“I don’t like to be boxed in. I struggle to give myself a title – podcaster … entrepreneur … I probably don’t believe I’ve achieved enough to fully call myself any of the things I’ve done in life.”
These are the words of Sibs Qetu-Yates, a Young South African doing big things, who is the host of “Inside The Mind with Sibs” a business podcast that takes a forensic and deep dive into some of the most successful individuals in the world. His goal is to uncover the hidden lessons, untold truths of the lives and careers of his guests. The aim is to inspire and motivate his listeners and empower them to want to elevate their lives and be able to take the lessons from the guests and implement them in their own lives.
What makes Sibs so interesting is that he is one of those personalities who is on a constant upward trajectory, doing innovative things. He is certainly not shy of self-belief and mentions to me, “I think I was always destined to do something of substance that was going to impact people’s lives. I didn’t quite know what that would be. When I was younger I thought I did. I wanted to be president and I was in politics for a number of years at University. It could have really been a fruitful avenue for me but I became very disenfranchised with politics. I think podcasting and business allows me to impact people’s lives without existing behind the facade and the game of politics.”
Before making his furore into Podcasting, Sibs studied Politics at UCT then an LLB at UNISA. Law wasn’t to his liking and instead he opted to pursue a business idea he had called GetVen.com which is an Airbnb to find the best venues and shoot locations in South Africa. “Being an entrepreneur is definitely my calling. I haven’t achieved what I would have liked to as an entrepreneur at this point in my life. I’ve made lots of mistakes along the way but the whole process is a learning curve and I’m practicing a lot of patience. I’ll get there eventually.”
In late 2021, he left the company to pursue his podcasting and a career in the entertainment industry. Sibs’ first iteration in podcasting was ‘The Sit Down With Sibs’ which he describes as a “Top Billing for millennials”.
“I thought there was a market fit and appetite for it. I think there definitely was because the numbers were there but the problem was that I was maybe 10 steps ahead of where I should have been and the costs were so high of doing a podcast in such a professional broadcast manner. I then went for the studio option which was much more feasible but then I didn’t spend enough time curating my podcasts content as well as being a bit more particular about the guest”.
He says he spent a lot of time introspecting and decided that he wanted to build a podcast that was going to inspire him and his listeners. So that’s when “Inside The Mind” was born.
His guests for ‘Inside The Mind’ are typically CEO’s, Business Leaders and High Profile celebrities both in South Africa and the United Kingdom. He boasts around 20 000 listens and plays on his “Inside The Mind” podcast and is currently experiencing 100% growth episode to episode.
Sibs is no stranger to some of the biggest names in South Africa and the United Kingdom having already interviewed celebs such as Digby Edgley of Made In Chelsea (Popular UK reality TV Show), popular South African Personality Maps Maponyane, Netflix Reality TV Star Christina Carmella, Arsenal Fan TV’s Robbie Lyle, Influencer Ambar Driscoll, SA Bachelor Marc Buckner, Comedian Siv Ngesi and Canadian Band Neon Dreams to name a few.
He’s got big plans for himself for this year, as he aims to become the number one Business Podcast in South Africa by the end of the year and wants to be in the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. He’s already managed to secure interviews with Actor Michael Ward from Netflix show Top Boy, Dragons Den’s Steven Bartlett and Zuby (the outspoken British Rapper) to name a few. Whilst in South Africa he plans on interviewing controversial radio personality Gareth Cliff, Reporter Derek Watts, Politician Helen Zille, Blogger and Entrepreneur Aisha Baker to name a few.
When asked about his dream guests he says it’s got to be Trevor Noah. Why? “Because he’s South African and somebody I’ve admired for years. He’s shown how far we can go. I want to go that far if not further. My attitude has always been to aim for the moon and if you fall short at least you’re on top of the stars”. Ricky Gervais, Kevin Hart, Sarah Blakely and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are some of his other dream guests.
Inside The Mind comes out every Monday on all major streaming platforms and YouTube.
You can find his latest episode with Ahren Posthumus below. Ahren is one of the youngest CEOs of a Multi-Million rand company in South Africa. He’s achieved a great deal at a young age. He is a multi-award winning CEO and Entrepreneur. He’s been tipped by many to be leading Africa’s Silicon Valley. Amongst his many accolades he has been awarded GQ Magazine’s Innovator of the year award, Investec Entrepreneur of the Year and has been featured on Mail & Guardians top 200 Young South Africans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VQYmUMTQC8&t=2744s
