By: Sallu Kamuskay
Sierra Leonean author, journalist, and storyteller Mariatu Esther Kabba has launched the She Chose to Rise podcast, expanding the impact of her Amazon bestselling anthology into a global platform that celebrates women’s resilience, courage, and transformation.
The podcast follows the success of She Chose to Rise, an Amazon #1 New Release anthology published in April 2026. The book features the stories of seven women from seven countries across five continents and has become a powerful symbol of women’s empowerment. Produced in partnership with Engage Salone, the new podcast brings those stories to life through personal conversations and reflections.
Speaking to Salone Messenger, Mariatu said the idea for She Chose to Rise began while she was working in Sierra Leone as a journalist.
“It started with a thought I couldn’t shake,” she said.
After returning from fieldwork one day, she reflected on the many women whose stories she had documented throughout her career, including during her five years with BBC Media Action and through her nonprofit organisation, now known as Hope Pathways.
She said she had spent years telling the stories of Sierra Leonean women, but one question changed her perspective.
«”What if I could tell the stories of women from all around the world?”»
That question became the foundation for what is now She Chose to Rise.
Mariatu explained that after moving to the United States, she met people from different countries who encouraged her to tell her own story. Instead, she chose to create a platform where women from different backgrounds could share their own experiences.
“She Chose to Rise is more than a book. More than a podcast. It is a movement,” she said.
She described the podcast as an opportunity to continue conversations that could not fully fit into the book.
“The podcast takes listeners inside the conversations the book could only begin. You hear the pauses, the laughter, and the moments when a woman’s voice breaks because the truth she is telling has never left her body before.”
Mariatu said women featured on the platform are selected through an open application process. Together with her team, submissions are reviewed based on resilience, authenticity, personal growth, impact, and hope.
The anthology features women from Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Brazil, Albania, Djibouti, and the United States. According to Mariatu, the countries were not selected simply for diversity, but because each woman’s story offers a unique perspective on overcoming challenges.
“Regardless of where we come from, women rise in remarkably similar ways through faith, community, loss, love, leadership, and the courage to keep moving forward,” she said.
Mariatu also highlighted the role of Engage Salone in producing the podcast. She said the partnership combines the vision of Global Rise & Soar with Engage Salone’s media production expertise, demonstrating that world-class storytelling can be produced in Sierra Leone and shared with audiences around the world.
She believes the project is about giving women the space to be heard.
“I created She Chose to Rise because I believe the world changes when women’s stories are heard, not as footnotes, but as the main narrative,” she said.
Mariatu Esther Kabba is the founder of Global Rise & Soar and Hope Pathways, organisations focused on storytelling, empowerment, and social impact. She is also a PhD candidate at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a recipient of the Fulbright Humphrey Fellowship and the Presidential Mandela Washington Fellowship.
The She Chose to Rise podcast is now available on major streaming platforms, with its first episode, “She Spoke When Silence Would Have Been Safer,” sharing Mariatu’s own journey of resilience and the decision to rise despite personal challenges.
Listen to the podcast : https://linktr.ee/mariatuesther.kabba
