What Fuels You

Crowd Cow CEO and Co-founder, Joe Heitzeberg, tells the story of how the company came to be and how they are bringing people together through high quality craft beef and meats. He discusses how COVID-19 has impacted the meat industry and how his company's been continuing to help small and multi-generational family businesses during this time. Joe talks about their work with Arbor Day Foundation an...

Chad Robins, CEO and Co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, discusses their recent partnership with Microsoft to decode the immune system's response to CODVID-19 and develop better diagnostic tools and their partnership with Amgen to develop potential antibody therapies to treat the disease. Chad also shares how the medical field is adapting and facing new challenges during this pandemic.  S...

Jeff Wald, Founder of WorkMarket and author of The End of Jobs, discusses the benefits of being acquired by ADP in 2018 and their partnership with Volunteer Surge, a platform launched in response to the pandemic that is rapidly training one million volunteer community health workers to support frontline doctors and nurses. Hear Jeff also talk about being in New York City right now, takeaways from...

Founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, Ellen Bennett, shares the story of how she started her company in her 20s and how they continue to evolve over time. Starting with just aprons, Hedley & Bennett has expanded to become an all-encompassing “workwear” company, most recently adding masks to their product line after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Ellen discusses how their values ma...

Ian Morris is the Co-founder and CEO of Likewise, an innovative startup backed by Bill Gates that’s re-imagining the way that people find great recommendations. Though the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting every business in some way, Ian shares how the stay at home order and closure of recreational facilities has resulted in a tremendous jump in users on Likewise’s platform on this specia...

Angela Dunleavy-Stowell, CEO of FareStart, a non-profit that transforms lives and disrupts poverty through food, life skills and job training, shares how they are on the frontlines of King County’s COVID-19 response. Angela talks about how FareStart gives people second chances, their 1400 percent homeless shelter meal increase during the pandemic, and how they are serving 26 different locati...

Heather Redman and Jill Singh are among a group of leaders spearheading an initiative to help Puget Sound during the COVID-19 pandemic called All In Seattle. As of their launch in mid-March, they have raised over $30 million to contribute directly to proven non-profits in our community and are continuing to support those in need. Heather and Jill discuss how this idea came about, how they chose th...

Shannon Anderson, Madrona Venture Group’s Talent Director, joins us to discuss COVID-19’s impact on the Seattle community. Shannon shares how she’s advising their portfolio companies during this unique time and gives examples of CEOs who are truly living their values in the midst of this crisis. She also weighs in on best practices for leadership communication and provides detail...

Jeremy Lott, President of SanMar, joins us on this special episode of the What Fuels You podcast to discuss SanMar’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the recent crisis, SanMar, the largest supplier of apparel to the Imprinted Sportswear and Promotional Products market, has joined a coalition of American-owned textile companies to be part of the solution. They are working with the W...

President and CEO of Ben Bridge Jeweler, Lisa Bridge, shares the story behind their family business founded in 1912. Lisa grew up cleaning the store counters as soon as she was tall enough to reach them and now, she’s the first female president of the company and the youngest executive in over 60 years. She discusses their "family culture," what they do to make sure people feel recognized, t...

As a former lawyer and a social justice advocate at heart, Frances Dewing is fueled by using whatever she’s doing as a platform for social advocacy and change. Now as the CEO of Rubica, a cybersecurity company, Frances is helping small businesses and consumers protect their digital lives and secure you from invisible threats online. On this episode of the What Fuels You podcast, Frances disc...

Co-founder and CEO of Barre3, Sadie Lincoln, candidly opens up about her unique childhood being raised by a strong group of women, her journey in the fitness industry and how building a business “has been the most amazing way to grow personally.” In 2008, Sadie co-founded Barre3 with her husband, which focuses on teaching people to be balanced in body and empowered from within. Today t...

On this episode of What Fuels You, Stefan Weitz discusses gut health, his diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis and his probiotic subscription company, Jetson, that he founded as a better way to manage his chronic disease and also help “make 50 million Americans healthier.” In addition to Jetson, Stefan has an incubator called 87 that heavily invests in exciting direct to consumer companie...

Rebecca Lovell, Executive Director at Create33, shares knowledge from her 20+ years of management and operating experience and over a dozen years running and supporting startups in Seattle. At Create33, she’s helping support high-growth technology startups through targeted educational content, strategic connections and mentorship. She opens up about her vision for the company to become the m...

Sue Suh discusses her career journey, which includes undergrad at Princeton, two master’s degrees, the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, The Rockefeller Foundation and now TIME. As the first Chief People Officer at TIME, Sue is focused on culture-building, recruitment, human resources, security, facilities and other operational areas. She talks about how TIME is a “97-year-old sta...

Voracious reader and Southerner, JJ McKay, paints a picture of what his childhood was like growing up in a small town. After having success with the American Heart Association, JJ moved to Seattle and continued being a connector and gracious host, which has served him well in his career and his life. In 2016 he founded The Fresh Toast, an award-winning lifestyle, health and wellness platform, whic...

Jean Thompson went from owner to CEO of the Seattle Chocolate Company 18 years ago after the Nisqually Earthquake destroyed their factory and left the company in a difficult place. Over the last nearly two decades, Jean has re-branded the company using Pacific Northwest inspiration and ingredients and has more than quadrupled the company’s revenue. In this episode, Jean talks about the steps...

Zillow veteran, Rebekah Bastian, joins us to talk about all things company culture. Rebekah has been with Zillow for nearly 15 years, most recently serving as their VP of Community and Culture. She discusses what makes their culture so great, their equity and belonging efforts and how she balances her family life with her career. We also chat about her college pivot from music to engineering and h...

Mohit “Mo” Bhende, Co-founder of Karat, loves connecting with people and interviewing, so it’s no surprise he found a pain point in the industry and founded the company in 2014. Karat has created the category of Interview Engineering and has conducted over 60,000 technical interviews on behalf of clients including Intuit, Wayfair, Indeed and Pinterest. In addition to his career j...

CEO of Gennev, Jill Angelo, is changing the stigma associated with women’s health in the second half of their life with the first-ever online clinic for women in menopause. Prior to starting Gennev, Jill had a 20-year career in tech, with 15 of those years at Microsoft in executive roles. During this episode, Jill shares details of her life growing up on a farm, her background in speech comm...

Chris DeVore, Managing Partner of Founders’ Co-op and former Managing Director of Techstars Seattle, shares how he’s helped over 200 Pacific Northwest startups raise over $1.5 billion in investor capital. You’ll learn what is unique about Seattle’s startup ecosystem, how seed rounds came to be and details on what the venture capital process is like for investors. Chris talk...

OfferUp’s CEO, Nick Huzar, joins us to talk about the evolution of the largest mobile marketplace in the U.S. OfferUp, which he started in 2011 and has raised $261 million in funding so far. They have a strong focus on safety and live and breathe their product (their 70,000 square foot office is furnished entirely by furniture bought locally on OfferUp)! Nick discusses learning work ethic fr...

The CEO of RealSelf, Tom Seery, shares details about his upbringing in Upstate New York, packing up his car and moving west to Seattle in search of more innovation and startups, and how he started working with Expedia after getting his MBA. You’ll also learn about where the idea for RealSelf came from, how he chose the name, what their business model is and how the industry has shifted over...

Apptentive CEO and Co-founder, Robi Ganguly, shares how his company is helping give consumers a voice and enterprise brands measure customer sentiment in actionable ways. Eight years in and over $17 million in funding raised, Apptentive has helped clients see a 500% increase in App Store ratings and reviews, an 80% increase in positive customer sentiment and a 100% increase in customer retention.&...

Rathna Sharad is helping make international shipping easy, affordable and friction-free from “anywhere to anywhere” through her company, FlavorCloud , which she co-founded in 2017. Rathna started in the shipping space with her first company, Runway2Street, a marketplace to help smaller companies sell luxury women’s clothing and accessories internationally, after working in supply...