Anuoluwapo Mustapha, a University of Indianapolis master of public health graduate student, said she has always loved to talk and especially enjoys sharing with people God’s love for them. This fits with her recent foray into podcasting, she said, as she seeks to voice the concerns of today’s youth.
Mustapha started a religious podcast titled “Hard Truths with Mustie!” The podcast “discusses/deals with life issues affecting our generation and seeks to inform, educate, illuminate and empower this present generation to maximize their God-given potential,” according to the podcast’s website. The first episode aired in February 2020, and episodes have been released regularly since then, according to the website.
Mustapha said her podcast is based on the Christian faith and lifestyle, but she will talk about anything God wants her to talk about. She said her primary audience is younger people.
“It’s pretty much about empowering the youth,” Mustapha said, “educating and empowering the youth and helping them find themselves, helping them understand their purpose as well. Because the truth is, there [are] many things going on in this world that if you don’t have the right people in your ear, or you don’t have the right friends around you or the right people around you, it’s easy to go astray.”
Each episode has a specific topic, Mustapha said. Previous topics have included friendship, self-worth, leadership and freedom, according to the website. Mustapha said episodes mainly feature her speaking about the topic and sharing her personal experiences, but she does occasionally have guests on the show, too.
One guest was Victor Areghan, a UIndy alumnus and clinical trials manager at Eli Lilly and Company. According to Areghan, he and Mustapha recorded an episode together about leadership. He also said he has helped Mustapha and given her assistance with the podcast. According to Areghan, they met at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Indianapolis, where he serves as music director and Mustapha sings in the choir.
Areghan said Mustapha’s consistency has helped her find success. According to him, her daily prayer and Bible study have given her the wisdom to share her experience on relevant issues.
“It cuts across generations — young, old, male, female — her message comes across,” Areghan said. “It’s not geared to a particular gender or age group.”
According to Mustapha, her background as a Nigerian influenced her work on the podcast. She said that in her home country of Nigeria, the topics of depression and mental health were taboo, and people did not freely speak about them. Mustapha said she wanted to increase awareness of this issue and give voice to the struggle that she knew many people were going through.
“If I have to be that voice to help people find themselves, I will. If I have to be that voice to help people know that they are loved by God, I will,” Mustapha said. “This is me just hoping and praying that people find themselves and also know that God loves them regardless of whatever their past has been. It doesn’t matter; your past is your past, but you still have a future. If my voice has to be that voice to let you know that God still loves you, I will do everything in my power to do it.”
According to Mustapha, she recorded multimedia news messages for a church in Houston when she lived there several years ago. She said she enjoyed this experience, and it compelled her to share some of her own story with others. She said she eventually decided to broadcast to the masses through a podcast format about her experience with and knowledge of life and Christianity.
Mustapha said she had planned to end the podcast last year but wanted to wait for confirmation from God before she did so. In the meantime, Mustapha said several people reached out to her and told her that they enjoyed the episodes, so she decided to move ahead with a second season. “Hard Truths with Mustie!” can be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor FM.
