Claima, the Bimma Williams-hosted podcast turned creative content agency, has made two key executive appointments.
Purvi Patel, who previously held Claima’s VP of marketing and partnerships role, is now president. Also, creative strategist Amiri Rose is now Claima’s first-ever creative director.
“Purvi has been an incredible asset and driver for Claima’s success in just one year. We’ve been blown away by what she has been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. She is eminently qualified to take on this new role and lend her experience and expertise in helping advance our mission to empower creatives and entrepreneurs of color,” Williams said in a statement. “I am excited to take Claima to its next level of success alongside Purvi and, of course, our new creative director, Amiri. He is a true force and will bring his undeniable aptitude and eye for creativity to the table. It is beyond exciting to continue the evolution of Claima alongside these two formidable executives.”
In the president role, Patel, who joined Claima in January 2022 and has had prior stints at Reebok and Sperry, will be tasked with overseeing the organization’s vision, mission and overall direction. As for Rose, whose career includes stops at Nike and independent creative agency Kamp Grizzly (the latter earning an “Outstanding Commercial” Emmy nomination in 2019 for Netflix’s “A Great Day in Hollywood”), he will oversee creative direction and strategy in storytelling through the company’s upcoming brand partnerships.
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“Bimma and I connected more than 10 years ago when we worked in marketing for sister footwear brands in Boston. We were the only Black and brown folks at those brands and immediately forged a friendship as we navigated through those experiences together,” Patel said in a statement. “Since joining the Claima team officially last year, we’ve taken our marquee podcast and turned the business into a full creative content agency focused on telling stories that are rooted in representation and purpose. This focus carries through every aspect of a project we work on from the crews we hire on set all the way to the partners we feature in each campaign. I’m delighted to be able to take on this new role and steer our incredible team to new heights all while continuing our mission to inspire the next generation of creatives and entrepreneurs of color.”
Rose added, “I am thrilled to work alongside such a dynamic team as we work towards our shared mission to place the voices and stories of people of color to the forefront in a way that truly connects and sparks change. It is my hope that through our collective work at Claima we will tell stories centered on changing the functional landscape of corporate America, and how it needs to operate for Black and brown entrepreneurs and creatives of color to be seen, feel welcomed, and work in their language.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the debut of Season 4 of the Claima Stories podcast.
The new season debuted March 14 via Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and other podcast platforms. Also, full video episodes can be viewed exclusively on the YouTube channel of Vista, the podcast’s longtime partner. It launched with MIDA restaurants owner chef Douglass Williams as a guest, and other big names for the season include Eastside Golf co-founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper, Major boutique founder Duk-Ki Yu and others.
New Claima episodes air every Tuesday at 6 a.m. PT.
