Co-founder of Dine Diaspora and Black Women In Food

The journey of an entrepreneur is often layered with numerous challenges and setbacks. It requires a certain level of determination, sacrifice, willingness to learn, and getting used to hearing alot of no’s. Layering on the challenges Black women face in our society adds another element of difficulty. Our next guest speaks to her own entrepreneurial journey as a Black woman, the hurdles she has faced, and her beautiful breakthroughs.

Nina Oduro is an entrepreneur, host, social justice warrior, and Chief Enjoyment Officer, as she proclaims on her Instagram. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Dine Diaspora, an agency connecting people and brands to African food culture through experiential marketing and branding services. She’s also Co-founder of Black Women in Food, an initiative she launched in 2018 that, “identifies, amplifies, and supports Black women in the food and beverage industry."

Nina was born in Ghana, West Africa and was raised in the United States. Her mission is to create a more equitable food system through initiatives that center the African diaspora. She has been recognized by numerous organizations for her work, and her writing has been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, Cuisine Noir Magazine, and Fields Magazine.

Nina discusses her journey as an entrepreneur into the culinary industry and the many challenges she’s faced. She also touches on the impact and incredible programming she and her co-founders are developing to advance Black creatives and their work, as well as contribute to a more equitable and sustainable food system. Listen now to this inspiring, informative, and fun conversation as Nina takes us through her entrepreneurial journey.

CEO of Modern Adventure

“Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” - Unknown

This quote really embodies how Luis Vargas lives his life and runs his business. Luis is one of the worlds premier experiential travel executives and thought leaders. He is Founder and CEO of Modern Adventure, a certified b-corp, climate neutral and award winning travel company based in Portland, Oregon.

Luis and the Modern Adventure team, as they say, are purveyors of joy, and believe that travel can be a force for good in the world, but also how we travel matters. Luis and his team go through a great deal of effort to not just ensure travel clients are satisfied, but also the impact they leave on the local destinations are positive and majority of the money stays within the country.

In 2017 Luis delivered his TEdx talk entitled “Travel more, buy less” where essentially he is encouraging us all to invest in experiences not more stuff, a talk which has since garnered over 1.7M views and growing.

He discusses how travel has shaped his journey and development as a man, a father, a husband and CEO. We explore how his company, Modern Adventure focuses on culinary and chef talent as an integral component of many of the travel experiences they develop. And now as a company, they are moving even deeper into this space, with the recently launched new division, Paragon by Modern Adventure, a collection of the worlds premier culinary, creative and cultural travel experiences.

Clients can experience the best in travel coupled with top tier iconic talent being their guides. A recent, Paragon partnership is with Kyle Cannaughton. Kyle is the Owner/Chef of SingleThread, a 3-Michelin star and World’s 50 Best Restaurant in Healdsburg Ca. For example, this program gives clients the opportunity to book an exclusive travel experience to Japan or explore California Wine Country intimately with Kyle.

We also touch on some travel trends and what to expect in 2023. Happy Holidays and enjoy!

CEO of GRoundwork Coffee

Did you know, coffee consumption in the United States rose by 14% from January 2021 through January 2022, according to the National Coffee Association? And demand for top-quality coffee like organic and fair-trade is on a roll in every region of the world.

Coffee was an important part of my early life for many years, but not for the reasons you may think. I wasn’t a consumer, or even the passionate consumer I am today until 2011. From 2002 - 2009 I was a barista at Starbucks, but never drank coffee. At that time, I was just deeply passionate about coffee culture, and how this ritual was impacting people lives. I was so happy to be apart of this 2nd wave, bringing joy into peoples mornings and creating community. It wasn’t until I moved to Venice that I became a consumer and in large part I have to thank Groundwork Coffee for that. I’m just happy my entry point into the category as a consumer was with such a premium, organic and great brand.

I recently met Eddy Cola, CEO of Groundwork Coffee Co at a restaurant in Venice. Being as Groundwork was a catalyst for my early entry point into coffee, I was excited to chat with him. Eddy, is a fascinating person and entrepreneur originally from Montreal Canada. His career started in music, both as a musician and talent mamanger and then developed into a management role at his family business, a beef processing company. He joined Groundwork in 2011, and has been on a mission to build this organically gown, fair-traded coffee brand into the 10 retail cafes, two roasters, a brewery (for cold brew/nitro) and the national network of distribution, it is at today.

In this epiosde, Eddy highlights how Groundwork recently celebrated 3 decades in business and went through a recent rebranding. He discusses his guiding principles of conscious capitalizism and how he leads Groundwork into the future as the category and competition continues to grow.

For On The Pass listeners, Eddy and the team are offering 20% off orders made through their website with the code ONTHEPASS20. Get your coffee supply up for the holidays and take advantage of this generous offer.