're also a bit of a global citizen, so I know you're from South Africa, but you have lived in different places and you've had quite a journey being a bit of a nomad in some way. What are all the places you've stayed? So yeah, I am quite a nomad and I've really gotten into it. I love traveling. As I say, I'm South African, born and bred in Johannesburg. I'm actually from Alexandra Township. And my first experience of living overseas was when I was 12 years old. My mom, who was working in community development in Alexandra,

got a scholarship to study in the US. At the time, she had just, my parents had just gotten divorced, and she said to, you know, the organization that was offering her the scholarship, I can't leave my kids behind because we're going through, my family is just kind of like upside down and that would be too much so either they go or I don't go and they actually took us all, my mom and her three kids to the USA. I was 12 at the time and so in I think was between 1995 and 1997 which was junior high you know 12 to 14 years old, we lived in Boston, Massachusetts.

And coming from anywhere at that age, but really South Africa, which had been a country that was very closed for a long time, the world just opened up and that experience really taught us being me and my siblings, because we've all traveled extensively since, that we could actually live anywhere we wanted in the world and that we didn't have to be limited to South Africa You know and since then after the two years went back home continued to my schooling at the end of my studies or my trick I just I decided I wanted to come study in France and that's because I was passionate about working on the continent and Doing things on a regional African level and half of Africa's Francophone with a couple of Portuguese pockets and I had been studying French for seven years formally

And so I was like I'm going to France to acquire the language and to get a degree while I'm at it You know, so I ended up coming to France after school, to Matric, for 10 plus years. Ended up staying, was supposed to be for two years, ended up, life happens and ended up staying in France. After that experience I came back to South Africa and then I met someone, a French man of course, and ended up starting to kind of discover the continent which is something I had always wanted to do. From South Africa we moved to the DRC Congo together and spent about three years there then we moved to Mozambique and spent five years there and at the moment I am actually in in Paris, France with my family and my husband and we are here for the moment.

So yeah, this is where we are for now. Yeah. I love how you say for now and that you keep the door open for wherever the universe is going to shift you next. That's amazing and I think it's just quite hilarious that you went and met a French man in South Africa but I guess the universe has its own ways in that. But today we're talking about contracting with kindness and I was more thinking about it from your coaching and the work you're doing now. But in a way it's actually beautiful how before you were even contracting with kindness through you know legal contracts, legal ways of being, advising and all of that. So what is contracting

with kindness, what has it meant for you and what does it mean for you now? Has that maybe changed or yeah just a little bit about that. You know I've been thinking about the subject and contracting with kindness, you know, often when we think about contracts and as someone, you know, who's worked in the legal space as a lawyer and even people when you think about contracting or contracts, it's something that tends to feel limiting contracting, you know, putting us in the box, rules, regulations, and though that is very, very true, contracting also is at the base has been put in place to allow for individuals to be able to interact with each other, be able to live in harmony with each other.

And so really for me the foundation of contracting has always been something that comes to kind of reinforce the idea of harmony and living together, collaborating, you know, even though it doesn't always feel that way, but that is definitely the intention. And whether I was doing that within, within you know a framework of being a lawyer who was advising again you know corporates or even individuals or anything like that or today the work that I'm doing as you say as a coach where I'm again working with individuals, working in the corporate space and eventually with governments. The idea is, you know, there is, in first year law we learn about like the social contract, which is this idea that there is, that we're

all living together and occupying this world and this space, you know, as human beings. And there are certain unwritten obligations and advantages that we all benefit from and are required of. So that is kind of like the basis of living in harmony in society and I think that we take that also into our contracting more legally and otherwise relationships where we are now trying to find a middle ground and a compromise and I think when we bring in the kindness aspect is rather than looking at you know contracting whether as I gain a social contract or a work contract you know but looking at it less from the idea of rules and regulations that are coming to stifle but rather remembering that we are trying to create

a win-win situation and for everyone to thrive and I think that's where the kindness comes in and remembering that you know in the same way that you're looking to get something somebody else is and it doesn't have to be a how can I get more and take from you, but rather how can we both coexist and both get as much as what we need within this framework, you know. I think that's where the Contracting with Kindness would differ from the traditional idea of what people think contracting is about and doesn't really always have to be. I don't know if that makes sense. Yeah it does and you know I've also kind of walked a little bit of a journey in realizing that myself and always

trying to fight the legal system in a way like not wanting to have to do all that admin but it's so beautiful and important because really what it's saying is through a contract you're telling the universe who you are, what you want and you're interacting with another human being in that way and another soul and so I've come to appreciate that but I really appreciate also how you're able to kind of weave this golden thread through your life of working in harmony with other people in whatever you're doing. And so I know that you're busy doing something really cool as well that you can maybe tell

us a little bit more about that you're creating kind of like a capsule. I want to call it a capsule, a bit of an oxygen tank, for lack of a better word, a space where people can come and hold space for each other and live in harmony and contract with kindness. So I think you know what I'm referring to. But I want to give you the space to share what it is that you're working on and how did you feel that you come to the space of contracting with kindness and what you'd like to share with people through that? You're talking about this project which is called the Global Peace Practice, GPP, and it's the Global Peace Practice, hashtag be the change and it's really for me this project is the foundation of the

work that I'm doing today because when I when it became clear that this was kind of the route that my life was coming to becoming a coach and working with people and no longer having kind of my spiritual life and way of being as something that I kind of live my life around but then have pockets of like work and all this other stuff around and being able to realize that that was something that was an integral part of who I am and how I wanted to to live my life and what I wanted to spend my time doing and offering I wanted to be giving and this all kind of you know becoming clear to me. It took time. Very soon after that this idea of this global peace practice came to me because it was kind of post the beginning of the Middle

Eastern War in end of 2023, 2020, you know, throughout 2024. And I was thinking about how does how do we reach, you know, global peace and whether it was through the that that war or the many other conflicts that you know, we're facing at the moment, or personal conflicts that we face on a personal level every day, I was thinking, how do we get to a place of peace and global peace? And this is a question that's definitely not

the one that I'm the only person asking. This is a common question that we ask ourselves often. How do we get there? And I was thinking, if I had to go ask a guru what would they say and it came to me after kind of meditating on it that every guru would say start with yourself and when I got to that you know and they have said if you do check out you know kind of spiritual texts or even, you know, spiritual teachers on YouTube or anywhere else, that's probably what you find. Start with yourself. And though

it seems exciting to kind of get to that point after kind of going through this question on my own, it felt kind of like daunting and a bit of an anti-climax because I thought that I would be able to get an answer somewhere that I could then kind of execute and apply. And then I felt kind of excited and it kind of came to me that, you know, again, this is a very old idea that is not my idea and that is not a new idea. But what does that look like in this period of my life and the world that we're living in? What does that mean? Because, you know, start with yourself, what does that mean? And I started that kind of again marinating on that and this idea of global peace practice as a movement, as a campaign, as a way of being

came to life and I became aware that there was a space to create something that kind of gave people the tools for today's everyday life, whether you are facing the news about the wars that are happening across the world and feeling like you're drowning in that and very helpless, or whether you're dealing with issues in your marriage, with your kids, with yourself, depression. There's so much going on that being in a place where you can cultivate resilience, because these are words we hear so much about now, resilience, a good mindset, and mental fitness,

and well-being, how do you do that? So we all want these things, and we are aware that these things are important. But where do you start? You know, and what does that look like? And so the global peace practice is kind of, yeah, taking these tools that I'm aware of, which, you know, have their foundation in spiritual practice and spiritual knowledge, indigenous knowledge, and using them today as tools, as I say, to be able to cultivate all of these things, to cultivate inner peace, not just for ourselves, which is great obviously, but because once we we are able to cultivate inner peace, then that ripples out into the world and that's how

we achieve global peace. Our governments are not going to do it for us, even though they have a very important role to play. Other people's jobs are to create peace for you. Peace is not an emotion that you go and get when you're feeling good, it's a practice, it's something that you cultivate. And like everything, it takes time, you work on it, and once you're able to do that, then that's how our world... And this is just a belief where I am right now, and as I say, this practice that I'm working on and this work that I'm doing This brought me to this understanding that if we can if we can really hone in on that then Change really can happen and I guess that's where the the the contracting with kindness contracting with yourself and with this practice which then has an effect on how we're all able to contract

together and the world that engenders from that. It's a bit of a mouthful I know. Yeah I love it, I love it and I've got gooseies all over my body. I think it's something I've become a lot more aware of too and you know recently and I feel like there's a lot of energy in the air that's pushing us all to a place of Realizing that surrendering to the journey of being a human being and Part of that is very much saying Well, I can't do this alone. I think that is the point is like going well, well, I can't do this alone.

I think that is the point is like going, well, who am I? Who is the soul, you know, having this human experience? And I love that you are making it practical because I think we are all struggling and it's very easy to become lonely in that journey and go like, hey, like, I know they say no myself, but what does that mean? You're like, how do I get to that point? And then realizing that you're actually not alone. We're all in this together. And the more you knowing yourself, being your true self and holding hands with yourself,

and if I can say it in that way, in a loving way, the more you actually elevating everything for everyone, because we all kind of this one collective, having this experience and helping each other. Even though we feel like we're separate, we're kind of so connected. And I know the time that I spent with you, I could feel that connection and it's really amazing. So thank you for what you bring in the world in this space.

I think it's really special and I'm very excited to see where this goes and to be part of the movement and to be a part of creating the change and being the change. So I'm curious, how did this kind of ignite for you? If you look back like 10 years ago, you know, I know you said you were working in corporate and did you see yourself doing this?

Did you have a glimmer or was there a little thing in you that was like, hey, yeah, how did it come about? So yes and no. Yes, I've always been like I had a role to play in contributing to this world that we all occupy and that we share. That's something that's always been, and that's why I actually studied law. Because I looked at the giants that I admired and kind of as a young woman not really sure what this would look like and law seemed like an open space that could allow me to kind of get closer to being in a position to make a difference you know and make the world a better place I put that in a visit comments because I know it's so cliche but that's

really something that's always ignited me even when I was in the corporate space I was something that was always there and that always felt a little bit of a what's the word a bit off sometimes with the work that I was doing so yes that was always the dream and always the call no because I always thought that eventually maybe I'd go into politics or something like that that would allow me to kind of again live this vision out. Ten years ago I would have known. I mean I think ten years ago, I don't even know if I knew ten years ago quite honestly what a coach was. And I mean I know that this whole sector, this whole coaching industry is just exploding

and now we're all over the place. But 10 years ago, I probably didn't even know if you said to me coach, I didn't know what that was. So, you know, I had an idea of how I thought I could contribute. And as I got older, that didn't make sense and that didn't resonate with me. And at the same time, I had this kind of personal development, you know, spiritual awareness,

and my spirituality becoming more and more something that's central in my life and how I show up. And at some point, point around 2014 which was like two years ago so very recent the wanting to contribute and that kind of call for something I'll say more and the spiritual you know kind of this the spiritual lens through which I was you know showing up and living more and more kind of just came together and I was like oh my goodness like this makes sense how could I not have seen it you know but even a year before that 2039 I would have been like

no way you know probably would have also been like what is the coach you know what do they do so it just kind of you know unfolded and I think it's because you know turning 40 was really that point where it was a like do or die understanding that you know I'd been in a space I enjoyed it but then had, I felt that calling for more, turning 40 kind of like, you know, beginning of midlife and being like, well, where do I see myself in the next 20 years? Really kind of, you know, taking some time

to audit one's life and saying, well, what does the next 40 look like? And, you know, really becoming real with oneself. And I think with all of that happening what had been kind of you know playing out under the surface which maybe I was too busy to see and trying to do this and the kids and the husband everything and when I stopped and gave myself some time it just it seemed like it was you know and anybody who knows me close enough is kind of like yeah that makes sense you know so I'm really glad about that and I'm really excited about where my life has brought me about the awareness that I've been able to have to

kind of stay up to speed with that and also just as much as you guys just kind of following my day my life on a day by day basis, because it seems like so much is just unfolding, on a day to day basis, since I have kind of opened myself to this new chapter. Mm, I love that. Well, I'm really happy you've opened yourself up, and how ever Friday Feels can support that journey along the way we hear

and so grateful that you could surrender I guess that's something that's hard to do to let go and accept that this is a new path and like you said just it's like one day you wake up and it's like the light bulbs all go on and it's like it's not even just one light bulb like the whole room lights up and you're like hey I'm at a disco and it's like I'm dancing and it's cool and I love that that's happened for you. I think that on the topic of talking about the gratitude and being open to having these conversations I do want to say a quick thank you to our partners, which is Riverside FM and RSS.com, for making these possible, for making these conversations possible, for allowing us a space to record.

Great quality, even though we're sitting in different places and yeah for being our tech partners in an audio crime, if that's a thing. Thank you to them. And if you are a podcaster, live streamer, even content creator, or just keen to have cool meetings that get transcribed and are easily recorded, check out Riverside FM. Both of these platforms have given our audience graciously an awesome discount code. So reach out to us at fridayfields.co on the socials and we'll send you the code. And on that I also want to do a little quick slipway into a segment at Yamu that's called the People, Places and Spaces,

which is something we found in the week that has the feels, you know, it just has like really cool vibes and I want to give a quick shout out to a coffee shop in Paris called Partisan. And I just I felt like I felt like I found a little bit of Cape Town in Paris which was really nice and it felt like home. But just to them bringing cool feels, great vibes, awesome coffee, it's got a really awesome energy. So thanks to them for bringing good feels to the world and to Paris specifically.

If you're ever in Paris, go check them out. It's close to Arc and Metier station. So yeah, really cool station itself as well. So thanks to them. And then another quick little slide while we still on gratitude into a moment of James for the week. So this is our moment of learning whatever's happened for you this week and for me a jam has been

this week has really been an interesting one for me and to be honest it's all been about really like I mentioned earlier saying let me ask for help sometimes they things in our life that we think we can fix, that we want to control and hold on to. So I've found a new sense of light because I asked for help and because I allowed myself to feel supported and feel loved. And I've really realised this experience that you were talking about, about us all helping each other and making it my mission to open my heart to the world and to this whole collective. So it's been a really wonderful journey for me into myself in terms of letting go and asking for help

and then being able to receive it. So that's really been a gem for me. What has yours been for the week? Mine, what was supposed to be the... I had intended to put myself on a challenge this week of being present over performing and I've had all kinds of stuff coming up in the last couple of weeks for me and feeling like I wasn't integrating enough or working on it enough or all of this. And I realized that I was kind of expecting myself to be performing even in what is kind of like personal healing, things coming up that I'm becoming aware of and how I think I should be performing that healing. And when I became aware of that, I thought,

well, that doesn't sound, that's part of the things that I work with my clients about not doing. And I thought, okay, well, there's your challenge. You know, moving from feeling like you should be performing in a certain way to just being present with what is coming up and being okay with that. And when that comes up, maybe how you need to integrate or work on that

will also come up. But don't be like, well, I have to go meditate two hours this morning, even though I'm like, we have tons of work. And just putting pressure like we do on ourselves. And that has just been so, as I say, it's been big because we talk

about these things and we you know we know about these things intellectually and we live them you know very much so but sometimes as I say for something that's supposed to be and that we teach is so intuitive and about coming ready to being present with yourself, with what's unfolding, and really kind of leaving all the performance that is required of us in so many of the things that we do and that kind of is a burden for us, and really just stepping into presence. into presence, I've been called to do that this week and it's been very very interesting for me as well to just stop and just be and you know just really sit with that. Again, challenging because obviously also some of the things, sometimes why we battle to be present is because the things that we need to be present with are challenging and

are challenging us and so many aspects of our lives. And so, you know, when you have to really sit with that, it's not easy, but it, but for me, it's been a blessing and I continue to be in that space even now and it's really something that rather than kind of being you know on social media and sharing this with I actually had planned to share the challenge and invite others in but even with everything I was dealing with this week I didn't have time to do that so I was just like okay well you know this is your challenge more than anything and you just do this and you can then share with you know whoever else. But yeah that's what I've been on and it's been very very interesting. I love it. I've got gooseies all over today from all your sharing so thank you and I think it's it's really resonating with what someone said to me

this week and I think we own a kind of space hopefully shifting from performance to presence is so much of the world has conditioned us that our worth is what we do and not so much about just being who we are and that really like hit me like a ton of bricks as well this week and that's amazing that you've been working on that so I'm gonna I'm gonna also take on that challenge. Yeah well let's see maybe we can do some kind of performance over and throughout the presence of a performance challenge even with your listeners. But definitely that is something that we are all know, and we're navigating constantly kind of being in presence and the performance that we are required of, or what we, you know, as you say,

the idea we have of being and what we need to get done and all of that. So it's, you know, it's all about finding that balance, but definitely that's something that in this day and age is a big challenge. We are, if you're not doing then what are you doing? What's going on, you know? And we're human beings, we forget this, you know?

When are we being? Yeah, we forget, we forget. We're so conditioned, so, and it's part of the human experience, so, you know, we live and we learn. But I do want to invite everyone out there who's listening. You know, I wonder, what are you feeling about what peace means to you? And I wonder what you're feeling about what presence and performance mean to you.

And yeah, we want to hear all the feels. So do let us know about what you are going through on the socials. We love seeing all the messages. And then we'll definitely be putting your contact details in our post as well. And please reach out to Tziamu for any coaching or mentoring or just connecting, you know, such a beautiful human. And if whoever's in Paris, you can meet for a coffee, I'm sure. It's always nice when it's in person.

So I do have one more question for you. And that is a little segment we do every week that is called The Stack. And so that's like your reading list or a book that you want to read or love or whatever it might be, but want to recommend to our audience today. So I want to ask you what is in your stack? So in my stack, I actually have a book that I read recently which is actually an old book but Ben Oakley's The Famished Road and it's a book from the 90s. Ben Oakley is a I think Ghanaian British author who actually won I think the Booker Award

Booker Prize for that. He was being the youngest and the first African to have won that with that book. And it's a book that is beautiful because it's this book about, I think it's Nigerian, okay. But yeah, it's a book about these spirit children. I don't even know if the concept exists in kind of Western, in the Western context, but it's these spirit children, or about the spirit child rather, who comes into the world and his experience.

What I loved about the book was how everything about the book and about the lives of the about the book and about the lives of the story was woven in with spirituality. Everything, you know, I came out of that book feeling like, you know, there was magic and mysticism and really spirit lurking behind every, you know, every part of my room and my life and being able to kind of see that from reading that book. And for me that was just so beautiful. Even while I was reading the book, sometimes the door will just kind of, you'll be in the room and the door will just open, you know, flat open, whether the window is open or not. And I remember during those moments I'd say something like,

oh come in, you're welcome, you know, kind of like, whatever spirit is coming in in you're welcome, you know, kind of like whoever, whatever spirit is coming in you're welcome and just and that was from this book because it just it is such a fantastical beautiful recount of you know ordinary life but without that is full of magic and mysticism and you know and it just reminded me of something almost that I didn't know I don't know if that makes sense it doesn't but you know and it did make sense and it just I just thought wow what a beautiful what a beautiful look at life you know and and so yeah I loved reading it is huge it's

like really really big and it's a series, it's a trilogy. And I think the rest are even bigger than it. So it's quite something. But yeah, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Amazing. Thank you for sharing that. I'm gonna have to come borrow this book from you. Yeah, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I love that. I love that. Thank you. Yeah, I think that when you were talking, what was coming to mind for me was life on Earth is really just like, it's just things. The buildings could just be buildings, but when you fill it with the spirit of the universe, that's what becomes magic.

And it's like the fact that we come here and we experience these things and we interact with the world and we're interacting with so much more beyond our physical being and I've also had so many beautiful experiences of that recently so there's magic in the air as the cliche goes so I really appreciate that and thank you just for sharing today. Thank you for coming on and sharing your heart and your light and your love for the world and yeah I just really appreciate you and being able to share this space with you. Well thank you, thank you for having me. Very happy to be able to just come in here share a little bit of what I'm doing and from

what perspective I'm doing it because that can be different from one person to the other. Do reach out to me on my socials that Nicole will share. I would love to connect. We definitely will. We'll definitely will. And sending you big hugs. See you soon. Thank you.

Yeah, definitely. and sending you big hugs see you soon soon yeah definitely at maybe the partisan in Paris if you haven't just yet follow Friday feels on Instagram Facebook tick tock and LinkedIn you can share with us all your feels this week by tagging us at fridayfeels.co and you can also find the website at that handle. And now as you ease into this weekend take a moment celebrate who you've become, what you've overcome and what is yet to come as you do the crazy and cool things that you do as the authentic you. You know the truth about life and work is that it's hard but the beauty is

this global working experience that you're in while we are in it together. So keep connecting, empowering and inspiring this week and of, keep it raw and real. Until next time.