I am Zukiswa Zingela (Zuki to friends and family), a medical doctor and psychiatrist, born and bred in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), the largest city in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. I come from the influence of strong African women around me, from my grandmothers to my mother, aunts, and sisters. I’ve also had the benefit of a loving male presence in my father, a humble man with a great sense of humour, my uncle who was my mother’s youngest brother, and my brothers. My ancestral maternal DNA shows that I come from a legacy of survival and triumph over adversity. My life path led me to psychiatry and mental health, which has become my passion. Through this discipline, I’ve touched some people and been touched by many more along the way. Some unexpected detours have been valuable life lessons that were suited to what I needed to learn and master. This has helped me to shine the light on what I see as the positive in me. I’ve been inspired by many people and encounters along the way and so hope to inspire others; for the power to inspire is not something one can take for granted. To me, to inspire others is a superpower that should be handled with the gentlest touch. To inspire towards destruction can maim the spirit. To inspire to grow and conquer adversity can move mountains.