Judy Wicks: Activist, Author and Entrepreneur

We have an amazing guest on: Judy Wicks! I have been wanted to get Judy on for a while and I am so excited to have her! For those of you who don't know Judy Wicks is an author, activist and entrepreneur. Judy founded Philadelphia’s iconic White Dog Cafe in 1983. She was also a pioneer in the farm to table movement and a model in sustainable business practices. She has gone on to found Fair Food Philly, the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia and, nationwide, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. With her All Together Now Pennsylvania she is connecting Pennsylvania’s rural agricultural community with the urban communities to build a sustainable and resilient regional economy. Judy's principles of sustainable business practice started when she spent a year working and living in an Eskimo village and seeing how the indigenous population shared and supported each other. After that she and her former husband started the first Free People store, which was the beginning of what we now know as Urban Outfitters. She then started in the restaurant business and went on to open the famous White Dog Cafe. What I love about this interview is Judy really gives us a history of important parts of Philadelphia's culture. She went on to publish her autobiography: Good Morning Beautiful Business all about her entrepreneurial journey and how to build a new compassionate economy that works with the planet. Judy is still deeply involved in the community and fighting social injustice, she recently when to DC to march and get arrested in Jane Fonda’s fire drill Friday's and has been supporting and protesting with Black Lives Matter movement. It was great to talk to her and hear about how she figured out all of these things.