High Stakes Growth

Scott Dancy is the founder and CEO of Azuna, an all-natural odor eliminator built on Australian tea tree oil. Expect to hear about: – The Month the World Changed: How COVID took Azuna from $12K to $105K a month almost overnight. – Betting the Farm on Glass: How a $1M glass jar order became the brand's turning point. – Landing Josh Allen: How the NFL MVP went from a "maybe" to Azuna's official part...

Ari Murray is the Chief Digital Officer at Salt & Stone, the premium personal care brand reinventing the deodorant category. Previously, she was Chief Growth Officer at Sharma Brands, where she led growth across dozens of consumer brands. Expect to hear about: – Law School to Ecom: Why she dropped out of law school, then found her footing at an ecom brand. – Working With Celebrity Brands: What...

Hari Ranganathan is the Chief Digital Officer at KilgourMD, a dermatologist-founded brand tackling hormonal hair loss in women. Previously, he held senior roles at celebrity-backed brands like Haus Labs and The Honest Company. Expect to hear about: – Engineer to Marketer: How a Dartmouth mechanical engineer fell in love with the world of ecommerce and analytics. – Lean and Hybrid: Why 60+ person t...

Jess Hauff is the General Manager of PrettyLitter, a cat litter brand acquired by Mars in 2021 that uses silica crystals that change color to flag early signs of health issues in cats.  Expect to hear about:  – A Decade in Madrid: Why Jess spent 10 years in Spain before returning to the U.S., and the work culture differences she noticed.  – Leading the Merger: How Jess steered PrettyLitter's integ...

Daniel Brady (DB) is the co-founder and co-CEO of Orita, an AI segmentation platform that helps DTC brands target their maximally addressable audience across email, SMS, and direct mail.  Expect to hear about:  – From Neuro to AI: Why DB left a career in neurobiology after graduating Harvard after realizing he enjoyed the faster pace of startup work.  – Consulting to Product: How DB ran Orita as a...

Will Nitze is the founder and CEO of IQBAR, a functional health CPG brand built around protein bars, electrolyte mixes, mushroom coffee, and more. Expect to hear about: – Harvard Connections: Why Will scraped Harvard's red book to send thousands of alumni his first fundraising emails. – Value Over Premium: Why Will optimizes for units sold over revenue, and how value pricing unlocked Walmart, Cost...

Marnie Rabinovitch is the founder and CEO of Thigh Society, a Toronto-based brand making slip shorts that prevent thigh chafing for women. Expect to hear about: – The Baby Powder Moment: How a hot Toronto day in 2008 convinced Marnie to invent her own slip short solution. – Quitting at 40: Why she applied for backup corporate jobs, set a $1M sales goal, and only went all-in with a real safety net....

Shawn LaRowe is the Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Pelican, the 50-year-old brand known for its ultra-durable protective cases. Previously, he spent 17 years at Nike and has also held executive roles at Dakine, KUIU, and Filson.  Expect to hear about:  – 74 Product Launches in 2025: How Pelican is expanding past its protective case core into categories like travel while protecting the valu...

Melissa Mash is the co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover, a New York-based performance bag brand creating functional bags for work, travel, parenting, and everything in between. Expect to hear about: – A 14-Year Partnership: How three co-founders built a lasting business together by putting their egos to the side and showing up as their full selves. – Product Over Paid: Why Melissa bet on making high...

Isaac Mertens is the co-founder and CEO of Flux Footwear, a minimalist shoe brand that focuses on style and performance doing mid-8-figure annual revenue.  Expect to hear about:  – Etsy to Ecom: How Isaac scaled a furniture brand to 7 figures on Etsy, and why not owning demand pushed him to start Flux.  – Financial Discipline: How his accounting background shaped a zero-debt, no-VC business with a...

Hector Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of Unplugged, a company offering tech-free cabin stays that help people disconnect from their phones and reset in nature.  Expect to hear about: – Origin Moment: How a 10-day silent retreat in the Himalayas in 2019 pushed Hector to quit his job and start Unplugged just weeks later. – The Hard Part: Why it took 5 years to truly figure out the unit economics a...

Lomit Patel is the CMO of Try Your Best (TYB), a commnunity rewards platform that helps brands reward its biggest fans and build community. He previously held senior roles at Tynker, IMVU, Texture, TrustedID, and Roku. Expect to hear about: – From Operator to Leader: How your way of work evolves as you transition from growth operator to strategic leader. – Community as Growth Engine: Why he believ...

Ramon Vela is the host of The Story of a Brand podcast, where he’s interviewed 1,000+ brand founders and operators across the consumer and ecommerce landscape. We break down 5 of the most important brand-building lessons he’s learned from those conversations. Expect to hear about: – The Power of Saying No: Why Chomps focused on one channel to build operational strength before scaling. – Building f...

Josh Suggs and Jesse Eisenberg are co-founders of StreetTalk, a fast-growing agency producing street interview ads for brands like Dr. Squatch, Grüns, and Ridge Wallet. Expect to hear about: – Dropping Out to Go All-In : How Josh left college, moved to NYC, and bet on street interview ads, and why Jesse told his mom to let him drop out. – Corporate to Scrappy : Why Jesse left a large agency to bet...

Michael Fisher is the founder and CEO of Rotten, a sour gummy candy brand launched in 2023 that's a better-for-you product, but also with fun, nostalgic 90s kids-cartoon branding. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands. Expect to hear about: – Candy-First Brand: Why he rejected looking like a “diet candy” and built a weird 90...

Mark Samuel is the founder of Mark’s Snacks, a seed-oil-free kettle chip brand he launched in 2025, and previously the founder of IWON Organics. Expect to hear about: – Scaling IWON to 6,000 Doors: How Mark started IWON and grew the brand to thousands of retail doors. – Knowing When to Walk Away: How Mark knew it was the right time to license the brand out to a manufacturer in 2024. – Building in...

Dinah Chapman is the founder of Little Trouble, an 8-figure kids clothing brand that has a fun and punk-inspired aesthetic. Expect to hear about: – Starting on Maternity Leave: Why Dinah launched Little Trouble in 2022 while pregnant and still working full-time in corporate marketing. – Scaling to $10M: How product expansion, retention, and paid media drove rapid growth. – Building Abroad: How tra...

Allison Taylor is the co-founder of Le Prunier, a plum-powered skincare brand that partners with her family’s plum farm in northern California. Expect to hear about: – Growing Up on the Farm: Allison's childhood memories of the farm and the deep tie to the land that later shaped the brand. – Early Retail Breakthroughs: Meeting Neiman Marcus early on and quickly earning credibility with retailers l...

AJ Patel is the SVP of Global Growth at U Beauty, a fast-scaling luxury skincare brand that just launched a Sephora partnership. Expect to hear about: – Career Shifts: Why AJ moved from analytics into commercial growth, and from Unilever to a startup. – Growing Without Promos: Why U Beauty limits discounts and focuses on education over price cuts to build long-term brand trust. – Sephora: How the...

Charles Brun is the co-founder of IZIPIZI, a Paris-based eyewear brand designing stylish, affordable glasses now sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Expect to hear about: – Founding with Friends: How Charles and two high school friends of his launched IZIPIZI in 2010, and the rules they set to protect their friendship. – Beyond Wholesale: Why wholesale worked early, and how they layered in DTC an...

Ryan Rouse is a co-founder of Factor (a ready-to-eat meal delivery brand sold in 2020), and has also served in executive roles at Serenity Kids and Highkey. Today, he's President at MALK Organics, a plant-based milk brand leading the dairy-alternative space. Expect to hear about: – Leaving “Safety”: Why Ryan walked away from a lucrative finance career after the 2008 financial crisis reshaped how h...

Myriam Belzile-Maguire is the co-founder of Maguire Shoes, a Montreal-based brand she started with her sister in 2016 that makes fashion footwear for women. Expect to hear about: – The Origin Story: How seeing a pair of shoes that were produced for $20 but sold for $500 convinced her there was room for high-quality shoes at affordable prices. – Betting Her Savings: How she launched with $15K in sa...

Joe Welstead is a former pro swimmer and co-founder of Motion Nutrition, sold in 2022. Today, he's the co-founder of Oshun, a brand that offers electrolyte and magnesium supplements in a pump dispenser bottle. Expect to hear about: – Athlete vs. Founder: The similarities and differences between being a pro athlete and an entrepreneur. – Lessons from his First Brand: Why, if he could do it all over...

Meredith Mills-Merritt is the founder and CEO of The Original Southside, a canned gin cocktail brand made from a family recipe. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands.  Expect to hear about:  – From Beauty to Booze: Why Meredith left her corporate career in beauty brand management to start her own consumer brand.  – 13 Months...

Ben Dancer is the founder of Zed Sleep, a new brand creating performance sleepwear designed to help people sleep better. This episode is part of “The Climb,” our series featuring founders in the earliest stages of building their brands. Expect to hear about: – From Harry’s to Founder Life: Why Ben left his role as Director of Brand at Harry’s after six years to start his first venture. – Why Sleep...