THE IDEALISTS.

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to iconic fashion designer Norma Kamali about her survival instinct and perseverance. Norma is best known for popularizing shoulder pads in the 80s; designing the red one-piece bathing suit worn by Farrah Fawcett in Farrah's famous 1976 poster, as well as, the bathing suit worn by Whitney...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Marianne Williamson, a #1 New York Times best selling author and spiritual thought leader. You may have seen her running for president during the United States 2019 presidential race or on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday as Oprah's spiritual friend and counselor. In today’s episode, she ta...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Nina Ansary. She is an author, a historian, a Board Member for The Center for Human Rights, and a United Nations Women Global Champion for Innovation working alongside Fashion Designer Rachel Roy and actress Zoe Saldana. In this interview, she speaks to the transformative role women h...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Irene Ikomu, a lawyer and consultant on civic spaces in Eastern Africa. Irene co-founded Parliament Watch Uganda, a civic tech parliament monitoring initiative and received the Young Female Lawyer of the Year Award by the Uganda Law Society in recognition of her contribution to Uganda’s d...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Stefanie Mach, former congresswoman who served as a Democratic Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. Stefanie and Melissa recorded this interview a week after the siege on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. and in true Stefanie style, she reorients t...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Julee Wilson, Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan. Julee currently leads the brand's robust beauty coverage across all print, digital, and social platforms. Previously, Julee was Global Beauty Director at Essence and Senior Fashion Editor at Huffington Post . She shares her stories about...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Cindy Gallop, the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, a social sextech platform launched at TED 2009 designed to promote good sexual behavior. Cindy’s background spans over 30 years in brand-building, marketing and advertising — she started up the US office of ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 19...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Reese Scott, former heavyweight, registered amateur fighter and licensed USA boxing coach, who trained over 1,000 women and girls on her mission to open New York's first women's boxing gym. She founded Women’s World of Boxing Club in 2007 and opened the first women’s boxing gym...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Tina Wells. Tina has been listed as one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People, Billboard’s 30 Under 30 Power Players, and Inc’s 30 under 30 world’s coolest young entrepreneurs.  For over two decades she led Buzz Marketing Group, an agency she founded at age 16 with clients like Dell,...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Jane Murray, a former lawyer who spent decades running a venture capital fund overseeing investments in start-up/early stage companies in a broad cross sector of industries. With first-hand experience of the world of cut-throat competition, individualism and isolationism, now Jane is reim...

In the twelfth episode, host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Katie Kalvoda, hedge fund dynamo turned political activist. Early in her career, Katie founded Newport Wealth Management, investing in hedge funds, and after retiring founded Asian Americans Rising, a political action committee specializing in innovative philanthropy and community advocacy. In this episode, she tells us the difference between...

In the eleventh episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host Melissa Kiguwa flips the script by having a man on the show. Marcellas Reynolds is a celebrity stylist, entertainment journalist, and the author of Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion. He is joined by Veronica Webb, supermodel, actress, writer, and the first African-American to land a major cosmet...

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Glenda Wina who at 22 moved from Los Angeles to Northern Rhodesia, now called Zambia. She married one of Zambia's founding fathers and received a front row seat to the building of the nation. Glenda later returned to Los Angeles and became the first African-American news anchorwoman with a network ow...

In this week’s episode Melissa interviews Christina Mace-Turner, founder of Mab & Stoke, the wellness company that created the world’s first herbal super tab. Before Mab & Stoke, Christina co-founded True Botanicals, a heritage personal care brand. Before True Botanicals, she founded, developed and managed Apple’s global Business Affairs team from the launch of the iPhone 3G through the se...

This week Melissa Kiguwa interviews Scharrell Jackson, Principal and Chief Operating Officer of BPM, one of the largest public accounting and advisory firms in the United States. The conversation is so good, in the middle of the interview Scharrell coaches Melissa through something Melissa’s currently struggling with. The conversation gets nitty and gritty in all the best ways. You don’t want to m...

In this week’s episode, Melissa interviews Gigi Pritzker, award winning producer and CEO and co-founder of MWM (Madison Wells Media). Under Gigi’s leadership, MWM produced Academy Award-nominated feature film “Hell or High Water” and the National Geographic’s Emmy Award-nominated anthology series “ Genius,” among others. She talks to us about supporting young creatives and owning our creation stor...

This week’s episode of is all about alchemy. Bet you never thought you’d hear that on a business podcast. Our guest, Pauleanna Reid, is a celebrity ghostwriter, a senior contributor at ForbesWomen, and a millennial mentor. Her personal life assignment? To help people see beyond the limitations of their circumstances.  Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through.  At our website: h...

This week’s episode is all about the power of the word no. The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Wanja Muguongo, the founding Executive Director of UHAI, an African philanthropic grant-making organization that has distributed more than $10 million to LGBTI and sex worker human rights movements in East Africa. This interview will inspire you, it will definitely c...

This week’s episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) is all about play. But would you expect anything less from a guest who Bravo TV describes as "Chez Panisse meets Studio 54?” This week host, Melissa Kiguwa talks to Courtney Nichols, the Founder of Disco Dining Club - a thematic food and drink event that revels in all the excess of disco. You can find profiles of Courtney'...

Welcome to the third episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), where host, Melissa Kiguwa, gets deep... and a little wild with this week’s guest. Ty Stiklorius manages some of the world’s most respected & beloved artists, including John Legend, Lindsey Stirling, Charlie Puth and the list goes on. She also served as Executive Producer on the Oscar-winning film La La Land & won...

Welcome to the second episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace) where host, Melissa Kiguwa interviews entrepreneur Emma Toshack. She is a law school dropout, former chef, and Harvard MBA… in that order. Now she’s the Founder of Nomadica, a craft canned wine company found in different Whole Foods & music festivals across the United States. Inc. Magazine calls her the millennial brea...

For our debut episode, host Melissa Kiguwa interviews Arlan Hamilton, venture capitalist who built her $10 million fund from the ground up, while homeless. Arlan is both fascinating and inspiring - you don’t want to miss this episode! - Arlan's Bio: Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a f...