Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Peak.
Hi Jesse, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After 20 years in the retail automotive space, I called it quits in Dec of 2020. I was literally lost. I had relocated to Atlanta in Dec of 2018 and knew I was here to do something bigger than running a car dealership.
I wanted to start a podcast but I had no idea what the subject/core message of the podcast would be. After seeing a viral tweet about all the things black and brown people could do in the cannabis space, I noticed one of the “things someone could do” was reviewing cannabis strains. A light switch went off, at the time I was 39 years old and had never smoked cannabis. In that moment, I had this dope idea… review cannabis strains and I know that when people get high they get hungry so let’s pair it with fine dining. After a few weeks of researching podcast equipment, I purchased some gear and started shooting episodes in dope restaurants in Atlanta.
The first episode was shot in Dec at Forks and Flavors up in Kennesaw.
This journey has been full of excitement, heartbreak, headaches and soooo much JOY!
I never looked at this podcast as a business, it was something I was doing for fun because I was passionate about it and knew that eventually when it became a business I would get in business mode. I had a rude awakening- I was forced to look at it as a business a few months in.
To get to where we are right now, it has taken an immense amount of being focused, creative, being open to criticism, allowing ourselves to be challenged and the most important thing… (my experience in management in the auto industry helped with this) when you bring people into your team share your vision with them- whatever role/position they play be comfortable allowing them to have FULL CREATIVE CONTROL in their role within your vision.
So now this tweet I saw and my vision has developed into the DOPEST CANNABIS AND FINE DINING PODCAST on the planet Earth.
We review high-end cannabis strains and break down the terpene profiles (terpenes are responsible for the smell, flavor and high effects of cannabis)
My ace boom Chef Todd then takes those flavor profiles and customizes WORLD-CLASS dishes to pair with the strain.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This road has been anything but smooth. With any business, you are going to have issues –
1. You have to realize you can’t do everything yourself.
2. You have to hire the right people – and if you realize you made a bad hire… get rid of them quickly. The longer you hold onto dead weight or people that don’t share the same energy frequency as you the longer it’s going to take for your business to synergize and begin to scale
3. always share your vision with your team – once they understand the vision they can start to show you as a leader where they see gaps and they will help you close them.
Some of our other challengers were finding restaurants to shoot episodes in, finding a crew that was reliable.
As you know, we’re big fans of Dope Dank and Dine Co. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a podcast production but we also produce a few other podcasts for people.
There are a bunch of cannabis podcasts and food podcasts… We have yet to find a team out there that is breaking down the strains and giving viewers the education on terpenes while pairing these strains with elegant dishes from a classically trained chef.
I am currently most proud of our brand pushing the envelope on intentional usage of cannabis and food. There has always been a negative connotation associated with people of color and cannabis. we are responsible users and will continue to educate people on this magical plant.
If anyone out there has a podcast and wants to take the production to the next level- meaning industry-standard sound equipment, next level video and lighting equipment and work with a team that can take your vision and elevates it… GET IN TOUCH WITH THE DOPE DANK AND DINE TEAM.
We have some dope t-shirts available on the site dopedankdine.com
What are your plans for the future?
We are going to do traveling episodes – we love opening the doors and bringing people in to experience the whole vibe at an episode. The food is literally GOAT STATUS and being immersed in our team energy is something we want to share with everyone.
We are going to put a nice-sized dent in the cannabis and fine dining experience space.
Contact Info:
- Email: jesse@dopedankdine.com
- Website: dopedankdine.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/dopedankdine
- Facebook: facebook.com/Dopedankdine/
- Twitter: twitter.com/dopedankdine
- Youtube: goodweedandwine.com
Image Credits:
FitzframesPhotos
