Vanessa Torrivilla never envisioned a future in the food world. A UI/UX design pro, she started dating a serious foodie named Joe Ariel who missed some of his favorite local eats from his college days, and soon the idea for Goldbelly started to materialize: “I went from wanting to help my boyfriend with some free design to caring about this from a very deep place,” she says. 

“This” is now a powerhouse food marketplace with almost 1,000 brands represented on its platform, and Vanessa is co-founder + chief product and creative officer. She joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about the company’s start-up days, how they’ve raised more than $133 million in funding from folks including Danny Meyer, and why culinary superstars like Ina Garten, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Mashama Bailey have joined the Goldbelly family.

Vanessa also shares her professional pivots, why she studied engineering in college, how her creative awakening came about, and why her mother’s advice about joy still resonates with her today.

Thank you to OpenTable for supporting today’s episode. 

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Hosted by Kerry DiamondProduced by Catherine Baker and Jenna SadhuEdited by Jenna SadhuEditorial Assistant Londyn Crenshaw

Recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Vanessa: Instagram, GoldbellyMore on Kerry: Instagram