Recipe to Revenue

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! After studying architecture and working in his family’s firm designing natural food grocery stores, Jake Bagnall felt an itch for more creative freedom. What started as a passion project baking with the ancient grain einkorn quickly evolved into Clean Dough Co., a fast-growing, better-for-you cookie brand. -----------...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! When Hannah Awada moved to China, she expected to leave her career as a high school history teacher behind—not start a hummus business out of her kitchen window. What began as a side project serving expats quickly evolved into a fast-growing brand, leading Hannah to launch Hummus Goodness upon her return to the US. --...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Living with severe food intolerances and IBS made dining out nearly impossible for Christina Glentis and her husband. Instead of accepting a highly restricted diet, they launched Foddies Foods to make delicious, allergy-friendly, low-FODMAP meals accessible to everyone. ------------------ In Episode 58 of Recipe to Re...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! The nightlife and entertainment industry is undergoing a massive cultural shift as more consumers embrace sober curiosity. Recognizing a glaring gap in the market for premium alcohol alternatives, John Maloney set out to create a beverage brand that challenges traditional perceptions of fun and moderation. -----------...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Spending over 25 years as a snack innovator for some of the largest CPG companies gave Dr. Juan Salinas deep insight into the food industry. Combining his expertise in food science with his experience as a professional natural bodybuilder, he realized the market was missing a truly nutritious option and decided to lau...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Bridging mechanical engineering, corporate finance, and operations for food industry giants gave Omar Atia a unique blueprint for modern food innovation. When he realized how difficult it was to find genuinely healthy, zero-carb foods that actually taste good, he leveraged food science, secured strategic patents, and...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! After pioneering health and wellness strategies as the first nutritionist for Starbucks, Katie Thomson became a mom and noticed a glaring problem in the baby food aisle. The market was dominated by fruit-heavy pouches that lacked balanced nutrition, prompting her to create a fresh, science-led solution for parents. --...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! The hospitality industry is experiencing a massive evolution, and navigating the post pandemic landscape requires an entirely new playbook. ------------------ In Episode 53 of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Seth Alexander from Barrel Aged Management. Seth shares deep insights into how the hospitality...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! After a successful career in luxury automotive marketing, Sean Lenihan experienced a life-changing shift when he started researching the food he was feeding his family. His quest for clean, 100% grass-fed meat led him to launch his own e-commerce business and redefine transparency in the food industry. ---------------...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! After spending eight years climbing the ranks from account rep to president, Denise Ramon made the ultimate leap and bought the company. Her strategic vision involves scaling the brand through direct retail relationships and an unwavering commitment to clean-label ingredients. ------------------ In this episode of Rec...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! After a twenty-year career as an international civil servant, Cynthia Coutu faced an unexpected career crossroads at age fifty. Her solution involved pursuing her passion for wine, getting her certification, and building a boutique wine tourism company. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Lea...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! When the pandemic hit, Steven Guistolise’s Chicagoland food trailer faced an existential crisis. His solution involved moving across the country, rebranding, and building a franchise. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Steven Guistolise, founder of Stadium on Wheels....

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Pitching a totally unproven, first-to-market concept is the hardest way to get a business loan. Jessica and Damien Zouaoui pitched 40 banks, and all of them said no. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Jessica and Damien Zouaoui, co-founders of Oakwell Beer Spa. After...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Building a massive food brand requires an intense focus on supply chain and operational excellence. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR. Will shares how he went from selling software to building an omnichannel nutrition bar company...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! The standard startup advice is "move fast and break things." Charbel Mawad did the opposite—and it landed him in Target. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Charbel Mawad, co-founder of Projo*, about his painstaking, multi-year journey to engineer the perfect...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Founders think hiring a broker is the key to getting into retail. Usually, it’s just a $5,000/month retainer with no guarantee. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Tia Ellis, founder of Wildflower Insight, about why she left the brokerage world to teach founders how to...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Most snack startups look for a co-packer. Jared Drinkwater built a factory instead. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Jared Drinkwater, founder of Low and Slow Snacks and former Frito-Lay executive, about why he left the corporate world to launch a "real wood sm...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! To save a traditional agricultural system, sometimes you have to treat it like a business, not a charity. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Ben Ripple, co-founder of Big Tree Farms, about how he went from a backpacker in Bali to managing a vertically integrated suppl...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! The American food system is like a speeding locomotive heading in the wrong direction—and stopping it won't happen overnight. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with AJ Richards, founder of From the Farm, about why our centralized food supply chain is brittle, how &qu...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Founders often dream of an exit, but few understand what corporate acquirers are actually looking for. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Auroni Majumdar, VP of R&D and Global Open Innovation at CJ Foods, about the specific criteria global giants use to evaluate t...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Sometimes the hardest decision in business is turning down revenue—especially when you’re just starting out. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Meghan Luck, founder of Fable Fish Company, about how she transformed a commodity by-product into a premium CPG brand—and wh...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Most companies think they have a sales problem. In reality, they have an alignment problem. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with DeAnn Petersson, founder of Sunburst Sales Innovation, about how companies can build predictable revenue without adding headcount by fixing w...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! The coffee industry is massive — but it’s also structurally broken. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina sits down with Andy Kleitsch, co-founder and CEO of Atomo Coffee, to unpack how his team is approaching disruption in a $450B market without alienating consumers, retailers, or...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! What happens when someone with no distilling background buys a failing rum distillery and rebuilds it into a Louisiana cultural staple? ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Doug Miller of Wildcat Brothers Distilling about how he transformed a struggling operation into a...

Send us Fan Mail 🔔 Subscribe to this channel for exclusive content and updates! Most people think water kefir is just another kombucha. It’s not even close. And for Fermenteria founder Jade Chang Sheppard, that misunderstanding became the opportunity to build an entirely new functional beverage category. ------------------ In this episode of Recipe to Revenue, host Leah Messina talks with Jade ab...