Hitting The Mark

Marc Lewis is one of the top attorneys in California, whose San Francisco-based firm is hired by Fortune 100 companies to resolve a wide variety of complex, high-stakes business disputes. Even more interestingly, in addition to his complex commercial litigation practice, he is a passionate advocate for victims of sexual abuse and has created a spinoff brand that can be found at the highly descriptive url sexualabuselawfirm.com. That brand spinoff has a very distinct, very emotional, very convincing tone of voice. I chat with Marc about his two brands and how he tackles them from a branding and marketing perspective without confusing his clients. Learn more about Lewis & LlewellynSupport the show – and get on monthly advisory calls with Fabian (in groups for both creatives as well as entrepreneurs)

Shelly Sun created a company that assists the elderly with expert, compassionate, and personal home care. Her first location was launched in 2002. Since then, she grew BrightStar Care into over 340 franchise locations. Ranked number one franchise by Forbes in the investment level, BrightStar Care made it onto the top 10 on the American Express top 50 fastest-growing women-led companies for multiple years in a row. And Shelly has become a leader in the world of franchise executives. Learn from Shelly how to create a scalable brand that leads with compassion. Learn more about BrightStarSupport the show – and get on monthly advisory calls with Fabian (in groups for both creatives as well as entrepreneurs)

Kate Torgersen is in the niche business of facilitating the overnight shipping of breast milk for business traveling mums, or "Mom Badassery" as she calls it. Kate's story of mom-led innovation and entrepreneurship has been covered in outlets such as the Today Show, TIME, Forbes, People, NPR, and Fortune. Her brand Milk Stork is direct, bold and loved by moms, businesses and the press alike and has been named one of the Most Innovative Companies of 2019 by Fast Company. Today, you will find out why. Learn more about Milk StorkSupport the show – and get on monthly advisory calls with Fabian (in groups for both creatives as well as entrepreneurs) 

In November of 2017, Erica Feucht, pregnant with her first child, started a natural vodka-and whiskey-based (!) deodorant line together with her husband Jason. The product is named Pit Liquor and I fell in love with the quirkiness of the founders and their soon-to-be brand. This is one of the few episodes where I feature a company that is so young that it is hard to call it a brand yet, but I can bet you that I will have them back in a few years and that based on their brand philosophy, brand name, and innovative product, they will turn into a known and beloved brand within the year. We talk about the ups and downs (or may I say 'pitfalls') of starting a company that leads with a provocative product, name, and brand language, and how the husband-wife team stayed true to themselves throughout their entrepreneurial journey. If you enjoyed the Liquid Death episode (catch it if you have not heard it yet!), you will not want to miss Pit Liquor. Insights and plenty of laughs are guaranteed. Learn more about Pit LiquorSupport the show – and get on monthly advisory calls with Fabian (in groups for both creatives as well as entrepreneurs)

To kick off 2020 I have an entrepreneur on Hitting The Mark who knows a thing or two about how to build a brand. From co-founding fantasy sports unicorn startup Fanduel to being left with nothing after their company's $465M acquisition. Today we will dive into Lesley Eccles' brand experiences while chatting about her new startup Relish. It is a fascinating story with - as you may imagine - plenty of branding insights along the way. This conversation with Lesley was both an honor and a delight, as you will be able to tell since it feels much more like a chat rather than an interview. We talk about how to build culture and instill values; about the emotional journey of running a startup; not to blindly trust data as you craft your brand; why every CEO should dedicate time to customer service calls; how to make it through the highest highs and lowest lows of entrepreneurship; how authenticity and sales should be the backbone of every successful startup, …and much more! Learn more about RelishSupport the show and get on monthly brand advisory calls with Fabian

Jeni Britton Bauer is the James Beard Award-Winning pioneer of the artisan ice cream movement. That is right, if you had small-batch ice cream as a culinary experience lately you have her to thank for. Jeni built Jeni’s into a cult brand with dedicated followers and hundreds, if not thousands, of copy cats. To finish this year off having her on this show is truly an early Christmas gift for myself and subsequently to you. We were fighting some sound issues throughout, but in the spirit of the holidays, please try not to focus on those and instead on the story and brand insights from one of the most admired culinary brands today.  Learn more about Jeni'sSupport the show and get on monthly brand advisory calls with Fabian

You may know my next guest from the Capital One credit card ads that she is featured in, or you may be a customer and tribe-member who loves her brand as much as you love her products. Christina Stembel is the widely admired founder and CEO of the quickly growing Farmgirl Flowers brand, an integrity-driven direct to consumer flower shop that is changing an archaic industry by infusing heart and soul. Farmgirl is on track to bring in $32 million this year. On this episode, Christina shares in her outgoing and transparent style how she crafted a beloved brand while being 100% bootstrapped, and not for the lack of trying. You will be surprised that the flower industry is far from being green and that it is yet another business that is run by 'the boys club.' Christina disrupted the industry, and she did so with a brand-first mindset. An episode not to be missed. Learn more about Farmgirl FlowersSupport the show and get on monthly brand advisory calls with Fabian

Jordann Windschauer-Amatea is the third consecutive 'mom entrepreneur' on this show who successfully conquered the food business. And she is another amazing inspiration to anyone who wants to move a passion into a business and subsequently into a brand with heart and soul. Jordann founded Base Culture as a bakery catering to the healthy, pure, and primal lifestyle that can be summed up as the Paleo diet while she was in college. She wanted to live a healthy lifestyle, but have a brownie, so she baked it until it was perfect. She could not find a co-packing facility, so she created her own and waited for 2 years to have it finished while keeping hundreds of stores and journalists interested in her products waiting. What I learned about Jordann is that she is stubborn and passionate – and those two traits may just be the key ingredients to her success. Today, at age 27, she is working out of a 44,000 square foot facility and her range of products can be found in over 7,000 stores nationwide.  Learn more about Base CultureSupport the show and get on monthly brand advisory calls with Fabian

Junea Rocha, co-founded Brazi Bites. Since our last episode, we know it takes no culinary background to create a food product that sells like hotcakes, or in Junea's case, like hot cheese bread. I had such a great time hearing her story, from being a civic engineer to running her brand with her husband. Killing it on Shark Tank, making Inc's fasting growing private company list in the U.S. for the past two years, spending three grueling years on the road selling and testing their product, to today, where they run 8,000 stores. And you will soon know why, as you will be able to witness her drive, her contagious energy, and learn from Junea's vast branding and positioning knowledge. Not only if you're in food and beverage or branding, or if you want to take the leap into entrepreneurship from your cushiony job. No, even if you are a regular consumer, this is a fascinating conversation. Learn more about Brazi BitesSupport the show

There are 782 minutes of combined insights and inspiring journeys we had to edit down to arrive at this 32-minute special, which hones in on 5 key areas:Brands challenging the normThe importance of people – Your tribe and your cultureInvestors' viewpoints on brand thinkingBrand DNA - your brand in one wordAnd to finish it off, not-to-be-missed brand advice from these successful entrepreneurs and investors that we needed to bring back up front and center.Show your support for Hitting The Mark, and if you have been listening and have not rated the show yet, please do so wherever you listen to podcasts.Thank you, and enjoy!_______________________________________________Here is who you will be hearing from on this episode:BRANDS CHALLENGING THE NORM:3:15 - 5:35 = Liquid Death (Mike Cessario)5:35 - 7:13 = Wilkmazz (Sam Mazzeo)7:13 - 8:59 = Antis Roofing (Charles Antis)8:59 - 10:21 = &Pizza (Michael Lastoria)10:21 - 13:02 = Charity Water (Scott Harrison)THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE – YOUR TRIBE AND YOUR CULTURE:13:37 - 14:11 = The Futur (Chris Do)14:11 - 14:30 = Double Dutch (Raissa & Joyce de Hass)14:30 - 14:36 = Journey Meditation (Stephen Sokoler)14:36 - 15:36 = Parlor Skis (Mark Wallace)15:36 - 15:49 = Journey Meditation (Stephen Sokoler)15:49 - 18:18 = &Pizza (Michael Lastoria)INVESTOR'S VIEWPOINT ON BRANDING:18:47 - 19:35 = Angel Investor (Frank Demmler)19:35 - 21:18 = Dormitus Brands (Mark Thomann)21:18 - 22:26 = New Crop Capital (Chris Kerr)BRAND DNA – YOUR BRAND IN A SINGLE WORD:23:23 - 23:29 = The Futur (Chris Do)23:29 - 23:31 = Rogue Brands (Raaja Nemani)23:31 - 23:32 = 4th & Heart (Raquel Tavares)23:32 - 23:34 = Bureo (Ben Kneppers)23:34 -23:35 = Journey Meditation (Stephen Sokoler)23:35 - 23:37 = Antis Roofing (Charles Antis)23:37 - 23:38 = Beboe (Clement Kwan)23:38 - 23:39 = Idagio (Till Janczukowicz)23:38 - 23:39 = Charity Water (Scott Harrison)23:39 - 23:40 = Liquid Death (Mike Cessario)23:40 - 23:43 = &Pizza (Michael Lastoria)23:43 - 24:04 = Bureo (Ben Kneppers)24:04 - 24:35 = Charity Water (Scott Harrison)24:35 - 25:01 = Idagio (Till Janczukowicz)25:01 - 25:28 = Beboe (Clement Kwan)25:28 - 25:53 = Rogue Brands (Raaja Nemani)NOT-TO-BE-MISSED BRAND ADVICE:26:26 - 26:46 = Rogue Brands (Raaja Nemani)26:46 - 27:02 = The Futur (Chris Do)27:02 - 27:20 = Barrel Bourbon Foods (Matt Jamie)27:20 - 28:10 = Cameo (Devon Townsend)28:10 - 28:22 = Tiny Beans (Eddie Geller)28:23 - 29:23 = Double Dutch (Raissa & Joyce de Hass)