Zanele Mutepfa Rhone, founder of Brand Zanele Collective, exudes joy and love and is a gem of a human. She has created a community of creatives of color in Portland that is vibrant and overflowing with talent. Zanele has also created a series called Here to Stay for women that curates intimate experiences where conversations go deep. Zanele is a hidden secret in Portland to much of my network so I wanted to do this interview for folks to get a sense of Portland having far more depth of experiences and people than many realize.

Yes, Portland is in a storm right now and yes, we face extremely significant challenges in nearly every category, but we can also hold that there are hundreds of glimmers of hope sprouting up in all kinds of places in Portland. And, Zanele is one of them.