The Irresistible Factor: Recent Episodes

Kristi Bridges

The Irresistible Factor Podcast focuses on brands in the health and wellness space that want to become irresistible to consumers, investors and retailers.

Kristi Bridges is the President and CEO of The Sawtooth Group where she has worked for over 20 years to create innovative, relevant strategies to bring brands and their consumers closer together. She is one of the creators of I-Factor®, the first and only research tool designed to understand today's digital consumer's relationship to brands.

Jean Thompson did not plan to run a chocolate company.

She just couldn’t let it die.

Jean was an early investor in Seattle Chocolate when an earthquake destroyed the building the company was renting.

No earthquake insurance.
Broken machinery.
A condemned building.
A business that might not survive.

So she stepped in. Not because she had a grand plan.Because she loved the brand and didn’t want to watch it disappear. That decision turned into a 23-year journey as CEO.

What started as “maybe I can help 10 or 20 hours a week” became a full reinvention of a great chocolate company.

Jean rebuilt the team.
Learned manufacturing in real time.
Figured out cash flow the hard way.
And eventually turned Seattle Chocolate into a profitable, nationally distributed brand.

But the part I loved most? She didn’t stop evolving it.

Seattle Chocolate became Maeve — a bold, colorful, woman-owned brand named after an Irish warrior queen. A risky move for a 35-year-old company. And it also turned out to be the right one.

Because sometimes a brand doesn’t need to walk away from its past. It just needs to walk toward a bigger future.

And Jean’s story is such a good reminder: You don’t always need to know exactly where you’re going at the beginning. Sometimes you just need to care enough not to walk away.

Jean is bold, direct, and refreshingly honest about what it really takes to build—and rebuild—a brand. I came away from this conversation reminded that great companies aren't built by people who never doubt themselves. They're built by people who keep going anyway.

She had the distribution.

She had the buyers.

She had the product.

And she shut it down anyway.

This week on The Irresistible Factor, I welcomed back Alison Cayne.

A few years ago, she came on the podcast to talk about building Haven's Kitchen.

This time, she came back to talk about something founders rarely discuss publicly:

How she knew it was time to walk away.

What struck me most was that this wasn't a failed business.

The brand was loved.

The products were loved.

Retailers were still asking for it.

Buyers were still calling.

But Alison saw something many founders refuse to see:

A great brand and a great product aren't enough if the business model doesn't work.

One line from the conversation stayed with me:

"A business is a three-legged stool: product, brand, and business."

She had two of the three.

And she was honest enough to admit it.

That takes courage.

But the reason I wanted her back wasn't just to talk about what ended.

It was to talk about what comes next.

Because after shutting down Haven's Kitchen, Alison didn't disappear.

She spent time unpacking what worked, what didn't, and what she wanted her next chapter to look like.

The result is Choulie.

A fragrance-infused body oil brand built for women who are tired of being told they have a problem to solve.

What fascinated me was how intentionally she approached this next business.

A channel she controls.

Better margins.

Less operational complexity.

A customer she knows intimately because she is the customer.

In many ways, Choulie feels like the product of everything she learned building Haven's Kitchen.

Not a pivot. An evolution.

There was another part of the conversation I couldn't stop thinking about.

Alison talked about interviewing dozens of women in midlife and realizing there was a false choice being presented:

Either fight aging with everything you've got.

Or stop caring altogether.

Her belief?

Most women are somewhere in the middle.

They want products that make them feel good.

Look good.

Smell good.

Without being told they're broken, aging incorrectly, or in need of fixing.

That's a much bigger insight than fragrance.

It's a perspective on how an entire generation of women wants to be seen.

The whole conversation is packed with founder lessons, but my favorite may have been this:

"The standards you accept become your standards."

That's true in business.

It's true in leadership.

And it's true in life.

We spend a lot of time celebrating founders who never quit.

Maybe we should spend a little more time celebrating founders who know when to stop, learn, and build something better.

“We’re Not Building for Scale. We’re Building for Disruption.”I’ve interviewed a lot of founders, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say that before.

And, it completely changed the way I thought about this conversation with Del Alfonso, founder of Harmony Baby Nutrition.

Because most founders talk about scale as the goal: More stores.More distribution.More volume.

Del talked about changing an industry that hasn’t meaningfully evolved in 100 years.

When you really think about that, it’s kind of shocking. We’ve reinvented almost everything: beverages, functional nutrition, supplements, and snacks.

And yet infant formula, one of the most emotionally charged, scientifically important products in the world, is still largely dominated by the same few companies, using the same approaches, and the same outdated systems.

That’s wild. Especially when one out of five babies using traditional cow’s milk formula experiences some form of allergic reaction.

Del started this company because his daughter needed help. And he had a realization: There really weren’t good alternatives. Not modern ones. Not science-forward ones.
Not products designed around what we now know about infant nutrition. So he decided to build one.

It’s not just better science. It’s better to have empathy. And that is real disruption.

What I loved about Del’s perspective is that he’s not trying to out-scale the incumbents. He openly said they can’t compete on scale.

But what they can do matters. Harmony can innovate faster, support parents better, and rethink the category from the ground up.

That’s a very different mindset than most founders have (and maybe a healthier one too).

Probably a healthier one. Because scale without innovation is really maintenance. And Real disruption changes industries. And this category is overdue. Have a listen.

“Let It Be Easy.”“Let it be easy.”

That was one of my favorite moments from my conversation with Yasmin Crystal Santos, founder of Altar Native.

Not because building a company is easy.

Clearly, it’s not. She’s dealing with:

inventory shortages
changing manufacturers
regulatory hurdles
fundraising decisions
international expansion

And somehow… she still feels calm.

Not passive.
Not naive.
Calm.

And that felt almost more disruptive than the category she’s building in.

Yasmin created a line of herbal alcohol alternatives after realizing alcohol no longer gave her what she was actually looking for: relief, regulation, a state shift.

What started as personal survival eventually became a brand. But the bigger idea underneath it is what stayed with me:

People are overwhelmed.
And most of us are trying to regulate ourselves with the wrong tools.

What also struck me: She doesn’t sound like most founders.

No frantic “crush it at all costs” energy.
No obsession with scaling as fast as possible. In fact, she openly talks about staying lean and avoiding over-raising.

And yet:

two social posts went viral
inventory sold out
international demand started pouring in

She used this metaphor I loved: Bamboo spends years building roots underground before it suddenly shoots up into the sky.

Most founders want the growth part. Very few have the patience for the roots.

The biggest takeaway for me wasn’t really about herbalism or functional beverages.

It was this: You can build something ambitious without believing you have to destroy yourself in the process.

And I think more founders need to hear that.

This episode stayed with me long after we stopped recording.

“If Someone Slams the Front Door in Your Face, Go to the Back Door.”That was one of my favorite lines from my conversation with Kim Hehir, co-founder of Brutus Broth.

And honestly? It might be one of the best descriptions of entrepreneurship I’ve heard in a while.

Because Brutus Broth didn’t grow into a 20,000-store brand by following the traditional playbook.

They grew because they kept asking.
Kept testing.
Kept pushing.
Kept finding another way in.

Even when people told them that’s “not how it works.”

One of the stories I LOVED was about an early Petco meeting. Kim asked when they could get on the shelf. Their broker was horrified because apparently, you’re not supposed to ask that question.

But Kim didn’t know, and so she asked anyway. And guess what? They got the placement. And that mindset shows up throughout the entire story.

Target said no at first. Brutus found another way in.

Walmart approached them too early. They had the discipline to say no because they weren’t ready. And guess what? Walmart came back later with a completely different vision for the pet aisle and became a major partnership for the brand.

That’s not luck. That’s founder energy paired with conviction.

What’s also interesting is that they didn’t build like a typical pet brand. Most brands in the category start DTC. Brutus didn’t.

Their hero product was a 32-ounce liquid broth—heavy and expensive to ship. So instead, they beta tested through retail with Wegmans and Big Y before scaling. And they weren’t just looking at velocity.

They paid attention to all the things retailers care about:

Did the product bring new shoppers into the aisle?
Did it increase basket size?
Was it incremental to existing purchases?

That’s a really smart lesson for emerging brands. Retailers care if your product sells. And they also care about other things, like what your product does for the store at large?

And the other big tension, building awareness.

Brutus Broth is now in 20,000 stores. They have strong retail relationships.
New products. Momentum. But still, Kim kept coming back to the same challenge:

More people need to know who they are.

I think that’s one of the hardest transitions for emerging brands.

Getting distribution is hard. But creating sustained consumer demand at scale?
That’s a completely different challenge that EVERY brand has to tackle at some point. And that takes something most founders are in short supply of, time and patience.

My biggest takeaway from this conversation:

The founders who win are not always the ones following the category playbook most perfectly.

Sometimes they’re the ones willing to:

ask the uncomfortable question
challenge assumptions
use the data differently
keep going after hearing “no”

And maybe most importantly:

They don’t confuse “that’s how it’s usually done” with “that’s the only way it gets done.”

As marketers, we spend a lot of time talking about innovation, disruption, and growth strategy.

But a surprising amount of entrepreneurship is still this simple:

Ask. Follow up. Ask again. Find another way.

Definitely worth a listen!

Sold a Little. Learned a Lot.Most brands try to skip this part.

They go straight to scale.
More distribution.
More spend.
More everything. And then wonder why nothing sticks.

I interviewed Scott Forsberg and Ed Klein on the podcast this week, the founders behind a chocolate brand called Vine to Bar.

On the surface, it’s already a great story:

Upcycled Chardonnay grapes
Science-backed benefits
Better-for-you chocolate

But that’s not the most interesting part.

The most compelling part Is what they didn’t do

They had everything you could want in a brand:

Taste
Health
Sustainability
A strong founder story
Real science (not marketing fluff)

Most brands would take that…
and try to say all of it. They did that too—at first. And it didn’t work.

So They Did What Most Founders Don’t. They slowed down.

They tested. They paid attention. They sold a little and learned a lot.

And what they learned changed everything.

The Shift

They had multiple directions they could go: Wine + chocolate lifestyle.

General “better for you”. Cardiovascular health

All valid. None of them landed.

But one did. Gut health. That shift didn’t change the product. It changed the focus. And it unlocked the business.

Most founders think more is better. More SKUs. More claims. More messaging

This brand isn’t growing because it has more.

It’s growing because it’s focused enough for people to care.

A Final Thought
You don’t need more ideas.

You need to figure out:

What people understand instantly
What they actually care about
What makes them come back

And then stay there long enough for it to work.

Most brands won’t do that.Because it feels slower. But it’s the way things stick.

If you’re building something right now, this one’s worth a listen.

You Don’t Have to Build the Biggest Thing. You Just Have to Build the Right Thing.Most of the conversations I have on this podcast are about growth.

Scaling.
Raising capital.
Winning in crowded categories.

This one isn’t. And that’s exactly why I love it.

I sat down with Ugo Urberti Foppa, founder of a retreat center in Portugal called Quinta Marugo.

On paper, Ugo’s not my typical guest. No big brand. No massive exit. No “how I scaled to $100M” story.

But the deeper we got into the conversation, the more it hit me. This is what so many founders say they want, but almost no one builds.

This Wasn’t an Exit Strategy. It Was a Life Decision.

Ugo didn’t set out to build a wellness brand.

He left Italy.
Worked in oil and gas.
Moved to Hong Kong.
Built a food business.

And then… decided he didn’t want that life anymore.

What he wanted was simple: A piece of land. A slower life.
Something that actually felt like his. So he built it.

This Business Is the Life

This is the part that stuck with me. Most founders separate the two: Build the business, then live. Hugo did the opposite.

He built a business that is the life. How inspiring is that?

He lives on the property
He works every day
There’s no “off” switch
But it is not something he’s trying to escape

That’s a very different model than what most people (me included) are chasing. And it raises a question worth asking:

Are you building something to eventually get out of…
or something you actually want to live in every day.

The Discipline Most Brands Don’t Have

There’s a moment in the conversation where he talks about decisions they made that most businesses wouldn’t.

No Wi-Fi in the rooms.
No air conditioning.
No push toward scale.

On paper, those might look like “bad business decisions.” They limit demand.
They turn people away. But they also did something more important:They made the experience real.

Because the goal was never to serve everyone.

It was to serve the right people. For the first 7 months after opening it was a tough go.

No customers, Bookings that canceled.
So what changed?

A few people came.
They loved it.
They told others.

Word of mouth took over.

It’s the least sexy growth strategy, and the one most brands say they want but don’t have the patience for.

The Part Most Founders Won’t Admit

There’s a moment where he talks about how hard it actually was.

Three years of building.
Costs doubling during COVID.
Constant problem-solving.

So I asked him: “If you knew how hard it would be… would you have done it?”

His answer: Probably not.

That’s the truth behind almost every business.

My Takeaway

There are a lot of ways to build something. You can scale fast. Raise money. Chase growth. Or you can build something that actually fits your life. Hugo chose the second. And it’s working. It made me wonder, though, could you do both? We spend a lot of time talking about how to grow. We don’t spend enough time asking:

What are we actually trying to build?

Not just the business. But also the life.

It’s a different kind of episode, but an important one. It’s worth a listen.

The brands that win in crowded categories aren’t chasing trends.
They’re built from something real.

In this episode, I sit down with Rudy Aldana (Co-Founder & CEO of PARCH) to break down what’s actually happening in non-alcoholic—and why most brands are missing it.

What we get into:
• Why non-alc isn’t about health—it’s about identity
• The real reason consumers feel “off” when they’re not drinking
• Where most brands go wrong (they keep adding)
• Why PARCH launched with 4 SKUs—and stayed there
• The difference between traction and just more ideas

The Takeaway:
Go stand in front of the shelf and ask:
Why would someone actually pick this?
Because in a category full of noise—
the brands that win aren’t doing more.
They’re doing the right things, better, for longer.

There are some categories where it feels like the world does not need one more brand.

Fitness is one of them, especially Pilates.

So when I sat down with Michael Ramsey, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Strong Pilates, I wanted to understand how they’re breaking through in spite of that.

This was the line that stayed with me:

The problem wasn’t Pilates. It was everything else people still needed.
That’s the insight behind Strong.

People love Pilates. They believe in it. But they also want strength, cardio, progress, and results, and they don’t want to have to piece that together across multiple studios and memberships.

So instead of launching another Pilates concept, they built something different.
In this episode, we talk about:

What it actually takes to stand out in a saturated category
Why differentiation has to live in the business, not just in the branding
How founder conviction shows up in real decisions (and real risk)
What’s changed in marketing and why content now has to carry more weight than ever
How to scale without losing the thing that made people care in the first place

One thing I kept thinking about after:

Winning in a crowded market isn’t about being louder.
It’s about being clearer.
This is a really good one if you’re building anything right now.

Most wearables track one thing at a time: steps, sleep, heart rate. Nanowear is building something entirely new: a single piece of fabric that acts like a full physical exam whenever you wear it.

CEO and co-founder Venk Varadan started the company nearly ten years ago with his father, Dr. Vijay Varadan, after discovering a breakthrough textile that can read the body without adhesives or multiple devices. One fabric-based sensor captures heart, lungs, blood pressure, respiration, and metabolic signals all at once; nothing on the market can do that today.

Rather than rushing a consumer launch, Venk spent years doing the hard part: FDA clearances, clinical validation, and building the infrastructure so Nanowear’s technology could plug into virtual care platforms, employer health plans, and connected devices people already use.

The long-term vision? Over-the-counter diagnostic kits anyone can use at home, real, clinical-grade data you can take straight to your doctor.

The path has been long: years of R&D, tough fundraising cycles, and a market that wasn’t ready for a category this big. But Venk never lost sight of the mission.

“If we don’t build this, it’s not going to happen.”

Next up: a 2026 rollout, employer-led prevention programs, and eventually global access, especially for people far from consistent medical care.

A decade in, Nanowear remains a rare founder story: slow, disciplined, and quietly building the future of diagnostics.

When Arisa Katayama had her daughter in LA during COVID, she did what most first-time moms do: focused on the birth and the baby, not herself. Then the fourth trimester hit. Sleep-deprived, still breastfeeding late into the night, she kept opening a half-empty fridge filled with leftovers and frozen pizza, realizing there was nothing truly nourishing or postpartum-safe for her.

That moment became the seed for For Her by Arisa, a Japanese-born brand now launching in the U.S. with postpartum recovery soups rooted in yakuzan, a traditional philosophy where TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) meets Japanese home cooking.

Arisa’s mission: “We’re here to mother women, because women spend their lives mothering everyone else.”

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Postpartum first, women’s health always:
From supporting new moms to addressing hormones across periods, fertility, miscarriage, postpartum, and menopause.
Traditional wisdom, modern format:
Japanese and TCM-inspired soups that blend comforting, grandma-style recipes with functional, clinical intention.
Built on cross-cultural insight:
Started in Japan with shelf-stable pouches; adapted to U.S. preferences with frozen, handmade Orange County–produced soups.
Growing slowly, on purpose:
Bootstrapped and intentionally rolling out through doulas, practitioners, and sampling before broader retail.

Explore more at forherbyarisa.com or on Instagram @forherbyarisa.

Reinventing Practitioner Commerce with Jon Armstrong

When tech entrepreneur Jon Armstrong set out to simplify his own supplement routine, he uncovered a much bigger problem: practitioners were losing patients, and profits, to Amazon. His answer was GetHealthy.store, a turnkey e-commerce and marketing platform that gives health and wellness professionals custom storefronts, operational support, and access to thousands of vetted, clinical-grade products.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Built for how practitioners really work: “We provide fully functioning custom stores for doctors, nutritionists, and health coaches, without them managing images, pricing, or fulfillment.”

Quality over chaos: Unlike Amazon, GetHealthy.store is a “closed and managed marketplace,” offering only clean, high-quality, research-backed brands.

Fixing the convenience gap: “I was buying from four or five different places… so I thought, why not build something better?” The platform gives practitioners a seamless way to keep patients purchasing through their trusted ecosystem.

Using AI to prove outcomes: By integrating diagnostic and purchasing data, Jon’s team is piloting tools that show how protocols and supplements impact real health markers over time.

With GetHealthy.store, Jon Armstrong is modernizing the backbone of functional and integrative medicine, empowering practitioners to grow their businesses while giving patients a better, cleaner, and smarter way to get healthy.

Learn more at GetHealthy.store or contact jon@gethealthy.store.

After two decades in biotech and a near-fatal heart attack at 43, Gary Seelhorst realized that success without self-awareness isn’t sustainable. He left corporate life to build Prime Peak Executive Coaching, a practice that helps leaders align peak performance with personal well-being. What started as volunteer work guiding veterans through career transitions has become a fast-growing, referral-only coaching business for executives and founders.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Wellness drives performance: “When leaders are in an optimal state, that’s when executive business coaching really works.” Gary integrates mindset, nutrition, and energy management into every plan, bridging the gap between corporate achievement and personal health.

Lessons from the edge: “Ten years ago, I had a massive heart attack… I wasn’t out of shape, but I was in the red all the time.” His experience reshaped how he teaches resilience and balance to clients facing the same high-stress demands.

From Navy SEALs to CEOs: Prime Peak began at a wellness retreat where Gary coached veterans re-entering civilian life. “They’d been elite operators, but needed to learn how to transfer those skills to business.”

Coaching with chemistry: With a background in biochemistry and management at Pfizer, Gary brings science to strategy, optimizing performance through neuroscience, cortisol timing, and cognitive energy mapping.

Human over hype: “Find your key demographic and don’t try to be all things to all people.” Prime Peak’s growth has come organically through results, not algorithms.

With Prime Peak Executive Coaching, Gary Seelhorst proves that sustainable success starts with self-care and that the most effective leaders are the ones who learn to coach themselves first.

Learn more at Prime Peak Executive Coaching and listen to Gary’s full conversation on The Irresistible Factor podcast.

Economist turned founder Mette Dyhrberg didn’t plan to enter healthcare; she just wanted her life back. After collecting six autoimmune diagnoses in her twenties, she started tracking everything she was doing, eating, and feeling for months and months. She then used that data to uncover the cause of her symptoms and reverse them within 16 months, something that the medical community was not able to do. That personal discovery turned into MuneHealth, a platform created to help patients with autoimmune diseases find and fix the unique triggers keeping them sick.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

From patient to pioneer: “I went from being disempowered as a patient to empowered as a human.” Mette’s decade-long experiment with her own health became the foundation for a data-driven approach to autoimmune recovery.

Precision over restriction: “82% of what the triggers are is dietary.” MuneHealth replaces elimination diets with AI-guided tracking that pinpoints exactly what’s causing symptoms—no guesswork, no deprivation.

Human support, powered by tech: “We just use tech as a vehicle for delivery.” A few minutes of tracking a day and personalized guidance from experienced care teams, each of whom has reversed their own autoimmune disease, help patients change behaviors that truly heal.

Access through insurers: With autoimmune disease disproportionately affecting women, MuneHealth currently partners with UnitedHealthcare to bring the program to more patients who’ve “given up hope of feeling like themselves again.”

Scaling empathy: Mette believes healthcare change starts with results, not lobbying. “If you can deliver results powerful enough, that has to be the way forward.”

With MuneHealth, Mette Dyhrberg proves that data and empathy together are not only the foundation for a successful company, but they can help rewrite what it means to truly live with autoimmune disease.

Learn more at munehealth.com and listen to her full story on The Irresistible Factor podcast.

Radiologist turned founder, Dr. Cristin Dickerson, didn’t plan to run a company, she just wanted to do her job. But after seeing hospital acquisitions triple imaging prices and claims processes fail patients and doctors alike, Dr. Cristin looked to an unlikely category to find a solution. She built Green Imaging: a “Travelocity-style” marketplace that buys unused scanner time, bundles the entire episode of care, and passes transparent savings to employers and patients.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Unused capacity, fair bundles: “We started buying the extra time on the scanner, our radiologists read it, and we bill a fair self-pay price.” The result is one all-in rate, no surprise CPT add-ons or separate radiology bills.

Employer-first economics: “Employers can waive member co-pays and deductibles with Green, and still save money.” For self-funded plans, members pay $0 out of pocket while plans avoid hospital rates and unbundled charges.

Concierge beats DIY: “Consumerism has failed in healthcare, when people are under stress, they want to be taken care of.” Green Imaging leans on live, multilingual concierges to educate, schedule, and simplify every step.

Hospital alignment without bloat: By leasing time (they’re Green’s patients) and using Green’s radiologists, exclusivity hurdles drop—unlocking partnerships such as PET/CT reads and filling idle capacity.

Bootstrapped resilience: “I worked full-time as a radiologist until 2020 to subsidize it.” The team survived a co-founder’s sudden passing, COVID’s volume collapse, and an IP lawsuit, without layoffs, growing to 5,000+ facilities and ~3M covered lives, still majority physician-owned.

With the success of Green Imaging, Dr. Dickerson proves that there are creative ways to solve all kinds of problems. Even the behemoth of healthcare.

Learn more at Green Imaging, and check out Dr. Dickerson’s book, Aligned, for a plain-English guide to making healthcare incentives work for patients, employers, and clinicians.

“It was very hard to accept, but I had to face the reality that our business was never going to give us the return we deserved. That was a mature set of decisions, to give up on dreams and accept defeat,” she says.

As you can see, Kelly Spillane has lived both sides of the CPG journey. She started in Ireland as a founder, building a jam and marmalade company with her sister and even landing on supermarket shelves and high-end delicatessens in Paris, London, and New York. But after years of incredibly hard work, she faced a tough truth: the business wasn’t going where she hoped it would.

Instead of walking away from the industry she loved, Spillane turned her hard lessons into a career helping other founders succeed. Today, she leads investments and accelerator programs at Whole Foods Market, guiding early-stage brands with the perspective only a former founder can bring.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Agile growth first: “Being lean and agile is the number one thing. Not raising money for as long as you can is really the number one thing, along with the lean and agile.”
It’s all about people: “In reality, when you’re investing money, you’re investing money in people. So I look at the founders, their vision, their experience, and whether they’re coachable.”
The value of the journey: “Even though I didn’t achieve my big dream of making lots of money, I found myself, and I found lifelong friends. The journey was still worth it.”

From winding down her own company to mentoring the next generation of founders, Kelly Spillane’s story is a reminder that resilience, focus, and adaptability matter as much as vision in building lasting businesses.

What began with Matt’s own martial arts injury grew into a business model that now includes international instructor training, wellness retreats, and tailored protocols for everyone from elite athletes to entrepreneurs. His story is both exciting and inspiring.

But building Cold Club hasn’t been easy. Matt has had to navigate the realities of entrepreneurship, scaling globally, wearing every hat, and planning for sustainable growth in a crowded wellness industry.

3 Key Takeaways

1. Building Requires Vision and Systems

“Tons of challenges. I need a bigger team. That’s step one. I need people to fill the different roles. As an entrepreneur, I work all the time, and I’m happy to work, but what I’m really trying to establish right now is a very clear, systematic approach to regular offerings worldwide.”

2. Scaling Means Thinking Globally

“Where do we see ourselves? We see ourselves as like a very powerful global network within the next three years. I think we will be in just about every continent. I see us as a very strong group. Leading wellness, we will be among the best known in wellness in the next three years.”

3. Collaboration Is the Future

“Collaboration is the future. And it’s the only way to sort of leverage the existing tools and systems that are out there to break through the noise. We’ve got to get signal. How are we going to get signal in today’s world? It’s really hard. And so collaboration is really the key.”

From personal healing to global expansion, Matt Soule is proving that Cold Club is more than a wellness trend, it’s a movement built on resilience, innovation, and entrepreneurial grit. His journey is a reminder that scaling impact takes both passion and persistence.

For Emily Stein, the path from Stanford scientist to startup founder wasn’t straightforward. What began with a deeply personal motivation, preventing her grandmother from losing more teeth after a stroke, has turned into building Primal Health, an international company tackling one of healthcare’s most overlooked problems: oral health.

Emily has led Primal Health through the challenges of launching products in both the human and pet markets, raising capital in a tough environment, and educating consumers and practitioners about a brand-new approach to oral care. Emily intended to build Primal Health, a human oral health brand, but had to pivot when she couldn’t penetrate the dental market. Now there’s Teef, an oral health company for dogs. And it’s working.

3 Key Takeaways

1. Creating a New Category Isn’t Easy

“We started in humans, but dentists didn’t wanna have anything to do with us ’cause they thought it would work and cut into their bottom line. So we pivoted to pets, and that saved our company.”

2. Founders Have to Be Resilient

“This is my fifth startup. It’s messy. Every single startup.”

3. The Mission Drives the Business Forward

“Our goal as a company is to be in every mouth at least once a day.”

Emily Stein’s journey highlights what it takes to build a business in uncharted territory: scientific credibility, entrepreneurial grit, and an unwavering mission. By blending innovation with resilience, she’s positioning Teef to transform how people, and their pets, approach oral care.

If you’re trying to sell ideas, products, and technology in the Healthcare industry, this podcast is for you.

For Brendan McAdams, sales in healthcare isn’t about pushing products, it’s about creating real fit, listening deeply, and helping founders build businesses that last. As the founder of Kiinetics, Brendan has worked with health tech startups and entrepreneurs to navigate one of the toughest industries out there: selling into hospitals, payers, and health systems.

With a career spanning UnitedHealthcare, WebMD, and startups across the health space, Brendan has seen firsthand what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to turning an idea into traction. In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, he shares candid advice on how founders can approach sales not as a script, but as a conversation that builds credibility and long-term success.

Key Takeaways

Don’t Start with Building, Start with Listening

“Early stage startup founders often start by building something. And what I would suggest is before you do any building, go out and talk to as many people as you can in as many different areas.”

Sell the Transformation, Not the Features

“You really need to be selling the result, the transformation that’s gonna take place. It’s not about features, it’s about how this improves the experience for their patient."

Fit Matters More than the Pitch

“I’m really not looking to make a sale. Of course I’m looking to make a sale, but I’m looking to make a sale within the context of: does this fit? Because if it’s not a fit, if I can’t really solve for them, that’s gonna figure itself out sooner or later. And I’m just wasting my time.”

Brendan’s philosophy is clear: sales is about conversation, curiosity, and fit, not pressure. For founders navigating healthcare, his advice is a reminder that building relationships and understanding the customer deeply is what makes innovation stick.

After nearly burning out at her high-pressure job, Aisha Chottani knew something had to change. She swapped caffeine for meditation, cut sugar from her diet, and started paying attention to how she felt. The results were transformative, and they sparked the idea for Drink Moment.

Launched in 2020, Moment is a functional beverage brand inspired by the feeling you get after meditating. With no caffeine, alcohol, or added sugar, each can is infused with adaptogens to help reduce stress, support cognitive clarity, and reset your day.

“Wellness isn’t about not doing hard things,” Aisha says. “It’s about aligning your mind and body so you can feel good while doing them.”

Now leading a 10-person team, Aisha is building a brand that’s rooted in purpose and designed for scale, with every can purchased funding mental health programs.

Highlights from our conversation:

Build for impact, not optics
“Every decision should serve the customer first,” Aisha explains. Moment prioritizes clean ingredients, calm energy, and honest expectations.

From DTC to national reach
With 10,000+ subscribers and growing, the company is working to expand access through more retail partnerships and a shift toward broader distribution.

A product with purpose
Moment doesn’t promise overnight results, but its blends are designed to work over time. The result? A devoted community and a high repurchase rate.

Try Aisha’s favorite blend, Strawberry Rose, at drinkmoment.com and find your moment.

When Roger Ford heard the word “move” during a late-night meditation, he didn’t expect it to uproot his life. But within weeks, he and his wife had sold their healing center in the UK, bought a home in California online, and launched a brand-new chapter.

That leap of faith became Healing in America, a nonprofit dedicated to making energy healing more accessible and more credible within the U.S. healthcare system. “We teach people to follow their intuition,” Roger says. “So we had to live that ourselves.”

Rooted in more than four decades of practice, Roger’s mission goes beyond sessions and certifications. He’s building an ecosystem, training individuals, supporting trainers, and slowly integrating healing into clinics, hospitals, and everyday care.

Highlights from our conversation:

Scaling with integrity:
“We always wanted to train others and then train the trainers,” Roger says. “That’s how we scale: by finding the right people, holding high standards, and building a network of excellence.”

Challenging the status quo:
“I came here a bit naïve,” he admits. “I thought the medical system would welcome us. But it’s taken years of persistence and starting with nurses and functional medicine to build real bridges.”

Healing is for everyone:
“There’s no illness people can’t get better from,” Roger believes. “Our job is to remind them of that. The energy is the same; it’s the practitioner and the process that make the difference.”

Learn more about Roger’s story and explore his work at healinginamerica.com.

Lisa Boduch is taking it head-on, with a career that began in the salon and evolved into national leadership roles. She understands both sides of the beauty industry. Now serving as VP of Sales and Education at Alfaparf Milano, Lisa is applying decades of experience to drive growth for a professional Italian brand that’s stayed intentionally boutique.

Her approach? Clear identity, disciplined storytelling, and meaningful innovation. In an industry often crowded by copycat products and big-box noise, Lisa is focused on long-term brand equity, operational excellence, and empowering the professionals at the heart of the business.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Stay close to your core customer: Alfaparf’s strategy is rooted in deep relationships with salon professionals, not just as customers, but as advocates. Lisa’s priority is supporting them through education, training, and tools that help grow their businesses.

Stay true to your identity: As bigger brands chase mass market appeal, Alfaparf is leaning into its boutique positioning, Italian craftsmanship, and loyalty to the hairdresser.

Be ready to evolve: Whether it’s integrating AI tools or refining hero products, Lisa is focused on meaningful innovation, not just keeping up, but creating something new.

Want to see how a boutique brand competes in a crowded global market? Learn more at https://www.alfaparfmilanopro.com/us-en and watch how Lisa and her team are building trust, loyalty, and long-term impact, one salon at a time.

“PX stands for patient experience,” says Shareef Mahdavi, founder of the PX Movement. “My mission is to change the way that patients experience going to the doctor.”

With PX90, he’s applying his decades of experience in healthcare and customer service to help practices rethink their environments, retrain their teams, and rebuild trust, starting with a 90-day, exercise-themed program that includes warm-ups, cool-downs, and strategic “workouts.”

At its core, PX90 is about the mindset of the physician. “That’s really the goal of this: to help doctors see things from their patients’ perspective,” Shareef says. “We want to remind them why they became doctors in the first place.”

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Patient-first isn’t optional anymore: “80-90% of patients are researching doctors online before they ever make contact with the office, and they’re not just looking at the doctor’s website, they’re looking at all the websites.”
Service is strategy: “You can teach pretty much anyone to do anything, but you cannot teach a servant’s heart.”
Doctors need support too: “The issue is that most practices are absolutely just missing it when it comes to this thing called customer experience, and in a medical context we want to call that patient experience.”

To bring the PX movement to your office, visit pxmovement.com or connect with Shareef on LinkedIn.

“You should always be heading toward something you’re proud of,” he says. “Something that feels like a meaningful contribution.”

That’s why, after a career negotiating some of the biggest deals in the travel industry, Lou Zameryka decided to build something with a much deeper impact.

That mindset led Lou and his co-founder, Andrew, to the much-discussed notion of healthspan. Instead of asking how long people can live, they started asking: How well can they live? The answer: Alively, an incredible platform, focused on helping employees build better habits to live a more vibrant, healthier life.

Aggregating data from wearables into a carefully curated behavior-change engine, Alively doesn’t overwhelm users with dashboards. It identifies a single health metric to improve, like REM sleep or burnout, offers five evidence-based ways to address it, and tracks results over time. Companies benefit by building a more resilient, agile workforce.

Highlights from our conversation:

From insight to action: Alively pairs metrics with realistic, research-backed behavior shifts.
B2B from the beginning: Rather than going directly to consumers, Lou and his team leaned into impacting as many people as possible, which led them to corporate partnerships. Their pilot programs are already helping HR teams tackle burnout and drive engagement.
A mission beyond margins: “People don’t realize how good they could feel,” Lou says. Alively wants to change that—and shift the wellness conversation from short-term perks to long-term transformation.

Lou’s advice for founders? Start simple and just begin. “If you move, the world, for some reason, moves with you.”

Learn more at alively.com.

After struggling to lose weight and finding existing fitness apps confusing or ineffective, Peter Conroy, former investment banker and now healthcare advocate, decided to build his own solution. That decision led to The Difference App, a predictive, AI-powered tool that helps users track weight with greater accuracy and personalization.

Conroy’s approach centers around TrueBurn™, a proprietary algorithm that adjusts your estimated calorie burn based on your actual daily weight changes and other unique personal factors. The result? An app that tells you what you’ll weigh tomorrow, today—and whether you’re truly making progress.

Key Moments from the Conversation:

“I lost 60 pounds in two months by tracking calories in and out manually—and I knew I could turn that system into a business.”
“Obesity is now the number one cause of premature death globally. We want to improve the quality of life and increase longevity.”
“We have nearly 7,000 users, a 29% monthly growth rate—and we haven’t spent a dollar on advertising yet.”

As Peter puts it: “This isn’t just about weight loss—it’s about helping people feel better, live longer, and finally understand what works for them.”

Dr. Brian Levine wears two hats: founder of Nodal and founding partner at CCRM New York. His career began with a passion for genetics, but over time, it grew into something bigger, helping families. “I’d have to say, it’s been one of my greatest achievements, having the opportunity to work here and provide care to patients,” he shares.

At Nodal, Levine set out to challenge an industry that was burdening hopeful parents with high fees and long waits. He saw an opportunity to build a transparent, tech‑driven solution that works better for everyone involved.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Transparency at the core: “We built Nodal so surrogates can state exactly what they’d like to receive, intended parents see that clearly, and we add only a minimal management fee—about 60% lower than the market.”

Revolutionizing timelines: Instead of waiting 9–18 months, Nodal’s process matches surrogates and parents in around 45 days, cutting costs and stress along the way.

Lessons from building: Levine pitched to 83 VC firms in 30 days, choosing partners who understood his mission. “Our model is different, our approach is different, but the technology behind it is the key.”

With Nodal, Levine is reshaping surrogacy into something faster, fairer, and more accessible.

Discover more at nodal.com, or connect with Dr. Levine on Instagram @drbrianlevine, on LinkedIn, or through CCRM New York.

For Paul Buckley, U.S. Director of Sales and Marketing at Withings, joining the company was about more than a new role. “I wanted to do something that makes a difference in people’s lives—and Withings does that every day,” he says.

Withings has been innovating since 2009, when it launched the world’s first smart scale. Today, the brand is known for pushing the boundaries of connected health, creating devices that help people track and understand their bodies well before problems arise.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

Data that matters: Withings scales go way beyond weight, delivering vascular age and segmental body composition, crucial insights for anyone focused on fitness or monitoring GLP‑1‑related muscle loss.
One ecosystem, one app: “No other company brings scales, wearables, blood pressure monitors, and more together into a single app with a unified health score,” Buckley explains.
A wearable with purpose: The FDA‑cleared ScanWatch tracks heart rhythm every 10 minutes, delivers on‑wrist EKGs, measures blood oxygen, and offers 30+ days of battery life with 24/7 sleep and activity tracking.

For Buckley, that comprehensive approach is why he’s proud to represent the brand every day: “It’s not about gimmicks, it’s about giving people tools to take control of their health.”

Explore more at withings.com or find their products at Best Buy, Amazon, and Target.

“There is no secret sauce of overnight success—it’s just a constant ‘what’s next.’” — Anthony Kjenstad, Founder & CEO of Firefly Recovery

Anthony Kjenstad didn’t set out to build a consumer brand. But after a career in medical device distribution and a request to solve a real problem, helping patients prevent blood clots post-surgery, he developed a wearable recovery device now used by elite athletes across the country.

Today, Firefly Recovery serves college and professional sports teams, weekend warriors, and post-op patients alike. From an appearance on Shark Tank to grassroots distribution via trainers and NIL athletes, Anthony’s company is growing fast, but with a disciplined focus on real-world use, clinical effectiveness, and simple, scalable design.

What sets Firefly apart:

Firefly’s FDA-cleared device stimulates blood flow to reduce soreness, prevent clots, and improve recovery with zero downtime.
The company bootstrapped early growth by partnering with athletic trainers and leveraging word-of-mouth among pros and college teams.
A surprise Shark Tank air date pushed the team to stock up early, and it paid off, unlocking explosive consumer interest.

Firefly Recovery is building smarter, more accessible recovery tech for athletes, patients, and everyday wellness. Learn more or reach out directly at recoveryfirefly.com.

Aescape isn’t replacing therapists—it’s expanding access. And for health tech founders, it’s a masterclass in engineering innovation that sticks.

At Aescape, innovation isn’t theoretical. It’s tactile. Their intelligent massage tables, powered by robotic arms and therapist-recorded movements, are about to transform how we recover, relax, and train. With over 60 installations across luxury hotels, fitness clubs, and elite sports facilities, Aescape is proving that robotics can deliver human-quality touch at scale.

But it took eight years to get there.

From navigating hardware partnerships to reshaping user expectations, Eswar Priyadarshan shares how Aescape went from concept to category-defining product.

In this episode, he reveals:

Why human routines, not hype, drive product engagement
How they’re building a new wellness category between recovery tech and physical therapy
What founders need to know about building real-world robots that consumers actually want

Check them out at aescape.com.

"Our aim is really to find mechanisms by which we can reach more families." — Emily (Steinberg) McCareins

What started as a pandemic-era pilot has become one of the most ambitious care models in maternal health. Partum Health delivers a full suite of perinatal services, from doula care and pelvic floor therapy to lactation and behavioral health, through an innovative hybrid model that meets families where they are.

Emily joined Partum after years in healthcare consulting and an MBA from Kellogg, drawn by the complexity of maternal care and the urgency of closing systemic gaps. Today, she leads strategy and partnerships as the company expands beyond Illinois and Texas.

• Clinically led, evidence-based care with scalable infrastructure for in-home and virtual delivery
• Working with major payers and Medicaid to make doula and postpartum care widely accessible
• Operating with 150+ providers and growing into 15–20 new markets by 2029

Partum is redefining maternal care not just as a service, but as a scalable, outcomes-driven platform with the potential to change health trajectories for entire families.

To learn more or donate, visit partumhealth.com.

“We’re saving people’s lives every day, and that’s the driver behind what we do.” — Mark Noble

Mark Noble isn’t leading a startup; he’s reinventing a legacy. As CEO of ViTel Net, one of the earliest telehealth companies in the U.S., he’s helping health systems deliver smarter, faster, more integrated care.

With patented tech that embeds directly into hospital EHRs, ViTel Net enables everything from telestroke and telepsychiatry to full-scale, cross-system workflows. The goal? Make hybrid care seamless and accessible to the patients who need it most.

After decades in high-tech and no outside funding, Noble is scaling ViTel Net the hard way: through mission-driven partnerships, product innovation, and a refusal to compromise on quality.

Why patients should own their health records and why they don’t
How ViTel Net survived the pandemic by helping build a national ICU network
What founders should know about selling into bureaucratic healthcare systems

Every once in a while, I meet someone who makes me pause. Someone who reminds me why I started this podcast in the first place. Michele Gannon is one of those people.

She’s the founder of Mary’s Place by the Sea, a nonprofit home in Ocean Grove, NJ, that offers women with cancer something most of them don’t even realize they need: permission to stop. To rest. To not be strong for everyone else. To just… be. What began as a persistent thought in Michele’s mind has, 16 years later, become a safe haven where over 16,000 women have found emotional, spiritual, and physical refuge. And what makes it even more extraordinary? They’re not charged a single penny.

This episode moved me deeply, not just as a host, but as a sister of someone currently battling breast cancer. I could feel in every word Michele said how powerful this work is, and how underserved this need really is.

Here are just a few things Michele shared that stayed with me:

Mary came to her in a dream. The name isn’t a branding exercise. It’s inspired by a spiritual visitation that helped Michele envision the house and guide her every step.
It’s beyond medical, but it is healing. Guests receive services like oncology massage, Reiki, guided meditation, expressive writing, and nutrition education. And it’s all focused on the person, not the illness.
Hope is the most powerful outcome. Women come exhausted, anxious, and scared. They leave rested, connected, and often laughing and having made new friends.
The experience is deeply personal and also free. Whether they’re newly diagnosed or up to two years post-treatment, women find sanctuary and sisterhood, regardless of their ability to pay.
Volunteers keep the heartbeat strong. With over 100 regular volunteers and 60+ practitioners, the sense of community is palpable. Most of the healing happens through presence, not protocol.
They’re just getting started. And the demand far exceeds the supply. Michele’s now actively planning an expansion to New England.

I’ve had the privilege of interviewing many founders in healthcare and wellness, but what Michele has built is something beyond metrics and business models. It’s a sacred space that honors the human experience of illness, and says to every woman walking through the door: You matter. You’re allowed to fall apart here. And you’re not alone.

If you’re moved by this story (and I know you will be), please visit MarysPlaceByTheSea.org. Whether it’s to volunteer, donate, or simply learn more, it’s worth your time. I’ll be making a visit myself soon, and I know it won’t be my last.

“You just need to start. That first step leads to a second, which leads to a third. You just need to start moving in the direction you want to go.” — Dr. Sam Hetz

Mergers, exits, new launches. Dr. Sam Hetz has built two businesses by betting on what the healthcare system is missing and what many patients are willing to pay for.

After scaling a successful medical aesthetics clinic that became part of Dermapure, Canada’s largest group of aesthetic practices, he’s now tackling something bigger: preventative, personalized longevity care. His new company, Lifespan MD, offers full-spectrum wellness, from VO₂ max testing to genetics, designed for people who want to feel as young as they look.

What if you could build a business around less screen time, not more?

That’s exactly what Corey Scholibo, co-founder and CEO of Dayo, is doing. Dayo is a digital wellness app that pays users $5 a day to stay off social media. Go over 30 minutes? You start losing money. Stay under? You save and spend on deals from brand partners who are tired of paying Meta.

“What happened was these companies made you the product—and not the product the product.” — Corey Scholibo

In this episode, he shares:

Why research shows 30 minutes of social media use is the tipping point for mental health
How Dayo turns wholesale brand partnerships into a rewards ecosystem
What CPG taught him about moving from ‘what people should want’ to ‘what they already do’

For founders building in health, tech, or consumer behavior: Dayo flips the ad model, rewires incentives, and puts attention back where it belongs…in the hands of the user.

Most wellness companies shy away from guarantees. Re:vitalize Weight Loss & Wellness built their business on one.

Dan LeMoine, Co-founder of Re:vitalize, offers every client a clear, measurable promise: real weight loss, fast, and sustainably.

“We typically guarantee a minimum of 20 lbs on our 40-day metabolic reset and weight loss program.” — Dan LeMoine

In this episode, he shares:

Why personalization drives better outcomes than prescriptions
How they support clients recovering from GLP-1 side effects
What it takes to stand behind a results-based promise

For founders, it's a bold reminder: if you can guarantee outcomes, you can build serious trust and scale with it.

After a heart attack or surgery, cardiac rehab can be the difference between recovery and readmission. But for a variety of reasons, 80% of patients never go.

RecoveryPlus.health was built to change that.

The company delivers virtual, insurance-covered cardiac rehab to patients in 47 states. They have live sessions, remote monitoring, and real human care, all from home. And the impact is impressive: their readmission rate is just 1.4%, compared to the national average of 25%.

On The Irresistible Factor, Co-founder and CEO Peter Niemi shares how they built it and why it works:

Compliance = success: When rehab fits into life, people stick with it. That’s why outcomes are better.
Real people, not bots: AI may help scale, but trained clinicians still drive care and connection.
Massive cost savings: A low-cost service that prevents high-cost ER visits and ICU stays.
Operational heavy lifting: Multi-state licensure, Medicare billing, and insurance compliance - 20% of their team handles just this.

Now serving over 2,000 active patients (and more than 5,000 total), RecoveryPlus is raising its next round to scale further. They are exploring group sessions, deeper tech integration, and targeted outreach to the ~1 million patients each year who need cardiac rehab but never get it.

Want to hear how Peter and his team are scaling a truly impactful healthcare model—without giving up the human touch? Listen to the full episode!

“When you stop managing symptoms and start solving root causes, everything changes.”

Most clinics treat symptoms. Dr. Clayton Skaggs built CIHP to solve root problems, and his results are drawing patients from around the world. Forget high-volume throughput. Skaggs’ model is unique, deliberate, and data-informed. Patients undergo hours-long assessments, build personalized protocols, and stay connected virtually without losing clinical quality.

“This isn’t about finding what’s flashy. It’s about finding what works, and doing only that.” – Dr. Clayton Skaggs

In an industry chasing speed, CIHP is betting on accuracy, and it’s paying off with better outcomes and a word-of-mouth growth engine.

He shares:

Why long-term outcomes require long-term thinking
What it means to build a model based on value, not volume
Why he wrote the book “The Power of Doing What Matters”
A peek into his new platform, the curious gap, where it all comes together.

Clayton also wants you to experience the first step he takes with all of his clients, a simple breathing journey.

Start it here, Breathing That Matters: Foundation atcuriousgap.com.

It's free to our listeners until June 30, 2025, with code TIF100.

“Nobody should have to choose between a paycheck and how they want to feed their baby,” she says.

Lisa Myers was a partner at a major law firm when she had her first baby. It was then she realized: there was no safe, discreet way to store breast milk at work. So she invented it.. That’s how a corporate lawyer became a founder and a savior for new moms. Soon after Lisa invented Ceres Chill, she left law to make sure her experience wasn’t the only option for new moms.

Instead of chasing VC, like many founders do, Lisa opened a Wefunder round to her passionate customers, raising $ 700 K+ from 516 investors who believed in the mission.

Now she’s facing a different challenge: Big brands with big money are replicating her patented design. But Ceres Chill has something they don’t: loyalty, purpose, and a founder who built it for life.

She shares:

• How crowdfunding helped her scale without compromise

• What it takes to compete against copycats with massive ad budgets

• Why product design should be led by the people who need it

Listen now to hear her inspiring story!

The data is clear: fewer doctors, growing populations, worse outcomes. The bottleneck? Primary care access.

In this episode, Alicia Ortiz explains how Duet is flipping the script, helping nurse practitioners launch independent practices in underserved communities, and pushing insurers to finally pay them what they're worth.

She shares:
• Why the physician-led model is unsustainable and how NPs fill the gap
• How Duet handles the operational complexity so NPs can focus on care
• The economic model behind pay parity and market viability

“There’s really no reason why we can’t have enough primary care providers out there. There’s plenty of people to do this.” – Alicia Ortiz

Whether you're solving for cost, equity, or scale, this is the frontline of health system reform.

Listen now. The care model is already changing. The market just has to catch up.

In a world that rewards quick fixes, Dr. Kamran Fallahpour is building something slower, but far more powerful.

As the founder of the Brain Resource Center and co-founder of Vital Neuro, Dr. Fallahpour is pioneering a neuroscience-first approach to emotional regulation, attention, cognitive performance, and longevity. His clinic on Manhattan’s Upper West Side blends quantitative EEG brain mapping, neurofeedback, and neuromodulation to help patients, from kids with ADHD to adults with PTSD, train their brains to function better.

This isn’t a theory. It’s personalized brain tech, grounded in decades of clinical and R&D experience, used by everyone from executives to stroke survivors. And unlike medication, these treatments don’t just manage symptoms—they rewire the brain.

In this episode, you'll hear:

Why traditional therapies often fall short—and what truly creates behavior change
How neurofeedback, brain-computer interfaces, and targeted stimulation retrain attention and emotion regulation
How Vital Neuro is making brain health accessible with app-connected neurotech that first responders and surgeons are already using
Why brain training could become the next fitness revolution—and what it means for longevity and cognitive decline
The role of neuro-responsive music in rewiring brain states in real time

If you're a founder, investor, or healthcare innovator curious about the next frontier in mental health and human performance, this conversation will expand your perspective.

Listen to the full episode of The Irresistible Factor with Dr. Kamran Fallahpour now.

After decades in traditional medicine, Dr. Nisha Chellam made a bold move: she left the system behind to practice in one that actually works.

In this week’s episode, we talk to Dr. Chellam about why she joined Parsley Health and what it’s like to stop managing decline and start building real health.

She shares:

Why most “preventive care” is just a marketing term and what true prevention looks like
How Parsley combines deep lab work, coaching, and 60-minute visits to flip the model
Why patients and doctors alike are burning out and how to reclaim your health or your practice

“We’re not building health. We’re managing decline.” – Dr. Nisha Chellam

Whether you’re building healthcare tech, investing in innovation, or just want care that actually helps you feel better, this conversation will shift how you think about the system we’ve inherited… and what it takes to build something better.

Listen now. This is the future of medicine—and it’s already happening.

When Mike Jafar founded Joya Health, it wasn’t just about skincare, it was about equity, prevention, and confidence.After 20 years of working with major aesthetic brands like Botox and Juvederm, Mike saw an industry full of innovation but out of reach for most people. Treatments were expensive, confusing, and hard to access—until now.

Together with VP of Product Ian Metz, the Joya team is changing how we think about skin. Not as a luxury, but as a vital part of our overall health, just like vision or dental. Their mission? Make top-tier skincare and preventive dermatology accessible to everyone through a first-of-its-kind employee benefit.

“Skin should be second or third to dental or vision in every benefit package in America.” — Mike Jafar, Founder & CEO

What Makes Joya So Special?

Prevention-first approach: You can’t even unlock your aesthetic benefits until you’ve had a skin cancer screening—putting health before beauty, without compromise.
Built for the benefits ecosystem: Joya works with employers, providers, brokers, and employees, navigating a complex web to deliver value to everyone involved.
Cultural shift meets generational demand: What was once stigmatized—Botox, facials, skincare routines, is now openly discussed across ages and genders. Joya is riding that wave, not pushing against it.
Transparent, people-first culture: Mike and Ian don’t just build software, they build trust. Radical honesty, shared ownership, and outcome-driven teamwork are at the core of how they operate.

“We built this company off of a feeling. We don’t care to sell a product—we want you to feel what good skin feels like.” — Mike Jafar, Founder & CEO

Whether it's helping detect melanoma early or making Botox more affordable,Joya Health is turning skincare into something essential, not extra. And they're doing it with humility, grit, and the kind of radical transparency most startups only pretend to embrace.

From personalized onboarding to partnerships with menopause and postpartum-focused care companies, Joya is scaling fast, and making skin a serious part of the wellness conversation.

For years, personalized longevity care (daily biomarker tracking, 1:1 coaching, and precision lifestyle plans) has been limited to those who can afford high-end concierge programs. But Samir Mitra, founder and CEO of Reya.ai, is working to change that.

Reya is building AI-powered coaching assistants that do the backend work of elite preventive care at a fraction of the cost. These digital agents don’t replace doctors or coaches; they augment them. The result? A scalable, accessible, and still deeply personalized model for delivering longevity science.

“Longevity today is a privileged space. But with AI handling many of the repetitive and administrative processes, we can expand access to the vast majority of people who are currently priced out.”
— Samir Mitra, Founder of Reya.ai

Why Reya Matters for Clinics and Wellness Centers

Reduce Operational BurdenAI automates wearables monitoring, biomarker interpretation, and habit nudges, freeing up valuable clinician time.
Enable Real-Time CoachingPatients no longer wait months for feedback. AI provides daily, dynamic insights to guide real-time behavior change.
Expand Access Without Adding HeadcountClinics can serve more patients across income levels by automating what was once manual, high-cost labor.
Keep the Human at the CenterReya enhances, not replaces, care teams. Practitioners focus on strategy and connection while AI handles the logistics.

The future of preventive care isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about giving them better tools. Reya is building that future. One where scalable, data-driven longevity care is no longer a luxury, but a standard.

Listen to the full conversation with Samir Mitra to hear how Reya is making this vision a reality.

They were $4.5 million in debt. Revenue had flatlined. And Patrick Sullivan Jr. and his father were seriously considering closing the doors on the supplement company they had built from scratch. That was Jigsaw Health in 2008—just three years after launching with 66 products, a handful of customers, and a vision the market wasn’t ready for.

“We probably would’ve been better off launching with one SKU and 66 email addresses,” Patrick says.

What turned things around wasn’t more innovation—it was restraint. They cut back on products, trimmed their team, and focused on what was working. Jigsaw’s turnaround came not from doing more, but from doing less—and doing it better.

Key decisions that helped them rebound:

They scaled back SKUs from over 100 to just the few with real traction, like their now best-selling sustained-release magnesium product, MagSRT.
They stopped chasing ineffective media—at one point, Jigsaw was spending over $100K/month on Facebook ads that weren’t converting. When they cut spending cold turkey, revenue kept rising and profitability soared.
They invested in brand storytelling, not just product marketing. With “Funny Friday” videos, social skits, and culture-driven campaigns, they turned content into connection and built trust through consistency and fun.
They leaned into niche tribes like the pickleball community, not just as a sales opportunity, but as authentic fans. That connection sparked new product lines, content formats, and customer evangelists.

Now, Jigsaw Health is producing not just supplements, but documentaries. Their latest project, Breaking Big Food, explores how the American food system went off the rails—and what it will take to fix it. It's a bold step that aligns perfectly with their brand’s mission: to challenge convention, educate through storytelling, and help people feel good—body and mind.

The lesson for other founders? You don’t scale by doing more. You scale by doing the right things—with clarity, consistency, and creativity.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re spotlighting a founder whose journey is as unexpected as it is inspiring. After years of working in high-stress environments at Vogue, Marie Claire, and Glamour, Suze Yalof Schwartz found peace—not in a pill or a retreat, but in a three-minute meditation that changed her life. That experience became the foundation for Unplug, the world’s first drop-in meditation studio, a top-rated mindfulness app, and a global teacher training program. To help more people experience the benefits of mindfulness, Suze is offering three months free on the Unplug app throughout May.

Suze’s mission was clear: make meditation accessible, modern, and easy to integrate into real life. What started as a single studio in Los Angeles quickly gained a cult following, inspiring the creation of the Unplug app, now used by people in over 100 countries. Today, Suze leads a movement that’s transforming stress into calm for everyone from Google employees to anxious college students.

Why Unplug Works:

Modern, no-fluff approach: No incense. No chanting. Just quick relief in under 10 minutes.
Studio-to-screen transformation: From in-person classes to a global app and live-streaming platform.
Built for the real world: Designed to help with pain, anxiety, sleep, productivity, and overwhelm.
Founder with media chops: Suze used her fashion and TV background to train teachers and build an experience that feels inspiring, not intimidating.

“Fashion is about outer beauty. Meditation is inner beauty.”
– Suze Yalof Schwartz

In a world that keeps us “plugged in” 24/7, Unplug offers something rare: a place to breathe. A space to reset. A tool you can turn to every day to feel grounded—even in chaos. And this month, Suze is offering three months free on the Unplug app to encourage more people to begin their own journey. Use this code to get your three months free. https://team.unplug.app/sign-up#TRYUNPLUG90

Visit unplug.com to learn more, or stop by the LA studio at 12401 Wilshire Blvd.

You’ve built something truly transformative. It delivers real results. Customers love it. But the market doesn’t get it... That’s the story behind Own It, the high-performance health platform founded by Justin Roethlingshoefer. Designed for executives and entrepreneurs, it’s part functional medicine, part performance coaching, part custom-formulated supplementation—all unified through one integrated team and system.

It’s powerful. It works. Retention is 94%. But early on, scaling was a struggle.

“We had the antidote to what people were suffering from,” Justin says. “But I didn’t know how to package it. Nobody knew what box to put us in.”

That’s the challenge with category-defying innovation: if your audience can’t instantly understand what problem you solve and why you're different, they move on. And no amount of clinical results or founder passion can fix that without a clear story.

Here’s what Own It had—but struggled to articulate:

A solution built for high-performing founders and execs who’ve deprioritized their health
A fully virtual coaching team: functional medicine, nutrition, fitness, therapy—all integrated
Daily communication and real-time adaptation to lifestyle, travel, stress, and goals
Deep testing at the cellular level—plus custom supplements, not stock vitamins
An experience designed to feel like a board of directors for your health
Quarterly in-person labs and community events that build accountability and connection

“People asked, ‘Are you fitness? Biohacking? Concierge care?’ We were none of them—and all of them.” Once Justin clarified the story, Own It began to scale. With his wife (former EVP at Christian Louboutin) as CEO, the company now serves over 1,500 clients with a team of 50+.

The takeaway for founders and investors:

The more innovative your offering, the harder you must work to simplify the story. It’s not about dumbing it down. It’s about meeting your audience where they are—so they can run toward what you’ve built.

Listen in as Justin unpacks the story behind scaling something the world didn’t know it needed.

Building a Culture of Fitness and Family: How GreatLIFE is redefining what it means to live well. And do it together.Nick Ovenden is proving that fitness can be a powerful vehicle for family connection and community change. By creating spaces where families grow stronger—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

As the president of GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness, Nick Ovenden is on a mission to help people live healthier, more purposeful lives—starting with his team. In this conversation, Nick shares how a conversation about how to make better use of conference room space at a golf club sparked the development of a vision to get families involved in fitness.

Some Key Takeaways from Our Conversation:

Kids Aren’t Sidelined- They’re IncludedRather than keeping children in a childcare room, GreatLIFE encourages active family zones where kids participate and learn in a dynamic environment.
Fitness As A Family ValueGreatLIFE's mission goes beyond memberships and workouts; it's about helping families stay healthy together. From youth sports to multi-generational fitness programs, their goal is to make wellness a family affair.
Creating Space for ConnectionWhether it's playing a round of golf together or taking a group fitness class, Nick believes shared experiences build stronger bonds. GreatLIFE is intentionally designed to encourage families to unplug, show up, and spend meaningful time together.
Wellness that Lasts a LifetimeNick’s leadership training emphasizes tools like DISC assessments, calendar management, and communication techniques to help individuals grow in every aspect of life.
Business with PurposeEven in tough seasons financially, Nick stands by the belief that investing in his team, not just profit, creates the only kind of success that matters.

Dr. Neil Correia left his traditional OB-GYN career in search of something medicine is definitely missing: time, connection, and true preventative care. Now as the founder of Nova Longevity Center, he’s leading a fast-growing movement of doctors rethinking what healthcare should look like—less rushed, less reactive, and more rooted in helping people feel like themselves again, and live not only longer, but healthier. So, whether you’re a provider looking to make a change or just curious about a new approach to medicine, Dr. Neil provides both insight and inspiration.

Some Key Takeaways from Our Conversation:

From Burnout to Balance: Exhausted by the demands of hospital life and longing for more time with family, Dr. Correia transitioned into functional and longevity medicine.
A Different Kind of Visit: Patients come in saying, “I’m not feeling like myself.” His focus: identify subtle root causes before they turn into disease.
Why Insurance Doesn’t Cut It: Most of his patients have insurance but pay out of pocket for deeper, longer visits. “Insurance is for catastrophes. This is about prevention.”
Smaller, Smarter Clinics: His goal is to build a network of small, high-impact clinics nationwide—personal, local, and rooted in real relationships.
The Data That Matters: Regular labs, body composition scans, and aggressive screening drive measurable outcomes.
Supplements & Compounding—Used Wisely: He vets every recommendation for safety, data, and value—no guesswork.
Advice to Clinicians: Start small. Do it on the side. Grow with intention. “You don’t have to leap—you just have to begin.”

Dr. Correia isn’t just reimagining the doctor-patient relationship—he’s proving that a better model exists. One where prevention is personalized, medicine is human again, and longevity isn’t about living forever—it’s about living well. His transparency around money, mindset, and patient care serves as an empowering reminder: it is possible to build a practice that prioritizes both people and sustainability.

In a world where the line between medicine, self-care, and aesthetics is rapidly blurring, Dr. Gregory Buford stands at the forefront. A board-certified plastic surgeon with a passion for holistic transformation, Dr. Buford joined The Irresistible Factor to share how plastic surgery—done right—is about far more than looks. It's about wellness, confidence, and living fully.

A Medical Journey Fueled by Art & Empathy

Dr. Buford knew he wanted to be a doctor by age four, but it wasn’t until he witnessed surgery firsthand that he fell in love with its precision and possibility.
Raised around art and creativity, he gravitated toward plastic surgery for its blend of science and self-expression.

A Wellness-First Approach to Aesthetics

Dr. Buford rejects the notion that aesthetic procedures are vain. Instead, he sees them as a form of self-restoration—especially for women whose bodies have changed due to pregnancy, weight loss, or aging.
His signature is natural-looking, confidence-boosting results—built on trust, honesty, and careful patient selection.
“Plastic surgery is the icing on the cake,” he says. “The patient’s inner fire is what really drives transformation.”

The Future of Wellness: Weight Loss, Hormones & Regeneration

His practice integrates GLP-1 medications like semaglutide, hormone optimization, and nutrition—addressing the root causes of body changes and confidence loss.
Dr. Buford is a strong voice for removing shame from weight struggles: “This isn’t about laziness. These tools help people do what they haven’t been able to on their own.”
He’s also invested in regenerative medicine, helping develop treatments that use the body’s own cells to heal, repair, and slow aging.

Final Thoughts: Wellness, Community, and Paying It Forward

Dr. Buford’s message is clear: wellness is personal. Whether through surgery, hormone balance, or aesthetic care, the goal is to help people feel whole, capable, and confident again. His advice? Find mentors, diversify your skills, and remember that true success means lifting others as you rise.

“Plastic surgery is more than a procedure—it’s a partnership in personal wellness.”

In an age where healthcare often feels rushed, impersonal, and overly bureaucratic, Dr. Sonya Kim has a powerful alternative. As the Chief Medical Officer at Best MD House Calls, Dr. Kim brings decades of experience in emergency medicine to a new (or old) kind of practice—one that’s deeply rooted in personalized, functional care. On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, she shares her extraordinary journey from opera singer to ER doctor to wellness pioneer, and why she believes the future of medicine lies in listening, not rushing.

Key Takeaways from the Interview:

From Stage to Stethoscope: Originally a trained opera singer, Dr. Kim shifted toward medicine after losing her voice during a performance—an experience that made her realize the fragility of a career based solely on the body.
ER to Entrepreneur: After years in emergency medicine, Dr. Kim left the traditional system, disillusioned by how broken it had become for both doctors and patients.
Functional Medicine & Longevity: She now runs a hybrid concierge practice combining house calls and telemedicine, focusing on gut health, hormone balance, and personalized wellness.
Medicine That Comes to You: Her house call model gives her access to patients’ real lives—their food, habits, and home environments—allowing for deeper understanding and more holistic care.
Listening as Medicine: Dr. Kim’s 90-minute intakes are as much about professional listening as they are diagnostics. Many patients open up in ways they never have before, simply because no one else has given them that space.
The Mindset Shift We Need: She believes the biggest challenge in healthcare isn't just systemic—it's psychological. Most people still wait until they’re sick to seek care, rather than investing in proactive health. She aims to change that!
Scaling a New Model: With an MBA from UC Berkeley and Columbia, Dr. Kim has a roadmap to scale her business, combining AI, health coaching, and physician leadership. What she needs now is the funding to make it available to more people.
Personal Inspiration: Her resilience and outlook were shaped early by her father, who taught her to always prioritize human connection and treat people well—a philosophy that guides every patient interaction.

When it comes to creativity in medicine, Dr. Phillip Miller has been at the forefront for over 30 year/ As a pioneer in longevity medicine, he has seen the field evolve, from being a niche area of study to becoming a mainstream pursuit. In our conversation, he shared his insights into how longevity medicine has changed, why ‘healthspan’ is just as important as lifespan, and what he believes is holding back the healthcare field today.
Key Takeaways from Dr. Miller:

Healthspan vs. Lifespan: It's not just about living longer; it’s about living healthier for as long as possible. The goal is to “square the curve,” maintaining optimal health well into later decades rather than experiencing a long decline.
Emergency Medicine as a training ground: Many longevity experts, including Dr. Miller, started in emergency medicine. Their ability to rapidly diagnose and solve problems across multiple disciplines makes them uniquely-suited this kind of practice.
The Rise of Weight Loss Medications: Dr. Miller is a strong proponent of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, seeing them as a revolutionary step forward in treating obesity, which has become an true epidemic.
Why People Struggle with Healthcare: Many people expect insurance to cover everything/ He encourages patients to shift their mindset from “What will insurance cover?” to “What am I willing to invest in my long-term health?”
A Unique Approach to Patient Care: Unlike the standard five-minute doctor visit, Dr. Miller’s unique approach lets him spend an hour with each patient, diving deep into their history, health goals, and even personal preferences—using five simple questions about their favorite book, magazine, place, person, and color to deeply understand their motivations and mindset.
Advice for Other Practitioners: For doctors frustrated by the constraints of insurance-driven medicine, Dr. Miller offers coaching to help them transition to a more patient-centered, independent model of care.

As the world of medicine continues to evolve, Dr. Miller’s approach remains focused on optimizing health and empowering patients to take control of their well-being.

What do astronauts and longevity seekers have in common? More than you’d think. Dr. Filippo Ongaro went from training astronauts at the European Space Agency to pioneering anti-aging medicine—before shifting gears to health coaching. Now, he’s on a mission to help people build science-backed habits for long-term wellness.

In this episode, Dr. Ongaro shares:
- How space medicine shaped his approach to longevity
- Why he transitioned from doctor to coach
- The neuroscience behind lasting health habits
- The challenges of making proactive health mainstream

From NASA to YouTube, discover how Dr. Ongaro is changing the future of health.

Healthcare is in desperate need of transformation, and Dr. Zaman Shah is leading the charge. As a practicing physician turned entrepreneur, he founded Medway—an AI-driven company designed to streamline healthcare operations, reduce physician burnout, and improve patient care.

In this episode, Dr. Shah shares how AI is tackling some of healthcare’s biggest challenges, from reducing administrative overload to improving patient outcomes. With doctors spending more time on paperwork than with patients, Medway’s AI scribe is changing the game—restoring the human connection in medicine.

We also dive into the future of AI in healthcare, the obstacles Medway is working to solve, and Dr. Shah’s advice for entrepreneurs looking to innovate in this space. AI isn’t here to replace doctors—it’s here to help them do what they do best: care for their patients.

How Medway is reducing physician burnout
The role of AI in preventing misdiagnoses and treatment delays
Why patient data security and engagement are crucial
Dr. Shah’s advice for healthcare tech entrepreneurs

Tune in to hear how AI is reshaping the future of medicine and why this is just the beginning!

Innovation often stems from personal challenges—and for Dr. Farnoush Fadavi (Dr. Fay) and Dr. Arash Aftabi (Dr. Artie), their journey from dental specialists to supplement entrepreneurs was fueled by resilience, passion, and a desire to help others.

In this episode, we dive into how a life-altering injury led Dr. Fay to discover the power of enzymes for recovery, sparking the creation of Bala Enzyme—a natural anti-inflammatory supplement now found in over 2,000 stores. From navigating the challenges of launching a CPG brand to overcoming barriers as a female founder, Dr. Fay and Dr. Artie share their biggest lessons, wins, and what’s next for Bala.

What You’ll Learn:
- How a traumatic injury shifted Dr. Fay’s career and led to the birth of Bala
- Why bromelain, papain, and turmeric are the key to Bala’s inflammation-fighting formula
- The challenges of launching a CPG brand—including fundraising hurdles for female founders
- Why educating consumers on natural supplements is crucial for long-term success
- How strategic sampling and retail expansion have fueled Bala’s growth

About Bala Enzyme:
Founded by two dental specialists, Bala Enzyme is a powdered supplement designed to reduce inflammation, support recovery, and promote gut health. Available in H-E-B, Bristol Farms, and Amazon, Bala is on a mission to become the natural alternative to ibuprofen.

Tune in now to hear their inspiring journey!

A 5 year milestone for Laurel Orley!

Starting a CPG brand is no small feat, and keeping it going is truly something to celebrate! Laurel Orley, founder of Daily Crunch, knows this firsthand. Before launching her brand, she spent years in corporate America working with major brands like Dove and Unilever. Her career in marketing provided an incredible foundation, yet she longed for something more personal. Her Aunt had been making sprouted nuts for years, and when the opportunity arose to turn those nuts into a real business, she took the leap, co-founding Daily Crunch in 2019. As the brand nears its five-year anniversary, Laurel reflects on the challenges and lessons that have shaped her journey.

Here's what you won't want to miss:

Here’s what you’ll take away from this episode:

Resilience is everything. The food industry is full of “no’s,” but Laurel’s approach? Keep pushing forward—two steps at a time.
Thick skin is a must. Not everyone will believe in your vision, and that’s okay. The key is knowing which feedback to take and which to tune out.
Messaging makes the difference. Health benefits matter, but taste and texture drive consumer love—something Laurel learned by staying in constant conversation with her audience.
The right team changes everything. Hiring seasoned pros and learning to delegate have been crucial for growth.
Airports became an unexpected win. Daily Crunch found a powerful. consumer base in travel hubs, proving that great placement can be anywhere.
Cold outreach works. A well-timed LinkedIn message helped bring in key investors.
Community is everything. Seeking out mentors and peer groups has made the journey less lonely and more rewarding.
Not all advice is good advice. Staying true to your brand’s core values is more important than chasing every trend.
Self-care isn’t optional. Burnout is real, and balance is the key to longevity.

Tune in as Laurel reflects on five years of lessons, grit, and growth—this is one you don’t want to miss!

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi talks with Josh Rogers, Founder and CEO of Ancient Drinks, to explore how he turned frustration with sugary sports drinks into a groundbreaking beverage brand inspired by history’s first hydration formulas. Drawing on his background in branding and product development, Josh reveals the challenges of launching a health-focused brand in the crowded beverage market and the unwavering tenacity it takes to stay true to a mission of integrity and innovation.

Josh shares his journey of creating Ancient Drinks, from brewing recipes in his kitchen that are rooted in real ancient health practices. With a clear focus on values and strategy, Josh dives into why starting with a strong brand foundation (a sometimes tough investment for a start-up) is absolutely critical. They also dig into how being a “polarizing” brand can help a brand stand out in a crowded category.

Tune in for a conversation packed with inspiration, expert advice, and actionable insights for aspiring CPG entrepreneurs.

Here’s what you won’t want to miss:

The importance of starting with a solid brand foundation to guide every decision
Just how important having a mission and staying true to it is, even when cost-cutting is tempting.
Josh’s insights on navigating the competitive beverage market and why not being a brand for everyone is key to success.
Ancient Drinks’ innovative plans for product expansion, including new SKUs, “Power Dust” powders, and customizable flavor boosters.
Josh’s advice for founders: Believe deeply in your vision, filter advice carefully, and focus on learning and scaling with purpose.

"The biggest challenge is really getting through these gatekeepers who don’t understand our culture."

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, I sit down with Bricia Lopez, Co-Founder of I Love Michelada, to explore her inspiring journey from growing up in her family’s Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles to building a thriving michelada brand. Raised in the restaurant business, Bricia was immersed in food culture from a young age, but it wasn’t until customers began requesting to buy the restaurant’s signature michelada mix that she saw an opportunity. Along with her brother, Fernando, she turned their family recipe into a business.

Bricia recounts how they went from filling tequila bottles with their homemade mix to launching I Love Michelada, now available in major retailers. In this conversation, she shares the challenges and triumphs of transitioning from restaurant owners to CPG entrepreneurs.

We dive into the obstacles Bricia faced, including navigating distribution hurdles, supply chain issues, and educating retailers on a product that was still unfamiliar to many. She also discusses her focus on expanding I Love Michelada’s offerings and building a strong community around the brand.

Here’s what you won’t want to miss:

How Bricia and Fernando transitioned from running a restaurant to building a CPG brand.
The importance of creating systems to support business growth.
Bricia’s vision for expanding I Love Michelada’s reach while staying true to its cultural roots.

Join us as Bricia offers valuable insights into building a brand that not only represents her culture but also brings the joy of micheladas to fans across the country!

"I wanted more in life, meaning a purpose. why am I getting up in the morning?"

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor I sit down with Kathrin Henon, Founder and CEO of Planet-Bake. Kathrin shares her unique journey from being in the fashion industry to launching a health-conscious dessert brand that offers sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan doughnuts.

Kathrin is no stranger to being a founder. Her journey kicked off in New York’s luxury fashion scene, where she launched her own label. But as the industry evolved and her passion for something more meaningful grew, she made a bold pivot to something else she loved, food. Spotting a chance to help local pastry chefs thrive, she created a marketplace to help them sell their creations.

When the pandemic struck, Kathrin’s business hit a wall. But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining, and from the challenges of the COVID shutdown, Planet-Baked was born.

In this episode, Kathrin shares her journey of bootstrapping and highlights how many entrepreneurs often overlook the critical step of understanding their profit margins from the start. We also discuss the challenges of starting a business, how her experience in fashion translates to her current role as a food founder, and her exciting plans for expanding Planet-Bake’s product line.

Here’s what you won't want to miss!

How Kathrin transitioned from fashion to food, using design skills to create dessert
How hands-on marketing and direct customer feedback drive the brand’s success
How Kathrin aims to expand into more nutrition-rich dessert options across the U.S

"My fascination with food was from a place of fear rather than love. It was obsessive, toxic, and stressful."

For many founders, their journey into entrepreneurship starts with passion, a great idea, or the dream of disrupting an industry. But for Ali Bonar, the founder and CEO of Oat Haus, it began with a deeply personal struggle—her battle with multiple eating disorders. Her journey of healing and rediscovery ultimately led her to create Oat Haus, the first-ever oat-based Granola Butter, which is now shaking up the food industry.

What began as a kitchen experiment in 2017 became a business in 2018 when Ali launched Oat Haus online. But it wasn’t just the unique product that set Oat Haus apart—it was Ali’s honest, raw storytelling. Openly sharing her recovery journey on Instagram, she connected deeply with others who had faced similar struggles, building an engaged and loyal community around her brand.

In this episode, Ali talks about the unconventional ways she reached out to retailers and investors, her view on the current state of influencer marketing, and how quick and limited flavor drops drive marketing. Kristi and Ali also talk about how being a founder can feel lonely and how Ali navigates prioritizing her mental health as an entrepreneur.

Not only is Ali an incredible entrepreneur, she is an inspiration and role model for many women. I can’t wait for you guys to hear this one!

You’ll also hear:

Why oats are the perfect neutral canvas for innovative flavors
How Oat Haus transitioned from DTC to major retailers like Whole Foods and Target
Ali’s business and personal goals for the next 5 years
What it means to create work-life balance
Why documenting your journey is a great idea

“I always say it’s kind of like building an airplane while it’s in the air.”

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor Whitney shares her inspiring journey of transitioning from a career in the fashion industry to launching a food brand driven by her family’s health needs. Despite her knack for baking, Whitney faced significant challenges in creating recipes that were keto, gluten-free, and sugar-free—and still delicious.

From failed test batches to finding the perfect ingredient combinations, Whitney discusses the trial and error of product development. She also highlights the strategic lessons learned from her fashion background and the complexities of scaling a food brand in a competitive market. Tune in for a candid conversation on perseverance, the value of CPG community, and the realities of building a better-for-you food company from the ground up.

We also touched on:
- What it means to build a foundation before scaling
- Challenges with cash flow and sustaining growth
- Her natural aversion to financials and how she’s overcoming it
- Why you shouldn’t be afraid to pivot and “shake things up”
- Where she envisions her products in the next 5-10 years

“Every night, I read everybody's testimonials without fail, and I've had them since the beginning of the business. That's where the rubber meets the road, where the customer is telling you—this is my experience.”

Andrew Salisbury transitioned from owning a software company to doing something he really cares deeply about, cultivating and selling pure, organic coffee with real health benefits. Most of us see coffee as an important kickstart our mornings or a quick pick-me-up during the day, but we rarely think about the incredible health benefits it can have. In fact, many of us feel guilty if we drink too much of it. But Andrew and Purity Coffee have a very different story to tell.

A while back, Andrew’s wife was having real issues with fatigue and he was determined to help her figure out why. She was a big coffee drinker and he wondered if there was any connection. He tried to convince her to drop the coffee and as any true coffee lover would do, she said a resounding “not without real evidence that this is a problem.” As he did his research, he found very contradictory stories. Some said coffee was bad for you and some said there were true health benefits. So Andrew got curious, some might say obsessed. He met with, and then collaborated with the Institute of Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt and one of the world’s leading coffee scientists to uncover the secrets of crafting the perfect, health-boosting cup of coffee.

That was the inspiration for Purity Coffee. And as you might imagine, creating a coffee brand around the idea of health was easier said than done. Making a truly healthy coffee involves a ton of complex factors around sourcing, growing and roasting. The good news is there are very few competitors due to the immense effort and risk, especially for farmers that need to eliminate pesticides. The bad news is, that means the story of healthy coffee really hasn’t been told and there is not only a lot of education to be done, but also a lot of myths to be busted. Andrew is actually hoping for more brands to enter the category to help legitimize it.

All that said, he’s off to an incredible start. Purity Coffee has thousands of glowing testimonials from consumers who truly feel better after switching to it, and impressive online sales.

In this episode, we discuss Andrew's journey in learning more about coffee, Purity’s production methods, and his approach to slow and steady growth.

We also explore:

-Starting on DTC to determine if you’re ready for retail

-Raising capital through crowdfunding

-The evolving coffee industry in the face of climate change

This episode is truly special, packed with invaluable insights. Make sure to listen all the way through.

“There are just not a lot of brands in the field that know what they're doing here. And I'm able to find products that work that i’m using in the clinic every single day. And instead of as a veterinarian gatekeeping those products, we share those products with pet parents and the public.”

Today, let's welcome the incredibly inspiring and high-spirited Zonram Liao, better known as Dr. Z – Founder and CEO of Wellnergy Pets. Not only does Dr. Z run his own successful veterinary practice, but he's also pioneering Wellnergy, over-the-counter solutions for pets with his innovative product line. He's a trailblazer in the industry as one of the the first licensed vets to venture into this space, and his mission is clear: to bring joy to pet parents, and reduce unnecessary vet visits. He also shares this enthusiasm on his socials, where he’s grown a very impressive following through really fun and engaging content around his clinic and his philosophy.

It is easy to pick up medicine for our kids at the pharmacy to ease their symptoms, so Dr. Z thought: why can't we do the same for our dogs when they have stomach issues or itchy skin? Vets are always backed up, and you shouldn’t have to wait for an appointment and watch your pets’ discomfort when you can pick something up. Over-the-counter medications for pets is a pent up consumer need, and Zonram’s products offer effective solutions and preventative supplements that make caring for pets easier and more convenient.

In this episode, we dive deep into Dr. Z’s fascinating journey, from the challenges he faced as a “Parachute kid” when his parents left him and his sister in the U.S. to work in Taiwan and China, to his heartfelt reason for becoming a vet. We also explore the highs and lows of launching a pet business in such a competitive market and so much more.

Tune in for an episode filled with inspiring stories, valuable insights, and a whole lot of passion for pets and their well-being. You won't want to miss it!

Here are some of the exciting topics we cover:

The trial-and-error process of starting a business from scratch
Navigating the 2021 iOS update that disrupted ad performance
His journey as an influencer and how he went from 6,000 to 84,000 followers by creating really exciting content every day
The benefits of participating in the SKU accelerator program

"I think humans are designed to solve problems. So I don't think those problems ever go away." - Kelsi Peterson

What a blast it was chatting with Kelsi Petterson and Cassandra Hume from Kelsi’s Kitchen today! These two amazing ladies are behind the most yummy and healthy chocolate bites, made from a raw food recipe. And they are also on a mission to support ALS research with every bite!

Kelsi’s journey into the raw food world started when she was just 12 years old. Inspired by her mom’s transformation after a health scare, she dove headfirst into a diet of fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds—no candy, zero! She even traveled to Puerto Rico and California with her mom to really learn about nutrition and gut health. That’s what inspired her to turn the classic chocolate bar into her raw food delights. Kelsi, sadly lost her mom to ALS at a very young age, but was determined to carry on her legacy through Kelsi’s Kitchen. She was already a CrossFit athlete and realized that she had a strong entrepreneurial spirit. That combo led her to found Kelsi’s Kitchen and to her Co-Founder, Cassandra.

They teamed up just a month after Kelsi’s mom passed and together, and they’re committed to building something incredible. They’ve faced a number of challenges along the way but as Kelsi said, humans are designed to solve problems and those never go away.

In this episode, Kelsi and Cassandra candidly share their journey from getting their first shelf space in stores, to Whole Foods Distribution to their upcoming launch in Sprouts!

Here are some of the great topics we cover:

Their experience with the SKU mentorship program for startups
Strategies they used to manage finances while building the brand
The advantages of founding a company with a partner

"Be a little patient. Don't be so quick to want to jump into raising a bunch of money without grinding through it a little bit to better understand it. That's okay."

Kristi is thrilled to have one of my favorite serial entrepreneurs back with us today: Jim Donnelly! As the former CEO and Co-Founder of Restore Hyperwellness, Jim knows a thing or two about the growing health and wellness industry. His journey has uncovered a huge need for more self-directed, comprehensive and most importantly, accessible health solutions. So say hello to Humanaut, clinics, focused on health optimization and medicine designed to increase longevity.

Currently, limited to the affluent few, Jim is on a mission to democratize holistic wellness and longevity medicine because he truly believes everyone deserves to live a happier and healthier life and that is hard to argue with.

As we get older, we all want to feel good, but more than that, we want to live longer. Good luck finding a doctor that looks at medicine from that perspective. Humanaut aims to change that. They’ll run all the tests, gather all the data and then create and monitor personalized plans for fitness, nutrition, sleep, stress, and cognitive health. Jim believes they may be able to add 20 good years of living to a person.

In today’s episode, Jim walks us through a patient’s journey at Humanaut and how it stands out from the current options which are pretty limited and very expensive. He’ll also dive into some tough societal health issues and how these can mess with our personal lives. On top of all of this valuable information, he’s also got advice for entrepreneurs, some heartwarming stories about his kids, and a whole lot more.

Here are some of the great topics covered:

How Jim further educated himself to launch Humanaut
His strategic decision to franchise Humanaut locations and the methodology behind it
Why choosing great partners is so important
The importance of setting clear priorities when running a business

Get ready for a great episode!

"We're entrepreneurs, we're fighters, and we persevere and get through it."

In this episode Rhona Kallman, Founder and CEO of Boston Harbor Distillery and creator of Demon Seed Whiskey talks about being one of the pioneer women in the alcohol industry.

Rhonda has spent most of her adult life in an industry still dominated by men. She started her journey co-founding the Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams, and then went on to start Boston Harbor Distillery. She talks about her love for whiskey, her entrepreneurial challenges, and the innovative spirit that drives her forward. Rhonda’s passion for whiskey inspired her to create Demon Seed Whiskey, a unique and distinguished brand.

Rhonda also lets us in on the challenges around choosing to pivot to whiskey after spending 25 years of her life learning about beer, and the difficulties of raising capital as a woman in a male dominated industry. (Did I forget to mention she was the first woman in the industry!?)

Rhonda’s story is a testament to innovation, resilience, and passion. This episode is a must listen for anyone interested in the craft spirits industry.

You’ll also hear:
-How Rhonda renovated a pre-Civil War building to house the distillery and uses it as an opportunity to get real-time customer feedback
-Insights into the challenges of getting products to market
-The importance of creativity and determination in the spirits industry

Connect with your customers and understand their needs, stay focused on your business model, and trust your gut while being open to advice. Patience and incremental changes are key to sustainable growth. Above all, stick to your vision!

This valuable advice from Andrew Pudalov, one of my favorite Podcast Guests, is what’s allowed him to achieve remarkable business growth.

2 years ago when Andrew made his first appearance on the podcast, he had 35 stores. Now, the privately held company has over 50 stores with plans to open 16 more this year.

In this episode, Andrew delves into their successful franchise model, which has driven their steady expansion. He discusses how to select excellent franchise partners and the importance of education and training. He also talks about his unwavering commitment to high-quality ingredients and the challenges that come along with that. For any entrepreneur thinking about franchising, this episode is a must-listen!

You’ll also hear:

Key strategies behind Rush Bowls' expansion while maintaining product quality.
Andrew's approach to managing both wholesale and franchise operations effectively.
The importance of selecting franchise owners with strong marketing skills.

“As a founder, you have to have a very strong core, you have to have a vision, and you have to stick to it.”

Kristi is excited to be joined by Emily Gilels, Founder and CEO of Dosa by DOSA on this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor.

During her travels to India, Emily discovered that Indian food in America was underrepresented. She felt a calling to bring the Indian food she knew and loved to America by opening her very first venture – Dosa Restaurants out of San Francisco, which later became a Michelin-rated farm-to-table restaurant group. Emily later transitioned to Dosa by DOSA, a natural CPG brand.

In this episode, Emily shares how Whole Foods reached out and asked to partner with the restaurant (a major win!). They did something very unique and co-opened a restaurant inside of Whole Foods and ultimately became their global hot bar supplier. As a result, they were able to build and launch a CPG brand around the needs and wants of the Whole Foods customer.

Emily talks about important lessons she learned along the way like why a big distribution partner should NOT be your first goal, and why she feels it’s smarter to look for regional distribution partners instead. Emily also talks about the importance of weeding through the tons of advice she’s been given and staying true to yourself and your vision as an entrepreneur.

If you're an entrepreneur in the CPG industry this episode is a MUST listen.

You’ll also hear:

How Emily plans to make Dosa by Dosa THE brand in America for fresh Indian food
How Emily made the transition from restaurant ventures to CPG

-How to find investors that are mission-driven

Why reflecting and spending time alone is the key to staying true to your vision as a founder

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is excited to sit down with Julie Cartwright, President of Pvolve, to share the journey of this groundbreaking fitness platform.

You may know that Pvolve is all about living better and busting the long ingrained idea that you have to push yourself to extremes (even at the expense of getting hurt) to feel like you’re getting a good enough workout. But what you may not know is that PVolve is so effective and works so well that Jennifer Aniston reached out to them because it changed her life so much. A brand dream come true right? Yes. Solution to every single challenge? Probably not. Pvolve is such a unique concept in a sea of constantly evolving fitness options, that there appears to be way more to being successful than having one of the most fit, famous and admired celebrities as the face of the brand.

Listen in to hear the story behind how the Founder Rachel Katzman fell in love with functional fitness at 23 years old while managing scoliosis, and all about the unique way Jennifer Aniston became involved. You’ll also get a sense of why even with this incredible stroke of good fortune, there are still challenges for the brand to overcome.

You’ll also hear:

The story behind Jennifer Aniston's management team reaching out to Pvolve
Their smart approach to collecting customer insights
The importance of clinical research in addition to customer reviews
How they go about educating their consumers

Meet the awesome Carol Frank, Founder and Managing Director of BirdsEye Advisory Group, and an absolute legend in the pet industry. Over the past 10 years, there has been an incredible change in the way we treat our pets. Most people seem to see our furry companions in the same light we see our children. And Carol has been at the forefront of the change.

After multiple career pivots, Carol eventually landed in investment banking in the pet industry. In this fascinating interview, she shares insights on how she vets brands and investors, investment criteria that her and her team look for, and the fascinating industry trends that are here to stay.

Carol believes that equity is the most expensive form of capital and talks about why founders should avoid raising capital until they can’t. Lastly, we discuss how being an all female-company has affected her business and everything to look forward to in the pet industry before the end of 2024.

You’ll also hear:

How the challenges of the pet industry have evolved
Her advice to founders on finding investors, raising capital and hiring
The inside scoop on what to look for in pet before the end of the year
What Carol and her team look for when deciding to invest in a company

I love the feeling of being both excited and scared. I want to live on that edge and I want to explore what that feels like and explore my limits…”

Today Kristi is joined by the incredible Ret Taylor, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ned. Ned’s mission is to help people feel and live better through the true power of nature. From full-spectrum hemp oils to their famous Mellö magnesium, they are taking supplements seriously.

In the summer of 2016, Ret reached a turning point, realizing that corporate America wasn’t where he belonged. He made the brave decision to trade in his BMW for a 4Runner and spend the next 50 days on his own in Colorado and Utah living and working outdoors. This coinciding with his mother’s battle with cancer was when he discovered his true purpose - to help others heal and thrive through nature.

In this episode, you’ll gain insight into the transparency and quality that form the cornerstones of the Ned brand. They also discuss how Ret and his Co-CEO are big believers in the power of teamwork, recognizing that they’re stronger as a duo, and how they’ve enlisted the help of a business coach to set up guidelines that help them complement each other's strengths. Additionally, they discuss what it means to live on the edge of what’s possible.

You’ll also hear:

Why being a Co-CEO requires him to leave his ego at the door and focus on collaboration
How the Farm to Ned program benefits farmers
The 3-30-3 approach Ned takes to educate consumers about their products
Different marketing buckets that the brand uses to “show not tell”
Where the friendly and approachable name for Ned came from

“The name of the game is who has the most grit. It’s not who’s the smartest in the room, it is not who has the best idea; it is who is just willing to get back up.”

Today Kristi is joined by the inspiring Jamie Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Innovative Pet Lab.

Innovative Pet Lab (IPL) is on a mission to empower pet parents with at-home testing and personalized solutions to help pets live longer and happier lives.

In this candid conversation, they talk about what it’s like to launch a wellness company in the fast-growing pet category. Jamie shares the highs and lows (and there are plenty of both) of launching a new product in a relatively unknown category. They not only have the challenge of creating awareness for their brand but also have to educate consumers on a whole new category.

They also discuss the balancing act of being a female, empathetic leader while also making the tough calls that all successful business owners need to make.

Jamie is the perfect combination of grit and grace. Don’t miss this one.

You'll also hear:

Her path to becoming a founder
The importance of wellness for pets too!
How and when Jamie knew that her business idea was viable and primed for longevity

Jamie is giving listeners 15% off any of their products with code “petday” through their website:

https://innovativepetlab.com/

Enjoy!

“The most difficult thing or the uphill push has always been that we are ahead of a trend – everywhere.”

Kristi is joined by Eva Maran of Shroomwell on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Shroomwell is a mushroom company at the core. They create functional products from the mushrooms they grow themselves on their farms in the very small country of Estonia. Shroomwell was a true pioneer of the medicinal mushroom craze and now their biggest challenge is staying ahead of the trends in this rapidly growing category.

**Eva talks about the incredible medicinal power of mushrooms and shares some really compelling (almost miraculous) stories of why the brand was started. She talks about their careful and methodical expansion into the US market and how important the education component is going to be.

Here’s what you won’t want to miss:

The truly incredible healing powers of their mushrooms
The products that have made a really positive impact and got Shroomwell launched
The importance of the form of the product to the efficacy
Which US store shelves make the most sense for them
The importance of finding partners who align with your vision**

“One of the superpowers of an entrepreneur is the ability to get hit in the face with a shovel and get up and go, ‘I’m okay, I’ve got this.’”

Today’s guest is David Spungen is a partner and wealth advisor at Corient, who happens to work with a lot of founders in the CPG business. He’s heard it all and isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to the challenges of being a founder. Especially in this financial climate.

David and Kristi talk through ALL the challenges of starting a food and bev company in the extremely oversaturated market and how to navigate raising in today’s tricky economy. They also talk about why market research is essential when starting a brand, alternatives to venture capital, and why resilience is imperative. We dig deep into the importance of recognizing your strengths and weaknesses as a founder and reaching out for support when you need it.

David also happens to have a fascinating story about how he wound up falling in love with food in the first place. It’s a must for foodies!

Here’s what you won’t want to miss from the conversation:

How David’s experience in a restaurant put on on this path
Navigating the oversaturated CPG market
Some of the biggest mistakes David has seen founders make
How David can help and the best time to reach out to him

“...the goal is no longer to be fearless. It's to be bold and courageous. When I feel fear, which is inevitable when you're launching something new and doing something outside your comfort zone, I want to be courageous in the face of fear.”

Kristi sits down with the incredibly inspiring Addison LaBonte - Founder and CEO of Sweet Addisons. Addison has one mission - to bring joy to people through her delicious better-for- you cookies. A tall order for an ambitious young lady.

In this episode, Addison tells the story of how a debilitating illness shifted her original goal of becoming a CFO in a big corporation to becoming an Instagram influencer turned brand founder. Addison launched Sweet Addison’s in January of 2024 (yep, just a couple of months ago!) And she already has plans about how she’ll scale and grow the business. For such a young founder she’s already faced quite a few challenges, which she shares with candor. She leaves us with insightful advice about how to take fear and turn it into courage. This is an episode you do not want to miss!

Here’s what you won’t want to miss:

How Addison managed to cure her ‘compartment syndrome’ by switching to a gluten-free lifestyle
The harmful effects of gluten (especially in the US)
What the day-to-day looks like at Sweet Addisons in their early stage
Her dream to pitch her business on Shark Tank
A sneak peek of her new flavor launching in March

“Challenges are opportunities. I mean, to me, I don’t see them as setbacks.” And talk about taking on challenges. This ambitious co-founder is on a mission to create a strong brand in what has become a highly commoditized category. Meryl Farr, Co-Founder and Owner of 4Sisters Rice intends to make rice the star of the plate. Meryl and her sisters are a family of farmers with deep roots in agriculture. Meryl credits her success to some truly harsh criticism from a Walmart buyer. That difficult meeting caused her to rethink the name and packaging of the product, and 4Sister’s Rice was born. Just in time for Covid. And as difficult as that was, it turned out to be lucky for them. They launched when staples like rice were flying off the shelves like toilet paper. They were meeting a need that they didn’t even know existed. Their distribution gains were fast and furious. They found themselves constantly pivoting to meet the demand of the market, the challenges of the supply, and the massive responsibility of keeping employees safe. Meryl’s inspiring attitude towards these challenges paved the way for the successful launch of 4Sisters Rice. Listen to her tell the story of the obstacles they faced, the importance of a positive mindset, what it’s like to work with her four sisters, and so much more! Here’s what you won’t want to miss from our conversation: - The story of how a meeting with a buyer at Walmart forced them to rethink their entire brand- A 30-day rebrand- Why tough critics are the key to success - What it’s like to be a woman in the male-dominated agriculture industry - The importance of supporting American farmers

“...I think for me, it’s just an expression of creativity, it’s an expression of innovation. I think that, like you said, there’s almost no choice. When you feel that passionate about something, there is no other option.

So, through building this company, I have done it very slowly, very intentionally.”Many founders start with the end goal of building a famous brand and/or a profitable one to sell. Today’s guest, Caitlin Cash, Founder of Kinship Milk Tea says it’s not about the end game. It’s about what she will learn, accomplish, and build during the exciting and challenging journey of starting her own brand.

Her inspiration for creating Kinship started while teaching English in Thailand. On her way to school, she would stop at 7-Eleven and grab herself a milk tea, something we didn’t have here in the States. After returning to Austin and looking for milk tea, she realized there was a need in the market. This episode covers everything from the story behind the name, the rationale behind intentionally slow growth and distribution, and the supportive nature of the CPG community. She also gives fantastic advice for aspiring entrepreneurs like why slow and steady wins the race and how to find creativity through entrepreneurship.

Embarking on a decade-long journey marked by triumphs in branding and relationship building, Danielle Kidney brings her wealth of experience to our conversation. As the Founder of the Creative Pack LLC, an agency specializing in early-stage Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands, Danielle distinguishes herself in a competitive landscape by infusing her agency with a relationship-focused and detail-oriented ethos.In our conversation, Danielle reflects on the dynamic shifts within the industry, especially in the wake of the post-pandemic era. Delving into the core of The Creative Pack's mission, Danielle offers founders advice that she has learned through her impressive 10 year background as a founder herself. Discover how Danielle believes that getting help and expertise from agencies can help a brand grow and take the right steps in their business. We get to hear why Danielle says getting branding right is so important even when brands don’t think they can spend the money. Gain insights into the challenges encountered by CPG brands and learn from the common missteps Danielle has keenly observed. This week’s podcast is full of amazing advice to learn from. Give it a listen.

Join me for this weeks podcast, where we explore the stories behind extraordinary brands and the communities that surround them. In this episode I had the pleasure of speaking with Megan Klein, the visionary Founder and CEO of Little Saints, a very special nonalcoholic cocktail brand with the added benefit of functional mushrooms..Megan shares the inspiration behind Little Saints, a venture born out of a desire to spread the love of nature and her desire to have a truly great alcohol alternative. She takes us through the meticulous process of creating the brand, from conceptualization to deciding what to make and how to market it.

This week I got to re-interview Taylor Grant, the Co-Founder of Tribini Ready-to-Drink espresso martinis.We spoke last year in August when they were just about to launch and I’m excited to share the story of their first 18 months in business.In this episode, you’ll get to hear about what it was like to start a brand in a challenging category (aren’t they all?). Taylor and his team had a very clear vision on how the brand was going to launch (DTC) and what their path to success and profitability was and as expected, it wasn’t what they expected.They were quickly forced to either Pivot or give up. I’m sure you know they didn’t give up and the story of how they handled the initial disappointment and subsequent shifts is filled with valuable learnings and lots of inspiration.Don't miss hearing Taylor talk about• The Pivot from DTC to having to find their own distribution• How and when they decided they needed to expand their team• What jobs a founder should really expect to do• Why a little friendly competition is actually a good thing.I am excited to share the optimism and openness which appear to be part of Taylor’s DNA.Have a listen.

Joining us today on The Irresistible Factor is Lori Levine, CEO and Co-Founder of Scott’s Protein Balls. In this episode, Lori tells her inspiring story about how her struggle with breast cancer in 2017 led to her launching a brand. After conquering breast cancer, she realized that it was time to regain control of what she ate and how she took care of herself. At age 52 she was determined to get into the best shape of her life. Her nutritionist called the protein bar aisle “the walk of shame” as they are packed with sugar, soy, and preservatives. That caused Lori and her husband Scott to look for an alternative snack. Lori wanted a quick grab-and-go snack that was as nutritious as it was and tasty. Her husband Scott started experimenting with recipes that were clean, low in sugar, and delicious – all the things that protein bars weren’t. In this episode you’ll hear how Scott’s Protein Balls grew from a family snack to a thriving brand. This episode will give you hope and also perspective. You’ll also hear: How to keep a positive mindset through the highs and lows and turning hardships into opportunitiesTheir partnership with the Breast Cancer Research FoundationThe challenges and rewards of finding the right employees that are aligned with your mission

Welcome to another episode of The Irresistible Factor. Today, we are joined by one of the most special guests I've had on the show. Ava Faustini is the 14-year-old founder of 1023 Gelato. Ava’s story is beyond incredible. She started the brand as we were coming out of COVID because her parents told her she needed to get out and do something. Most 12-year-olds would have found friends to hang out with, but not this inspiring young lady. She decided to start a brand of dairy-free gelato. Find out what inspired her and how she navigates the challenging start-up CPG world, all while being a full-time student and varsity athlete. This episode is jam-packed with incredibly inspirational pearls of wisdom from a remarkable young woman, who proves you start a business at any age. You’ll also hear: • What inspired Ava to start her business at such a young age• What kind of help her family provides• The most exciting and challenging aspects of being a 14-year-old entrepreneur• How Ava manages her time with her business and school schedules • Ava’s advice for other founders

“I do believe [that] you’re [only] as limited as you think you are.”This short yet powerful quote is from today’s incredibly inspiring guest, Alan Cohen, the Founder and CEO of Kokomio - the coconut beverage unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Alan is a powerful entrepreneur and an incredible human being whose values serve his business and family. I’m not exaggerating when I say after our interview, you’ll feel like you’ve just been through an awesome and inspiring therapy session! Alan speaks a lot about our internal dialogue and how it can be extremely limiting and keep us from living up to our full potential. Alan talks about how to push past the negative thoughts, how to turn problems into opportunity, and how leaning into vulnerability and discomfort can pave the way for incredible growth opportunities. We also discuss what inspired him to found Kokomio and what sets the brand apart from others in the category. I promise you won’t want to miss this one because his words of wisdom are so profound that you’re bound to want more! You’ll get amazing business advice and also invaluable life advice. In this episode you’ll hear: -The importance of your internal dialogue and why how you view yourself will determine your fate -How to change your perspective and see problems as opportunities -Why Alan never says no to an opportunity -How being grateful and treating people with respect and love can translate into your own success

Revolutionizing the non-alcoholic beverage world, our guest today is blazing through this niche market with a quality product and an incredible tenacity. You’ll want to hear this interview with Molly Fedick, the Founder of Buzzkill Wines, on this episode of The Irresistible Factor.Molly shares her journey in creating a non-alcoholic wine for those who love the experience and taste of drinking without the consequences. In our conversation, she opens up about her path to becoming a founder, her experiences in fundraising, and her beliefs on the current trend of holding onto your cash at all costs. Molly talks candidly about her lack of experience and when that helped and hurt her on the journey to creating a successful brand.She also talks about the significant challenges she faced, including navigating capital raising as a woman entrepreneur.Be sure not to miss out on this insightful episode. Start listening now!In this episode you’ll hear:How Molly went from working in the tech start-up world at Hinge to becoming a CPG entrepreneurThe importance of being vulnerable and talking openly about your challenges Setting rules and boundaries as a founderHow she approaches marketing

In this episode, you’ll meet Luigi Marulo, one of the men behind the most delicious, premium pasta brands I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried them all)! I had the pleasure of meeting Luigi at the Fancy Food show in New York. After recording this podcast episode with him, Luigi invited me to visit his pasta factory in Naples, Italy and it turned out to be one of the most profound experiences this crazy job has led me to. Before the podcast, I decided to try Marulo pasta for myself. I was initially a bit skeptical of its premium price, however, I was quickly won over by the taste and texture. Luigi attributes the excellence of their pasta to their use of ancient superior durum wheat, 100% Italian ingredients, and meticulous artisanal drying processes. And all of that is true. I saw it with my own eyes. The factory was pristine and organized and the ingredients and the process were beautiful. But what truly sets Pastifico Marulo apart is the love and passion that go into every step of the process. Every detail of the process and every ingredient they use has been carefully considered and was beautifully explained on our tour. There is a respect for the food, the land, and the meal, that I don’t know if most would appreciate without hearing it straight from Luigi.After the tour, Luigi treated my daughter and I to a delightful lunch at his family’s beach club where we sampled incredible pasta dishes. Luigi generously offered to drive us back to Naples where we were staying, with 8 boxes of pasta in tow. That pasta was carried by hand on 6 trains and one plane from Naples to Cinque Terre and then to Milan before making its way to my home. I learned a lot that day, but I felt even more. Many people say you have to “try it” to really get it. That has never felt more true to me. Yes, This is a blog about a founder. And also, a thank you for the reminders about what matters in our industry and more importantly, our lives.

“I don't ask any more for permission, I'd rather just apologize after.”This is the motto of our extraordinary and energetic guest on this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Joseph Zeppilli, the ultimate rule breaker. Joseph’s knack for bending the rules, getting creative, and thinking way outside the box has catapulted his company, Bad Monkey Popcorn, into a nationally recognized brand in an astonishingly short timeframe.Joseph admits there may be better products out there, but he knows no one else has a brand quite like theirs.Listen to hear about the insane risk they took on the show Dragons’ Den (the Canadian version of Shark Tank) and why after they got an incredible offer, they turned it down! Learn about the crazy tactics they employed to get their product into the mouths of consumers, how he scored an incredible partnership with Disney, and the creative marketing strategy behind avoiding the snack aisle.This episode is filled with amazing stories, tons of passion, and invaluable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.In this episode you’ll hear:- How Joseph went from a successful job in finance to selling popcorn to teenagers at music festivals‌- The story of how they closed a deal on Dragons’ Den before they even auditioned‌- Why they give away thousands of bags away daily across 5 countries‌- The challenges and benefits that come with partnering with Disney

Most conventional wisdom would say not to line-extend too soon and certainly not to extend to other categories without a highly successful product launch. But Katina Mountanos, the CEO of Kosterina, chose her own path.Katina started with a single sourced, high quality Greek olive oil and quickly added other flavors, a line of balsamic vinegars and truly delicious fruit flavored vinegars. But that wasn’t enough for her. Her vision, to create a healthy lifestyle brand with olive oil as the star, in the U.S., mirrors her experience in Greece. That vision quickly led her to add skin care products to a relatively new brand. So what made her believe it was going to work?Her inspiration was observing her friends and family in Greece. They stay out late, eat good food, and have a glass of wine every night at dinner and are healthy and happy. In contrast, her American friends resort to extreme diets and intense workouts. She knew there was a real opportunity to bring this lifestyle to the U.S. market.Listen to hear more about her journey and find out how she’s managed through the operation complexities, the naysayers, and the uncharted territories of bringing her vision to life. You’ll hear about: How she gets consumers to buy multiple products when she hasn’t completely scaled her hero olive oil line. Getting the right distribution with multiple skus. The challenge of educating consumers across multiple platforms and categories.. This is an episode you won’t want to miss! Use code “Irresistible Factor” for 15% off through Kosterina’s website. I’m literally obsessed with their stuff - I know you’ll be too!

Imagine you finally take that leap, buy a company, and days later, your entire factory burns down, and you lose everything. That happened to today’s incredible guest, and it didn’t stop him.

Join us for an inspiring episode of The Irresistible Factor as we delve into the remarkable journey of Tony Rivas and his brand Chifles, one of the world’s oldest Hispanic snack brands.

Tony’s long relationship with Chifles started because his father (a Cuban immigrant) was a distributor for Chifles. Eventually, Tony had the opportunity to acquire the brand he loved from the original founders.

Only four months after the acquisition, a devastating fire destroyed the company’s only factory.

Tony quickly lost everything he and his father had worked so hard for. But Tony never thought about giving up. In this riveting interview, he reveals that the fire turned out to be a blessing in disguise, prompting a positive shift in their business model that would redefine success.

In this episode, you’ll also hear:

How he overcame an unforeseeable event that would have caused most to give up
Challenges Chifles is facing as it expands to new regions
How Tony manages to keep their velocities consistent as the company grows.
Valuable advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Don’t miss this extraordinary episode, where Tony shares his incredible journey of resilience and growth!

“I always like to say that [Nuts for Cheese] was a really happy accident. I don't think I knew what I was getting into. I'm glad I didn't because it's been an amazing journey.”

Kristi is thrilled to have Margaret Coons, Founder and CEO of Nuts for Cheese, on the latest episode of The Irresistible Factor. Nuts for Cheese is a premium vegan cheese brand that sells really high quality products ranging from cheeses and butters to their newest addition, cream cheese spreads.

Margaret was only 24 when she founded her company at a local farmer’s market in London, Ontario. She was an English major with a love for vegan cooking, and despite lacking any business experience, she dove headfirst into building her dream venture. Being unaware of the full spectrum of challenges that come with starting a business can make it easier to make the scary leap to founder. Margaret thinks that naïveté combined with her unique viewpoint might have been a good thing.

What Margaret did understand was hard work. After long days at her restaurant job, she’d go home, grab her cashews, and bring them back to the restaurant kitchen, where she’d perfect her cheeses until 4 in the morning! She never dreamt that her brand would become a nationwide sensation that is now sold in over 4,000 stores across North America. It just goes to show that passion and determination can lead to incredible accomplishments.

In this episode Margaret explains how they managed 50% year over year growth with ZERO funding. Margaret talks about the challenges she’s experienced thus far like education marketing, cash flow, being a woman in business, and her fear of public speaking.

Margaret also shares some words of wisdom for founders at the beginning of their journey, like the importance of surrounding yourself with great advisors, how to block out the noise, and the significance of authenticity. From raising capital, to social media, to goals for the future, and so much more. This episode has it all so be sure to tune in now!

Starting a business is no easy feat. We hear a lot about people’s success stories, but not enough about their intense challenges and failures, and more importantly, the invaluable lessons they have learned.

On Today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi’s guest August Vega bravely opens up about the struggles she faced with the very well-known company she founded, MALK Organics. Being a first-time entrepreneur, she quickly learned that it was an intense, cut-throat industry that required a lot of money to stay in a level playing field.

August talks about the many challenges of being a leader in the CPG food space like fundraising and the intense competition. When the pandemic hit, it became almost too much for her to handle. Their fundraise was overdue, their books were in bad shape, and every single day was about survival. After eight challenging years, August made the brave decision to leave MALK Organics to prioritize caring for her child over caring for the business.

August felt like she really needed to evaluate what was truly important and meaningful in her life. And for her, caring for her child took priority over the business, so she made the difficult but necessary decision to walk away completely. Since August decided to leave, she has paved a new and exciting life for herself that she is far happier with.

Today, August is talking about the valuable lessons she learned from MALK Organics and how she is continuing to kick ass in the food and beverage world. She is a board member at Miyoko’s Creamery and a Fractional CEO of MommaStrong, a fitness app designed to help you be healthy and reach your goals realistically. Although things didn’t work out with MALK, August took the invaluable lessons she learned through starting her company and paved a new path for herself that is far more fulfilling.

Tuning in, you’ll hear about her abundant career in the food and bev industry, and how she keeps things exciting with her multifaceted and unlimited career interests. Stick around to the end where she shares some wise words of advice for business owners just starting out about having a good team, being financially disciplined, and trusting your gut. You don’t want to miss out on this one!

Today Kristi is joined by the incredible and inspiring Nina Tickaradze on today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. Today is World Refugee Day, and Kristi is honored to have had the opportunity to talk to Nina about her inspiring mission and is thrilled to have this podcast air on such a special day.

Nina is the founder of NADI, an all-natural, organic, delicious drink made with rosehip from her native country of Georgia. Nina’s real reason for starting her company was her mission to assist displaced Georgian refugees by providing them with employment opportunities to help them get back on their feet. Through the launch of NADI, Nina has helped hundreds of families rebuild their lives through her business and continues to make a profound impact on the lives of so many refugees.

It was important, especially to Nina, for this blog and podcast to drop today as it is World Refugee Day, an important reminder of the urgent need to address the very real struggle of refugees around the world.

Nina’s mission behind this brand was driven by her genuine desire to create jobs for refugees rather than promoting a product, although she does have a really awesome juice with so many health benefits. In a world that can seem to have lost its way at times, Nina serves as a crucial testament to inherent goodness that still exists. She reminds us that when people unite to support each other, the impact can be truly transformative.

In today’s episode you’ll hear all about Nina’s awesome journey, all while keeping a very important full-time job (yes, you read that right!). She also shares how they managed to pivot after realizing who their real customers are, and why she is committed to having a relationship with every single distributor. Lastly, she tells us about the importance of a truly supportive community of entrepreneurs.

This inspiring episode is full of goodness and passion and serves as a gentle reminder that there is always opportunity to make an impact.

“We’re not family-friendly, you can’t say the word vagina and so we fought very hard to push through those, those boundaries and just a few weeks ago actually had a billboard in Time Square run that said, “We love healthy vaginas” and that was a really big one for us…”

This is an episode Kristi is really excited about they talk about the challenges of marketing a subject matter that not everyone is comfortable talking about - women’s sexual health. Today, she is joined by Monica Cepak, the CMO of Wisp, a women’s healthcare company. Wisp is the largest provider of sexual and reproductive tele help services in the country, offering everything from same-day prescriptions for common vaginal infections to more taboo subjects like various forms of contraception and medication abortion services where it’s legal.

With the current state of reproductive rights, taboo words, and a lack of access and awareness, women’s health can be a very difficult sphere to navigate, especially as a business. Monica passionately delves into the dynamic landscape of women's health and reproductive care and tells us how she is fearlessly navigating the polarizing topics of women's sexual health. She unveils the intricate challenges that lie within advertising in this category, all while competing with big pharmaceutical companies with massive budgets. She also talks about how their creative work uses humor to cut through the noise of tough subject matters. Monica leaves us with Wisp’s long-term goals envisioning revolutionary breakthroughs in the realm of female sexual pleasure and exploring verticals such as fertility, post-partum, and menopause.

To all of our female listeners, I strongly encourage you to listen to this important and thought-provoking episode, and share with your female friends!

“We’ve had some opportunities in places that we had to say, “You know what? Not yet.” You know, we’ll come back in a few years when we’re ready to make that step because we want to make sure that we can support our customers and that you know, their customers are seeking a product like ours, right?”Today on the Irresistible Factor Podcast, Kristi is joined by Claudio LoCascio, the CEO and President of Mochidoki. Mochidoki has been around for about seven years, looking to elevate the mochi ice cream experience. Mochidoki makes premium ice cream-filled mochi that is portion-controlled, low-calorie, and easily made vegan. Their diverse flavors range from black sesame to vegan leche to habanero chocolate (yum!). Not only do they taste amazing, but they look gorgeous too.During their conversation, Claudio tells us how before he joined the team, they were growing predominately through food service. His job was to take the brand to the next level and make it a consumer-facing household name. We dig into the challenges of being in multiple different channels– like supply chain logistics, varying cost structures and separate marketing strategies. And of course, he leaves us with some crucial entrepreneurial advice – make time to manage your emotions and celebrate your wins.This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

“I knew I wanted to meet farmers as often as I could. I wanted to learn from them, and I wanted to buy cocoa beans directly from them without a broker, without a distributor. I've done that in every bean buy I've ever made in the last 16 years.” Kristi is honored to have Shawn Askinosie as a guest on this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. Shawn quit his prosperous job as a criminal defense lawyer to follow his passion of making chocolate from scratch. His passion led him to invest his life savings into starting one of the first craft chocolate companies in the U.S. - Askinosie Chocolate. Shawn tells us about his transformative experience in the Amazon learning about bean-to-bar-chocolate and how it inspired the way he sources his beans (directly from smallholder farmers). He explains that working closely with cocoa farmers is what really sparked his passion. In this episode, Shawn shows us that you don’t need to have it all figured out before you can use your company to do good for others. Askinosie Chocolate has funded millions of school lunches for children in need, started a charity in Tanzania, and put thousands of kids through their Chocolate University Program. Additionally, Shawn explains the importance of understanding where you are with cash flow every week, putting together an advisory board, and why as an entrepreneur, you need to have some level of of humility. Tune in to hear all about Shawn’s inspiring journey and the heart behind his mission.

“We’re four years in and we have consistently been acting as if we are way further ahead than we are. We’ve just been caught up in internal growth which is really unhealthy when you’re not seeing commercial success and when you don’t even know if you have product market fit, who’s your customers. “Today’s guest, Sorosh Tavakoli, has big dreams of reducing the world’s carbon footprint and putting an end to climate change. When he decided he wanted to start another company, he knew that he wanted the business model to be fully aligned with that goal. This led him to start Stockeld Dreamery, a brand of vegan cheese that currently features a plant-based cream cheese. Interestingly, even though they only have distribution in 2 bagel shops in NYC, Sorosh managed to raise quite a bit of capital before the economy caused the capital raising belt to tighten. Being in the very early stages of the business, Sorosh tells us about the challenges of starting a company and speaks incredibly frankly about their biggest mistake so far – raising too much early capital growing the company prematurely. At the moment, Stockeld Dreamery is a relatively big team with a very small distribution footprint. Sorosh talks about his plans to navigate this imbalance. Tune in for Sorosh’s advice for entrepreneurs wanting to start plant-based brands and learn all about one of the newest (and most delicious) entries in sustainable plant-based cheese!

In honor of all of Kristi’s new subscribers, she is bringing back one of her most dynamic interviews, Nick Saltarelli, the Co-Founder of Mid-Day Squares. Nick was one of our very first guests and since that conversation, his company has grown tremendously. Today, Mid-Day Squares is selling around 50,000 bars per day and is number 1 in their category! Have a listen and there’s no way you won’t be inspired by what he has to say and more importantly, what his team has been able to achieve in a relatively short time. There is also tons of great advice for entrepreneurs. Here’s a little bit of his story: In our conversation, Nick shared how he is building his chocolate empire at lightning speed and working his way toward his goal of $100 million in revenue. "When you go into ultra-competitive saturated markets,” he told me, “it's harder to fuck up than going after niche markets, but — here’s the big caveat — it requires real innovation. You cannot go into a saturated market without having a product that’s 10x better than everything else.” Nick and Kristi dive into some of the disruptive things he’s doing in the category and some of the valuable lessons he learned from his previous entrepreneurial ventures. This is a must-listen if you want to hear tips and tricks on what it takes to build a brand of the future.

“…The world doesn’t need more stuff. Better packaging or a prettier can is not an answer, it’s not a solution. What is the problem that currently exists in the world that your product is solving? That should be number one.”On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is thrilled to be joined by powerhouse Alison Cayne, CEO and Founder of Haven’s Kitchen. Alison’s passion for sustainability and cooking led her to open her own cooking school in the Flatiron district of New York, Haven’s Kitchen. Haven’s Kitchen aimed to make cooking less stressful and more enjoyable, and quickly became one of the most beloved cooking schools in NYC. Shortly after, Alison realized she could reach a larger audience by selling her popular sauces in pouches.While not an easy undertaking, Alison saw a need and Haven’s Kitchen went from a cooking school to a brand-new category of fresh sauces that is now a staple in many homes. Alison’s incredible sauces elevate any home cooked meal, including flavors like herby chimichurri, gingery miso, and red pepper romesco.Alison tells us about how she got national Whole Foods distribution the very first week of the pandemic, and how her key mission has driven her company to major successes. Alison also speaks about the many challenges she faces every day while producing a fresh product. Lastly, she goes into detail about her belief that finding a group of people who truly love your product is far more important than going viral on TikTok. This episode is packed with amazing advice for early-stage founders. Don’t miss out!

"What we don’t need is more sustainable Doritos. We need total transformative solutions and this is a mechanism that I think can do that, and that’s why I’m running in this direction because we need to do it.”In this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, we welcome Outlaw Ventures CEO, Anthony Corsaro. Anthony tells us about how his autoimmune disease and his upbringing in a fresh produce family distribution business led him to his passion of using food as a tool to improve the well-being of ourselves and our planet. Anthony recently started his own venture fund and is investing in early-stage food and agriculture businesses. In this episode, we talk about how he started Outlaw Ventures, and why he believes the best way to do anything in life is to just start doing it, and learn along the way.Anthony tells us how he evaluates prospective brand partners, his challenges around raising capital, and how he is navigating the daunting task of finding a partner that complements his own skill sets. We also talk about why founders are being asked to show more profitability upfront, and the importance of “trifurcating” things when evaluating the potential success of a business by analyzing the investment, the business, and the team separately. Lastly, we talk about Anthony’s thoughts on controlled farming, synthesized proteins, and the successes and failures of the plant-based movement. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

“The growth that we’ve had and the response we’ve had to Chia Smash really speaks to the fact that I think consumers and grocery store buyers have really been looking for innovation in this category.”Today’s guests on The Irresistible Factor have quite an unusual brand development story, with their product evolving naturally from a home recipe to a side hustle, and ultimately a serious (and successful!) full-time business.Anna Peck and Steve Ford are the Co-Founders of the superfood jam brand, Chia Smash, which is categorically (excuse the pun) disrupting its category. Chia Smash is the first of its kind – made with only 4 simple ingredients, naturally sweetened with dates, and packed with superfoods. It is the only jam with no added sugar or preservatives and if that wasn’t enough, they are upcycled certified.In this episode, we learn about the origin of the brand and how Chia Smash was first developed in their very own kitchen. Anna and Steve tell us about their fundraising journey, budget-friendly marketing strategies, and the importance of making your product by hand at first if possible. Lastly, we hear about what resulted in their efficient scale-up as well as their plans to expand. Tune in to hear much more of this couple’s inspiring entrepreneurial journey!

On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is joined by Kimmi Wernli. Kimmi is the President and Owner of The Crazy Richard's Peanut Butter Company, and her passion for peanuts runs deep! Growing up, she saw firsthand how their family business created incredible products from the humble peanut. From candied nuts to healthy spreads, there was something for everyone. In addition to her dedication to the peanut, Kimmi is also a passionate advocate for peanut farmers and serves as a U.S. peanut ambassador for the National Peanut Board.In today’s conversation, we hear from Kimmi about why she is so excited to talk about peanuts as a sustainable product, and the wonderful developments she has seen in the health food industry over the past decade. Kimmi unpacks her decision to merge her father’s two brands (Krema and Crazy Richard’s), despite the many difficulties inherent to this process.Kimmi also shares some of the biggest challenges the company has had to overcome during her tenure, including the hacking of their social media accounts and a major supply chain issue. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on business, health foods, sustainability, and the importance of aligning your business with your core values!

Today on the Irresistible Factor, Kristi has an incredibly inspiring guest, Kenshiro Uki, president of North America and Europe of one of her new favorite companies, Sun Noodle Ramen. Sun Noodle makes easy-to-prepare (at home), fresh Ramen. Kenshiro is on a mission to bridge the cultures of Japan and the U.S. by in essence, creating a new category, restaurant quality Ramen at home. Kenshiro’s father started the Sun Noodle brand 42 years ago on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii after moving there from Japan. The brand started by serving premium noodles to the best ramen restaurants and chefs throughout Hawaii, and have since worked with the best ramen shops in the food service industry. The brand has just recently expanded into the CPG world by creating fresh ramen kits so that people can create a truly amazing bowl of ramen they can enjoy in their own home.Kenshiro talks about some of their awesome collaborations with iron chef Morimoto and chef David Chang of Momofuku, and why collabs like this can be a win-win for everyone involved. Kenshiro also tells us about the challenges of transitioning from food service into a consumer brand. He shares some of the incredible advice he’s gotten from mentors and thought partners that were critical to his success. One of Kristi’s favorite pieces of advice is around the opportunity a negative customer experience can be, if you handle it right. This episode is a must-listen with tons of advice every entrepreneur should hear. Lastly, if you are a Ramen lover and haven’t tried this product, you’re going to want to get your hands on this one!

“[Bachan’s] instantly filled that purpose bucket for me. I had really big ambitions and I wanted to show my daughters what can be done in this life if you're passionate about something and you work really hard for it.”On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, you’ll hear the story of how a multi-generational family recipe turned into a national brand that grew from 1.5 million in revenue to 6.5 million in just about a year! Justin Gill is the Founder and CEO of Bachan’s, a Japanese barbeque sauce brand with flavors such as hot and spicy and yuzu.Bachan is a Japanese American term of endearment for grandmother. Justin named his company after his own Bachan, who taught him how to make the sauce when he was a kid. Justin and his family would make big batches of the sauce and pass out bottles of it to clients in their family’s landscape business, making it “a local legend”. Everyone loved it so much that he knew one day he had to bring it to the market.Justin talks about the importance of their ingredients and the tough conversation that could have taken him down, but instead fueled his commitment to his incredibly high standards as their tagline proclaims: “Our ingredients matter.” We also spend time digging into his latest challenge, transitioning from operator to CEO, and his careful, thoughtful innovation process. He shares Kristi’s belief that over-innovating and distributing too quickly is dangerous for brands.Tune in to hear more about Justin’s incredible story of the already soaring Japanese Barbecue Sauce that is Bachan’s!

“You just sit down and you’re like, “Why am I doing this?” and then there’s other times where you understand the overall mission and you are creating jobs and you are feeding families and you’re doing something that’s so much greater than whatever problem is on your screen, right? I think that that’s an important framework …”Kristi is delighted to have David Habib, Founder and CEO of Yo Mama’s Foods on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Yo Mama’s is a brand on a mission to bring people delicious, healthy food made with only the ingredients mom has in her pantry. His claim to fame started with a delicious tomato sauce, and now includes a variety of pasta sauce flavors, along with salad dressings and other condiments like ranch, ketchup, and buffalo sauce.David took the ultimate risk-founding a company with no prior experience or knowledge of the CPG industry. He learned quickly (and sometimes expensively) but through the process, was able to find the right people and the right partners that believed in him and supported his brand. You’ll hear what motivated him to take the plunge and leave his corporate job to launch a business at only 24 years old, and his difficult yet exciting journey thus far. David tells us about challenges around finding manufacturers who believed in the brand, why they now own all of their supplier relationships, and how they have managed to build the right economics and infrastructure to create sustainable long-term growth all without any outside funding. Stick around until the end to hear the tools David uses to cope with the stresses of being an entrepreneur, and why he believes it is so important to build creative time into your schedule. Tune in to hear all of this and more from an inspiring young guest!

“Something that I think any company can do better on, is creating that kind of performance culture around always looking to maximize and optimize. That only happens if you’re getting feedback on your work.”On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is sitting down with Colin Schilling, the Co-Founder and CEO of Schilling Cider. Schilling Cider is the second largest producer of cider in the nation by volume, but that isn’t their biggest claim to fame. What really makes Schilling stand out from its competitors is its commitment to sustainability and a people-first company culture.Colin quit his first (and only) corporate job after less than six months to start producing the very first canned cider in the United States. Over the past ten years, they have failed fast, made some big pivots and seen huge success.In this episode, Colin shares the story of Schilling Cider, from making beverages for fun on his family’s farm during his childhood, to creating a successful company with culture that is best-in-class. Colin shares the mistakes he’s made with distributing too broadly early on, and some lessons he has learned along the way. Even more interestingly, Colin also shares why he is actively trying to slow down growth and take a breath – yes, you heard that right! Schilling Cider is doing things differently from almost everyone else in the beverage space; tune in to hear how!

“...Only create a company if you're creating a solution to a problem that exists, but the solution doesn't already exist. It's really difficult for investors to get excited if what you're bringing to the market is already out there, and it's only slightly different.” Kristi is thrilled to be joined by Steve Molino, Principal of Clear Current Capital on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Clear Current Capital is a publicly funded, specialized venture capital firm making early-stage growth and impact investments in the US plant-based food and cell-cultivated meat space.Steve joins us to discuss the importance of innovation in the plant-based space, the exciting applications of precision fermentation, and the power of brand storytelling. He also offers some insight into the kinds of companies that Clear Current Capital invests in and shares his thoughts on what makes a great founder.With prior experience at leading mission-driven venture capital firms, as well as in the financial services and strategy consulting spaces, Steve has a wealth of expertise to share. Be sure to tune in to learn more about how Steve and Clear Current Capital are catalyzing sustainable change in the food system and how you can play a part in driving that mission forward.

“I was dismayed at the low-quality, unsafe, ugly products in the pet industry, particularly compared to [other consumer categories]. So, I set out on a mission to create a premium lifestyle brand for pets.”Kristi is excited to be talking to Zel Crampton, Founder and CEO of Diggs on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Zel is an industry leader in the pet space and is best known for his award-winning Revol Dog Crate.Inspired by his love for dogs and dismayed by the poor quality, unsafe, and unappealing products available, Zel set out to create a premium lifestyle brand for pets focused on thoughtful design and innovation – think Yeti for pets! Diggs started with their famous dog crate, and have since built a lifestyle brand around it, now offering products like leashes, dog carriers, and crate training aids.In this episode, Zel shares his experience with Kickstarter and why he believes it’s more of a market-testing tool than a fundraising tool. We also discuss the importance of focusing on the quality of your product, and the benefits of qualitative versus quantitative research. Tune in to receive some key insights and advice from the founder of one of the fastest-growing brands in the pet product industry.

“When you look at the underlying root causes of poor health, diet-related diseases make up over 75% of that. So why aren’t we addressing the problem at the source: diet?”Kristi had a blast talking to Samantha Citro Alexander – Co-Founder of Bitewell on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Samantha’s mission is to revolutionize the way we think about food by providing access and information about healthy and nutritious food to as many people as possible. Bitewell provides companies and their employees a way to encourage healthier eating (and ultimately better health) through personalized eating plans and insurance subsidies for doing so. Through the Bitewell app employees can order food from a large selection of meals that benefit their individual health needs.Kristi and Samantha talk in depth about things like the benefits employers will reap by making their employees' health a priority. They also talk about the truly individualized process they’ve created, and most importantly how they had to change their business model in order to survive!Samantha has incredible energy and a positive attitude towards challenges and stresses she (and most entrepreneurs) encounter, the biggest of which was a complete shift in their original business model which started as a direct to consumer play. Samantha also gives excellent advice to founders about how not to be their own worst enemy and why it is critical to delegate the things you’re best at (yes, you read that right).

“My goal is for [Pippy Sips] to become the status quo and that women expect something sleek, reliable, and safe for their breastmilk storage and cooling.”Kristi is pumped to be speaking to a friend of hers, Amberlee Venti on this episode of the Irresistible Factor. Amberlee is the Co-Founder and CEO of a FemTech brand that Kristi loves, Pippy Sips. Their mission is to create products that make pumping easier and more accessible to all breastfeeders. Their flagship product, “Maia” is an award-winning storing, cooling, and monitoring device for breastmilk.As a brand that just recently launched, Amberlee shares what her journey has looked like over the past five years to get to where she is today, and how the SKU accelerator program (which is where Amberlee and I met) supported her through the pre-launch phase. We also discuss Amberlee’s experience as a female founder in FemTech, and she provides advice for navigating a male-dominated industry. If you’re a female founder looking for some guidance, this one’s for you!

Kristi is thrilled to speak to David Delcourt on today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. David’s approach to entrepreneurship is to create everyday magic in people’s lives. Through problem-solving, passion, and curiosity, David has founded various companies, the latest two of which he is currently running full time; Seed Ranch Flavor Co., a brand that carries delicious sauces and seasonings, and Grown As, a vegan mac and cheese brand. Alongside the flavor magic of Seed Ranch hot sauce or a Grown As mac and cheese, consumers have the added benefit of knowing that these products have both health and environmental benefits. Every product is 100% plant-based and made with real ingredients.Tune into this episode to hear David’s challenges in scaling two brands simultaneously, the ways in which the brands overlap, and how they are turning their customers into their tribe. David also shares some valuable advice for entrepreneurs that is a first on this podcast, like how to attain emotional balance, and the importance of starting a Roth IRA. Don’t miss out!

“Everyone is branding themselves proudly as a better-for-you brand and that confused us. We want to be a genuinely good-for-you brand.”On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is sitting down with passionate foodie and health and wellness entrepreneur, Austin Patry. Austin is the Co-Founder of Rollin’ n’ Bowlin’ and Realsy. Austin, along with his business partner Sophia, found themselves rolling around TCU’s campus serving açai bowls in a food truck, which inspired their business name: Rollin’ n Bowlin’. Shortly after they got their first brick-and-mortar on TCU’s campus, and now they currently have locations on eight college campuses. During COVID, when they weren’t able to make any revenue from their on-campus locations, Austin took the opportunity to expand the business and started to launch in grocery stores, DTC, and even launched a whole new product, Realsy - packaged dates filled with nut butter. Listen in as Austin shares how he entered the CPG world and scaled his new business, Realsy, with the help of SKU. He also talks about how they found investors and raised capital to support their dream of providing people with healthy and nutrient-dense foods. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

“I had no expertise. Everything I know about [CPG], I learned in the past few years, but what I had was a desire to bring this community together so they would help each other. That was where it all started.”Kristi has a very special guest on today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DFW CPG, Richard Riccardi. In this episode, Richard and Kristi speak about the importance of building a robust community of collaborators and champions.Richard is an early-stage food company board member, investor, and active mentor and connector in the Dallas and Austin CPG communities. Richard has a great passion for people, food, and businesses, and he invests capital and more importantly, his own resources into early-stage food and beverage companies.While most entrepreneurs focus on building a community of shoppers, Richard believes that a community of like-minded founders is equally important because he believes that no one succeeds alone. Join Kristi and Richard as they discuss how to develop meaningful relationships with mentors and advisory board members, and the ways that you can benefit from joining a local community like DFW CPG. This is an informative and highly valuable episode for CPG founders and anyone in the food and beverage industry, so be sure to tune in!

“We feel doing events helps drive the product to a broader audience, but also builds that lifestyle around the brand. We're building that persona of what it means to be a Popadelics consumer.”Marilyn Yang, the Co-Founder and CEO of Fun-Gal Snacks (the parent company of Popadelics) is doing things a little differently – on a mission to create not only a CPG brand, but also a lifestyle brand.On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Marilyn and Kristi talk about why she has decided to take an untraditional approach to starting Popadelics. Marilyn launched Popadelics in April of this year, alongside her life partner and business partner, Mike Casali. They were two mushroom lovers who desperately wanted to find a mushroom chip during the pandemic.Marilyn did not want to raise outside capital. She was determined to fund the company herself in order to retain full control over her vision. But she did need support, that’s where Rodeo CPG (a favorit Irresistible Factor Guest) came in. Marilyn tells us how Rodeo, a start-up CPG consultancy was instrumental in bringing their flavors to life, and supporting them with R&D and supply chain manufacturing.Tune in for some unconventional advice you won’t want to miss!

“We looked into what it would take for us to work with one of the incumbent wholesale traditional distributors that are dominating the space for Natural Foods distribution and CPG. It was just a nightmare ahead of us. There was no transparency, everybody we talked to said it was a necessary evil if we wanted to scale nationally, but they're going to squeeze you for every dollar that you're worth.”Kristi is thrilled to be joined by Larissa Russell, Co-Founder and CEO of Pod Foods, on this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Larissa and her Kickstarter cookie company were among hundreds of thousands of emerging brands that were trying to reach their consumers in retail, but had hit a major roadblock – it was obvious that the wholesale distribution system was not set up for brands like hers and many others.So instead of pursuing their original brand, Larissa and her Co-Founder set off to create something entirely different, a new model for distribution – Pod Foods. Pod Foods facilitates retail management for smaller brands by getting rid of the middle man and providing an online platform for the B2B marketplace, allowing small businesses to have more control over their distribution. You’ll hear how Pod Foods manages a brand's position in the marketplace, helps with end-to-end logistics, and provides radical transparency to help brands make decisions while cultivating good relationships. Growing a CPG business is no easy feat but Pod Foods aims to make it easier, smoother, and maybe even more enjoyable!

“Of course, you have to fight for your right. Beastie Boys said that, right? You got to fight for your right every single day. I think the people who rest on their laurels, die, especially in consumer because it is so competitive. And if you found something that works, there's going to be 10 people after that the next year or 20 the year after that, and so on and so forth.”Joining us today on The Irresistible Factor is Daina Trout – passionate nutritionist, Co-Founder and Chief Mission Officer of one of my favorite brands, Health-Ade Kombucha. When Daina met her husband, he was told he had to be on medicine for life due to extreme gut issues. Daina was able to heal him entirely with a daily fermented food. Daina quickly learned about the power of fermented foods, specifically, Kombucha. This is what inspired Daina to start Health-Ade alongside her husband and best friend, Vanessa. Their goal was to create the highest quality, best tasting, and most functional kombucha in the market. Today, even among 200 (most of them new) kombucha brands, Health-Ade remains at the top. Daina talks about how every single small decision she made about the brand was intentional (the name, the shape of the bottle, etc.) and has kept them relevant and desirable in a now extremely saturated market. Daina also emphasizes the importance of being aware of competition, but remaining authentic and true to your brand's values as a formula for success and keeping consumers engaged. Tune in for some valuable advice from a pioneer in the health and wellness world.

“We're seeing a massive increase in consumers' desires to seek out sustainable products when they're shopping — we're appealing to this new consumer that's not just seeking something that's good for them, but it's also good for the planet.”Joining Kristi today on The Irresistible Factor is the CEO and Co-founder of Riff, Paul Evers. Riff is a purpose driven brand of cold-brewed coffee and energy drinks with an incredible focus on sustainability.Paul talks about their new and exciting energy drink – Riff Energy Plus – the very first carbon-neutral energy drink in the country. Riff Energy Plus is brewed from cascara – the fruity pulp that surrounds the coffee bean that is turned into upcycled fruit juice concentrate. (yes, coffee is actually a fruit!) Paul and Kristi discuss the massive challenges of being a newcomer in the energy drink industry and the distribution challenges that come along with that. They also discuss their very unique approach to raising capital. Stick around to the end to hear some important business advice from Paul. “Nothing incredible comes to bear if it isn't working against conventional wisdom and broad assumptions.” When you’re done listening, head over to letsriff.com and check out Riff Energy Plus! Paul is giving our listeners a generous 25% off your first order by using the code “irresistible” at checkout.

“...Our packaging has to be really on point and say exactly what we do and then the shortest amount of time possible, so we’ve worked really hard on that too. We’ve tried to make our packaging extremely clear, concise, and persuasive so that for that split second when you have a consumer up near the register and sees your product, they know exactly what it does.Kristi is delighted to be joined by the CEO of More Labs, Josh Groff, on Today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. More Labs is a dietary supplements company that makes small shot-sized drinks to elevate your daily performance. Josh talks all about their first and most popular Sku, Morning Recovery; a liver detox supplement that helps to neutralize the toxins in your body, keeping you feeling fresh the next day after drinking.Josh joined More Labs three and a half years ago and has brought tons of knowledge and experience to the table. Josh has been in the beverage business for 17 years working with both big and small brands, and has experience in everything from finance to marketing, to sales, and management.Josh and Kristi discuss More Labs’ move to retail, and how they’re growing by showcasing their products at events, concerts, resorts, and hotels. They also talk about the challenge of regulations around using the word “hangover” on their packaging, and how they were able to refine and tweak their messaging to be wildly clear and concise in order to get their message across.

“We want to keep things close to home, we want to have oversight over the franchise locations as if they were corporate locations. We’re a small brand, we’re growing fast. Each door that opens is a subset of our brand and we’re going to treat it like it’s our own.”Kristi is thrilled to be joined by Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue, Micha Magid, on today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. Mighty Quinn’s is an authentic barbecue restaurant that likes to keep things old school, while sourcing the best quality ingredients. Mighty Quinn’s started as a corporate-owned brick-and-mortar brand in the East Village of New York City, and has since grown into a reputable franchise, and a category leader in fast casual barbeque.Micha speaks about how in just 6 years, Mighty Quinn’s has expanded to be an international brand with national media presence and features in the Food Network and the New York Times. Kristi and Micha dive into the many elements of their business that led to their success, and why it is important to know who you are, play to your strengths, and “stay in your own lane”. They also talk about the CPG side of things, and how Micha and his team are leaning into this new exciting opportunity to get their barbeque sauces and rubs on the shelves of retailers.

“What we try to do is work with entrepreneurs to create a good ‘moment’ of force to help them with these early stages of being an entrepreneur and a founder. [It’s] not an easy journey and it’s nice to have a partner to be able to go through it with them. That’s what I aspire to do.” On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is excited to be joined by Clint Chao, Co-Founder of Moment Ventures; an early-stage technology venture capital firm based out of Palo Alto, California. Moment Ventures invests in companies and entrepreneurs who are building next-generation technology solutions to help with things like distribution, logistics and managing, and getting products on the shelves of a wide range of retailers. One of the innovative companies Moment Ventures has invested in is Pod Foods. Pod Foods uses software technology to help early-stage brands with the challenging process of distribution. They are now helping thousands of brands get on store shelves through cutting-edge software. Clint tells us about his vision to reimagine work across every industry (including food and CPG) through the use of technology, and some of the exciting transformations he hopes to see over the course of the next decade. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

Founded in 2005, NuFACE is the global leader in at-home microcurrent beauty devices and skincare products. With 17 years of driving expertise in microcurrent technology, the brand has seen consistent growth and in 2021 surpassed $150 million in retail sales. Yet they still have to keep reinventing themselves.In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi sits down with CEO Jessica Hanson and Co-Founder Tera Peterson to talk about the highs and lows of steering a female-led family business with such a deep history. They take a look at the brand’s focus on education, innovation, and community and find out how Jessica and Tera are approaching some of the unique challenges that come with the territory in the emerging beauty tech space. Through category-defining products, proven results, endorsements from skincare professionals, and celebrity clientele, NuFACE has gained a growing base of loyal customers.If you want to know more about the value of partnership, user-driven innovation, and utilizing social media platforms to market and educate consumers, you won’t want to miss this inspiring conversation with NuFACE executive powerhouses, Jessica Hanson and Tera Peterson.“We don’t look outside. We only look at ourselves. Yes, we know what everybody else is doing, just because it’s fascinating, [but we] don’t base innovation off of what they’re doing.”

Movements take time, especially when they’re taking place in an industry as large and as broken as the U.S. healthcare system.Hint Health is focused on supporting the direct primary care movement. They’re on a mission to help dismantle the insurance fee-for-service infrastructure and replace it with a model that provides as many people as possible with access to high-quality and affordable healthcare. Hint Health supports doctors that don’t accept insurance through the technology and tools they need to be successful.In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Zak shares with us his journey that led him to the healthcare industry and ultimately co-founding Hint Health. He speaks about the approach to entrepreneurship which has allowed his business to thrive, and what has kept him motivated to persevere despite the many hurdles that come with a goal as gigantic as changing our broken healthcare system.“Direct primary care is really like a Toyota. It’s a fantastic value. It’s solid. It’s awesome. I think that’s where, if you can get this for $50 a month, or $60 a month, or $70 a month, that’s pretty affordable. Especially if you’re saving more than that elsewhere, because you’re now reorganizing the rest of the plan around this type of care model. To me, the scale comes from affordability and quality.”

Do you really know what’s in your pet’s food?On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor I am joined by Haley Russell, the Founder and CEO of Chippin Pet. Haley has set out to disrupt the pet food industry. She launched a brand of high quality pet nutrition that is powered by planet friendly protein (think insects, invasive species, and algae). She started with treats and is about to launch food.“When it comes to pet nutrition, I couldn’t find something that was high quality, tasty, and better for the planet, so I decided to make it.”Haley’s inherent entrepreneurial qualities combined with her high degree of consciousness around food led her to create this incredibly innovative brand. Chippin isn’t just another pet food brand; it’s a brand that is revolutionizing an industry in desperate need of disruption, while also benefiting the planet.Haley and I discuss how she determined what ingredients are the best sources of protein for our pets, how she educates pet owners, and how she’s going about creating awareness. We also talk about the importance of testing your product and making sure it is exactly right before going all in.

“My goal is to really know how we can provide something that everyone can benefit from; from the insights, from the technology and services.”Kristi is excited to be joined by Sherry Zhang, Molecular Biologist and Founder of GenoPalate, on this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor. GenoPalate is a leading data-driven personalized nutrition platform that utilizes genetic and non-genetic information factors that are important to an individual's metabolic health. Sherry is paving the way to change the way people approach their own health, by spreading awareness of this new, individualistic approach to nutrition. “...Until several years back, there wasn't a way to link your own genetic code, your personalized nutritional needs, with your health through food. That's kind of the problem we're trying to solve.”Sherry and Kristi talk about why a one size fits all approach to solving an individual’s health concerns doesn’t work and why personalized nutrition is the way of the future. We also talk about how advanced science and technology differentiates them from other testing services.

“Don't ever start a food business that you're not insanely passionate about. Because [nothing is] going to justify the hours and the difficulty that you're going to go through starting a food business and building a food business if you're not super passionate about it.”Today’s guest is incredibly passionate about health, sustainability, and delicious lobster! Ben Conniff is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Luke’s Lobster, an incredible chain of lobster shacks and a grocery line dedicated to producing traceable, sustainable seafood.Twelve and a half years ago, Ben met his business partner, Luke, on Craigslist while looking for a restaurant job. Luke was working in finance, but had previously been a lobsterman and was passionate about starting a Maine-Style lobster shack in New York. Ben was immediately all in and they opened their first restaurant only 30 days later.Their goal for the business was simple: make amazing food, treat people well, and enjoy themselves. They did just that and more.. Ben believes it is the real story of Luke and his family’s background in the lobster industry that created the high levels of trust and transparency among their consumers, and of course the delicious lobster, that led to their customers wanting more and more.Kristi and Ben dive into their rapid restaurant expansion and their decision to start a grocery line. We also talk about the importance of educating the consumer and why sustainability is critically important for any new business.“It is a situation where if you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, particularly if you're in the food industry.”

“Doubt and fear creep in every single day and you have to block it out, you have to manage it, you have to tackle it because if you think you can, you really can. And if you think you can’t, then you can’t.”

Kristi is thrilled to be sharing this inspiring podcast with Ashley Thompson, Co-Founder and CEO of Mush in this episode of The Irresistible Factor. Mush is a brand of plant-based ready to eat overnight oats that come in a variety of flavors like chocolate, coffee coconut (my favorite), peanut butter, and many more.

Ashley went from working in finance in a beautiful office on Wall Street to literally pitching tents and selling overnight oats at farmers markets in Southern California. She is a strong believer in what you eat impacts how you feel, think, and do, and she wanted to tackle a major problem – our physical and mental health in the U.S. Ashley knew she wanted to create a brand that created accessible healthy food.

Ashley is all about mindset. She never stopped to think about why it may not work, in fact, she thought there was no way this can’t be done. And she was right, mush now has distribution in 11,000 doors with iconic retailers like Whole Foods and Costco.

Ashley and Kristi discuss how the business has grown and changed, the challenges of scaling the company, and her approach to investments and boot-strapping. She also talks about the importance of growth and building a solid company before getting carried away with innovation, and the importance of using your resources wisely.

“It’s amazing that harnessing creativity in content and messaging is really powerful and using common sense when it comes to spending resources and marketing. Those are two of the biggest takeaways I’ve learned in the journey of trying to get the product off the shelf.”

If [you’re] seeing something is not working, don’t just cross your fingers and hope it is going to change. Get up, turn, keep going.”

Kristi is so excited to be joined by Margaret Wishingrad, Co-Founder and CEO of Three Wishes – a better-for-you cereal brand. Margaret and her husband own an advertising agency in NYC which inspired her to create her own brand. Margaret saw a true need in the market for a healthier cereal option. There were 3 things (wishes) she wanted to change about cereal – high protein, low in sugar, and gluten and grain free.

In today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Margaret shares how she believes having a delicious product is the most important part of a successful brand. Margaret spent 2 years developing her product to make sure it was absolutely perfect before launching by getting lots of people involved in taste testing her product – in fact, during Covid, she actually did drive through taste tests from her driveway!

“Good branding can only get you so far, but the product and what’s inside is really the key.”

Building a brand is never easy, but if you’ve identified a problem worth solving and you stick to your mission, it pays off. Margaret has some fascinating insights into the challenges of having a brand versus working on a brand and shares some of the lessons she’s learned along the way. Margret shares tips on getting retailers invested in your product, successfully running an omnichannel business, and how to always be a few steps ahead! Most importantly, how to push through challenges, and never give up!

“Never give up. Eventually, it pays off.”

“Numbers are the backbone of a company, whether you know it or not.”

If you’re starting a business, you know finances are more important now than ever before. That is why Kristi is so excited to share this interview with Vincent Biscaye of Step Two Advisors. Vincent started his career in investment banking as a commodity trader. He then took a leap of faith and became an entrepreneur, leading him to eventually start his own consulting firm – Step Two. Step Two offers affordable help to CPG start-ups in business planning, finances, investor relations, and fundraising.

Vincent is also a Co-Founder of BeyondSKU New York – a northeast accelerator for CPG brands, where brands work with mentors who are experts in their field. Vincent and the BeyondSKU team are dedicated to helping start-ups thrive, as evidenced by having graduated 16 companies!

In this episode, Kristi and Vincent talk about his transition from a finance life to that of an entrepreneur, and just how important having a solid financial plan is for a successful brand. They also talk about the power of mentorship and advice.

“If founders can understand the word, not the word but the power to really calculate that runway, I think, and constantly re-evaluating their runway, if you’re ahead of that, you're going to really put all the chances on your side.”

“Why food, beverage, and CPGs? Because it's tangible, it's something that's a part of everyday life. It's something that people get a lot of joy out of.”

On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi Bridges has a very special guest, Taylor Grant. Taylor is not only the Founder and General Partner of Cedar Capital, but he is also the Founder and CEO of Tribini – a ready to drink espresso martini company.

When Taylor worked in finance, he started angel investing in products he believed in and immediately fell in love with the CPG industry. He claims he “caught the bug”. Taylor didn’t want to just invest, he wanted to add value. In 2020, Taylor discovered the world of venture syndicates and realized there was a white space in the CPG world, so he decided to fill it. Cedar Capital combines the investment side and the marketing side of growing a successful business.

Shortly after he founded Cedar Capital, he founded Tribini, a ready to drink line of espresso martinis. Covid sparked the development of ready to drink cocktails and Taylor knew it was time to hop on board! Tribini offers mixologist-quality cocktails made with only the best ingredients.

“I really wanted to create an authentic product, something that people can resonate with the actual authentic Espresso martini or however they envision that experience. Using natural ingredients, vodka-based, six-times distilled vodka is very important. No malt, no wine, nothing alternative, straight vodka, real espresso, all-natural ingredients.”

Taylor talks about his decision to launch in DTC first so he can find the best product market fit while being efficient with their capital. Taylor believes this is the best tool to connect directly with their consumers and test things, so when it’s time to go to retail there is data to back that up.

“We know how to reach our customers. We know who they are, and we'll know how to market to them”.

Taylor and Kristi also talk about the perks of working in the CPG community, why the magic combination for a successful entrepreneur is being both a “dreamer” and a “doer”, and why having a solid network is absolutely everything. Taylor dives into important advice for both investors and entrepreneurs.

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is joined by “the Nicks,” Nick Guillen and Nick Ajluni – Co-Founders of TRUFF – the world’s first luxury hot sauce brand.

“There's no limit to things we deal with in terms of like growing the business. I think it's, if anything, potentially a little harder for us because of how unique and custom everything is. So make no mistake that it's not an easy bill. But that's what I feel like being business savvy is, working through all of those things.”

Nick and Nick always have had a passion for start-ups and small businesses. Throughout college they liked to collect stand-out usernames on Instagram, and in 2015, they scored the name “sauce” and started posting content that they thought would resonate with the “pop culture foodie.” They wanted to create an account that was the bridge of food, fashion, lifestyle, and pop culture. Once they started to gain some major traction on Instagram, they decided it was time to start a brand – and TRUFF was born.

Nick and Nick never really played by the rules. They’ve been doing things their way from the very beginning – making custom caps, custom molds, and custom bottles. Many were convinced their unique (and expensive) approach wasn’t going to work, but they were able to overcome all of the odds and create a unique and successful brand in their own way.

You’ll hear how they developed TRUFF’s flavor profile, the intricacies of their brand launch, and how they used social media as a growth track. Nick and Nick offer compelling advice to entrepreneurs on how to overcome adversity and talk about where they see the brand in the future.

“We want to create a brand that we never have to step away from. Something where Nick and I are 65 on the golf course, and our grandkids are sending us photos of putting TRUFF on their dino nuggets.”

“If there are small things that we can do to move in the right direction, that does matter. Then our growth could actually feel purposeful, and not just growth for the sake of making more money.”

In this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, we find out how Stacey Marcellus’ experience living on a farm in Argentina led her to Co-Found a thriving frozen food brand – Cappello’s. Cappello’s is on a mission to set a new standard in frozen food like pizza, pasta, and cookie dough. But it’s made with awesome and healthier ingredients like almond flour and turnips (yes, turnips!), making their products grain-free and nutritious. Of course their products taste delicious, but Cappello’s is one brand that is focused on nutrition above all else.

“We stand behind using whole food ingredients and having them be as unaltered as possible.”

Stacey and I discuss how the frozen food market has changed drastically over the years and how frozen food is no longer “something you just eat in front of the T.V.” It is actually a way to keep products super fresh.

Stacey also opens up about the flaws in the food industry (excessive packaging, all the freight it takes to transport food, and traditional farming practices) and how she is taking small steps to try to do better. Recently, Cappello’s partnered with one of their suppliers, Treehouse, and together, they are testing some regenerative practices over the next five years on their almond orchards.

“Even though we're not purchasing regeneratively sourced almonds today, being part of a project like that feels really cool. And it's really exciting because if we get positive results over the next five years, that will influence the entire almond industry.”

Kristi and Stacey talk about the evolution of Cappello’s over the last 11 years and the lessons that Stacey has learned. Stick around to the end for an inspiring story Stacey shares about the importance of asking for help.

When Marshall Rader was diagnosed with celiac disease, finding gluten-free products was no easy feat. This inspired him to develop a gluten-free bar which led him to co-found a gluten-free product company with his brother. GFB, originally “Gluten Free Bar” is now “Gluten Free Brother’s”. GFB launched their first product 11 years ago, when ‘gluten free’ was a term no one had really heard of.

On today’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Marshall talks about how the market for gluten-free products has changed since the start of his company, and how the growth of the market and the rise in competition have affected their brand. He also talks about how they raised capital through bootstrapping, and how they have grown tremendously while maintaining honorable principals.

Not only do their products taste delicious, but they are also a brand that does good. Marshall shares why they decided to get certified as a B Corp, and how they have been a zero-waste facility for 3 years now – over 90% of what goes into their facility does not go into the landfill. They also have inclusive hiring programs, focusing on people that have challenges gaining employment, oftentimes with criminal backgrounds.

Join us to hear Marshall’s inspiring success story, and advice worth listening to.

“Even if you don’t really have a real company yet, you could be organized and show up prepared, and show up on time. And it sounds weird, but wear a suit to a meeting.

You know that candy bar you’ve kept hidden from your family? – Your “little secret”? Well, joining us today on The Irresistible Factor is the CEO of the chocolate company wanting to make your little secret better-for-you – Little Secrets Chocolate.

On this week’s episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is joined by Jeremy Vandervoet, CEO of Little Secrets Chocolate – a better-for-you chocolate company. Little Secrets makes your childhood favorites like KitKat and Twix bars with better taste, better ingredients, and way less sugar (YUM!)

Jeremy brings 20 years of incredibly valuable experience in the chocolate industry at Nestlé to Little Secrets Chocolate. We discuss what it was like transitioning from a huge corporation, to a small, early-stage brand. We also discuss the many lessons he has learned since joining Little Secrets – like the importance of getting your margins right early on and why defining your value in the marketplace is imperative. “You cannot rely on scale and growth to solve your margin structure. I know that’s so simple to say, easy to say, but in a lot of – and I think a lot of people are getting very sober on that idea too, is you need to price it early, pricing that lever and getting your margin structure right now, versus just saying, ‘Oh, when I double this business…”

Jeremy and Kristi also discuss Little Secrets’ marketing, capital raising, manufacturing and hopes for the future. Jeremey is a wealth of information for entrepreneurs and other startups looking for advice.

Jani Tuomi is the Co-Founder of the at-home testing service, Imaware. Imaware removes the barriers of access to traditional testing and provides a more affordable and easily accessible route to discovering your own biometric data, a trend that is gaining traction fast!

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Jani and Kristi discuss how Imaware has worked closely with reputable doctors and scientists from the start to ensure reliable, lab-grade testing. When Imaware first launched back in 2018, there was a lot of skepticism around at-home testing, but post-COVID consumers and even doctors have adopted this new way of testing.

Jani talks about how Imaware has been able to gain some amazing partnerships with many of the biggest scientific companies in the world like BD, and with clinician groups that are starting to look at preventative cardiology. He also talks about their approach of educating their consumers – leading with facts, not fear.

“…We never ran a Facebook ad that would say things like, ‘One in two people will develop heart disease in their life’ and fear factor it. It’s like, ‘Did you know that 50% of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol'. Leading with fact, and education, and citing that, showing study data around it, and then saying, ‘Here’s what you can do about that.’ It’s just been an approach we’ve taken right from the start.

Jani also discusses why he isn’t worried about competitors, Imaware’s challenges around raising capital, and his hopes for the future of the brand.

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi is joined by Founder and CEO of RIND, Matt Weiss. RIND was inspired by Matt’s great-grandmother who was as Matt says, “a foodie before kale was cool”. She emphasized the importance of the roots, rinds, seeds, and stems to capture the nutrients, minimize food waste, and to stretch your food budget. Her philosophy was the start of Matt’s journey of creating RIND.

Prior to RIND, Matt was in finance for twenty years, working for an old school mutual fund that put as big of a focus on founders as it did on the businesses themselves. Matt has taken those experiences and lessons with him to RIND, and he eventually made the jump to take RIND from a side hustle to a full time business.

“The moment I pushed myself out of that comfort zone by this completely new venture in a new category, as a first time entrepreneur, the personal growth and satisfaction, fulfillment, I started to enjoy from that, was so bright.”

Matt elaborates on what it means to feel fulfilled, the importance of learning, and why it’s okay to not have it all figured out. He also speaks about challenges he has faced: Scaling products, rising prices of produce, and finding the best suppliers.

Matt also offers advice from his personal business background: How small emerging brands can take market share from bigger companies, how his finance background helped him raise capital, how he creates tastes that are aligned with consumers’ wants, and the importance of having both a brand and a business in order to be successful.

“Our brand logo and packaging is our value proposition. It’s the RIND. It’s fruit with benefits. That was brand magic, but the business had to have heft to it. It really had to have substance to it. The magic happens at the intersection of these two, and it’s what informs our product portfolio”.

“I think that there is an opportunity to consolidate, for the lack of a better word, operating system within a CPG business, where all that continuity and connectivity exists. So you don’t have to patch work together, you know, a network of advisors and companies and all sorts of things. That ultimately is sort of the core vision of Rodeo at large.”

Rodeo capital isn’t Zachary’s first rodeo (get it😊). Zachary has lots of experience in the CPG industry – he’s started a gluten-free cereal company, a baby food company called “Little Duck Organics”, and he ran sales for a natural pet food company. Through these experiences, Zachary found himself disappointed in the services and infrastructure in the start up CPG world.

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Zachary talks about how he started Rodeo as an outsourced operations group with the goal to help navigate the challenging CPG marketplace. Rodeo now partners with leaders in CPG to develop, scale, and sell their products through product development services, retail services, and operations services.

Zachary talks about why he made the change from building his own brands to helping other entrepreneurs build their own. In addition, he talks about the type of brands he likes to work with, what he believes is stopping founders from succeeding, and the importance of being able to emotionally detach yourself from your business.

“It allows you to reduce your ego so that you can better respond to a consumer’s perception of your brand rather than your own and that’s a really fun sort of psychological but very important piece of what we do.”

In this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Jim talks about how his first experience with cryotherapy inspired him to start a business around wellness that has grown to 135 locations and many services that go well beyond cryotherapy. He also talks about his plan to open 1,000 locations in the next four to five years.

Jim had a plan, and he followed through. He attributes his success to his incredible team and their ability to attract (and keep) great talent through an impressive culture they have built within the brand. He also believes that being self-aware is their “superhero.”

“We know where our weaknesses are, we know where our blind spots are, we make sure that we address those things. We do it in a relatively egoless, emotionally mature way.”

Jim has a lot of experience in the health and wellness world. Both Jim and his wife were high-level athletes and have been consumers of wellness products for decades. Jim also owns high-end health clubs on the East Coast and learned many lessons along the way, which contributed to the success of Restore Hyper Wellness.

In this interview, Jim shares his eye-opening experience starting this business. He originally thought that his primary target audience would be athletes, however, that wound up being only 15% of their clientele, leading to a much bigger opportunity for Jim and his team. Jim shares how his company has grown astronomically in a short time, and challenges he faced along the way.

“So, what I've discovered as an entrepreneur, starting Boba Bam, starting my other companies, is as long as you collect enough information about a particular issue, or risk or whatever, then it takes away all of that fear. Because then it turns into steps, and you know what to do at that point. So, my advice is to collect as much information to defeat your fear, and then it turns into actions, and then actions become results.”

Chairman and Founder of Boba Bam, Bob Yau, and the big Boba boss, Brian Khoddam saw a gap in a growing market and were able to create a successful business with the help of a resourceful tool that’s literally available to everyone - Google Trends.

In this episode of Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Bob and Brian share their perspective on Boba Bam's rapid success with their at home boba making kit. They started down a very unique path with one of the largest retailers in the world, Costco, and have since been expanding nationwide. Bob and Brian talk about their funding process, product awareness strategies, challenges thus far, and the importance of truly believing in your product.

“If you really believe in something, you should take chances in life and go for it. Otherwise, you could go through your whole life regretting why you didn't take that chance.” — Brian Khoddam

This is a success story entrepreneurs will be inspired by.

“The consumer is rainbow of colors, and all different genders and different backgrounds. We don't have necessarily that representation in the companies that are creating products and services for them.”

In this episode of Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Liz shares her experience of being a female investor and how she believes we are just scratching the surface in creating a more diverse field of investors. In fact, this is what really pushed Liz to become an investor - “I never really saw the type of person that looked like me or had my kind of background.”

Liz has a real passion for helping others create and innovate - especially around things that help us live healthier, or help make the planet be healthier. Liz touches on a variety of topics from how she landed her unique position, to the types of companies she gravitates towards, to what it takes to be a successful brand.

Liz is a wealth of information and is full of important advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors.

“Where you start is not where you end up. Just enjoy the journey and the journey of growth. If you don't enjoy that journey, maybe being an entrepreneur isn't the right job.”

“I really wanted to create a brand that changed the way we eat and helps us feel a little bit more connected to each other and the world that we share and I’m hoping that that is what we’re doing today at tattooed chef”.

In this week's episode of Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Kristi talks to Sarah about how she went from film school to being the founder of Tattooed Chef - creating delicious and healthy sustainable frozen meals. After traveling to Italy and reconnecting with her Italian routes, Sarah wanted to continue creating delicious sustainable food in the US. Tattooed Chef is serving up plant-based enchiladas, mac and cheese, pizza, and smoothie bowls in the notoriously challenging frozen category. Sarah’s innovative branding and delicious “better for you” meals have created a brand that is quite irresistible.

On the podcast, Sarah talks about her unique approach to creating her brand by starting in the club channel (a surprising choice!) and how going public early on has led her to over 16,000 points of distribution today.

Sarah explains how she used “nostalgic innovation” - taking something familiar and making it relevant to what consumers are looking for today - to create her brand that people can’t get enough of.

Sarah also shares advice on how to conquer the stress that comes with being an entrepreneur and how sometimes pressure and stress can motivate you to do your best work.

“I believe when you’re really pushed through those moments that is when the best work happens, and you see things quicker, and you push harder, and you make things happen faster, and that’s where I kind of like it”

For food-and-beverage brands, being unafraid to ask questions is key.

“Something I wish that we had done early on is leaning into the [food and beverage] community,” shares Co-Founder of Sound, Tommy Kelly. “And not feeling like every problem needed to be solved internally. And being more vulnerable and again. I think that this comes back to sort of the LinkedIn conversation a little bit — around, if you see everyone’s posting wins and how well they’re doing, you can be reluctant to say, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ or “I can’t figure this out,’ or you know, ‘Help me,’ right?”

On this episode of Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Kristi and Tommy dive into the story of how two engineers working in the nuclear power industry became the founders of the coveted carbonated, unsweetened, organic tea company. Tommy shares how this journey has come with its fair share of challenges, but how his long-term focus and passion for quality ingredients catapulted the brand to household-name status.

Tommy’s advice? Welcome change, but be clear on your values.

“Our brand name has changed,” he says, “our packaging has changed, our flavors have changed, our route to market has changed. All of these things have evolved but one thing that hasn’t is our commitment to ingredient quality, our commitment to helping people drink less sugar.”

Corey Scholibo is the Co-Founder, President, and COO of Wile, a company that’s brave enough to take on a taboo subject — perimenopause and menopause.

On this episode of Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Corey, and Kristi discuss what Wile does, and why its target audience is so important, along with the archetype Wile has created for women often overlooked in the market. Additionally, Corey shares his opinion that the attitude of “grin and bear it” through menopause is patriarchal and unnecessary.

“[Menopause and perimenopause] is not a dysfunction,” Corey says. “It’s not a system not functioning appropriately; it’s functioning exactly as it’s supposed to. We can do dramatic things to make it very different for you but there’s no avoiding it.”

Together, Kristi and Corey explore why women in their 40s are craving the ability to have a voice, and how Wile helps fulfill that desire. They also look at Wile’s challenges and successes, marketing, and branding, where the name came from, and the lessons Corey has learned from working in this industry.

Importantly, Corey shares his views on asking for help, and divulges advice on entrepreneurship: “If you are worried about rejection, you’re in the wrong business.”

From a young age, we are conditioned to believe that weird is bad. However, Goodles Co-Founders, Deb Luster and Paul Earle, argue that “weird” is in fact the fabric of success. “Weird is where the magic lives. If you find it, hold on to it, [and] ride it to the future,” Paul shares.

Goodles is the newest disruptor of the mac-and-cheese industry — tasty, nutritious and simply “gooder” than everything that came before. (Plus, celebrity Gal Gadot is one of their Founding Partners.)

Deb and Paul have incredible backgrounds: Deb is Goodles’ Chief Impact Officer, and was also on the founding team of Annie’s. And Paul, Deb’s Co-Founder, wears another hat, too, as the faculty of Northwestern at the Kellogg School of Management.

“I’m a writer by background,” Paul explains, and then corrects — “actually, business person. I’ve never been professionally trained as a writer. I was editor of my newspaper in college and I’ve always enjoyed writing. Now, as an entrepreneur, as a practitioner, and also academically because I teach at Northwestern, I’ve long felt that, as people talk about innovation, nomenclature usually isn’t even in the equation. It usually doesn’t even make the show. But actually, words are incredibly powerful. The right word, at the right time, can evoke emotion.”

On this episode of Sawtooth CEO Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Deb and Paul describe their brand world and how it extends far beyond product and logo. They discuss the revolution unfolding in the consumer product industry, the power of words in innovation and entrepreneurship, and the importance of finding the right investors. (“We actually say ‘no’ to investors if we have the idea that they may be looking at us for the wrong reasons,” Deb reveals.)

Deb and Paul generously share the lessons they’ve learned along the way, the challenges they’ve faced, and their astute advice for building a successful brand.

Ruby Jewel isn’t just another ice cream sandwich. It’s super-premium, highly indulgent and has a magical combination of packaging, imagery, brand, price point and ingredient deck that makes it fly off shelves.

Ruby Jewel’s mission is to bring joy. And on this episode of The Irresistible Factor, the CEO of the company, Eric Koppelman, explains how he and his team go about delivering joy every day.

Entrepreneurs will be delighted to hear Eric’s story: He has successfully built multiple brands across a wide range of categories. But he’s never seen any with as high a sales velocity as Ruby Jewel’s. “My specialty,” Eric shares, “is helping small brands grow and develop and be effective challenger brands against the established national brands in the category.”

The company has come a long way since its humble farmers-market beginnings and is well on its way to becoming a national brand.

“We have a very unique opportunity,” Eric reveals, “to be available in other channels from coast to coast. Equally importantly, small brands like ours, having spent a lot of time in the industry, you know this, they burn through a lot of cash as they continue to grow and they need to go back to the well often in different stages of their life cycle. You know, it is a really important objective of mine and we have a very clear path and a very short-term path on how we can get there to be profitable and self-sufficient and to be able to kind of control our own destiny.”

In recent years, kombucha has been hailed for its health benefits — most notably, as a source of probiotics. But some kombucha brands are loaded in sugar, undermining its proposed health qualities.

Better Booch is different. They use less sugar than their counterparts, and have prioritized a high standard of quality and excellent taste. The reason they’re so successful? Part of the story lies in their dynamic Co-Founders, Ashleigh and Trey Lockerbie. “Our whole mission,” reveals Trey, “is to bring health and wellness to a broader audience and make it very approachable and affordable.”

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, the couple share their perspective on Better Booch’s rapid success, with top-shelf listings in stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Target and Costco.

You’ll learn how Ashleigh and Trey took their product from a farmer’s market to commercial shelves, how one ingredient changed everything, and what their biggest challenges have been.

Together, host Kristi Bridges and the Co-Founders also dive into one of Ashleigh and Trey’s genius moves: waiting to seek investor capital. Ashleigh and Trey share what they aim to achieve from their marketing campaign, what they believe to be the key to their rapid growth, and where they hope the business to be in the next five years.

Joey Bergstein, CEO of Sabra, is on a mission statement to delight the world with positive, healthy, plant-based food.

With 10 years at Seventh Generation behind him, Joey draws from his experience articulating a strong purpose for their respective businesses.

If you’re a hummus lover, you might be surprised to hear that statistically speaking, consumers only purchase a tub two and a half times per year. On Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Joey talks about the challenge of bringing the product to the front of the consumer’s mind: “The biggest opportunity,” he says, “is to make hummus a permanent resident in people’s fridge, to get people to really understand how wonderful it is as a healthy snack in the afternoon or the early evenings, or to include it as a meal.”

Together, Kristi and Joey also discuss what Joey has learned from the company’s co-founders, and his dream for the brand to make a positive impact on the world through mission, chaos and grit.

“Your brand is the most important thing. I mean, especially if you’re going to be selling brick and mortar,” advises Clover Vitality Co-Founder and Partner, Bert Cohen. “That’s what consumers see first, and if they glossed by it, and don’t spend any time, or don’t notice it or don’t understand what’s going on from looking at the packaging, you’ve lost. That’s definitely where you need to spend some time and money upfront.”

On Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, Bert shares his fascinating, extensive career — moving from founding his own companies to funding emerging food and beverage brands. They discuss what Bert looks for in brands to invest in and how he and his team determine how successful the brand can be.

Kristi and Bert also dive into the importance of a brand’s founder, along with the ethos Clover Vitality is looking for in the companies they invest in. You’ll love hearing how Bert defines capital efficiency, his views on product distribution, and his advice on why gross margins are imperative for sustainability and success.

Cedar Carter loves products that help improve people’s lives. That’s why she’s CEO of The Good Patch, a company that creates wellness wearables for everyday struggles, using tried-and-true ingredients.

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Cedar shares how she’s pioneered this space. She also notes the challenges the company is facing, like teaching consumers about this new technology, and informing them of its benefits. Together, host Kristi Bridges and Cedar explore why reaching the right consumer is imperative to success. (That’s why The Good Patch has a strong marketing and customer research operation.)

Cedar also tells us the most exciting aspect of working at The Good Patch for her and what’s next for the company.

To fellow CEOs and entrepreneurs, Cedar says, “It’s always better to keep your employees happy than to be constantly trying to find new ones.”

“There’s just so many ways for you to sink the ship in those early stages,” said Robert Petrarca, Co-Founder and CEO of Maxine’s Heavenly, a brand that makes delicious, homemade-style cookies that are sweetened by nature. “It’s also running out of money and overspending and the retail industry with the nuances of distribution and all the challenges that go into that… I think there was a culmination of luck, grit and tenacity that got us through those stages.”

On The Irresistible Factor, Robert shares how he got into the foodie world and managed to grow his business, even through those rocky early stages.

Robert gives listeners advice on how to approach investors, how to create a funnel for capital and how to ensure holistic health within your business. He also helps us understand his own personal recipe for creating the perfect mix of characteristics that helped fulfill his vision of building a successful business. (It helps that he has a performing arts background!)

Plus, we learn about how to stand out in your brand market, the power of adaptability, and how Robert was able to blend his passions for food and health with healthy cookies.

To other founders, Robert has clear advice on branding: “An attribute is not a brand: it is simply a quality. It’s a descriptive.”

Today, it seems like sugar is added to almost every food product. That’s why the brand High Key’s mission is to remove 10 million pounds of sugar from the American diet, one sugar-free cookie at a time.

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Joe Ens, CEO of HighKey, joins host Kristi Bridges to talk all things small business. He shares how he transitioned his career from the corporate world to something smaller — something he really believes in.

In this episode, you’ll hear about High Key’s distribution, challenges, investment, marketing and innovation. Joe also discusses the importance of having a growth mindset and a strong sense of values to incorporate company culture.

Together, they explore how the hybrid workforce of today has affected the workplace, as well as the difficulties small companies experience. Kristi and Joe also discuss how Joe’s disciplined routine helps him get through difficulties and where he hopes to see HighKey in the next five years.

To founders and CEOs, Joe’s advice is, “You have to have something that has a value proposition — and in food, it better taste good!”

What’s a critical component to consider in the early stages of venture capital investing? People. And people are particularly important when a business is new — when it feels like just a few founders with a big, bold idea.

That’s why serial investor, Joe Tonnos, says that 75 percent of early-stage investment is the founders an investor is backing. The remaining 25 percent is the product, market, and everything else. Joe is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ketch Ventures, an investment firm that partners with disruptive, early-stage entrepreneurs and management teams to add value and grow consumer-facing businesses to the next level.

On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Joe shares his more-than-a-decade’s worth of experience investing in and advising companies across a number of different sectors. (In addition to his role at Ketch Ventures, he also serves as Principal and Associate Portfolio Manager at Meteora Capital and Venture Partner at Natureza Growth Partners.)

Joe outlines what early-stage investors like Ketch are looking for, highlights some of the defining characteristics of great founders. He also shares his advice for entrepreneurs: “It’s having the vision, it’s being prepared to explain it, and making an investor understand what makes [your business] compelling and how it’s going to benefit them.”

How do you bring plant-based, nutrient-dense snacks to America, and make them irresistibly good?

That’s what Scott Jensen, Co-Founder and CEO of Rhythm Superfoods, set to find out, creating the most delicious, nutrient-packed snacks. On Kristi Bridges’ podcast, The Irresistible Factor, she and Scott discuss how he built this innovative company, along with what it was like transitioning into the health food industry after decades of working with barbeque sauce at Stubb’s. They also explore how Rhythm Superfoods has, impressively, been able to scale over the past decade.

Scott shares his advice for young entrepreneurs and breaks down the importance of being able to move fast: “Sometimes, what you think you have control of, life will give you something that you never could have ever thought of.”

Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s most exciting health snack companies, learn how they secure funding, navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and more!

Manny Lubin, Co-Founder of Slate Milk, strongly believes in following your gut. That’s what he did by launching a product during the pandemic, and it paid off for him.

Slate Milk is a better-for-you line of lactose-free chocolate milk, packaged in 100% recyclable cans. On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Manny shares the need he and his business partner identified for a product like this, how they started Slate Milk and how they came up with the name.

Together, host Kristi Bridges and Manny dive into why Slate Milk has focused its marketing efforts on social media and the benefits of influencer marketing. They also discuss why Manny values employee satisfaction so highly. “We want 100% of our employees to be happy,” he said, “to just love what they’re doing.”

Manny delves into why the Slate Milk team doesn’t want to grow too quickly, along with how their somewhat negative Shark Tank experience impacted them positively.

To other founders, Manny’s advice is: “It’s okay to have opinions. Be stubborn and go against people who have longer resumes and have way more money and have done it.”

You might be surprised to know how a journalism background fueled the popular gluten-free pasta brand Chickapea’s success.

“My real skill was research,” Shelby Taylor, Chickapea Founder and CEO, told host Kristi Briges, “and that came from my curiosity and my journalism background. I have no fear of asking all the questions to every person that will listen, and that’s a lot of why it succeeded.”

Together, Kristi and Shelby dive into Shelby’s story, uncovering what motivated her to launch her product range, and how she became a CEO. Chickpea uses clean ingredients with no additives, and Shelby attributes much of the brand’s success to its unique formula. She tells the story of how Chickapea unexpectedly thrived during the pandemic, and reveals how they continue to differentiate themselves from competitors in the market.

Shelby also shares powerful advice for women entrepreneurs, along with some of the challenges that the company is facing today.

“I think that being naive absolutely worked in my favor,” Shelby said. “I believed everything could be done, and in my timeline. I’ve learned so much. If I ever started something new it would have to be in a completely different industry.”

Geoff Alexander, President and CEO of Wow Bao, has a unique business concept that pushes boundaries.

In 2017, Wow Bao’s parent company, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, had an idea: They wanted to create a product that could help restaurants and catering businesses that were really struggling. Geoff shared that the company considered catering companies that do one big order a week, then sit dormant; the ice cream shop that isn’t working over the summer; and the hotel that has a whole room service staff, but isn’t producing to its full capacity. Host Kristi Bridges and Geoff talk about how all of these businesses could benefit by selling Wow Bao — fast Asian-inspired street food. (The company sells bao, pan-seared potstickers, steamed dumplings, rice & noodle bowls and more.)

In the pandemic, this idea exploded, with ghost kitchens operating all over the country. Wow Bao had always been on the cutting edge — opening on college campuses and at stadiums, using technology in the early 2010s. Wow Bao was able to adapt quickly, especially with Geoff at the helm.

On this episode, Geoff shares how the company expanded, advice for entrepreneurs, the challenges and growth they’ve navigated and so much more!

Kombucha has become one of the superstars of the health and wellness movement. George Thomas Dave, Founder and CEO of GT’s Living Foods, one of the few global kombucha giants, has worked hard to maintain quality and values since creating the category in the ’90s.

On The Irresistible Factor, GT shares his personal story of how kombucha changed his life, and how he found himself managing a multibillion-dollar company. Together, host Kristi Bridges and GT dive into GT’s personal history, including why he started selling kombucha as a teenager. GT shares his heartfelt story of wanting to create a product that truly healed people; when his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, she drank her family’s own kombucha. (The brand still makes their product in the same way.) They also explore how he scaled his company while maintaining its high quality and personal touch, and how his ethos helps ensure the company’s continued success.

“My North star is making sure that I’m doing good,” GT said “making the best product that I’m physically capable of doing, and that I’m helping people live better lives. And as we know, one of the key ways of doing that is by being healthy.”

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

Gem Misa believes in her product wholeheartedly.

She’s the Founder and CEO of FullGreen, a plant-based company that makes nutritious, shelf-stable products without preservatives. Notably, they create some of the best cauliflower rice — and have many more innovative products coming soon!

“I knew when I came across cauliflower rice,” Gem said, “I knew that this was the perfect product that could become so relevant in the years to come because of what was happening all around the world, and I think that’s what kept me going.”

On this episode, Gem shares how FullGreen developed its cauliflower rice, and what her initial goals were. Together, Gem and host Kristi Bridges talk about what motivates Gem to push past the challenges, and the non-traditional funding format that has resulted in a stronger story, along with an amazing sense of community around the business.

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

“Putting your name on the bottle shows that you are a family, and that you are not just thought up in some corporate boardroom by some executives,” said Zach Brinley, Owner of Brinley Gold Shipwreck Rum.

In 2002, Zach left his job on Wall Street to join the family business, selling rum. (The company was founded by his dad, Bob Brinley, in St. Kitts in 1986.) Shipwreck’s mission is clear and time-honored: They want to create the smoothest flavored rum in the world.

Alongside host Kristi Bridges, Zach shares why the company started selling vanilla-flavored rum, how they transitioned from selling to tourists, and what he hopes the next five years will look like.

They also talk about how the COVID pandemic has impacted the brand, and the challenges they’re up against as they work to increase revenue over the next few years.

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

Susan Griffin-Black wanted to work for a brand that honors her values. And so, she created one. (Well, two!)

Susan, EO and Everyone Co-Founder and CEO, and host Kristi Bridges explore how the brands began, along with their growth trajectories. Importantly, consumer consciousness has become integral to their success. EO and Everyone are B-Corps, meaning that they, “put planet, people and purpose — in that chronology — before profit.”

“I always think that learning is a lifelong thing,” Susan shared. “And if you are naturally curious and want life to be a more expansive experience, then all of this is very exciting, because [we are] working out new solutions, better solutions and better products always — greener, better, safer!”

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

Duck Donuts is the fastest-growing donut shop in the United States. Incredibly, even during the pandemic, the company doubled its workforce!

This growth is possible in large part because of Betsy Hamm, Duck Donuts’ CEO. Host Kristi Bridges and Betsy discuss how she worked her way up the corporate ladder — from marketing to COO to ultimately CEO. They also explore why Betsy made the decision to leave a large, well-established company to move to a smaller, still-growing one.

Betsy shares the lessons she’s learned throughout her career, and how she walks the line between optimism and keeping it real. She also sheds light on why it's important for CEOs to shield employees from stressors, just as a parent would do with their kids.

“[Building a team] is about putting the right people on the bus, in the right seats,” she said.

Listen to learn about Duck Donuts’ exciting prospects. both locally and internationally, along with Betsy’s two pieces of advice for fellow CEOs.

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

How does a company grow from creating home-brewed ginger beer in a SoCal garage to a nationally recognized brand?

Norm Snyder, CEO of Reed’s Ginger Beer, has the answer. Alongside host Kristi Bridges, Norm shares his story of serving Reed’s Ginger Beer since 2019, alongside his 36+ years of extensive industry experience in operations, sales, marketing, finance and manufacturing, as well as business development and management.

Norm offers insight into his sustainable approach to brand growth, and also talks to how the company has evolved since he joined the team.

“I’m not about bureaucracy,” he said, “but [we] have formalized processes to make sure that we don’t make errors. Once you start doing this, it becomes routine, you get really good at it, and you can deliver innovation both [promptly and] in a real quality way.”

Norm also shares how he’s tackling the challenges that come with the territory in a COVID business landscape, and what he believes has been the key to Reed’s longevity.

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

Rick Gillis, President of The Tinley Beverage Company, knows what it takes to develop a highly innovative brand.

Under Rick’s leadership, Tinley’s is creating Cannabis-Infused Classic Tonics & Mixers. He tells host Kristi Bridges how the company uses nano-technology to make cannabis drinkable and why California was the best place to launch the products. Rick also shares insights into cannabis legislative developments in the United States, shedding light on the economic potential of the industry, and the challenges of trying to launch Tinley’s in other states.

Together, Kristi and Rick dive into Rick’s impressive career, and how he helped launch Beckett’s, a range of non-alcoholic cocktails without the cannabis, for the sober and sober-curious. (This market has major potential.)

“[Success is] the intersection of a bit of luck and hard work,” Rick said. “It creates opportunities. You just have to keep fighting, keep pitching your story, and have nothing but faith and commitment that you’ll figure it out.”

The Irresistible Factor is dropping seven special bonus episodes this week! Listen to them all wherever you get your podcasts.

When building a brand, it’s crucial to differentiate it, recognize its growth potential and discover its vitality, advises Mark Timbie, former President of McCormick & Co North America and Chief Administrative Officer. (He now serves as Operating Partner at Centre Partners.

“The key [for brands] is that it’s got to be unique,” Mark told host Kristi Bridges. “It’s got to be different. It’s got to have a differentiation of some sort.”

Mark brings an exciting take on entrepreneurship, brand-building and what makes something irresistible to investors. On this episode, he shares how investors find brands, how COVID impacted distribution and retailers, and why a company’s potential growth is an important indicator of whether it’s a good buy. He also shares advice to companies: Have honest communications and trust with the people you work with.

Can jerky be disruptive? Absolutely.

Joe Oblas, co-founder and CEO of Stryve, decided to disrupt the beef snacks category with a brand that doesn’t believe in compromises. Stryve’s “jerky without the junky” product is nutritious and delicious. That’s because they use biltong, an air-dried meat snack with 50% more protein than jerky — and no sugar, nitrates, preservatives, or chemicals. “Typically, the healthier a snack product is, the worse it tastes,” Joe shared. But that isn’t true with biltong — it’s almost like a miracle snack.

Together, Joe and host Kristi Bridges explore biltong’s South African roots and its growing foothold in the U.S. market. “It checked every single box we had,” Joe said. “We were all in.”

Despite hurdles — a pandemic and drastically increased commodity prices — Stryve has grown significantly since its founding in 2018. Joe shares why he and his business partner chose to become a publicly-traded company, what keeps him motivated through difficult times, and some valuable advice for entrepreneurs at the beginning of their founding journey.

Founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel created a product that met a consumer need, and has a super compelling mission to make the world a healthier place. It’s true that his brand, Lemon Perfect, is “literally on fire.” So much so that they just announced $31 million Series A with investments from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and leading consumer products funds. Yanni’s story and his passion are just the kind of magic that gets investors and consumers excited.

So, what does it mean for a brand to be “literally on fire”?

On The Irresistible Factor, you’ll find out, with a little help from the always-energetic Yanni. Together, host Kristi Bridges and Yanni explore the story of how the founder first saw a need for this better-for-you product — super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with zero sugar — and the life-changing advice that really made him go for it. With a background in coaching college basketball, Yanni made quite the pivot. He’d been dabbling in keto dieting and drinking lemon water every morning — driving to Whole Foods for organic lemons, getting juice on his counters, and stomaching the bland taste. At the end of a basketball season, he had what he describes as a “lightbulb moment” in the locker room. What if there was a lemon water that tasted great, just like the drinks his players wanted after a game?

In this episode, you’ll find out why Yanni decided to flip from produce to grocery, and how the business has grown significantly as a result. Kristi and Yanni also cover his views on entrepreneurship, why he believes a lot of building a business requires putting on blinkers and just following your heart, and why he is grateful for the rare opportunity to create a great business that also does good.

“Scaling a beverage brand is beyond hard,” Yanni said. “Not impossible, but very challenging. And what I would tell you is that we are more focused on growth versus our bottom line.”

Bob Burke takes businesses’ ideas, and makes them real.

On The Irresistible Factor, Bob and host Kristi Bridges talk about how he is able to bring natural, organic and specialty products to market as a consultant with Natural Products Consulting. Bob is a real expert with serious experience, and his value to his clients is clear. (His roster of work includes Annie’s, Dr. Bronner’s, Mason Dixie Biscuit Co., Califia Farms, Bob’s Red Mill, Theo Chocolate and many, many more.)

Together, Kristi and Bob discuss the role of a brand’s online presence in their ability to eventually exit to a strategic buyer, along with the benefits of Amazon, outsourcing and planning ahead.

“You always have to be innovating,” Bob said. “You can never be complacent. You can never sit back and rest on your laurels, and you need to be tuned in to where the consumer’s going and where the market’s going.”

When Andrew Pudalov founded Rush Bowls in 2004, he was ahead of the health food curve.

In the early 2000s, after a long career in banking, Andrew decided it was time to do something different. He left New York City, quit his job, and moved his family to Boulder, Colorado, where he bought a house and started a new business.

On The Irresistible Factor, the Rush Bowls CEO tells host Kristi Bridges his surprising story, and shares plenty of wisdom from his wealth of experiences, including what motivates his customer-centric approach to business.

“We can accommodate any dietary need. Many businesses can do that,” Andrew said. “The difference with Rush is we don’t upcharge for that. If you have a dietary need, we don’t feel as a company that you should be punished for it.”

Together, Andrew and Kristi explore why Rush Bowls opened stores in underserved communities. We talk about training, research, and brand identity, along with how to generate unique ideas.

In 1993, Greg Hoyt graduated from college, and landed his first job with Caribou Coffee. He discovered two things: He fell in love with the coffee industry, and he learned that he wanted to become an entrepreneur.

Now, Greg is an investor who helps entrepreneurs. He’s also the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gather Venture Group, a Minneapolis-based investment fund focused on emerging food and beverage businesses.

On The Irresistible Factor, host Kristi Bridges and Greg discuss why he decided to become an entrepreneur, and how he’s drawn to the uncertainty, ups and downs of starting a company. Greg knows that food brands can take many years to become established and profitable, and Gather is in it for the long game.

“Trends will come and go, as far as methodology, and ways to build a business,” Greg told me. “But it really comes down to fundamentals, and the fundamentals are: ‘Do I have something that somebody wants? Am I solving a problem that exists? Is there value for the consumer? Is this something that I can see myself doing, and can it be something that generates a profit?’”

Together, Kristi and Greg explore Gather’s approach to investments, what the fund currently looks like — and how he hopes to see it evolve in the future — and the fundamental elements that lead to business success.

What if your beverages worked harder for you than water? That’s exactly what Nuun Hydration delivers.

On The Irresistible Factor, Kevin Rutherford tells host Kristi Bridges how he became Nuun’s CEO, combining his passions for health, wellness, fitness, and natural products. With a deep background in marketing — and experience at SC Johnson and Miller Brewing Company, along with “the OG” natural products brand, Kashi — he learned the ins and outs of business. Eventually, he found his way to Nuun, “the first real sports drink,” Kevin told Kristi, “to separate your hydration from your fuel.”

Kevin calls himself Nuun’s Chief Eternal Optimist, and it’s true. His energy is infectious. And he has an incredible, diverse career path to show for it.

Together, Kristi and Kevin dive into the incredible recognition Nuun has received over the past few years, and how Kevin has been able to connect with his team, inspiring them to rally together.

“You’ve gotta start with a belief, create a belief, create a future vision of the world you want to create,” Kevin said. “And then get people to believe in themselves.”

Two years ago, Jessica Kates co-founded Rellevant, an early-stage growth equity firm, unique because of the way they conduct business — they provide strategic advice, rooted in real business experience. That work experience comes through Jessica’s long line of diverse and exciting job opportunities — from investment banker to hedge fund manager, from CFO of an online consumer products retailer to CEO of a fashion startup in New York.

On The Irresistible Factor, Jessica tells host Kristi Bridges why she’s created a niche working with food-related, lower-middle market companies, particularly restaurants and restaurant technology.

Jessica and Kristi discuss the value that Rellevant brings to their partners, some of the exciting companies they are investing in, and how they decide what to put their time and money into. Jessica also shares valuable advice for founders with companies in the early stages of growth: “Make sure what you’re doing is on point with your strategy, and also work simultaneously to improve the brand equity. Because that’s the only thing you can really speak to at these early stages.”

For Adam Grossman, founder and CEO of Papa & Barkley, relieving pain is personal. When Adam’s dad was struggling with chronic, debilitating back pain in 2015, Adam wanted to understand how to relieve it. Many traditional pharmaceutical products weren’t working, and out of desperation, Adam sent his dad to the hospital, where his condition worsened.

And so, Adam found another way, utilizing the power of the cannabis plant. On this episode of The Irresistible Factor, Adam tells host Kristi Bridges how he first created a cannabis “Pain Bomb” to help his dad. Cooking up a crockpot of coconut oil and cannabis from a college friend, Adam was able to make his dad a mixture that provided relief. His dad could finally get out of bed.

“After a long career and a number of early ventures,” Adam told Kristi, “what all coalesced in Papa & Barkley was a personal experience that clarified that this was a road I wanted to be on, and an emerging cannabis market that captured the attention of investors and the world.”

There are two parts of Papa & Barkley’s business: The California-based brand is both a cannabis wellness company, best-known for its topicals and tinctures, and a CBD business, which allows them to target a larger market. That CBD business is critical, as Papa & Barkley face intense regulatory burdens, Adam said, making it difficult to run a profitable business in this market.

But Adam is in this for the right reasons: “Our most key performance indicator, ‘lives-changed,’ is an actual variable that we can apply to this business.”

Ayeshah Abuelhiga took a big risk: She left corporate America, and started a company making something that really mattered to her — high-quality comfort food.

On this week's episode of The Irresistible Factor, Mason Dixie Founder and CEO, Ayeshah, tells host Kristi Bridges how she pushes boundaries in everything she does.

What amazed Kristi most about Ayeshah is that she’s self-made, self-taught and self-funded. Together, they discuss her journey from the transportation sector to CEO of one of America’s most delicious, better-for-you brands.

From the response to the KickStarter fund, to its first day in business, with customers wrapped around four city blocks, Mason Dixie continually exceeds expectations.

“One of the rules in business that’s really important for any entrepreneur to remember is,” Ayeshah told Kristi, “when you’re hot, don’t stop. Don’t dilly-dally. You have to keep the fire going.”

Ayeshah plans only to keep going upwards from here, and she is determined to help other women build their own legacies, too.

Jake Kneller wanted to bring a truly healthy product to the frozen aisle. And so, he co-founded Sweet Nothings, a brand of convenient, ready-to-eat, spoonable smoothies made with organic fruits, nuts and seeds, where he’s now CEO.

On this week's episode of The Irresistible Factor, host Kristi Bridges talks with Jake about all the frozen food space has going for it. Together, they dive into why the frozen food aisle’s options are so often unnecessarily unhealthy options, and how Jake and his team set out to create something better. They also explore why Jake is so passionate about food that’s not just “better for you,” but truly good for you.

Jake tells Kristi that the company initially aimed to create a product for cafeterias, before COVID forced them to pivot. And even then, Sweet Nothings faced challenges of getting distribution in grocery stores, and struggled with getting a new customer to make that first purchase.

Listen to hear Jake’s advice to founders, why hiring the right people is important, and how you can differentiate your brand from the rest!

Brands need funding. And capital investors need brands with good ideas. On this week's episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi Bridges speaks with Christopher Jane, CEO and co-founder of Proper Good, and Al Sambar, General Partner at XRC Labs, a venture capital firm and accelerator that invested in Proper Good.

You'll hear what investors like Al look for in a startup, and the importance of quality founders. And Chris talks about the need he identified that inspired him to start this brand, along with the challenges and benefits of launching it at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And you'll learn how Proper Good mitigates risk while developing new products.

CJ Rapp, founder of Karma Water, is on a mission to shake up the beverage industry, transforming water to wellness.

In Kristi Bridges' conversation with CJ, he talks about his long career in the beverage industry and experience with his first brand of energy drinks, Jolt. They discuss the story of Jolt and why CJ decided to make a pivot into the health and wellness space with Karma.

They also talk about the Karma launch strategy, involving a process of iteratively improving through a slow rollout on a shoestring budget, and how this attracted the strategic partnership of beverage giant Constellation Brands. Tuning in, you’ll hear perspectives on the burgeoning cannabis industry and CJ’s plans to release a new CBD product as soon as regulations allow for it!

Nick Saltarelli always wanted to build a legacy as an entrepreneur. From the age of 14, he was mentored by and worked for several high-growth companies in Canada, with the goal of one day becoming one. Going into his thirties, he decided that he wanted to compete at the highest level of entrepreneurship and put his love for chocolate to the test; and that’s how Mid-Day Squares, the first functional chocolate bar, was born! In today’s conversation, Nick shares how he is building his chocolate empire at lightning speed and working his way toward his goal of $100 million in revenue. We dive into some of the fascinating and disruptive things he is doing in the category, and he also shares his advice for other entrepreneurs, his formula for success, and some of the valuable lessons he learned from his previous entrepreneurial ventures. We touch on the success of his role as co-CEO with his wife, Lezlie, as well as why he is such a big proponent of professional performance coaching. Tune in today to receive practical insights and so much more from prolific entrepreneur, Nick Saltarelli!

Waterloo is pure flavor artistry in purified sparkling water with amazing bold flavors! They're uniquely refreshing waters that awaken the senses. Listen in to hear how they built this irresistible brand.

Q Mixers asks the question, why don't our mixers measure up to the spirits we see on the shelf? That's why they made mixers with real ingredients that are less sweet and perfectly carbonated.

Verde Farms is a pioneer and leading U.S. provider of 100% grass-fed, 100% pasture-raised, organic beef for retail, club, and food service. Listen in to see how CEO Dana Ehrlich has helped evolve this category and bring their consumers products they can trust and feel good about buying.

Peace Coffee makes sustainably grown, freshly roasted coffee beans where their values are at the core of their business. Listen in to see how such a strong mission has helped grow their business– tackling not only a consumer problem but a societal problem at large.

Plant People is a mission-driven company that provides doctor-formulated, regenerative plant and mushroom supplements that aid with various ailments such as pain, sleep and energy.

https://www.plantpeople.co/

Bare Bones bone broth is made with organic ingredients and 100% grass-fed and pasture-raised bones. Tune in to learn about how Ryan and Katherine spearheaded this new market and brought forward the healing benefits of bone broth.

Chomps eliminates the guessing game in eating healthy and creates simple snacks that are made with the highest quality, sustainably sourced proteins and no hidden, harmful ingredients.

John McDonnell has launched and marketed a number of successful global spirits brands. His career started at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, spending 18 years in domestic and global sales and marketing. In January 2005, he joined The Patrón Spirits Company and became President, International and Chief Operating Officer.

Today John invests in many other popular spirits brands such as Ghost Tequila.

Elly spent nearly a decade at Whole Foods Market as Global Director of Local Brands & Product Innovation, where she supported the growth and national expansion of dozens of today’s most beloved brands. She is currently a partner at Almanac Insights where she leverages her experience of the food and beverage industry to manage current and potential Almanac investments.

Original founder of Pop Chips, CEO Keith Belling talks to his newer product Right Rice. Right Rice is a delicious rice alternative that filled a void in the market. It is easy to cook, ready in about 10 minutes, has no preservatives or GMOs, is gluten-free, and vegan.

Caulipower is a healthier version of the foods you crave, that actually tastes like the foods you crave. Caulipower products are packed with vitamins, are cauliflower-based, and always gluten-free.

PopBar is a natural frozen ice cream treat on a stick! They use only all-natural ingredients, made fresh daily with real fruit and no artificial flavors.

FitVine Wine was born around a table with friends and family looking for an alternative to other wines that fit our lifestyles. From there it grew as we found more and more people were looking for wines that were a better fit for their lifestyle, whatever that fit might be.

Alison Minter from North Castle Partners and CEO Brandon Fishman talk about their relationship and the success of the Vita Cup brand.

Vita Cups are gourmet coffees and teas infused with vitamins and superfoods.

Mother Raw organic, plant-based products aren’t just inspired by nature; they’re made by nature. Their salad dressings, dips, and condiments take the best of what Mother Earth has to offer and create something amazingly delicious and versatile.

Lesser Evil is a clean, healthy and sustainable snack brand. They stand for the little things - both in their products and in life. They use organic inputs, compost food waste, and use more environmentally friendly packaging.

Penelope Bourbon is a company that was crafted in the classic entrepreneurial tradition. Mike Paladini and his wife, Kerry teamed up with his close friend and childhood next door neighbor, Danny Polise. Both grew up in Basking Ridge, NJ. They began to embark on creating a bourbon that everyone could enjoy and love.

Three Forks is a vertical indoor grower of produce ranging from lettuce to herbs to berries, Currently supplying the restaurant and supermarket sectors in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Ithaca Craft Hummus is a disruptive young company with a clean label, extended shelf life, and cold-pressed process that ensures the freshest, most flavorful product possible.

Green Circle is a leading, boutique investment banking advisory firm led by experienced investment professionals and former operators that provide advisory services in raising capital and mergers & acquisitions. The firm’s focus is very specifically applied to Natural Products, Foodtech and Restaurants.

Paul Shapiro 4 times TEDx speaker, CEO and founder of The Better Meat Co. and plant-based pioneer discusses his innovative plans for more sustainable food production.