Summary

On this episode of the VWS Pathfinders Podcast, Jenny chats with Riana Lynn, CEO of Journey Foods, a premium data service looking to build more sustainable and efficient pathways in the food industry. Riana shares her family history and her grandparents' influential role in exposing her to a plant-based lifestyle and food systems from an early age. 

Riana talks about her time in the White House during the Obama administration, how she snuck her way into the 2008 inauguration, broke a world record with The First Lady, and even wound up with her name in the White House Archives. 

Riana discusses the importance of Journey's work and how it uses data to improve everything in the food industry, from the efficiency of supply chains to reducing water waste. She also shares her predictions for the future of the food industry post-COVID and why the future of food may lie in native and indigenous foods. 

This Podcast Covers

[00:37] Introduction

[02:30] Background and upbringing 

[05:30] Connecting with southern roots and the influence of grandparents 

[10:50] Understanding different perspectives on sustainability 

[12:48] First harvest

[14:32] Goals and values of Journey Foods 

[17:18] First time scuba diving and our impact on the environment 

[18:20] The magic of UNC

[20:00] Black farming and its repression 

[21:40] Getting to the White House 

[25:22] Obama memories 

[28:31] The working landscape post COVID

[30:00] The journey to Journey

[33:22] First pitch

[34:44] What Journey does today

[37:44] The magic ingredient 

[40:55] Biggest mistake 

[42:30] The tech approach to food-tech and the rise of the rest

[44:07] Why Austin? 

[45:55] Final words of advice 

[47:50] Significance of big data

Follow Journey Foods on:

Website: https://www.journeyfoods.io
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/journey-foods/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeyfoods

Follow VWS on:

VWS Newsletter: veganwomensummit.com/newsletter
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vegan-women-summit/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/veganwomensummit/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/veganwomensummit
Twitter: twitter.com/vegwomensummit

Quotes

"When I started going to Mexico and then by the time I started going to West Africa and you see people who are, you know, what we define as impoverished having this abundance of fresh food and understanding sustainability in a different way, it just blew my mind.