noseyAF: Conversations about Art, Activism, and Social Change
Stephanie Graham·155 episodes·Bi-weekly
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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.
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October 29, 2026 · 1h 2m
Ep 155: The Book That Sat on His Hard Drive for Ten Years : Kevin Chung on We Are All Creative 🚨 First Things First! Come to Kevin's Party Today at 3 pm EST Kevin Chung wrote a book about creativity almost ten years ago, then let it sit. This year he pulled it back out, cut the people who had since turned out to be problematic, and finally put it into the world. We talk about what it takes to actually finish something. This one was a first for me. Kevin and I recorded live on LinkedIn, which I had never done before, so you get to hear us figure out the technology in real time before we get into it. Kevin Chung is a writer, marketer and creativity evangelist who spent 17 years in corporate tech in Florida. After the 2024 election, he and his wife Anita decided they did not like where things were headed, made the call on Valentine's Day, and moved to Costa Rica about six months later. Selling the house. Getting every piece of residency paperwork dated inside the same six month window. Driving four hours to the state capital because Florida lost one of their documents. He walks through all of it. Then we get into the book, We Are All Creative . Fifty-two weeks, each one built around a quote, an original piece of art he made himself, a story about a real person, and an invitation to shift something. He wrote the first version a decade ago and left it on his hard drive. Going back through it this year, he found that some of the people he had held up as examples had become problematic, so he swapped them out, which turned the revision into its own creative act. We also talk about the thing I am worst at: celebrating. Kevin throws parties. For his book. For his dog. He has a whole practice around it, and I asked him how he does it, because finishing something and immediately asking "what's next" is my default setting and I would like to stop. Plus: why he thinks creativity is a way of thinking and not a job title, how being an obliger means you need somebody else to hold your deadline, and the smallest thing you can do this week if you feel like you are living on autopilot. What We Talk About Why they moved, and how a decision made on Valentine's Day became a move six months later Residency paperwork, the lost document, and the four hour drive to the state capital Getting the offer on the house while standing in line for Space Mountain Creativity as how you think, not what you do for a living What happens when the people you held up as examples turn out to be problematic The questioner, the transitioner and the builder, and which season people have the hardest time admitting they are in Being an obliger, and why external deadlines are the only ones that work for some of us Why he celebrates whether one person buys the book or a million people do Saying it out loud so other people can help you, and how his brother's client led to their realtor, who led to their lawyer Making creative work when you are depleted, including the writer who dictated her book while the baby napped What young Kevin believed about hustle that he no longer believes Chapters: 00:08 - Party Announcement & Episode Release (Oct 29, 2026) 02:05 - Kevin Chung Introduces Himself and His Book 19:32 - Start with Your Season — the Book's Website and Reader Pathways 30:48 - Planning the Launch Party — Celebrating the Book 39:24 - Getting Unstuck — Breaking Autopilot and Cultivating Creativity 52:39 - Finding the Book and Kevin’s Creative Ecosystem All about Kevin Chung Kevin Chung is a writer, marketer and the author of We Are All Creative , a fifty-two week book pairing quotes, original artwork and real stories with an invitation to make a shift. He writes the Standout Creative newsletter, hosts regular live conversations with other creatives, and runs creativity parties for people trying to get unstuck or get off autopilot. He spent 17 years in corporate tech before moving from Florida to Costa Rica with his wife Anita and their dog Pookie, where he is working on a memoir about the move and learning Spanish through a language exchange group. Things We Mentioned We Are All Creative and the launch party, October 29 at 3pm Eastern → The Reflection Companion, free with pre-orders through October 29 The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin Scott Dinsmore's quote, which opens week one: "If we don't know what we're looking for, we're never going to find it" Close Business Friends, the program inside The Interweb 31 Days of Black Business → Connect with Kevin Connect with us on Linkedin: Kevin’s Linkedin Stephanie’s Linkedin Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch, a monthly roundup of episodes and studio stories. → Subscribe here
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Oct 27, 2026 · 1h 2m
Ep #154: Joy Is Infrastructure with Janell Nelson of Englewood Arts CollectiveThis episode was recorded live at Lumpen Radio 10.24.26What if joy wasn't a nice extra, but part of the infrastructure of a healthy neighborhood, right alongside the sidewalks and the streetlights?Recorded live at Lumpen Radio, I'm talking with Janell Nelson, creative strategist, artist, and Director of Englewood Arts Collective, about the EAC Arts Village Sculpture Park at 63rd and May and what it takes to build something beautiful on three vacant lots with almost no money.What We Talk AboutWhy she calls community engagement an art form, and how a graphic designer ends up stewarding a sculpture parkHow a lot deal that fell through turned into a pitch to her alderman and a three to five year agreement on three vacant lotsWhat a long form pop up is, and why it matters in the years before the big developments are readyHow the 40 foot mural happened with zero funding, starting with her being, in her words, extremely annoying to the guy who owned the buildingWhy she asked for Chicago's Magnificent Mile star sculptures back, and the history of 63rd Street that makes that symmetry landThe juicy turn: the keyboard warriors who assumed she was getting rich off this, and her answer, which is that she's rich in relationshipsIf you love neighborhood history, design that actually serves people, or the behind the scenes of how a thing gets built out of nothing but partnerships, this episode is for you.Chapters00:03 – Recorded live at Lumpen Radio02:25 – Janell Nelson on joy as neighborhood infrastructure19:49 – From a failed lot deal to three vacant lots32:43 – The Arts Village, and the partners who actually built it41:55 – Permission and momentum: creating a mural with no funding57:17 – Stories of Us: Englewood's public art partnershipTakeawaysJoy isn't a bonus. It's infrastructure, same as the sidewalks and the streetlights.We deserve to play where we lay. Every neighborhood deserves beautiful spaces, and a vacant lot is not a description of the people who live there.Community engagement is an art form. We all wake up and design the life we live.The park got built on partnerships, not money. Pro bono architects, donated bricks, a muralist who cold called, and a neighbor named George who tarps the boards when it rains.Own your dopeness and stay humble enough to recognize everybody else's.Artists are stewards, not decorators.Rich in relationships is its own kind of rich.All about Janell NelsonYou're gonna love Janell. She's the person who will tell you to own your dopeness and stay humble enough to recognize everybody else's in the same breath.Janell Nelson is a Chicago-based creative strategist, artist and Director of Englewood Arts Collective whose practice uses graphic design, public art and creative placemaking to build connection, cultural visibility and investment in communities. She's a 2026 Leaders for a New Chicago awardee, recognized by the Field and MacArthur Foundations, and her leadership of EAC's Arts Village Sculpture Park helped earn the project a "Designing a Better Chicago" Award from the Driehaus Foundation and Chicago Design Museum. Her guiding principle is simple: good design should do good.Born in South Shore and raised in Englewood, she went to Whitney Young and UIC, and her proudest work is at home.Things We MentionedEAC Arts Village Sculpture Park, 63rd and May, open daily 10 to 4 → englewoodartscollective.org/supportLast guided tour of the season, Thursday November 19, 9:30 to noonStories of Us, the traveling African drum sculpture exhibition, on view through November 22Englewood Arts Collective, founded 2017, turning ten next yearTonika Lewis Johnson and Unblocked EnglewoodGrow Greater Englewood's We Deserve Beautiful Spaces campaign16th Ward Alderman Stephanie ColemanRyan Tova Katz, the muralist behind the 40 foot muralFolded Map, EAC's nonprofit homeConnect with Janell NelsonIG: @jtothenellEAC on IG: @englewoodartscollectiveWebsite: janellnelson.com (Janell, no E on the end. She will know if you let AI write the email.)EAC: englewoodartscollective.orgSponsor Shoutout 💖This episode is brought to you by 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.comStay 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 freeBehind the MicnoseyAF 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 workMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported, thank you for being here. 💛⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Oct 20, 2026 · 1h 5m
Ep #153: I Did That: Celebrating Yourself When You Finish Something Big with Ayana Major BeyYou 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 AboutWhy 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 toIf 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 SocialsAll about Ayana Major BeyYou'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 MentionedAyana'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 recordConnect with Ayana Major BeyIG: @ayanambeyThe Artist Pivot on IG: @theartistpivotWebsite: ayanabey.comStay 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 freeBehind the MicnoseyAF 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 workMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported, thank you for being here. 💛⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Oct 13, 2026 · 1h 2m
Ep 152: The Red Pill Is Not the Only Option with RayviationA 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 apartmentIf 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 TeamsAll 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 ShowcaseConnect with RayviationInstagram: @rayviation.rocksWebsite: rayviation.webflow.ioYouTube: search RayviationSponsor 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.comStay 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.comSupport & FeedbackRate and review the show, and send this one to a man in your life.Episode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Sep 29, 2026 · 1h 0m
Ep 151: I Make Films for Black People and Everybody Can Watch with Barbara AllenTwo 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 doIf 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 & CreditsThings 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 DCASEConnect with Barbara AllenBarbara’s Production Company “Middle Passage Productions”House Music: A Cultural Revolution is on the WTTW YouTube channelSponsor 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.comStay 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.comSupport & FeedbackRate and review the show, and share this episode with a friend who loves Chicago history.Episode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Sep 15, 2026 · 1h 0m
Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM, Saturday, September 12, 2026A 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 AboutWhat 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 thinkIf 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 MeganAll about Megan WilliamsonYou'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 MentionedDamn 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 PodcastConnect with Megan WilliamsonIG: @meganwilliamson_artMegan’s WebsiteStay 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 freeBehind the Mic noseyAF is a project of Stephanie Graham's art practice — photography, film, and documentary work rooted in community and curiosity. → See the workMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported — thank you for being here. 💛⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Sep 3, 2026 · 15m
Ep 149: All That and a Bag of Chips: 31 Days of Black Business ReflectionsNo 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 intoHow 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 ReflectionThank youTo 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 upThere'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.comThis 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 freeMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen LexInstrumental: Freddie Bam FamCover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Sep 2, 2026 · 49m
Ep 148: Serious Training for Everyday People with Sean Armstead of Phenomenal FitnessPart 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 AboutSuccessful 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 ModelAll about Sean ArmsteadYou'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 MentionedPhenomenal 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 sessionThis 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 FitnessWebsiteIG: @phenomenalfit1Stay Connected📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it freeMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen LexInstrumental: Freddie Bam FamCover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Sep 1, 2026 · 42m
Ep 147: Vintage Is a Form of Luxury with Jennifer Kelly-Nichols of Vintage FrillsPart 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 AboutThe 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 BusinessAll about Jennifer KellyYou'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 MentionedVintage 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 featuresThis 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 KellyWebsite:https://www.vintagefrillschicago.com/IG: @vintagefrillsVisit Vintage Frills at 2846 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60618Stay Connected📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it freeMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾⭐ Rate & Review the Show📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen LexInstrumental: Freddie Bam FamCover Art: Emma McGoldrick
Aug 31, 2026 · 49m
Ep 146: Your Customers Are Doing Economics Whether You Are or Not with Dr. Kristi-Warren Scott Bishop of Verity ConsultingPart 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 AboutWhat 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 InsightsAll about Kristi BishopYou'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 MentionedVerity 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 airlinesThis 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 BishopWebsite: verityconsultingllc.comEmail: insights@verityconsultingllc.comIG: @verityeconStay Connected📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it freeMore ways to connectEmail: stephanie@missgraham.comFollow on IG: @stephaniegrahamListen to more episodes: noseyaf.comSupport & FeedbacknoseyAF is listener-supported; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear thisEpisode CreditsProduced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie GrahamLyrics: Queen LexInstrumental: Freddie Bam FamCover Art: Emma McGoldrick