Growing Through The Madness
Tagline: Hustle vibes and a lil chaos.
Hosted by Abi, Growing Through the Madness is a vibrant podcast where storytelling meets culture & where everyday growth is celebrated!
This is your dose of hustle, heart, and some chaos. We dive into personal journeys, societal shifts, and the rich experiences - all through a relatable lens.
From life realizations to cultural hot-takes, Abi brings her unique voice as an African Canadian; creating space for real talk and real growth. No experts, No preaching - just honest stories, shared lessons, and a whole lot of love.
Cheers to growing through life's madness!
🎙️ New episodes bi-weekly — moving to weekly soon
Listen wherever you get your podcasts
🎥 Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@GrowingTTM
Growing Through The Madness
DIY Life Is Overrated, Bring Friends
The episode where the host, Abi Sanni, shares openly & honestly.
Forget the “do it all alone” myth. I open up about why I built a space where everyday stories lead the way and how real community - not convenience -moves our lives forward. From the person who sits with you through a panic spiral, to the friend who shares salary numbers to help you negotiate -- these moments of care and honesty become the backbone of growth. I unpack self-rejection, show why “apply anyway” is a life skill, and celebrate the courage that comes from people who cheer, challenge, and tell the truth.
On this episode, you will hear a clear purpose of the podcast, for example, how we will shine a light on regular people especially Africans in the diaspora, whose paths can help others start, pivot, or try again. I talk about the power of showing up even when it’s inconvenient, the joy of having someone to call when good news hits, and the practical steps that come from peer wisdom.
On this podcast, you can expect real talk about breaking into tech, navigating burnout, building small businesses, and maintaining friendships that actually hold. No perfection here—just learning in public and growing through the chaos together.
If you’ve felt behind, lonely, or tempted to say no to yourself first, this conversation is your nudge to reach out, ask for help, and keep showing up.
Subscribe, share with a friend who needs the reminder, and leave a review with one insight you’re taking into your week. Your next breakthrough may be one honest conversation away.
So there's this thing I'm seeing on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, where people are talking about how they don't need anybody, how they can do it all by themselves, and there's this hyper independent culture that is just there's a wave of that, and I personally think is the lie of the devil. I think we need each other, and we need each other deeply. We are social beings. Me doing all the chatting, you know. And um, I thought to do an episode where I introduce myself to you as the host of the show. So who am I? My name is Abby, and I am a storyteller, I'm a story collector, I'm a lover of community, I'm also a Nigerian Canadian. That means that I am in an African in the diaspora. Um, today's episode we're gonna talk about. I'm gonna share with you why this platform was created, and also talk about the importance of community to me. I hope you stay tuned to the right to the end of the episode, and please leave me your comments, make sure you like, subscribe, send me your feedback in camera, just send it to me in my DMs as I am open to listening to your feedback. So, why did I create this podcast? I created this podcast because I wanted a platform and a space for regular people to share their stories. A lot of platforms that I see out there that I also listen to and I love, they always bring the big names, the big grounds, the big influencers. But I was thinking of the next person that I know, like a lot of people that I know are thriving in whatever they're doing, and I was like, why not create a space for them to share their stories? And that's why growing through the madness is here. The other reason why I wanted to create this platform is also for my Africans in the diaspora. I'm also one myself, I'm one myself, so um, like I said before, I see a lot of people thriving, and I feel like why is the light not shone upon them? Why am I not seeing younger people looking at those people and being able to connect with them and grow their own lives? I wanted this platform to showcase people in our communities doing great things, and on the other hand, I get very sad when I hear people reject themselves before they even try. So there's a job out there, it's a mega company, maybe it's a Google, maybe it's Google, the Google's of the world or whatever, and I'm already there saying, Oh, I'm not applying because I don't know anybody there. And I'm like, girl, guy, like apply. Why are you saying no before they say no? Let them say no. What's the worst that could happen? At least your application is there. I just see some people in my community just not already discouraged before they try. So I'm hoping that a platform such as this, where regular people are sharing your stories, will encourage people out there that you can achieve anything, you can touch anything. If you dream it, it's possible. You just have to put the work in it. And let me say that it's not just for Africans in diaspora, you also belong here if you feel stuck, if you feel like you don't know what the hell you're doing with your life, if you feel like you're just one email away from quitting your job and you're done. This is the space for you. This is a safe space, and I hope that you truly truly feel blessed and you feel connected with the stories and with the people that will be coming here to share with us. So now let's talk about community. But first, I'm gonna drink my tea. So there's this thing I'm seeing on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Brian talking about how they don't need anybody, how they can do it all by themselves, and there's this hyper independent culture that is just there's a wave of that, and I personally think it's a lie of the devil. I think we need each other, and we need each other deeply. We are social beings, and that's it. Also, on the other hand, I'm also seeing people talk about how they're lonely. I'm really lonely, I don't have friends, I'm trying to get connected to people, I don't know what to. I asked one friend for coffee. I asked a girl who I thought we could be good friends for coffee, and she declined or she postponed that I'm not gonna try again. I keep seeing things like that, and it makes me think, it proves my point that we need each other, and we all need a community. And when I say community, I'm not necessarily saying oh this community, that community. I'm talking about people who you can lean on, people who can lean on you. So remember, if you're looking to have a friend, you also have to be a good friend. If you want your brother to be good to you, you also have to be a good sister or a good brother to them. That's what community is all about. People you can lean on, you can celebrate with, you can cheer on, they can cheer you on, you can love each other deeply as well. So, so let let me give you some examples of why you may need some community. So, for example, let's say I'll give you a personal example. I I think it was 2023, I just started dating again, and I was going through a thing where I just had a panic attack. I don't know, I I was supposed to go on a date with someone and it rescheduled. Honestly, it didn't have a bad reason to reschedule, it was a legit reason, but I had a panic attack. I sent a message to one of my friends I was like, girl, this is happening. I know it's silly of me to feel the way I feel, but I can't be alone right now. Like, do you know what she did? She came over to stay with me that evening, and at the end of the night, she went home. I can't outsource that. Why am I gonna pay to do that for me? That shows you that I needed her and she was there for me. But have I also been there for her in the past? Will I always be there for her too? Yes, I will always try my best to be there. That's one example of something you cannot buy, you cannot outsource, you cannot ask Chat GPT. That emotional, physical, you know, connection is not there when you're relying on I don't know, AI or paying for services. Being a friend, being a sister, being a brother, being a parent is hard, it's work. I won't say it's hard work, but it's work, it's inconvenient sometimes. Why do why do we think people are being entitled because they need us? So your friend needs you to pick them up from somewhere because they're in a bind or something, and all of a sudden, oh she's so entitled. Is she really being entitled, or is it just inconvenient for you? When my friend came to stay with me and calm me down at 8 pm, she had other things to do that day. It was so inconvenient for her, but she understood the gravity of how I needed her, and she did not minimize minimize it or make me feel like I was crazy for losing my mind. Look, I'm going through a spiral moment. That's not convenient. Or say a friend is I don't know, it can be anything. Maybe somebody calls. If a friend calls me right now, if a close friend calls me right now, say, Abby, are you sleeping? Sometimes I'm sleeping, but I can hear the tone in the voice. I'm like, no, I'm awake now, my eyes are wide open, don't worry, talk on. And I'll be there, I'll listen to whatever they have to say, we'll deal with it, we'll sort it out, and I can move back to bed. Is it convenient for me to you know to wipe the slip off my face? It's not convenient, but I want to, and that's the power of community. And it's even sad when if you have something really great happening, let's say you got a promotion at work, and you can't even call one person and say, Oh my god, can you believe that that thing that I was working hard for? I finally got that call, I finally got the promotion, and they're happy for you and they celebrate with you. Do you know how beautiful it is to celebrate with other people? What do you mean you can do it all by yourself? One of the things, one of the reasons why, even for me personally, why you know I I have been able to move in my life in certain ways because of honesty of people around me. So I'll give you guys another. I'm sharing a lot today, but I'll give you another example. Um, this was years ago. I went for dinner with two of my friends. We went, we all went to university together. One is really close to me, the other, we're friends, we're uncle. And we're talking about salaries, and I was hearing a month, and I was like, ah, guys, we graduated the same year, and they were calling dollars, and I was like, Wow, okay. Then the next day I called my friend, I was like, girl, the dollars you people were calling during the during that dinner, is it true? She said yes. She asked me, Abby, how much are they paying you? I told her, she said, ah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We have to change that. I guess what? Because she was honest with me, I realized that I was undervaluing myself. Because she was honest with me and she was telling me, don't do it this way, let's do it this way. These are the things that you need to do. And why would she share that kind of information with me? It's because I have I am sure that I have proved myself to be a good friend to her as well. We are literally like sisters today. So, like, having that kind of community, having a good and healthy community will push you up. But remember, it's not just you taking, it's also you giving. Includes your time, sometimes it's your money, sometimes it's you telling them the truth. Telling them to get out of that relationship, get out of that job, it's not good for them, reminding them of the goals they set for themselves so that they don't settle for less. That's what about that's what community is about. To me, I think community is important, and that's another reason why I created this space. This is a community, this is a platform for us to encourage each other, to share stories, to learn from one another. There's no perfection here. We are grow through life's madness, not after the madness, we're going through it together. We're learning, you're learning from me, I'm learning from you, we are learning from our my guest, and um I hope you enjoyed this ride. I hope you join me on this ride, and just to remind you of what this podcast will be about again. It's about real people sharing real stories, we abunding, we are growing, we are thriving, we are vibing, we're having fun in this life, we are crying sometimes, we are laughing sometimes, we are being honest sometimes. It's everyday, the everyday person around you who is thriving. If you look around you, you see one, two, three, four, five people thriving. That's and those are the kind of people I want to bring to this platform to encourage all of us. So if you're still here, thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed and learned one or two things from everything we discussed today. Um, I want to remind you that you are not alone, you are not behind. You are as long as you're trying and you're showing up, um, know that I know you're growing, know that you're where you're supposed to be. So I'm going to have some interesting episodes coming up. Interesting episodes coming up. Like, I'm gonna have a guest who owns their own grocery store. I'm going to have a friend, and we're gonna discuss our friendship, I'm gonna talk about breaking into tech and different other topics. Um, burnout, doing it burnout, uh, whether in your personal life or at work, things like that. Uh, at some point, I'm gonna invite a friend who just quit a very, very high-paid job. So, at some point, we're gonna talk about that as well. So, we're gonna you're gonna have a fun ride, and I hope you stay and enjoy. Please don't forget to send this to your friend. Um, share, like. You can find me going through the mandus or going to TM on YouTube and on IG. Until next time, guys. Don't forget that you need to keep showing up.
