Hitting The Mark

Steve Schulze built Nekter Juice Bar into a franchise of over 160 locations nationwide with sales north of $100M a year. As regular listeners of this show will know, I am always thrilled to feature franchise success stories, because when it comes to franchises, branding is the holy grail while adding a layer of complexity to the creation and duplication of the brand. Steve and I dive into the power of listening to your customer, how he pulled off being a store inside of Whole Foods, how to create brand loyalty, and how to work with creative agencies and consultants like myself along the way to create brand focus and clarity. Much to squeeze out of this episode! Learn more about Nekter Juice BarSupport the show and even get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

One of the immense pleasures I get out of hosting this show is to be in the company of amazing entrepreneurs, one smarter than the other. Phil Libin is definitely on the top of that list. Phil, of course, is the Co-founder and former CEO of Evernote who just launched another one of his many companies and brands he helped shape over the past decades. And this one is very, very intriguing. Also, because it is called mmhmm. This episode is so entertaining, so whip-smart and so important especially if you are involved in naming or branding, or in a startup, or in creating successful teams. And even if you are not, you will greatly enjoy this, because Phil is an amazing storyteller. Maybe you’d just like to know how Evernote got its iconic green elephant for a logo? Or hear why someone who hated marketing became a big believer in the power of great branding? Learn more about mmhmmLearn more about the reasoning behind the name, plus see the platform in actionSupport the show and even get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

Esti Chazanow is the Co-Founder and Brand Manager of LIV watches, a brand that does not have customers but fans, a brand that is the David going against the Goliath, a brand that is digital-born yet celebrates the retro-physical, a brand that is inexpensive compared to its competitors yet is never seen as cheap. So many topics that are crucial to understand on a deeper level for any brand marketer or entrepreneur and Esti is an amazing person to hear it from.  Learn more about LIVSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

Dan Kurzrock was brewing beer as a hobby in college when he realized that only 10% of the ingredients used to make beer actually end up in any pint of beer. All-in-all, we waste 40% of all edible food. Today Dan runs ReGrained, a mission-driven ingredient platform that leverages technology and culinary science to transform beer waste into food. Dan is a thought-leader in food waste business models, "edible upcycling" and the circular economy for food, and he made it onto the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2018. The consumer brand is selling supergrain puffs like hotcakes despite a pandemic-related pivot into eCommerce. All the facets of Dan's brand is what made this a longer and deeper conversation than you are used to from Hitting The Mark, but it is for all the right reasons. 'Eat up' is the motto, listen up is where to start! Learn more about RegrainedSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here. 

Trevor Milton is the founder of Nikola Motor Company, the hybrid truck company that has 6 vehicles in the making, most of which have not seen the light of day yet. I talked with Trevor only days after he took his company public, ringing the stock exchange bells via video during the pandemic. Trevor is only 38 years old and has a reported net worth of 7.2 billion dollars. Here he is on Hitting The Mark to talk with us about the Nikola brand, which, despite not having an actual truck on the roads, is now more valuable than Ford. Learn more about NikolaFollow Trevor on TwitterSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here. 

I want to borrow a line from the great David Letterman and say 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.' He, of course, is the Co-Founder of Happy Socks and has just launched a new brand. Happy Socks, the immensely iconic and much-loved brand has reached 90 countries and every continent – with concept stores all around the world, from LA to Tokyo, Happy Socks can be found in over 10,000 fashion apparel boutiques. But today Mikael is sharpening your knives! Get to know his new venture and find out what he learned from creating Happy Socks. He talked to me from Sweden about all things branding, and needless to say, his brands, and this conversation, are bigger than socks and knives.Learn more about Knife AidSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

I hustled to get Lisa Vogl on the show because the idea of starting a brand specializing in hijabs that is catering to the Muslim population and launching it successfully at Macy’s to me was fascinating on many levels. In fact, Verona Collection is the first modest fashion brand to be launched, featured, and sold in an American department store. Lisa is a young passionate entrepreneur driven by authenticity. I greatly enjoyed this swift interview with her about her brand’s strategy and I believe it shows. Learn more about Verona CollectionSupport the show and get on monthly mentorship calls with Fabian. Join here.

In a rare move, we have a Founder and COO duo on the show for a brand tale that includes an aspirational economic migrant story from designing clothes for Barbies, literally, at Mattel, to making a pitch so successful it landed them a quarter-million-dollar deal with investor Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank fame. Danh and Bob are running LA-based Buttercloth, a brand that is a typical internet-born D2C brand, so much so that they don’t believe in experts like myself. And they told me so during my show. The company produces what they claim to be ‘The World’s Most Comfortable Shirt,’ a slightly unbelievable claim that they are justifying to the world now. Big risks brought big rewards and bootstrapping, even on the branding level, was no showstopper to their success. Learn more about ButterclothDue to COVID-19 we are no longer asking for financial support for the show, instead you can now join free mentorship group calls with Fabian to get through this together. Join here.

Tim Dodd is a venture capitalist turned Co-Founder and CEO of Sweet Flower, Southern California's largest and leading independent cannabis retailer. A dispensary that is by and for LA., Sweet Flower leads with a clear brand positioning and a high sense for design in a sea of sameness. My chat with Tim came at a nerve-wracking time when L.A. was knee-deep in the coronavirus pandemic, but Sweet Flower seems to have been well prepared to weather the storm. There is much to learn from Tim as we not only talk about branding but also the operational challenges of running a dispensary. Learn more about Sweet FlowerDue to COVID-19 we are no longer asking for financial support for the show, instead you can now join free mentorship group calls with Fabian to get through this together. Join here.

Entrepreneur and unapologetic power dresser Sali Christeson is the founder and CEO of Argent, the venture-backed brand helping women suit up to level the office playing field. Sali launched the specialized D2C fashion brand in 2006 and she is already redefining the workwear category while dressing powerful women from Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris to Amy Poehler and Awkwafina. Sali is incredibly charismatic and you will be in for a treat as we talk about brands reacting to the COVID-19 crisis, her journey from 10-years at CISCO to becoming a fashion entrepreneur, how she created this extremely aspirational positioning for her brand, why she launched at a conference and plenty of great branding advice sprinkled throughout. Learn more about ArgentDue to COVID-19 we are no longer asking for financial support for the show, instead you can now join free mentorship group calls with Fabian to get through this together. Join here.