Emerging Brands Podcast

In this solo episode, I'm sharing eight emerging brands that are redefining their categories. We are seeing a massive shift toward "functional nostalgia" taking the comfort foods we grew up with and upgrading them with high protein, fiber, and clean labels. From whipped cottage cheese dips to flash-frozen aromatics, these founders are solving real-world problems with flavor and radical transparenc...

Nicole Krasnow Smith has spent her career discovering and scaling the next big things in CPG. With a background that spans sales, marketing, and retail scouting, she now works directly with founders to prepare them for the high-stakes world of retail launch. Through her consultancy, Many Thanks, Nicole leverages her deep experience as a former buyer to help brands move past the "new brand" stage a...

Alak Nanda is an immigrant, first-gen, and queer founder on a mission to bring the authentic taste of South Indian home cooking to American kitchens. Through Podi Life, Alak offers thoughtfully crafted pantry staples that act as easy-to-adapt flavor solutions for the modern home cook. Every product is designed to bridge the gap between traditional heritage and contemporary convenience, ensuring th...

Bernadette Gerrity is the granddaughter of Café Aroma's founder, Rogelio "Roy" Montes De Oca, and is currently steering the brand into its most vibrant chapter yet. With a professional background spanning marketing, fashion, and psychology, plus a Level 2 Sommelier certification, Bernadette brings a unique, lifestyle-driven lens to the coffee industry. While staying deeply rooted in the humble, en...

Lex Evan is the creative force behind Lexington Bakes, an eco-conscious luxury bakeshop that is redefining what it means to indulge. With a 20-year career leading brand strategy and design for global giants like Johnson & Johnson, Aveeno, and Clean & Clear, Lex has applied his sharp eye for detail and 15 years of self-taught pastry expertise to build a brand rooted in Radical Ingredient Transparen...

Djenaba Johnson-Jones launched Hudson Kitchen to bridge a critical gap she discovered after her own corporate layoff: the need for professional kitchen space paired with real business mentorship. What began as a community-driven platform in 2015 has evolved into an 8,000-square-foot flagship incubator in North Jersey. Hudson Kitchen provides serious founders with 24/7 production access and a colla...

Hannah Habes founded Matchaful after discovering the transformative power of matcha during a personal health journey. Frustrated by a lack of transparency in the industry—where leaves were often blended from unknown sources—Hannah set out to do things differently. After tasting over 100 varietals, she established a direct partnership with a fourth-generation tea farm in Shizuoka, Japan. This farm...

Jess Davidoff co-founded Cob alongside tennis legend Novak Djokovic to fix a personal pain point: the lack of safe, nutrient-dense snacks for her son following a severe corn allergy diagnosis. After an exhaustive search for the perfect alternative, she discovered sorghum, a climate-smart "supergrain" that pops just like corn but without the hard kernels or digestive baggage. Supported by Djokovic'...

Sarah Delevan is a Financial Consultant and founder of The Good Food CFO, bringing over 15 years of experience in building sustainable food systems. Her mission is to help purpose-driven food businesses—from farmers to CPG producers—achieve profitability by design through a values-driven financial approach that prioritizes long-term resilience over "growth at all costs." Having worked in nearly ev...

Merry Nebiyu is the driving force behind the rapidly expanding ecosystem at Glimpse, where she has built a network of over 750 consumer founders, operators, investors, and partners. In just six months, Merry has successfully scaled the Glimpse community into seven different cities, proving that a localized, high-touch approach is key to modern networking. She is a firm believer that community-led...

Moa Gürbüzer transitioned from a career as a family therapist to launch Oddbird, which is now Europe's leading non-alcoholic wine brand. Oddbird is on a mission to change society's relationship with alcohol through premium, dealcoholized wines. Driven by a desire to create a more inclusive and mindful drinking culture, Moa founded the brand to offer traditionally crafted wines that are made alcoho...

Meena and Tabi founded Tursh to honor their Afghan heritage and their mother's cherished recipes. This entrepreneurial journey is driven by a desire to share the rich, tangy flavors and the joy of bringing people together through food. The co-founders bring a powerful combination of skills to the brand: Meena is a Physician Assistant by day, applying her discipline and operational expertise to Tur...

Grace Bryan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Juicy Brick, a London-based creative innovation agency dedicated to building high-impact food and beverage brands. After spending over a decade navigating the challenges of CPG startups and global corporations, she recognized a critical gap. Grace and her team created Juicy Brick to fill this need, offering a full-service model that starts with trend-led wh...

Oh So Easy! is breaking new ground as the first globally inspired baking mix brand in the U.S. Founded by Ava Lichauco and Bianca Fernandez, the brand partners with professional bakers to co-create mixes that celebrate immigrant and third-culture voices through dessert. From Ube Blondies to Miso Caramel Brownies to Spiced Yellow Cake, each mix is designed to deliver scratch-level quality with joyf...

Naomi Honig brings a rare depth of experience to the consulting world, having spent her early career in food and hospitality, both as a chef and in operations, centered on the pillar of nourishing people. She spent almost a decade helping to operate and scale the Boulder-based, mission-focused restaurant group, The Kitchen, while simultaneously co-founding her own successful CPG company, Birch Ben...

Ashley Waldma, CEO and founder of Jubilee's, is leveraging her deep professional background, which includes management consulting and five years as a Product Manager at YouTube, to solve a widespread problem for modern families. Founded in 2024, Jubilee's is a "super milk," designed as an easy nutrition solution specifically for picky eaters, driven by Ashley's personal experience with her two you...

Co-founded by Gabriella Labi and Tonya Reznikovich, Gato is a better-for-you treat brand reinventing indulgence with clean, nut-butter-stuffed, chocolate-covered Medjool dates.  Gabriella, a wellness entrepreneur, began crafting these elevated, real-ingredient treats from her kitchen, pairing high-quality chocolate with creamy nut butter and dates. When Tonya joined as co-founder, they turned this...

Huwa is more than just olive oil; it is a direct connection to heritage, storytelling, and craftsmanship, rooted deeply in Palestine. Co-founder Bilal, raised between Little Palestine in Chicago and summers in Aqraba, Palestine, is building on his family's legacy that spans hundreds of years of olive oil production. Today, they continue to harvest olives just as their ancestors did, preserving gen...

Cotto reimagines classic dips with high-protein whipped cottage cheese and clean, simple ingredients to create lighter, fresher versions of nostalgic flavors. Founded by Kendall Kransdorf, Cotto was inspired by her personal journey to recreate classic foods with wholesome ingredients. Kendall brings deep CPG experience, from strategy work at Boston Consulting Group to hands-on product development,...

After a decade spent turning big ideas into bigger brands through design, engineering, and C-level strategy, Jane Miller grew tired of tech culture's broken rules and stifling politics. She realized innovation was being drowned out by ego, not collaboration. So, she walked away from the chaos to build the creative environment she wished existed. JanesHaus Creative Agency is the result: a studio wh...

As the mother-daughter duo behind Dancing, Lauren Russell and her mother sought a way to connect deeply with the rich Sonoma landscape. Their project soon blossomed into a vision far greater: a sensory collection celebrating life through taste, touch, and aroma. Born from a bond between two generations—one rooted in New York, the other in California—Dancing creates limited-release wines and fragra...

Motivated to cultivate a more equitable and supportive environment for creatives, Marisa Sanchez-Dunning, a Chicana woman, founded If Only Creative in the Bay Area in 2022. If Only Creative is a full-service creative studio that helps brands build and execute everything from brand design and strategy to social media management and trend-setting commercial photography. Central to Marisa's vision ar...

Brian Folmer is deeply passionate about helping founders secure the capital they need to build their dream companies. Recognizing the challenge consumer brands face in connecting with early-stage investors, Brian founded FirstLook and FirstLook Ventures to bridge that gap. FirstLook is a private, early-stage investor community that offers a unique, tangible experience: members receive a monthly bo...

Tired of the uncomfortable, not-quite-clean feeling from dry toilet paper, friends Charlie Siciak and Sam Nebel set out to revolutionize the bathroom routine. They noticed a gap in the market for a genuinely effective, sensitive-skin-friendly, and truly flushable wipe—and thus, goodwipes was born in 2013. goodwipes is an innovative personal care brand dedicated to an elevated, confident clean. Spe...

Alyssa Arnold is a seasoned operator and strategic advisor with over 14 years of experience spanning M&A, operations, and scaling high-growth businesses, including founding Wildwood Growth Partners and ATex Energy. Now, as a partner at The Angel Group, Alyssa is focused on fueling the next generation of CPG companies. The Angel Group is a private investor community dedicated to investing in breako...