Climber, IT Auditor, Perseverer, Cape Town, South Africa

“Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence”, a legendary Himalayan alpinist once said. I tend to agree and have always appreciated mountaineers for their humble determination, quiet drive and unwavering obsession with a challenge. I could listen to stories of their adventures for hours. Ms. Thale Katlego Letheo worked for one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, in New York City, right after she finished her Masters at Columbia University. Yet what humbles her are mountain peaks. Thale is a true South African adventurer, a climber and a professional mountaineer.

The biggest treasures in life are not possessions, material trinkets don’t constitute a true freedom nor bring happiness; Thale felt this deeply during her many challenging treks and ascends. She spent her earnings on gear, learned to communicate and coexist with international climbing crews and stepped a foot on almost every continent. She knows all too well what drives a human to be able to brave the highest peaks and what it means to go where one feels most alive. Ms. Letheo’s adventures and experiences add up to a beautiful life already - but she is far from finished. Future ambitious ascends keep Thale moving forward, constantly fundraising for that next mountain trek.

- Olga Shmaidenko, Founder of WOW Woman.

3. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation? What does your average day look like?

I free-lance as an IT Auditor when I am not climbing mountains. Average day is determined by the clients I am working with, fund-raising activities for my non-profit organisation, Afrika Freedom Climbers or the mountain I have lined up. I stay active by hiking a few times a week and once I figure out which high-mountain I am climbing next – I’m able to put together a specific training plan.

Mountains are all completely different – some require endurance, some require great technique with rope work, and some require core strength for pulling 20kg sleds.

4. What did you study in school?

Technology Management during under-grad and Information Management and Strategy for Masters at Columbia University.

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)? Write about some of the achievements that you are most proud of. What was the moment for you that changed your life (in your personal life and/or career?) that set you on the current path in life?

The moment of change for me was in my mid-twenties, on the day a friend invited me for an evening hike to the top of Lion’s Head in Cape Town. From that experience I was hooked. At the age 28 I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro and my life changed forever.

I am proud of having my academic background and having lived and worked in Europe and New York City. These experiences gave me life skills that I wouldn’t otherwise have. My other proud moment was having attempted Mount Everest albeit not making it to the summit due to the 2015 earthquake that devasted Nepal. At the time, I believe I was the 4th black woman to have attempted this feat.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

6. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20?

I am far from feeling like I’m fully self-actualized. I have become better at backing myself but the notion that what does not kill you leaves you traumatized, is true. I had expected to be living in a rural village with a large garden, running a little chicken farm by now. But the digital divide that exists in South Africa does not allow for that – an average rural village does not have alternative energy, connectivity (Wi-Fi or data availability) and running water are still a challenge. I feel like I had no choice but to choose Cape Town as my residence as it offers solutions to above, plus there’s an abundance of mountains and all other perks of the city life. I had expected that by now, I’d be thriving in every area of my life.

7. Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

A few times, between 2016 and 2021. I experienced my first job loss and financial independence, compromised health, and the death of a parent. While these events didn’t happen all at once, it just felt like I was in a back-to-back phase of transitioning to the unknown.

I got back on my feet by accepting help and compromising on certain things - I ended up accepting a job that paid me half the salary I used to make in New York, but the work environment was not as stressful, and I returned to Cape Town.

Pursuing mountains as an African woman is tough, as participation is left to affordability. Sometimes it does not feel like it will get easier unless one can manage to succeed career-wise to self-fund expeditions. In general, African women are chronically underfunded when it comes to sports, and its worse for us as our sport is not an Olympic sport.

I learned to accept help from friends, especially friends from the mountaineering community. So after a four-year hiatus from climbing mountains, I attempted Pico de Orizaba in Mexico last year. An active stratovolcano, Pico de Orizaba is the highest mountain in Mexico and third highest in North America, after Denali of Alaska and Mount Logan of Canada. Additionally, I was in Nepal this past April, attempting the Mera Peak, from which you can enjoy 360-degree panoramic views of the world’s five highest mountains, including Mount Everest.

Both experiences showed me that I’ll always be okay if I live near a hill I can hike on, whenever I need to connect with myself.

8. Advice for other women?

You can never serve from an empty cup. Always put on your own mask before you can try to save the world.

9. Knowing what we know now in the current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

I think that women can be all that we can be – but the emotional and mental cost for us is much higher. It requires a great deal of resilience and negotiation skills to navigate the barriers that have existed for centuries. In my view, being a feminist doesn’t mean we do not deserve support. The current world still serves men – I see most career women that are raising young families being further exploited because (most) men have not evolved as far as helping with the unpaid labour that is housework and being primary caregivers. I don’t have any recommendations of a way forward beyond what feminist organisations have been advocating for: maternity leave, equal salary for women and men doing the same job that they are equally qualified for etc.

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

Anywhere in nature. It can be Central Park in a big city like New York or my favourite trail around Table Mountain in Cape Town.

11. What extracurricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

My love of reading – I am such a romantic that I still blame Mills & Boon series from my high school days and also various biographies. My life would certainly be very different if I didn’t enjoy reading.

12. Have you travelled solo? If so, which were some of the most memorable destinations and why? Why do you travel and would you recommend it to women?

I have always travelled solo, even today. The idea of doing something together with friends has never been feasible because of our challenging schedules. From exploring the markets in old Quito, Ecuador, to visiting the Maasai people in Tanzania to snorkeling on the Mexican Gulf, travelling is one of the greatest privileges of my life.

I recommend travel to all women. I don’t know if I’d be who I am today had I not travelled to New York when I was 20. The travel agency that had arranged the trip for myself and a few friends told us a week before we were due to leave that the winter jobs they had arranged for us had fell through. So, with our young fearless minds, we decided that we were not going to tell our parents out of fear that they’ll force us to cancel the trip. So there I was, a wide eyed village girl, landing at JFK in the freezing November, with $200 in my pocket. We stayed at the youth hostel on Amsterdam Ave and within two days, I had secured a job in New Jersey and I was on my way. My friends ended up returning home to South Africa. I knew right then that I’d love to experience New York again, hence I chose Columbia University for graduate school.

“I am, because they are - the privilege of having an awesome mom and an older sister. I love my mom to the moon and back. I especially love the above picture of her as a young woman, because I feel like I am her carbon copy (only darker in complexion). I am her chubby cheeks, her wide nose, her beautiful hair and her eyes. I see a beautiful woman when I look at her. And she always tells me: you are pretty, Nnanado - you look just like me.”

- Letheo’s mom and sister at her graduation, Columbia University, New York City, 2012.

13. What do you want to be when you grow up? Future goals/challenges?

I’d like to find love and curate a career that will allow me to stay in a rural place where I can inhale fresh air every day. Cities and high heels are overrated, in my view.

14. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

Dying before I reach my highest potential. I will never have children so the idea that I’ll die before I leave a legacy of sorts does terrify me.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen.” —Rene Daumal

15. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

I don’t know. I have thought about this question a lot, especially over the past five years. But its hard to pin point specifics of how I could have moved differently in life.

I’ve had no blueprint, no one in my family has travelled as much as I have, not many people I know have scaled high mountains or have dabbled as much as I have. I’ve also had a brief stint flying small planes, being a landscape photographer, wannabe traveler or just continually starting over and reinventing myself when something didn’t work.

16. What/who inspires you?

Everyone who wakes up and tries.

17. What are you hopeful about?

Achieving true equality in our lifetime.

18. What are some ingredients to a good life? How did the global pandemic change your perspective about the world, about your life, your goals, and dreams?

The best ingredient is believing that people have best intentions in life. The pandemic forced me to go back to live with my parents for two years, and looking back I realise that I needed to be there as those were the last two years of my father’s life. He passed in 2021.

19. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why? What are your superpowers?

1. Not giving up when I want something,

2. my ability to lift others up and

3. my smile.

My superpower is being able to connect with diverse cultures, all over the world.

20. What advice would you give your 14-year-old self? What advice would your 14-year-old self give you in return?

Life is long and you are loved.

21. What are you reading now? (What books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

I am reading Robert Greene’s “Art of Seduction”. I gift people books which they need when conversations isn’t enough. One of my earlier bosses in my career introduced me to The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho; at 22, that was the book that promoted my move to London.

I do not have a favourite read – every book I read beyond the first five pages usually teaches or helps me understand something about life.

22. Who is a WOW WOMAN in your world who inspires you and why? Can you nominate three (or more) women you know who perfectly fit WOW WOMAN description? What would you tell them, if you had an opportunity, about why you admire them?

At this juncture in my life, an essential ingredient to my survival is waking up every day and acting as my own hero and a champion. I’d like to give myself some flowers and say I am a WOW WOMAN in my world.

My nominations for incredible women who inspire me are Tumi Mphahlele, Phemelo Seane and Miliswa Mamba. I would say to them: thank you for what you are doing in the non-traditional spaces you are in, alternative energy solutions, aviation and transport. Your presence alone is breaking barriers for the next generation.

23. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

afrikafreedomclimbers.org

IG: @freedom_climbers

Bonus Quick Round Qs:

1. What and who is worth suffering for? Health, yourself and inner peace.

2. What would you do if you knew that nobody would judge you? I would do nothing – the world places too much of our worth on doing.

3. If you didn't have to work anymore what would you do with your days? Climb mountains and document everything that could help their conservation.

4. If you could be anyone for a day who would you be? Myself.

5. If you could relive one year in your life, which one would it be? 2014.

6. What bothers you most about people? What do you love most about people? Lack of empathy bothers me. Our ability to come together is what I love about humanity.