Startup to Storefront

Today’s guests are the Comfy brothers, Brian and Michael Speciale. As you may have guessed from their nickname, they co-founded The Comfy, and they are indeed brothers. The two of them took their idea for a wearable blanket and straight-up sprinted with it. They knew that they were sitting on such a hot ticket item that before they did just about anything else with their company, they were appearing on Shark Tank. They left the tank with a deal in hand and set to work on actually manufacturing the product. It took some time to get their supply chain and distribution figured out, but once they did, the brothers turned The Comfy into one of the most successful companies to ever come out of Shark Tank. What follows is a captivating and energetic conversation about the grit and determination that led them to where they are today. Listen in as we cover everything from why getting their product into retail stores was the best decision they ever made, how Brian spent the early days of his company flipping people from angry customers to supporters of the brand, and why it’s imperative to own up to both the mistakes and successes of your business.

Today’s guest is Denise Woodard, founder of Partake Foods. When her daughter was diagnosed with severe food allergies, Denise struggled with finding snacks she could safely feed her. So she set out to create some herself. But it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Her initial attempts were met with responses of “this is awful” from her daughter. And this is where it’s important to note that Denise was able to bypass so many hurdles that plague entrepreneurs as they grow. Denise recognized her own limitations and instead of laboring for a lengthy amount of time perfecting a recipe, she hired a food scientist. By delegating this task she freed herself up to focus on getting Partake off the ground and running. Partake is now a nationwide brand with venture capital funding from big names like Rihanna and Jay-Z. Listen in as we cover everything from how tough it was to get allergic customers to build up enough trust in the brand before they’d even try it, why frozen is the new fresh, and why at times she feels like she’s flying the plane as she’s building it.

Today’s guest is Taylor Steele, founder of the tequila company: Solento. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you might have picked up on a common theme: career paths are almost never linear. Taylor’s career path is even more proof of this, as he has gone from indie surfing-filmmaker to creative director of Corona beer in Australia to the head of a premier tequila company. For some, it’s enough to find their passion and make money at it. For others, passions can change over time, and you need to look no further than Taylor’s story to see that if you don’t like the wave you’re currently riding, hop-off and catch another one. With Solento, Taylor is able to bring all of his collective experience and creative energy and pour it into his company. And if the past is any indication of the future, we’ll be seeing a lot more from Taylor in years to come. Listen in as we cover everything from how he distributed his first film by selling one copy at a time to local surf shops, why he felt like a life coach to some of the world-class surfers he was filming, and if he sees Solento as becoming the tequila of choice for extreme sports. 

Today we talk with Rachel Henderson, founder of Project Sunscreen. The goal behind Project Sunscreen is simple: get more people to wear sunscreen. It’s not that putting on sunscreen is an inherently strenuous activity that keeps people up at night with anxiety. But there are friction points. Rachel broke these points down and addressed them by designing a product with a roll-on application and without any harmful or irritating chemicals. Our conversation today covers how to prepare yourself for a lot of “no’s” while fundraising, advice on how to get your product into big box stores, and the difficulties of growing while cash-strapped.

Today’s guest is Joe Nicchi, founder of CVT Soft Serve. Like a lot of east-coasters who move out West, Joe found himself in Los Angeles searching for comfort food to remind him of where he came from. The problem was that Joe’s comfort food was soft-serve ice cream, and LA really didn’t offer that particular food group. Sure, there were ice cream parlors and frozen yogurt shops, but none of those really hit the spot for Joe. So he did what any self-enterprising person would do: he created his own soft-serve company. Well, first he had to find an old Mr. Softee ice cream truck, fix it up, ship it to LA, get all the permits, yadda yadda yadda… But we’ll cover all that later in the episode. Joe’s story is a perfect example of how a great product paired with an electric personality can catapult a company to uncharted heights. Listen in as we cover everything from why the customer is NOT always right, the trials and errors of finding the best spots to park your ice cream truck, and why there should be ice cream served in every gym.

Today’s guest is Ben Seidl, founder of Neyborly. In much the same way as WeWork or AirBnB reimagined how we work and vacation, Neyborly is reimagining how we interact within our community. Odds are high that there are a couple of vacant commercial real estate properties in your town. Some might see vacant properties as nothing more than urban blight, but Ben sees opportunity. Instead of sitting empty while waiting for the next long-term tenant, Neyborly partners with the landlords to rent these spaces out for everything from one-time meetings, limited-time restaurant pop-ups, to multi-year leases for retail stores. Listen in as we cover everything from how he shifted his mentality to succeed in a hopefully-soon-to-be post-covid world, the magic of turning vacant buildings into community hubs, and his bullish views on A.I. and how it will bring new significance to the humble parking lot.

Today’s guests are Humberto Ibarra and Craig Cartozian, co-founders of Mandala Tequila. If it feels like tequila is in a golden age right now, you’re not imagining things. Between the plethora of tequila varieties, celebrity-owned companies, and competition from its cousin mezcal, walking down the tequila aisle of a liquor store is sure to present you with any number of options. So if you’re a tequila company, how do you stand out? First, you need a good product. That should go without saying. Then, you need an eye-catching vessel. If you’re at a store that sells Mandala, it’s unlikely that you’ll miss them. They’ve got the most ornate ceramic bottles you’ve ever seen, decorated by hand and featuring designs that celebrate Mexican folklore and culture. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that what’s inside the bottle is also just as memorable. Mandala’s journey hasn’t all been sun-kissed though, as they very nearly failed to find a foothold in the crowded tequila market. Listen in as we cover everything from how they created their own niche by going against conventional wisdom in releasing their extra añejo first, the initial challenges of convincing restaurants to stock their product, and why there’s no shortcut to success in the tequila market…unless you happen to be The Rock.

Today we talk with Ralph and Caroline Walde, co-founders and the husband and wife chef duo behind Aymara Peruvian kitchen. The restaurant industry is constantly evolving, and trends can seemingly pop-up and disappear overnight. But one industry trend that is looking like it has some staying power is the ghost kitchen. Brick and mortar restaurants begat more cost-efficient food trucks, which have in turn led to even more cost-efficient ghost kitchens. Listen in as we cover how the coronavirus pandemic steered Ralph and Caroline into opening Aymara, the economics of taking orders through delivery apps, and how to progress from a cook to a chef.

Today’s guest is Matthew Herman, co-founder of Boy Smells. What started off as a hobby turned into a side-hustle turned into a thriving business that even caught the attention of country music superstar Kacey Musgraves. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. It began as a candle-making experiment in Matthew’s kitchen, trying to buck the gender norms of how candles have been traditionally made and marketed. Matthew and his co-founder David combined both masculine and feminine scents into products like Cinderose, Polyamberous, and Rhubarb Smoke. They then took that philosophy and applied it to underwear. Creating a line with the option of either a pouch front or flat front and leaving it up to the consumer to choose the best fit for them.  Listen in as we cover everything from how their sense of humor inspired the company name, how Boy Smells is truly an extension of Matthew’s personality, and we find out who made the first move in the collaboration between Boy Smells and Kacey Musgraves.

Today’s guest is Eliza Ganesh, founder of Sunwink. As is often the case in the health and wellness space, the founding of Sunwink came about as a result of a personal issue. Eliza was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and sought a better way to fight the disease and lead a healthier life. She had to experiment a bit and incorporate feedback from her early customers, but she persevered and eventually found a recipe that succeeded. So then, armed with little more than some bottles of Sunwink and her Honda Fit, she made her mark in the Bay Area before growing Sunwink into a nationwide brand. Listen in as we cover everything from working in San Francisco through the pandemic and if she intends to keep the Sunwink HQ there long term, the value of knowing your worth as a female entrepreneur, and how learning new TikTok dances fits into her own corporate wellness plan.