We are thrilled to continue our latest Future of Women Podcast series! In this four-part series, our host Momoko Nakamura takes us around the world to speak with brilliant and creative Japanese women.

Today, on our fourth and final episode in the series, Momoko speaks with Yumiko Sakuma about inspiring people to be vocal, active participants in political change.

This episode was recorded on November 15, 2021.

Yumiko Sakuma writes about contemporary culture, art, fashion, music, and socio-political issues. Based in New York City, she is a regular contributor of reportage, interviews, and travel writing to numerous Japanese and English publications. Among the many visionaries she has interviewed are Al Gore, Robert Frank, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Yayoi Kusama, Ryan McGinley, Genna Rowlands, Gary Snyder, and Les Paul. Her books include Hip na Seikatsu Kakumei, 2014 (Hip Revolution), reporting on the American consumer shift following the 2008 financial crisis; Pin Heel wa Hakanai, 2016 (Take Off Your Heels), a collection of essays about the inspiring women in her life; My Little New York Times, 2018, 365 journal entries about splitting her time between America and Asia during the Trump regime; and Majime ni Marijuana no Hanashi wo Shiyo, 2019 (Let’s Have a Serious Talk About Marijuana), an analysis of why the world is moving toward the legalization of marijuana. She also hosts a podcast in Japanese, Konnichiwa Mirai (Hello Future) with Kei Wakabayashi, former editor-in-chief of Wired Japan. Her work has been published in Japan, the US, Korea, and Taiwan.

Momoko Nakamura is a cultural conservationist and storyteller, sharing the Japanese art of regenerative living with the world. She roves the Japanese countryside, exploring wisdoms imparted by professionals across the archipelago like ceramists, geologists, farmers, repairers, fermenters, and grandmas. Her community education and experiential programs are intended to help us apply teachings rooted in ancestral heritage into our everyday lives. Momoko hosts the podcast Roots to Fruit, is author of Plant-based Tokyo, and can also be found in the Netflix original series Waffles + Mochi.

We are thrilled to continue our latest Future of Women Podcast series! In this four-part series, our host Momoko Nakamura takes us around the world to speak with brilliant and creative Japanese women.

Today, on our third episode in the series, Momoko speaks with Aki Goto about exploring the concept of NOW through a variety of mediums, including films, clothes, performance, music, painting, and drawing.

This episode was recorded on November 23, 2021.

Aki Goto is currently based in Hudson Valley, New York. When Goto was still based in Tokyo in 2008, she befriended the artist / fashion designer Susan Cianciolo and began working with her, going back and forth between Tokyo and New York. She officially moved her base to New York in 2009 and began her own art projects in 2010. After one year of traveling countrysides in the US and Japan in 2010, she grew interested in permaculture and conceptualized the core of her artwork as always “being conscious of NOW”. She moved her base upstate in 2012, and worked on her daily art projects based on the concept of “NOW” while being surrounded by nature and studying herbalism. Since her concept surrounded absolute trust in the universe, Goto naturally became a multimedia experimental artist, changing media depending on circumstances, natural environments, and emotional states to harmonize with her NOW. Goto's media include films, clothes, performance, music, painting, drawing, and more.

Momoko Nakamura is a cultural conservationist and storyteller, sharing the Japanese art of regenerative living with the world. She roves the Japanese countryside, exploring wisdoms imparted by professionals across the archipelago like ceramists, geologists, farmers, repairers, fermenters, and grandmas. Her community education and experiential programs are intended to help us apply teachings rooted in ancestral heritage into our everyday lives. Momoko hosts the podcast Roots to Fruit, is author of Plant-based Tokyo, and can also be found in the Netflix original series Waffles + Mochi.

We are thrilled to continue our latest Future of Women Podcast series! In this four-part series, our host Momoko Nakamura takes us around the world to speak with brilliant and creative Japanese women.

Today, on our second episode in the series, Momoko speaks with Mona Neuhauss about raising awareness of single-use plastics in Japan and launching No Plastic Japan, a stainless steel straw brand.

This episode was recorded on November 16, 2021.

Mona Neuhauss is the founder of No Plastic Japan. Born in 1992, Mona was raised in the UK to a German father and Japanese mother. Upon moving to Japan, Mona became highly aware of the reliance of single-use plastics. With the belief that each can do their part, she launched No Plastic Japan, a stainless steel straw brand. As a Sustainability Consultant, she also shares how environmentally responsible behavior can easily be incorporated into everyday life. Mona collaborates with global businesses, as well as support, through consultancy and PR services. She is also a radio host on J-Wave, and of the podcast BEHIND THE CHANGE which explores modern-day activism.

Momoko Nakamura is a cultural conservationist and storyteller, sharing the Japanese art of regenerative living with the world. She roves the Japanese countryside, exploring wisdoms imparted by professionals across the archipelago like ceramists, geologists, farmers, repairers, fermenters, and grandmas. Her community education and experiential programs are intended to help us apply teachings rooted in ancestral heritage into our everyday lives. Momoko hosts the podcast Roots to Fruit, is author of Plant-based Tokyo, and can also be found in the Netflix original series Waffles + Mochi.

We are thrilled to introduce a new Future of Women Podcast series! In this new four-part series, our host Momoko Nakamura takes us around the world to speak with brilliant and creative Japanese women. 

Today, on our first episode in the series, Momoko speaks with Meg Nakagawa about creating space for conversations about mental health in Japanese culture. Meg grew up between Japan and the US with her Japanese mother and South African father. This often left her questioning her identity and began to impact her mental health. Struggling with depression, she realized there was a lack of mental health conversations and resources published in Japanese. She started the social media platform Blossom (https://www.instagram.com/blossomtheproject) to foster these conversations. The community has grown to 71K and talks about topics ranging from abortion and women's rights to post-partum depression to colorism and the skin whitening industry in Asia.

Meg Nakagawa is the founder of Blossom the Project, a social media platform that focuses on mental health and social justice. She is currently a senior at New York University in Abu Dhabi where she studies political science. Upon graduating she will be attending law school where she will be studying police reform and intends to work in mental health courts.

Momoko Nakamura is a cultural conservationist and storyteller, sharing the Japanese art of regenerative living with the world. She is often found roving the Japanese countryside in search of wisdoms that live within the organic fabric of people like grandmas, ceramists, farmers, and geologists. Momoko's community education programs, Japan Food Study and Microseasonal Journaling, are intended to navigate us to a more connected relationship with our inner voice, our ancestral heritage, and the natural world that is around us and within us. Not to mention, think about and talk about delicious things! Momoko hosts the podcast Roots to Fruit, is author of Plant-based Tokyo, and can also be found in the Netflix original series Waffles + Mochi.

Today, Azora is speaking with Jenn Tsang about Sqwishful, Jenn's award-winning, zero-waste kitchen and home accessories company, and how it is on a mission to make the cleaning industry more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive.

This episode is part of our four-part series all about sustainable design, curated and hosted by Azora Zoe Paknad of Goldune. On this new FUTURE OF WOMEN Podcast series, Azora speaks with designers, journalists, and agroforestry entrepreneurs about sourcing products and developing supply chains in a way that respects the environment and communities that create them.

JENN TSANG

An optimist who loves to clean, Jenn Tsang is also the founder and CEO of Sqwishful. After a diagnosis that led her to live a more low-impact lifestyle, she founded Sqwishful in 2018 to inspire a clean start. Sqwishful's award-winning, zero-waste kitchen and home accessories have been featured by The Wall Street Journal and are available at select retailers worldwide. Outside of her passion for ordinary things, Jenn is proudly a WOC owner, hormone health advocate, and someone who aspires to bowl a perfect 300.

Today, Azora is speaking with Ariana Day Yuen about Ariana's agroforestry enterprise Forested Foods and how it partners with smallholder farmers - starting in Ethiopia - to sustainably grow, process, and market the most distinctive, premium, forest-based products (like honey!), focusing on forest conservation - where forest ecosystems are more lucrative conserved than destroyed - and a more equitable world for forest-based communities.

This episode is part of our four-part series all about sustainable design, curated and hosted by Azora Zoe Paknad of Goldune. On this new FUTURE OF WOMEN Podcast series, Azora speaks with designers, journalists, and agroforestry entrepreneurs about sourcing products and developing supply chains in a way that respects the environment and communities that create them.

ARIANA DAY YUEN

Ariana Day Yuen is the Founder of Forested Foods, an agroforestry enterprise that combats deforestation and conserves biodiversity by partnering with forest communities to sustainably produce forest-based honeys, spices, gums/resins, fruits and more. They launched with Maryiza, a brand of single-origin honeys from Ethiopia's indigenous trees.

Ariana started her career as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in their DC and New York City offices where she advised clients across the government, non-profit, and private sectors. She then joined TechnoServe as a Fellow in their Ethiopia office and joined them full-time thereafter supporting a range of projects with Nespresso, Gates Foundation, the Swedish Government, Diageo, among others, ultimately design and build more sustainable and equitable value chains and market systems. Ariana grew up in Hong Kong before she moved to the United States to attend Syracuse University, where she triple-majored in Advertising Communications, Entrepreneurship, and Economics. She also attended Yale University for her MBA. She currently resides in Ethiopia.

Today, Azora is speaking with Nikki Reed and Staci Inspektor. With backgrounds in the food + fashion industries, Atelier Saucier co-founders (and best friends) Nikki and Staci set out to combine their varied experiences and shared passion for hosting; and introduce a fresh, elevated perspective to all things table linens. Atelier Saucier is a modern tablescape design house for sustainable + customizable linens. Their brand ethos is to be eco. The planet is their priority. All of their linens are sustainably-sourced, rescued, repurposed and locally made in Downtown Los Angeles. They hand-pick surplus, premium fabrics so that no two styles of ‘kins are alike. Their small batch production process ensures no excess inventory or waste. ATELIER SAUCIER is where entertaining, dining and design intersect.

This episode is part of our four-part series all about sustainable design, curated and hosted by Azora Zoe Paknad of Goldune. On this new FUTURE OF WOMEN Podcast series, Azora speaks with designers, journalists, and agroforestry entrepreneurs about sourcing products and developing supply chains in a way that respects the environment and communities that create them.

NIKKI REED

Never interested in playing dolls or dress up, rather looking to play “restaurant”, Nikki knew from a very young age that hospitality + business were in her future. After graduating from Cornell University’s Hotel Administration School, she worked with Starwood Hotels and the Gramercy Park Hotel, parlaying that into a 7 year stint at the Hillstone Restaurant Group managing their restaurant operations in NYC, LA and AZ. With a successful hospitality career under her belt, Nikki joined New School, a progressive restaurant consulting firm and built a bench of high-profile clients. Sensing an industry need for elevated entertaining accoutrements and bespoke tablescapes, Nikki channeled her experience into building a brand of her own and thus, ATELIER SAUCIER was born.

STACI INSPEKTOR

Arts + crafts were Staci’s passions as a child, so when her grandmother bought her a Husqvarna sewing machine at age 9, it was a harbinger of designs to come. Staci graduated from UC Davis Fashion Design School and quickly made a name for herself working with patternmakers and designing womenswear, swimwear + footwear for an LA-based fashion house. She gained first-hand experience in sourcing and production of materials and soon her love of design seamlessly transitioned her career in the direction of interiors and decor. Eager to blend her love of textiles with well-appointed home accessories, she co-founded ATELIER SAUCIER with the intention of creating meaningful and modern tabletop designs.

We’re thrilled to announce our next FUTURE OF WOMEN Podcast series, a four-part series all about sustainable design, curated and hosted by Azora Zoe Paknad of Goldune. On this new FUTURE OF WOMEN Podcast series, Azora speaks with designers, journalists, and agroforestry entrepreneurs about sourcing products and developing supply chains in a way that respects the environment and communities that create them. 

Today, Azora is speaking with Esha Chhabra and Smita Satiani. In 2019, Esha and Smita founded Alaya Tea. Alaya Tea sources organic and biodynamic teas directly from people and planet-friendly Indian farms at the base of the Himalayas. After growing up drinking chai and traversing this mountainous area in India’s Northeast, visiting small farmers and tea estates, Esha and Smita were keen to build a company that respects these communities and addresses environmental challenges we face through agriculture. Alaya’s packaging is fully compostable, including the label.

Esha Chhabra is a writer who covers the environment, business, and agriculture. She has contributed to The Guardian, New York Times, Economist, and Forbes. She has been awarded multiple grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting as well as two reporting fellowships from the UN Foundation. For the past three years, she developed a book which looks at 30+ businesses around the world making a social and environmental impact with Patagonia. In 2019 she founded Alaya Tea with Smita Satiani.

Smita Satiani is an Indian-Pakistani American entrepreneur. Over the last 10 years, she has worked in the social impact and climate change spaces across philanthropy, government and private industry. In 2019, she co-founded Alaya Tea to bring the Indian tea time she grew up with to a broader American audience, in a more people and planet-friendly way. Her work has been featured at the MIT Media Lab, and in Forbes, Washington Post & The Wall Street Journal. She is currently an adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz Policy School.