#0071 - Moment - Tim Kendall (as seen on Netflix 'The Social Dilemma')

Today’s guest is Tim Kendall, former director of monetization at Facebook, former president of Pinterest, and the current CEO of Moment, an app designed to help you develop a healthier relationship with your phone and the amount of time you spend on it. And in case you’re wondering, he’s all too aware of the irony. It’s this kind of resume that also made Tim stand out to the producers of the much talked about documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’, where he lends his industry insight into how tech companies are manipulating and controlling us through social media platforms. If you’ve thought as much without having seen the documentary, the problem is probably worse than you’d imagine.

Listen in as we cover everything from the downside of trying to optimize your work/life balance, why Tim predicts that the inevitable end of social media will leave us at war with one another, and perhaps most importantly, how to gain back control over your phone.

#0070 - Beam - Matt Lombardi & Kevin Moran

Today’s guests are Matt Lombardi and Kevin Moran, co-founders of Beam, a line of THC-free CBD products. Beam was born from the aches and pains of athletic competition. You see, both Matt and Kevin were professional athletes, and though there many rewarding aspects to that achievement, it is not without its drawbacks; namely the physical toll it takes on one’s body. When the two of them concluded their professional careers, the CBD market was still in its infancy. But Matt and Kevin were quick to see the potential for CBD in both overall wellness and market growth potential. Looking back on their decision to start a CBD company, it seems like a no brainer. But as you’ll learn in this conversation, it has been far from easy.

Listen in as we cover everything from busting all the myths and misconceptions about CBD, the trouble with opening a bank account for their business, and why they decided to shun the THC market.

Watch full episode on YouTube here.

#0069 - Art of Sport - Matthias Metternich

Today’s guest is Matthias Metternich, co-founder of the skincare brand Art of Sport. This isn’t Matthias’ first rodeo. He’s been creating companies since his teenage years, and with that comes the kind of insight and knowledge that you can’t put a price on. Art of Sport came about as a collaboration between himself and Honest Company co-founder Brian Lee, and they set about to approach skincare from an athlete’s point of view. As they were developing their prototypes, they realized that as a brand geared towards athletes, it made sense to bring an athlete into the founder’s circle. So what do you do if it’s 2017 and you’re looking to bring a world-class athlete onto the team? You pitch Kobe Bryant your idea. Naturally. Fast forward to today and they’ve partnered with other athletic icons like James Harden and Juju Smith-Schuster, as well as securing an additional $6 million in VC funding just last week.

Listen in as we cover everything from how he went from creating video games as a child living in Mongolia to creating international brands, what it was like to work with Kobe on the development of this brand, and we learn that advertising on a billboard in Times Square is temporary, but a photo of that advertisement in Times Square will last forever on your Instagram.

#0068 - Lumen - Launch Pad Series

Welcome to the Launchpad! Over the past year of doing this podcast, we’ve grown, and so have our guests. We have always strived to cover every aspect of the entrepreneurial journey, from the ideation to the product launch and possibly even the exit. Most of our guests have been in the game for a while, but we know that those aren’t the only stories worthy of telling. Therefore, we created this offshoot of the podcast to cover the companies that are just starting out. The flow of the conversation will sound familiar to those of you who are frequent listeners, but the topics will trend more towards pitching investors, crowd-funding, product manufacturing, basically anything that budding entrepreneurs are dealing with.

Without further ado, we present to you Yashir and Kris from Lumen, a hemp juice company that provides the ultimate immune boost. They’ve created a nutrient-dense drink that reduces stress and inflammation. Since they began their journey in the hemp juice industry, they’ve created a product that is loved by over 17,000 customers. We’re excited to have them for the first episode of our new series!

#0067 - Mother Raw - Kristi Knowles

Today’s guest is Kristi Knowles, CEO of the plant-based product line, Mother Raw. Kristi initially joined the company in an advisory role. The founder, Michelle Kopman, had already shaped what was then known as Michelle’s RawFoodz into a successful company with VC-backers. Kristi’s role was to help better define the company’s business strategy and take their products to the next level of appeal and availability. Then, tragedy struck. Michelle passed away at the too-young age of 45, leaving Kristi tasked with carrying out her vision. It is a task Kristi has taken to heart, as she strives to guide the company with the same care and passion as Michelle would have done.

Listen in as we cover everything from why it’s been easier to raise money since the COVID-shutdown, the meaning behind giving her employees a “thank-you pay”, and why the dressing aisle at grocery stores was in need of disruption.

#0066 - HVNM - Geoffrey Woo

Today’s guest is Geoffrey Woo, co-founder of Health Via Modern Nutrition, or HVMN for short. And what you just heard is uncomfortable, but true. America’s obesity epidemic may be even worse than we thought, with the CDC releasing data earlier this year that showed the country’s obesity rate reaching 42.4% in 2017 and 2018. There are a lot of causes for this statistic, and so solving it will not be one simple solution. It will require addressing income inequality, education gaps, access to health care, fitness, and healthy eating. This conversation nicely dovetails with last week’s episode with Sergey Young. Both Sergey and Geoffrey are aligned in the quest for a healthier and longer-living population. The good news is that no matter who you are, there are steps you can take today in order to increase both the quality and quantity of your time here on earth. Because while systemic change is a big part of the solution, it’s empowering to know that there’s also power in your daily choices. 

Listen in as we cover everything from the ins and outs of a ketogenic diet, why Geoffrey supports “enlightened capitalism”, and the science behind intermittent fasting.

#0065 - Longevity Vision Fund - Sergey Young

Today’s guest is Sergey Young, founder of Longevity Vision Fund and author of the upcoming book Growing Young: An Insider’s Guide to the Breakthroughs That Will Dramatically Extend Our Lifespan. Sergey’s mission is to make 1 billion people live to be 100 years old. And we’re not talking about achieving the century mark while immobilized in a hospital bed while having seen the last of your healthy years run their course. No, we’re talking a happy and healthy 100. The kind of centenarian that inspires the phrase “age is just a number”. Sergey is putting his energy and his money into making this a reality by investing in companies who are developing technologies that will enable humans to blow past 100 years of age like the arbitrary benchmark it is.

Listen in as we cover everything from the ways in which you can increase your lifespan right now, why he’ll never quite get over passing up an early investment opportunity in Google, and the pros and cons of sharing your data with fitness trackers.

#0064 - Collywobbles Author & Negotiations Lecturer - Moshe Cohen

Today’s guest is Moshe Cohen. He’s the founder of The Negotiating Table, Senior Lecturer at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, and author of the book Collywobbles: How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes you Nervous. And if you’ve been paying attention, it should be no surprise that he’s here to talk about negotiation. It’s an art form that all are familiar with yet it still evokes a sense of mystery and fear among many of us. Moshe states that this is partially due to the fear of being taken advantage of on both sides of the table. In this episode, we cover tactics you can use and new ways you can frame negotiating in your mind to quell any fear or trepidation you might have.

Listen in as we cover everything from why there’s nothing to lose in asking for things, how to gain more leverage when buying a car, why talking can stress you out, and why listening can calm you down. So with that said, tuning in to this episode is a great way to start working on your listening skills.

#0063 - Remote Team Wellness - Tarin Calmeyer

Today’s guest is Tarin Calmeyer, founder of Remote Team Wellness, a company that strives to reduce stress in the workplace. In what is truly a sign of the times, they offer their wellness and meditation classes through video conferences. While we’ve talked a lot about how companies have had to pivot to a post-Covid environment, this is the first company we’ve featured to have been born out of the lockdown. Tarin recognized that just because companies weren’t all working under one roof didn’t mean that she couldn’t offer her services to keep morale and mental wellbeing high. If anything, the prevalence of video conferences meant that she could reach a much wider audience than ever before. This is truly a prime example of finding the silver lining in a dark cloud.

Listen in as we cover everything from why Tarin strives to do everything with intention, why she teaches that movement, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence are the three tenets to wellness, and she also leads us through a meditation session that is sure to leave you centered and relaxed.

#0062 - HGTV's Build Me Up Host - Orlando Soria

Today’s guest is Orlando Soria, the designer, author, and the host of HGTV’s Build Me Up. Build Me Up is feel-good television at its finest, as the show features Orlando renovating homes for people going through major life changes. Some of the episodes also feature our very own host, Natalya Cappellini! The show stands out for Orlando’s ability to listen and add his expertise to his client’s tastes and suggestions; taking their trepidation and uncertainty about the next chapter in their lives and giving them an inspired new home that ushers them forward while still paying homage to where they’ve come from.

Listen in as we cover everything from what it was like to grow up inside of Yosemite National Park, why he hires partners and not employees, and we give him perhaps his greatest challenge of all: redesigning Nick's bedroom.

#0061 - Gloria and Victoria - Chemist Confessions

Today’s guests are Gloria Lu and Victoria Fu, co-founders of Chemist Confessions, the skincare brand that started as an attempt to break down the overly complicated and purposefully confusing world of beauty products. They were industry insiders working at L’Oréal, and they were fed up with the lack of transparency in how the Big Brands marketed to consumers. Since they’re both actually chemists (hence the name), when they tackled misconceptions and broke down the basics of healthy skincare, people listened. They were able to amass a passionate and loyal fanbase before eventually expanding into their own line of skincare products.

Listen in as we cover everything from what would happen if you only applied sunscreen to one half of your face consistently over ten years, the three most basic and essential skincare products, and—in accordance with one of their most popular hashtags—we decode that ingredient list.

#0060 - Bad Birdie (as seen on Shark Tank) - Jason Richardson

Today’s guest is Jason Richardson, founder of golf apparel company Bad Birdie. Golf can be an electrifying sport; look no further than how many people tuned in to watch Tiger Woods in his prime, or just listen to how loud the average player gets when they sink a long putt. But if you ask most people, when they think of golf, they think of stale country clubs where a bunch of old guys putz around in attire that hasn’t changed since the ’20s. As in the 1920’s. Jason wanted to change that stereotype, but as you just heard, he started the company as a way to make a couple extra bucks. Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to know what you’ve got. And after that fateful meeting, he dove headfirst into growing Bad Birdie into a company that reminds people just how much fun golf can actually be.

Listen in as we cover everything from how a missed putt by Robert Herjavec allowed him to keep an extra 5% of his company, how he wants to make the sport of golf more inclusive, and find out why he doesn’t actually play that many rounds of golf.

#0059 - CurlMix (as seen on Shark Tank) - Kim & Tim

Today’s guests are Kim and Tim Lewis, co-founders of CurlMix, a brand focused on clean beauty hair products for —you guessed it—curly hair. This is the second company that they’ve started together, but they’ll be the first to tell you that their first was a failure. Still, they grew from the experience and attribute the success of CurlMix to the lessons learned from that first failed business. As you’ll learn in this episode, Kim and Tim are innovative, driven, and work exceptionally well together. We’ve had a few founders on this show before who are married, and it’s always immediately apparent why both the marriage and the company are successful. Kim and Tim perfectly complement each other’s skillsets and have such infectious energy that it’s a no-brainer why they were chosen to appear on not one, but two TV shows.

Listen in as we cover everything from how they funded their first company on Tim’s winnings from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, how they grew CurlMix’s sales from $140k to $1M in only one year, and why it’s so important for them to be the entrepreneurial role models they never had while growing up in Chicago’s South Side.

#0058 Cocofloss - Chrystle and Cat

Today’s guests are sisters Chrystle and Cat Cu, co-founders of the hottest thing in the floss market since…well…ever. Imagine the last time you bought floss, or for some of you, imagine that you’ve ever bought floss. You walk down the aisle in the store and you see a bunch of companies basically selling the same thing. It might have different packaging or flavor, but the product itself might as well be indistinguishable from one company to the next. And they’re all just kind of bland. And this is the part of the problem that Chrystle was running into over and over at her dental practice. Try as she may, she couldn’t get her patients to floss. Here’s the part we can all relate to, every time we go to the dentist and they ask how often you’ve been flossing, we either lie or feel some variation of “not enough”. So faced with this recurring problem, Chrystle teamed up with Cat and together they built a better proverbial mousetrap.
Listen in as we cover everything from how they piggybacked off the popularity of coconut oil to launch Cocofloss, how they set their first price point just to break even on shipping costs, and much more.