We are living in a fascinating time, through suffering, pain and darkness, these are the times when artists, misfits and social innovators are needed more than ever. If the first Italian Renaissance grew out of the Black Death, could there be a New Renaissance in the making coming out of this pandemic?

Sam Kass is the little brother President Barack Obama never had.  As the personal chef to the Obamas in the White House, Sam also co-founded a wellness movement with First Lady Michelle Obama.  His stories are rich, unvarnished, and fun — a perfect way to end Season 2 of the Black Sheep Podcast!

Miguel McKelvey came to NYC just over a decade ago, working at the bottom of a pyramid in an architectural design firm. Today life looks a lot different as co-founder of WeWork with a global passion, and billions of net-worth. But he’s the same idealistic guy he was when he had to outsmart a large NYC rat over many days of toil and struggle. And, outsmarting that rat is an analogy for how Miguel finds purpose and meaning in life much more-so than any accolade. 

Creative confidence can be very hard. We are thrilled to present this very special episode of a conversation about how to find and harness creative confidence that was recorded at our annual “PowerShift” gathering in April in Los Angeles. Our host for this episode is Julie Pilat, a true OG of music and tech, who is on the board of the BLK SHP Foundation and hosts her own podcast "The Idea Fountain: Life Changing Conversation".

In this episode, Julie speaks with the respected rapper Xzibit, who was also host of “Pimp My Ride” and Andrew Dost an accomplished songwriter and member of her band Fun.  The conversation was so inspired that Julie invited two other remarkable BLK SHP to the stage — Aloe Blacc and Jason Martin, aka the rapper “Problem”.  Sit back and be inspired by this real talk!

Phil Cooley is a bit like the Keyser Söze of Detroit. For people who marveled at Detroit’s renewal and reinvention from the outside, his name was one of the most frequent to surface. He’s a deeply passionate social entrepreneur with an artistic heart whose major ventures include Slow’s BBQ, a Detroit institution, as well as Ponyride, a 28,000 sq/ft. space for makers, inventors, entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs.

We first met Phil and his black sheep brethren on our 2015 Black Sheep Bus Tour. They put us up at Ponyride, and we parked our bus there then, and again in 2018 when we returned to Detroit on the second tour. We hope you will enjoy this conversation with one of our heroes on the front lines of American renewal.

https://slowsbarbq.com/ https://www.ponyride.org/

Victorine Deych is one cool cat. She grew up in Brooklyn, before the Hipsters broke it. She's a hip hop kid, with an edge. She is the definition of self-made, and her journey may not have been possible before social media. But, build a platform she has: brick-by-brick.  The brains and provocative brand behind the Victorine, "a collection of unique, wild-crafted, organic, and ethically sourced scents." She's got some insight for us all. 

https://victorinenyc.com/pages/about

Liz Hernandez was a radio personality and reporter on E! News, MTV, and Access Hollywood. She rediscovered her passion for words and started her own company Wordaful to help people think differently. Liz shares on the podcast her career journey, her childhood in a big Mexican American family, and her favorite celebrity interview.

Kojak has co-written and co-produced some of the biggest pop songs of the past decade, including  Flo Rida's "Right Round"and Ke$ha's "Blow". Oh, and he’s the funniest person we’ve had on the podcast so far. Hear some of the crazy stories from his life, from Worcester, Mass. to Brazil. And his advice for people who want to follow a creative existence.