Today we’d like to introduce you to Justine Reichman.
Hi Justine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I stumbled into this, back in 2015 when I was in Mexico City working with families on the city’s outskirts, who were growing organic gardens. Some they’d eat, some they’d sell. It wasn’t grand or strategic; it was just people trying to feed themselves better. That project planted something in me (pun intended) that I couldn’t shake.
Fast forward to managing an accelerator program in Oakland, and I had this lightbulb moment: What if I connected the food entrepreneurs building better for you businesses with the people who actually needed their products? From those kitchen table conversations came NextGenChef, and eventually NextGen Purpose, a media company and global network that’s become home to the Essential Ingredients podcast, over 200 episodes deep with more than a million downloads.
Here’s what drives me: eating right is a human right. Full stop. But here’s what makes it complicated: there’s so much noise out there, so much greenwashing and misinformation masquerading as wellness advice. My job isn’t to tell you what to do; it’s to surround you with the experts, the researchers, the founders, and the changemakers who can help you make the right choices for you. Because sustainability isn’t about perfection. It’s about incorporation.
I talk to doctors about perimenopause brain fog (currently living it, documenting it), farmers about regenerative agriculture, fashion designers about circular systems, and everyone in between. The conversation extends way beyond food to where it intersects with fashion, beauty, health, and lifestyle. These industries don’t exist in silos, and neither should our solutions.
What started as connecting food entrepreneurs has evolved into something bigger: breaking down industry walls and building The Conscious Collective, where one sector’s waste becomes another’s breakthrough. I’m here to make the complex approachable, the overwhelming manageable, and to remind you that small changes compound into massive impact. Let’s nourish people and the planet, one informed choice at a time.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Growing up with entrepreneur parents, I watched them fail. And win. And fail again. They taught me that grit matters more than genius, and that surrounding yourself with experts beats trying to be one yourself. But knowing something intellectually and living it are different animals entirely.
When the pandemic hit and every in-person event I’d built NextGenChef around vanished overnight, I had a choice: shut down or pivot fast. I chose scrappy over scared. I bought podcasting equipment I barely knew how to use, reached out to founders whose stories deserved amplification, and launched Essential Ingredients from my kitchen table. No fancy studio. No production team. Just determination and a belief that people needed science-backed information more than ever.
Here’s what nobody tells you about startups: the loneliness is real. You’re making decisions at midnight, answering emails in your car, negotiating deals while wondering if you can make payroll. But that scrappiness? That’s your superpower. It forces creativity. When you can’t throw money at problems, you find elegant solutions that bigger companies would never consider.
The trick is knowing when to evolve. I learned to ask myself better questions. Not “How do I save money?” but “How do I be resourceful at scale?” Not “What’s the quick fix?” but “What’s the elegant solution that grows with me?”
Starting scrappy isn’t a limitation. It’s your laboratory. It keeps you close to your community, intimate with every aspect of your business, hungry for innovation. But staying scrappy when you need to be strategic? That’s where founders stumble.
The goal isn’t to stop being scrappy. It’s to become strategically scrappy. The resourcefulness that launched your first product can fuel your hundredth, but only if you learn to wield it with intention. Because being scrappy got you here, but being strategically scrappy gets you where you’re going.
Every challenge, every pivot, every midnight crisis—it’s all part of the journey. And honestly? I wouldn’t change a thing.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
People call me a connector. And honestly? That tracks.
I’m the founder of NextGen Purpose and host of Essential Ingredients, a podcast that’s had over 200 episodes and more than a million downloads. But here’s what I actually do: I connect the dots nobody else is connecting.
Most people talk about food sustainability in a vacuum. I talk about how your closet affects your gut health. How the fashion industry’s waste could be the beauty industry’s breakthrough ingredient. How the same regenerative principles healing our soil could inform how we approach perimenopause.
Because here’s what I’ve figured out: the biggest innovations happen at intersections, not in silos.
My specialty is translation. I sit down with a PhD researcher studying microbiomes and a founder creating upcycled beauty products and help them realize they’re solving the same problem from different angles. I take complex, science backed information and make it digestible for someone scrolling through Instagram while drinking their morning coffee. I build bridges between industries that should be talking but aren’t.
What am I most proud of? Building a platform where a waste management innovator can inspire a fashion designer who then collaborates with a regenerative farmer. That’s not hypothetical. That’s what’s happening inside The Conscious Collective, our cross industry alliance where one sector’s waste becomes another’s raw material.
I’m also proud that when misinformation about food, health, and sustainability is everywhere, we’re cutting through the noise with actual experts. Not influencers with agendas. Not brands greenwashing their way to relevance. Real doctors, farmers, researchers, and founders doing the work.
Here’s what sets me apart: I don’t pretend to be the expert. I learned from my mom, who built her business by surrounding herself with people smarter than her in specific areas. I’m not a scientist or a farmer or a fashion designer. But I know how to ask the right questions, connect the right people, and make complex ideas accessible.
I also don’t do perfection. I do incorporation. You’ll never catch me shaming anyone for not being sustainable enough or healthy enough. My job is to give you the information and the options so you can make the right choices for you. Because when someone imposes their value system on you without understanding yours, it just makes you feel like you’re failing.
The truth is, what I’m building isn’t really about me. It’s about the community. It’s about the soil to soul continuum that most people miss. It’s about proving that eating right isn’t a luxury: it’s a human right. And it’s about showing up week after week, conversation after conversation, until we’ve created a movement where collaboration beats competition and shared knowledge beats gatekeeping.
That’s what I do. And I’m just getting started
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Stop Trying to Be Good at Everything
Want to know the biggest lie we tell ourselves? “I can figure this out on my own.”
I watched my mom build her business by surrounding herself with people who knew things she didn’t. Sounds obvious, right? But here’s where most people mess up: they ask for help, nod politely, then do whatever they were going to do anyway.
Asking for help is step one. Actually listening? That’s where the magic happens.
When I started NextGenChef, I was protective of my vision. I thought letting others in would dilute it. Turns out, the opposite is true. The people I brought in didn’t change my vision. They helped me actually achieve it.
Here’s my advice: handpick smart people, then trust them. There’s no point surrounding yourself with experts if you’re going to ignore their expertise. The most successful founders I know aren’t the ones who can do everything. They’re the ones who know what they can’t do and hire accordingly.
Think of networking not as collecting contacts, but as collecting capabilities. You don’t need another coffee chat. You need someone who’s already solved the problem you’re stuck on. You need the person who failed at what you’re attempting so you don’t make the same mistakes. You need the expert who can do in two hours what would take you two months.
Finding a mentor isn’t about landing some famous person who’ll magically transform your business. It’s about finding someone three steps ahead who remembers what it felt like to be where you are now. Someone who’ll tell you the truth, not what you want to hear.
And here’s the thing: entrepreneurship is lonely. Building anything meaningful can feel isolating. But it doesn’t have to be. The fastest way to break through that wall? Share the wealth. Share what you know. Share your struggles. Share your network.
When you connect people, solve problems, and build community, mentors find you. Opportunities show up. Doors open.
So stop trying to be the expert at everything. Be the visionary who knows how to surround yourself with the right people, listen to them, and integrate what works.
That’s how you go from stuck to unstoppable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nextgenpurpose.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextgenpurpose
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justine.reichman
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinereichman
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@essential.ingredients?si=2awgDTDOl1f1WTD1
Image Credits
Laura Reoch
