Charlotte St. Martin To Retire As President Of Broadway League After 18 Years
Charlotte St. Martin, whose 18-year leadership of the Broadway League has included both good times – record-setting revenue – and bad – the historic 18-month Covid shutdown – will step down from her role as President effective February 16.
In its announcement today, the League said St. Martin has “decided to retire” from the organization, but will continue to serve in an advisory capacity for special events through the 2024 Tony Awards.
Jason Laks, The League’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, will serve as Acting President while the Board conducts an official search.
“While there is never a good moment for an executive who has spent a great deal of time in their role to resign, it is the appropriate time for me,” St. Martin said in a statement.
“It is truly the most difficult decision as I love the League, the staff, and of course, the industry that we have supported. I am very proud of our League team and the successes we have shared and know they will continue to provide the League with the highest level of commitment for which they are known. It has been the honor of my career to lead this organization, and I am grateful for all that we have accomplished together.”
During her tenure at The Broadway League, Ms. St. Martin has successfully grown the League and steered the organization through government relations successes, economic shifts, labor challenges and a global pandemic.
Also under her tenure, as the League notes, the trade organization representing theater owners and producers, has created numerous development, mentorship, and educational programs.
In addition to presenting the annual Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing, the League manages the National High School Musical Theatre Awards.
Prior to joining the League, St. Martin was one of the highest-ranking women in the hospitality industry, holding a variety of positions including Executive Vice President of Operations and Marketing, and President and CEO of Loews Anatole Hotel. She served as Chair of the New York Society of Association Executives and also served as Chair of both Meeting Planners International and the Professional Convention Management Association Foundations.
She currently serves on the board of NYC Tourism+ Conventions. She was named to Grain’s New York Business 2019 Hall of Fame.
In a statement, Kristin Caskey, Current Chair, Board of Governors, The Broadway League, said, “Charlotte’s remarkable leadership over these past 18 years will have a lasting impact on the League and the Broadway industry. She championed many of the League’s remarkable initiatives, including Broadway Bridges and Viva! Broadway, as well as expanded critical programs like the Jimmy Awards and Broadway Membership Fellows, among many others.
“When Broadway shut down for two years during the pandemic,” Caskey continued, “it was under Charlotte’s steadfast leadership that the League helped create the Shuttered Venues Operations Grant and the New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, two vitally important initiatives that ensured the successful return of our industry. We are immensely grateful for her tireless efforts and deep devotion to our community. I know I speak on behalf of our membership when we celebrate her indelible legacy and wish her great happiness in this next chapter.”
The League was founded in 1930, and currently represents more than 700 members from nearly 200 national and international markets including theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers as well as suppliers of goods and services to the commercial theatre industry.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Can NYC get Somm-Approved wine from a Can? We Tasted with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines
Can NYC get Somm-Approved wine from a Can? We Tasted with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines
Sommelier Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski brings Michelin quality to Canned Wines with Nomadica Wines
Nomadica offers sparkling, rose, white, red and orange options — both canned and bag in a box.
Nomadica Wines are sourced from vineyards with responsible farming practices and winemakers who engage in low intervention wine making.
Wine-lovers can be 100% confident you’re drinking serious sommelier-approved wine.
Today’s conversation with Sommelier / Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger: We’re here today with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines.
What’s the most important message you want to share today with our audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the biggest message that I want to get across is that everyone should be drinking more wine. That’s my mission in life to just bring consumers back to the wine category.
Joe Winger:
Outstanding. And how how are you trying to get that done?
Kristin Olszewski:
I’ll give a little context on my own history and how I came here.
My undergrad degree is in sustainable agriculture and I ended up dropping out of Harvard Medical School to become a sommelier – typical journey.
I just really fell in love with wine. I worked in restaurants to pay for school and wine was always the thing that captivated my interest.
I feel like it’s the intersection of history, agriculture and gastronomy. And then also there’s something so fun and communal and – you’re getting a little tipsy. It’s everything.
But I spent a decade-plus in Michelin restaurants all over the country, everywhere from three Michelin stars, Saison in San Francisco, Husk in Nashville, Osteria Mozza here in LA.
When Nancy Silverton was on a Netflix show called Chef’s Table, I started noticing a different customer coming into the restaurant. Usually as a sommelier, you’re talking to a very specific demographic of people. I would say 45 plus male white wine collector. That’s my demo. And when Nancy was on Chef’s Table, young people started coming into the restaurants, a lot of women, and I noticed they didn’t want to drink wine.
They would drink tequila, beer, cocktails, like anything but wine.
That always felt like such a missed opportunity because wine, it’s the most ancient beverage. Our people have drank wine for millennia. It’s also in an age where we care about what’s natural, what’s minimally processed, what’s better for you.
Great wine is literally just grapes, yeast, water, and time, so I started digging into why aren’t you drinking wine? And I found out a few things.
One, people felt like wine wasn’t a good value. If you weren’t going to spend a lot of money on wine, you couldn’t get a great wine, which is untrue.
The other one is people feel like they needed a PhD or some level of education or knowledge in order to access wine, which, again, is not true.
I want to be people’s guide, hold their hand and walk them into the world of wine. So I started Nomadica to do that on a larger level.
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful.
You mentioned two things. We’re going to go into both. Your background in Michelin restaurants. I’ve heard heavenly amazing stories. I’ve heard horror stories.
Can you share an experience and what you learned from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Everyone always asks me if I watch The Bear or not. And I’m like, no, I can’t.
Some positive stories, Michelin restaurants have changed a lot from when I started working in them. I think work has changed a lot for the positive. I remember one of my first serious jobs in a scary restaurant. You have your hair pulled back because you don’t want it to get in the food.
I had one small piece of hair hanging down above my face and the chef takes a match from the stove, lights a piece of my hair and says don’t ever have a hair hanging down in your face again.
Some of the wonderful stories are having the opportunity, especially at Mozza, you taste each bottle you open there.
When I was at Mozza, it was a $5 million dollar all-Italian cellar with 90 pages of the best Barolo, Brunello, Etna Rosso’s, just things that like collector’s dream about tasting.
And I feel so lucky to have tasted things like Conterno Monfortino, which is the type of wine that you want to smell for three hours before you drink it.
When you have a wine like that, it makes you realize why collectors obsessively chase bottles, there’s something so romantic and intangible, and having a wine like that, you realize you’ll never have A wine that tastes the same at any moment in time ever again.
It’s just such a lucky experience.
Joe Winger:
I’m curious about how that experience inspired you to open Nomadica.
Kristin Olszewski:
My entry point into wine was always through farming. I majored in sustainable agriculture.
I was an avid farmer. I ran our community garden in college and was focused on permaculture. I lived in India and farmed for a while there.
And I always say great wine is made by great farmers, great wines made in the vineyard, not the cellar.
So when I was looking at starting Nomadica, that sustainability ethos, it was always my starting point, but I was really shocked when I found out how bad glass bottles are for the environment.
30% of glass is recycled in the US. The rest just goes into a landfill. It’s highly energy intensive to make, to ship, because it’s so heavy.
The fact is, most wine does not need to be in a glass bottle.
Yes, that Barolo I mentioned absolutely needs to be in a glass bottle. That needs to be aged for years before it even comes into its own.
But for a $20 – 30 bottle of wine that you’re going to pop open and drink it on a weeknight or on a not special weekend does not need to be in glass.
So that’s how we started.
Cans at 70 % reduction in carbon footprint. Our newly launched bag and box wine is almost a 90% reduction in carbon footprint.
Joe Winger:
I sampled your sparkling white, your white, your red and your rose, they were dangerously drinkable.
Can we talk about where the fruit is sourced from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Absolutely.
The name Nomadica is really a fun double entendre because you can take it wherever you want to go. Of course, cans and boxes can be found in places that bottles can’t.
We source our fruit from all over.
We’re truly a nomadic winery.
Our head winemaker spent time at some of the best wineries in California, like Eric Kent Cellars, which makes award winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and also Kosta Brown.
Before that he spent 10 years doing vineyard management in California. So through Corey, we’ve really got a handle on some of the best fruit. A lot of our wine comes from Mendocino. A lot of our grapes come from Mendocino or Lodi. I’m such a Sonoma girly. Our winery is located in Sonoma, and so I always find myself drawn back to that region.
Joe Winger:
Are there any vineyards you’d recommend us touring when we come to Northern California?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the Sonoma Coast is the best wine region in California. They’ve fought very hard to become designated as their own AVA, which is very important in terms of quality.
The oceanic influence, what we call a diurnal shift, the extreme temperature change between night and day, like Hirsch and Littorai.
I think if anyone ever wants to see proof in the pudding of what great farming can do, you need to go see Littorai.
Ted Lemon was one of the first Americans to ever be a winemaker in Burgundy and he brought all of his practices back, was one of the first people to practice biodynamic agriculture in California and really brought that style of farming onto a larger scale.
When you go visit his vineyards, it’s like teeming with life. You look next door at a conventionally farmed plot, which is just like dead and sad looking. And then you taste the wines and you’re just knocked on your butt because they’re so good.
Joe Winger:
Nomadica Wines has several varieties. White, Sparkling white, Rose, Red, Orange.
Can you walk us through the taste profiles of any of your favorites – what’s the aromas, what are the profiles?
Kristin Olszewski:
Something really cool about our wines is everything’s practicing organic. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, all of our wines are fermented dry. Naturally zero grams of sugar per serving. They have nice fruit notes, but none of the wines are sweet.
Crushable bright flavor.
Across the gamut, our entire portfolio has a brightness and a freshness to it. All of our wines are like slightly aromatic because I love an aromatic variety, but part of the thought that we put behind the brand is that I wanted to take that sommelier curation and put it in the restaurant, on the retail shelf so that when you’re serving Nomadica at your home, at parties and the beach, 99% percent of people will love it.
I’m doing the work on the back end on blending, sourcing, creating these flavor profiles that’s really taking that wine experience, that decade plus of developing my own palette and giving it back to the consumer.
Joe Winger:
Are there any favorite wine and food pairings for you with your wines?
Kristin Olszewski:
I love an aperitif. Our sparkling rosé is definitely my favorite wine in our gamut. In a can you always have the perfect pour because sometimes you don’t want to open up an entire bottle of wine.
When we do that in my house, it usually gets drank. It doesn’t go back in the fridge.
Sometimes you just want a glass of sparkling. And I love that.
I love that with a charcuterie board and cheese. I also love Rose with green salads.
I think one of the best things about living where we live [Los Angeles] is we have the best produce on the planet.
I still run some wine programs in Los Angeles and I’m actually opening up a restaurant in Silver Lake next year, an Italian restaurant. Orange Wine is like the hottest trend.
I was doing the wine list at a restaurant in Hollywood called Gigi’s and I noticed I was selling more orange wine by the glass than all other colors combined, which was just mind blowing to me.
We made what I think is the best orange wine coming out of California.
There’s a lot of talk about natural wine, orange wine. They’re not all created equal. My winemaker and I tasted through my favorite Italian skin contact wines and decided on a really concrete flavor profile source.
My mother in law in Orange County is drinking her orange wine with her friends. So I really feel like I’ve achieved something. That with sushi is a mind blowing pairing.
Then our red. We found Teroldego growing in Northern California, which is a grape that’s indigenous to Northern Italy from the Alto Adige.
It’s really Alpine, like dark fruit, like a Zinfandel, but really refreshing and bright acidity and a little bit more tannin than a Zin [Zinfandel] has.
There’s a perception that we had to overcome about can and boxed wine. People think that it’s low quality.
Whenever I pour our red for somebody, the response is always, “Wow, oh my god, that’s so good.”
No matter your level of wine knowledge, you can see what I’m trying to do when you taste our red wines.
Joe Winger:
What’s next for you and Nomadica?
Kristin Olszewski:
Right now we’re in hardcore expansion mode. We were the first people to do fine wine and can, and I grew really slowly at my own pace.
I wanted to build the brand.
A lot of people just run to retail shelves and they want to be in every grocery store on the planet. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be, at the Four Seasons, at the Ritz Carlton, at music venues.
I wanted to be in places where people don’t typically expect to see wine in cans and boxes.
We are one of the highest velocity items at Whole Foods in our category.
We just launched all of our box wines at Total Wine in California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and New York and got some really big plans for next year.
So keep your eyes peeled. People are about to see me everywhere.
That’s my goal.
Joe Winger:
Having a canned wine at some of these nicer hotels is a challenge.
What lesson did you learn by accomplishing that rather large challenge?
Kristin Olszewski:
That’s the best thing about how we’re positioned. Not only am I a sommelier, my VP of sales is a sommelier. My winemaker has an incredible reputation. Every person on my team comes from the wine industry and we have the best product.
When we’re sitting down and tasting with these buyers, these people that are in our industry. They recognize it. I always say taste out of a wine glass. Everything tastes better out of a wine glass. The second that they taste it, these are people who taste wine all the time and they taste a lot of bad wine.
So that has been amazing.
We’ve always had the industry behind us. It’s a huge differentiator for us. So I think it was slow build. Everything takes a lot more time than you think it will, which is I think the biggest lesson that I’ve taken away from this business over the last seven years.
But you got to build your brand first.
Joe Winger:
You seem like a deep-souled individual. Whether it’s wine or otherwise, is there an overall message that you want to share to inspire the audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
We are in a time where sustainability is more important than it ever has been. You can’t base your entire brand about it, but I think it’s an absolutely necessary component to any consumer product that’s coming out today.
One of my missions in life is to have that conversation about sustainability and have it with other brands because it needs to be convenient.
Otherwise, consumers will not buy it, care or participate or choose a sustainable option. That’s my big thing.
Joe Winger:
What are the best ways to follow your journey and to learn more about you?
Kristin Olszewski:
You can buy Nomadica online and our new rosé yuzu spritz, which is delicious at ExploreNomadica.com. And then our socials are at Nomadica on Instagram.
And if you want to follow me. I’m at Kristin__O.
The Hamptons: Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard Delivers on Delicious at Wölffer Estate Vineyard Harvest Dinner July 24
The Hamptons: Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard Delivers on Delicious and Delight In The Hamptons at Wölffer Estate Vineyard Harvest Dinner July 24
Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard from Half Baked Harvest delivers on delicious and delight at Wölffer Estate Vineyard Harvest Dinner July 25
Tieghan Gerard was welcomed by a crowd of excited, curious and hungry fans looking forward to a memorable dinner at a beautiful setting.
Tieghan Gerard selected the perfect dinner menu to pair with exceptional wines
It was an enchanting evening of culinary artistry and exceptional wines at the summer’s most anticipated Hamptons event, Summer Harvest: Grilling with Roman Meets Half Baked Harvest.
Wölffer’s esteemed winemaker and partner, Roman Roth collaborated with Tieghan to create an unexpected pairing menu and special installment of his highly sought after series “Grilling With Roman.”
Summer in a Bottle Sauvignon Blanc
Featuring the newly released Summer in a Bottle Sauvignon Blanc, among other exquisite selections, this sophisticated yet whimsical event promises an unforgettable farm-to-table menu.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the iconic Summer in a Bottle series, the menu showcases the freshest local produce, expertly prepared and perfectly paired.
Wölffer Estate Vineyard is located at 139 Sagg Road, Sagaponack, NY 11937.
The Hamptons: Wölffer Estate Vineyard and Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest Announce Summer Harvest July 24
Hamptons: Wölffer Estate Vineyard and Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest Announce Summer Harvest July 24
Wölffer Estate Vineyard and Culinary Sensation Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest Announce Summer Harvest July 24
Prepare for an enchanting evening of culinary artistry and exceptional wines at the summer’s most anticipated Hamptons event, Summer Harvest: Grilling with Roman Meets Half Baked Harvest.
On Wednesday, July 24th at 6:30 pm, the picturesque Wölffer Estate Vineyard and NY Times #1 Bestselling cookbook author and Instagram sensation, Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest, are presenting a bountiful summer harvest experience. Wölffer’s esteemed winemaker and partner, Roman Roth collaborated with Tieghan to create an unexpected pairing menu and special installment of his highly sought after series “Grilling With Roman.”
Featuring the newly released Summer in a Bottle Sauvignon Blanc, among other exquisite selections, this sophisticated yet whimsical event promises an unforgettable farm-to-table menu. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the iconic Summer in a Bottle series, the menu showcases the freshest local produce, expertly prepared and perfectly paired.
“I am absolutely thrilled to collaborate with Wölffer Estate Vineyard for this beautiful and inspiring event.”
Teighan Gerard
Founder of Half Baked Harvest
“I’m a huge fan of Wölffer Wines and I can’t wait to visit the Hamptons for the first time,” said Teighan Gerard, Founder of Half Baked Harvest.
“It’s going to be a magical evening of great food, fantastic wine, and wonderful company, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!”
Do not miss this unique opportunity to indulge in an evening of great food, fine wine, and stunning surroundings.
Tickets are currently available HERE, while supplies last for $310 and include entrance, full menu and wine pairings.
This event is rain or shine.
Wölffer Estate Vineyard is located at 139 Sagg Road, Sagaponack, NY 11937.
You Might also like
-
Taylor Swift launch her big “Eras Tour” plays May 25-26 in NY area
Taylor Swift launches her “Eras Tour” in March 2023, with national tour dates set through August and to include two shows each in both the New York metro area and Los Angeles.
Swift announced the tour dates today on Instagram. International dates will be announced later.
“I’m enchanted to announce my next tour:
Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour
a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!),”
she wrote on instagram.
“The first leg of the tour will be in stadiums across the US, with international dates to be announced as soon as we can!”
Taylor Swift launches her Eras Tour in March 2023
Swift also announced that her opening acts on the tour will include Paramore, Haim, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Girl in Red, Muna, Gayle, Gracie Abrams and Owenn.
“Feeling like the luckiest person alive because I get to take these brilliant artists out on tour with me,” she wrote.
“I can’t WAIT to see your gorgeous faces out there.
It’s been a long time coming.”
The tour kicks off March 18 in Glendale, AZ, where Swift launched her “Reputation” tour in 2018. Over the spring and summer, Swift will play 20 cities for 27 dates, including May 26 and 27 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, outside NYC, and wrapping up for a two-night stand Aug 4-5 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. See the entire itinerary below.
Tickets go on sale to the general public Nov. 18.
The “Eras Tour” is being produced in-house by Taylor Swift Touring and promoted by the Messina Touring Group.
Post Views: 248 -
New York City’s Top Halloween Events in 2022 (Updated)
October is here! Time for New York City’s Top Halloween Events in 2022
Manhattan has the honor of hosting some of the US’s biggest parties – including the Village Halloween Parade. But we’re going big and beyond, including both the biggest parties and also great events beyond the island itself.
There’s plenty of ways to celebrate the spooky season this year in the Big Apple, from family friendly fun to adult-level screams and scares.
We’re listing them all out for you, and updating them as we discover more.
Village Halloween Parade
Get ready for the 49th annual Village Halloween Parade!
Easily one of the most creative Halloween parties in NYC, and one of the world’s largest Halloween parades.
Started in 1974, the Village Halloween Parade features large puppets, dozens of marching bands, and the chance for everyone to join along and participate.
Find more information here: Village Halloween Parade
Boo At The Zoo
The Bronx Zoo’s annual family-friendly Halloween tradition returns in 2022.
You’re encouraged to dress in costume (heck, maybe as your favorite animal) and come to the zoo.
Fun family-friendly activities from recent years have included magic & mind reading, pumpkin carving demonstrations, a candy trail, a costume parade, Halloween crafts, an extinct animal graveyard, the Wildlife Witch’s Super Scary Halloween Show, and trick or truth.
Every Saturday and Sunday in October, including Saturday, October 29th and Sunday, October 30th.
For more information: Boo at the Bronx Zoo
See The Enchanting Pumpkin Flotilla at Central Park
The ever-enchanting pumpkins are a part of the historic Pumpkin Flotilla, one of many family fun activities happening around Central Park on and around Halloween weekend.
Among others (crafts, entertainment, trick-or-treat scavenger hunt) you can watch a whole flotilla of pumpkins float across the Harlem Meer at twilight. Honestly, this is pretty cool to watch at any age.
For more information: Enchanting Pumpkin Flotilla at Central Park
Kids Halloween Concert
Looking for kid-friendly shows on Halloween?
Buy tix to this now and thank me later.
Mozart for Munchkins Kids Halloween Concert is fun. This Halloween-themed event features world-class musicians playing both a classical and more modern tunes.
And don’t worry; it’s a seriously relaxed vibe so your kids can wander, sing-a-long, even dance along to the music,
Definitely d in the Halloween funkiness so they can enjoy the event to the fullest!
For more information: Mozart for Munchkins
Looking for the biggest Halloween costume party in NYC?
Big party? Get ready for Monster Ball ‘22 – A Nightmare on 48th Street. The annual party takes place over multiple nights on Halloween weekend with over 10,000 costumed individuals all coming for one wild evening.
The definitely 21-and-over event is a fun combination of Halloween horrors and a raging party.
For more information: Monster Ball ‘ 22
Come To Dumboween’s March To The Arch
Does Brooklyn celebrate Halloween bigger? Come find out. Enjoy crafts, costume contests, live music, and candy as a part of the Dumboween March to the Arch.
This Brooklyn Halloween parade starts on Washington Street and heads through DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park before ending up at the Dumbo Archway.
At the archway there’s a Dumbo Archway Kids Party and the Neighborhood Trick or Treat where kids (and kids of all ages) can enjoy even more Halloween fun.
More information here: Click here for Dumboween
Wanna Go Pumpkin Picking At Decker Farm?
This more traditional Halloween fun takes place outside the city, so head out to Decker Farm in Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island.
Each year during Halloween season Decker Farm offers family-friendly activities.
On October weekends, enjoy hay rides, a corn maze, arts and crafts, face painting, and pumpkin picking. Starts October 1st and continues until October 30th, 2022.
For more information: Pumpkin Picking at Decker Farms
Stop By (family-friendly) The Spooky Fest
This family-friendly event has varying levels of scares as visitors experience what’s lurking in the woods at the Center for Science, Teaching, and Learning’s Spooky Fest.
This event features both scary and non-scary attractions so everyone can enjoy.
From the scarier Haunted Woods and a Maze of Horror to the safer Enchanted Forest Walk and Kids Arts and Craft Area, there’s plenty of options for everyone.
For more information: Spooky Fest
Make it a Yummy Halloween at the Museum of Ice Cream
All October-long, Museum of Ice Cream adds autumnal flavors to their menu.
They have Pumpkin soft serve ice cream and Haunted Cotton Candy!
With your purchased ticket to the museum, you’ll be able to eat unlimited Halloween scoops!
More information on Museum of Ice Cream
Get Your Scare On At Blood Manor
Located in Tribeca District, Blood Manor might be the scariest NYC Halloween event.
It’s a first-class haunted house featuring 10,000 square feet of themed rooms, a labyrinth, and more in a creepy, scream-inducing atmosphere.
Not recommended for children under 14. It’s intense – it even has emergency exits for those who feel too scared.
For more information: Blood Manor in NYC
Post Views: 926 -
NYC Demands Better Coffee, They Traveled the world to find it, Dr Christina Rahm from Rahm Roast Coffee
NYC Demands Better Coffee, They Traveled the world to find it, Dr Christina Rahm from Rahm Roast Coffee
Today we’re talking coffee! The rich and delightful taste of Rahm Roast, crafted from carefully selected coffee beans straight from Guatemala.
Dr. Christina Rahm is a scientist, supermom, devoted partner, and the ultimate coffee aficionado!
With a passion for detoxing and a mission to uplift lives, she’s not just about the lab coat life; she’s out there exploring the globe in pursuit of both science and the perfect cup of joe.
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger:
So what I love the most is your introduction, Dr. Christina Rahm, “Mother. wife, scientist and coffee lover.”
Dr. Christina Rahm:
Thank you. Yeah I always start with mother. Now my kids are older. I’m like, am I supposed to say mother to adult children? They were such an integral part of my life. And hey, that was the reason I started drinking coffee. Just to be honest, I had to stay awake to take care of them.
Joe Winger:
Do you remember what first inspired you to get interested in coffee?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
Motherhood, basically..
I grew up in a home where everybody loved coffee but me. I remember when I had my 1st child, and I was thinking, how do all these mothers stay awake?
I worked back then too. It was a lot, working and taking care [of my first baby].
I was delusional because I thought I’m going to have my son, and I thought, I’ll go back to work on Monday. Cause you don’t know. I remember that Monday getting up and calling my mom and saying, “This is not doable. What am I going to do?”
I had a job where they let me take him to work, but still it was a lot. And my mom was like, you’re going to have to drink coffee.
So I started drinking coffee.
My parents loved it growing up. They would offer us coffee with cream and sugar when we were little.
I grew up on a farm and they would offer it and I’d be like, no, I don’t like it. I was the only one in my family that didn’t like it, but I learned to love it after I had a child.
Then I three more [kids]. But I love the taste of it.
Also, as a scientist, I had a pituitary tumor and different types of cancer.
When I started researching, you can’t ever claim that a natural substance cures anything, but I did notice there were certain types of coffee and coffee beans that caused cancer cell death, apoptosis.
So it was one of the things that I added to my regimen.
What happened was, the cancer metastasized and I was trying to eat everything from spirulina to coffee to resveratrol.
I did give up alcohol for a while.
Then someone said one glass of alcohol is good because of the resveratrol.
So I added wine back in [to my diet].
But like I learned to love [coffee]. The more I researched it, the more I understood that it had mold and mitotoxins and it had all kinds of things.
Even though the pure bean could help from a physical perspective and from a healthcare perspective because of the pesticides and GMOs in the land, air and water that we have.
I hate bringing up the topic because people [think] the environment’s not that bad.
The problem is, regardless of your political stance, our environment is not healthy like it used to, because we’ve had so much pollution/
Nuclear war and when a nuclear war happens, it does not leave the stratosphere.
It disseminates across our world.
So a our things – plants and herbs and roots and seeds – you have to be very careful where you get it.
Most of my career I focused a lot on detoxification and really helping clean out the environment.
Things I’ve worked on… You can go to the store and buy coffee or buy vitamins and they can have heavy metals, lead, mercury, horrible things in it.
I don’t want to scare people.
Instead, I’ve worked on creating some things that hopefully will help people feel, look, and be better because we just all need to be as great as we can be.
There’s no easy, one pill solution, right?
Coffee was definitely something for me.
People drink [it] every day, and if they’re going to drink it, I’m hoping they drink something that’s, free of mitotoxins, that has a good pH level, that is fair trade.
I had a whole list of things that were so important to me.
When Rahm Roast launched I was very happy because we ended up getting a 91% cup score. We worked really hard for that. Only 1% of the coffee in the world has a score that high.
But I think what was more important than a score, what’s that going to do for you?
What really matters to me is that the coffee did not have toxins and the coffee did not have heavy metals and it hadn’t been exposed to GMOs or pesticides.
If my name was going to be on it it better be something that’s really helping people and making their life better. That was important to me.
Joe Winger:
Two words you said a second ago, let’s connect them: coffee and detoxification.
What does that process look like for Rahm Roast?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
I went all over, even to Ethiopia because [they] have great coffee.
I would meet with different coffee plantations and different owners trying to find a really good place. We ended up being able to find a place in Guatemala that was on top of a mountain, which had never been exposed to GMOs and pesticides.
The water’s clean, the air’s clean.
It was a very isolated place. We decided we wanted to partner with a business that was small. All they cared about was making something that was just really unique and special. [Unlike most other businesses] they were not worried about mass production.
They’re worried about making sure that it tastes good, which taste was important to us.
But the biggest issue was let’s make sure that everything is fair trade, the organic, the vegan, we wanted everything. I wanted to be sustainable.
For me, sustainable is not enough.
We need to remediate things because you can to be sustainable. It’s not completely accurate, right?
I have a lot of patents based on remediation of things and making sure that you’re not just detoxing, but you’re helping the plants and you’re helping everything grow.
Because we should have this much top soil [gestures to 6 inches] and now we have this much top soil [gestures to 2 inches] and there’s not enough nutrients in it that help the plants and the roots and the seeds. They’re just not the same.
We explored all of that and came up with a process to clean the beans and detox the beans of any kind of monotoxins, mold, fungus, bacteria, viruses, anything surrounding it.
I developed that in 2015. I started by basically writing a series of patents that had to do with getting rid of nuclear waste.
The regeneration of land, air and water and the human body and also the reversal of aging.
What I’ve learned as a scientist and as a human being is to admit failure every day, and then to admit that I’m going to try to be better every day.
And that’s what happened with the coffee.
It was a one step process that involved a four day process to make the cleaning and it’s made from basically a zeolite silica trace mineral vitamin mixture which goes in and cleans the beans.
I think that’s the reason our cup score is so high because the PH level basically getting rid of all those minor toxins, all the things, the beans that are harmful or could be harmful creates a ph level that is very conducive to our body.
I don’t know if you know this, but our Earth is composed of silica and water, right?
As humans, we are too.
So when you put something in your body, you want to make it compatible bioavailable to the body. And I would say that’s another proprietary thing that I do. And I work on things I’m working on.
Understanding the DNA of a coffee bean, and understanding our DNA and then understanding how they would work copacetically together.
Another thing that was really close to me that I actually have not talked about in any interview is the fact that. With coffee and coffee enemas and different things that people have, there’s like a 70 percent increase right now in colon cancer. It’s horrible. And I would credit that to the environment and to all the things we’re being exposed to.
And even vegans are getting colon cancer. Even younger people. You can look it up.
It was in the New York Post, everything else. So I wanted a coffee that a doctor decided functional med doctors or doctors in other countries wanted to help with this area that could use it as a colon cleanse as well.
Again, I have not talked about that anywhere, but for me, it was essential because as a person that’s had so many different types of cancer, I want to put things in my body that will help my body.
What’s interesting about what I do for a living now, I used to work in pharmaceutical and biotech and we could say.
We don’t cure bronchitis, but here’s zithromax to help with bronchitis and it does right from my perspective.
Giving people things that make their body, make them achieve the greatest thing they can, that, which is to be their best self, it’s so important.
And if those things that we give them can also improve the cellular health of their body by making the healthy cells healthier and making the cancerous or the sick cells not even wanna be there, then that is a goal.
There’s been all kinds of studies, there’s all kinds of information which shows that could be possible.
But again, the problem is in theory, yes, that can help people in different areas of health.
But in reality, I don’t feel like it has because I think the coffee beans and coffee has been exposed to so many things in our environment that then sometimes we’re putting more toxins into our body.
So that was really a major focus for me when I worked on the coffee.
We drink coffee every day and we deserve to have really good coffee.
I’m not saying,me making spaghetti and saying my spaghetti is the “best spaghetti in the world.”
I will tell you that I’ve traveled to 89 countries and I’ve studied this for years and this has been a topic of mine since I was in my twenties, that has been important to me.
Then my oldest son, my Mom used to give him the coffee with the sugar and the cream and he would just keep drinking it.
And I would get in an argument with my Mom about why are you giving my Son coffee now?
He’s bouncing off the walls. He just loves it.
So he put fire under my feet on it. I was like, I’m too busy working on all these other projects.
He was like, “Mom, you have to make good coffee.”
Because some people drink four or five glasses a day. So it needs to be healthy for you.
It’s just like water. If you’re going to drink water, you want to drink healthy water; and water is part of the process when I make the coffee too. It’s a specific type of water that helps clean the beans.
It’s interesting. I tried to do it in the United States. I could not find a master coffee maker that could do what I wanted.
I found one in Cyprus [Greece].
So I was in Cyprus introduced to an award winning coffee grinder coffee maker.
He’s won awards all over, [ he] understood my process, understood how to do it.
Then after you tasted it, after it went through the process, he was like, this is amazing. This is the best coffee ever. And again, it makes sense.
Like when we’re healthy, we look better, right?
When coffee beans are healthier, they taste better. They’re better.
It’s just simple and I love it.
I think it’s magical how science works and how all of our DNA is connected. We’re connected to a leaf on a tree. We’re also connected and able to bring coffee to the world that’s going to help people.
I think it is probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most in the last three to four years of my life.
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful. Obviously you have a huge scientific background. Our audience is into the flavor. Food, spirits, wine, coffee based on flavor.
I’m sure you can understand how science can intimidate so many of us.
Is there a very simplified way of explaining what makes Rahm Roast good for the body, good for the planet?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
It’s like going to an organic farm up in the mountains where everything’s perfect and tasting a bite of a watermelon and it just tastes so great.
Or of strawberries.
When you go to these places on these islands that have never been exposed to GMOs and pesticides.
And you’re like, why does this taste better?
Sometimes in the United States, you’ll buy a rose for someone and it doesn’t even smell like a rose, but then you’ll go to a tropical island where they don’t use GMOs or pesticides and it smells so beautiful.
This is the most beautiful rose. It smells so amazing.
The coffee was made and sourced from a single source in a place that was the perfect environment that we could find. We looked everywhere.
Then the process. That was made basically cleaning it until it was beautiful and perfect. It’s like you brush your teeth, you take a bath, you look better.
If you don’t shave or brush your teeth or take a bath for two years, then you may not look the same as you look today.
This coffee has been cleaned in a very holistic way, organic way using only natural.
It tastes amazing. It tastes almost like chocolate.
It’s very smooth.
Using zeolites [like they] used to line the ducts of the Aztec and Incas and Mayas and the pyramids. It’s documented throughout history and all I did was take a process and make sure it was cleaning so that it would look beautiful.
I think it’s simple.
I sourced it from the most amazing place that had not been exposed to pesticides and GMOs, that was fair trade, that everything was a sole source farmer.
We knew everything about the history. I want your audience to also know this.
It’s not just the beans and the plants.
It’s the parent plants and the genetics behind it.
When you see race horses. They breed, right? You pay a lot of money if you have a winner from the Kentucky Derby. Because it’s genetics.
There’s a genetic component and there’s always this debate about genetics and the environment.
Which one’s better?
And so to me, both are important.
So I looked at the genetics of the plants and the seeds
I made sure the environment was a really good environment to raise a healthy environment to raise these amazing coffee beans. And then we just cleaned them and made them even more beautiful so that everyone could taste how amazing they are.
Scientists made GMOs to try to make plants bigger, better, right? That failed.
So as a scientist I went back to school, I went to Harvard and studied nanobiotechnology for a very different reason than most people think.
I studied to see how we could reverse it.
Things naturally from things that we’ve put into our world that weren’t natural, that have hurt us.
Joe Winger:
Incredibly inspirational.
From a corporate point of view, can you talk a little bit about what inspired you to pursue the social responsibility of the company?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
In my career, I worked for the government. I’ve worked for a lot of the top pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
I would say I failed at that in many ways.
Our economy depends on spending a lot of money on health care.
It was a hard time for me, but I never gave up.
From my perspective. Since I had cancer, since I had Lyme’s disease, since I had a child that had cancer, I’ve devoted my life to trying to do the right thing. I have an opportunity to be alive for a reason.
It was a blessing, even though I didn’t feel like it was a blessing when I was diagnosed. I have a warrior strength of fighting anything.
We’ve just got to be better humans, right?
My goal is to make every person have the longest, best life possible.
That means mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And as a scientist, I feel like it’s on my shoulders and my responsibility to tell the truth and to do it in a positive way instead of being a whistleblower blowing things up.
I want to offer these things that can help people.
About 8-9 years ago, I started really stepping up and talking about social issues, working on female empowerment. I just always try to talk about how we can empower.
When you have gifts, if you have influence, if you have money, if you have power, your job is to protect those weaker than you or that need help.
And somehow we’ve lost that in our move for success.
We think we don’t we forget about that. But for me, that’s my motive to make social change is to it’s my responsibility to be a good human. I’m going to die someday. And I’m going to have to answer for everything I’ve done on this earth.
So I have to try every day to be better.
The coffee was something that was for a social change that I think we need to be aware of without scaring everyone.
And so that has led me to move past that. To run companies. I have 22 companies actually under DRC ventures and a lot of people don’t know that. So there’s 22 companies that I’m actually in charge of right now, trying to make some good social changes in the world.
Joe Winger:
For our audience who wants to learn more about your and Rahm Roast Coffee, what are the best ways?
Dr. Christina Rahm:
DrChristinaRahm.com is my website.
I’m on social media at Instagram, LinkedIn
The root brand sells Rahm Roast at RahmRoast website. We also donate from every bag of coffee to philanthropy as well.
Post Views: 425
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article. https://www.binance.info/pt-BR/join?ref=V2H9AFPY
Thank you ma’am. She did an incredible job