• 42 minutes 39 seconds
    Split Ends Are the Devil with Charita Golden of Golden Tresses

    Ep 141: Split Ends Are the Devil with Charita Golden of Golden Tresses

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    She wants you to love the hair you have, not the hair you wish you had.

    Charita Golden is the natural hairstylist behind Golden Tresses here in Chicago, and full disclosure, she is my actual hairstylist. So I went into this a little nervous, because if I mess it up I still have to go sit in her chair. She's been natural for over 25 years, since before it was a movement, and she's been in somebody's hair since she was about ten.

    What We Talk About

    • The hair myth she wants dead: that you don't need your ends trimmed. No product is going to do the work a haircut does.
    • How to tell which hair advice on social media is for you, and the one thing to check before you try anything you saw in a video
    • Why your relationship with your stylist should be a partnership, and what happens when either side treats the other like the help
    • Why she won't put a relaxer in anybody's hair, ever, and what she says to clients who ask
    • The unexpected turn: her advice to young stylists isn't about technique at all. It's customer service, and she'll tell you why mediocre stylists stay booked while talented ones can't keep a client.

    If you love a conversation that changes how you take care of yourself, this episode is for you.

    All about Charita Golden

    You're gonna love Charita. She's a Chicago native, a mother, a licensed natural hair care professional, and an educator. She comes from a long line of women with natural hair down their backs, and she's been braiding and pressing since she was a kid because her mama kept sending her little sister outside with ratty ponytails. She didn't go pro until her thirties, and now she specializes in natural hair because she wants there to be a space that's actually built for it. She wants us to let our hair be great in its own lane, technical term texture, and she wants us to love hard on it rather than tolerate it.

    Things We Mentioned

    • Golden Tresses → book at goldentresses.booksy.com
    • Her advice on hair videos: only take it if the hair looks like yours when it's wet
    • The word "nappy," and why she says naps are just curls that haven't been combed
    • Satin bonnets, satin-lined hoods, and the satin roller she wishes she'd invented

    Chapters:

    • 00:07 - Introduction to the 31 Days of Black Business Series
    • 04:08 - Understanding Natural Hair Care
    • 09:34 - Understanding Hair Care Misconceptions
    • 19:45 - The Complexity of Natural Hair Care
    • 29:35 - Customer Service in the Beauty Industry
    • 40:54 - Embracing Natural Beauty: A Conversation on Hair Care and Self-Love

    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 Charita Golden


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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    26 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 47 minutes 24 seconds
    Private Investing Is Not What You Think with Victoria Watkins of Inrichmint

    Ep 140: Private Investing Is Not What You Think with Victoria Watkins of Inrichmint

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    I learned a new term recording this one: family office. I was today years old.

    Victoria Watkins is a lawyer and the founder of inrichmint, where she helps people invest in companies that aren't on the stock market. She'll tell you private investing is not the gated thing you think it is, and that your friend's flower shop counts. She's also the author of Little Valarie and Her Big World of Options and runs Joy and Magic Tea.

    What We Talk About

    • Private investing explained from the beginning, including what a friends and family round is and what "sweat equity" actually means
    • What a family office is, why the structures are attainable for way more people than think they qualify, and who should have one
    • Why she watches American Greed as informal due diligence training
    • The unexpected turn: she went to law school to become a fashion lawyer, ended up in the mayor's office, then became chief of staff at a mutual fund company

    If you love a conversation that hands you the keys, this episode is for you.

    All about Victoria Watkins

    You're gonna love Victoria. She's a multi-hyphenate who has always had more than one thing going, and she'll tell you why: we should all have more than one source of income, and she doesn't want to get to the end having left anything in her. Founder of inrichmint, where she and her business partner bridge investors and privately held companies, she came up through the Illinois House Democrats legal team, the Emanuel administration, and four years as chief of staff at Ariel Investments. She still writes, which is how Little Valarie and Her Big World of Options happened, named for her mother and inspired by watching the 2016 Olympics.

    Things We Mentioned


    Chapters:

    • 00:07 - Introduction to Black Entrepreneurship
    • 00:59 - Transitioning to Private Investing
    • 23:22 - Understanding Family Offices and Their Importance
    • 34:20 - The Importance of Networking in Entrepreneurship
    • 39:15 - Introducing Little Valarie and Her Journey

    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 Victoria Watkins


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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    25 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 52 minutes 19 seconds
    Your Credit Report Shows Your Stress with Cierra Michelle Jones of The Credit School

    Ep 139: Your Credit Report Shows Your Stress with Cierra Michelle Jones of The Credit School

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    She got denied on her first house, couldn't afford a credit repair company, and went to Google instead. She calls herself her own first client.

    Cierra Michelle Jones is the Founder and Executive Director of The Credit School. She joined the Army at 17, spent years running from her credit problems, and got denied and scammed trying to buy a house in 2015. Now she has zero debt except her house and her car, and she's teaching millennial families and underserved communities how she did it.

    What We Talk About

    • Why the biggest military misconception is that you're automatically set, and what actually happens after the bonus is spent
    • What she can see on a credit report that has nothing to do with numbers, including your stress spending
    • Why credit repair takes 18 months and not 30 days, and how to spot someone who doesn't know what they're talking about
    • The unexpected turn: an election year is the best year to buy a house, and here's why

    If you love a conversation that hands you something you can actually use, this episode is for you.

    All about Cierra Michelle Jones

    You're gonna love Cierra. She's a self-described bookworm and history buff who reads financial news like other people read gossip. She's the Founder and Executive Director of The Credit School, helping millennial families and underserved communities demystify credit education and build toward home ownership and generational wealth. A retired Army veteran and single mom, she built the platform after learning the hard way that the problem isn't a lack of effort, it's a lack of clarity. She's the author of The Military Credit Blueprint, with more books and a children's book featuring Penny the Pig and Sam the Scammer on the way. Her whole thing: she made the hard mistakes so you don't have to.

    Things We Mentioned


    Chapters:

    • 00:09 - Introduction to Black Business Month
    • 03:42 - The Journey to Financial Empowerment
    • 26:24 - Understanding Credit Challenges
    • 32:53 - Understanding Financial Choices and the Pressure of Appearance
    • 42:09 - Expertise and Growth in Business

    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 Cierra Michelle Jones

    • IG and Threads: @thecreditschool
    • TikTok: @thecreditschoolone

    Stay Connected

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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    24 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Two Introverts Built a Wine Bar on the South Side with Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas of Park Manor 75

    Ep 138: Two Introverts Built a Wine Bar on the South Side with Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas of Park Manor 75

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM on August 21, 2026. No edits, no retakes.

    What happens when the people who've spent decades bringing everybody together finally create a place of their own?

    Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas met as teenagers and have been building community for more than two decades: social clubs, arts organizations, events, trips. Now that's a physical space. Park Manor 75 is a Black-owned wine and charcuterie bar on 75th Street, and they call it a third space, and they mean it.

    What We Talk About

    • Why they say the business plan is the thing you avoid because you're afraid of what it'll reveal, and why you should write it anyway
    • How they found the building on a whim, in pajamas, and closed on it within thirty days
    • What they wish they'd known in 2003, when an alderman told them no and they took no for an answer
    • The unexpected turn: SSAs, and why where you spend your money decides which neighborhoods get street cleaning, lights, and beautification

    If you love a conversation about what it actually takes to open a door, this episode is for you.

    All about Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas

    You're gonna love these two. A husband-and-wife team of 23 years who are both, improbably, introverts. Charlette runs operations, Jacare runs strategy and community engagement, and their whole approach is asking people what they want to do and then figuring out how the space can serve it. The bar is two rooms: the Park is light and open, the Manor is a dark speakeasy in the back. As Charlette puts it, you can have your grandma in the front and your boo in the back.

    Things We Mentioned

    • Park Manor 75 → parkmanor75.com · @parkmanor75 on all socials
    • Noir Urban Arts Collective and See Black Social Club, their earlier ventures
    • The Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, the City of Chicago grant that helped fund the build
    • SSAs, or Special Service Areas, and why they matter for neighborhood development
    • Sensory Oasis with DJ Dave Mays, monthly on Sundays
    • What to order: the Park Manor (lamb sausage and Italian beef with mild sauce), the Greek Town if you don't eat meat, the collard green dip, and the sweet potato hummus
    • The Inner Guide podcast, which you heard during the break

    Chapters:

    • 00:00 - Introduction to the Episode
    • 01:11 - The Journey to Community Building and Entrepreneurship
    • 13:56 - Navigating the Challenges of Business Planning
    • 28:34 - The Importance of Mentorship
    • 36:40 - The Journey to Owning a Business
    • 48:31 - Community Engagement and Business Synergy
    • 56:01 - Navigating Community and Business Relationships

    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 Park Manor 75


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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    23 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 46 minutes 15 seconds
    Not Everybody's Life Is a Movie Scene with Adrienne Randle of Evryday Blk Magazine

    Ep 137: Not Everybody's Life Is a Movie Scene with Adrienne Randle of Evryday Blk Magazine

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    Not everybody's life is a movie scene. That's the whole idea.

    Adrienne Randle founded Evryday Blk Magazine, a bi-monthly publication in digital and print, because she wanted something that felt good to read. No gossip, no trauma, no celebrity culture. Just four-generation Black farms, a man who chases waterfalls, and the small local film festivals nobody's covering. It's the next chapter of her Black Owned Business Shopping Guide, which ran from 2023 to 2025, featured 1,175 businesses, and pulled over 3 million views.

    What We Talk About

    • Why she's a boundary queen: no work on weekends, no work at night, period, and how burnout at year five taught her that
    • How she collaborates with other Black-owned businesses, why she pays them, and why "if you don't ask, the answer is no" is her whole approach
    • Digital blackfacing, what it is, and how she verifies that every business in the magazine is actually Black-owned
    • The unexpected turn: her doomsday case for physical media, and why she wants Black books, CDs, and magazines in the house for when the grid pops

    If you love a conversation about building something on your own terms, this episode is for you.

    All about Adrienne Randle

    You're gonna love Adrienne. She's a whole ball of joy, and she'll tell you if she doesn't have a smile on her face she's not leaving the house. A creative advertising grad and product-based business owner since 2014, she built Addy Rawr into a brand that sold over 100,000 products, including 10,000 journals. Her design mantra: people don't know how it was supposed to look at the end. Now she's putting that same energy into a magazine that goes straight to the source instead of the celebrity.

    Things We Mentioned

    • Evryday Blk Magazine, free digital subscription and print available for purchase
    • The Black Owned Business Shopping Guide, 2023 to 2025, 1,175 businesses
    • Addy Rawr, her artist name and previous brand
    • The magazine is self-funded, and there's a donation button on the site. A $10 monthly or $50 one-time contribution goes toward stock photos, software, printing, and eventually paying writers.

    Chapters:

    • 00:07 - Introduction to Black Business
    • 00:33 - Introducing Adrienne Randall and Evryday Blk Magazine
    • 05:42 - The Journey of Creativity and Business
    • 13:05 - The Importance of Collaboration in Entrepreneurship
    • 16:36 - The Importance of Work-Life Balance for Entrepreneurs
    • 26:51 - Highlighting Everyday Stories
    • 32:00 - The Importance of Representation and Transparency in Media
    • 37:46 - The Importance of Authentic Representation in Black Media
    • 41:44 - Future of Evryday Blk Magazine

    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 Adrienne Randle


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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    21 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 41 minutes 17 seconds
    Trades Aren't a Backup Plan: Building a Business With Your Hands with Shawn Ellis of Handyman Ellis, LLC

    Ep 136:Trades Aren't a Backup Plan: Building a Business With Your Hands with Shawn Ellis of Handyman Ellis, LLC

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    His grandfather used to take his quarters and hand them back as tens. Called it magic. Then one summer he said, come work with me and I'll show you what the magic actually is. Shawn was thirteen.

    Shawn runs Handyman Ellis LLC in Chicago, providing professional services for homeowners and businesses: mounting, assembly, installations, repairs. About 80% of his work comes from word of mouth. I'm part of that word of mouth. So is my dad, who tells his entire friend group about this man.

    What We Talk About

    • Why he thinks the trades should be a first option and not a backup plan, and what he tells young people who don't know what to do next
    • What separates a professional from somebody who just knows how to fix things, and why the booties on his shoes are part of the answer
    • His advice for anyone with a skill who's scared to turn it into a business: do your homework, then start
    • The unexpected turn: the one thing in your house he wants you to stop putting off, and he's right, and you should go check it after this

    If you love a conversation about building something the honest way, this episode is for you.

    All about Shawn

    You're gonna love Shawn. He shows up organized, in booties, with an old school playlist going. Mostly self-taught with some classes and certifications along the way, he treats every house he enters like it's his own, and plenty of his clients trust him enough to let him work while they're not home. He's driven by gaining knowledge and passing it on, and he talks about instilling forever skills in his son, who's already asked for his own Handyman Ellis shirt. His stepfather's line, which used to be on his business cards: if it's broke, he can fix it.

    Chapters:

    • 00:09 - 31 Days of Black Business
    • 02:25 - The Journey to Handyman Success
    • 11:02 - The Challenges of Being a Handyman
    • 19:57 - The Value of Trades in Modern Society
    • 29:43 - The Importance of Community for Business Growth
    • 34:31 - Entrepreneurship Insights

    Things We Mentioned

    • Handyman Ellis LLC, professional services for homeowners and businesses. Booking site
    • Email: [email protected]
    • Serving Chicago and surrounding suburbs
    • Services: mounting, assembly, installations, repairs. As he puts it, send him your project and he'll tell you if he can make it come true.

    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 Shawn


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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    20 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 55 minutes 25 seconds
    From a Craft Class to Ten Years in Business with Ticina Williams of Creativiti Custom Designs and Events

    Ep 135: From a Craft Class to Ten Years in Business with Ticina Williams of Creativiti Custom Designs and Events

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    Ticina Williams started designing her own party supplies because the licensed images never looked like her sons.

    She founded Creativiti Custom Designs and Events in Chicago — that's Creativiti with an i, because everybody calls her T and she's the T in Creativiti. It started with a craft class at Michael's she only took because she got dropped from her college courses one summer. Ten years later it's a full-service event planning, consulting, and party supply company, and she hand-makes every product herself.

    What We Talk About

    • How to actually think about budget when you're hiring an event planner, and why the question isn't meant to trigger you
    • Why every successful event needs a program, even a loose one, so your guests aren't sitting there wondering what's happening
    • When she started doing in-kind work for community organizations, and the expensive lesson that taught her what to ask for first
    • The unexpected turn: her three-year-old asked for a Miami Heat LeBron James birthday party, and figuring out how to make one changed the direction of her whole business

    If you love origin stories that don't skip the scary parts, this episode is for you.

    All about Ticina Williams

    You're gonna love Ticina — she's the hostess with the mostest and she will absolutely kick in at your party uninvited. A mom of four boys and a business school grad, she brings both sides to every event: the administrative planner who wants to know your timeline and your point person, and the creative who hand-crafts the favors, the treat boxes, and the centerpieces. Her online store sells digital party supply downloads featuring Black and brown characters — her NBA 2K favors went viral on Pinterest. Her goal is to pass Creativiti on to one of her sons, all four of whom are business majors.

    Chapters:

    • 00:08 - Introduction to Black Business Month
    • 02:07 - The Journey of Creativiti: From Hobby to Business
    • 09:20 - The Birth of a Creative Event Planning Business
    • 16:08 - The Evolution of Event Planning
    • 22:34 - Incorporating Community Impact in Business
    • 26:41 - Understanding Client Budgets
    • 33:14 - Successful Event Planning Essentials
    • 38:52 - Starting an Online Store: A Journey of Representation
    • 47:50 - Building a Legacy Through Creativiti
    • 51:53 - Navigating Entrepreneurship During the Pandemic

    Things We Mentioned

    • Creativiti Custom Designs and Events
    • The Creativiti online store, for digital party supply downloads
    • Dara's Safari Shower, the 2015 event that started it all
    • The Economic Empowerment Summit and the Woodlawn and Washington Park Summits
    • SCORE, where she found her first business mentor

    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 Ticina Williams


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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    19 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 47 minutes 9 seconds
    Semoine Boyer of CocoaLuxe: Routine to Ritual, and Fragrance for When You Can't Get Away

    Ep 134: Semoine Boyer of CocoaLuxe: Routine to Ritual, and Fragrance for When You Can't Get Away

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    She started making these products because she needed somewhere to go when she couldn't actually go anywhere.

    Semoine Boyer is the founder of CocoaLuxe Home and Spa: candles, body butters, scrubs, oils, and body sprays, all made with fragrance blends she creates herself. She started making them because she needed downtime from being a wife, a mom to a son with special needs, and a full-time job in IT. She'll tell you plainly she's not a certified perfumer. She just made what she wanted and it worked.

    What We Talk About

    • The difference between a self-care routine and a self-care ritual, and why she thinks most of us are doing the first one on autopilot
    • Caribbean Sunrise, and how a fragrance can take you somewhere you can't afford to fly
    • What private label actually means, and how she'll build a whole product line under someone else's brand name
    • Why she'd rather eat pork than deal with social media, and what she did about it
    • The unexpected turn: she paused this business three separate times for her family, and the year she finally took off to rest is the year it worked

    If you love second-act reinventions that don't skip the hard part, this episode is for you.

    All about Semoine Boyer

    You're gonna love Semoine — she's a full-transparency kind of person, and she'll say so herself before she tells you the thing. Founder of CocoaLuxe Home and Spa, she builds body care and home fragrance with high-quality ingredients and distinctive blends, creating sensory experiences meant to inspire calm, confidence, and connection. She has retail partnerships, private label clients, and wholesale on the way. Her father raised her to give back, and she's working on a way to do that for other small business owners in Prince George's County. Her definition of luxury: rest. Her one ritual she'll never skip: staying hydrated and moisturized, with her own body butter, every single night.

    Things We Mentioned


    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 Semoine Boyer


    Stay Connected

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    Support & Feedback

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    18 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 33 minutes 34 seconds
    Type C Energy and Design With Soul with Sunni of Sunni Aesthetics.

    Ep 133: Type C Energy and Design With Soul with Sunni of Sunni Aesthetics.

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    Only about 4% of designers in the US are Black. She named her podcast after that number, and it's gone down since.

    Sunni runs Sunni Aesthetics, a creative studio doing branding, creative direction, and visual storytelling. She came up through film production and set decoration in Atlanta, flunked out of design school right before the pandemic, spent quarantine drawing and painting, and taught herself the rest. Six years later, here she is.

    What We Talk About

    • Why she left set life behind, and what she means when she says money comes back but time doesn't
    • How she uses AI as a resource rather than a replacement, and what happens to a brain you stop working out
    • Her advice for anyone thinking about design: don't go to school for it yet, watch a YouTube course and see if it's actually for you
    • The unexpected turn: the 4% number that named her podcast has dropped to 3.86%, and she has thoughts on why designers are walking away from the field

    If you love a conversation about building a creative career on your own terms, this episode is for you.

    All about Sunni

    You're gonna love Sunni — she's bold, intentional, and soul-aligned, and yes that's her own language for it. Through Sunni Aesthetics she partners with small business owners on branding, web and UX/UI design, graphics, social media, e-commerce, video editing, and email marketing. She also hosts The Four Percent Amplified, a podcast celebrating BIPOC designers and turning up the volume on voices the industry overlooks. Her logo puts her initials together with the sun and the moon, because the sun is identity and the moon is intuition, and she wanted both.

    Chapters:

    • 00:07 - Introduction to Black Business Month
    • 01:54 - Understanding Visual Storytelling
    • 11:46 - The Evolution of Storytelling in Design
    • 15:05 - Understanding the Emotional Labor in Creative Work
    • 22:51 - The Evolution of Design Philosophy
    • 31:09 - The Importance of Connection and Community

    Things We Mentioned


    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 Sunni


    Stay Connected

    📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here

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    More ways to connect


    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

    17 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 55 minutes 18 seconds
    Sun Food and Decolonizing What We Eat with Radius of RA's Natural Abundance

    Ep # 132: Sun Food and Decolonizing What We Eat with Radius of RA's Natural Abundance (noseyAF Classic)

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    This conversation originally aired on Lumpen Radio on July 28, 2025, as Ep #77. Bringing it back for the series.

    He'll tell you the box never existed.

    Radius is a musician, photographer, chef, and community builder out of Chicago's South Side. He runs ETC Records, publishes photo zines from his travels, co-founded The Love Fridge Chicago, and promotes sun-fired food through RA's Natural Abundance. He came on to talk about decolonizing through food, and we ended up somewhere much bigger.

    🍋 Radius is available for hire. Personal chef work, juices, meals, and holistic food guidance through RA's Natural Abundance. He's clear that this is about transitioning into a lifestyle, not a diet program — as he puts it, diet has "die" in it.

    What We Talk About

    • Sun food versus raw food, and why he says everything we need is already cooked by the sun
    • How he starts every day: giving thanks, stretching, and breaking his fast with the most hydrating fruit he can find
    • His practical advice for getting off recreational sugar, and why dates and figs do more than you'd think
    • Why he calls himself a cultural ambassador rather than an expat, and what it means to actually invest in a place instead of visiting it
    • The unexpected turn: what it means that "colon" is inside the word "decolonization," and why the food we eat is as revolutionary a front as any other

    If you've ever thought about food as more than something you eat, this one's for you.

    Chapters:

    • 00:07 - Celebrating Black Business Month

    • 02:46 - Introducing Radius: A Multi-Talented Creative

    • 08:50 - The Essence of Sun Food and Personal Transformation

    • 18:34 - Reflections on Travel and Cultural Identity

    • 27:01 - The Concept of Et Cetera in Music

    • 32:21 - Introducing Brooklyn Zoned: A New Project

    • 37:44 - The Importance of Honesty in Art and Life

    • 44:24 - Transitioning to Healthy Eating Habits

    • 47:11 - The Importance of Diet and Lifestyle

    • 51:48 - Exploring Hydration and Wellness

    All about Radius

    You're gonna love Radius — he's a limitless-skies kind of person. The name started as a graffiti tag and became everything else. ETC stands for whatever he needs it to: Ear To Chicago, Educate The Children, Express Truth Consistently, Embrace The Circle, Empower The Community. He runs ETC Records, publishes photo zines under Ramón Etc including Brooklyn Zoned, promotes sun-fired plant-based living through RA's Natural Abundance, and co-founded The Love Fridge Chicago, a mutual aid initiative fighting food insecurity through community fridges. He studied with Dr. Aris Latham, the father of gourmet ethical raw food cuisine, in Panama.

    Things We Mentioned


    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 Radius


    Stay Connected

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    ⭐ Rate & Review the Show

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    Episode Credits

    Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham

    Lyrics: Queen Lex

    Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

    Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick

    16 August 2026, 9:00 am
  • 56 minutes 58 seconds
    We Heal Together with Aya Nikole Cook of Haji Healing Salon

    Ep 125: We Heal Together with Aya Nikole Cook of Haji Healing Salon

    Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤

    Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM

    What happens when the person who built the healing space finally has to heal herself?

    Aya Nicole Cook built Haji Healing Salon because everything she needed growing up on the South Side required leaving the South Side to find. Ten years later, she's in the middle of what she calls a death portal, undoing a decade of go-go-go and rebuilding the space and herself at the same time.

    What We Talk About

    • Why the healing at Haji happens out in the open instead of behind private doors, and how watching a stranger nap through acupuncture lowers the barrier for everybody in the room
    • What she gave up all at once — caffeine, meat, dairy, gluten, sugar, cannabis — and what being fully present made possible
    • The new tea salon: a tech-free space where you check your phone at the door and journal, nap, daydream, or just sit
    • The unexpected turn: ten years as a one-woman show nearly took her out, and she wants you to hear the cautionary part

    If you love origin stories that don't skip the scary parts, this episode is for you.

    All about Aya Nicole Cook

    You're gonna love Aya — she's a plant whisperer and sacred spacemaker. Ten years into building Haji Healing Salon in Bronzeville, she's an artist, mother, community herbalist, reiki master, yoga nidra priestess, and death doula who has made acupuncture, herbalism, reiki, and yoga accessible on Chicago's South Side.

    Things We Mentioned


    Chapters:

    • 00:23 - A New Beginning in Chicago
    • 01:35 - Building a Business Around Care and Community
    • 11:27 - Creating Inclusive Healing Spaces
    • 16:33 - Creating Sacred Spaces: The Journey of a Yoga Teacher
    • 23:34 - Healing Spaces and the Role of Plants
    • 29:55 - The Importance of Community in Healing
    • 40:02 - The Vision of a New Space
    • 45:00 - Creating a Healing Space: The Design of Haji
    • 49:17 - The Healing Space: A New Paradigm
    • 53:17 - Transitioning into Elderhood and Balance

    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 Aya Nicole Cook


    Stay Connected

    📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here

    🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free

    More ways to connect


    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

    15 August 2026, 12:45 pm
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