Adventures In Business

How do you know when it's time to leave a steady paycheck and bet on your own business? Tijera Wright, founder of Board & Boujee, joins Adventures in Business with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano to talk about leaving her corporate career at Ernst & Young to build a charcuterie experience business. As larger orders became more frequent, balancing her job with her growing business became harder. Tijera explains what gave her the confidence to take the leap and why waiting for everything to be perfect can keep you from getting started. Through charcuterie workshops, grazing tables and brand activations, Tijera helps people connect over food. She talks about why in-person networking has helped grow her business, how Google brought in some of her largest accounts and how she protects time for creativity while managing the administrative work. She also turns to Amani for advice on building a speaking career and explains why making mistakes is part of learning what you're capable of. Episode Links 🔗 Tijera Wright on LinkedIn 🔗 Board & Boujee Online, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook & TikTok 

How do you turn an idea into something people keep coming back to for 20 years? Cat Corral, Co-Founder & Artistic/Executive Director of transcenDANCE, joins Adventures in Business Live with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano. In 2005, 75 teenagers auditioned for 12 spots in her first dance program. There was no funding or dedicated space, just a vision. Today, the nonprofit reaches about 1,800 San Diego students annually, combining dance with mental health support, meals, college readiness and scholarships. Cat explains how she built a community that draws alumni back years after they leave. Cat also gets honest about running a creative organization while struggling to make time for her own creativity. She talks about protecting time to dance, starting with five minutes when life feels overwhelming and why aspiring nonprofit founders should consider partnerships first. She closes with what she'd tell her 21-year-old self about following a calling when the path gets hard. Episode Links 🔗 Cat Corral on LinkedIn 🔗 Find transcenDANCE Online, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook 🔗 Enroll at transcenDANCE

What is your anger trying to tell you? Is it pointing to an unmet need, a boundary you haven't set, or something you've been afraid to ask for? Krissie McMenamin founded RAGEher after recognizing how her own suppressed anger was coming out as passive aggression. Her events give women space to scream, move, dance, and feel emotions they've been taught to hide. Krissie joins Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano for a conversation about the pressure to stay pleasant, the resentment that builds when needs go unspoken, and the difficult conversations we avoid. Through personal stories about marriage, frustration, and learning to listen to their bodies, they ask what happens when anger becomes a reason to speak up and work toward something better. Episode Links 🔗 Learn more about RAGEher 🔗 Find RAGEher on Instagram 🔗 Connect with Krissie McMenamin on LinkedIn and Instagram

What keeps you putting off something you've wanted to do for years? Tim Mulligan, lawyer, published author, award-winning playwright and public speaker, returns to Adventures in Business with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano. He started writing plays in his 50s during the pandemic, hoping he could finish just one script. That script became Witchland, a play inspired by his hometown that reached stages in New York, Palm Springs and San Diego before becoming a graphic novel. Tim shares how he makes time to write while working as a chief HR officer, including weekends in Palm Springs where he clears his calendar and gets to work. A presentation about bank fraud at his company's retreat gave Tim the idea for Pig Butchered. He went home that night and outlined the play. A year later, it was preparing for its premiere. With five graphic novels written and his fourth play finished, Tim is now taking a break from writing to help his existing work find an audience. He talks about the temptation to jump into another project, what he'd tell his 21-year-old self and why you don't have to leave your career to try something you've always wanted to do. Episode Links  🔗 Explore Tim Mulligan's stories 🔗 Get Tickets for Pig Butchered 🔗 Find the Witchland on Instagram 🔗 Find Tim Mulligan on LinkedIn & Instagram  

Why can you handle a setback one day, but the smallest thing pushes you over the edge the next? Jenn Cassetta, keynote speaker, author and third-degree black belt, returns to Adventures in Business with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano to explore what keeps us steady under pressure. Drawing from her upcoming book, The Secrets of the Sensei, Jenn introduces her resilience reservoir assessment, and the hosts put their own results on the table. A chaotic morning for Mandi becomes a real example of how everyday habits can prepare us for the moments we cannot plan. Jenn's routines faced their own test when she returned to Los Angeles during the wildfires and struggled to feel safe, even at home. From that experience to the rejection and uncertainty of building a speaking career, the conversation connects resilience to morning routines, boundaries and having something to work toward. Martial arts provides the backdrop for learning to trust yourself, protect your energy and keep getting back up. Episode Links 🔗 Check out Jenn Cassetta 🔗 Pre Order Her Book Now: Secrets Of The Sensei 🔗 Take The Resilience Reservoir Assessment 🔗 Follow Jenn on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn & YouTube 

What's still on your list before the year ends, and do you have room for it? Mandi Graziano and Amani Roberts are in the final lap of the year, but Amani is still figuring out what he wants next after a summer of burnout. Mandi's approach comes down to capacity, consistency and care: look at what's filling your day, put your priorities on the calendar and give yourself credit when something goes right. Between grading papers, workouts and sponsor emails, there's plenty to get done. But taking care of yourself needs a spot on the list, too.

How do you lead a World Cup operation when there's no roadmap and your team is working for months away from home? As Los Angeles host city director for FIFA World Cup 2026, Brandy Thigpen oversaw operations outside the stadium, from transportation and hotels to safety and security. Years of relationships in the city helped her take on the role, but the tournament tested her in ways she hadn't expected. Brandy talks with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano about supporting an exhausted team, working inside an emergency operations center and building trust before a crisis happens. She also shares why she returned to school as a working single mom, the uncertainty of finding her next role and why it took six weeks to feel like herself after the tournament ended.  🔗 Connect with Brandy Thigpen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandythigpen/

What if taking a goal off your list helps you focus on what matters most? Mandi Graziano and Amani Roberts check in on their bingo cards as the year enters its final stretch. From Mandi's dinner with hospitality leaders to Amani's new class, they share what they've accomplished and what's still in progress. They also talk about the goals that now feel more stressful than useful, and give themselves permission to turn those squares into free spaces.

What happens when you build a business around friendship, connection and the choice to find joy? Liz Lathan and Nicole Osibodu created Club Ichi to bring people in the events industry together without job titles or formal networking. Their approach has led to spontaneous think tanks, parties and a secret business trip where guests learned their destination only after arriving at the airport. Liz and Nicole talk with Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano about how Club Ichi began, why they give people room to have real conversations and the friendship that helps them run the business. Liz shares why she believes "joy is a choice," while Nicole explains the rule they follow when one of them is having a hard day.  Episode Links  🔗 Checkout Club Ichi Online, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube 🔗 Sign up for Happy Camp 🔗 Find Nicole Osibodu & Liz Lathan on LinkedIn

What if your podcast could become more valuable than a traditional résumé? Producer and podcast host Mike Bisceglia joins Amani Roberts and Mandi Graziano to explain how podcasting can help people share their ideas, build meaningful relationships and create new business opportunities. Mike shares why consistency matters more than perfection, why video is essential for reaching an audience on YouTube and what most new podcasters underestimate about producing a show. He also discusses the value of getting to the conversation faster, using analytics to improve and simply pressing record before worrying about titles, thumbnails or expensive equipment. Episode Links 🔗 Check out Mike's podcasts Marriage Bites & Bad Weather Fans 🔗 Follow Mike on LinkedIn & Instagram