The Founder Hour

Greg Steltenpohl is the co-founder and CEO of Califia Farms, one of the fastest-growing plant-based beverage companies in the world. However, Greg wasn’t always an entrepreneur; in fact, he got a degree from Stanford in Environmental Science and at one point in his younger days, set out to be a musician.However, when that didn’t work out, a series of fortunate events led Greg to found Odwalla, a supplier of fresh juice and nourishing beverages, which was eventually acquired by Coca-Cola in 2001.After Odwalla, Greg was involved in several projects, but it was now clear that his background in environmental sciences would become a part of his daily life. Prior to Califia, Greg co-founded Adina for Life Inc., a venture-backed startup focused on building a fair trade brand with a good-for-you, good-for-the-planet mission in the natural beverage category. He did that for 6 years and then founded Califia Farms.Greg is one of the original plant-based visionaries who believed that bringing high-quality, sustainable products with wholesome ingredients to customers was imperative. Since 2010, Greg has led the company’s rapid growth as an innovative leader of premium, natural beverages that make it easy for consumers to go “plant-powered” and live a dairy-free lifestyle. Steltenpohl’s disruptive approach has made Califia Farms the top-selling, ready-to-drink coffee and almond milk brand in the U.S. natural channel and a household name.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Daina Trout is the co-founder and CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha. Before her entrepreneurial journey began, Daina found herself working in corporate America for several years after graduating with Master’s degrees in Nutrition and Public Health from Tufts University, all the while having an itch to start her own business.She finally took the leap after she and her best friend, Vanessa Dew, and husband, Justin Trout, started an “entrepreneur club” to brainstorm potential ideas to pursue. At long last, they decided on selling kombucha - something Daina had been making for many years since her college days - when they stumbled upon the little-known fact that it could help with preventing hair loss. Daina and her new co-founders began brewing batches of kombucha in her apartment, started selling it at local farmers markets, and eventually grew Health-Ade into one of the fastest-growing brands in its category.In 2020, the company will sell close to 5 million cases, generating over $150 million across 30,000 stores. Tune in to experience Daina’s story of perseverance, grit and ensuring success against all odds.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Susan Sarich is the founder and visionary of popular cake company, SusieCakes. She grew up in Chicago watching her two grandmothers always baking and quickly realized that hospitality is something she’d be involved with. Her strong academic marks allowed her to get accepted to Cornell’s hospitality program - one of the best in the nation.After graduating and working at hotels and nightclubs and restaurants, her life partner and her opened a restaurant together in Oregon. It was doing so well until the 9/11 attacks.We spoke to Susan about overcoming those challenges, having the idea for SusieCakes, moving to Los Angeles, raising money and the early days of the cake shop. Tune in to learn how she went from 1 location to 27 and how the cakes will keep coming!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Justin Baldoni is an actor, director, producer, entrepreneur, and changemaker whose efforts are focused on creating impactful media and entertainment. You may know him from the hit series, Jane the Virgin, where he plays the character, Rafael Solano. Baldoni was born in Los Angeles and raised in Oregon. He spoke to us about his soccer and track career in high school, which ended after an injury. Then, he was a radio DJ at a local top-40 radio station in Oregon. He decided to move back to Los Angeles and while moving into a new apartment, he met a manager who advised him to pursue a career in acting. As a devout practitioner of the Bahá'í Faith, he speaks of his purpose and what drives him in life and business. As an entrepreneur, Baldoni co-founded Wayfarer Entertainment—a cause-driven media studio focused on creating content that highlights inspiration, unity, and the power of human connection. Furthering its goal to create projects that are a benefit to humankind, Baldoni recently secured a $25 million development production fund to produce premium social good content.In addition to developing projects from ideation through release, Baldoni created the dinner conversation series, Man Enough, which dives into traditional masculinity while focusing on topics like body image, relationships, and fatherhood. He spoke about his own journey with masculinity and his thoughts on redefining “manhood.” SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Pat and Posh are back with an all-new segment of After Hours, the first of 2020!During a previous episode of After Hours recorded in February 2019, Pat and Posh [jokingly] predicted that Jeff Bezos would buy the Amazon Rainforest in order to fight climate change. This week, Bezos announced he would be pledging $10 billion by establishing the Bezos Earth Fund to support initiatives aimed at fighting climate change. Speak things into existence, folks!This segment also includes a recap of the last several episodes, what’s going on with SoftBank companies, and much more. Tune in and enjoy the show!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

This is the story of Nick Fouquet (pronounced like “bouquet”). He is the founder and designer of his namesake hat brand, Nick Fouquet, mainly known for their unique style and craftsmanship. Nick shares stories from his early days, moving to France with his parents and five sisters until the age of 8. Upon their return to America, Nick went to boarding school, got kicked out of boarding school, eventually graduated high school, and stole his mother’s credit card to travel to Patagonia for 5 months. That trip changed his perspective and trajectory in life.After traveling around the world and working various jobs, he randomly ran into a guy wearing a hat in Venice, CA - this is the beginning of Nick’s hat-making days. Nick’s passion and perseverance have led his hats to sit on the heads of countless celebrities, helping accelerate the growth of his brand. His entrepreneurial journey is unlike any other, but the lessons he learned are applicable to all.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Yearning for an alternative to happy hour after work, a daily routine of a New Yorker in the 1980s, Lavinia Errico and her brothers decided to start a fitness club called Equinox. Though money was tight, they managed to barter their way to growing to several locations before ultimately selling the company. Walking away a self-made millionaire, Lavinia fell into depression. Going through an identity crisis, she set out on a journey to rediscover herself and has since dedicated her life to helping others create more mindful, healthy lives.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Jeni Britton Bauer joins Pat and Posh to share her inspiring story of resilience and relentlessness as she built Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, a household name across the country.After discovering her deep connection with scent at a young age, Jeni set out to make a difference in the world through the power of ice cream. As she grew her business and expanded into new territories, she was overcome with several difficult challenges including a listeria-related recall in 2015 that almost crumbled her life’s work.Since then, Jeni’s is bigger than ever, in over 40 “Scoop Shop” locations and 1,500+ groceries and markets nationwide.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

Nate Checketts is the co-founder and CEO of Rhone, a men’s performance lifestyle company founded in 2014. Prior to Rhone, Nate worked for and consulted with some of the biggest technology and entertainment properties in the world including Cisco, the NFL, Legends, FanVision, and Sport Radar.In this episode, Nate joins Pat and Posh to share his story of growing up in Connecticut and always having an entrepreneurial bug in him. His father was a successful business executive in the world of sports (former GM of the Utah Jazz and CEO of NBA International) and Nate always felt pressure to be a success as well, in his own way.While in college, he started a technology company which was a mobile app that allowed fans in a stadium to order food directly from their seats, and the company was sold the San Francisco 49ers after 3 years. While selling a company in your mid-twenties may cause people to believe you’ve reached a point of massive success, Nate ultimately felt like a failure. Things just hadn’t worked out the way he had planned and he was eager for more.After a brief stint working for the NFL, Nate left his job to launch Rhone. He had seen a gap in the men’s activewear and lifestyle category and was on a mission to create a brand that made an impact. He also noticed that the behavior of men was changing when it came to their relationship with clothing, and he was compelled to do something about it.Today, Rhone is one of the fastest-growing brands in the activewear category and is the #1 men’s brand sold at Equinox and Peloton.During this conversation, Nate also sheds light on the valuable business lessons he’s learned throughout his career, what takes an idea from zero to one, the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur, fundraising, “athleisure” vs. performance lifestyle, and the challenges as well as benefits of Ecommerce vs. Retail.SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour

You’ve heard Marc Merrill’s incredible story of founding Riot Games, creator of League of Legends. You’ve heard Ashley Merrill’s inspiring story of launching Lunya. In this episode, Marc and Ashley are BACK on the show - this time, together! - to share how they did it while building a family, the tough challenges they faced along the way (in both business as well as their relationship), and much more.Marc and Ashley also give us some updates on what’s next for them, their new project “The Deep,” their advice for couples (especially husband & wife founders), and their bold predictions for the 2020s.This is one of our most insightful and interesting conversations yet! You definitely don’t want to miss this!SUBSCRIBE TO TFH NEWSLETTER & STAY UPDATED > http://bit.ly/tfh-newsletterFOLLOW TFH ON INSTAGRAM > http://www.instagram.com/thefounderhourFOLLOW TFH ON TWITTER > http://www.twitter.com/thefounderhourINTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR? EMAIL US > partnerships@thefounderhour.com ***Follow The Founder Hour on:Instagram | www.instagram.com/thefounderhourTwitter/X | www.x.com/thefounderhourLinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/thefounderhourYouTube | www.youtube.com/@thefounderhour