(ep 7) What did you learn from the women in your life? With poet and writer Jen Karetnick

(ep 6) What do you do to push yourself through? With Overtown hotelier and historian Kristin Kitchen

What do you do to push yourself through? How do you deal with adversity? Is it possible to succeed during a pandemic? How does a hotelier run a hotel during a time of trouble? How do you use creativity to solve difficult problems? These are all things that hotelier Kristin Kitchen handles naturally because her mother handled difficult situations with imagination and creativity. It’s her grandmother’s voice in her head that inspires her and pushes her through to continue to be her best. It’s the poems that she learned as a child that continue to guide her with their wisdom. It’s the international volunteer trips that she has taken that has allowed her to refocus. 

This is an interview with the remarkable Kristin Kitchen. She is an African American woman, the owner of the Sojourn Heritage bed and breakfast collection, historian and mom of her rambunctious seven-year-old daughter. She owns 6 Acres B & B in Cincinnati, OH and has recently opened The Dunns Josephine Hotel in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami, FL. While her hotels celebrate African American Heritage the majority of her guests are not African American. We had a great conversation about the stories shared at her boutique hotels, how her grandmother and mother influenced her tenacity, and how international travels have impacted her. As we are living in the Coronavirus pandemic we also discussed how she has been able stay positive by having creative solutions. 

This episode is the first of a series of episodes that is sponsored by the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA and will highlight the creative women business owners in their community. So you’ll also learn about how Kristin chose the Overtown location and including her favorite spots in Overtown. You can see them in detail below.

Kristin Kitchen has been a hotelier for 15 years opening up the first of her Sojourn Heritage Hotels 6 Acres B & B in Cincinnati, OH and more recently the The Dunns Josephine Hotel in the Overtown area of Miami, FL. Both hotels celebrate African American history and are a treat to stay at especially for  is a wonderful place to stay at especially for history and jazz buffs. 

Throughout Kristin’s she has noticed that African American history hasn’t been told properly or enough in the United States or in other countries around the world. This is one of the things that has inspired her to open hotels based on African American heritage. At the hotels guests are invited to participate in “Let’s share life over breakfast”. In these discussions the guests learn about African American history and share their own stories. Kristin's favorite discussion was when white family visited the hotel as a part of their annual celebration of their mother in conjunction with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Their mother had walked over the Pettus Bridge with Dr King, and did this defying  her husband who didn’t want her to go by borrowing money from her black maid. 

CLICK HERE to Read more and to get the list of Kristin's favorites... 

Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA
instagram.com/miamicra

Collective Drift
instagram.com/collectivedrift

Dunns Josephine Hotel
instagram.com/dunnsjosephinehotel/

Music by Catherine Knowles