Hitting The Mark

Brad Manning is one of the Co-Founders, or Co-Brothers as he puts it, of Two Blind Brothers, a mission-based company whose name is telling at least one important part of this brand’s story. Two Blind Brothers is a NYC-based clothing line that focuses on luxury casual wear. Both founders are affected with a form of macular degeneration and pledge 100% of their profits to medical research to cure blindness. And their brand campaigns and stories are heartfelt and master examples of whip-smart marketing. In this wonderfully inspiring conversation, we talk about what happens when mission-based brands pivot once their vision is fulfilled, how brands with a deep purpose have an easier time expanding across different product categories, how their ‘shop blind’ strategy is working miracles, how underproduced brand materials often outperform polished ones and above all, if you want to get a master class in authentic brand storytelling, this is it. And as you know me, we also go a bit off-topic as I was wondering how a great keynote speaker like Brad works a big speech without being able to rely on a confidence monitor. The lesson: Despite being partially blind he has an advantage over those with perfect vision. And that is a key takeaway for those of you living with an impairment. You can follow Brad’s lead and turn that impairment into your superpower. Learn more about Two Blind BrothersSupport the show

Patrick Lee was Co-Founder and founding CEO of Rotten Tomatoes, the movie rating system we all came to know so well and that I always saw as a kind of anti-brand. To kick off 2021, we are talking about how Patrick transitioned from running a design firm, like so many of my listeners, to running Rotten Tomatoes 23 years ago. Needless to say, the brand is still going strong and we discuss how the name and the famous Tomatometer with its counter-intuitive colors came about, how focus is key to brand success, but we also go back to his design agency days where Patrick shares an inspiring story on how the small agency won Disney as a client without having any related work in their portfolio. A well-rounded conversation to ease into 2021, which I hope will get a Certified Fresh status too. Oh, I know, only you Rotten Tomatoes fans will get that one. Learn more about Rotten TomatoesConnect with PatrickSupport the show

Bernd Roggendorf is known as the Co-Founder of Ableton, the tremendously popular software that helps millions of musicians unleash their creative potential. But today we are talking about EIDU, the social enterprise Bernd founded 5 years ago to improve education standards for the 800 million children who live on $2 or less per day. We are chatting about how he took his entire family around the world, trying to live as closely as possible like people in poverty so he could understand his future audience’s needs, on what role branding played within the organization, the meaning of brand purpose, and the surprising story behind the brand name. Plus, Bernd takes us on his journey of pivot after pivot on his great mission to bring better education to those who need it the most. A delightful conversation that will make you quickly understand how his passion is contagious. Learn more about EIDUCatch Bernd's TEDx TalkSupport the show

Jeanne David and Vasa Martinez, the Founder and the CMO of Outer Aisle, respectively, are joining me to look behind the curtains of how the Outer Aisle brand was crafted; a brand Jeanne founded in her 50s that invented the cauliflower carb-swap category by offering gluten-free, nutrient-dense, low-carb Cauliflower Pizza Crusts and Sandwich Thins/Wraps. Jeanne's innovation combined with Vasa’s knack for community-building and trend-setting has led the brand to become the fastest-growing food company in California on the Inc. 5000. We talk about the importance of foresight when it comes to creating your company name, how social media helped catapult the brand to where it is today, and how Jeanne successfully employed her entire family which is now a big part of their company culture.  Learn more about Outer AisleSupport the show

Cole Orobetz founded Alpha Foods five years ago and is currently the CEO and CFO of the healthy frozen meal brand that can be found in over 9,000 stores across North America and Asia, where their plant-based Alpha Chicken Nuggets are available at KFC (which is quite an endorsement!). Cole and I talk about how a blizzard and a vegan bagel dog got him into the business, why he had to re-name his brand for the Chinese market, how ‘familiarity’ is key to convincing meat-eaters to try plant-based varieties of their favorite foods, and how it took them hundreds of logos and four agencies to arrive at their very first logo – all because the brand strategy phase was missing upfront. Learn more about Alpha FoodsSupport the show

If you launch a t-shirt brand in this day and age and you find a way to stand out, you bet I’ll have you on my show. And that is exactly what Dan Demsky did by co-founding a Merino wool clothing brand that is high-performance yet stylish. Dan was running a Creative Agency but sought to pivot into offering an eCommerce product that allows for scaling instead. That was the goal, then the journey of finding an actual need to built a brand around started. In this fascinating conversation, we talk about the power of having a very narrow positioning at first, how surrounding yourself with friends that are ambitious is a key to success and how the outrageous claim of being able to wear an Unbound shirt for 18 days without washing it was the right brand move. Learn more about Unbound MerinoSupport the show

Muhammad Saigol and Erik Rauterkus of July launched an appliance in 12 months from idea to market through razor-sharp focus. We dive into how the brand made 'summer' their DNA, how transparency with the customer is key, and why The Wall Street Journal called July ‘summer’s unlikeliest status symbol.’ We further look into the brand architecture of a startup that has big plans to become the next generation General Electric. Much to learn from these Co-Founders on how to craft a brand. Learn more about JulySupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here. 

Anna Sheffield launched Bing Bang in 2001, and her eponymous fine jewelry brand followed in 2009. Since then, some fine folks you may have heard of like Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron came to appreciate her work. Today we go deep into how Anna created a cult-like following with a brand that was almost created by accident and how creating the actual brand platform just 4 years ago was instrumental to her growth. But, I also take this opportunity to dive into all the questions so many of us have about the industry as a whole: How much in the diamond industry is an upsell? Are lab-grown diamonds really the future? And, I am going a bit witchy, to what extend do reclaimed stones carry the soul of the deceased? Yes, I went there. Anna was a fascinating guest. If you are an artist who wants to turn their craft into a successful brand, if you are a fan of Anna's work, or even if you are just interested in taking a peek behind the nebulous diamonds industry, this episode is for you. Learn more about Anna Sheffield Fine JewelryLearn more about Bing BangSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

Shannon McLay built a gym to work out your finances: Monthly memberships, trainers, the whole nine yards. You are matched with a BFF - your best Financial Friend – the call to action on the site says ‘Let’s crush some goals’ and trainers welcome you by saying ‘You are about to get financially naked with me.’ It’s the Financial Gym, and it all started with the name. Shannon built this brand on experience and a lot of fantastic brand gut instincts. This conversation was a complete blast and her brand may just be the type of brand that the world needs right now.  Learn more about The Financial GymSupport the show and even get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

Just in time for 'back to school' (albeit a strange and unusual one for most kids and their parents this year), I had the chance to talk with the Co-Founder of Kidfresh, a brand of healthy frozen meals for kids. Matt Cohen was appalled when he saw what kids in the U.S. were eating so he set out on a journey to change it by hiding all the healthy stuff in the type of meals kids actually crave.  Today, the Kidfresh line is available in all major U.S. supermarkets and Matt’s mission of creating better food for kids has been fulfilled. We discuss how moving just a little bit away from the core DNA of a brand might quickly result in a flop, how a pivot from retail to wholesale created brand clarity, and what happens when kids realize that they’ve been tricked into eating healthy foods all along.Learn more about KidfreshSupport the show and even get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.