Ever wonder what will change in the education system in the next 20 years? Iconic South African innovator Sam Paddock was a guest speaker at our Heavy Chef event at The Bird House in Johannesburg late last year. Sam covered the topic The Future of Education., speaking before former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Zolani Mahola is one of South Africa's best-known performing artists. She has worked in the top echelons of the music industry, both locally and internationally. She is also fondly known for her band’s collaboration with Shakira on the World Cup 2010 anthem, Waka Waka. A few months ago, Zolani was the MC of our event with Imogen Heap, check out her talk in this short, inspiring video. Zolani talks about her formative years, from being a chubby baby to a cherubic child. She speaks about some of the problems she faced and how the South African political situation provided icons that fed into her music.

Happy Ntshingila is the Co-Founder of Unknown Citizen. He founded South Africa's first black-owned agency, HerdBuoys Advertising in 1991. His experience stretches across working with and building a number of blue-chip brands during a successful 30-year career. His experience straddles the ICT, FMCG, media and broadcast sectors, working with leading brands in all those sectors.

Ian Russell is a corporate leader who has spent decades in the boardrooms of major blue chip companies in South Africa and across the world. In his collection of thought provoking essays entitled, The Other End of the Telescope, Russell unpacks his experiences working in the corporate sector. At Workshop17 in March 2019, Ian gave a stirring presentation on the Heavy Chef stage about the particular problem of ‘fuzzy logic’.

Rich Mulholland a best-selling author and serial entrepreneur. He is currently the CEO of exciting new startup TalkDrawer, a platform that helps managers be leaders through presentations. He bestrides the stage like a colossus, owning and driving excellence in the pursuit of free-thinking, insightful irreverence, and impassioned delivery. In this hilarious and insightful presentation, Rich takes us through the similarity between intermittent fasting and how we should gather information in our professional lives. Watch, listen and learn.

S'onqoba Vuba is a disruptor in the education space. Currently, S'onqoba is Managing Director of Perpetu8, an advisory and implementation consultancy for SMME’s. In a succinct and powerful presentation, S’onqoba speaks of the importance of rethinking education in the shadow of the 4th Industrial Revolution. She shares her views on how we can use technolog improve the way we, as humans, can improve our day-to-day living in the digital age.

There is a problem with education in South Africa (and Africa). That much is patently clear. The problem is that leaders don't know how to tackle the problem - or where even to start tacking the problem. The '4th Industrial Revolution' has rendered much of the landscape unintelligible for the people in charge of education portfolios at leadership level. When faced with the challenge, the trap is to call yet another round of talks - and all that results is more talks. After listening to two stirring talks by Sam Paddock and S'onqoba Maseko, Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, gave a fascinating, cogent and sometimes hilarious speech on the Heavy Chef stage.

Mike Schalit needs no introduction in the South African advertising world. A highly gifted and unique individual, he has been voted the country’s top Creative Director for eleven consecutive years. In this Heavy Chef presentation, Mike relates how he went from advertising in the digital economy to... building libraries.

Alexandria Procter's energy is infectious. While studying biology, Alexandria had the idea to connect students to student digs in a safe, user-friendly way. Her lecturer persuaded her to drop out of university to pursue her dream to build her innovative venture. Together with her co-founders, Alex has grown DigsConnect into one of South Africa's most exciting startups.

African student entrepreneur Xabiso Lombo is creating a vital resource for young people trying to make a better life in Africa. The problem she's trying to solve? Safety. In this energetic talk, Xabiso relates how she came from a dusty town in the Eastern Cape to creating a tech company that will enable young folks in South Africa to carry on with their lives without the pervasive feeling of helplessness in the face of crime while studying.

Mvelo Hlophe has a presidential air about him. Strong, confident and enigmatic on stage, Mvelo is the CEO of the exciting new student startup Zaio. Mvelo related to a riveted Heavy Chef audience on Thursday 2 May, 2019 at Workshop17 in Cape Town. Mvelo gave some insights as to why Zaio is such an important idea, and some glimpses of how hard it is to run a business behind the scenes - particularly when you're a student at the same time.

Tamir is a plucky young entrepreneur from the University of Cape Town. He's still a student, yet Tamir saw a significant gap in the crazy annual melee that occurs when books are exchanged between students. Instead of post-it notes, Tamir decided to create a platform. In this succinct, highly charged presentation at Heavy Chef, Tamir discloses how he is changing the world and his vision for one of the most exciting young startup ventures in South Africa.

Fred Roed is the CEO of Heavy Chef, and in this video from an event at the Mitre Theatre at Bishops College, Rondebosch Cape Town, he talks about the purpose and meaning behind Heavy Chef, the organisation he founded as a business after selling his digital agency World Wide Creative in 2013. In this video, Roed talks about the foundation of the idea behind Heavy Chef, the origin story, and how it evolved from being a central philosophy at his previous company to being a central tenet of a fast growing education platform.

Imogen Heap is a multi-award-winning musician, indie superstar, musical disruptor, innovator and cryptocurrency investor. She has had hundreds of millions of her songs downloaded, sold and streamed over two decades during one of the world's most influential careers. In the latest phase of her innovative journey, Imogen Heap has quietly been stirring up a revolution with her 'Mycelia' project, aiming to democratise music and solve some of the industry's most stubborn problems: intellectual property.

If you’re wondering how to get the ideal Facebook paid social campaign strategy for your business, it’s as simple as coming to a Heavy Chef session. Last week we managed to squeeze two Senior Paid Social Specialists and the Head of Training Facebook in two rooms, in separate cities (JHB and CPT) - VOILA! You’re well on your way to getting a glimpse of how to introduce innovative and successful paid social strategies, for your business. Here are some videos to whet your appetite for more Heavy Chef goodness.

Alessandro Colafranceschi is a legend in the digital world. Having headed up the digital portfolio for Standard Bank, Alessandro Colafranceschi has now turned his considerable expertise to the world of AgriTech. In this fascinating talk at Workshop17's stunning new Tabakhuis premises in Paarl, Alessandro explains his journey over the past two years immersing himself in the agriculture world with a single aim: understanding the plight of the modern farmer.

Tim Willis gave a fascinating insight into Aerobotics, nominated one of SA's Top 5 Most Exciting Startups in 2018, and how they are changing the world. With a presentation that spoke the power of big data and AI, Tim explained how company is creating a flywheel of agricultural data. This data is allowing Aerobotics to make more informed decisions in real time, and ultimately change the world of farmers everywhere.

Dion Chang is a strategic thinker, keynote speaker, a walking ideas bank and professional cage rattler. He is one of South Africa’s most respected trend analysts and founder of Flux Trends, which takes the unique view of “trends as business strategy”. Dion is passionate about assisting companies embrace change and embedding a culture of innovation into corporate operating systems. As a result, he is used as a management consultant for businesses facing disruption and challenged with adapting to a new world order. In this all exclusive Heavy Chef event, Dion is talking about the understanding innovation and the ethics of new leadership.

Bronwyn Williams is a Trend Translator and Future Finance Specialist for Flux Trends. Bronwyn has over a decade’s experience in marketing management and trend research, working predominantly with brands in the financial and B2B industries. Bronwyn managed the largest circulation of South African financial newsletters and worked closely with a network of local and international financial thought leaders, giving her access to a wealth of ‘insider’ insights on how the world of money really works. In this talk Bronwyn shares her ideas on Big Data and how Big Brother companies are shaping the society and its individuals.

Ian was CEO of BCX, South Africa's largest technology company, with a turnover of $2bn, and an employee base of 10,000. Ian's tenure saw a focused re-engineering of the company, simplifying the core of the business, creating new technology capabilities, and a massive shift of the brand towards innovation and disruption. BCX Disrupt was his baby. Ian is a master at transforming brands and scaling them. In this presentation, Ian talks about the importance of staying relevant in your field and evolving markets.