Matt Bowles: My guest today is Chrishan Wright. She is the founder of Blaxit Global, a platform dedicated to empowering and inspiring members of the African diaspora to pursue a life abroad. Originally from the Bronx in New York City, Chrishan is an award-winning digital marketer and a location independent entrepreneur. She is also the host of the Blaxit Global Podcast, which has been featured in numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, Travel Noire, Conde Nast Traveler, and the list goes on.

Chrishan welcome to the show.

Chrishan Wright: Hey, hey, hey, Matt. Thanks for having me on.

Matt Bowles: I am so excited to have you and I’m super excited for this conversation. Let’s just start off by setting the scene though, and talking about where we are recording from today, unfortunately we are not in person. We actually just missed each other in Portugal.

Chrishan Wright: We did.

Matt Bowles: We were both there in Lisbon over the last month, but we didn’t overlap, so I was kind of hoping it might work, and we could do it in person, but alas, we are doing this remotely. I am actually in the United States today. I am in Charlotte, North Carolina, recording this. And where are you?

Chrishan Wright: I too am in the United States. States. I am in cold, New Jersey.

Matt Bowles: Dirty Jerry’s represent. Well, I want to hear about your recent trip to Lisbon. Cause you just got back as you and I have talked many times. We both have a lot of love for Portugal. I try to go through pretty much every year and have a lot of wonderful friends there. Always enjoy my time there. But how was your most recent trip to Lisbon?

Chrishan Wright: Oh man, it was better than I expected. So, the purpose of the trip was for me to secure my apartment for my D seven application. I’m moving to Portugal this year and I went with kind of low expectations in the sense that I know the real estate market is really hot, more competitive. A lot has changed in the year since I was last there.

So, I went with, okay, I’ll see different neighborhoods and places I haven’t seen, but the likelihood of me finding an apartment in a week is slim to none. So, I had great partners helping me Portugal the place, and it was also an opportunity to see some friends.

So Black in Portugal, which is a great organization in Lisbon Utopia, which they have been guests on my podcast, but they also have a YouTube channel in their own platform. They were having a joint meetup, so it was great to just see different people, different influencers came through. There was also the Exodus summit meetup that was in Morocco that had just concluded, so people were coming for that, and it was great.

It was an opportunity for me to meet some of my members in my program. That actually have made the move. So, I got to see the impact of the platform in real life. And then also fans. I was like, oh, I have fans. So, it was great in that respect. I’m still leaning into that. So, when people are like, oh, let’s take a picture.

I’m like, oh, I can take the picture for you. And they’re like, no, we want to take the picture with you. So that was pretty fun.

Matt Bowles: That’s so nice. I’m a big fan of your show. I listen to the podcast. We’re going to link it up in the show notes so other folks can check it out as well.

So, let’s talk a little bit about Portugal though in general. You’re moving there. You could have picked any place in the world. What stood out to you so much about Portugal? What are some of the things that you like about Portugal and about Lisbon in particular?

Chrishan Wright: So, my dream of dreams since I was a little girl growing up in Co-op city in the Bronx, shout out to Co-op city was to live in New Zealand.

I used to journal about it. That was my life plan was to be a corporate lawyer. By the time I was 26, I was going to be living in New Zealand. So how this little girl in the Bronx had decided on New Zealand as her life plan, I do not know. And so, in 2017, I was able to travel there for the first time solo, but that was the plan that in 2023, when my daughter graduates’ high school, which we’re in 2023, the plan was for me to move there.

Obviously, the pandemic happened a lot happened between 2020 and 2023. And I think what stood out the most was the realization that I am too old for a work visa and too young for retirement visa. So that kind of shook me in 2020. And so, I had to start thinking about where else do I want to go. And my daughter also shared with me that because she’s going to college, and this is of course a big life transition, she wasn’t completely comfortable with her mama being all the way on the other side of the world.

So, I said, okay, you know what I can pick a different country and through the show and having these great conversations with different guests, I created my new list. And so, the first one was Costa Rica. I did that trip in October of 2021. And then Portugal was second on my list, which was last April. And I honestly didn’t think that I would find a country that lit up my heart space the same way that New Zealand has for my entire existence.

And Portugal did just that. It was really a pleasant surprise because. Obviously, there’s a language challenge that I would not have had with New Zealand. So, I’m learning Portuguese. I’ve been taking lessons for the past year, but that presented a new challenge that I hadn’t thought of, but there were so many things that went right.

The people are so kind and welcoming. Then there were the bonuses, its proximity to the continent of Africa. It’s a short six-and-a-half-hour flight back to the East coast of the States. And also, the ability to travel throughout Europe. That was an opportunity for me to really explore different countries.

Some that I’ve visited before, some that I haven’t. And I love meeting people. I love the cultural exchange, the slower pace of life. For example, I sat in a park the other day on my way to the mall and I was like, oh, I’ll just sit for like five minutes. And then I sat for an hour, and I just listened to the birds chirping and enjoyed people watching. And I just never get to do that here. And so, for those reasons and more, the food, et cetera, was why Portugal is now my home.

Matt Bowles: That’s incredible. I feel like Lisbon is this vortex where a lot of these nomads that I know, they travel through Portugal and then all of a sudden, they just stay.

Chrishan Wright: Yes.

Matt Bowles: So now I go to Lisbon, and I know all of these people because at one point they might have been nomadic and now they’re based in Lisbon because they just fell in love with the city and it’s really special. Then when you go there, you can see why. So that’s awesome. Well, I want to go back a little bit.

You went through a little bit of your backstory. I want to go in a little bit more detail and let’s start off just with giving some love to your borough. You came up in the boogie down Bronx during the golden era of hip-hop. As you know, I was a hip hop DJ in the nineties for any listeners around the world that don’t know the Bronx was the birthplace of hip-hop. This is where it all began. And where it evolved.

So, can you take us back there and just share any memories, experiences? What was it like coming up in the Bronx during that era?

Chrishan Wright: It’s one of those things that when something transformational is happening, you almost don’t understand the magnitude of it when you’re in it.

And so, there was this energy in Co-op city, you know, it’s this huge development that has schools, malls, garages, a hospital, the whole bit. So, it was very self-contained. I didn’t necessarily need to leave Co-op city, and I didn’t for quite some time.

And so, with hip hop going on, be at the handball courts behind the building and my dad would be playing or my brothers would be hanging out and people would have these rap battles, and they’d have these rap battles in school and writing down lyrics and funny enough in Co-op city and again, because we had so much contained that, you know, I didn’t really have to go outside to the rest of the Bronx. There were different artists that would come to Co-op city. We had the malls and the whole bit. So, if you might remember when Queen Latifah first came out, she had two dancers, Kika and Allison, and Allison lived on the floor below me and Kika lived on the opposite side.

So, in our building it was divided in half. And so, I used to see them all the time and I never saw a queen Latifah, but I would see Kika and Allison. So, they were in the ladies first video and all of those in her first album or so. So that was cool. And she was friends with my brothers cause they’re a little bit older than me.

But I remember seeing special ed. I remember across from my building, I lived in section one, building six, and we had this huge shopping center. So, it had grocery stores, Cappy’s. I don’t even know if it’s still there, but it had this huge auditorium. And I remember they had this event. And you got to meet all of these hip-hop stars.

So, I had gotten LL Cool J’s autograph on this record. BDP was there, all these different artists. I pray that my mother has this somewhere, but it was without entourage, right? It was when you could just, oh, you know, go into this auditorium and take pictures. It wasn’t like all this pomp and circumstance and all of that. Obviously other things have changed and evolved in hip hop since then, but back to the early days, and those are really fond memories of the energy, the collaboration, the openness of people. It was just really cool.

Matt Bowles: One of the things that I try to do when I travel around the world is play very close attention to the way that hip-hop culture has been adopted and manifests in all of these different cultures around the world.

And so, in some cases, it’s the gravitation and adoption towards American hip-hop and just appreciation for that. And then there’s other types of hip-hop cultural production that has a local cultural twist or version to it in terms of how people in different places around the world are spitting their own rhymes and producing their own hip hop from those different places.

And it all goes back to the Bronx. I can remember I was in Medellín, Colombia, and I was in this barrio called Comuna 13. And I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this place, but if you ever go to Colombia, you should definitely go there because. What happened is a whole history of this community, but basically in the early 2000s, the government committed a whole series of really egregious war crimes in this community.

And there’s a whole bunch of serious destruction that went on, but the community ended up rebuilding itself and they rebuilt themselves on the pillars of hip-hop culture. So, they have a hip-hop community center at the base of this community. They have street art all over this community. There’s literally a mural of Rakim in the center of this community. And then the people that are there have been able to do street art, representing all different things that are important to them. A lot of them came from other parts of Columbia and as displaced people throughout the war and everything and have gravitated towards there.

And so, they’re able to do street art that reminds them of their hometowns and things like that. And it’s amazing because. Before I went there, I watched this TEDx talk by one of the Colombian rappers who is from that community. Shout out to Jayco. And then I show up there for the tour, and he is literally giving the tour.

Kind of like, to your point, where these people are accessible. They’re actually members of the community. They’re actually interacting with Regular people. And one of the things that he had talked about in his TEDx talk was that they were very aware of and very inspired by the history of hip-hop music as an African American and a Latino art form also in terms of the Latinos in the Bronx and places that contributed to that.

And that they resonated with that as a marginalized and oppressed group who were struggling against unjust abuses of power and things like that. And that they were using hip hop as a medium to communicate their political struggle in addition to the artistic elements of it. And so, he gave this whole incredible TEDx talk about how colonized people and marginalized people around the world have adopted this art form and are using it as these medium of expression.

And so, the fact that he showed up there and actually gave our tour, my mind is blown. So, I’m walking right next to this dude the whole time, but I’m communicating with him and I’m saying, have you ever been outside of Columbia? Have you ever had a chance to travel outside of Columbia? And he goes, once he goes, I had a chance to go to Canada.

And when I was in Canada, I had the opportunity to see KRS-One in concert. And when KRS-One came out on the stage, I started crying. He’s uh, I didn’t even expect it, but I literally just broke into tears because of how influential he was in my life and everything else that we were going through and how much I related to his work and how much he inspired me.

And so, we’re going down, we’re having the, who are your top five hip hop emcees? I’m asking him every question, who he influences, all this kind of stuff. And then I said to him, if you could go anywhere in the world, let’s just say cost wasn’t an option. You could just fly somewhere and spend time, and it could be anywhere in the world, where would you go?

And he did not even flinch. He didn’t even think about it for a second. He just looks at me, he goes, the South Bronx? I mean, it was just the birthplace, where it all began. And so, it’s just amazing for me to travel around the world, and whether I’m in Colombia, or whether I’m in, Seoul, Korea, which is like the hip-hop capital of Asia.

And I’m meeting with Korean rappers, who are your influences? And these Korean rappers are like, oh, mob deep. And it’s just amazing what it’s done all over the world. But everybody is aware of where it came from. They know New York city. They know the Bronx and they know that because of hip-hop.

Chrishan Wright: Yeah, it’s such a powerful medium. And when I look back on it, these young people that were expressing themselves and we see now its influence worldwide, but growing up, it wasn’t always so pretty. You had politicians that were getting on their platforms and then there was the political part of it with the police and just a lot of the struggles that those artists faced in those early days that paved the way to the evolution of the medium we enjoy now.

But I think back to all of that, one thing that I love is how the medium has evolved and expanded in its influence on a global level. But what I don’t want anyone to miss to gloss over and lose sight of is it was definitely a struggle.

That’s why there was Yo! MTV raps. And I remember the time when MTV wouldn’t play Black artists. And when you think about the history of black music, that was an art form that was often suppressed by politicians in the government because they didn’t want any bad ideas planted in those brains of oppressed people of the global majority.

And so now that we’re in this evolution and I kind of liken it to what’s going on now with Blaxit and how I see that as the next great migration. There are some parallels there and it’s an interesting time.

Matt Bowles: A hundred percent. And I think the other thing from my perspective that I credit hip-hop with is my political education.

As a white kid, growing up in a super majority white suburb, a lot of my political consciousness was raised through rappers like KRS-One, rappers like Chuck D of Public Enemy. With Yo! MTV Raps, to your point, I can remember sitting in front of the television and waiting for the premiere of new Public Enemy videos, which were already being billed as controversial.

I watched the video for Can’t Truss It. When it dropped, I watched the video by the time I get to Arizona, when it came out. I mean, this was some of the most controversial, politically confrontational types of songs and types of artists. And then I can remember it was middle school, right? Before I went to high school, I got hold of the Fear Of A Black Planet album, and I just listened through the whole album.

And I was like, why have people not told me the stuff that these guys are talking about? Like, why is this my first time hearing about this? And then I start asking questions, but I credit very much hip-hop music with having that reach to tell those stories and teach that history and give that access to people like me that were not getting it through the educational system or through the social circles that I was in.

And so, you’re just kind of coming up and all of a sudden, this music is amazing, but also, it’s really substantive and now all of a sudden, it’s a learning mechanism. So, for me, people are like, oh, how did your politics develop and this and that? And I was like, well, a lot of different ways, but I go back.

I credit Chuck from Public Enemy with my initial consciousness raising. I think it’s been incredibly influential and important on so many levels, but I do want to ask you to expand a little bit on what you were just talking about with the Blaxit Movement and your vision for where it’s going. And maybe just start for people that have never even heard that word or heard that term, can you talk about what it means and then maybe expand a little bit on your gravitation towards that. At what point in your life did you start to see that as one, a viable possible path for you, and two, the right choice for you?

Chrishan Wright: So, I can’t take credit for coining the term Blaxit. It’s actually Dr. Ulysses Burley III coined that, and it was really an opportunity to kind of highlight this, Black exodus mostly because of Black Americans and our long history of struggle and oppression in the United States, but then also, I guess, as it relates to Blaxit Global and why I created it and named it Blaxit Global was for me, as I sat there and thought about my own evolution and own journey, I didn’t want to be myopic and think that only Black Americans want to leave their birthplace.

And so, I wanted to have the opportunity where people from different aspects in parts of the diaspora can come onto the platform, come onto the podcast and share. So, whether you’re from Canada, the UK, wherever, or the continent of Africa, everybody has an origin story. And so, there are people for a variety of reasons, not all of it has to deal with various forms of oppression or racism, that they decide that they want to live a life abroad.

They want to seek different opportunities for various reasons. And so, I know, like I said, for me, as a child, I didn’t have that context. I didn’t have that social context. I just knew I had a longing and then life happened, and it was a longing that kind of faded in the background and then the recesses that I didn’t talk about much, but that longing never went away.

And then fast forward to 2017, when I went to New Zealand, and I remember the day before I left, and I was in this Balinese hut that I had rented as an Airbnb on Waiheke Island, and I cried. I’m not a crier, but I cried my eyes out. For two reasons, one was the realization that I did it. I did it. I didn’t have a partner who got me there.

I didn’t have work subsidizing it. I did it. I booked the ticket. I did it. And then it was also not wanting to come back to the US and realizing that I wanted to continue to chase that feeling. And then I made the decision in 2023, when my daughter goes to college, the last one to leave the nest that this was going to be the year and then 2020 happened.

The pandemic hit and that three-year horizon started to feel like 30. And so, between lockdown and I had just come back to the US, I went in February of 2020, I scouted New Zealand again, because I was looking at, okay, this first time I went to various parts of the North Island, I went a little further South to the North Island and stayed in Wellington, just getting a feel.

And COVID was happening, but it hadn’t really where it was, but when lockdown happened, and everything was a full stop. And then, add to that, for lack of a better word, ‘racial reckoning’, the death and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, I started feeling that my world was closing in.

I’m an introvert. I stay and have a close, tight circle, mostly family, but it was very anxiety provoking for me. I didn’t feel safe in my neighborhood. I just had a heightened sense of anxiety. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating. And then it goes into this kind of sadistic media porn on repeating images of Black people being murdered.

And there’s obviously a historical context to that. And just feeling like, gosh, I want to get out, but I can’t yet. So as the breadwinner of my family, I realized that I couldn’t really allow myself to succumb to those feelings. I had to figure out how to break myself out of this deep depression that I was facing.

And so, as it was a friend of mine, Kim, long story short, we had competed in this statewide entrepreneurship contest a few years prior, I had the idea for a podcast. It was about women entrepreneurs didn’t really go anywhere. I think I did one or three episodes that I didn’t even publish. And since then, she had created a podcast, but she won the contest.

So, she was a second place for a candle company, and we stayed in touch. And so, she was like, oh, Crishan, you know, why don’t you start a podcast? I’m teaching podcasting now. And I was like, Kim girl, that shit done sailed, right? Like I’m on to other things. And we’re having this conversation in the context of everything that, the world being on fire.

And I went to bed that night and I was like, thinking about it, ruminating as introverts tend to do. And I’m like, what I talk about? And it’s like, what do I spend the most time doing? Saving money for my Blaxit and my plans, right? To move abroad. So, I just was like, you know what, the world’s on fire. Who knows if we’re going to live for another day? Why not?

I didn’t get in my head thinking about the fact that I did not know any Black expats and that lockdown was happening. I didn’t have the opportunity to be in the same space as these people, are they going to trust me? I didn’t worry about all of the what ifs. I just leaned into that, and I reached out and contacted, I think I had three guests I reached out to that didn’t know me from Boo, total strangers, and they said yes.

So, from the time Kim and I had that conversation to the time the show went live was about three weeks. And now we’re approaching three years later, numerous guests. Amazing stories, including the current Mrs. Universe, Juanita Ingram, who lives in Singapore. I’ve had such amazing guests who have been vulnerable, authentic, honest, and so inspiring for me.

And now that I have had the opportunity to travel a little bit more that the world has opened back up, I see the impact that it’s had on others.

Matt Bowles: What have been some of the top takeaways or learnings that you have gotten from interviewing all of these people and getting all of their insights and perspectives on things?

Chrishan Wright: That we are as unique as our own fingerprint and DNA, and so everybody has different reasons. And then there’s also some commonality that there is, regardless of where you are in either the socioeconomic spectrum or education, work experience, careers, that there is a commonality that. Many of us share in the stories.

So, either getting all these degrees and trying to climb and reach the American dream or having quote unquote achieved it, but still feeling like an outsider, still feeling like you’re riding the struggle bus. Then there’s the opportunity. So, you take you wherever you are, but going from one place to another, and then being able to birth ideas and opportunities that you either never thought were possible or you thought were possible, but not in the environment that you were in.

So, that’s been really interesting for me as the host to kind of unpack that wellness is a huge part of that. And so, I think it’s common for many people living in America, irrespective of race and even socioeconomic, that there’s a current of anxiety that’s ever present and that you get to a point where you kind of normalize it to continue to exist.

But when you’re able to get into a different environment and then you’re able to see when I got to Lisbon a week ago and I got off the plane, I had to consciously tell myself, to put my shoulders down because there’s this armor that I keep this heightened level of awareness that isn’t necessarily necessary in other places.

And so, from my guests, it’s been interesting for me to see their evolution on a wellness level, mental health, for many financial and the realization of freedom and safety. So, for many of my guests, it’s the self-actualization piece that’s been the biggest reward.

Matt Bowles: Let’s talk a little bit about the podcasting journey. You mentioned the very start of it and the launch of it, and you didn’t have a whole network of guests lined up and you didn’t have the experience and you just kind of launched it and started it, but you have taken it to amazing places. You’ve been featured in the New York times and the Washington post and Condé Nast and all of these things. Can you talk about your journey building the brand and building the podcast to that level?

Chrishan Wright: So, I’ve had an interesting career path, it’s definitely not linear and for people who know me know why I am a person that if I am interested in something and curious and passionate about it, I’ll pursue it. I’m a curious learner and constantly on the growth path.

So, my background actually was in politics, and I studied politics in college, and I spent 10 years working in government. I spent a few years working in television for CNN affiliate and then the past decade or, so I’ve been in digital marketing. And garnered some awards throughout that journey.

And I worked on Advil and some other brands, but mostly Advil for four years on the digital side. And I know how to build brands, and I know how to do communications. I mean, that’s what I started doing when I was in the legislature. So, as I look at my journey now, there’s nothing wasted. And a guest had said that on my podcast, not too long ago this season.

And when I think about all the things that happen now, I have the opportunity to pull that out of the bag. And so, while I didn’t have the multimillion-dollar budget that I had for Advil or some of the other brands that I worked on, the strategy originated with me. And so that was the approach that for Blaxit Global.

So that was everything from the website, SEO, I did the logo and used a picture of me from Santorini. My son is a musician, and he did the music for the show. And so, I’m like, okay, you know what, I’ll just lean into the part that I do know. And show myself grace on the parts that I don’t know. So, I think that’s been the part that has been the most interesting.

When I listened to some of the earlier episodes, I don’t even cringe. I just kind of here like, oh, you know what, I’m stronger now. I asked better questions, but. Like I said, it goes back to just being a life learner. There’s so much on this journey that I don’t know, and I love being able to lean into the uncomfortable.

Matt Bowles: So, for folks that are either already podcasting or looking to potentially start a podcast, what are some of the specific tips or tactics or techniques that have worked for you? For example, from the PR, side in getting the attention of the New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler and the Washington Post and things like that.

How did you go about the public brand awareness building and what types of lessons from that might other people be able to replicate or techniques might they be able to use?

Chrishan Wright: That’s a good question, but the honest answer is every place that I’ve been featured, and it’s been thankfully top tier placement. I have not pitched myself once. They’ve all been inbound. So sometimes I have Google alerts on everything and, you know, my name, Blaxit Global and sometimes it’ll just be happenstance that I see like, oh, I’m in this, you know, oh, Ebonie, Blaxit Global and Ebony. Or like in the New York Times, they reached out for a quote.

And so that’s how I knew that that was in the works. PBS, all of them. And so, I asked, I’m like, wow, how’d you find Blaxit Global? So, they say, oh, you know, I was searching. Again, it goes back to my digital marketing. I’m a solid, strong digital marketer. And so, I knew the core aspects to focus on. So, the SEO, getting the website up, you know, leaning into the social media promotion of it, and I don’t do any paid media, it’s all organic.

But also, I think for me, not all of my guests, I would say the majority of my guests don’t have mainstream brand recognition. Some of them happen to be influencers in their particular genre skill set, but not all many are everyday people with a story. So, I think for me, it’s been doing the legwork up front, meeting my guests, setting up time, kind of doing my research behind the scenes, extending an invitation, always having all the legal part of it buttoned up. And then just letting it go and letting it flow. And then on the promotion side, I record my podcast in seasons. So, I commit to 10 episodes a season. It releases every two weeks, which allows me to have the full two weeks to give that episode air.

And so, I have time to promote it. My guests have time to promote it. I also do my email list, which is strong. And so, this way, you know, I have like a lot of room between episodes and then, you know, I shut it down for the season. Sometimes I’ll go a little over. I always do a bonus episode sometime between the finale and the new season. But, you know, every year they come back.

Matt Bowles: What have you found to be the biggest, most effective leverage points in growing your podcast audience and increasing your listenership.

Chrishan Wright: Community. 100 percent community. I could not have even imagined the level of impact that the show had, but it’s because I didn’t want to just have a show. I wanted to have a safe space for people on this journey, regardless of whether you are an aspiring expat, an expat or you have repatriated. I wanted to have a safe space. And for members of the African diaspora, I won’t even say Black Americans. That’s a scarcity in some respects. And so particularly online.

And that was also one of the reasons why I made a conscious decision in December of 2021 to move our group, which was almost at 10, 000 at that point to a platform off of Facebook, because as it was 10, 000 people and one of me, but also just knowing that social media is in a safe space. I was tired of the emails I was getting on the backend with monitoring conversations and suppressing content, and it wasn’t allowing me to show up in the right way.

And so, I made the decision, and I don’t regret it because as a digital marketer, I knew it has a power, social media, but there’s also another side of that coin. And so now in our Passport community, I’m able to do workshops and webinars, and we do expat taxes and finances and fire and all of these things to help people on their journey.

And when I was in Lisbon, I got to meet in person, one of my members who had recently moved from North Carolina to Lisbon. They’ve been there two months, and I got to see their flat and walk around and spend some wonderful time together. And I’m like, look, I’m getting people out the door. I mean, there’s eight or nine of us this year alone that are moving to Portugal, not including the rest that are, they’re moving different parts, but I have a set of sisters that are moving. I have a couple and their neighbor who’s joined. It’s just remarkable to see how it goes, but it would not have grown had it not been for the community and the word of mouth.

Matt Bowles: So, I also want to ask you about the entrepreneurial side of this and how you are monetizing this, building a business out of it. Can you take us behind the scenes and share a little bit about that and maybe just go back a few years to when you were starting this whole podcast and then what you’ve done to deliver value in a way that can be monetized and actually create a sustainable business for yourself.

Chrishan Wright: Again, just like leaning on my digital marketing background. That’s what worked with me with Advil, even though it was a big brand, and it had a lot of brand equity. What I brought to the table that was different than my predecessors was the ability to lean into testing and learning. Right? And so, there’s a whole lot that I don’t know.

So, I knew that in this journey, I wanted to embrace being location independent. At that time, when I was concepting 2023, and this was maybe 2017, to give you some context, I was still working my corporate job. This whole influencer digital nomad thing was what other people did. It wasn’t necessarily what I saw, but it was just for myself.

But you know what, maybe I’ll do that once I’m abroad. Then when 2020 happened and I created Blaxit Global, I did want to just learn. So, what did I need to know about my audience? Where were they on the journey step? Are there more people who are aspiring? And even with that, what are the segments? Are there people who are just curious?

People who want to kick the tires, maybe go little stints. Are there people who are, I don’t care where I’m going to go. I’ll go sight unseen. And are the people that are maybe more intentional and planful, I probably fall into the latter. So that was where I kind of went into it. And I was, slow grow. I said, okay, I’m not going to put that level of stress. I’m not trying to replace a certain income.

I just want to learn and give myself permission to not focus on how I was making money allowed me to see, okay, what is going to make money? So, people donate to the show. That’s still a very small portion. Now my host is Buzzsprout. And so, one of the things that I was looking for as a marketer was being on a platform that allowed for dynamic creativity, because I said, okay, future pacing, I will want sponsorships.

So how do I start to think about that without having it embedded in the episode for perpetuity? And then a little over a year ago, I felt like I could layer on another level and that was YouTube. So now my YouTube channel is monetized. Obviously, now that we’ve moved off of Facebook onto Mighty Networks, that’s a paid platform.

And then I’ve launched courses. I have a course that’s going out right now, the Blaxit Global Move Abroad course. And I’ve also had my podcast marketing course. We’ve done different webinars, mostly free, some are paid depending on the subject, and then collaborations with different content creators.

There have been some amazing collaborations that I’ve had, and I look forward to seeing also what’s on the other side now that I’m actually taking the leap myself.

Matt Bowles: So, when you think about the future of Blaxit Global as a brand, as a community, as a podcast, all of these things, when you think about five years from now, what is your vision for where you are taking all of this?

Chrishan Wright: Definitely, we’re going to be doing some trips. So, there’s some relocation trips. So, the continent of Africa, I would say Ghana more specifically, is in the near term. So that is one that will be late this year. Giving myself a little bit of room to get acclimated in Portugal, there’s definitely going to be some retreats.

So, more wellness focused, intentional things, and then there’s going to be some fun stuff. Like I mentioned, there’s a group of us that are moving this year. I have some plans for us to celebrate our journeys, but also what is always ever present. Not only is the community, but the cultural exchange. So how do I bridge where we are with the local environment? That is huge for me.

As I mentioned, I’m taking Portuguese lessons. I leaned on that when I was there in Portugal recently. And so, I want to make it where we’re not just inhabiting a place and taking. I want to make sure that there is a mutual give. So that’s the things that I see late this year to maybe the next three years, five years, can’t predict that far, but all I do know is I’m in this phase of expansion.

Matt Bowles: Well, I think Ghana is an amazing choice. It’s one of my favorite countries. I went for the first time in 2019, and I went in the month of June, and I just posted up in Accra for the month of June, which is the very non tourist season. The high season is in December.

Chrishan Wright: Yes.

Matt Bowles: And when I was there in June, there were no tourists. You got to come back in December.

Chrishan Wright: I hear it’s lit.

Matt Bowles: You got to see Detty December in Accra. But I will tell you though, even if you go in June, much fewer tourists, all this kind of stuff, which is cool because I also want to see how Ghanaians do their thing. Like I’m not trying to just go and be immersed in a whole tourist crowd per se when I travel as a general principle.

And so, I get there in June and Chrishan literally on Sundays on Labadi Beach in Accra, just a regular Sunday, not a festival, not a holiday, just a regular Sunday. They have a beach party that got 5,000 people, they have DJs lining the beach, mostly local folks. I mean, maybe other folks that drop into it, but it was a very local vibe.

And I was like, this is unbelievable. If they’re doing this in June, what must December be like? And so, I went back just this past December for the week around New Year’s Eve, when they have all of the Afrobeat festivals, and everybody comes there. Burna Boy and everybody performs there as well as all of the Ghanaian artists.

Stonebwoy and Black Sherif and all of those folks are obviously there as well, but all the Nigerian Afrobeat artists and people from London and everybody just comes over and it’s just like a week of round the clock. You have got to just make a strategic choice about when you’re going to sleep because you could easily go the whole week without any sleep. It was amazing.

And it was also very interesting because I would say at most of these events, festivals and New Year’s Eve parties and stuff, which were incredible. It was probably from what I could tell about 50 percent Ghanaian local folks and about 50 percent folks from the African diaspora, but from all over. And what was very cool about it is that the DJs, I can remember the New Year’s Eve party I went to, and it was probably about that demographic, tThe DJs were aware of where folks were from.

So, they would play a hip-hop song from Atlanta and shout out Atlanta, and the people from Atlanta would do their thing, and then they will play a hip-hop song from New York, and they would shout out New York, and then they would play a hip-hop song from New Orleans and shout out New Orleans, and then they started shouting out black sororities and fraternities.

They were very aware of exactly who was in that crowd, but then, it wasn’t just Americans. They would play a Nigerian song and shout out Lagos. They would play a South African song and shout out South Africa. And so, it was this very glow of the UK, all of these folks from London. So, they were very aware of that.

And so, it was a really, really cool vibe and the way that they did it and facilitated it was very, very cool. So, it was a very special experience, very unique, different from going in the off season. But both of them I thought were incredible experiences and I’ve been telling everybody about it since. So, I think that is a very, very good choice for your trip.

Chrishan Wright: Oh yeah, that sounds like it’s up my alley.

Matt Bowles: Chrishan, when you think back about all the travel that you have now done and the impact that it’s had on you, what does travel mean to you today?

Chrishan Wright: Travel is a gift. And for me, it’s a gift that was a long time coming. So, I relish the opportunity to slow down, to be present, which is something that I struggle with when I’m in the States, the opportunity to learn from other people.

For me, travel has allowed me to learn aspects of my personality that I didn’t know were even there. I’m introvert. A lot of people have a hard time believing that. And as I’ve been traveling as of late, I’m also questioning it because there are things that I do where I want to be around people. And so, is my introversion because of the environment I’ve been in, or is there like a little daredevil in there that I’m starting to realize?

So, for example, I don’t know how to swim, and when I was in New Zealand, I went kayaking. I’m afraid of heights. I went ziplining. And so, there’s just been this level of, oh, you know what? I’m just going to go for it. And that’s been interesting. And also, to do things that I’ve wanted to do in the States, but I haven’t either because of cost or a variety of other reasons, not been able to enjoy.

So, I did a Balinese cooking class in July when I was in Bali. And so, for me, I think it’s been an opportunity to realize that travel is more accessible than I thought possible. And that there are more things that we have in common as people inhabiting the planet earth than there are things that separate us.

And the things that do separate us in terms of the differences, either being cultural language, skin color, that there’s so much beauty in allowing yourself to be in a position of respectful curious learners, but curious, nonetheless.

Matt Bowles: Are you thinking about your move to Portugal as being a long-term thing, a medium-term thing, a short-term thing? Like when you think out like 30 years from now, are you envisioning yourself still with the base in Portugal? Or are you thinking about that more as a shorter- or medium-term living experience?

Chrishan Wright: Matt, if you met me a few years ago, I would have told you that whole plan, because I’m a future person. And now, today, in this phase of my journey, in this new chapter, I am not future pacing.

So, the answer is at least for, I could see five to seven years being in Portugal, realistically. And what happens beyond there, I’m not sure. I might be in Bali. There’s a big part of me that resonated with Indonesia, but then there’s also that longing to be in New Zealand and my love of the Mauri people and the Kiwis, and I have not journeyed to the South Island yet.

So, definitely a reason to go back. And then the continent of Africa, there’s so many countries that I want to visit. And my intent was to go to the continent in 2020. And so, I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m going to eke it out this year, because it has been on my list for quite some time. So, I want to stay fluid in that regard. But I also know that I’m taking a little pandemic pup that we acquired along on this journey that wasn’t in my original vision. So, it’ll be wherever she and I can go together and leaning into with the future holds but not future pacing.

Matt Bowles: I love that. I think that’s a really great idea. And I think Lisbon is a great base. You have access to so much to your point. And by the way, it’s not just Morocco. You can fly from Lisbon. Like I just took a flight a month ago. I was in Luanda Angola, as you know, because you and I were messaging from there. And they just have direct flights from Luanda to Lisbon and they’re pretty inexpensive.

So, there’s six Lusophone countries in Africa where Portuguese is one of the official languages. And so, a lot of those countries have direct flights to Lisbon. And I’m sure you’ve noticed when you’ve been in Lisbon that there are pretty substantial immigrant communities there from a lot of the Portuguese speaking places like Angola.

So, you walk around Lisbon, you’re going to meet a lot of Angolans. And it was fun because I had met Angolans in Lisbon before I ever went to Angola. And so, hanging out with them and give me the top Angolan music. I want to make a Spotify list and learn it about Angolan culture through the diaspora in Lisbon.

And then I went to Angola for a month and then I went back to Lisbon and then I’m meeting Angolans there. It’s like, oh, I just came from Luanda. They’re like, what? Then you have a whole thing to have that discussion with. So, it’s really great. I think Portugal and Lisbon in particular is such an interesting place because you have all of these different immigrant communities.

Also, there’s a Senegalese community there, which is interesting because that’s a French speaking country, not a Portuguese speaking country, but there’s a whole bunch of Senegalese folks like selling Senegalese artistic crafts and this different kind of stuff. And I’ve spent probably three months in Dakar in Senegal.

It’s one of my favorite cities. And so, you’re just able to talk to these folks. Oh, you’re from Senegal, you’re from Dakar. And all of a sudden you just are able to connect with folks and then go deeper with them and learn more about their culture and you’re actually interested in their hometown, and you’ve been there, and it just opens up all of these doors for discussion.

So, I think it’s a really great base. I think it can take you to a lot of places and then to your point, as you start going to these places, you’d be like, maybe I’ll move here for a while and have this as my base for the next few years. And you have all of these options in your location independence.

So, I am super excited for you, I know you will be back. based in Lisbon the next time I come through, whenever that will be. So, I’m sure at that point we will be able to have some Portuguese wine in person, which will be amazing.

Chrishan Wright: Yes. Vinho.

Matt Bowles: All right, Chrishan, at this point, are you ready to move in to the lightning round?

Chrishan Wright: All right, bring it on.

Matt Bowles: Let’s do it.

Alright, what is one book that has influenced you over the years you’d most recommend people should read?

Chrishan Wright: There’s actually two, one is Emotional Intelligence, and then the other one is Your Redefining Moments.

Matt Bowles: All right, Chrishan, if you could have dinner with any one person that you’ve never met, just you and that person for an evening of dinner and conversation, who would you choose?

Chrishan Wright: Tina Turner. I love her. I actually saw her final concert twice in the same week, once in New Jersey and once in Madison Square Garden, but there’s a lot of parallels and she’s someone I admire and also because of her Blaxit story, so that would be an honor to hold space with her.

Matt Bowles: Alright, Chrishan, knowing everything that you know now, if you were able to go back in time and give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would you say to 18-year-old Krishan?

Chrishan Wright: Oh, man. Girl, trust yourself and your intuition.

Matt Bowles: Alright, of all of the places in the world that you have now traveled, what are your top three that you would most recommend other people should definitely check out at some point?

Chrishan Wright: Oh, yeah, New Zealand, of course, Portugal, of course, and Bali, Indonesia.

Matt Bowles: All right, what are your top three bucket list destinations, places you have not yet been, highest on your list you’d most love to see?

Chrishan Wright: Italy, because our moderator, Victoria, she helped me out for the first two years and she’s in Italy and I’ve had several guests that are in Italy and they were very disappointed when I chose Portugal because that was the third country on the list that I was like, okay, and I got to Portugal and I was like, oh, no need to go to Italy. So definitely Italy.

I want to go to Ghana, of course. And Santa Bar has been on my list. It’s been in the background, but I would say those are the three that I want to do with the highest priority.

Matt Bowles: Those are really good choices. I try to go through Italy pretty close to every year as well. If I can, when I do that kind of European route, cause it’s just such an incredible place and it’s super different depending on what part of Italy you go to. There is a lot of cultural differences in different parts of Italy. So, it’s a very cool place to spend a lot of time in different places and all that. And I think Zanzibar is a good pick too. I was there in 2018. I was back in Tanzania last year, but I did not return to Zanzibar.

I was mostly in Arusha, Tanzania this time. And I hiked Mount Kilimanjaro and went on a safari in the Serengeti and did that portion of Tanzania. Whereas the last time I went, I was actually based in Nairobi, Kenya for a month in 2018. Actually, you know, Libya Jones because you’ve heard my podcast interview with her.

Shout out to Libya. I was there at work travel program that Libya had organized.

Chrishan Wright: Wow.

Matt Bowles: Yeah. So, it was really dope. So, I was doing her program. And one of the women that was on our trip was a hip hop DJ from Harlem, shout out to Fab Roc. And she was there with me for a month in Kenya. It was amazing. The group was just incredible, and she was able to get DJ gigs around East Africa.

And so, she got on this one club in Dar es Salaam, which is the capital of Tanzania. She got this DJ gig there at the top hip-hop club in Dar and they had had international DJs there before, including DJs from New York, but she was the first female DJ ever to headline at that club. And so, she was like, do you guys want to roll with me?

Like, as my entourage were like, um, yes, please. And so, a whole squad of us went from Nairobi over to Dar Es Salaam. And then we all rolled in with her that night and it was unbelievable. I mean, it was an incredible experience. You go into this club, it was called Maison for anybody that knows Dar es Salaam, and you go in and, in the foyer, you walk in and there’s a hallway that goes down to like the main door.

And that’s where like the line forms when you go into this foyer, the entire wall, there’s just a massive mural of Biggie with the crown and the crown is lit up with like actual lighting.

Chrishan Wright: Oh wow.

Matt Bowles: And then the whole rest of the wall just says, it was all a dream. Wow. And that’s the entire foyer. That’s the entire wall.

And I’m just like, where am I? Like, this is crazy. And it was wild. I mean, she didn’t come on as the headline. She didn’t even come on and do her set until like 3am or something. So, we’re there till 5:30. We’re barking out the sun is coming up, but we did that. And then we all went out to Zanzibar and hung out there for probably about a week or so.

Chrishan Wright: Oh my God.

Matt Bowles: So yeah, Zanzibar was pretty amazing. I mean, it’s culturally, historically, obviously has a beautiful beach as people see pictures of that, but the culture and the rich history of Zanzibar is really important and remarkable and was really incredible to sort of see and immerse. And so, I think those are super good picks.

So, all right, Chrishan, we have now come to the most important question of this interview. I’m about to ask you for your top five hip-hop MCs of all time. But before I do that, when you think back, you started talking about growing up in the Bronx and all that. What impact has hip hop had on your life overall. And what does hip-hop music mean to you?

Chrishan Wright: Early hip-hop is really where I have a lot of heart for. So just the social consciousness of the music, which we talked a little bit about earlier, and then just fond memories of walking around with my friends, going to the handball courts, just a simpler life. And like I said, when I think about the cultural shifts, and when you look at black music and you talked about, you know, the impact that hip-hop had on you, when I think about people like Billie Holiday, for example, or Eartha Kitt and just people that were blazing their own trails and also had the weight of the eye, if you will, of the government to try to suppress because they understood the power of the message within the music.

I think that when I think about early hip hop and those trailblazers, that’s where I see the ever-present thread of the social consciousness that emerges out of black music. So, I think that as I look at my journey where I can see the parallel, but the hip-hop emcees, oof.

Matt Bowles: Yeah, let’s do it, Chrishan. Now, have you ever done this publicly before? Like, do people know Chrishan Wright’s top five? Okay, so this is breaking here, folks. This is a Maverick Show exclusive.

All right, Chrishan, who are your top five?

Chrishan Wright: All right, A Tribe Called Quest, Heavy D, BDP, Queen Latifah, and the Lost Boyz.

Matt Bowles: Yes! I love that. That makes me so happy. That list makes me so happy, Chrishan. I love that. I’m so glad we did this question. You have made my entire day with that list. And I think that is just, we’re going to just drop the mic and we’re going to leave it there, but I want you to let folks know a little bit about, first of all, what you offer with Blaxit Global.

Talk a little bit about the courses that are available, talk a little bit about how people can join the communities, who it’s for, what it’s all about, and then just how people can listen to the podcast, follow you on social media, or however else you want people to come into your world.

Chrishan Wright: Sure. So, the courses I have a podcast marketing course, which is me pouring all of my marketing goodness into a course for aspiring podcasters or current podcasters who want to learn how to elevate their platform. I have the Blaxit Global Move Abroad course, and that is open to everyone who wants to move abroad and wants the blueprint on how to do it thoughtfully.

I will say that as a Black female, I’m writing it with that audience in mind. So, it goes into a lot of historical contexts. So, it’s not just a, hey, this is how you move abroad. It’s kind of like a, how we got here in addition to the things that we need to know as black travelers, but again, open to everyone.

And the Blaxit Global podcast is available on all major podcasts, platforms, social media, easy at Blaxit Global. So, you’ll find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and yeah, you can join Blaxit Global Passport if you are a Black traveler or not, but you are of the diaspora and you are curious about moving abroad or you are already abroad or you are abroad and thinking about coming back to the states or wherever your country of origin is Blaxit Global Passport is right for you.

So, we have a thriving community. We have workshops, accountability sessions. We have a new group that’s launching for our Portugal 2023 group. Since there’s so many, I want to make sure that we’re not taking all the thunder away from people who want to go to other places. We have a men’s group. And so that is not run by me.

That is currently run by Michael Ruth, who is a guest on the Blaxit Global Podcast. And it’s important for me as a mom of two, I have a son and a daughter that I wanted to make sure that it is inclusive. And so, I have men on the podcast. And I know that as Black men, their walk is different than mine. And so, I wanted to have a safe space for them to talk about their unique journey.

Matt Bowles: We are going to link all of that up in the show notes. So, we can just go to one place at themaverickshow.com. Go to the show notes for this episode and there you will find direct links to everything we have discussed on this episode and all the ways way you can connect with Chrishan and come into her world and check out all of the inspiring stuff that she is up to.

Chrishan, this was amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Chrishan Wright: Thank you, Matt. This was fun. I enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing you in these international streets very soon.

Matt Bowles: Very, very soon. All right. Good night, everybody.