Professional Troublemaker with Luvvie Ajayi Jones

In today’s episode of Professional Troublemaker, we’re focusing on a Rising Troublemaker. Rising Troublemakers are teens and young adults who are absolute game changers and are out there living their audacious lives and dreams right now.   Today, Luvvie is talking to Zaila Avant-garde. Zaila is a multi-talented powerhouse, with success springing from all her endeavors - and all before the ninth gr...

There are TOO many things that we didn’t learn as young people that we should have. Maybe the adults around us thought we were too young, or maybe the grown-ups in our lives didn’t have the time because they were also blindsided by what they did not know. Regardless, as adults, we've realized the mistakes we have made and how much we didn't know and want the kids we love to know better and do bett...

Today on Professional Troublemaker, we are re-airing one of our most listened to episodes with the amazing Lisa Price, founder and president of Carol’s Daughter. With $100, her own kitchen, and a determination to follow her dream, Lisa grew her beloved hobby of creating fragrances, creams, and oils into a multimillion-dollar beauty empire. In 1994, she founded Carol’s Daughter, which is lovingly n...

Today on Professional Troublemaker, we're sharing a conversation  from Luvvie's book tour in March of 2021. All the people Luvvie chose for this tour are those she considers professional troublemakers in their field. They exude excellence in everything they do, and this episode is a perfect example of that. Luvvie is talking to psychotherapist Esther Perel. Esther is one of today’s most insightful...

This week on Professional Troublemaker, we’re re-airing an encore episode that is extremely timely as we watch the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, who will hopefully become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the first Black woman to be appointed and confirmed as a justice. This amazing woman is a nominee because people went to the ballot box in 2020...

In a world that feels too chaotic to be believed, we need to take a deep breath and find peace and healing. This encore episode with Devi Brown is the perfect remedy for the things happening in the world around us right now.  Devi is the Chief Impact Officer at Chopra Global, and is certified in Primordial Sound Meditation, Spiritual Psychology and Energy Healing. After over a decade of working in...

If you’re looking for financial wisdom from someone who has truly built a life of financial and personal abundance, look no further than this episode. In this conversation that originally aired on Rants & Randomness, financial educator and New York Times bestselling author Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche is sharing financial and life wisdom with Luvvie.  There’s no better teacher than lived exper...

Friendship is a verb. It requires action. Friendship requires honesty, accountability, and action. This world is too crazy to walk through alone. So if you're trying to disrupt for the greater good, you're gonna need this backup. People tend to throw the term friendship around frivolously, but not Luvvie. In this solo episode, Luvvie expands on a conversation she started on Glennon Doyle’s podcast...

How many times in our lives have we said NO to YES things because we’ve convinced ourselves that we are not the best or not good enough? How many times have we wondered if we are charging what we are worth for the work that we’re doing? And how many times do we wish for a squad that will have our back through thick and thin? This conversation with CURLBOX Founder and Chief Experience Officer Mylei...

Leadership is a verb. And choosing to lead by listening and empowering others is a big part of that. Today’s guest Nneka Ogwumike is the definition of a Professional Troublemaker. She’s a force to be reckoned with on and off the court. Nneka is a former Number 1 WNBA draft pick, six-time WNBA All-star, and president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. She’s passionate about fig...

Fear can easily stop you when you’re trying to do big things in the world. But when you refuse to let it get in your way and keep moving, you can create opportunities for yourself to succeed and then invite others to come alongside you.  Originally recorded as part of the virtual book tour for Professional Troublemaker in March 2021, this interview with KevOnStage AKA Kevin Fredericks was a vulner...

Write the vision. Make it plain. Dreams actualized don't just "happen." It takes intention, specificity, and hard work! It comes with intention and looking at where we’ve been and where we want to go next. As we embark on a new year, Luvvie shares in this episode why she doesn’t write resolutions and what she does instead as she shares her transformative New Year ritual. **** Listen to Luvvie's Go...

Gina Yashere is a British-Nigerian comedian, producer, and author. She is co-creator, producer and writer on the CBS sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola”, and is the first and only British comic to perform on Def Comedy Jam. Luvvie and Gina have a great convo about growing up in East London, and the racism she faced. She started working at 19, as the first-ever woman engineer for OTIS, the largest elevato...

This week on Professional Troublemaker, we are sharing an encore episode where Luvvie is in conversation with Jovian Zayne, founder of International Day of Purpose , speaker, coach, and all-around Empress of Epicness.  As a recognized thought leader in the professional development and diversity spaces, Jovian centers her work around empowering people to discover, celebrate, and activate the power...

We’re revisiting another conversation this week on Professional Troublemaker! Luvvie is talking to Latham Thomas - wellness maven to the stars, birth doula, and queen regent of radical self-care. Latham is an incredible storyteller and she lets us in on how the birth of her son catapulted her into her purpose. We learn about birthing as a chemical, transformative experience and how her ancestors s...

This week on Professional Troublemaker, we are airing an encore episode where Luvvie is sharing her travel favorites. As people get vaccinated and the world starts to open up again this summer and after traveling hundreds of thousands of miles for work and play, Luvvie has opinions to share on travel essentials. She's sharing everything from her favorite travel products from packing cubes that wil...

 On this episode of Professional Troublemaker , Luvvie is in conversation with  Elizabeth Gilbert for her Onward Book Club that she holds each month on her Instagram Live. Elizabeth created the Onward Book Club as a way of spotlighting, studying, and celebrating the work of Black female authors, and Luvvie was honored to be her guest in April as Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual w...

On this episode of Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie is talking to bestselling author and businesswoman Sarah Jakes Roberts . Sarah is the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes and Mrs. Serita Jakes and pastors a dynamic community of artists and professionals in Hollywood alongside her husband, Touré Roberts and is the phenomenal mother of six kids.  In this episode, Sarah shares some of the adversities s...

This week on Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie is speaking to veteran political strategist, Donna Brazile. Donna is the former interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee and became the first African American woman to serve as the manager of a major party presidential campaign when she ran the campaign of former vice president Al Gore.  Donna is a best-selling author and speaks at colleges...

On this episode of Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie is talking to lawyer, coach, and newly minted author Rachel Rodgers. Rachel is the founder of Hello Seven, a multi-million-dollar company that teaches women how to earn more money and build wealth, and she’s the author of  We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power Rachel is tellin...

In this #ArchiveApril episode, we're re-airing Luvvie's 2019 interview with Yvette Noel-Schure - legendary media mogul and publicist to stars like Prince, Maxwell, and Beyonce. Luvvie and Yvette are talking about how she chooses happiness and has established an award-winning career built on respect, loyalty, hard work, and love. And Yvette shares one of our favorite, heart-opening stories we've ev...

In this 2018 episode that we're re-sharing as part of Archive April, Luvvie has an in-depth conversation with Sundial Brands Co-Founder and CEO Rich Dennis . In this interview, Rich shares how he went from selling soaps on 125th street in Harlem to building a business that is now a global conglomerate. He chats about why economic freedom is so critical for the Black community and breaks down the c...

Today on Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie is in conversation with Thasunda Brown Duckett. This is an encore episode from a previously aired conversation on Rants & Randomness that we just had to re-share as part of Archive April.  At the time of this interview, Thasunda was serving as the CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, but earlier this year she was named as the president and CEO of TIAA and is th...

On this episode of Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie is bringing back a conversation she had with her guest Bozoma Saint John back in 2018. We’re reaching back into past episodes of the podcast you may have missed and sharing great conversations with Professional Troublemakers as part of what we're calling Archive April. Though she’s now the Chief Marketing Officer for Netflix, at the time of this...

On this episode of Professional Troublemaker, host Luvvie Ajayi Jones is talking to legendary shoe-designer and President of Fear of God Athletics , Jason Mayden . In this episode, they discuss Jason’s journey from designing girl’s names in bubble letters to designing shoes for Nike at 21.  Jason describes his design strategy as “looking for the narrative”. Instead of looking at other products for...