Entrepreneurs Exposed

Matthew Hassett founded Loftie after realizing the smartphone had replaced the alarm clock and followed us into the bedroom. He set out to unbundle the phone with thoughtfully designed hardware, and Loftie has since put more than 200,000 clocks and lamps in homes worldwide and expanded into a full sleep wellness ecosystem. In this conversation, originally recorded for Shopify Masters, Matthew shar...

Andrew Blackmon co-founded The Black Tux after a frustrating tux rental before his own wedding, and has since grown it into a nine-figure menswear company serving around 2 million customers. In this conversation, originally recorded for Shopify Masters, Andrew pulls back the curtain on the hidden complexity behind the brand, from in-house dry cleaning and tailoring to custom reservation technology...

Bryan Gelman built Albert Gelman Inc. from a basement into a leading insolvency and restructuring firm, and in 25 years he's sat across the table from thousands of business owners at their lowest point. In this episode, he shares the messy, behind-the-scenes reality of building a company, what the current real estate downturn means for owners and lenders, and the patterns he's seen in why business...

From aerospace engineering to helping build Rhode, Versed, and Merit Beauty, Melanie Bender has spent her career inside some of the biggest names in modern beauty. Now she's the Founder and CEO of Lore, a fragrance brand built on a philosophy that flips the usual playbook — define your beliefs first, build the brand world second, and let the product come last. In this episode, Melanie shares how t...

Ronan Levy has spent his challenging entire industries. After beginning his career as a corporate lawyer, he went on to build companies across medical cannabis, psychedelic therapy, consumer health, and now functional beverages—often entering markets years before they became mainstream. Along the way he's helped build and exit multiple companies, taken a psychedelic medicine company public on the...

Gail Kasper left college with two thousand dollars, no job, and no car — and started answering phones sixteen hours a day. Today, she trains Fortune 100 companies. Gail is also a two-time TEDx speaker, TV host, Author, and creator of Cockatoo Selling, a real-time sales system — and SAD-T, a framework for staying in logic under pressure. Today we're getting into how sales has changed, whether somet...

Today is my conversation with Zechariah Thomas, founder and CEO of Swift Hockey. A former competitive hockey player, Zechariah saw firsthand how expensive the sport had become for families. So at just 19 years old, he set out to challenge some of the biggest brands in hockey by building high-performance equipment at a more accessible price point. Since then, Swift Hockey has sold tens of thousands...

Saud Juman's journey spans three very different chapters. In his early 20s, he built a business in the nightclub world: one that, on the surface, looked like success, but came with real risk, misalignment, and consequences he didn’t anticipate. At 25, he made a defining decision to walk away, moving back into his mother’s basement searching for a different path. That path became PolicyMedical—a he...

Today is my conversation with Kevin Gould, co-founder of Glamnetic, previously recorded for Shopify Masters. We cover the real story behind Glamnetic’s growth—from scaling to $50 million, hitting a plateau, and what actually broke inside the business during that phase. Kevin walks through the pivot from lashes to press-on nails, why it worked, and how they rebuilt the company to cross $100 million...

Brad Bradford is the City Councillor for Ward 19, Beaches–East York, and a mayoral candidate in 2026. In this episode, Brad unpacks what’s really happening in Toronto today. From a worsening housing crisis to some of the worst congestion in North America, declining transit safety, and rising concerns around crime and community well-being.  Brad shares his perspective on what’s broken at City Hall,...

Julianne Costigan is the Founder & CEO of Costigan — a styling and personal branding company built on one powerful idea: style isn’t about clothes, it’s a leadership strategy. Over the past 15 years, Julianne has styled more than 300 women across industries like law, medicine, tech, finance, and media. Her work reframes personal style as a tool for confidence, visibility, and influence — helping w...

Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, bootstrapped the brand past $100M. Moreover, Ridge has redefined the everyday-carry category. The company has scaled globally without VC dollars, built LTV around products that last a lifetime, and made content the backbone of its growth engine. In this conversation, Sean breaks down the real playbook behind Ridge’s rise — from international expansion and localized fulfil...

Dr. Hany Demian is the CEO of Praesentia Health and the BioSpine Institute — and one of the leading voices redefining modern spine care, regenerative medicine, and pain treatment. Dr. Demian went from frontline emergency medicine to building integrated clinics that combine biologics, minimally invasive procedures, and AI-powered care pathways. His work sits at the intersection of clinical innovati...

Peter Dering is the Founder & CEO of Peak Design. Peak Design is one of the most successful crowdfunded brands ever, with $60M raised on Kickstarter and revenue now surpassing $100M. Peter has built a design-first, sustainability-led company that continues to push boundaries in product, brand, and climate impact. We get into Peak Design’s unconventional crowdfunding strategy, its approach to susta...

Dr. Julie Chung, Co-Founder of T3 helped create the premium hair-tools category, transforming $30 drugstore hair dryers into design-driven beauty essentials. T3 became the first electric tool ever sold at Sephora and remains one of its longest-standing brands — all without outside funding. We get into category creation, product development, competition, and how Julie built a multi-million-dollar b...

Today I’m joined by Jayson Gaignard, founder of Mastermind Talks (MMT), the ultra-curated entrepreneurial community known for depth, trust, and world-class experiences. Jayson’s path is anything but typical — from dropping out of high school, to building a seven-figure business, to walking away and rebuilding a life rooted in connection, creativity, and intention. Now living on a 57-acre farm, he’...

Matt Doan is a former management consultant turned freedom coach and the founder of Uncaged Life Design.  After 15 years climbing the corporate ladder, Matt realized that “success on paper” wasn’t success in life. In this episode, we dive deep into burnout, identity, and what it means to design life in seasons. Matt shares how he helps high-achievers transition from corporate to entrepreneurship,...

Cliff Nonnenmacher is the Founder & CEO of Franocity, host of Pursuit of Profit — the #1 podcast in franchising — and author of the upcoming book Beyond the Brand: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Fearless Franchising. In this episode, we dive into the world of franchising — what industries and brands are thriving right now, how to fund and evaluate opportunities, and why fear can be both a barrier and...

Laura Thompson is the Co-Founder of Three Ships Beauty, a clean skincare brand that’s gone from flea markets to $8.5M+ in annual revenue and nationwide retail. In this episode, we get into her startup journey, how she built traction on a shoestring budget, rebranding, stepping back from Target, smart capital allocation, hiring lessons, and how she’s scaling with intention. Enjoy! Learn more about...

Today’s episode features a wide-ranging conversation with Devin Haman. We dig into his entrepreneurial rise — from Sunset Tan and reality TV fame to co-founding a nationwide wellness empire. We explore brand building, celebrity influence, scaling with intention, and the lifestyle routines that keep him performing at a high level. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

We’re kicking off this season of Entrepreneurs Exposed, with a continuing conversation with the Co-Founder of BOLD Commerce, Jay Myers (round 1 see EP #181).  In this one, we explore so many corners of eCommerce, VC investing, podcasting, subscription commerce, loyalty, membership, and more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I’m sharing my recent interview on the Shopify 1 Percent podcast with Jay Myers. We explored so many corners of eCommerce, subscription commerce, loyalty/ membership, referral and pricing strategy, and what so many brands are still missing as it relates to building real retention and LTV. **Of note, since recording this back in April, the FTC click-to-cancel ruling that we discuss, has been...

Today, I’m sharing my recent keynote talk from Sub Summit 2025 in Dallas. I shared the stage along side Dean Brauer (GoHenry/Acorns), Liz Riemersma (Dish Network), and Bolong Li (Audible). We discussed how companies, and their leaders can maintain their edge amidst tariffs, inflation, AI, and general market volatility. This conversation delivered a ton of insight, and was incredibly timely. Enjoy!...

Ahmad Munawar is the founder of Boutique Growth. Ahmad has helped independent consultants double their deal flow, command premium fees, and build scalable business models that go far beyond hourly billing. In this episode, we confront the hard truth that consulting is more competitive than ever. We talk about the importance of rock-solid positioning, unpacking the “power positioning” framework. We...

Today, I’m chatting with John Kraski, a LinkedIn top voice with over 100,000 followers and counting. John is known for driving $10M in funding and partnership revenue through his expertise in business development, web3, and content creation. In this one, we go deeper into the art of LinkedIn, including John’s tactics for profile optimization, content creation and beyond; we also talk about the art...