Rod Johnson - BLK & Bold

Rod Johson is Co-Founder of BLK & Bold, the preeminent black-owned coffee company in America. Black & Bold was founded with the desire to unite coffee and tea lovers worldwide through a common interest of investing in community.Rod grew up in the working-class city of Gary Indiana and eventually went on to Indiana University and a career in development and giving. But he soon developed a restlessness that only business ownership could fix. Along with lifelong friend Pernell, Rod set out to find their entrepreneurial calling, one that could match purpose with profit. And so BLK & Bold was born in 2018. Since then, Rod and Pernell have grown BLK & Bold into a national brand carried by the likes of Target and Whole Foods. They have a rare licensing deal with the NBA and have been celebrated by Dwanye Wade on the Ellen show. All this, completely bootstrapped from their headquarters in Des Moines Iowa.Rod has a great story. You’ll want to listen in.In this episode Rod and Dan discussed:Growing up in Gary and the MidwestHow a basketball hoop brought Rod and his Co-Founder togetherWhy starting a business built on giving back is so importantHow the fire department was a part their early product developmentTradeoffs when doing a start up with a 'day job'OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE: AfriBlocksThe global pan-African freelance marketplace and collaboration platform.Tell them "Dan sent you" for 10% off your first order. More at afriblocks.comMORE on ROD and BLK & BOLDRod:linkedin.com/in/johnsonrod2342/BLK & Bold:blkandbold.cominstagram.com/blkandboldlinkedin.com/company/blkandboldtwitter.com/BlkandBoldFollow Founders Unfound: Like and share - help us grow!PODCAST TRANSCRIPT#blackfounders #founderstories #foundersafricandescent #blackowned #coffee Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.