In 2013, two creative minds came together and decided to take a chance on a dream, to create an experience that would connect and celebrate people from all walks of life. Toasted Life is the name they decided to call their dream from “toasting” in regards to celebrating life, no matter what your background is. The foundation of which was deeply rooted in the simple philosophy of bringing people together. We sat down with co-owners Warren Jones and Matt Tuffuor to talk about their journey as budding entrepreneurs, who are looking to bridge the gap and put a positive spin on the Bay Area’s social scene.
What is Toasted Life?
MATT: Toasted Life is a play-off of toasting or celebrating life. We are a lifestyle brand and event production company that fosters community, and provides a platform for social/professional expression, connectivity, and fun in many major cities. We develop experiences and events that bring people together to celebrate themselves and the people around them, sometimes that can be in the form of a party, a private dinner, a young professional development panel or even a networking event.
What was the inspiration behind creating Toasted Life?
WARREN: I think part of it was definitely out of necessity and a feeling of exclusion we were experiencing in the Bay Area social and nightlife scene. Matt and I found ourselves in the Bay area after graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta. We bonded over a shared passion for entrepreneurship and we noticed that there weren’t necessarily a lot of spaces for people of color in general to go. So the idea really formed around wanting to create something that was inclusive and to create more interconnected synergies for people that were in tech and different industries.
What would you say was causing the gap for persons of color to have a space for themselves?
WARREN: Just like a lot of places, the Bay Area has gone through many changes. The tech industry here has brought a lot of jobs and new people to this area which has its positives and negatives of course. Some of this change has displaced many people living in traditional minority-populated neighborhoods. At one time it may have been easy to find people that looked like you but that has gotten harder because these groups are leaving altogether or moving further out. Even the workforces of many of the largest tech companies have struggled to make their companies more than 3-5% Black. Being Black in a place like the Bay could feel isolating to some people.
Discuss the black purchasing power in our society and how does it impact Toasted Life?
MATT: Historically, I think a lot of big corporations have overlooked the Black dollar and our economic influence and are now working backwards to catch up. The problem is, many of these companies are going about it in an inauthentic way. Black consumers can feel this. When you look at nightlife in the United States, it’s obvious that hip-hop and Black culture have a really strong influence but we have all seen clubs not welcome the Black consumer.
As a person of color, we all have stories of showing up at a club with our friends dressed ready to go and all of a sudden the club makes some sort of excuse like, “ooh no the club is at capacity” or the classic dress code excuse, while you see other patrons dressed similarly slip right in after you walk away. Warren and I decided we’re going to take our brand and we’re going to embrace who we are and we’re going to make that the core of our business. So we’ve taken that head on to build safe and inclusive environments where not only people of color can celebrate themselves but everyone else can as well.
How do you see your brand evolving?
MATT: We’re constantly thinking about how we can evolve as a business, especially outside of the party space. Recently we started doing private dinners and even travel excursions. We even just got back from hosting a trip to Ghana a couple weeks ago. Last year we did trips to Tanzania and Ghana, and even a party in Kenya, but our next focus is working on partnerships with different brands and really showing the value of our audience not even just from a consumer perspective but helping these brands retain their Black and Brown employees better or helping them fix their diversity problems by allowing them access to our diverse network.
A lot of people that come to our events are doing some amazing things. They’ve graduated from some of the top schools and are young professionals in a place like Silicon Valley where a lot of companies struggle to hire people of color. We’ve been partnering with a lot of brands to make it a lot easier for them to tap into that demographic and make their workforce more diverse. So we’re hosting a lot of different networking and professional development experiences.
Who are some of the brands you’ve collaborated with?
MATT: We’ve worked with companies such as Under Armour, Buick, Pandora, Google, and Airbnb. We have also produced some pretty memorable experiences with the support of Martell and Avion. Even on the university level we have worked with schools like Stanford and Yale.
How have you seen the impact of the different cultures when it comes to music in North America?
WARREN: Since we celebrate diversity as a brand, we are always experimenting with different diasporic genres of music. I think that’s what helps us draw such a diverse network of people. I come from a Caribbean background and Matt is Ghanaian, so when we started Toasted Life we tapped into our roots and authentically incorporated them into our events. We even push the DJs who we work with that don’t typically play Afrobeats or reggae, to play outside their comfort zone. International music is charting in the US!
Does Toasted Life have any plans on expanding into the Caribbean region?
MATT: It’s funny because it comes up every time we start doing planning for Toasted Life Experience Destinations or TLXD, which is the travel leg of our business. We put out different surveys and people always suggest places like Jamaica and other places in the Caribbean, so without a doubt this is on our radar and we’re trying to figure out what a Caribbean expansion looks like. With this potential expansion, we are most excited about exploring what building a bridge between young people stateside and young people in the Carribean could do from a creative and entrepreneurial lens.
What do you think keeps your consumers coming back to the Toasted Life brand?
MATT: I think it’s our authenticity and knowing that our brands mission comes from a very genuine place. We were looking at the inclusiveness problem from a lens of being a consumer, so we knew how other people felt and what they needed. The problem we were setting out to fix was something we experienced ourselves.
I also think our consumers appreciate our brand because of the caliber of people who are a part of our network, everyone shows up to have fun but best believe they grind in the office and our shakers and movers in their own right.
I also think that our consumers feel our impact. We’ve seen instances where people have moved to the Bay Area without knowing anybody and found their best friend at one of our events. Someone recently reached out to us and event shared that they got engaged to someone that they met years ago at one of our events. Hearing stories like these keep us motivated.
With a journey and a vision so profound Warren Jones and Matt Tuffuor are the type of movers and shakers that we need in the 21st century, a duo that didnt wait to be included in a circle but decided to step up to the plate and provide an exclusive experience to not just people of color but for everyone to enjoy. Their journey is far from over, so let’s Toast to Life.
To learn even more about the Toasted Life Brand visit their website at toastedlife.com Follow them on Instagram: @ToastedLife
