what do boardrooms and skincare have in common?

“I’ve been laid off, I’ve sat on the Wirecard board during a global scandal, moved countries, founded companies from scratch, and shut down a start-up even after Google had invested,” tells us Vuyiswa M'Cwabeni when we sit down with her for this interview. And then, almost in the same breath, she’s explaining how rituals like Pilates and skincare kept her sane through the chaos of boardrooms and reinventions. 

It’s this mix of grit and humanity that defines her. South African and Zimbabwean by heritage, raised in Canada, and now having spent two decades in Germany, she has lived many lives in one. Each turn has left its mark: moving countries, raising kids, leading inside corporates, founding companies, and weathering insolvency. “The good, the bad, and the ugly,” as she calls it.

Through it all, she’s come to see leadership as something stripped of titles: “It’s about how you behave when no one’s watching. It’s about what you tolerate, what you celebrate, and how you lift others.” And since research reveals a significantly positive relationship between authentic leadership and employees’ workplace performance, her reflections hint at something deeper: teams work better when people at the top lead with humanity first, strategy decks and KPIs second.

Vuyiswa M'Cwabeni about leadership.

“Leadership is about how you behave when no one’s watching.” — Vuyiswa M'Cwabeni

Vuyiswa doesn’t hesitate to show her human side and lays herself bare when she unflinchingly says, “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was to navigate the insolvency of my first start-up. At FintechX, we had all the pieces people associate with success: a strong product, a great team, VC backing, and even Google had invested. But despite the potential, market conditions shifted, capital dried up faster than expected, and we hit a wall in 2023.”

“Leading a company through insolvency isn’t something you can actually prepare for,” she explains. “There’s no playbook that prepares you for the emotional toll it takes on you or your team. The hardest part was facing the people I’d hired, mentored, and worked alongside, and telling them we couldn’t keep going.” 

Despite this, she doesn’t frame the experience as defeat. She frames it as a lesson: “The experience changed me. It taught me humility, sharpened my focus, and made me bolder in asking tough questions early. And it reminded me that leadership isn’t about being in control. It’s about how you show up when everything’s falling apart and when there’s nothing reassuring left to say.”

Despite the weight of that experience, Vuyiswa didn’t stop building. Out of those lessons, she went on to found her consultancy Vuyiswa.com and beauty brand Magalie&ME. 

“Show up – even when there’s nothing reassuring left to say."

Another impactful experience that sharpened Vuyiswa’s resilience was, of course, the collapse of Wirecard, a high-profile German fintech that imploded after a €1.9 billion hole was revealed in its accounts. At the time, Vuyiswa served on Wirecard’s supervisory board, and she went on to testify at the trial about the board’s attempts to seek clarity while then-CEO Markus Braun obstructed the process. For Vuyiswa, this story was as professional as it was human – navigating boardrooms, facing the questions that came with a public scandal, and seeing firsthand how broken trust could send large corporations plummeting to the ground, her resolve to lead with authenticity only strengthened.

It is in times like these that personal rituals can keep us grounded, and Vuyiswa has a clear answer to what hers are: Pilates and skincare. “Joseph Pilates believed that ‘it is the mind itself which builds the body,’ and the connection between mental focus and physical control is exactly why the practice grounds me, especially in high-pressure environments,” she says before adding, “Plus, it’s a perfectly valid excuse to buy more cute workout gear.”

As for skincare, it’s always held a special importance to her. “It started as a personal passion, long before it became part of my business with Magalie&ME. Even now, it’s a consistent part of my daily routine. It’s not about trends – it’s about carving out time for something I genuinely care about. My husband and kids have even gotten into it, too.” What truly fascinates her about skincare isn’t just the range of products. It’s the philosophy behind the ritual. “It’s a window into how different cultures and markets view beauty, self-care, and aging,” she says.

“Carve time for something you genuinely care about."

Vuyiswa is no stranger to crossing borders both culturally and geographically. She was raised speaking English and Shona in Canada, has spent decades living in Germany, and is South African and Zimbabwean. Seeing the world through a multicultural lens has fundamentally shaped her leadership style. She values “adaptability, empathy, and the importance of listening before assuming,” and this manifests through some strong beliefs that aren’t traditionally associated with leaders. 

Namely, she doesn’t need to have the last word. “It's how I am in my personal relationships, and it’s definitely shaped how I lead,” she tells us. “In organizations of all sizes, there’s often an unspoken expectation that leaders should steer every conversation and wrap it up with their opinion. I’ve found the opposite to be more effective. Choosing not to have the final say creates space for others to step up, take real ownership, and has often surfaced better ideas. This kind of intentional restraint has helped me build stronger teams and a culture of shared accountability, whether in my startup or in my corporate life.”

Vuyiswa also makes it clear that she is “not interested in hierarchy for its own sake.” She lets the values from her personal life bleed over into her leadership style, cementing that strong foundation of humanity she clearly builds her professional approach upon. When asked how her family would describe her, she replies, “Driven, resilient, and both the anchor and the engine of our family. They’ve seen the sacrifices, the long nights, the ugly cries behind closed doors. They live with the version of me that’s not polished or curated. To them, I’m not just someone chasing big ideas or building companies. I’m just Mama, just Vuyiswa: the human behind the hustle.” An employee’s description of her would not steer too far from the same image: “Empowering, inspiring, demanding in the best way – and fair,” Vuyiswa muses. Are there differences? Yes, but that stems from context and roles, not values.

"Choosing not to have the final say creates space for others to step up and take real ownership."

Vuyiswa’s professional ups and downs, as well as her personal strength and determination to show up authentically, have naturally inspired many mindset shifts over the years. In our interview, she gives us three pieces of advice to share with our readers. 

One, you don’t need to scale yourself. “There’s this pressure to constantly ‘scale the leader’, to be everywhere, set every process, drive every priority. But trying to replicate yourself across an organization is exhausting and, at some point, ineffective,” she highlights. “What actually scales is clarity. Have a vision, set clear expectations, and trust that people will make good decisions without you in the room.”

Two, stop learning for a second. Instead, ask yourself: What should you unlearn? “It’s super easy to focus on adding new skills or putting another framework in your personal toolkit. Often, though, what really moves the needle is letting go of the noise that quietly holds us back, like old beliefs, outdated habits, and the assumptions we picked up early in our careers.”

Three, don’t let other people define you. “You’ll be labeled, underestimated, praised, misunderstood… sometimes all at once. Do not adjust yourself to meet expectations that aren’t yours,” Vuyiswa says with finality.

“Do not adjust yourself to meet expectations that aren’t yours.”

And, before we wrap up, Vuyiswa throws a last unofficial wisdom nugget into the mix: “I cancel meetings. A lot.” Not to be taken as professional advice but rather as a personal habit that may or may not serve as inspiration for some (wink), she explains that, as she moved up the career ladder, she was “always put off by people who seemed willing to sell their mother just to get more facetime. I never bought into that. I just hated wasting time – mine or anyone else’s.” If there’s no clear purpose or decision to be made, she cancels. Full stop. Her reasoning behind this habit is solid, and it highlights what’s at the core of a human approach to leadership: respect. In Vuyiswa’s own last words, “People are already stretched, and too many meetings just drain energy. Some might see it as a lack of commitment, but I see it as respect – for my time and for everyone else’s.”

about Vuyiswa

From corporate boardrooms to startup trenches, Vuyiswa’s path has been anything but linear. As a seasoned executive, founder, investor, mother, and global citizen, she’s learned that the best solutions come from understanding problems from every angle. Today, she channels that perspective into building what matters.

She’s currently leading two ventures that solve real problems:

• Magalie & Me: Korean-inspired skincare made in Germany; clean formulations, slow-aging philosophy, zero compromise on quality.

• LuxeWell: Wellness retreats for women who need restoration, not Instagram moments.

  
  

Different industries. One connecting thread: human-centered experiences that actually work.

Beyond building, Vuyiswa is committed to lifting others through advisory roles and speaking engagements – because impact shouldn't stop at the boardroom door.

Want to connect with leaders like Vuyiswa and be part of an exclusive space for impact-driven decision-makers? Learn more about ERA here.

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