High Stakes Growth

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 focus on contribution margin and cash flow. – Amazon Breakout: The playbook behind going from $0 to $10M on Amazon in 2025. – Finding Hidden Growth: How niche personas (from Disney-goers to truck drivers) unlocked new Meta scale in a crowded ad landscape. – The Mission Behind Flux: Why Isaac cares more about creating genuine value for customers than selling the next trendy item. Find Isaac on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaac-mertens-5b107964/

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 and revenue model, and his lessons from asset-heavy scaling. – Who It’s Really For: Why 80% of guests are couples, and how three days offline can reshape (or end) relationships. – Betting on Brand: How betting on brand marketing in 2025 created "brand heat" and cut CAC by 30-40% in a matter of months. – Founder Evolution: Hector’s shift from fear-driven hustle to a more sustainable, long-term approach to leadership and life. Find Hector on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes-10082195/

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 believes efficient growth starts with retention, and how community drives LTV, referrals, and trust.– Being Early to AI: How Lomit used AI at IMVU circa 2018 to scale growth and compete with companies with much bigger budgets.– The Human Edge: Why he sees AI as a tool for marketers, not a replacement, and why the element of human trust will matter even more in the future.– Brand Beyond Last Click: Why he changed his view on brand, and how brand-building creates demand that performance marketing captures.Find Lomit on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lomitpatel/ Find Lomit's newsletter "Lean 360" here:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/lean-360-7153201357359927296/

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 for Generations: How Hammitt’s long-term thinking turns durability into trust and repeat customers.– Surviving the Avalanche: How the Kuli Kuli founder's near-death experience shaped her ability to stay calm under pressure.– Planning for Downside: Why modeling worst-case scenarios helps brands survive unexpected drops.– Hiring Failed Founders: The surprising upside of hiring operators who’ve already learned hard lessons the hard way.Find Ramon on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonvela/

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 on StreetTalk, trading big teams and boardrooms for startup build mode.– The Rise of Unscripted Creative: Why influencer fatigue and AI-heavy ads are pushing brands toward raw, unscripted reactions.– Scaling Operations: What it takes to produce 10,000+ interviews for 150+ brands, and turn capturing spontaneous moments into a repeatable system.– Beyond the Street: Their push into B2B events, conferences, and building a content engine around Josh’s personal brand.Find Josh on:Twitter/X – https://x.com/joshsuggss LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-suggs-street-interview-ads-9912a3251/ Find Jesse on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-eisenberg-streettalk/

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 90s cartoon universe around Dr. Rotten. – Learning CPG from Scratch: Spending 2.5 years recipe testing, running focus groups, and launching a Kickstarter before selling a bag. – TikTok to 6,000 Doors: Using DTC and social to validate demand, then scaling into ~6,000 retail stores. – 1,000% YoY Growth Pains: What broke with rapid revenue growth, and how Michael resolved supply chain issues. – From Solo to Team of 6: Shifting from doing everything himself to hiring operators and learning to lead. Find Michael on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-fisher1/

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 Public: How years of daily LinkedIn posting grew a 70,000+ follower base and helped launch Mark’s Snacks. – Health as a Founder Edge: Why Mark puts personal health above all else, and how his workout routine has evolved over the decades. – A Seed-Oil-Free Second Act: Why he’s betting on avocado-oil kettle chips and putting his name on the bag to build a connection with customers. Find Mark on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markalansamuel/

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 traveling with her family to New Zealand, Bali, and Japan helped her leave her old routine in the U.S. and unlock bigger picture thinking for Little Trouble.– Building a Great Team: How Dinah resisted the “cheap labor” playbook and ensured she could offer strong pay/benefits and invest in A-players.– What’s Next: Inventory constraints, operational pressure, and the collabs and bets planned for 2026.Find Dinah on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinah-chapman/

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 like Credo and Goop.– 30,000 Orders Overnight: How an organic Chrissy Teigen post sent demand through the roof, and their sprint to scale operations.– Sustained Growth: How they collaborate with affiliates, use UGC, encourage product reviews, retain customers, use Gen AI tools, and more.– Building With Family: How the three sister co-founders divide roles, leaned on therapy early on to stay aligned, and navigate decisions as a bootstrapped family business.Find Allison on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-taylor-98495a115/

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 Sephora partnership came together and why AJ sees it as an awareness and credibility engine.– Creative > Targeting: Why creative is now the primary growth lever on Meta, and how U Beauty tests 100+ creatives per month to scale efficiently.– Profit Over Growth-at-All-Costs: Why AJ prioritizes retention, margin, and long-term brand health as U Beauty scales.Find AJ on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/aj-patel-ecommerce/

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 and retail channels to build a lasting brand.– The Rebrand Bet: The 18-month switch from “See Concept” to IZIPIZI, and how they picked their new name.– Cracking the U.S. Market: How IZIPIZI plans to turn the U.S. from 15% of their total revenue into their #1 market.– Staying in Control: Charles' thoughts on when PE partnerships truly add value to your brand.Find Charles on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbrun/

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 he viewed risk and ownership.– Building Factor: Co-founding Factor, bootstrapping through the early years, and how him and his partner grew the business despite capital pressure.– A Hard Tradeoff: Why Ryan sold his equity in Factor early to support his family, and how he made peace with that decision after the brand sold for $277M three years later.– Finding His Edge: How Ryan realized his strength isn’t in zero-to-one startups, but in scaling fast-growth brands in the $40M-$200M stage.– The MALK Journey: Why scaling MALK from $40M to $100M has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of Ryan's career. Find Ryan on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrouse/ Twitter/X – https://x.com/MaalkMan

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 savings and kept Maguire alive by working a part-time job for two years. – Two Loss Years: Operating at a loss in 2023 and 2024, the toll it took emotionally, and the changes she made to fix it. – Finding the Right Mentors: How guidance from experienced brand founders helped her return to profitability in 2025. – What’s Next: Why she’s betting on European wholesale and a refreshed brand identity to go for Maguire's next goal: $20M annual revenue. Find Myriam on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriam-belzile-maguire-6967b213/

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 again, he'd launch Motion Nutrition with one hero product instead of 15 SKUs.– Rethinking Hydration Branding: Why Oshun positions electrolytes for daily brain fog, skin health, and sleep instead of traditional sports performance.– Profitable by Design: How Oshun has stayed profitable from day one to keep the door open for either holding the brand or selling when the timing is right.– Building a Life, Not Just a Brand: How Joe is structuring his second founder journey to preserve time with his family.Find Joe on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-welstead/

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 to Perfect: The long R&D process to commercialize her family recipe while keeping it organic and true to the original recipe. – Stadium Deals: How an Instagram DM led to a Florida Panthers partnership and opened doors with college programs like LSU. – Fighting for Shelf Space: Competing in a capital-intensive RTD category with standout packaging and “liquid to lips” marketing. – What’s Next: New drink products in development, a focus on growing in retail, and Meredith’s vision for Southside’s next stage of growth. Find Meredith on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithleahmills/