meez podcast

Kerry Diamond on Cherry Bombe and its Exciting Future

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About this episode

In this episode, we are joined by Kerry Diamond, a remarkable individual with a lifelong passion for journalism and amplifying the voices of women in the food industry. From her humble beginnings in third-grade journalism, Kerry has evolved into an influential figure in the food media landscape.

As the founder and Editor-In-Chief of Cherry Bombe, Kerry has transformed her vision into a dynamic reality. Initially, Cherry Bombe was a print-only magazine, dedicated to shedding light on the often overlooked contributions of women in food. Over the years, it has grown into a multifaceted platform encompassing events, conferences, podcasts, cookbooks, and a robust social media presence.

Kerry has had a diverse and intriguing career path. She began her journey at Spin Magazine and interned alongside the renowned punk rock journalist, Legs McNeil. Later on, she delved into the world of fashion journalism, working with publications like Harper's Bazaar and Lancome. She went on to open a restaurant cafe in Brooklyn, which ultimately fueled her mission to bridge the gender disparity in food industry narratives.

In this conversation, Kerry and Josh Sharkey delve into the nuances of brand building, the pivotal advice she received from Danny Meyer, and the exciting future of Cherry Bombe.

Where to find Kerry Diamond:


Where to find host Josh Sharkey:

What We Cover

(05:17) The beginning of Kerry's Journalism career

(07:00) How Kerry came to work for Legs McNeil(12:10) The impact of the Punk Rock scene on Cherry Bombe

(14:19) The story of how Cherry Bombe began

(15:48) The goals of All in the Industry Podcast

(18:11) The impact Lucky Peach had on Cherry Bombe's beginnings

(22:52) How Cherry Bome's Mission has evolved

(25:24) Current issues women still face in the restaurant industry

(25:43) How Shari collaborated with chefs around the world

(31:11) Danny Meyer's words of advice to Kerry

(35:05)James Beard Awards and Pellegrino 50 Best

(31:29) Cherry Bombe's focus on fundraising

(35:05) Jubilee conference

(41:35) White space in the community

(45:03) meez elevator pitch

(46:53) Cherry Bombe podcasts

(55:51) Nuances of brand building

(58:40) The future of Cherry Bombe

Transcript

Josh Sharkey [00:00:00]:

Welcome to The meez Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Sharkey, the founder and CEO of meez, the culinary operating system for food professionals. On the show, I'll be interviewing world-class entrepreneurs in the food space that are shifting the paradigm of how we innovate and operate in our industry. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the show. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the show.

[00:00:24]:

My guest today has had journalism in her blood since at least the third grade when she started her first school newspaper. She hosts the number one podcast in the US about Women in Food. Among many other podcasts that she's created, she created the Annual Jubilee Conference, which is the largest gathering of women in food in the US and all of this as part of her media company Cherry Bomb, which she founded in 2013.

[00:00:53]:

And still to this day serves as the editor-in-chief. Kerry Diamond started Cherry Bomb as a print only magazine with a mission to support and shine a much needed spotlight on women in the food industry. It's now expanded from magazines to events and conferences, multiple podcasts, social media, cookbooks, and a lot more.

[00:01:12]:

She started her career in journalism with Spin Magazine and then quickly shifted to working directly with famed punk rock writer Legs McNeil, and then she spent a lot of time as a writer and editor in the fashion industry working for Harper's Bazaar and Lancome and Coach among others. Then of course, she made the obvious transition to what anybody would do, opening a restaurant cafe in Brooklyn.

[00:01:33]:

Just kidding. But she actually did that actually. She had a really cool spot in Brooklyn, and in doing so, she quickly saw a disparity in the stories that were being told about women in the food industry. And thus Cherry Bomb was formed. Kerry and I talked a lot about building a brand and the quest to share these stories and highlight all the incredible women in our industry. Some advice from Danny Meyer that she got that really helped her, what's next for CherryBomb, and of course, a lot more. I really enjoy this conversation and I think you will as well. So as always, I hope you enjoy the show.

[00:02:13]:

 Welcome to The meez Podcast. 

Kerry Diamond [00:02:13]:

Honored to be on the show. So thank you so much. Nice to meet you virtually.

Josh Sharkey [00:02:13]:

I think the only time we ever met in person, I think, was at a wedding a very long time ago. 

Kerry Diamond [00:02:17]:

Oh my gosh. Whose wedding? 

Josh Sharkey [00:02:19]:

Sergio's wedding. Sergio Hernandez. 

Kerry Diamond [00:02:31]:

Oh, yeah. I love Sergio. I remember they had cheese as a cake. They cut into a parmesan. 

Josh Sharkey [00:02:31]:

Yes, they had a whole wheel of parmesan as their cake. And Sergio, I dunno if you know this now, he works at meez. 

Kerry Diamond [00:02:31]:

Oh, I didn't know that. Well, tell him I said hi. 

Josh Sharkey [00:02:31]:

I will. Well, on that note, there's been a lot of requests to have you on. So I'm excited, but I think there's also a bunch of other people that are really excited to have you on. So I'm excited for the conversation today. So thank you. And I'm going to start a little bit with a change of how we have before, because I'm going to read a quote that you've said. And then a quote from my team, because my team was chattering about this. beforehand and I wanted to read one from one of my team members. But you said, I don't know where you said it, but you said, I believe the world would be a better place if women were in charge. 

Kerry Diamond [00:03:19]:

I should have worn my Matriarchy Now sweatshirt for you, Josh. 

Josh Sharkey [00:03:22]:

Well, I couldn't agree more. At my company at meez, literally almost all the departments are run by women, engineering, marketing, customer success, support, implementation. Mary Lee, who is our chief tech officer, she kind of runs the company. She rules the rules in many ways. And I wouldn't have it any other way. So I totally agree. And I asked the team, what would you like to hear Carrie talk about? because there's so many women on our team, independent of the leadership, there's also just a bunch of other women and actually a lot of chefs, because my team, even though we're a technology company, there's just a lot of chefs. So one of them, Sarah, who leads customer success, wrote something. She wrote something she wanted you to talk about, which some of them are sprinkled in our conversation, but I was gonna read a quote from her, that's okay as well, because I thought it was really, really nice.

Kerry Diamond [00:04:03]:

Great, and I love that you hire chefs. They're very organized, punctual people. So that's a smart move on your part.

Josh Sharkey [00:04:06]:

They are, yeah, chefs are great entrepreneurs and just great workers in general across any industry, I think. Okay, so this is from Sarah. Sorry, Sarah, I didn't tell you that I was doing this, but I think it's okay. So she said, it takes a visionary to see what's missing in our culture. It takes courage to speak out against the omission and an incredible amount of perseverance to actually do something about it and start the shift towards change. Kerry saw we were being left out of the stories, unless we were talking about Julia Child, or Italian nonnas. For that, I'm truly grateful for her.

Kerry Diamond [00:04:41]:

Oh my gosh. It's gonna make me cry that you're gonna make me cry at the very beginning of the interview. 

Josh Sharkey [00:04:47]:

Well, I wanted to do that to set the context of today to just say thank you, because I really think what you've built is incredible and you see the impact, not just in the kitchens, but all over the place. And I can tell you that, not just myself, but my team is so grateful for everything that you're doing, as I'm sure as so many other people in the industry. So thank you, Gary.

Kerry Diamond [00:04:56]:

Wow, that means a lot. Thank you. I mean, Cherry Bomb, we'll talk about this, really is a community. And I in turn have to thank all the women who have been part of this wild ride for the past decade.

Josh Sharkey [00:05:17]:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're going to talk a lot about Cherry Bomb today. But before we get into that, I was doing a little bit of digging. And obviously, most of your career was in journalism. It's very clear that you've wanted to be a writer for your whole life. I think when you were a third grader you started your own newspaper in school. So that was always the recipe for someone that's going to be a success is when this is when you live and breathe this. But at some point, you ended up working for Legs McNeil. And I saw that and I was like, how the hell did that happen? Can you just tell me how you ended up working for Legs and maybe for the audience if they don't know who he is or if they don't know about the Ramones and Sex Pistols and Clash and any of those companies like a little bit about him.

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