Talitha Mbewe: Award winning coach, motivational speaker

It was an emotional breakdown in 2015 that led Alice Talitha Mbewe to cry out to God for refuge.

She realised that God was giving her tools of overcoming emotional turmoil.

,Since then, Talitha is determined and passionate about helping other women navigate through their emotional pain through faith.

That was when the Fill My Cup sessions were born to help women who have gone through challenges in life.

Fill My Cup is a faith-based personal development training platform for dynamic female leaders who want to achieve beyond their accolades and positions.

“We have three core training areas; purpose, vision and leadership. We also train women on how to set goals for their vision.

“My desire is for women to know and understand their purpose, to start walking in it, to have a vision for their lives and also embrace the fact that they are a leader in their own right without holding an actual position of leadership,” she said.

Talitha is a scientist and works at the Translational Science Champion at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme in Blantyre.

She believes leadership goes beyond positions, but one must be able to stand for something.

She quoted a former broadcasting executive Donald McGannon: “leadership is action and not position.”

Fill My Cup holds public training sessions, private sessions and also public speaking events for six years now.

The scientist said her movement aspires to be a global platform within the next five years and hold trainings across the world.

“I believe this is what God has put in my heart. This is what God did for me and I should do help others. I also coach men [but mostly women] on various life issues.

“The special thing about most women is they are not afraid to learn and share what they are going through. Even women who are successful by the world’s standards find the Fill My Cup sessions useful because they are focused on that woman, not their careers,” she narrated.

The first Fill My Cup sessions started in January this year in the United Kingdom (UK).

Talitha said the response has been good as there have been invitations from America and the UK.

She disclosed that similar meetings will take place in Malawi this year for young women.

“In this era, many women are going through difficult times and we are here to give them a shoulder to cry on. Proverbs 29:18 says ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ I love this verse because it clearly describes what many of us face,’’ she said.

Funding for meetings are self-generated.

She beamed: “We have had six events so far since May 2022. The average cost per event is around K2 million. As we become more established, we will welcome sponsorships and partnerships.

“The events are usually three to four hours long. We also have guest speakers who can add value to a session.”

Talitha added they never leave people hungry as there is always food at our events and they also walk away with a branded notepad, pens and other giveaways.

For somebody to be part of a session, they fill in a registration form and pay a fee.

“We often have people donating tickets for those that may not have the financial muscle to cover the ticket fee. Our expectation is for people to be ready to learn, share and to ensure to apply the knowledge,’’ she said.

She noted that the main challenge is people not seeing the value of investing in themselves.

On this note, Talitha observed that many will spend large amounts of money on makeup, clothes, shoes and nails, but are not willing to invest in personal development.

She said educational investment is easy as people understand its importance and do it often.

She knows Fill My Cup is transforming one life at a time, meaning its purpose is beyond just her.

Even though Talitha is a busy woman, she does her best to spend time with her family and also have some time for herself.

She is the last born in a family of seven from the late Patrick and Mrs. Dorcas Mbewe.

Talitha spent the majority of her life in England with her siblings and she has a nine-year old son.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Liverpool John Moores, Master’s in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD in Viral Immunology from the University of Oxford.

“I love learning more about how we can improve our medical research so that it has a health impact. I enjoy helping other researchers to achieve this.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to go to the University of Oxford for my PhD. I have certificates in faith-based leadership, a certificate in leadership skills training and have participated in several coaching courses and seminars,” she said.

Talitha has coached over 20 women and is currently co-coaching 40 Standard Bank women.

In 2021, Mbewe received a Global Female Icon Award from Future Focus Empowerment International alongside Dr. Joyce Banda.

‘’Every person can become whoever they want, but never give up on hope and apply wisdom. Wisdom is making hard decisions on certain things, but that will benefit you in the long run.

‘’During this dire economic state, we have to be careful of what we are spending our money on. Budget your finances and seek help from experts whether it’s from the bank, books, podcasts and other resources on how you can handle this,’’ she said.

If she had a chance to come back in life and start all over, she said she would learn more from others and invest time in learning how other coaches in Malawi run their platforms.

Looking back, she knew one day she would inspire others, but God has done it in His own way.

She is pleasantly surprised with how everything is going so far despite some challenges.

Her role models are her late Father whom she describes as a visionary man who planned well and was never afraid of taking risks.

She admires her mother because she manages projects well.

“I have learnt how to plan and organise events mostly through her and John Maxwell, a well established coach, speaker and writer,” said Talitha.

Terri Saville Foy, a great cheerleader of dreams, is also her other role model as she has learnt so much from her faith based personal development ministry.

To any young woman who wants to make a difference in life, the award winner encourages her to run for what is in their heart because one can’t go wrong with following her purpose.

During her free time, she loves hiking, reading books, listening to podcasts, spending time with family and friends and going to the gym.