Dear Diaspora

Thanks for tuning in to episode 26 of Dear Diaspora! For today's episode, I had a lovely conversation with Justin Ikerionwu, co-founder of By Design!

By Design is a creative lifestyle brand, promoting creativity and community. They showcase an authentic lifestyle for the creative in all of us, intentionally crafting editorial content and events that allows for real conversation and an appreciation for culture and style.

During the episode, Justin shares:

• His experience growing up in a Nigerian household in Wichita, KS
• His journey creating a lifestyle brand for creatives and entrepreneurs
• The importance of being intentional as you build a brand and a business
• How he balances working on By Design with his day job at AltCap, a Community Development Financial Intuition
• How to build a team and find your village

"It's all about finding your village…then there's too many people praying and working together for it to not at leasthit a star if you're aiming for the moon." –Justin Ikerionwu

Visit their website:https://www.bydesignmag.com

Follow By Design on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bydesignmag/

By Design Radio: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lTwbL7ipjW6f1aK2pLzeL?si=w_XIASJgRB-7usqIsWU3SQ

By Design article featuring Obiora Anozie: https://www.bydesignmag.com/articles/the-power-of-self-belief-obiora-anozie-creative-entrepreneur

Get free shipping on your first Black Travel Box order: https://theblacktravelbox.com/discount/DIASPORAFAM

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Thanks for tuning in to episode 25 of Dear Diaspora! For today's episode, I had a lovely conversation with Orion Brown, founder of BlackTravelBox!

Orion started BlackTravelBox to give women of color a brand they could trust for their travel personal care needs. BlackTravelBox features TSA-friendly products help Black and Afro-Latinx travelers look and feel their best on the road.

Prior to The Black Travel Box, she briefly lead brand strategy at Oracle and brand marketing efforts at Hasbro and spent the bulk of her brand career at Kraft Foods where she led key advertising, pricing, portfolio, commercialization, and operations initiatives across six global brands.

During the episode, Orion shares:

• Her experiences traveling and struggling to find travel-friendly hair and skin products
• The early days of BlackTravelBox and how she kept pushing despite investors viewing her business as "niche"
• Her thoughts on building a business, creating value and creating generational wealth
• How travel has given her a greater sense of gratitude and connectedness
• What being a part of the African Diaspora means to her

"Travel is a very effective form of self-care. No matter where we are in the world—or where we're from—we are a people that need self-care."–Orion Brown

Tune in to hear more!

Black Travel Box*: https://theblacktravelbox.com/discount/DIASPORAFAM

*Free shipping for new customers on entire order for US and Canada

Follow theblacktravelxox on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblacktravelbox/

Follow Orion on Twitter: https://twitter.com/orion_helana?lang=en

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Thanks for tuning in to episode 24 of Dear Diaspora! For today's episode, I had a lovely conversation with Margaret, founder of Kahawa 1893!

Margaret is a third-generation coffee farmer from Kenya. Inspired by the work of women in coffee, she created a unique business model to share delicious coffee with the world and to empower women producers in Africa.

Kahawa 1893 removesthe middleman and works directly with farmers, and commits 25% of their profits to provide access to credit for women—giving them the ability participate in trade and empower themselves financially.

You can also support the women directly by sending a tip!

During the episode, Margaret walks us through:

• Her upbringing on a coffee farm in Western Kenya
• How she found a mentor to help her navigate the coffee industry in the early days of Kahawa 1893
• How she's taking Fair Trade to the next level by providing a way to tip coffee producers using Blockchain technology
• Her mission to build a Pan African coffee brand we can all be proud of
• What excites her about Africa's future

Tune in to hear more!

"Coffee is inherently African, and it's one of the best things we've given to the world." –Margaret Nyamumbo

Buy Kahawa 1893 coffee and tip a farmer: https://kahawa1893.com

Follow Kahawa1893 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kahawa1893/

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Thanks for tuning into episode 23 of Dear Diaspora! For today's episode, I had a lovely conversation with Ashley Akunna, creator of The Grapevine!

Frustrated about how millennials were stereotyped and portrayed in the media, Ashley brainstormed ideas to change the narrative and find a way to amplify the voices of millennials. In came The Grapevine.

Picking fresh views from fresh minds, The Grapevine is a fresh and innovative take on the panel style discussion. With over 15 million collective views to date, the show places the topics of today in the hands and minds of young game changers, artists, cultural innovators, and professionals to dissect what the impact is for this generation.

During the episode, Ashley walks us through:

• The early days of The Grapevine and how she marketed the show with no marketing budget
• How she's stayed consistent over the years
• The lessons she's learned as a creative entrepreneur
• What excites her about Africa's future

Tune in to hear more!

"You're going to be frustrated, but hopefully you have people in your life who want to see you succeed and who speak life into you." –Ashley Akunna

Subscribe to The Grapevine TV: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPf55sis3jNICWi3K1NsJMQ/featured

The Grapevine TV on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegrapevinetv/

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Thanks for tuning in to episode 22—doing something a little different this episode and reviewing a phenomenal book: Africa's Business Revolution: How to Succeed in the World's Next Big Growth Market. So happy I finally got my hands on this book over the holidays. As soon as I started reading it, I immediately knew that it would be worth sharing with you all. If you have an interest in doing business in Africa—this book was created for you.

Africa's Business Revolution is co-authored by Acha Leke, Mutsa Chironga and Georges Desvaux. Acha Leke is chairman of McKinsey & Company's Africa practice and leads the firm's expansion across Africa. If you don't know about McKinsey and Company, they are the world's largest consulting firms in the world. They consult organizations across the private, public and social sectors in 65 countries.

Mutsa Chironga is an executive at Nedbank, one of South Africa's largest banking groups. He was previously a partner at McKinsey and Company, where he served banks in a dozen African countries, mostly capturing growth opportunities.

Georges Desvau is a senior partner at McKinsey and Company and a former managing partner of its African and Japanese offices. He helped build the firm's consumer insights and analytics capabilities.

The goal of this bookis to essentially provide an overview of what it takes to succeed in Africa; it was written really for global business executives looking to expand their operations in Africa and for those that are seeking a roadmap to access the continent. During the episode, I share more about the 5 big growth trends underway across the continent:

1. Young, fast growing urban population with a lot of unmet demands.
2. Africa's coming industrial revolution.
3. Africa's Infrastructure Gap and the big push to close it
4. Africa's Untapped Resource wealth and new innovations to unleash it.
5. The rapid adoption of digital and mobile – and the leapfrog opportunity.

Tune in for a breakdown of each of these trends and how they are shaping Africa's business growth and development.

Get the book here: https://amzn.to/37r4rLK

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Thinking about how you can get better with money in 2020? You're in luck because for today's episode, I had a wonderful chat with Jamila Souffrant, money expert and creator of the Journey To Launch podcast and blog!

Jamila is a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI), savvy budgeter, and launched Journey to Launch to teach what she's learned over the years about all things personal finance.

Jamila was born in Jamaica and grew up in Brooklyn, where she learned the concept of hard work and the value of money from her single mom. At 22, she bought her first real estate property and recently, she and her husband saved $85,000 in a year! Yes, ONE year!

The Journey To Launch podcast was named one of "27 Podcasts You Need To Start Listening To In 2018″ by BuzzFeed. Jamila is also the resident financial expert on a weekly segment on News12, the most watched local TV news-station in NYC and has been featured in other notable media outlets such as Money Magazine, TIME, Business Insider, Refinery29, CNBC, ESSENCE Magazine & CBS.

During the episode, Jamila walks us through:

• Her journey from Jamaica to Brooklyn, NY
• The money habits that helped her buy her first property at 22
• How expanding your circle could help you reach your financial goals
• How to embrace your unique, personal finance journey

Tune in for more!

"Seek out people who you want to be like and communities that inspire you." Jamila Souffrant

Journey to Launch website: https://www.journeytolaunch.com

Follow Journey to Launch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeytolaunch/?hl=en

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Thank you for tuning in to episode 20 of Dear Diaspora!

For today's episode, I felt super nostalgic and wanted to take some time to reflect on the first season of the podcast.

If you haven't listened to episodes 1-19, be sure to check them out and visit: https://deardiasporashow.com/episodes/to learn more about the guests/their work.

To support the work of the phenomenal guests that were on the show: buy their products, subscribe to their podcasts, download their apps and getting the word out about their movements—that's what this show is all about!

During the second part of the episode, I'll be going over the top 10 lessons I've learned over the past decade.

Here are a few of them:

1.) Aim big and get out of your comfort zone

2.) Focus on your friendships

3.) Travel any chance you can

4.) Don't give up

5.) Advocate for yourself

Tune in to hear the rest!

Dear Diaspora FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330802427235529/?source_id=103991790962425

Dear Diaspora Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deardiaspora/

Thanks for tuning into episode 19 of Dear Diaspora! For today's episode, I had an interesting discussion with Hauwa Aguillard, the creator of BOA54! BOA54 is a media platform created to represent Africa positively and have fun educating viewers about our uniquely blessed continent.

I always get so excited when I meet content creators focused on Africa and so I invited Hauwa to the show to have a conversation about African leadership, development with a special spotlight on Andela. If you haven't heard about Andela, it's an American company that identifies and develops software developers. The company launched operations in Nigeria in 2014, to help global companies overcome the severe shortage of skilled software developers and has offices in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States.

Why focus on Andela? Well, they recently laid off hundreds of junior developers. You can read more about the cuts here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/17/africa-focused-andela-cuts-400-staff-as-it-confirms-50m-in-revenue/.

With Hauwa's background in tech (she has a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science), I thought it would be interesting to think about how Andela's strategy would differ if it was led by Africans.

Hauwa was such a great guest and I hope you enjoy this episode. Also, I'd love to hear what you think about the discussion so leave a review, DM Dear Diaspora on Instagram, or join the Facebook group to chime in. Respectful opinions are always welcome!

"At the end of the day, it makes more sense to have more Africans in leadership to make decisions about themselves." Hauwa Aguillard

BOA54 Country Profile Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H6CgJtY1dc&list=PL5TZ-1YGKriqHS5RQpMIGrUD3-uyMV1ck.

Dear Diaspora FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330802427235529/?source_id=103991790962425

Dear Diaspora Survey link: https://forms.gle/gP2TuycsebS4ymMNA

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In this episode of Dear Diaspora, I had a wonderful conversation with Dayo Akinrade, founder of Africlick!

Dayo spent a few years working for consulting firms that required extensive travel, sometimes having to spend up to 6 months in a hotel at a time. As she navigated balancing work, travel and trying to meet new people, something dawned on her. Dating and meeting new people was hard, especially when looking to connect with people from similar cultural backgrounds.

After continuously swiping left hoping to find the right match on other apps, and periodically experiencing microaggressions on dates, she was convinced that there had to be a better experience for Black people. Why couldn't there be an app that enabled you to connect through your culture, where you trace your roots back to, or which style of jollof you prefer?

In comes Africlick!

Africlick is a new dating and networking app for ambitious professionals & creatives of African & Caribbean heritage. Whether you are based in London, Lagos, Harare or Houston, our mission is to empower you to connect to your culture.

During the episode, Dayo shares:

• What differentiates Africlick from existing dating/networking apps
• The date that convinced her there had to be a better way to meet new people
• What going to school in Nigeria taught her
• Her experiences fundraising as a Black woman founder

Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts!

"Be resolute in what you want to do. Don't allow external people to project their doubts or fears. Otherwise, you'll never get started." - Dayo Akinrinade

You can pre-register for the app at africlick.com.For daily dating and networking advice, follow Africlick on twitter and instagram.

Dear Diaspora Survey link: https://forms.gle/gP2TuycsebS4ymMNA

Dear Diaspora FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330802427235529/?source_id=103991790962425

Dear Diaspora Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deardiaspora/

I had the pleasure of interviewing CannaGo founder Victor Nwadike!

The son of Nigerian and Jamaican immigrants, Victor grew up homeschooled and became a self-taught developer by age 15. By 17, he developed and launched three applications that ranked 191, 293 and 322 on Apple's iTunes App Store.

Now, he's the founder of CannaGo, a company providing a standard, transparent and safe way for consumers to receive their medicinal or recreational cannabis products by way of on-demand delivery. And he's only 21!

Tune in to hear more about:

• The tools he used to teach himself how to code and develop websites
• His parents' reactions to starting a cannabis tech company
• His dreams of investing in companies in Nigeria after CannaGo

"If you want to be successful or an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to take constructive criticism." – Victor Nwadike

Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts!

Cannogo Website: https://www.cannogo.com

Cannogo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannogo/

Dear Diaspora Survey link: https://forms.gle/gP2TuycsebS4ymMNA

Dear Diaspora FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330802427235529/?source_id=103991790962425

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