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 Midwest
• How a basketball hoop brought Rod and his Co-Founder together
• Why starting a business built on giving back is so important
• How the fire department was a part their early product development
• Tradeoffs when doing a start up with a ‘day job’

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:

 AfriBlocks

The global pan-African freelance marketplace and collaboration platform.

Tell them “Dan sent you” for 10% off your first order. More at afriblocks.com

MORE on ROD and BLK & BOLD

Rod:

linkedin.com/in/johnsonrod2342/

BLK & Bold:

blkandbold.com

instagram.com/blkandbold

linkedin.com/company/blkandbold

twitter.com/BlkandBold

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

#blackfounders #founderstories #foundersafricandescent #blackowned #coffee

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