Townrootz Anthony Wilson / Vincent Hayes

#066 - Today our guest is Ayodele Kinchen, 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 tha...

#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.“so that at the end of the day, our communities would look a little di...

#064 - Today we talk 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 wa...

#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 ...

#062 - Today we talk to Charmeng Robinson, 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.“I started taking some tutorials on Facebook and I met a young lady that was doing the painting. I ...

#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...