Podcast Episode 14: KJ Kearney, Black Food Fridays & Charleston Promise Neighborhood
Get to know the Lowcountry’s local-independent business community, one changemaker at a time. “Small Talks, Big Ideas with Steve” is a podcast that features local business insights and updates, alongside interviews with members, sponsors, and supporters.
For our 14th episode, Steve sits down with KJ Kearney. KJ is a North Charleston native, proud graduate of South Carolina State University the founder of Black Food Fridays, a 2022 James Beard Award nominated social media initiative which encourages everyone to purchase food and drinks from Black owned restaurants each and every Friday. Since starting in April of 2020, Black Food Fridays has organically grown to over 75K+ followers on Instagram and over 149K+ followers on TikTok. Through his advocacy, he has been able to work with organizations like Pepsi, the Charleston Visitors Bureau, the Charleston Wine and Food Festival, and the Black Amazon Employee Network and has been featured or quoted by publications like the Washington Post, New York Food Policy Center, Condé Nast Traveller, Bet.com, the BBC, Viceland, MTV News, Insider, Mic.com, and Today.com. He was also a featured guest on the hit Food Network show “Delicious Miss Brown” where he discussed both the Black Food Fridays platform and Gullah Geechee cuisine.
