TrepTalks with Sushant

Emily Kelly, founder of Land and She, a brand specializing in handmade art inspired by nature shares her journey as a self-taught illustrator and block printer, explaining how she transitioned from being an artist to embracing the role of an entrepreneur. Emily discusses the balance between creating art and managing a business, strategies for pricing her work, and the impact of digital tools like...

Troy Parker, founder of Goober Prints, shares his entrepreneurial journey from graphic design to establishing his own custom apparel printing business on Etsy. Troy discusses the initial challenges, like investing in the right printer, learning the intricacies of direct-to-garment (DTG) and direct-to-film (DTF) printing, and balancing a full-time job while growing a side hustle to meet significant...

Hank Watt , founder of Nature’s Wildberry , shares how he discovered a unique berry that changes sour flavors to sweet, offering a natural alternative for weight management and taste enhancement. Hank shares his entrepreneurial journey, from discovering the berry’s benefits in 2013 to launching a freeze-dried version of the product to overcome its perishability and high costs. Hank also dive deep...

Sarah Neal, founder of Instacake Cards, transformed her expertise in food technology and cake decorating into a thriving business that creates greeting cards with ingredients for 60-second celebration cakes. Despite launching just before the pandemic, her innovative idea gained traction as lockdowns drove demand for unique, shippable celebrations. Sarah shares insights on sourcing, manufacturing,...

 Julia Hankinson, founder of Crown Leatherworks, shares her story of starting her business while still in high school, her initial challenges, and her journey of growth using social media and platforms like Etsy and FAIRE. 

Doc Harmony , Founder of Healthy Energy Amazing Life (H.E.A.L) share insights on the demand and market for natural holistic wellness products and how different people find health and wellness with different healing modalities. Doc Harmony also shares her story of how she has grown her business over the last 30 years into B2C and B2B segments and lessons learned including building a team culture th...

Dawn LaFontaine, founder of Cat in the Box, shares her story of starting a Cat Wool Toys and Playhouses products business out of love for cats and also to be more in control of her working life. Dawn shares some of the challenges she faced in creating her products and also the successes in getting traction from the market and a community of cat lovers that buy from her as well as how she is scalin...

Maria Lee Magaña , Founder of Bully Wags , shares the story of how she got inspiration for her dog leash and harness business from a challenge that she encountered while walking her own Bully. Maria shares her journey of developing and bringing the product to market, what has worked in terms of customer acquisition and her plans for being more breed-inclusive and expanding to new markets. 

Jocelyn Sheppard, founder of Appalachian Botanical shares the story of how she is utilizing reclaimed coal mining land in West Virginia to grow Lavender and build a natural personal grooming brand while creating jobs for marginalized people in the local community. Jocelyn shares her lessons in scaling business through B2B channels, importance of branding, and making a difference in her community t...

 Louise Rice, founder of Strapsicle, shares her story of creating a Kindle Strap while on her maternity leave to enable easy reading experience and to prevent the device from accidently falling. Louise shares her lessons in gaining traction early on, success with selling in the US on Amazon, her efforts to scale the business globally, as well as a strong focus on building a brand. 

Adam Baker of SodaPup shares his experiences in applying business principles learned from successful career in the footwear and apparel industry (Nike, Crocs etc.) to the pet industry. Adam shares his lessons in growing the business through strategic partnerships and contracts to pay for expensive moulds for his products as well as getting distribution and brand building. 

Kristy Bickmeyer of Twinkle Toes Nanny Agency, shares how her entrepreneurial mindset enabled her to start a Nanny Agency and disrupt the traditional contracting and payment model. Kristy has been able to scale her business with a franchise model and is utilizing a custom software solution to streamline the booking and payment process.

Young and Josh Kim of Ellison + Young share the story of successfully transitioning from running a 10 store retail fashion and jewellery chain to an online wholesale Fashion and Lifestyle brand after COVID pandemic closures. They share how they have applied the lessons from their retail experience to create a strong supply chain, utilize multiple sales channels, as well as provide strong customer...

Alex Witherow of Car Rental University shares his years of experience with Car Sharing business - tips on starting and growing a profitable car-sharing side-hustle, scaling the business, and valuable insights on avoiding common pitfalls. 

Mel young, founder of Flowerdale valley shares how her desire to be her own boss and spend more time with her kids propelled her to start a natural skincare brand. Mel also shares how she has grown her business organically over time and grown as an entrepreneur by challenging herself every step of the way.

Krish Himmatramka of Do Amore as he explores ethically sourced, high-quality rings crafted from recycled metals and diamonds. Discover the innovative approach of Do Amore, balancing social impact and affordability while discussing the emergence of lab-created diamonds. Krish also shares his personal journey transitioning from engineering to founding Do Amore, emphasizing the significance of cultur...

Nikki Smith, founder of Jewelry Brand Nikki Smith Designs shares her journey of hand crafting jewelry pieces as a side-hustle when she couldn't find modern, affordable jewelry pieces to wear to work. Nikki focused on slow, organic growth and learned about customer preferences by selling at pop-up shops and farmer's market and slowly growing her product collection while focusing on profit...

Wendy Mackenzie of Everlasting Herb Farm shares her journey of learning and falling in love with herbal skincare products and starting a side-hustle which grew organically and allowed her to quit her teaching job. Wendy talks about creating an award winning natural deodorant formula and shares the advice of keeping things simple at the beginning. 

Josh Thurmond , the founder of LavaBox , shares the inspiration behind his innovative portable campfire. Thurmond shares the challenges, triumphs, and the key lessons learned in creating a high-quality outdoor product. His determination led to the unique design of Lava Box. Learn how his personal camping experience and market understanding played a pivotal role and explore the key features that ma...

Chris Vandersluis, founder of HMS Software, shares the evolution of his Business HMS software which he started in 1984. Chris and his team focused on Project Management software and after finding a need for a time sheet system for their customers, built their product TimeControl to meet customer needs. Chris shares his business lessons over the last 40 years including working with partners and inv...

Chris Clearman , founder of Matador , a high-performance travel equipment company shares his background as a product designer working at GoPro and deciding to start his own company. Matador creates innovative, high-quality, and functional products for the adventure traveler market. Chris shares his experiences in gaining early traction through design and tech blogs reach out, as well as having a g...

Scott Unkefer , founder of Just Panela , shares the story of living in Colombia and discovering Panela Sugar in coffee shops and the health benefits compared to refined sugar widely used in the West. Scott shares his journey of bringing the product to the western market, challenges in supply chain, educating the consumer of the benefits, price point, and success on Amazon. 

Ishan Dutta , Founder of Ugly Duckling Color shares how he transitioned from the corporate work at L'Oréal to finding an unmet need and niche in the Hair Color products category which inspired him to start his own business. Ishaan shares details about hair color industry, customer preferences, as well as insights on marketing. 

Ronnie Teja, founder of Branzio Watches shares his entrepreneurial journey of going from a corporate career to building a high-quality but affordable watch brand Branzio. Ronnie shares his lessons in branding and setting your products apart in a highly competitive category. 

Jared Madsen, founder of Madsen Cycles, shares the story of getting inspired by the Danish culture of using cargo bikes as a family transportation vehicle and deciding to bring the idea to the US. Jared shares the initial skepticism he faced from the cycling industry but forged forward anyways to build his business. Jared shares lessons learned in business, building a community, and challenges wit...