Uplifting Black-Owned Businesses and Revolutionizing the Farmer’s Market with Kara Still and Carmen Dianne
LISTEN ON: APPLE | SPOTIFY
In 2020, Kara Still and Carmen Dianne were outside hiking, doing whatever they could to stay busy and lamenting the closure of so many Black-owned businesses during the pandemic.
From those conversations and a deep passion to support and uplift Black-owned businesses and farmers, Prosperity Market was born.
In today’s episode, Kara and Carmen share their Prosperity Market origin story, including the variety of support systems they used to get their business off the ground. They also share why they are so passionate about Black-owned businesses and farms, how they’ve been able to keep a stream of business opportunities open for Prosperity Market, and the incredible traveling trailer they just launched.
Finally, Kara and Carmen share their wins, their personal struggles, and some big personal plans they have for 2025 (spoiler: it involves a lot of running.)
If you’ve been wanting to launch your next project, this inspiring episode might be the kick in the pants you need! Let’s dive in!
Subscribe to the Food Means Business Podcast with Hudson Kitchen founder Djenaba Johnson-Jones to hear the personal stories and “secret ingredients” of abandoning your day job and starting a CPG food business.
In this episode, you’ll learn...
[02:23] How Kara and Carmen began their partnership
[07:23] The disparity of Black owned farms in California and how Kara and Carmen found their vendors for Prosperity Market
[12:28] Why community support was crucial to the growth of Prosperity Market
[19:15] How Kara and Carmen take care of themselves as entrepreneurs (and their big personal plans for 2025!)
[29:42] The Black Business Scavenger Hunt and how you can get involved!
If you want to learn more on how to improve your communication around your CPG products, be sure to tune into this episode:
To get more Food Business Bites right in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter at thehudsonkitchen.com.
Links mentioned in this episode…
LA’s Black Business Scavenger Hunt
About Prosperity Market:
Prosperity Market was founded by Carmen Dianne and Kara Still in 2020. Neither founder came from the food space, so it took an interesting turn of events, I.E. the pandemic, for them to create a mobile farmers market. In fact, both founders worked in Hollywood - Carmen as a makeup artist and Kara as a fashion designer. With the pandemic highlighting problems that have historically plagued black-owned businesses and communities, Carmen & Kara realized they had a solution. Prosperity Market is a literal farmers market on wheels and a food truck in one featuring black farmers, food producers, and chefs! They travel throughout LA, making it easy to support black-owned businesses while creating food access for all communities. They also have an online marketplace that offers nationwide shipping, and local delivery and pickup options.
Connect with Prosperity Market:
Visit Prosperity Market’s website
Follow Prosperity Market on Instagram
Stay Connected with Djenaba Johnson-Jones:
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[00:00:00] Djenaba: You are listening to the food means business podcast, which features the personal stories and secret ingredients behind what it's like to abandon your day job to start a CPG food and beverage business. I'm Djenaba Johnson-Jones, former marketing executive turned entrepreneur and founder of food business incubator Hudson kitchen.
[00:00:20] Join our community of fellow food business owners and subject matter experts. First to learn and laugh with us as we explore a startup world. That's a little more culinary and a lot less corporate these days. Cara and Carmen, welcome to the food meets business podcast. I'm so happy that you're here.
[00:00:36] Carmen: Thank you. Happy to be here. Thank you for having us.
[00:00:39] Djenaba: Yeah. So before we talk about your business, which is prosperity market, I would love to hear about the both of you. This podcast is all about how we've gone from cubicle to being a CEO. So we'd love to hear your stories. Kara, let's start with you first.
[00:00:53] Kara: Short story. I've been in LA for 11 years now. Actually, July [00:01:00] makes 11 years. I came out just cause I wanted to do something different and I worked in fashion design out here. So I was working for women's fashion design companies and never expected to end up in the food space, but the pandemic came and shifted all of that.
[00:01:17] So now I'm with Carmen running Prosperity Market.
[00:01:22] Djenaba: Thank you, Carmen.
[00:01:23] Carmen: So before Prosperity Market, I was a makeup artist. I moved out to LA. I came here for Hollywood to work in TV and film. And I also did, um, special effects, which I loved and was really happy doing. And then the pandemic shook all that up and, um, yeah, ended up starting a farmer's market.
[00:01:42] Djenaba: I loved it because I also came from luxury fashion magazines. And so I'd never owned a food business before. I never started a food business, don't cook anything. And so we both provide services, food entrepreneurs. So that's really exciting to talk to you guys and to like, hear about your transition. And shout out to the people
[00:01:59] Kara: [00:02:00] that are in the food space, but don't necessarily love cooking.
[00:02:05] Carmen: I feel like you're a kindred spirit
[00:02:07] Djenaba: here. It's 100%. When, when I walk into the kitchen, People look at me like, can I help you? Like, what can I do for you?
[00:02:15] Kara: I can taste whatever it is that you have.
[00:02:18] Djenaba: Exactly, I'm like, I am the official taste tester and I get to taste.
[00:02:22] Kara: Thank
[00:02:23] Carmen: you for sharing. So tell us how you guys met and why you decided to partner.
[00:02:28] Why we decided to partner is, I don't even know that it was a decision. I think it just worked out that way. Over the pandemic, we were just spent a lot of time like hiking together, because that was the only thing that you actually could do, everything was closed. So we would go hike Runyon Canyon a lot.
[00:02:48] And we're just talking about how we feel about everything we're experiencing. And I think we both felt this really strong burden to support Black owned businesses. Like, I think that's [00:03:00] where it started because we were seeing during the pandemic, 41 percent of Black owned businesses closed and so much pledge support was going to Black owned businesses, but we all know that that doesn't last.
[00:03:12] We've seen it time and time again, including this time. So for us, we just were really like, how do we make this last? And it doesn't have so much to do with this moment as like, what is the reason that we're in this position in the first place? And we felt like it was because we don't own enough businesses and not enough essential businesses in those conversations.
[00:03:34] We kind of came up with a solution and decided to do it together.
[00:03:38] Djenaba: So what makes a good partnership? Because I have to imagine that both of you have different skill sets that complement each other.
[00:03:46] Kara: One of the things that I think unintentionally sums Carmen and I up very well is we were having a conversation one day and she was like, I used to have a [00:04:00] Nextel that had like the chirp chirp on it, and I was like, I had a Blackberry.
[00:04:07] Carmen: iPhone. She's a Samsung.
[00:04:10] Kara: So I think that really sums up the differences that bring us together in having the same goals, the same vision, moving in the same direction, but being two very different people and complimenting each other, honestly.
[00:04:29] Djenaba: So talk about the vision for Prosperity Market. So, you know, we all have big visions about where we want our companies to go, but you had to start somewhere.
[00:04:36] So how did you get started?
[00:04:37] Carmen: That's a good question because it did start as just a very large idea and the first step was research because we needed to learn all of it, like every bit. How are we going to structure the business? Where do you find Black farmers at? How do you build a mobile trailer? Like, like we literally had to research everything.
[00:04:57] So that
[00:04:58] Kara: was step one. [00:05:00] And that step actually took six months. We did six months of hard research, and I think that sometimes is a part that people don't think about or don't talk about. We did not do anything with the public until we figured out, or at least had a clear idea
[00:05:15] Djenaba: of what we wanted to do. That makes total sense.
[00:05:17] I mean, I get the same thing like with my business. I went and did a ton of research, including a research study that I sent out to food entrepreneurs from a database that I made up from a farmer's market list to figure out, do people need a kitchen? So it makes a lot of sense. So then you decided to launch these mobile farmer's market essentially.
[00:05:33] So how did you choose the locations and choose the vendors and all that? How did that go?
[00:05:38] Carmen: Well, first the decision to be a mobile farmer's market, that was really important for us because we see, you know, a Trader Joe's or Ralph's or Kroger's or I don't know what the stores are where you're at, but insert your local grocery store.
[00:05:52] You see that on every corner, except for certain neighborhoods and that's a whole nother thing, but we don't have any black owned. [00:06:00] Grocery stores like retail chains, national or local, we may have one or two mom and pops, but as far as like that larger scale, that's something we're missing. So if we're not able to have a store on every corner right now, well, we can still go to every corner.
[00:06:15] So that's why it's very important for us to be mobile.
[00:06:18] Kara: And even though we set out from the start to have A mobile trailer, a farmer's market on wheels coming from the pandemic, coming from fashion and makeup, we. Did not have the funds set aside for this plan because it had not been a vision beforehand.
[00:06:35] So we actually started with pop up markets and we kept that same mobile model. And we popped up in cities from Compton to Malibu and everywhere in between. And we said that if we can't have our wheels yet. At least we can bring the farmer's market to you. And that's really how we started. And it ended up being such a blessing because we were able to connect with so many communities, build relationships.
[00:06:59] People wanted [00:07:00] us back. We got to see what different areas liked and didn't like. It became an entire thing. And then we have an audience of people that would travel around and follow us from city to city, market to market, and watch us grow.
[00:07:12] Djenaba: That's amazing because it is really fun just as a consumer to follow a business like yours and all the businesses that you help support.
[00:07:18] It's actually a lot of fun and plus you get to eat some really good food along the way.
[00:07:23] Carmen: I do want to answer your question about how we found our vendors though because that's, that took a lot. It was like a, a rude awakening because we're like, okay, we'll, we'll get some farmers. So we'll get some black farmers and we'll go.
[00:07:36] And then. We learned all about the history of Black farmers, and especially in L. A. there's not a lot of Black farmers. There are some in the Bay and in Fresno and we had to really tap in and reconsider what we considered a farmer. So we had to find community gardens, backyard growers, urban farmers, just people who are utilizing their smaller spaces and really creative [00:08:00] and unique ways.
[00:08:00] And once we started to tap in to that network, that's how we were able to find more farmers and more vendors.
[00:08:09] Kara: And I do just want to say like that research really was eye opening because you can have a general conversation and assume there's not a lot of black farmers, but in California, which is the largest agriculture producing state in our country, you know, grows the most food, ships the most food, yet Los Angeles has one of the highest rates of food insecurity.
[00:08:29] There are over 100, 000 registered farmers of all kinds with the USDA. But just over 400 are black. Wow. And so that's only in California. That's not even the less than 2 percent in the entire country. And those kinds of statistics made it even more important for us to find and highlight these Black farmers and connect them directly with the community and give them additional outlets and [00:09:00] resources to be able to grow and to sell and to make a sustainable living or at least contribute to that through the very thing that all of us essentially need.
[00:09:10] Djenaba: So the vision though Open a trailer that you could drive around California. In my head. I'm like, there's seven trailers and they're driving around the country. Cause that's kind of where my head went when I, when I saw the trailer, tell me about the idea for the trailer and how you were able to raise the funds to be able to produce it.
[00:09:31] And when it's going to be on the road and all that stuff.
[00:09:33] Carmen: I was inspired by working on set. Cause you know, on, on set, you work out of trailers. So you have a hair and makeup trailer, you have the production trailer, you have the crafty trailer, which is the snack. And during all of these conversations about the start of Prosperity Market, I would think back to this crafty trailer on one particular set.
[00:09:52] And it was just really nice. You could walk in, the snacks were there. I spent a lot of time there. And I'm like, we could [00:10:00] do this. We could create something like this and turn it into what works for what we're
[00:10:05] Kara: trying to do. And I just want to say, we did, we fundraised, crowdfunded actually to raise the money for the trailer.
[00:10:13] So, our audience, our supporters, our family, our friends, they all really contributed to making that vision happen. And even before we knew we were going to crowdfund, for that very first year of Prosperity Market, the reason we were able to sustain so long is because of contributions from strangers. And our audience and people that just thought what we were doing was interesting.
[00:10:36] So this very much has been a community effort, a labor of love, and something that we absolutely could not have done on our own. And then actually somebody who's been a vendor, he has a pop up food truck, works in the food space Compton Vegan. He posted something about a grant and it was the Drew and Lauren Holiday [00:11:00] social impact grant.
[00:11:02] And we applied and won and along with the grant funding came crowdfunding mentorship that has been invaluable from fun black founders and crowdfund better crowdfund better, actually, those teams are on our like mentorship call list now because the things that they taught us not only showed us how to Raise funds, build an audience, communicate with your audience, the things that you actually want to say in a way that they care about, but just operational things that really help run the business.
[00:11:39] And we got to raise the funds for the trailer and learned so much. And that is one of the grants that I can't think about how we would have done without it.
[00:11:52] Carmen: And that's what a lot of opportunities that come your way, like you have to look deeper than face value because there's so much [00:12:00] more value in the relationships you build and then the opportunities that are to follow.
[00:12:04] We could have easily been like, we don't have time to apply for this grant, or we don't want to crowdfund, so we're not going to apply for this grant, but because we were able to And I don't, we didn't have the foresight, like we didn't know this was going to happen, but it worked out that way. We took a chance and it worked out that way.
[00:12:22] So now we have foresight to think a little deeper when we're making some of these decisions.
[00:12:28] Djenaba: And I definitely think community support is. It's just so it's important, like with my business too, like I got help from nonprofits that work with entrepreneurs, like for free, they would come and help you review business plans.
[00:12:40] I got introductions to banks and all types of things. So it's been great. And then I've also too benefited from grants and won almost 200, 000 in grants for my business. So like it definitely it's out there. It's just a matter of taking the time to apply to those things. And also, Telling people what you're doing because you never know whose [00:13:00] cousin's mother is going to be able to help you out.
[00:13:02] Carmen: I think that's a really good point that I want to talk about a little bit because when we first started I was talking about the idea. We hadn't even done anything yet. It was just an idea. And I was in clubhouse. It was when clubhouse was a thing and somebody heard me and reached out outside of that and has become one of our biggest champions.
[00:13:24] Her name is Danielle and she's a writer and does some PR and was just really helpful in connecting us to press opportunities. And our very first article came out in the LA Times the week before, I mean Sunday print, LA Times, the week before our first market and that really springboarded us and that's just because we were talking about what we were doing and the right person heard us.
[00:13:50] Kara: And she actually connected us to who is now our PR person because very quickly, we realized that we couldn't write our own press releases [00:14:00] and get in touch with people. None of that would work. So, it makes a difference, like you said, who you share with. Being willing to share. And also being willing to, Take the time to listen to other people as well, because you just never know who may have something to offer.
[00:14:17] Like there is a level of disarmament that needs to be there, not saying yes to everything, but being able to talk as well as listen, because we've come across so many opportunities, not just from the research we've done, but from the connections that we've been able to make.
[00:14:32] Djenaba: I know that in the beginning, like, it's important that you can let me know what you guys think.
[00:14:36] To say yes to a lot of things, to see what you need to say no to. So like now, I can make a quicker decision about opportunity because of that experience. So I'm wondering if you have had that same.
[00:14:46] Carmen: Absolutely. We, we definitely said yes. We did so much in our first two. years, even three years. But we, the first two years we did so much and [00:15:00] now we can't do as much because we're actually planning for the trailer and our time, we just have to spend it a little differently, but having those experiences, we definitely have a better gauge of what to say yes to and what to.
[00:15:14] Djenaba: So let's talk in detail about this trailer. So I've seen it. It's beautiful. Saw it online. So tell me a little bit about like, I know it was inspired by, you know, you being on set, but like walk us through like, what does this trailer look like and where is it going to go?
[00:15:27] Kara: I'll let Carmen share. It's her favorite part.
[00:15:32] Carmen: So it is huge. It's a 48 foot trailer. The back is the farmer's market. You can come in and shop and it's set up like an aisle in a grocery store. And the front is a kitchen. So it actually is a food truck. And we're going to rent that out to chefs and food entrepreneurs. So it's a pop up food truck. So while rotating chefs in the kitchen.
[00:15:52] And whatever timeframes we work out, we'll just be going all over
[00:15:56] Kara: L. A. It's been interesting because [00:16:00] before we did our debut at the L. A. Auto Show in 2023, it was great to see people's reactions because no matter how you talk about it, no one can visualize exactly what it is. And so it's like a food truck, you know?
[00:16:18] And a farmer's market has a kitchen and the back you can walk through. How big is it? 48 feet. So when people step onto it and they experience it, it's really like, Whoa. Because we had people that had never seen us before. And we had people that have been following our journey and we're excited to come and see it for the first time.
[00:16:36] And so many reactions were like, I didn't know it was going to be this big, or I didn't know, you know, it was going to feel like this and just being able to touch it and see it. So having those reactions was amazing.
[00:16:47] Djenaba: That's great. So talk a little bit about the types of products that will be in the trailer in the farmer's market section.
[00:16:52] I'm specifically, I'm interested in, you could highlight a couple of the brands that you are working with now that will be a part of the trailer. [00:17:00]
[00:17:00] Carmen: And we are actively looking for more brands. So any of the food businesses that are listening right now, definitely reach out to us. And you don't have to
[00:17:08] Djenaba: be there, right?
[00:17:09] You don't have to be there to participate. Is that correct?
[00:17:11] Carmen: No, not in the trailer. As long as we can have your product, then, then yes, we're, we're open. I mean, there's more than that, but we
[00:17:21] Kara: are open,
[00:17:23] Carmen: but products that we carry. Oh, we have so many good ones. One of our newer brands is ghetto gastro. We're excited to have them in the market.
[00:17:32] Gloria Chateau, a Ghanaian chili oil has been with us for a long time and her product is amazing. If you are a chef or if you are not a chef, but you want to pretend like you are, and you have a little pizzazz, just sprinkle that on something and people will think you're a chef.
[00:17:52] Djenaba: That would be me.
[00:17:54] Kara: We also have some amazing sauces from Goddamn Sauce.
[00:17:57] It is a company they actually [00:18:00] met at Howard University and they have a bunch of different sauces including mambo sauce. And then we have some really amazing right now like prosperity exclusives. Like we have Chef Brandy's, sea salt, white chocolate, oatmeal, cookies. They are amazing and like no other. And I should also say
[00:18:21] Carmen: they're available now, so there'll be available in the trailer, but we have an online market on our website.
[00:18:26] So you can shop anytime we ship nationally. So you can get those cookies and the Chateau and the Ghetto Gastro and whatever else Cara's about to say.
[00:18:36] Kara: And actually, that's what I was going to say. That's another reason why we are open to having conversations with. CPG brands that are not necessarily based in LA because we also have an online marketplace where we ship.
[00:18:48] So it's really great to be able to have that kind of footprint, but we don't ship produce because the produce is locally grown. So no perishable products. And we have some amazing farmers that we work [00:19:00] with throughout. LA, you know, IGH Gardens, Farmer Ken, Sherman Produce, and some others that we're building relationships with, and they grow right here in California, and we can share their products and be able to expand their reach.
[00:19:15] Djenaba: Let's switch gears a little bit. I'd love to hear about you guys and how you are taking care of yourself. Cause I feel like as entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurs that work with other entrepreneurs, you see like the hard work that everybody, you know, is doing, what are you guys doing specifically to make sure that you are taking care of yourself?
[00:19:33] Like, what do you do for self care?
[00:19:34] Carmen: Not enough.
[00:19:37] Kara: That is. Right. I think this is a conversation that from time to time we'll kind of like touch on and have, whether it's with each other or with other entrepreneurs. One of the things that I had been reminding myself is, you know, everybody talks about balance within, when they talk about self care, you know, balance with work, balance with, but the thing that I remind myself is like, [00:20:00] balance doesn't exist without motion.
[00:20:02] So balance is not a thing that you achieve and then that's it. As long as you're constantly in motion, there's constantly balance to find. And there are some times when it's just not going to be balanced. Like right now we are in the midst of preparing for our fourth annual black business scavenger hunt.
[00:20:23] So that looks like a lot more time and energy has to go into that because we're preparing for it for August. After August, maybe there'll be a little bit more time that we can create, not wait for, because if you wait for it, it'll never happen, to be able to give to ourselves. But it definitely can be challenging to find what looks appropriate for you personally in the midst of whatever happens.
[00:20:49] And I also remind myself that I can't wait for it to happen. I actually have to create the time and space because no matter how long the list is, It's [00:21:00] never going to all get done, especially not in one day. And so taking moments, taking pockets of time, taking an hour or two is okay. And it's absolutely essential.
[00:21:12] Carmen: Yeah. I've found ways to make the work enjoyable, at least the atmosphere. So I like to go out, working from home is not my favorite thing to do. So I'll go to like coffee shops or hotel lobbies. That's a hack. People find nice hotel lobbies. It is.
[00:21:29] Djenaba: It really will.
[00:21:31] Carmen: And then I feel like I can still get the work done and I feel like I have a little more pep in my step and I have the atmosphere and maybe a distraction if I'm looking for one, but.
[00:21:41] That makes it enjoyable for me to do the work.
[00:21:45] Kara: I know I personally have to sometimes do something that is at least on the surface, like non work related, or be able to engage with people rather than just the [00:22:00] work, because those are the things that I need to sometimes replenish myself, like stepping away to do something else or to have conversations with other people, whether it's Indirectly or, you know, directly related to work.
[00:22:13] It just gives me. A fresh breath of air to be able to come back and do what's there to do. And also something that I'm not really great at right now, but that I know that I need is making sure that I'm still feeding my creative outlets when things can sometimes get so business focused, because if I don't do that, I'll start to feel it in the way that I show up.
[00:22:38] Djenaba: What do you mean by creative
[00:22:39] Kara: outlet? What are
[00:22:39] Djenaba: some
[00:22:39] Kara: things
[00:22:40] Djenaba: that you do?
[00:22:41] Kara: So I like music. I like to sing. I like to be around people that create music, all of those things. And sometimes just something artistic. Like I have a bunch of blank canvas here. Like sometimes I'll just. Paint something. It doesn't have to be good.
[00:22:55] I draw better than a paint or, or even having just a meaningful, quick [00:23:00] conversation, someone showing up, listening, being there for them, just sharing like genuine connection, whatever it is, something to get me out of my work mind for a minute. So that when I come back to it, it feels fresh and not like I've only been focusing in on that.
[00:23:16] And also exercise, which I don't do enough of, but I'm recreating a schedule for myself because that makes a difference too.
[00:23:26] Carmen: Yeah, I will say working out is very important to my self care, even though in the moment it doesn't feel like self care. It feels like, why am I doing this to myself? But What type of workouts do you do, Carmen?
[00:23:38] Well today, this morning, so I work out at G Train Fitness, which is a Black owned gym in North Hollywood. And he has this machine, and I don't even know where it came from. He just introduced it to me this week, and now it's his favorite thing ever. But it's like a bike, and it's called an Assault Bike. Oh, yes.
[00:23:57] And that is how you feel. [00:24:00] Yes. Okay. When you get off of it. But he switches it up, so sometimes we'll like push the sled, which I like the sled. That's my favorite
[00:24:08] Djenaba: thing. I love the sled. I love the
[00:24:10] Carmen: sled. Whatever he feels like
[00:24:11] Kara: doing that day is what it is. And shout out to Black Owned Gyms. I'm working out at MACFIT in North Hollywood.
[00:24:18] And tonight was a leg day. So,
[00:24:21] Carmen: that's how my
[00:24:22] Kara: night went.
[00:24:23] Carmen: We're training for the LA Marathon in 2025. Now we've said it publicly, Kara, so we have to do it. Oh my gosh.
[00:24:29] Kara: And the word training is currently being used loosely.
[00:24:33] Carmen: We're talking about it a lot.
[00:24:35] Kara: We have plans. But the thing is like, I'm actually genuinely nervous because Carmen, though she's not running currently is a runner.
[00:24:44] I can do lots of other things, but you have so much time, you know,
[00:24:50] Djenaba: so much time to prepare so much time to prepare. I did New York city. Oh, now it's been like 10 years ago. I didn't realize it's been 10 years ago, but I made it, but I [00:25:00] haven't run since. I'll be honest. Like I was like, I qualified for it, ran it.
[00:25:04] And I was like, I'm good.
[00:25:07] Carmen: That's how it went for me. I ran the LA Marathon in 2020 and then never ran again.
[00:25:13] Kara: I'm just glad that there's no qualifying times necessary because I can endure, but pace and speed, like, you know, just, it's fine. To
[00:25:22] Djenaba: me, that stuff doesn't matter. You have to finish and get your medal.
[00:25:25] That's it. That's it. That's how I look at it. Yeah.
[00:25:30] Carmen: And no matter how long it takes or how you do it, 26. 2 miles is insane. So no matter how long it takes, if you did it,
[00:25:41] Djenaba: kudos. It's good. For sure. For sure.
[00:25:44] Kara: Cause I was cheering her on in 2020. I was at the finish line. It
[00:25:48] Carmen: was very emotional. I didn't expect to be so emotional when I very emotional.
[00:25:53] Djenaba: It is. All right. For sure. It's a big accomplishment.
[00:25:56] Kara: So
[00:25:57] Carmen: never
[00:25:57] Kara: run again. [00:26:00] You know what? Janelle from All Chill. All Chill is one of our vendors and a company that we work with a lot. They make amazing ice cream with all natural ingredients. They have sullied me on other ice creams. And the owner said that she ran a marathon many years ago, she said.
[00:26:17] And she was like, I kind of stopped running after that.
[00:26:23] Carmen: I thought you were going to say she looks like Janelle.
[00:26:25] Kara: What's all that?
[00:26:27] Carmen: Also that, especially with
[00:26:29] Djenaba: glasses on a suggestion from a friend, my friend page was like, let's run the marathon. I'm like, okay. And I, that was it. Like, cause I'm like, I'll do anything once like trapeze, like whatever.
[00:26:40] I'll do it all. And so we, so we did it and it was great. We had, you know, had a good time. We trained separately, but had, you know, we ran it with a couple of other people and it was
[00:26:48] Kara: great. Well, if anybody wants to see Team Prosperity train or sponsored some training and you know, we'll, we'll put a whole [00:27:00] campaign together if some people want to get behind us.
[00:27:04] We have healthy tendencies and so we can, we can spin that into some good training content.
[00:27:12] Carmen: That's so funny. Someone came over to my house once and they made a comment about all of the healthy things. They're like, well, you have like your protein powder and your vitamins and your this. And I'm like, huh, maybe I am healthy.
[00:27:25] It's mostly a facade, but like, I'm onto something here. It's there. The framework is there. Speaking of which, Green Regimen is one of our vendors and he has a protein powder that we both love. Actually, we put it with oat milk from Ghost Town Oats. I was going to say ghost milk. Ghost Town Oats, which is delicious and everybody loves it and they should be back in stock very soon, so.
[00:27:51] Kara: And I'm vegan, so I love the fact that it's a vegan protein powder and it doesn't like taste weird. And I know this sounds very adsy, but it's like Carmen and I [00:28:00] both drink it almost every day.
[00:28:02] Djenaba: No, I love it. I mean, you're consuming the products that you, you know, kind of support. So I think that that makes a lot of sense as a testament to the type of people that you have.
[00:28:10] I think that's what keeps
[00:28:13] Carmen: us going with this. Like we just can collect all the things that we personally love and just be around it all the time. So I'm like, that's, that's a nice little bonus. Yeah.
[00:28:22] Kara: Yeah. And we, we really do use. Products that we carry and we sell and support. And for myself, I can say that being this close to farmers and produce has also changed my perspective and my palate on what is good produce.
[00:28:40] Yeah. It's nothing like the grocery store at all.
[00:28:48] Djenaba: So at Hudson kitchen, we have what we call the money bell that we ring when we're celebrating something. It's actually in our lobby and bring it. So wondering what you guys are celebrating. It can be personal or [00:29:00] professional.
[00:29:00] Carmen: We'll just go professional, because I have no personal Prosperity is my life at this moment.
[00:29:07] That's, that's what it is. It's been We recently got into our commercial kitchen, so I think that's worth ringing the money bell.
[00:29:16] Kara: Definitely. And ringing the money bell about our trailer launching soon. Like, that's a big accomplishment, because it took a lot to get here, for sure. My personal money belt is that I actually have recreated a workout schedule for myself and I've been sticking to it for a few weeks now because it was, it was shaky for a minute.
[00:29:39] That's my personal.
[00:29:42] Djenaba: Congratulations, you guys. So tell me a little bit about the scavenger hunt that's coming up. And then also how those listeners can support you both virtually and in person.
[00:29:53] Carmen: Okay. So the scavenger hunt is a really fun and exciting thing for us. It's August is Black Business Month. So [00:30:00] for the entire month of August, we put on the scavenger hunt featuring local brick and mortar Black owned businesses.
[00:30:06] We put out a list and we put out a map. It's an interactive map on our website. You can go into any participating business and check in. So you get points for checking in, you get points for making a purchase, you get points for posting, there's lots of ways to earn points here. And those with the most points win prizes at our market at the end of the month.
[00:30:27] Kara: And it's super simple because you can do it all from your phone. It's literally touch the point, see the place, go to it, check in from your phone. And it's our fourth year, people are super excited. So are we, and we want to be able to highlight and showcase that Black owned businesses are all over LA and give people the chance to discover them.
[00:30:50] So we are putting the finishing touches on everything and very excited about it.
[00:30:55] Carmen: And the grand finale is going to be our Black business [00:31:00] pop up market and block party. It's going to be at Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen on Slauson. And we're really excited because Hilltop is just a great place in general and they're hosting us.
[00:31:10] So thank you Hilltop for so graciously hosting us. And on Slauson, there are so many incredible Black owned businesses. So it's just the perfect place to have to celebrate.
[00:31:21] Kara: And we're going to kind of make it like a block party feel. So you can come to our pop up market, see all the vendors, experience everything there.
[00:31:28] And then with the entire like shopping center area, you can go in and patronize all these other businesses all at once.
[00:31:37] Djenaba: Fantastic. So let those that are not in the LA area know how they can support you and the other businesses as well.
[00:31:44] Carmen: Well, you can find us all online, prosperitymarketla.com. You can shop the online market.
[00:31:49] You can get all of these products. We ship nationwide. You can have everything sent right to your door.
[00:31:56] Kara: And you can follow us on Instagram at prosperity. market [00:32:00] to see what we're up to. If you want to contribute to us, that's an option as well. And we also have love, not just for the entire country, but for the East coast too, because we're both Maryland girls.
[00:32:10] So
[00:32:12] Djenaba: amazing. Thank you so much for being here.
[00:32:15] Kara: Thank you for having us.
[00:32:17] Djenaba: The food means business podcast was produced by Hudson Kitchen. It is recorded at the studio at Kearney point and mixed and edited by wild home podcasting. Our theme song is by Damien DeSandis and I'm your host Djenaba Johnson-Jones.
[00:32:30] Follow Hudson kitchen on Instagram. At the Hudson kitchen, and to get food business bites right in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter at the Hudson kitchen. com forward slash newsletter, listen, follow, and leave a review on Apple podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts until next [00:33:00] time.