Startup to Storefront

Today’s guest is Hannah Pilkes, the comedienne, actress, and writer. Hannah got her start in the Kevin Bacon drama The Woodsman. If you’re familiar with that movie you’ll know it’s about as far from comedy as a movie can get. But acting in the movie was enough to reinforce Hannah’s love for performing, and though it took a while, she did eventually find her own voice and a following on Vine. Thankfully, Hannah’s career has lasted much longer than the platform that launched her. She continues to reach a wide audience today through her stand-up performances, comedy skits on social media, and is even writing and developing a tv show. Listen in as we cover everything from why she doesn’t consider what she writes to be jokes, how she’s managed to continuously promote her activism alongside her comedy, and why she thinks 80% of standup in the midwest should probably cease to exist.

Today’s guest is Ivan Fatovic, founder of Modamily. Modamily is a mashup of the words “modern family”, and Ivan is working to redefine what that means in modern culture. This country as well as many around the world have long held up the ideals of the nuclear family as something to strive for. The problem with that is for many, that ideal ranges anywhere from undesirable to unachievable. And for those of us who want to have children outside of the “boy meets girl, they fall in love, they have kids” framework, the path was often complicated and almost never easy. Modamily is a service that allows people to meet like-minded individuals and have kids without necessarily developing a romantic connection. And while it probably won’t be the end of Western Civilization as we know it, it is undeniably groundbreaking. Listen in as we cover everything from how Ivan defines the modern family, why he considers Modamily a hybrid between dating apps and the fertility industry, and why choosing who you have kids with is the most important decision you’ll make in your life.

Returning to the show today are Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu, co-founders of Chemist Confessions and authors of the new book Skincare Decoded: The Practical Guide to Beautiful Skin. When we last spoke with Victoria and Gloria, they were busy running an online skincare platform and developing new skincare products. Somehow in the middle of all that, they managed to squeeze in writing a book as well. If you ask them, they initially thought it wouldn’t be much more than repackaging everything they’d already written on their blog. They couldn’t have been more wrong. But the same effort and care that they’ve put into their blog went into their book, and as a result, sales are spiking. Listen in as we cover everything from having to navigate the launch of the book on their own, why Gloria’s excitement about finding her book at her local bookstore was not shared by the cashier, and what humans have in common with guinea pigs when it comes to skincare.

Today’s guest is Alex Bayer, founder of Genius Juice. Alex hasn’t always been an entrepreneur, but he has picked up several valuable skills along the way that have given him a leg up when he did decide to start out on his own. He honed his sales technique while selling Afflack insurance, and he learned all about marketing and distribution during his time at a non-profit. So the preparation was all there when he had his Eureka moment when a friend made him his first whole coconut smoothie. He seized the opportunity and turned a simple healthy smoothie into a nationwide brand. Listen in as we cover everything from the difficulties of having to kick out a partner who is also a friend, the importance of recognizing your own limitations and hiring people who complement your strengths, and why the fourth time was the charm when it came to getting on Shark Tank.

Today’s guests are Emerson Haro and Tony Yuan, co-founders of Farm Cup Coffee and co-inhabiters with us in our new space at 7748 Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, CA. Farm Cup and their one-of-a-kind coffee truck Sunny take up the front half, while we record in the space right behind them. So needless to say we all know each other pretty well. In the two years that we’ve been doing this show, no one embodies the spirit of Startup to Storefront more than these guys. Aside from literally going from startup to an actual storefront, they pour their heart and soul into their business and it shows. Our first conversation with them was episode 17, and we’re thrilled that we could catch up with them again and talk about just how far they’ve come since then. Listen in as we cover everything from how Emerson’s initial drawings for Sunny were completely impractical, how they fought through low customer turnout last year, and they recount the most disastrous pitch meeting imaginable.

Today is our 100th episode! It’s also the first time we’ve hosted a guest in our brand new podcast studio. We can’t think of a sweeter way to celebrate this milestone than with some doughnuts. So with that being said, today’s guests are Thom Furtado and Nancy Truman, the couple behind the LA sensation Fōnuts. Those that know Los Angeles know that LA is a doughnut-loving city. There are many, many places that satisfy your sweet tooth, but a few rise above the rest. Fōnuts has made a name for itself not only in the quality and taste of their doughnut, but by making all of their creations gluten-free as well. They’ve come to our brand new studio today to tell us all about how they became the creators of the enlightened doughnut. Listen in as we cover everything from their plans to become a national brand through franchising, why Nancy doesn’t like to lead with gluten-free when asked “what’s a fōnut?”, and why the biggest struggle in running their business has always been hiring quality employees.

Today’s guests are Diego and Nick! We’re in the process of opening up our brand new podcast studio, and so today we decided to break it in by recording our first episode in it. We’ll be back next week with our normal content, but this week we decided to reminisce on how far we’ve come and where we plan on taking the podcast. We also offer up a lot of insights and tips we’ve learned along the way, from our routine when we sit down with guests to our thoughts on how we should celebrate our upcoming 100th episode. This is just the start of the next chapter in the Startup to Storefront story, and we’re thrilled that we can share it with you all.

Today’s guests are Krissy Jones and Chloe Kernaghan, co-founders of Sky Ting Yoga. Krissy and Chloe began with a single brick-and-mortar studio in New York City, but their following quickly outgrew their studio’s capacity. So naturally, they expanded into more locations. But just as it’s difficult to keep expanding into new studios, it’s also tough to find great teachers to staff them. To be fair, this is a great problem to have. The only real solution was to leverage their instruction style and name into an online platform. And in a moment of unpredictably brilliant timing, they launched this platform a few months before COVID hit and everything switched to an online platform. Listen in as we cover everything from how taking a hit in video quality during the pandemic actually taught them how to create more engaging videos, how they plan to compete with industry titans like Peloton, and how switching from an analog studio to a digital space wasn’t exactly as straightforward as they’d hoped.

Today’s guest is Alex Apostolopoulos, founder of the greek yogurt company Ellenos. Ellenos has gained quite the following in Seattle, drawing crowds through word-of-mouth advertising to their stand at the iconic Pike Place Market. But they wouldn’t have even gotten to Seattle if it weren’t for Yvonne Klein, a flight attendant who loved the yogurt so much that she would bring back cases of it whenever she flew to Australia. Eventually, she and her husband reached out to Alex and his father about bringing their product to the US. The four became business partners and set out to win consumers over one taste at a time. Listen in as we cover everything from the challenges of finding a dairy farmer in the US who would work with them if we’ll see yogurt breweries pop up in the next few years, and why some of the simplest flavors are the most challenging to make.

Today we talk with Erica Rankin, founder of the edible cookie dough company Bro Dough. It’s a guilty pleasure we’ve all indulged in at least once or twice. The problem has always been that those raw eggs that make it dangerous for consumption prior to being baked to golden perfection. Bro Dough isn’t your grandparent’s cookie dough though. It’s vegan, safe for consumption, and packs an extra dose of protein. In fact, though you can indeed bake it, this is a cookie dough that is meant to be eaten raw. Listen in as we cover everything from the benefits of being open and honest on LinkedIn, why she often takes the path of most resistance, and how her dad wasn’t quite convinced there was a market for cookie dough until he saw the sales come rolling in.