23 Questions with Bond Collective is a series highlighting the impressive 1,000+ person community spread across the Bond Collective portfolio. The series will feature members from 60 Broad, 55 Broadway, Gowanus and Flatiron locations and Bond Collective employees as well. 23 questions will explore all different walks of life and show just how unique and vast the Bond Collective network continues to become.
Yuni Sameshima is the Co-founder and CEO of Chicory, and a member at Bond 60 Broad. Originally from Tokyo, Yuni moved to Westchester at 3-years-old. Yuni attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York where he studied Molecular Biology. During Yuni’s senior year, he founded Chicory with fellow Colgate alum, Joey Petracca.
Yuni lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and enjoys science, history, and popcorn. At Chicory, Yuni and his team disrupt the grocery industry with new technologies. Chicory connects online recipe publishers, like Time Inc., with online grocers like Peapod in order to make food content shoppable. You can find Chicory on over 1,000 recipe websites like Food & Wine, MyRecipes, or Sally’s Baking Addiction. At Bond 60 Broad, Yuni enjoys the natural light and plethora of comfortable places to work. Yuni has a charismatic and cerebral personality with bookworm charm. After just a few minutes with Yuni it is evident how Chicory has become such a huge success. We asked Yuni a few questions…
1 – First thing you do in the morning?
List 3 things I’m thankful for while having a big glass of water.
2 – Top 3 songs to listen to when you need to get work done?
1. Beethoven string quartet no 18
2. Social Network soundtrack
3. This one’s not a song, but I like to tune out background noise with earplugs when it’s time to focus.
3 – Favorite coffee shop and go to order?
Variety Coffee in Brooklyn I order just a coffee.
4 – Gmail or Outlook?
Gmail for suuuure.
5 – App you can’t live without?
Google Maps…I had no cell service in Vermont a few weeks ago…. I have no idea how people found their way around before Google Maps.
6 – First job?
Chicory!
7 – Favorite lunch spot?
Sophie’s, which is right down the street from 60 Broad. I love the Oxtail Stew (the special on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays)!
8 – Early or late?
Early.
9 – How do you unwind after a long day of work?
Reading! I am an avid reader, I just finished a Winston Churchill biography last night. A History of the American People by Paul Johnson or John Adams by David McCullough are up next.
10 – What is your lucky charm?
I don’t have one.
11 – What inspires you?
Physics / Life.
12 – Social Media Account everyone should be following?
Chicory, of course!
13 – Best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
“Hard work will not betray you.”
14 – How long did it take you to get to work this morning?
45 minutes!!
15 – When’s the last time you celebrated a win?
Today we had a win, we have an exciting new partner. We have enjoyed some wins in 2017: new clients, new platform partnerships. It’s an exciting time.
16 – If you could squeeze one more activity into your daily life, what would it be?
Going to college part-time. I’m interested in so many topics that I would love to learn about more formally, like a deeper delve into how science and physics have evolved over time.
17 – If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Red.
18 – What is the most interesting thing about you?
I’m named after the (Y)unification day of East and West Berlin! Oh I can also give myself goosebumps on command…
19 – Last show you binge watched?
The Crown.
20 – Biggest Cheerleader?
Dan Tyre…a mentor of ours.
21 – Call or text?
Text.
22 – Favorite book?
Fiction: Slaughterhouse Five // Non-fiction: Whatever biography I’m reading at the time
23 – Name 5 people (dead or alive) you would invite to a dinner party.
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Isaac Newton
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Benjamin Franklin
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Max Planck
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Copernicus
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Albert Einstein
For more on Yuni and Chicory visit: https://chicory.co/
Follow Chicory on Instagram: @chicoryco
Follow Yuni on Instagram: @yunisameshima
Images courtesy of Stanislaw Boniecki. Check out his work here!
Have any questions about what Bond Collective can offer your company?
We’d be more than happy to answer them and to offer you a personalized tour of any of our locations in the Financial District, Flatiron and Brooklyn.