Simi Williams, Ex-Banker: How Burnout at 26 Forced Me to ALL Start Over again
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From Burnout To Beyond: The Untold Story Of Building Africa’s Leading Wellness Brand Guest: Simi Williams, Founder of Beyond Fitness At 26, Simi Williams was hospitalised from burnout while working in high finance in London. She lost $1M in funding when investors saw she was pregnant — but that didn’t stop her from returning to Nigeria to build Beyond Fitness, now one of Africa’s most respected wellness brands. In this powerful episode, she opens up about the cost of ambition, postnatal depression, gender bias in fundraising, and the daily fight to build a global business out of Lagos. In this episode: → Burnout and the illusion of success in high finance → Motherhood, postnatal depression, and recovery → Losing $1M in funding because of pregnancy → How gender bias shapes fundraising for women → Building Beyond Fitness into a global brand → Balancing family, faith, and entrepreneurship → Why Lagos taught her control is an illusion → Redefining what success and purpose really mean Follow Afropolitan Website – https://afropolitan.io Instagram – @afropolitan Twitter – @afropolitan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/afropolitannation/ This episode is sponsored by Inverroche Gin, South Africa’s premium craft gin that fuses heritage botanicals with innovation. Discover more: https://www.inverroche Want to connect 1:1 with Africa's boldest thinkers? Book a 15-minute convo on Convo: https://convo.vip/ Book 1:1 with Eche - https://convo.vip/echeemole Book 1:1 with Chika - https://convo.vip/chikauwazie Listen to more Afropolitan Podcast episodes: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Afropolitan Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6YwRlkSOq8e35xU6bOp9pU?si=b3a132f9afb3459f&nd=1&dlsi=32c01e3224ac4c64 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/afropolitan/id1808954585 Hosted by Eche — https://www.linkedin.com/in/eemole/ Chika — https://www.linkedin.com/in/chikauwazie/ Timestamps 0:00 - The Gym Incident That Started Everything 0:38 - Introduction: Simi Williams - From Banking to Beyond Fitness 1:51 - Trying to Be a Global Wellness Entrepreneur 2:34 - When Success Was Breaking Me: Hospital at 26 4:40 - Childhood Connection to Fitness 6:03 - Losing My Therapy: Three Times Movement Failed Me 8:25 - Double Entrepreneur Household: Managing Two Businesses 13:06 - The Birth of Beyond Fitness 15:28 - Fundraising While Pregnant: Losing Investors 19:06 - Being a Woman in Fundraising 21:02 - Reinventing Myself: From Finance to Fitness 22:56 - Moving Back to Nigeria: The Cultural Shock 25:04 - Did I Make a Mistake Coming Back? 27:12 - Bible App Moment & Beyond Fitness Experience 31:29 - Creating a Culture of Care 33:09 - What Banking Taught Me to Unlearn 35:03 - Every Role Except Security: Building From Scratch 37:20 - Why High-Profile People Drop Their Guard at Beyond 39:20 - The Tender Parts: Bamboo Season 42:11 - What I Want My Daughter to See 43:25 - Global Vision for Beyond Fitness 44:48 - Beyond on Tour: Wellness Retreats 48:46 - When Everything Goes Wrong: The Bus Story 51:13 - What I Want to Be Remembered For 51:30 - Rapid Fire Questions 52:46 - Motherhood: What It Taught Me 54:05 - Birth Center Decision 56:00 - Who Should Be Next on the Podcast
