noseyAF: Conversations about Art, Activism, and Social Change

Stephanie Graham
  • 5.0 (41)
  • Arts
  • Updated Biweekly

Want to hear how real artists actually make it work? noseyAF skips the glossy bios and gets into the messy, human, creative parts of building a life in the arts, and using that life to change the world. Hosted by artist, filmmaker, and professionally nosey person Stephanie Graham, each episode goes deep with working artists, filmmakers, organizers, and culture-shifters about what's actually behind their work: the decisions, the doubts, the money stuff, the pivots, and the "how do you keep going?" moments. No hustle propaganda. No gatekeeping. No pretending it's easy. If you love peeking behind the curtain, noseyAF gives you the honest, energizing conversation you didn't know you needed.

  1. 5d ago

    I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major Bey

    Ep #153: I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major Bey You finished the thing. Did you stop and say I did that, or did you just move on to the next thing? It's my birthday, and I'm spending it catching up with Ayana Major Bey, the actress, voiceover artist, podcaster and multi hyphenate creator who came back on the show right as I was coming up for air after 31 Days of Black Business. This one is a shoot the breeze, artist to artist conversation about celebrating yourself, protecting your time, and what it would look like to make your work without needing it to pay the bills. What We Talk About Why finishing something big and immediately moving on is baked into how freelancers are trained, and how to interrupt it on purposeHow Ayana actually celebrates, including the single thrifted champagne flute she keeps in the cabinet for exactly thisWhat the bare minimum baddie philosophy really means, and why her 65 percent is still more than most people's 100Why planning your off days is the work, and the case for putting laundry on your Google calendarThe behind the scenes of 31 Days of Black Business, including how Threads built the whole guest listThe juicy turn: separating your artistry from capitalism, and what happens when you make something just because you wanted to If you've been grinding and forgetting to stop and say I did that, this episode is for you. Chapters: • 00:03 - Host Introduction and Episode Release Date • 04:22 - Interview — Celebrating Completion & Joy with Ayanna Major Bey • 16:13 - Summer Recap: FIFA, Concerts, and Creative Projects • 26:36 - Origin of '31 Days of Black Business' • 35:51 - Surprising Insights from Guests — Artists, Entrepreneurs, and Career Pivots • 51:56 - The Artist Pivot — Is Podcasting Part of Your Practice? • 01:01:53 - Listen & Follow: Ayanna's Podcast, Website, and Socials All about Ayana Major Bey You're gonna love Ayana. She's the friend who will tell you to sit down, rest, and stop apologizing for it, and then quote Beyoncé at you. She's an actress, voiceover artist, mentor, and the host of the two time award winning podcast The Artist Pivot, where she talks with creatives about the turns their careers have taken. She's written, produced and starred in her own cabaret, she's a production assistant with an events producing company and moving toward event producing herself, and she describes what she's doing these days as intentionally finding her joy every day while surviving these people's capitalism. Things We Mentioned Ayana's first time on the show, Ep #Pastor Brian's episode, where he prayed for our country, Ep #My write up about 31 Days of Black Business in Lex Roman's Revenue Rule Breaker newsletterThe Artist Pivot, including her Broadway to fitness CEO episode with Michelle West31 Days of Black Business, the full seriesDenzel Turner and Black Fridays, the conversation that started it allPark Manor 75, Charlette Stanton and Jacare ThomasCocoaLuxe, Semoine BoyerObsidian Book ArchiveVan Leeuwen ice cream, for the record Connect with Ayana Major Bey IG: @ayanambeyThe Artist Pivot on IG: @theartistpivotWebsite: ayanabey.com Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch, all the month's episodes straight to your inbox once a month. → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook, simple ways to show up for the people on your block. → Download it free Behind the Mic noseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice: photography, film, and documentary work rooted in community and curiosity on Chicago's South Side. → See the work More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported, thank you for being here. 💛 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major Bey

  2. Oct 13

    The Red Pill Is Not the Only Option with Rayviation

    Ep 152: The Red Pill Is Not the Only Option with Rayviation A room full of men, four cameras, one boom pole, and a conversation most of them had never had out loud. This week I'm talking with Rayviation, a Chicago based producer, filmmaker, playwright and teaching artist, about Loving Men, the film he made with the Boston Ujima Project, the vintage store documentary he's making now, and why he thinks we are living in a golden age of indie filmmaking. Recorded live at Lumpen Radio, no edits, no retakes. What We Talk AboutWhy mothers turned out to be the biggest audience for a film about men, and the ones who told him they were gifting it to their sons immediatelyHow you get people to be vulnerable on camera, and the turtle metaphor that explains why most men won'tWhy Loving Men has never played in a traditional movie theater, and why that's on purposeThe distribution platform every indie filmmaker should know about, and why an RSVP email is worth more than a followerWhat a vintage store on North Avenue has to do with risk, segregation, and a ten year anniversary nobody saw comingThe honest conversation about content creation, algorithms, and where you put your validation when the app won't even show your work to your own followersThe no sew Sesame Street puppet he built for his girlfriend, and the weeks of hiding green fur in an apartment If you love hearing how a film actually gets made and gets seen, this episode is for you. Chapters:• 01:36 - Introducing Rayviation— community culture, film & social change • 06:49 - Loving Men — the Film and Its Community • 20:42 - Introducing the Melvin Project • 26:41 - Discovering Harper Studio: Vintage, Community, and Melvin • 33:18 - Teaching Artists, Creativity, and Social Media • 50:36 - A Practical Assignment: Make a 5‑Minute Documentary • 53:26 - TV & Media Favorites — Real Housewives, One Piece, and Public Access • 58:48 - Fair Pay and Building Respectful Production Teams All about RayviationYou're gonna love Rayviation. He's a Chicago based producer, filmmaker, playwright and teaching artist whose work sits at the intersection of community, culture and social change. He got his start at his local public access station in Lowell, Massachusetts at thirteen years old. His first documentary, Days of Division, covered the fight over his hometown's high school. He produced and edited Loving Men with the Boston Ujima Project, and he's currently in pre production on The Call to Harper Studio, a feature documentary about Harper Studio Vintage and its owner, Melvin Thompson. He teaches with Free Spirit Media, where he's currently running a class called Puppets for Positivity. Things We MentionedLoving Men, available through Kinema with a watch guide for hosting your own screeningDays of Division, his first documentaryMy Call with Melvin, the short film, and The Call to Harper Studio, the feature in pre productionThe Boston Ujima ProjectHarper Studio Vintage and its owner, Melvin Thompson, celebrating ten years on the blockKinema, the screening and distribution platformFree Spirit Media and its Creative Pathways earn and learn programThe Chicago Tool LibraryTrisha Hersey, Rest Is Resistance **affiliate link**What he's watching: One Piece, Mr. SOUL! about Ellis Haizlip and the show SOUL!, and Sherman's Showcase Connect with RayviationInstagram: @rayviation.rocksWebsite: rayviation.webflow.ioYouTube: search Rayviation Sponsor Shoutout 💖This episode features Artist Admin Hour. Every Wednesday, 7 to 9pm Central, artists get on Zoom and knock out the applications, grants, budgets and invoices we've all been avoiding. Two hours of body doubling with structure, no shame, and real community. $25 to $45 a month. If that's not doable, email me and we'll make it work. artistadminhour.com Stay ConnectedSign up for the noseyAF Dispatch and grab the Good Neighbor Playbook. Behind the MicnoseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice. More ways to connectstephanie@missgraham.com | @stephaniegraham | noseyaf.com Support & FeedbackRate and review the show, and send this one to a man in your life. Episode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    The Red Pill Is Not the Only Option with Rayviation

  3. Sep 29

    I Make Films for Black People and Everybody Can Watch with Barbara Allen

    Ep 151: I Make Films for Black People and Everybody Can Watch with Barbara Allen Two little girls saw a movie camera in a mail order catalog and spent a whole week on the phone building a case to bring to their parents. They both got a yes. Fifty some years later, one of them is a filmmaker and the other one is her writer. This week I'm talking with documentary filmmaker Barbara Allen, the person behind Paper Trail: 100 Years of the Chicago Defender, DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis, Colorblind: Rethinking Race, and House Music: A Cultural Revolution. Recorded live at Lumpen Radio, no edits, no retakes. What We Talk AboutHow an 8 year old talks her mother into a movie camera, and how that kid and her best friend ended up in an editing room together twenty years laterWhy the Vivian Harsh Collection at Woodson Library is the place to go for Black Chicago history, and what's in there that the big museums don't haveThe Black pilots of 1930s Chicago: Cornelius Coffey, Willa Brown, and the man they called the one man Ethiopian Air ForceWhy she deliberately cast white male experts in a documentary about racism, and why it workedTime travel, virtual reality, and putting a viewer on a rooftop during Hurricane KatrinaWhere she lands on AI, and the dark comedy about AI she's making right nowThe one thing she wishes more interviewers would do If you love Chicago history, oral archives, or anybody who has been following their curiosity since childhood, this episode is for you. All about Barbara AllenYou're gonna love Barbara. She's a straight up walking archive with a great sense of humor about it. She's a producer, director, editor, engineer, and journalist who has spent decades telling stories about Black history, culture, and Chicago. Her documentaries include Paper Trail: 100 Years of the Chicago Defender, DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis, Colorblind: Rethinking Race, and House Music: A Cultural Revolution. She was a Knight Fellow at Stanford in 2013, where she built one of the first immersive VR journalism pieces, a Hurricane Katrina rooftop story narrated by Harry Lennix. She's currently raising funds for Realignment, a dark comedy about AI that is a pilot for a series. Chapters: 00:22 - Settle In — Live, Unedited Conversation on Nosy AF02:15 - Origins: Making Films at Eight06:14 - Wearing Many Hats: Learning Every Side of Filmmaking14:27 - Film timeline — Paper Trail and other works20:50 - Social Media as Archive: Self‑Documenting and the Future of Storytelling31:51 - Show Return — Barbara Allen: A Walking Archive34:43 - AI, Authenticity, and Immersive Storytelling42:01 - AI and Storytelling: When Technology Becomes the Story49:16 - Lessons Learned Behind the Camera52:45 - Advice for the Next Generation — Passion vs. Fame59:43 - Episode Closing — Thanks & Credits Things We MentionedPaper Trail: 100 Years of the Chicago DefenderDuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black MetropolisColorblind: Rethinking RaceHouse Music: A Cultural RevolutionRealignment, her AI dark comedy in development, fiscally sponsored and currently fundraisingThe Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at the Carter G. Woodson Regional LibraryMichael Flug, archivistTimuel Black, Chicago historianDr. Daniel Hale Williams and Provident HospitalCornelius Coffey, John Robinson, Willa Brown, and Bessie ColemanSusan Cayton Woodson and her grandfather Hiram Revels, the first Black U.S. senatorThe Chicago Defender's WWII Victory Edition and the Double V campaignGail Baker, her writer since they were 8Tim Wise and the Brandeis researcher who coined "the Black tax"Jeremy Bailenson and Nonny de la PeñaHarry LennixDonald Crossley of the House Music documentaryFelicia Kreger, who made the introductionRecent screening of DuSable to Obama at the Chicago Cultural Center with DCASE Connect with Barbara AllenBarbara’s Production Company “Middle Passage Productions”House Music: A Cultural Revolution is on the WTTW YouTube channel Sponsor Shoutout 💖This episode features Artist Admin Hour. Every Wednesday, 7 to 9pm Central, artists get on Zoom and knock out the applications, grants, budgets, and invoices we've all been avoiding. Two hours of body doubling with structure, no shame, and real community. artistadminhour.com Stay ConnectedSign up for the noseyAF Dispatch and grab the Good Neighbor Playbook. Behind the MicnoseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice. More ways to connectstephanie@missgraham.com | @stephaniegraham | noseyaf.com Support & FeedbackRate and review the show, and share this episode with a friend who loves Chicago history. Episode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    I Make Films for Black People and Everybody Can Watch with Barbara Allen

  4. Sep 15

    Knowledgeable Failure with Megan Williamson

    Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM, Saturday, September 12, 2026 A teacher looked at her painting in front of the whole class and called it a knowledgeable failure. She took it as a compliment. Chicago painter Megan Williamson has been painting for decades and is nowhere near finished figuring out what painting can do. From a hundred Zoom portraits to a room full of circus figures, her work is about looking, searching, and following an idea wherever it goes. What We Talk About What a teacher meant when he called her painting a knowledgeable failure, and why she now tells that story to her own studentsWhy the circus, and what an E.E. Cummings quote and a nun have to do with her new exhibitionHow a hundred Zoom portraits during the pandemic changed what she knew about painting peopleThe unexpected turn: what she does when she has no idea what's going to happen in the studio, which is more often than you'd think If you love hearing an artist talk honestly about not knowing, this episode is for you. Chapters: • 00:12 - Live, Unedited Conversation Begins • 01:12 - Interview Begins — Megan Williamson, Chicago Painter • 12:54 - Studio Companion: My Dog Tao Teo • 20:19 - From Classroom to Studio: How Teaching Shapes Her Art • 30:43 - Ad Break — The Inner Guide: Finding Answers Within • 42:11 - Learning to Be Brave — Childhood, Horses, and Early Lessons • 48:44 - From Coloring Pages to a Calling: Teacher Memories • 59:30 - Closing Remarks — Exhibition Details & How to Follow Megan All about Megan Williamson You're gonna love Megan! She's a painter who is genuinely still curious after decades of doing this. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and this October she has a solo exhibition at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, titled Damn Everything But the Circus, after an E.E. Cummings line. She studied at Knox College and the New York Studio School, teaches landscape painting, and keeps a studio here in Chicago. Things We Mentioned Damn Everything But the Circus, Swope Art Museum, opening OctoberHer hundred Zoom portraits projectKnox College and the New York Studio SchoolGabriel Laderman, the teacher behind the knowledgeable failureRisha Brown Inner Guide Podcast Connect with Megan Williamson IG: @meganwilliamson_artMegan’s Website Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch — all the month's episodes, straight to your inbox once a month. → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free Behind the Mic noseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice — photography, film, and documentary work rooted in community and curiosity. → See the work More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported — thank you for being here. 💛 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    Knowledgeable Failure with Megan Williamson

  5. Sep 3

    All That and a Bag of Chips: 31 Days of Black Business Reflections

    Ep 149: All That and a Bag of Chips: 31 Days of Black Business Reflections No guest. No theme song. Just me, a cup of coffee, and whatever came out of my mouth. 🖤 We made it. Thirty-one days, thirty-one Black business owners, every single day of August. And then two days into September, because that's how it goes. This one is unscripted. I sat down and talked off the top of my head about what this series actually took, what it reminded me of, and the thing I realized halfway through that I'm still sitting with. What I get into How this started, and why Denzel Turner of Black Fridays is the reason the whole series existsWhat it actually took: the intake forms, the rescheduling, the Chicago storms that knocked our power out, and editing every single episode myselfThe thing I realized halfway through — that I've been making oral archives my whole practice, from So This One Guy to The Black Kid Table, and this is just the first time in podcast formDo it scared. Every single story in this series had a moment where the thing almost didn't happen.Have friends who see you. Several of these businesses exist because a friend kept asking when they were going to start.Word of mouth as a whole thread of the month, and why relationship marketing kept coming upAnd the last thing: I really am all that and a bag of chips. I did that. Chapters: 00:01 - Introduction to Nosey AF Conversations02:21 - The Journey of Black Business Month05:15 - Transitioning to New Perspectives08:46 - Overcoming Fear and Embracing Support11:55 - The Power of Relationships in Marketing13:55 - Gratitude and Reflection Thank you To Off the Grid for partnering on this series and believing in it before it existed. To every guest who gave me their time, their story, and their trust. To Queen Lex and Freddie Bam Fam, whose theme song I played every single day this month and still love I got my money's worth. To Emma McGoldrick for the cover art. And to you, for listening, sharing, buying, booking, and being nosey with me. Where to start if you're catching up There's a therapist in this series. A credit expert. A handyman. An economist. A woman who will take you to Ghana. A woman who will make you a swimsuit that fits. A bookstore for the dark fantasy girlies. Thats just a start, there is someone there for everyone! Go be somebody's first customer. Or their second. Or their five thousandth. All 31 episodes → noseyaf.com This series was supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤 Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    All That and a Bag of Chips: 31 Days of Black Business Reflections

  6. Sep 2

    Serious Training for Everyday People with Sean Armstead of Phenomenal Fitness

    Ep 148: Serious Training for Everyday People with Sean Armstead of Phenomenal Fitness Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤 He trained 33 people last Saturday. Starting at 4 in the morning. Sean Armstead is a former Marine Corps infantry officer who served in the Persian Gulf, and he's been running Phenomenal Fitness since 1997. The slogan hasn't changed in almost thirty years: serious training for everyday people. His whole book of business comes from referrals. He calls it old money. What We Talk About Successful aging, what it actually means, and why he's training you for the body you'll have at 70 rather than the one you had at 25The five pillars: structural integrity, movement skill, work capacity, body composition, and powerWhat it's really like your first day, and why he says if you get sick twenty minutes in, that's the trainer's faultThe unexpected turn: he started with no certification, no business background, and no idea what he was doing. A mentor kept telling him to burn the ship. If you love a conversation with somebody who's been doing it long enough to know, this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:13 - Reflecting on the Black Business Series04:49 - Building a Team: Lessons from 30 Years in Business12:35 - Transitioning to Entrepreneurship17:52 - Understanding Fitness and Aging38:01 - Engaging Clients: The Importance of Retention and Revenue44:47 - Building a Sustainable Business Model All about Sean Armstead You're gonna love Sean. He's a former Marine Corps infantry officer turned strength and conditioning coach who describes himself as a triple threat leader: know the way, go the way, show the way. He founded Phenomenal Fitness in 1997 and has been a brick and mortar gym owner since 1999, operating out of the South Loop. His model is semi-private training, which keeps sessions around $50 rather than the $120 to $130 that private training typically runs. He writes his first name in lowercase to remind himself of humility and gratitude. Things We Mentioned Phenomenal Fitness, South Loop Chicago → new website coming, with free exercise and programming contentSerious training for everyday people, the slogan since 1997The five pillars: structural integrity, movement skill, work capacity, body composition, powerThe four principles: mindset, muscle, metcon, modification of lifestyleSemi-private training, averaging $50 a session This series is supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤 Connect with Phenomenal Fitness WebsiteIG: @phenomenalfit1 Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    Serious Training for Everyday People with Sean Armstead of Phenomenal Fitness

  7. Sep 1

    Vintage Is a Form of Luxury with Jennifer Kelly-Nichols of Vintage Frills

    Ep 147: Vintage Is a Form of Luxury with Jennifer Kelly-Nichols of Vintage Frills Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤 She was too scared to sign a lease, so she bought a short school bus and painted it pink instead. She'll tell you she cheated a little. Jennifer Kelly spent years as the logistical backbone at Chanel, Tiffany's, and Neiman Marcus before burning out during COVID. Now she runs Vintage Frills, a Chicago boutique organized entirely by color: a red room, a blue room, a neutrals room she called the dungeon in her business plan. People fly in from around the world to shop it. The pink bus is still running pop-ups. What We Talk About The difference between business and luxury business, and what luxury retail taught her about making people feel taken care ofWhere she actually sources: estate sales, not thrift stores, and why Hyde Park has the best ones in the cityHer honest advice for anyone about to open an online boutique, including the friend who researched herself out of ever startingThe unexpected turn: she says people move too fast and lose everything. She wanted Hyde Park first and didn't get it, and going slow is the reason she's still here five years later. If you love a conversation with somebody who tells you the truth about the hard parts, this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:06 - Introduction to the 31 Days of Black Business Series07:52 - Starting Vintage Frills: A Journey into Luxury Resale11:47 - The Transition to Entrepreneurship26:42 - The Art of Sourcing Vintage Luxury29:21 - Navigating the Challenges of Starting an Online Boutique37:44 - The Slow and Steady Journey of Business All about Jennifer Kelly You're gonna love Jennifer. She grew up around resale and retail and turned that into a career at some of the biggest luxury brands in the world before building her own. Vintage Frills hit five years this past July and has been recognized by American Express and Business Insider. She started with Vintage Fleet, a short school bus she painted pink and had graffiti'd, which still does pop-ups and, in her words, saves them from financial peril. She's a curvy cutie herself, so yes, there are plus sizes, and yes, she'll pull things from the back for you. Things We Mentioned Vintage Frills → https://www.vintagefrillschicago.com/Vintage Fleet, the pink school bus, still doing pop-ups including Logan Square Farmers Marketestatesales.net, where she sourcesAmerican Express and Business Insider features This series is supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤 Connect with Jennifer Kelly Website:https://www.vintagefrillschicago.com/IG: @vintagefrillsVisit Vintage Frills at 2846 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60618 Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    Vintage Is a Form of Luxury with Jennifer Kelly-Nichols of Vintage Frills

  8. Aug 31

    Your Customers Are Doing Economics Whether You Are or Not with Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop of Verity Consulting

    Ep 146: Your Customers Are Doing Economics Whether You Are or Not with Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop of Verity Consulting Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤 She was going to call herself the corniest economist. Her friend said no, you're the baddest economist I know. She was terrified to use it. Her friend said do it scared. Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop is a PhD economist and the founder of Verity Consulting, which she launched in fall of 2025 after spending over a decade doing economics across the federal government. She started it because she was tired of watching businesses make what she could plainly see were bad decisions. What We Talk About What an economist actually does for a business, and why there's no wrong time to bring one in, whether you're just starting or something just feels offWhat supporting Black business actually looks like from an economic perspective, at both the micro and macro levelHow Hump Day Economics started, and why she couldn't find a credentialed economist explaining why the eggs cost what they costThe unexpected turn: she's not a subject matter expert in your field and doesn't try to be. She brings the tool. You bring the business. If you love a conversation that makes something big feel usable, this episode is for you. Chapters: 00:07 - Celebrating Black Business Month05:08 - Understanding Consumer Economics13:20 - Understanding the Role of Data in Consumer Behavior23:31 - Engaging Economists: Timing and Strategies for Entrepreneurs32:21 - Understanding Consumer Values in the Black Community46:34 - Transitioning to Business Insights All about Kristi Bishop You're gonna love Kristi. Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop translates how economics shows up in ordinary decisions, from why the gas tank waits until morning to why grocery prices feel different than the receipt says. Under the banner The Baddest Economist You Know, she turns ideas like present bias and revealed preference into weekly conversations her audience actually finishes watching. She's spent over a decade in federal economics work, including at the CDC and the Social Security Administration, and now runs Verity Consulting, a boutique economic consultancy helping consumer-facing organizations understand the economics driving their customers' behavior. Verity offers two tiers of monthly subscription with a three-month minimum, plus larger project engagements. Their first big one wrapped in April for a Black-owned spirits brand in Prince George's County. Things We Mentioned Verity Consulting → verityconsultingllc.com · insights@verityconsultingllc.comHump Day Economics, her weekly Instagram seriesCourtney Walden of Chicago Massage, her best friend and one of her clientsThe K-shaped economy, and what it explains about the airlines This series is supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤 Connect with Kristi Bishop Website: verityconsultingllc.comEmail: insights@verityconsultingllc.comIG: @verityecon Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free More ways to connect Email: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.com Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    Your Customers Are Doing Economics Whether You Are or Not with Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop of Verity Consulting
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Want to hear how real artists actually make it work? noseyAF skips the glossy bios and gets into the messy, human, creative parts of building a life in the arts, and using that life to change the world. Hosted by artist, filmmaker, and professionally nosey person Stephanie Graham, each episode goes deep with working artists, filmmakers, organizers, and culture-shifters about what's actually behind their work: the decisions, the doubts, the money stuff, the pivots, and the "how do you keep going?" moments. No hustle propaganda. No gatekeeping. No pretending it's easy. If you love peeking behind the curtain, noseyAF gives you the honest, energizing conversation you didn't know you needed.

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