Masters of Craft

As a child, Catharine Dockery slept on a floor for 5 years. As an adult she is the founding partner of Vice Ventures, armed with a sum total $75 million dollar venture fund designed to combat the problematic perceptions and developments in vice categories of business like sex work, e-cigarettes/nicotine, psychedelics, and more. Deeply embedded in Vice Venture's strategy and DNA is a personal (and busine...

Carl Jones is one of the most curious creatives in the world today. Through his visionary company, Martian Blueberry, Carl has been the creator and executive producer of long-standing entertainment franchises like The Boondocks, Black Dynamite, The Last OG, and many more. He's leveraged everything from his technological curiosity to his leadership learning curves, and even navigating anxiety to build NFT's, opini...

With over 10000 hours of mediation under his belt, Kellen Roland has become masterful at reframing the many challenges we face in life and business. As a pioneer in fashion & accessories, and recent stints building Pharell William's I AM OTHER where he was COO, and luxury shopping platform Joopiter, as CEO -- Kellen is no stranger to the ever changing tides of culture, innovation, and creativity. On this inst...

Sir John is a force to be reckoned with. Not only is he the Chief Creative Officer of CTZN Cosmetics or the Creative Director for Kilian PARIS Makeup, he is the only makeup artist represented by CAA, and has created signature looks for some of the world's most influential cultural figures from Celine Dion to Viola Davis, Priyanka Chopra, Doja Cat, Serena Williams, and most notably, Beyonce. A true multi-hyphenate, Sir...

As the co-founder of The Trauma of Money, Chantel Chapman has trained CEO's, founders, creatives, therapists, VC's, colleges, banks, HR professionals in better managing individual and organizational relationships with money, through a signature, trauma-informed approach. A former fintech executive and mortgage broker, she is considered a refreshing voice in the financial recovery and education space, renowned for her ...

As an ultra multi-hyphenate, James Roh is a musician, a lawyer, a restauranteur, record label owner, community organizer, investor, and mustache connoisseur. As a founding member of Far East Movement, James was part of the first Asian-American music group to reach #1 on Billboard and has worked with artists ranging from Bruno Mars, to Wiz Khalifa, Snoop, Rhianna and Lady Gaga to name a few. With the group's rise to unprece...

Devi Brown is a former radio and broadcast celebrity turned trusted voice and advisor guiding organizations such as Chase, Microsoft, Chopra, Overtime to name a few. Her dedication to wellness over the past decade helps to individuals and organizations toward better internal and external operating systems, productivity, and human creative potential. On this installment of Masters of Craft, we dish on everything f...

As an investor, lawyer, creative savant, Sanjay Sharma has been the engine behind everything from the All Def Digital to the Clinton Administration, Machinima, numerous technology ventures, and now his very own Marginal Studios with projects nominated for, or winning at The Gotham Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, GLAAD, NAACP Image Awards, and the Imagen Awards to name a few. On this installment of Sanjay s...

Since a kid, Aaron Levant has developed a skill for finding unique opportunities hidden in plain sight. At the age of 19, he began in his parents living room what would later become Agenda -- one of the most sought after trade shows within the estimated $185 billion streetwear industry. He would later go on to co-create ComplexCon with Marc Ecko and is now co-founder of NTWRK a live digital shopping network with unique pro...

Fresh off the heels of a $50 million dollar raise, Ajay Relan joins Masters of Craft to dive into everything from his coffee shop ventures with Issa Rae, launching a portfolio of over 30 commerce & community oriented tech startups, a brief stint as a rapper alongside Snoop Dogg, being partner at Nas' Queensbridge Ventures, his personal journey with mental health, and serving over 1 million meals around the world t...

Most notably known as one of the founders of hall-of-fame rap group, NWA, Arabian Prince is a technologist, investor, maker, music producer, DJ, and soon-to-be venture capitalist with a $150 million dollar fund dedicated to empowering underrepresented founders. Join us on a wild ride from sneaking into concerts with his uncle as a kid, to launching the #1 PC used by streamers on Twitch, to building a medical metaverse...

As a professional UFC fighter, Michelle Waterson -- the Karate Hottie -- knows exactly what it's like to fight for anything and everything. The multi-hyphenate restaurateur, entrepreneur, mom, wife, and ass-kicker has been fighting for her voice since a young age, and in the octagon as a force to be reckoned with. Recorded at VeeCon, Michelle joins Masters of Craft and parallels her path of physical discipline, broken...

Recorded live in August 2020, MassChallenge presents an in-depth conversation on the latest trends in sales and marketing from industry leaders and innovation experts, Brian Halligan, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of HubSpot, Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, former Head of Marketing at Peloton, and award-winning, best-selling author, Chris Denson of Innovation Crush as moderator. We disc...

When it comes to mindfulness and emotional health, few have been more pioneering than Dr. David Rabin. A physician, neuroscientist, psychiatrist, psychedelics researcher, and now wearable technology entrepreneur, Dave is both the executive director of the Board of Medicine, and co-founder of Apollo Neuro. Apollo's first product is an "every-man" wearable device for mental wellness that helps users achieve more calm state...

What happens when you grow up on both Fat Albert and Albert Einstein? You get Hakeem Oluseyi. As one of the world's foremost scientists, Hakeem wears many hats-- TV personality, professor, life coach, consultant, voice actor, philanthropist, and former chief science officer at the Discovery Channel, to name a few. As a kid, he grew up in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country. As an adult he has traveled the worl...

Sugar Ray Leonard is revered around the world as one of the greatest boxers who ever lived, dominating the ?80s with a fury in the ring like few have ever seen. Since his retirement from boxing, the boxer-come-entrepreneur has turned his public triumphs, personal tragedies, and unending drive into multiple businesses including a tell-all autobiography, a successful fashion line, a namesake ?Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation? f...

Every month, the good folks Fast Company and Innovation Crush sit down to chat about some of the most inspired developments across innovation, creativity, and human performance. In this fourth installment, Fast Company podcast host and editor, KC Ifeanyi, gives us the latest from his world of creativity, entertainment, and pop culture. More particularly, how the entertainment industry distracts us with nostalgia, overcomi...

As co-founder of one of the largest cannabis portfolio companies, Scott Kajiya is a life long learner and explorer. From early days of working with artists like Keith Haring and Basquiat, to launching Indian Motorcycle in Japan, to now co-founding Tabu.co with products in over 2000 locations in Canada, Scott has created a vast network of international business relationships and market understanding in both Asia, Latin Am...

As president of the Roddenberry Foundation, Heidi Roddenberry is a on a mission to quite literally -- boldly go where no man has gone before. Forged in the ethos and philosophy of Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, the foundation supports entrepreneurs, dreamers, and never-before-imagined solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges; including everything from climate change to girl's education to disease. Heidi...