#069 - In this powerful episode, Anthony and Vincent sit down with Breezy & Bobbi, the inspiring sister duo behind *We Heal Different*, a dance studio and healing space in Richmond, CA. Breezy & Bobbi share their incredible journey of creating a community-centered space focused on dance, sisterhood, and healing. They discuss how their studio empowers women to reconnect with their bodies and reclaim their sensuality through movement, pole, and twerk classes — all grounded in the principle...
Mar 27, 2025•49 min•Ep. 69
#068 - Our discussion with Arturto was so inspiring and really went in 2 directions. In episode 67, he talks about his journey of starting Centro and we brought in a Centro entrepreneur, Annie Wang from Little Moon Bakehouse. In this episode, Arturo shares his journey as a social entrepreneur, providing wisdom from his experiences founding Centro, and writing his book *In Pursuit of a Noble Cause*. Arturo’s work centers on uplifting low-income and marginalized communities through innovative tool...
Mar 14, 2025•15 min•Ep. 68
#067 - Today we are joined by 2 guests: Arturo Noriega, Founder and CEO of Centro Community Partners and Annie Wang, owner of Little Moon Bakehouse. Arturo shares his journey of starting Centro to help entrepreneurs in underserved communities, particularly women and immigrants, build successful businesses. Annie discusses her path to launching Little Moon Bakehouse, a vegan, eco-conscious bakery. Together, they explore the roles of community support, sustainable practices, and the challenges and...
Feb 27, 2025•46 min•Ep. 67
#066 - Today our guest is Ayodele Kinchen, a gifted and self taught artist, designer, and visionary. With a keen eye and talent for design, she finds joy creating wearable art that transforms the everyday woman into a Queen, and aims to design pieces that heal, encourage, honor, and beautify the mind, body, and spirit. Her business started by making things for herself - handmade goods like jewelry, home decor, clothing, and handbags. People started asking, “Hey, where'd you get that from?” ...
Mar 16, 2023•39 min•Ep. 66
#065 - Today we talk to Carol F Burton, Founder of The Jeweld Legacy Group, a nonprofit consultancy based here in Oakland. The company is named after mother - Jewel. After a career in nonprofit management Carol saw an opportunity to work with nonprofits and public systems to provide support, technical assistance, resources, and show them how to partner in much more efficient ways to create more self-sufficiency. “so that at the end of the day, our communities would look a little different, that ...
Feb 28, 2023•36 min•Ep. 65
#064 - Today we talk to Toshia Christal who does not sleep - she is an artist, jewelry maker, painter, photographer, and licensed cosmetologist - a true Renaissance Woman. She is a creative person at heart and cannot be reduced to any one medium. She has a brick and mortar space at 2911 Fruitvale Ave to display all of her creative works. Toshia was crafty as a child, but she always thought of them as hobbies. When she was injured on her job in 2008, she decided she did not want to go back to a j...
Feb 27, 2023•33 min•Ep. 64
#063 - Today we talk to Destiny Muhammad, AKA The Harpist From The Hood. Destiny has an inspiring story. She grew up a military kid, but when her parents divorced, her mother moved with three little girls to Compton, CA. An episode of I Love Lucy inspired young Destiny to play the harp, but that was not seen as a practical choice for a family navigating the welfare system. After graduating from high school Destiny became a barber, opening up a shop near the projects where she grew up, but then s...
Feb 26, 2023•46 min•Ep. 63
#062 - Today we talk to Charmeng Robinson, a local artist who creates handcrafted original pieces that connect with nature. Charmeng’s pieces include acrylic paintings on canvas, timekeeper, clocks, handcrafted jewelry, coaster, dominoes, and more. Though her late father painted, Charmeng did not take it up until 2020. She taught herself via online tutorials and then lots of practice. “I started taking some tutorials on Facebook and I met a young lady that was doing the painting. I was just admi...
Feb 26, 2023•36 min•Ep. 62
#061 - Today we talk to Derreck Johnson, Founder of the nonprofit The Black Owned Project 365, which runs the Lifeline Culinary On The Job Training Program, a fully certified apprenticeship program that trains and mentors recently incarcerated individuals so they can have careers in the restaurant industry. The idea came to him while standing on the steps of the capital while his cousin, Kamala Harris, was being sworn in as Vice President. But, this would not be his first rodeo. He had experienc...
Feb 25, 2023•29 min•Ep. 61
#060 - Today we talk to Kamilah Mitchell, Founder of Teas with Meaning, which is an Oakland based tea company centered on intention, purpose, and wellness. After a cancer diagnosis in 2017, Kamilah took herself to Mount Shasta to relax. While there, she realized she would be guided by nature rather than western medicine. She learned that the herbs, roots, and fruits may be better for her healing process by not only helping her physically, but on her emotional and spiritual side as well. She came...
Feb 23, 2023•27 min•Ep. 60
#059 - Today we talk to Charlese Banks, the creator and founder of The Town Experience, a platform that highlights the cultural events and as we call 'em, the town experiences that happen around the city. She is hyper-focused on featuring local businesses, specifically black and brown businesses - letting the public know about grand openings and celebrations. Charlese took a platform from one event and turned it into a business. The inspiration of the platform came about when Afrotech, a co...
Feb 23, 2023•46 min•Ep. 59
#058 - Today we talk to Melanie Graham, Founder & CEO of Social Equity Lab, an Oakland based boutique consulting firm that focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, also on organizational development for nonprofits, corporate companies, startups, and governmental agencies - though Melanie says large nonprofits are the sweet spot. Indicators that you need her are low morale, high turnover, and difficulty in recruiting. She loves to focus on the organizational structure to make a lasting im...
Feb 22, 2023•34 min•Ep. 58
#057 - Today we talk to Yahshimabet Sellassie, Founder & CEO of Yahshi Bakes, an Oakland bakery founded in 2015 when she was 12 years old. Yahshi Bakes makes handcrafted, organic pastries from locally sourced ingredients, featuring the warming spices and flavors of her Ethiopian and Jamaican heritage - so lots of vanilla, cardamom, brown butter, coffee, ginger, chocolate, and more. “I've always loved being in the kitchen. And so I knew from a young age that I wanted to have a cafe, and ...
Feb 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 57
#056 - Today Chris Pearson from episode 9 re-joins us to 1) catch us up on Be Well Natural - his holistic health clinic, but 2) to really discuss his community organization, Elevated Legacy. Elevated Legacy is a comprehensive consciousness cultivation model that teaches self mastery through physical disciplines. The flagship program was a basketball program with the goal to take a group of kids from age 8 to 18 and steward them through the process of discovery and self-mastery. They were so succ...
Feb 19, 2023•45 min•Ep. 56
#055 - Today we talk to Jennifer Hammock, The Confidence Coach. Jennifer was a stay-at-home mom who was terrified to speak in front of crowds. After overcoming that fear, she discovered her inner confidence, and began coaching other women, just like her, to do the same. Her annual DreamChasHer Conference brings women to Oakland from all around the country - last year’s hybrid event was even international. Jennifer’s people / ideal clients are unapologetically Black women in their mid 30s. DreamC...
Feb 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 55
#054 - Today we talk to Renee Cage. Renee is a coach, a licensed mental health clinician, and a lifestyle strategist. She helps ambitious women get ahead in their careers while achieving their ideal work-life balance. In simple terms, she helps women design the life they want. In her mental health practice, she works with particularly women leaders in a variety of leadership positions, but they typically come to her with issues around depression, anxiety, and grief & loss. She received her t...
Feb 17, 2023•38 min•Ep. 54
#053 - Today we talk to Gisele Bonds, a life-long photographer - she took a box camera on her 4th grade field trip. She started her business in 1989 in Richmond, then moved to Bay Fair Mall, ultimately moving to Oakland, the last 20 years on Grand Avenue. Gisele started as a portrait photographer - anything with a person in it like graduation portraits, weddings, couples, cotillions, etc… “ I probably have about 12 high school senior clients now who not only did I do their senior portrait, I did...
Feb 16, 2023•30 min•Ep. 53
#052 - Today we talk to Madelyn Mackie, The Career Activator. Madelyn is a Certified Career Management Coach and Trainer. She shares her inside knowledge to help clients set themselves apart and highlight their strengths, abilities and special talents in today’s competitive job environment. It took Madelyn 40 years and 3 prior careers to finally find her calling. She started her career as a biochemist and became a published researcher. She decided she did not want any more of that and transforme...
Feb 15, 2023•33 min•Ep. 52
#051 - Today we talk to Tyiesha Jones, Founder and Owner of Pulse Check 101, a mobile CPR, first aid, and fit testing company. The mobile part is a BIG differentiator - they come to you and provide Cal OSHA compliance certification courses to a number of industries including healthcare, hospitality, construction, plus community members. A lot of people are drawn to the convenience of them coming on site to you. “you're getting like this big nice private package of experienced instructors wh...
Feb 14, 2023•25 min•Ep. 51
#050 - Today we visit with Rita Forte, Founder and Owner of The Olive Street Agency, a boutique B2B Marketing Organization founded in East Oakland in 2012. Rita decided to take her learnings from marketing her DJ business over 10 years and help other entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. The agency assists clients in several Marketing services that will help them tell their story and communicate with their clients. “Our purpose as a marketing agency is to help people and so when I think of hel...
Feb 13, 2023•45 min•Ep. 50
#049 - Today we visit with Earl Faust, Founder and President of Cirius Engineering, LLC., an electrical and lighting design firm started in Hayward. Earl fell into this line of work by accident - he got an internship in college at a construction firm as a mechanical engineer but found electrical engineering. Later, a former employer inspired him to be an entrepreneur. “What got me to start my own business as well as what I mentioned earlier to actually give me the push, I had an employer who sai...
Feb 12, 2023•33 min•Ep. 49
#048 - Today we visit with Maurice Brewster, Founder and CEO of Mosaic Global Transportation, a B2B limousine and ground transportation company that provides services for corporate clients. Mosaic has 137 employees, 114 vehicles, and provides ground transportation services in over 440 cities worldwide. Maurice started out in 2002 with one vintage Rolls Royce. He was the driver, the car cleaner, the janitor, the bookkeeper, the salesperson, and the customer service rep. He quickly grew to 13 vint...
Feb 11, 2023•37 min•Ep. 48
#047 - Today we are talking to Aaron Stewart, the owner and Head Chef of MexiQ, an Oakland Mexican BBQ establishment that blends the flavors of his East Oakland Black and Hispanic childhood neighborhood. Chef Aaron’s career went somewhat in reverse. He just happened to get a job at a restaurant working for a fine dining chef where he got trained on see and repeat - 1) show you how to do something, 2) tell you what to do, and 3) repeat that process again. He got his first break working at a fast-...
Feb 10, 2023•25 min•Ep. 47
#046 - Today we are talking to Lori Watkins, the Founder and CEO of The Lord’s Helper Boutique. Lori did not grow up a religious person - she found it as an adult. Impressed with her fellow worshipers’ fashion, Lori researched how she could secure similar garments for herself. She was shocked when she learned the price. After discovering how much worshipers were being overcharged, she decided to do something about it - she became the curator of stylish church fashion at a reasonable price. “And ...
Feb 09, 2023•25 min•Ep. 46
#045 - Today we visit with Randolph Belle from RBA Creative. RBA Creative is a storefront in the Laurel District that Randolph opened with his wife Erica in 2017. It serves several purposes - a gallery, a photography studio, and a co-working space for creative businesses. This is not their first rodeo - Randolph has had several spaces around Oakland going back to the early 90s when he first brought his airbrush business across the bridge from San Francisco. The primary business is the art galler...
Feb 08, 2023•37 min•Ep. 45
#044 - Today we are talking with Nelson German who runs two beautiful establishments here in Oakland - alaMar Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa. Nelson also starred on Season 18 of Top Chef on Bravo - we even got into what that experience was like. Nelson calls alaMar Kitchen & Bar, located at 100 Grand Ave, his “1st baby”. It is a family friendly seafood restaurant where the 90s hip hop beats flow. He saw a niche - there were not many seafood restaurants around here other than big ones and t...
Feb 07, 2023•37 min•Ep. 44
#043 - Today we are talking with Mario Benjamin & Chaz Hubbard of Hella Coastal, Oakland’s only Black-owned brewery - and 1 of ONLY 60 Black-owned breweries in the entire country. They started brewing in the backyard as part of the dad's club at their kids’ elementary school. The dads would come together and that sparked Mario’s and Chaz’s competitive nature. Everyone liked their brews and that gave them the confidence to take it to the next level. From the beginning, they knew they wan...
Feb 06, 2023•38 min•Ep. 43
#042 - Today we are talking to Matt Day, the owner and operator of Planter Day, a mission-driven plant shop located in Rockridge that is dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and promoting mental health resources. Matt decided to pick some weeds one day after visiting his mom in the hospital while she battled cancer. The pain and grief from her passing in October 2018 left Matt unable to work and get through his day-to-day duties. He found solace in gardening, however. He and his partner Yum...
Feb 05, 2023•25 min•Ep. 42
#041 - Today we visit with Chef Tirzah Love, a food entrepreneur who created Soul Box, which is a membership offering one-of-a-kind cooking experiences. Members receive a monthly curated box with a recipe and minimally perishable goods from local Black owned, minority-owned, LGBTQ, and Woman owned food companies that are needed to make that recipe. The box also includes access to a video of Tirzah preparing the dish, a DJ curated playlist, and conversation cards. So it's a full experience m...
Feb 04, 2023•26 min•Ep. 41
#040 - Today we visit with Chef Daphani Hightower, the owner and operator of The Cake & Sugar Company. Chef Daphani has an incredible story and continues to persevere in the face of adversity. She lost her son’s father to COVID and was diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer in 2022. The cancer diagnosis has inspired her to forge ahead to create a legacy for her children. She started cooking for her then husband, an ex football player, to help him lose 300 pounds over 10 months. While cooking ...
Feb 03, 2023•23 min•Ep. 40
