Townrootz Podcast, Oakland, CA (2025)

04/20/2023

#058 – On this episode, we talked 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 impact. You can do all the training in the world, but you must change the structures that allow the inequities to exist in the first place.

“looking at structures like performance management systems or just like the hiring and recruiting process, just things that are very structural – I like to impact those because it’ll really shift the culture of the organization. And frankly, it’s easier to do that than it is to change people. Behavior change can take a lifetime. If structures change, people will change along with it.”

Melanie started the business in New York, about 5 years ago. She moved to Oakland during the pandemic. A Seattle native, she was drawn to Oakland’s history of activism and mobilization.

Many would assume Melanie finds it easier to work with west coast or Bay Area clients, but that is not necessarily the case. Interestingly, she finds that people in other areas of the country are more open about where they are and more open about addressing the issues.

“organizations could be in a place where they think they’re doing it well and don’t think that they need this work or this support because, you know, listen, I’m from California.”

“working on the East Coast might be a little bit more transparent with where they’re at.”

“I would say the clients that I have in the South – their willingness to address it is a little bit more present.”

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Melanie talk about how DEI issues affect the bottom line.

https://townrootz.com/ep058-melanie-graham/

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03/17/2023

#066 - Today our guest is Ayodele Kinchen from Waistbeads by Ayodele, 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?” So she started making stuff for other people. But, when she started making waist beads, her business exploded.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear how Ayodele bet on herself - leaving her full time 9 to 5 while pregnant with her 3rd child and never looking back.

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03/16/2023

#048 - On February 11, 2023, we visited 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, and 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 vintage Rolls Royces, which was the largest fleet in the country at the time. Mosaic was the go-to Rolls Royce vendor for weddings, but Maurice made his first of four pivots when he realized that he could not scale the business.

The FIRST pivot was picking up people at hotels in Palo Alto and transporting them to Stanford and around the Silicon Valley. The SECOND pivot was becoming a seamless one-stop shop national transportation company. The THIRD pivot was to provide employee shuttle services. And the FOURTH pivot is to become 100% electric by 2030.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear Maurice’s advice on establishing banking relationships before you need the money.

https://townrootz.com/ep048-maurice-brewster/

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03/08/2023

#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.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Carol talk about how using an executive coach is akin to using a coach in an athletic competition.

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03/02/2023

#064 - We talked 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 job she did not like. It was time to turn those hobbies into a business.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Toshia talk about why confidence is so key to being an entrepreneur.

https://townrootz.com/ep064-toshia-christal/

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02/28/2023

#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 she got re-introduced to the harp.

Stick around until the end to hear how an “inner message from God” about 6-7 months before the pandemic hit, made her start preparing before the shutdown.

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02/26/2023

#062 - Today we talk to Stardesignsbycharmeng, 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.

Stick around til the end to hear about how Charmeng got hooked up with the Oakland Roots.

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02/25/2023

#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 experience with this population, hiring his first recently released individual back when he had an auto-detailing business, one of his early entrepreneurial ventures. He found himself short-handed one day when the rain cleared up and a bunch of cars started showing up.

Stick around til the end to hear about all the famous people who have visited the restaurant.

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02/24/2023

#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 back to Oakland and sat in community - having intentional conversations through tea time with her community.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Kamilah’s stories on her battles with western medicine and the healthcare system.

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02/23/2023

#042 - On this episode, we talked 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 Yumi landscaped their yard and grew flowers and vegetables. Digging his hands into the soil proved therapeutic and he wanted to share that power of healing with others.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Matt's story about how help starts at home.

https://townrootz.com/ep042-matt-day/

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02/23/2023

#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 conference for Black tech workers, came to Oakland. Charlese was inspired to build around that weekend’s activities so that visitors could connect to locals and figure out how to do things that were outside of the conference and be able to take in the entire Oakland experience.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear about how Charlese’s key partnerships with companies like AirBNB and Visit Oakland have grown her business.

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02/20/2023

#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.

Yahshimabet followed the lead of her entrepreneurial parents. They told her - if there's something you love doing, make it into a business. At age 7, she became seriously interested in learning how to cook and bake, making something new for her family to enjoy most weekends. By age 12 she was on Food Network - when most kids were at basketball and soccer practice, she was in a cooking competition on national TV.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear how Yahshimabet’s own dietary challenges led her to launch Yahshi Bakes.

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02/19/2023

#056 - Today Chris Pearson from episode 9 re-joins us to 1) catch us up on - his holistic health clinic Elevated Legacy, 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 successful with the early groups that many kids outgrew the program and went on to more competitive programs that were more tapped into the college basketball pipeline. Five of the first eight kids went on to play Division 1 college basketball on scholarship.

Expanding beyond basketball, Elevated Legacy started and runs a few key programs:
1) FREE intergenerational workouts every Saturday 930am to 1130am at Joaquin Miller Cascades where community members come out and get paired up with somebody from a different household and different generation and then they work out AND
2) Brothers Building and Moving - Weekly Sunday Sunrise Hike for Black fathers

BUT in the last year he received two grants (National Parks Foundation and Justice Outside) focused on addressing health disparities and limited access to outdoor activities for BIPOC communities. These funds allowed him to execute three different events, which were really life changing for a lot of people.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear about Chris’ relationship formula vulnerability + consistency = credibility.

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02/18/2023

#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. DreamChaseHer allows attendees to learn from industry experts, but also network with peers.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear how one DreamChasHer attendee with just an idea in one year went on to launch a business and then became a speaker at the conference, just 3 years later.

Go to wherever you listen to podcasts and search for The Townrootz Podcast and please leave a rating and a review.

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02/18/2023

#054 - Today we talk to Cage-Watson, LCSW. 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 training in mental health through Alameda County where she’s worked for 22 years. She started a private mental health practice when she noticed there was a need for more Black female clinicians.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear Renee’s advice on deep breathing and why it’s so important to put your oxygen mask on first.

Go to wherever you listen to podcasts and search for The Townrootz Podcast and please leave a rating and a review.

To be sure you don’t miss out on anything, become and Insider- https://townrootz.com/

02/16/2023

#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…

In 2016, Gisele decided to change course, niche down and focus on personal branding photography - “What’s that? I don't know. Let's find out. Let's make it up” She began helping corporate professionals and entrepreneurs curate a set of images that tell their story, which differentiated her from others in the market.

And so with that in the spring of ‘20, she started The Brand Visibility Accelerator membership.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear why Gisele says it is so important for small business owners to join their state and national trade association.

Go to wherever you listen to podcasts and search for The Townrootz Podcast and please leave a rating and a review.

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02/15/2023

#052 - Today we talk to Madelyn Mackie, 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 transformed her passion for performance into a second career in theater and started working at professional theaters all across the country, including four Tony Award-winning theaters. After 15 years she wanted her evenings and weekends back so she embarked on a 3rd career when she went from volunteer to staffer at the American Red Cross.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear how Madelyn changed a woman’s life by helping find a job walking distance from her home and her child’s school.

Go to wherever you listen to podcasts and search for The Townrootz Podcast and please leave a rating and a review.

To be sure you don’t miss out on anything, become and Insider- https://townrootz.com/

02/14/2023

#051 - Today we talk to Tyiesha Jones, Founder and Owner of PulseCheck 101 LLC , 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.

She has 2 sets of ideal customers - 1) corporate customers who need large scale training for employees and 2) from a community standpoint it is nonprofits, parents, and teens with summer and babysitting jobs.

Be sure to listen until the end to hear Tyiesha’s advice about being a master in your industry.

Go to wherever you listen to podcasts and search for The Townrootz Podcast and please leave a rating and a review.

To be sure you don’t miss out on anything, become and Insider- https://townrootz.com/

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