Simi Williams: From Private Equity to Building Africa’s Leading Wellness Brand

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