The Founder
Tanya Mudariki
Rooted in purpose.
Zimbabwean. Daughter of the Shava Mwendamberi lineage. Former corporate executive turned wellness guide.
Portrait
Melbourne, Australia
Founder Statement
Rooted in purpose.
Zimbabwean — Daughter of the Shava Mwendamberi lineage
Senior executive with experience across Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia
Trained wellness guide in yoga, breathwork & indigenous African healing
Founder of ROOTED Retreats & Executive Access Program
“Rooted was born from my desire to share the Africa I know and love—one rich in culture, innovation, opportunity, resilience, and beauty. I wanted to create experiences that allow people to slow down and reconnect with themselves, while also opening their eyes to the incredible growth, talent, and potential emerging across the continent. My hope is that every guest leaves feeling restored, inspired, and forever connected to Africa in a meaningful way.”
Tanya Mudariki
Founder, ROOTED Retreats
Her Journey
From corporate to calling.
Tanya spent a decade in corporate with experience across Asia, Europe and Africa. Currently residing in Melbourne, she has always had a curiosity about wellness.
But it was not until reaching a breaking point of exhaustion and depression at the height of a dream role that she found herself struggling. That struggle became the doorway. Tanya began using Eastern tools — yoga, pranayama, breathwork — alongside the wisdom passed down by her grandmother in Zimbabwe: nourishing foods, supplements such as moringa and baobab powder, and the understanding that healing begins with what we put into our bodies.
She soon saw how many people were in need of the same support. So she kept studying wellness traditions, not as a hobby, but as a calling. Training in yoga, breathwork and indigenous African healing practices. Walking with elders. Learning the rituals that had sustained her ancestors for generations.
“I did not leave corporate life to escape it. I left to build something that could hold the person I used to be — and the person I hope to become.”
ROOTED was born from that intersection: the discipline of a corporate career, the wisdom of African healing traditions, and the deep conviction that rest is not a reward — it is a requirement.
Philosophy
What the land taught me.
Stillness is productive
In Africa, time moves differently. Mornings stretch. Evenings linger. The body learns to rest without guilt.
Community is the medicine
Ubuntu — I am because we are. Healing happens in relationship, not isolation. Every retreat is built around connection.
Luxury must give back
True luxury does not extract. It invests. Every ROOTED journey channels resources into the African communities that make it possible.
Lineage
Tanya is a daughter of the Shava Mwendamberi people — a lineage of storytellers, healers and pathfinders from Zimbabwe.
The Vision
A world where ambitious people do not have to choose between success and wellbeing.
Healing
Restore the body through yoga, breathwork and ancestral wellness rituals designed for the modern nervous system.
Empowerment
Equip people with tools, community and clarity to return to their lives grounded, not depleted.
Impact
Channel luxury travel into local African economies — guides, lodges, artisans, conservation.
A Note from Tanya
“I built ROOTED for the person who has done everything right and still feels empty. For the founder who cannot remember their last real holiday. For the executive who is brilliant at work and exhausted everywhere else. Africa will meet you exactly where you are — and it will not let you leave the same.”
Tanya Mudariki
Founder, ROOTED Retreats