afrotech

Playlist

• Exclusives Only

Join us on a thrilling journey with the dynamic Jen Fry as she unfolds her story, one that zigzags from the adrenaline of college athletics to the pioneering frontiers of tech and travel. Jen doesn't just swap jerseys for boardrooms; she inspires with her vision of professional growth for coaches and athletes alike. Her candid talk on the philosophy of being a 'kind asshole' – delivering tough love through honesty – leaves no stone unturned in our understanding of impactful communication and leadership.

In the trenches of entrepreneurship, Jen spotlights the highs and lows of her tech startup adventures. She walks us through the maze of market research, the switch from B2C to B2B strategies, and the birth of an app that promises to revolutionize group travel. Imagine erasing the headache of coordinating trips with just a few taps on your phone – that's the future Jen is crafting, and she's here to share how she's navigating this ambitious endeavor.

We wrap up our session with an exploration of the power of networking and why seizing the moment can be a game-changer. Jen recounts tales of chance encounters leading to transformative business pivots and the unmatched value of events like Black Tech Week. She also offers a treasure trove of book recommendations that have propelled her on this journey. So, buckle up for an episode that's as much about embracing the unknown as it is about charting a course to success.

Discover the story of Kaliyah Martin, the pioneering product manager behind Kingdom Press, as she unveils her extraordinary entrepreneurial journey. From a high school initiative to a bold switch from pre-med to business, Kaliyah's narrative is marked by her family’s entrepreneurial legacy and her enduring faith. Our conversation traverses her early steps and the defining moments that steered her into the heart of the publishing revolution.

This episode isn't just Kaliyah's tale; it's a discussion about the profound role of family and faith, especially within the black community, as it relates to business and innovation. We share personal experiences that underscore the bravado necessary to pursue dreams and the profound influence a gap year can have on personal development. Together, we examine 'Pub Tech', the transformative potential of blockchain, and how Web 3 is poised to overhaul the publishing realm, affirming Kalea's vision for Kingdom Press as a vanguard in this new era.

Delving into the nuances of pitching and authorship, Kaliyah imparts her wisdom on navigating the complexities of the book industry, from marrying NFTs with physical copies to striking a balance between self-publishing and traditional methods. Her journey not only highlights the challenges faced by black authors and entrepreneurs but also celebrates their triumphs, providing aspiring minds at institutions like the Fearless Leadership Institute with invaluable insights. Join us as we peer into the innovative future of publishing with one of its most influential voices.

01-THE BLACK & WHITE BROTHERS-PUT YOUR HANDS UP
02-LIQUIDEEP-ALONE
03-MI CASA-THESE STREETS
04-GREGOR SALTO feat FLORIAN T & CHAPPELL-PLEASE ME
05-DJ KENT feat ZYON-ON TOP OF THE WORLD
06-DENNIS FERRER feat MIA TUTTAVILLA-TOUCHED THE SKY
07-FISH GO DEEP-THE CURE THE CAUSE
08-BLACK COFFEE & DAVID GUETTA-DRIVE
09-DANIEL BOVIE-KEEPS CHANGING YOUR MIND
10-DJ DINO RAVO feat UMUTI-LUTSANDVO
11-DA CAPO-UMBOVUKAZI
12-DJ DINO BRAVO feat SGANANDA-IBUTHO LIKAZULU WARRIORS CALL

01-MIJANGOS-CARACAS DE NOCHE
02-JUAN MAGAN & MARCOS RODRIGUEZ-SUCK MY
03-ANDREA & VANETTY-ETHNICA
04-CAIIRO-THE AKAN
05-JOEZI feat COCO & PEPE DIOUF-7 SECONDS
06-SAMANTHA LOVERIDGE & TREETALK-LOSING MY RELIGION
07-BLACK COFFEE feat NAKHANE TOURE-WE DANCE AGAIN
08-DJ DINO BRAVO feat SGANANDA-IBUTHO LIKAZULU WARRIORS CALL
09-MAGIC SYSTEM-PREMIER GAUO

#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.

Charlese knows that Oakland is an experiential city.  People come here on vacation or a visit for some other reason and Oakland touches them.  Next thing you know, within a year they move here.

“everything about the city that makes it great - it is not something tangible. You have to come here to experience the city to get why people don't leave and why we choose to stay here.”

Charlese’s goal was to build a platform for visitors, but was surprised that the data showed most of her followers were locals who were not tapped into what’s going on around the city.  This was the interesting twist - she set out to develop an app for visitors, she ended up developing one for locals.

“A lot of the feedback I get - they're like, I love it because I'm finding all kinds of things that I don't necessarily see promoted in Oakland on your platform.”

“So that was the surprising pivot - I was trying to figure out how to make this a platform appeal to people that weren't from here and then turned out the market I needed to tap in was the localized market first because we weren't actually taking advantage of our backyard.”

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.

Chandra Vasser is Vice President and Chief DEI officer of Nissan Americas and her job is to drive DEI and develop plans and partnerships to share the company's DEI commitment with employees, customers and the community.

On this episode, she chat's with Will Lucas about what 'doing what others don't dare to do' means in practice at a major automotive company, what robotics will mean for the future of jobs in automotive, and how Nissan is committed to promoting Black talent from the manufacturing line into management roles.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more about other Black tech disruptors and innovators at AfroTech.com

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maurice Jones is CEO at OneTen, a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies (like AT&T, Delta and more) who are coming together to upskill, hire and promote one million Black Americans over the next 10 years - Black people who do not yet have a four-year degree into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.

On this episode, Maurice talks to AfroTech's Will Lucas about the value of a college degree, necessary skills for all college graduates, and career technology education.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florence Kasule is the director of procurement at U.S. Digital Service (USDS), and leads a team focused on   building amazing digital experiences for the American public by modernizing the acquisition process. Jordan Ginn is Director of Talent Acquisition for United States Digital Service (USDS) and initially joined the organization  in 2016 under the Obama administration to make sure the organization that rescued Healthcare.gov remained fully staffed with top talent from the private sector.

On this episode, Florence and Jordan speak with AfroTech's Will Lucas about getting a tech job inside the White House, securing a government contract for your small business, and why tech disruption on the federal level takes so long.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company. He is the author of the new leadership book Move to the Edge, Declare it Center, which was published by Wiley earlier this year. He was previously Director of Customer Acquisition and Community at Linden Lab (maker of Second Life). A CEO and technologist who also hits many stages around the world to talk about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

On this episode, Everette speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about corporate diversity responsibility, the 'Back To Office' trend, and finding startup ideas.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johnny Bailey is a social entrepreneur and marketing strategist with a passion for economic empowerment. A hall of fame high school athlete and graduate of Hampton University, he’s taken his pursuit of excellence into the world of business and technology.  

He’s Washington DC’s ‘Grow with Google’ digital coach, founder of the ShineHard Foundation where the mission is to close the racial wealth gap, and a national speaker, trusted by the biggest companies on the planet.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shondra Washington worked in financial services in New York since 2013. She learned corporate finance and financial modeling as a technology investment banker at one of the fastest growing investment banks in the world. In 2018, Shondra co-founded TBC-Capital, an education-first investment firm.

Today, she’s an on-demand CFO and strategist for early stage companies, and is co-founder at Black @, which is building a token-gated community of Black creatives, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kai bond is an investor, founder and entrepreneur and serves as partner at Courtside VC which focuses on sports, gaming, and fitness verticals.

On this episode, Kai speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about the differences between sports of yesteryear, and the sports of today - and why the sports of today, is ripe for innovation in ways it's never been before.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julian Aikens is founder at W3 Sports and Terance Mann plays for the LA Clippers
Episode Description: Julien Aiken is founder at W3 Sports, a web3 consulting firm working to bridge the gap between athletes and brands of the new internet. And, Terence Mann is an NBA player, currently serving on the Clippers roster.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mercedes Bent is a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm with offices around the world, including Silicon Valley, Israel, China, India, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Previously she served as an executive at a VR startup and a General Manager at General Assembly (acquired, 2018) where she oversaw a multi-million dollar business line.

On this episode, we talked about what industry accelerations happened because of COVID 19 that she finds interesting as an investor.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Hawkins, aka Hawk, is a former NFL wide receiver, having played 6 seasons in the league with teams like Bengals, the Browns, and the Patriots. Today, he’s a media personality AND co-founder at Status Pro, an athlete led technology company, which makes software for training and consumer entertainment. 

On this episode, Hawk speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about how to secure A-List celebrity investors, NFL contracts, and the future of VR gaming.

Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas

Learn more at AfroTech.com https://instagram.com/afro.tech

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.