THE IDEALISTS.

This week’s episode is all about the power of the word no. The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Wanja Muguongo, the founding Executive Director of UHAI, an African philanthropic grant-making organization that has distributed more than $10 million to LGBTI and sex worker human rights movements in East Africa. This interview will inspire you, it will definitely challenge you, and it will make you laugh.

Correction: the podcast says $6 million, but we've been informed the number is $10 million.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

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This week’s episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) is all about play. But would you expect anything less from a guest who Bravo TV describes as "Chez Panisse meets Studio 54?” This week host, Melissa Kiguwa talks to Courtney Nichols, the Founder of Disco Dining Club - a thematic food and drink event that revels in all the excess of disco. You can find profiles of Courtney's eccentric feasts in LA Times, Vogue, Food and Wine, Oxygen, Playboy, and a slew of other esteemed outlets. 

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Described by Bravo TV as "Chez Panisse meets Studio 54," Courtney Nichols' life goal is to bring sloppy dinner parties to the masses. At the core of her mission is Disco Dining Club - a thematic food and drink event that revels in all the excess, debauchery, and hedonism of disco. 

It is the belief of Disco Dining Club that there were moments of decadence throughout history that led to the ultimate decadence: Disco. Whether a historical era, an artistic movement, or an iconic piece of culture, Disco Dining Club recreates these colorful moments through the lens of a theatrical dinner party. At Disco Dining Club, only one thing is required of guests: to consume everything. 

You can find profiles of Courtney's eccentric feasts in LA Times, Vogue, Food and Wine, Oxygen, and a slew of other esteemed outlets.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

Welcome to the third episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), where host, Melissa Kiguwa, gets deep... and a little wild with this week’s guest. Ty Stiklorius manages some of the world’s most respected & beloved artists, including John Legend, Lindsey Stirling, Charlie Puth and the list goes on. She also served as Executive Producer on the Oscar-winning film La La Land & won an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC. Billboard named Ty one of the most powerful women in music and after this interview, you’ll know why.

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Ty Stiklorius is the founder and CEO of Friends At Work, a 21st century management and social impact company. Founded in 2015, FAW partners with artists and changemakers to realise their creative, business and social impact goals. FAW’s robust musical roster includes some of the world’s most respected and beloved artists, including John Legend, Lindsey Stirling, Raphael Saadiq, RuthAnne, VOILÁ, Frawley, Katell Keineg, Rita Wilson, Esperanza Spalding and Speelburg. The Impact team works with preeminent leaders in various fields to amplify their work and expand their reach, including such impacters as as former President Barack Obama's Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal.

Ty’s work with John Legend began in 2006 with JL Ventures, where she created and developed artist-focused strategies for content innovation and social impact. Ty is a principal alongside John Legend in the Get Lifted Film Co. production company. She served as Executive Producer on the Oscar-winning film La La Land, WGN’s hit series Underground, NBC’s A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy and the hit Netflix hip-hop competition show Rhythm & Flowstarring Cardi B, T.I and Chance the Rapper. She won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC.

Billboard has named Ty as one of the most powerful women in music and Fast Company included her on their Most Creative People list in 2017. Ty earned an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from The University of Pennsylvania. She serves on various non-profit and private company boards, including Penn Law's Advisory Board for the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, LIFT-Los Angeles, and Americans for the Arts.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

Welcome to the second episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) where host, Melissa Kiguwa interviews entrepreneur Emma Toshack. She is a law school dropout, former chef, and Harvard MBA… in that order. Now she’s the Founder of Nomadica, a craft canned wine company found in different Whole Foods & music festivals across the United States. Inc. Magazine calls her the millennial breaking all the rules of the wine industry… well, let’s find out for ourselves!

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Emma's Bio:
Emma's story starts in Sydney - where she dropped out of law school to start a restaurant and fell in love with food. After a fire shut it down she went on to ride horses for a year before finally finishing law school, but her love of food & wine was there to stay. After college she joined The Boston Consulting Group, where she worked for 3.5 years, making too many excel spreadsheets & wearing too many suits. She moved to Boston to get her MBA at Harvard Business School; there she co-founded Startup Lockdown and Hello Alfred before moving to Los Angeles to join Snapchat in 2015. She left 18 months later to launch Nomadica with Kristin, and the sommelier curated wine experience she'd been dreaming of for years was born. Emma lives in Los Angeles with her girlfriend; she loves art, her dog Apollo, and supporting the Los Angeles LGBTQ community.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

For our debut episode, host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Arlan Hamilton, venture capitalist who built her $10 million fund from the ground up, while homeless. Arlan is both fascinating and inspiring - you don’t want to miss this episode!

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Arlan's Bio:

Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised more than $10 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. Arlan was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine in October 2018 as the first Black woman non-celebrity to do so, and her new book "It's About Damn Time" came out on Penguin Random House's business imprint Currency on May 5, 2020.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal