Started from the Bottom

Ready-to-wear designer Busayo Olupona talks about what it was like to leave her six-figure salaried job as a corporate attorney to pursue her dream of starting a fashion brand. From going broke to seeing her Made In Nigeria labeled clothing in Neiman Marcus, Busayo learned a lot along the way. If you're into entrepreneurship and/or fashion, here are some books Busayo recommends: Th

Keith Corbin never thought cooking could be his way out of the hood. After a stint in prison, Keith needed a change from a life of hustling, and a series of chance encounters led him into the culinary world. Now a celebrated restaurateur, Keith has made a name for himself through his restaurant Alta Adams and his interpretation of soul food - West African style meets California ing

Freddie Wong is a YouTube OG. As YouTube transformed from a backwater website to a behemoth media platform, Freddie's career as an indie filmmaker grew with it, logging nearly 2 billion views and over 9 million subscribers on his channel "freddiew." In this episode, Freddie Wong talks about building an online video channel into a real production company, his love for action comedy,

FLY BY JING founder Jing Gao never intended to make hot sauce for a living. But after living in China her pallet was awakened to Asian flavors that drove her to become a foodie. Jing decided to make the scary leap from her traditional tech job to a full-time career in food. In this episode, Jing talks about her diaspora experience growing up in the West, the many pitfalls she faced

At 19, Jessica O. Matthews invented the SOCCKET, a soccer ball that stores kinetic energy, and then converts that power into light. Jessica’s invention took her from the Harvard classroom to audiences with U.S. Presidents, and it jump-started her journey into the power and infrastructure industry. In this episode, the founder and CEO of Uncharted Power talks about what kind of th

Zainab Salbi grew up in Iraq, where her family lived in terror of Saddam Hussein. Then she came to America -- and launched a nonprofit that has helped thousands of women around the world. In this episode, Zainab talks about her unique childhood, how she escaped an abusive marriage, and why she started an organization to help women survivors of war. If you’d like to keep up with

When Tremaine Emory became the Creative Director at Supreme, he joined an elite but tiny group of Black people calling the shots in the fashion industry. Having recently survived an aortic aneurysm Tremaine opens up in this conversation about what success means in the context of life and death, and how a hood kid from Queens, NY became an icon of style. If you’d like to keep up w

Suze Orman has spent the past few decades sharing her financial wisdom with the public. But before Suze became an investment maven, bestselling author, and host of her own show on CNBC, she was a 30-year-old waitress living paycheck to paycheck. In this episode, Suze Orman explains how she went from happily waiting tables at a local cafe, to losing all her money in the stock market

When producer and author Nely Galán became Telemundo's President of Entertainment, she became the first Latina to head an American television network. A child of the post-Revolution Cuban diaspora, Nely's path to the top of her field involved grit, resourcefulness, and a dash of humility. In this episode, Nely takes us through her life's marker moments, from a Cuban kid growing up

Convicted of murder at age 16, Nike executive Larry Miller kept his crime and incarceration a secret for over 40 years. But after building the Jordan brand at Nike into a billion dollar business, Larry has chosen to open up about his story. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list at Pushkin.fm.