Welcome to Flyover Feasts, a series from Move to Oklahoma where host Luke Leifeste interviews some of Oklahoma’s most interesting Oklahomans while eating some of Oklahoma’s best cuisine.
In this episode, Luke joins Venita Cooper, professional sneakerhead, small business owner, and tech startup founder. The two chat about opportunity and culture in Oklahoma at Noche Woodfired Grill & Agave Bar, a Mexico City-inspired spot in Tulsa, Oklahoma featured on the New York Times’ 2024 Best New Restaurants list.
Luke
Venita, we were talking about opportunities in Oklahoma. Tell me a little bit about that. How has that impacted your experience here?
Venita
Obviously, it’s allowed me to start two businesses and fund two businesses.
Luke
Right – you not only founded Silhouette Sneakers & Art in the Greenwood district, but you also now are the founder and CEO of Arbit.
Venita
Yeah, Arbit is also in the sneaker industry. We’re a data and analytics company. We provide pricing information to help users make more informed choices in the sneaker market.
We were able to raise $1 million dollars to launch, which, to be a black female founder in any part of the United States and be able to raise that type of capital is very rare. And I think a big part of that is, there’s money here [in Oklahoma].
There’s history, especially as a black founder building things on Black Wall Street. And then there’s connectivity in the city with the proximity. Everyone here is two or three degrees away from a ton of sources of money.
Luke
I don’t know this for sure, but I feel like in larger markets, there’s a competitive nature to being in this game. What I’ve noticed in Tulsa and Oklahoma is that people who you might normally be in competition with are actually there to help you. They want to help you out.
Venita
Tulsa for sure attracts a certain personality, and then the city itself has a personality that I think is more communal. There’s some of that personality that kind of like makes the city conducive to that type of behavior of working together.
I also think there’s a dearth of competition here, right? So if I’m trying to build something in Dallas, for example — which is super spread out and is not known for having a super cohesive entrepreneurial ecosystem — there’s gonna be a ton of folks coming from all directions who are trying to build something. The lack of cohesion within the ecosystem combined with all the competition makes it feel less supportive in some ways.
Luke
So let’s talk about culture in Oklahoma. How do you describe the culture in Oklahoma to someone who’s not from here?
Venita
There’s this book, called Boom Town. It talks about the origins of the state [of Oklahoma] and how it was a lot of people who were cast aside from other places and decided to build anew. I think that there’s still a lot of that in the personality of the state. It makes it very eccentric.
Luke
Yeah, I think you’re right. I think it makes it a place where if you’re intentional, you can find community. I like the word you said, eccentric. Speak more on that, what are some of the eccentricities of Oklahoma?
Venita
It’s a place that people come to for a lot of different reasons. We talked about entrepreneurs who come here to build, and on the flip side, there are people who feel really down and out come here and have the opportunity to bloom into something totally different.
Luke
What do you think people from the outside would be surprised to learn about Oklahoma?
Venita
I mean, I think a lot of it is just the opportunity. There are opportunities to really connect culturally, opportunities to build things here.
The food scene as well. I feel like we’re kind of like an up-and-coming food scene. Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, which is Southwest. Shout out to Lawton. They’ve got a great Korean food scene down there. It’s a place that has a lot of hidden gems.
And then, you know, people like you, who are from here and come back here. You bring the richness of your experiences to the state.
Luke
Yeah, that’s interesting. I feel like Oklahoma does pull people back for some reason, whether it’s the community or the culture, and people really wanna go have their experiences elsewhere, but also come back and whether it is to build a family here, to settle down, to start a business, to pursue that dream they’ve always wanted to accomplish. Like you said, I think that results in a lot of really cool developments that are very unexpected, but they have this heart attached to them, because It’s people who really care about this place that are behind them. I think that sets it apart.
Venita
You mentioned two C’s of reasons that people come here: community and culture. An important third C, the cost of living. Where I live, downtown in Tulsa, if I tried to live like that in Chicago, I’d probably be paying three times as much.
Luke
And you can pursue the things you want to pursue that you might not be able to do in that larger market. I know you said you live downtown. What is the quality of life living in downtown Tulsa?
Venita
It’s been a dream living downtown. Before I sold my business, Silhouette, I was literally living on top of my business. I had an apartment on top. Since I was very young, that had been a dream of mine – to own a business and live on top of that business.
This morning, I woke up, walked to the bank, and then came here to Noche. So I love it. I feel like I have, you know, everything that I need.
Luke
I know you’re a big outdoor person. That’s a very underrated aspect of living in Oklahoma, is proximity to nature.
Ventia
Yeah, Oklahoma is such a vast state. Every corner of the state is very different geographically. You can be up in the Northeast. and you’ve got proximity to the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas. Or you can travel to Southwest Oklahoma where it feels a little bit more like a desert.
Luke
Yeah, what’s your favorite outdoor destination in Oklahoma?
Venita
The Wichita Mountains. Elk Mountain down in Southwest Oklahoma. It’s just really so stunning, the wildlife. You could run into bison, which I have.
Luke
Do you feel like you get to appreciate the cultural offerings?
Venita
I’m a big sports person. We’ve got collegiate sports, for sure. Of course, like the Thunder. I feel like soccer is getting really big in the state.
Luke
Oklahoma, being in the center of the country, we can kind of get on everybody’s tour stop. At our arenas here, we get everyone from Bad Bunny to Zach Bryan. We get all these big tours, but then you can be home in five minutes after.
Venita
Totally. And that’s really underrated. I need to be home in five minutes, like right after.
Luke
So it seems like there are a lot of people who are moving here, who are building things. How do you see the personality of the state evolve?
Venita
I think a place is only enriched by having different experiences, different perspectives, different values, so I’m excited. I’m excited for what the next 5 or 10 years are gonna look like. We’re definitely gonna have a couple of NBA championships under our belt.
Luke
Let’s manifest that.
Venita
Exactly.
Luke
Thanks for joining me for a meal at Noche. It was great chatting.
Venita
Thank you for having me, Luke. I really enjoyed this.
Luke
Let’s do it again sometime.
Venita
Please, like tomorrow.
