If I started a chocolate business I would probably weigh 400 pounds with a face constantly covered in sticky, delicious goodness... Priscilla and Kim Addison have a bit more self-control than me and they're building a business that is making a serious impact. After a visit to a Swiss chocolate factory the two sisters learned that Switzerland didn't actually grow any cocoa trees. Ghana did. One of the top growing regions in the world just so happened to be where the two sisters were from. Immediately the wheels started turning to return home and start a chocolate business in the place where it all began. Nearly 6 years and a few production runs in the dark at 3AM later, the family duo has built an extremely successful brand in 57 Chocolate. The "57" represents 1957, the year Ghana achieved its independence from European colonization. Everything about the company is focused on honoring their Ghanaian roots.  We talked about what it's like starting a business with your sister, learning how to make chocolate, and their vision to bring a Willy Wonka-esque chocolate facility to Ghana. If you want to get your hands on some of 57's delicious goodies you can visit their website at 57chocolategh.com and check them out on Instagram @57chocolate I'm trying to learn TikTok... If you want to follow the chaos. Hit the link below: Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Destination: Different

Chocolate Overload - Brand Building, Cocoa Growing, and Honoring Ghanaian Roots With Priscilla & Kim Addison of 57 Chocolate

When you've been working stand-up stages for over a decade, you get pretty good at landing a joke. If you're Rob Christensen, you get so good that you end up being selected out of a pool of 2,400 applicants to write for Jon Stewart's new TV show. Rob is a born and raised New Yorker and continues to work way through the ranks of the stand-up comedy scene. There is absolute zero doubt as to how he got to where he is today... He is OBSESSED with comedy writing. It's really that simple. He is constantly working on his act, building upon his material, and remains laser-focused about where his career will go next. In this episode we talked about his process of writing a stand-up set, how rules and boundaries are a good thing for creativity, and what the writers' room is like on The Problem with Jon Stewart.  If you want to keep up with Rob you can follow him on Twitter @roblovesbagels or check out where his next stand-up set will be at brooklynrob.com I'm doing a content challenge from now through the end of 2021. If you want to follow the chaos. Hit those links below: Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Brooklyn Rob - The Pursuit of Comedy Writing Perfection With Rob Christensen

To be perfectly honest, I thought I would quit this podcast after a few months... yet here we are 2 years and 100 episode later still going strong. And I couldn't have asked for a more perfect guest to ring in the 100th episode. This week features the incredibly talented, incredibly badass Kait Devir who is a jack of all trades. D1 Athlete, National Champion, YouTuber, Videographer, and Photographer, just to name a few. Kait is a junior at Boston College and won a lacrosse national championship this past spring. Pretty casual. And when she's not on the field playing, she's still taking pictures on it. She is currently one of the lead photographers for Boston College football, and this past summer she was the head photographer for Athletes Unlimited, a league aimed at offering more professional opportunities to women in sports. In this episode we talked about how Kait builds her creative muscle, starting a YouTube channel, being a woman in sports, winning a Natty, getting her "shot," what's next for her as a creator, and a whole lot more. Kait was so impressive and SUCH a gem to talk to. If you want to follow along with her work you can check out her media account on Instagram at @kdevir.media or follow along on her YouTube channel "Life With KD." Her website is lifewithkd.com  I'm doing a content challenge from now through the end of 2021. If you want to follow the chaos. Hit those links below: Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Photo Magic - A Very Special 100th Episode With D1 Athlete & Content Creator Kait Devir

I just went back in the archives and discovered that today, September 29th, marks exactly two years to the day since I launched the first episode of Destination Different. What a two years it has been.  When I started this thing I was living in my parents' basement. I had no job and had absolutely NO idea what I was doing. We were still living in a pre-pandemic world and life was a whole lot different.  Since that first episode I have learned a lot.  It's easy to start up a creative project like this and just think it's going to blow up overnight. That's natural. It's almost NEVER how these things go, but it's natural nonetheless. I thought I was going to start this podcast and within a few months have millions of listeners and be rolling in the ad deals. Safe to say that didn't quite happen... If you're on the outside looking in it may not seem like this podcast has grown tremendously in the last two years. The listener numbers aren't skyrocketing, I don't have a massive social following, and there aren't "Destination Different" articles in major publications.  But I do know what has gone into this. I know how much better the product has gotten. And I know that every single person who has come on this show has enjoyed themselves and believed in the concept. There is something here. All it takes is a little patience. I'm doing a content challenge from now through the end of 2021. If you want to follow the chaos. Hit those links below: Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Patience - Doing 99 Episodes of a Podcast With Host Ryan Dunn

Some people absolutely despise their random freshman roommates in college. Others become immediate friends and decide to start a sunflower seed company out of their dorm room... Cole Schaefer and Brian Waddick are the latter. The two random roommates at the University of Minnesota realized very quickly that they both shared a love for business and a desire to build something of their own. After a few failed tech projects the duo found a shared passion. Sunflower seeds. All of the legacy seed brands carried old, boring flavors and offered little in the way of unique content and media, so Smackin' sought to deliver something different. The fellas got up and running in 2019 by simply mixing spices and baking seeds in their kitchen until they found combinations they liked. Mix in a few viral videos on TikTok and they were off to the races. Smackin' Seeds is now doing big business in the world of direct-to-consumer. Brian and Cole have since graduated college and are now both working on the business full time with BIG visions for the future of the brand. This is an awesome episode. If you want to follow along with Smackin' you can check them out on TikTok @smackinsunflowerseeds or Instagram @smackinsunflowerseeds. And if you want to purchase some seeds for yourself. You can get em right here: smackinsunflowerseeds.com/ I'm starting a 100 days of content challenge from now through the end of 2021. If you want to follow the chaos. Hit those links below Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Spitting Seeds - Starting A Business From The Dorm Room With Cole and Brian of Smackin' Snacks

It's not often you get to see a 6'8" former Division 1 basketball player up on stage doing comedy. But that's what you get when you go to a show with Alex Dragicevich. Alex first fell in love with the art of comedy when he joined a sketch writing group in college. That new group of friends led him the stage for a few shaky stand-up appearances in Boston. 6 years' worth of material later and Alex is a budding star in the Chicago comedy scene. He regularly performs shows at iconic venues like the Laugh Factory and Zanies, and has written sketches that have amassed hundreds of thousands of views online. We talked about Alex's writing process of pacing around a room talking out loud to himself, the glamourous underbelly of a life in comedy, and why he started eating Gerbers banana baby food for dessert. If you want to keep up with Alex you can find him on Twitter at @alexdrag_ or on Instagram @alexdrags. And if you're trying to hang with Destination Different on the internet... Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Professional Funny Man - The Life of a Stand-up Comedian With Alex Dragicevich

This episode originally appeared in February of 2021 under the titled "Watercolor Dreams." To date it is still one of our most listened to episodes of all-time. "I was in a farmer's market, saw some lady painting watercolors and said to myself 'That doesn't look so hard. I could probably that.'" - Annie Yuen (sort of). Ok, fine. I'm paraphrasing slightly, but that's pretty much how it all kicked off for Annie with her printmaking company, Olive & Orange. She simply took up a love for painting on a whim and never looked back. And while her early years involved a lot of experimenting and getting swept away by a love of the watercolor medium, her more recent work has garnered her attention on the internet and some cold hard cash. In this episode we talked all about how Annie turned her love of painting into a viable business making prints for customers around the country. We also dove into how she manages both the "art" and "business" side of her world and the power of growing a brand on Instagram. If you're trying to keep up with Annie's work you can follow along on IG @olive.and.orange or purchase her prints on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/oliveandorangeshop And if you're trying to hang with Destination Different on the internet... Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Watercolor Magic - From a Hobby to a Dream With The Founder of Olive & Orange, Annie Yuen

When Mikey Fowler got hired by Barstool in 2016 they only had 5 podcasts in their network and he was told to "scale it."  4 years later and the media behemoth now has 60+ shows and is routinely in the top 5 most downloaded podcast networks in the world. Sooooo, you could say he scaled it... Along the way, Mikey has had the chance to work with every major talent that has come through the Barstool doors and works directly with Erika Nardini and Dave Portnoy to identify and amplify the voices of the next big internet stars.  We talked about everything from how he got hired at Barstool, to building out a team of "weird brains," to getting accused of stealing a hoodie on national radio. Mikey is legitimately one of the smartest and most experienced people in the entire podcast / audio space, so it was a treat getting to talk with him. If you want to keep up with what he's doing you can follow along on Twitter at @mikeyfowler18 or Instagram @michaelfowler14 And if you're trying to hang with Destination Different on the internet... Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

All Things Audio - Running The Barstool Sports Podcast Network With Executive Producer Mikey Fowler

At 17 years old, I was playing soccer every weekend, serving chicken fingers at a local restaurant, and hadn't even had my first kiss yet. I knew nothing about the world and knew even less about the power of the internet.  Elijas Scherer is a man with wisdom well beyond his years. Elijas is a 17-year-old German native and recent high school graduate who has built an incredibly powerful community with some of the greatest minds on the internet, all through the power of Twitter DMs. Over the past 3 months he has sent thousands of DMs seeking knowledge, advice, inspiration, and collaboration. He has received it all back, and then some. Elijas's DM experiment taught him so much that he recently developed an online course called "DM Mastery," where he shares the techniques he has used to build an audience and make friends on the internet.  And the best part...? He's making REAL money selling this course. At 17-years-old!! Crazy. If you want to follow along with Elijas you can check him out over on Twitter @IAmElijas and if you want to purchase the DM Mastery course you can find it at the link right here.  And if you're trying to hang with Destination Different on the internet... Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

DM King - Building a Community and Career With Twitter DMs Featuring 17-year-old Elijas Scherer

When you make your Olympic swimming debut at the ripe ol' age of 15, there's a lot of life left to live after that.  Elizabeth Beisel went on to star in 3 Olympics, captaining Team USA swimming and winning 2 medals along the way. Now she is a 20-something with a new dream... to dominate her sport as an announcer. And she's doing just that. Elizabeth was brought on by NBC to help commentate the most recent Olympics in Japan. This episode originally aired in December of 2020 when the thought of making her Olympic debut as an announcer was justtttt coming together. I've still got Olympic fever, so seemed like as good a time as any to bring back one of our most-listened to episodes of all-time. If you want to keep up with what Elizabeth is doing, you can check her website at elizabethbeisel.com or follow her on Instagram @ebeisel34. And if you're trying to hang with Destination Different on the internet... Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Olympic Talent - From the Pool to the Announcer Booth With Elizabeth Beisel

They say that the key to greatness is being consistently good for a really long time.  I am absolutely NOWHERE near greatness levels, not even close. But I do know that every Wednesday a new episode of Destination Different comes out.  That means even if I'm tired, or sick, or high off mushrooms thinking a 3-eyed cactus is trying to break into my spaceship... the show goes on. We're in the dog days of summer right now and it feels like Destination Different is in a lull right along with it. This episode is my rock bottom, my push to make the show better than it ever has been before. Stay with me. If you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet. Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Tired - Pushing Through When You Don't Want To

Who doesn't love chocolate milk?  It's creamy. It's chocolate-y. It's delicious. And it's great for recovery. Josh Belinsky had been drinking chocolate milk for all those reasons growing up and right through college, but over the years developed a lactose intolerance and realized that traditional dairy chocolate milk was super high in sugar. There had to be a better way for him to get his favorite beverage. There was. And the answer was Slate Milk.  Josh and his co-founder Manny Lubin started Slate with the goal of creating a low-sugar, high-protein, lactose-free chocolate milk that could still stand up to the taste test of the childhood favorite. After raising some initial money through a successful Kickstarter campaign they were off to the races, with the likes of Shark Tank and Whole Foods knocking on their door after catching wind of the product. In this episode we talked about the early iterations of the Slate, scaling up distribution to over 1000 stores, and Mark Cuban spitting out their milk on national television. If you want to purchase Slate online or see where you can find it in stores, you can visit slatemilk.com. You can also follow Slate on Instagram @slatemilk And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet. Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Milk Man - Kickstarter, Shark Tank, and a New Age of Chocolate Milk With Josh Belinsky of Slate Milk

A little Ry3 Mini this week. No guest as I'm gallivanting across the southern United States going to soccer games for my real job (It's true what they say, everything really is bigger in Texas). It got me thinking... I've never really talked about managing a side project with a full-time job on this show. SO many of my guests have started their business or creative projects while also maintaining a full-time gig to pay the bills. And it's so damn impressive. It is a constant balancing act for me trying to find time in my week to dedicate to Destination Different. It's not just hours in the day either. It's finding creative mind time to dedicate towards building and growing the podcast.  In this episode I talked about what I do in my day job and how it complements (or inhibits, I still haven't decided) what I do with Destination Different. I also talked about how many of the greats protect their time, focusing on just one thing, and a potential Destination Different intern search.  This also marks NINETY EPISODES of the podcast. Wild. I'm working on some big things to celebrate Episode 100. If anyone has connects or ideas for a BIG guest, please shoot me a DM. And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet. Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Side Piece - Managing a Side Hustle With a Full-Time Job

There is a lot wrong with soccer in America, but there aren't many people talking about how to fix the system. That's what Kevin Mejia is doing with Atmosphre Futbol Chat. It is a podcast and YouTube channel centered around giving a voice to American soccer at all levels, from youth to college to MLS to the Men's and Women's National Teams. And there aren't many guys who are more well-connected in the soccer community than Kevin Mejia. He was my teammate in college and seems to know just about everyone in the game. Kev was born in El Salvador and moved to Pasadena in elementary school not knowing a lick of English or anyone in the country... but he had soccer. And since then soccer has been his shared language to connect with people from all walks of life. We talked about everything in this episode from the state of soccer culture in America, to the power shift towards content creators in business, to his vision for building an agency to support young talent. If you want to follow along with Kev you can check out the Atmosphre YouTube Channel, @atmosphre.fc Instagram, or the Apple Podcast page. And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet. Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent  

Soccer Crazy - Changing the Culture of American Soccer With Kevin Mejia of Atmosphre Futbol Chat

Zack Courts grew up on the back of a motorcycle. He got his first dirt bike at 8-years-old and would zip around his family farm in rural Vermont. During his teenage years he traveled around the country with his dad more or less saying, "I wanna go fast," as he raced bikes competitively for more than a decade. When he realized that becoming a professional motorcycle rider maybe wasn't in the cards, he turned his attention to writing about bikes. A few years and a couple bumps and bruises later, Zack is now one of the stars in the world of motorcycle journalism. His travel escapades to try out new bikes have racked up millions of views on YouTube (highly recommend starting with his recent Dumb and Dumber remake) and his Daily Rider series and writings on Common Tread have made him one of the most trusted sources in motorcycles.  In this episode we talked about the world of competitive motorcycle racing, pounding the pavement (terrible motorcycle pun) to build a creative skillset, and some of his most epic motorcycle adventures. You can follow along with Zack over on Instagram @zackcourts and check out his shenanigans on the RevZilla YouTube channel. And if you're not already, you should be keeping up with Destination Different all over the internet. Twitter - @ry3dunn  Instagram - @destinationdifferent TikTok - @destinationdifferent

Motorcycle Man - Riding, Racing, and Writing About Motorcycles with Zack Courts of RevZilla

On "Destination: Different," jobless, homeless bum, Ryan Dunn from yopro, is going places with people who are focused on taking the path less traveled. Regular guests include creators, travelers, and entrepreneurs; basically anyone who is exploring their creativity and attempting to build a different, nontraditional life for themselves. Mixed in you'll find some bizarre travel stories, off-color commentary, and just the right mix of naive optimism and pure stupidity that will instantly make this your favorite creative/travel/humor love-child podcast.

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Destination: Different

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