Kiano Moju
Kiano Moju (born January 4) is a Kenyan/Nigerian American food writer, recipe developer, culinary producer, director, and video host. Until 2019, she was a creative video producer at BuzzFeed's food video vertical, Tasty, and amassed over 100 million cumulative video views.
After departing BuzzFeed, Moju opened her own kitchen studio in Downtown Los Angeles, called Jikoni Studios. She is also working towards publishing her first cookbook, AfriCali, with Simon & Schuster in 2024.[1] She now teaches an introductory course to Food Media at Syracuse University.
Early life
Moju was born January 4th in Oakland, California.[2][3] She began recreational cooking classes at age 7, but built the foundation of her culinary knowledge during summers spent on her maternal grandparents' traditional Maasai ranch in Kenya.[4]
Moju enrolled at the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Rhetorical Studies. She received a Master of Arts in publishing from the University of the Arts London in the United Kingdom. Her dissertation analyzed the rise of digital food media, while identifying the imbalance of culinary representation in media;[5] this would be Moju's first blueprint for the company that would later become Jikoni.[6]
While studying at University of the Arts London, Moju published a student culinary-lifestyle ebook in 2016, called Livin' For The Weekend, which she co-created with her MA Publishing classmate, Lizzie Scuffell.
Career
During her time in London, Moju created Orange St. — a pop-up taco restaurant in Islington that ran for a few weeks, inspired by the food from her Northern California upbringing.[7]
In 2017, Moju returned to California to work full-time for Tasty — a comfort food video series by BuzzFeed — as a food video producer, recipe developer, and director.[8] There, she produced viral successes like 'Party Rice Around Africa', 'How to Make Moist Carrot Cake', 'Making Rainbow Croissants', and 'Making a 4 Flavor Cheesecake', amassing over 100 million cumulative video views.
In 2019, Kiano departed BuzzFeed and launched Jikoni Studios — a culinary creative studio located in Downtown Los Angeles, for content creators to hire a kitchen studio for photo projects, video projects, and events.[9][10] Jikoni Studios has partnered with Refinery29 and Discovery Channel, and hosted a number of events, such as the “Cooking for the African Diaspora” series,[11] which intended to create a space for people to learn about culture through food.[12]
References
- ↑ "Kiano Moju's 'Afri-Cali' Christmas". Los Angeles Times. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ↑ Nast, Condé (2021-06-03). "How Culinary Creative Kiano Moju Makes It From Morning Dance Breaks to Popcorn Dinners". Bon Appétit. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
- ↑ "Kiano Moju's 'Afri-Cali' Christmas". Los Angeles Times. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ↑ Amobi, Chinyere, MPH. (2020, August 26). "Uniting Generations Through Food". Radiant Health Magazine, (No.15: The Motherhood Issue), 32-37.
- ↑ Bhabha, Leah (2020-06-18). "How Food Media Fails BIPOC". Grub Street. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ↑ "Bite: Why We Need Black-Owned Food Media on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
- ↑ Jones, Georgie (2017-01-24). "5 Mouth-Watering Pop-Ups You Won't Want To Miss In London This Month". Secret London. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
- ↑ Amobi, Chinyere, MPH. (2020, August 26). "Uniting Generations Through Food". Radiant Health Magazine, (No.15: The Motherhood Issue), 32-37.
- ↑ the-feedfeed.simplecast.com https://the-feedfeed.simplecast.com/episodes/02-11-21-kiano-Gz8mECGP. Retrieved 2023-01-30. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2020/12/17/jikoni-owner-kiano-moju-pivots-during-pandemic.html. Retrieved 2023-02-10. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2020/10/15/jikoni-culinary-studio-kiano-moju-coronavirus.html. Retrieved 2023-02-10. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Afros and Knives: Kiano Moju on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
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