Finding Founders

Erik grew up in a family that was quickly building its wealth, but his father still made sure Erik understood the importance of money and a good work ethic. From collecting change, to selling knives, to starting a storm drain businesses; Erik was a resourceful kid. As he moved into adulthood, he went into real estate. Things were looking up, except he graduated into one of history’s worst housing market crashes. However, Erik remained resourceful and became the COO of a multi million dollar startup. Realising he could develop himself more elsewhere, he discovered an opportunity in a truck load of unwanted t-shirts that would eventually lead to his own $100M marketing consultancy, Hawke Media.https://hawkemedia.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Quirk didn’t start as a wellness coach. After graduating with a BA in Journalism, he plunged into the fast paced world of sports journalism, only to find himself trapped in his dream job. It was everything that he had ever wanted but the office politics and stress were eating away at him. Then, a miracle struck: he got fired. This blessing in disguise allowed him to discover yoga and find his true calling in leading wellness retreats. Moving to San Diego alongside his two rescue dogs, John transformed his life and made his passion his career as the founder of SoCal Wellness Retreats.https://www.socalwellnessretreats.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alisha Flecky felt aimless as a talent agent in Los Angeles. In 2010 she decided to drop everything and travel to gain a bit of perspective. The trip was initially six months through the south of India, the Andaman islands, and finally Rishikesh. But it was this final location that transformed a trip into a lifestyle. She spent the next decade training in tantric arts, yoga, and mystical dance. Soon she started a clothing business not to necessarily make money, but to fuel this lifestyle as a nomad and vagabond. This business would be called the Blonde Vagabond, which uses upcycled fabric and materials to recreate pieces influenced by styles she saw abroad.https://www.blondevagabond.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every weekend, Suze would go to New York City to wander the streets, while her father worked. She quickly fell in love with the city's fashion culture which would spark a successful 20-year career working for Giorgio Armani, Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, and Glamour. Suze had made it in the fashion world but was rarely present to enjoy it. Life moved so fast that she didn't realize all the tension she was carrying. In 2012, Suze learned a three minute meditation from her mother-in-law that turned her world upside-down and changed her life forever. She realized that she needed a change of pace. Once she discovered meditation, she was on a mission to keep doing it, but found that it wasn't easy to find a place to pop in, learn, and practice. Suze then realized that meditation needed a makeover and she was the one to do it. In 2014 with loads of research, Suze launched Unplug Meditation, the world’s first secular drop in meditation studio. Now Unplug has multiple studio and an app with over a million users. Her mission is to make meditation simple, powerful, and accessible to all.https://www.unplug.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vince Ning co-founded Nabis, a company that is revolutionizing the cannabis industry and is quickly becoming the Amazon of Cannabis. But growing up in a conservative Asian household, Vince wasn't exactly raised in a weed friendly environment. His parents wanted him to do something safe and prestigious. After graduating from University of Virginia, Vince landed a great stable job at Microsoft, but that got stale quickly. Vince was doing some side projects with friends, which led to Y combinator, and even an acquisition by Amazon. With this his eyes opened to the world of successful entrepreneurship, Vince was searching for his next big project. Soon he would reconnect with his best friend from high school and start Nabis, a fully-licensed cannabis wholesale platform with the largest portfolio of cannabis brands in the world, supplying 100% of California’s dispensaries and delivery services.https://www.nabis.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it take to build a fitness business from the ground up? In today’s Founder Wisdom we talk with Jacob Saldana, the health and wellness expert behind Fit BAR Superfood Cafe and Space B.A.R. Wellness. Jacob grew up blue collar, and learned the value of a strong work ethic early on. This led him to buy into a gym franchise and eventually create his own gyms. He wouldn’t stop here and actually opened the very first Fit Bar Superfood Cafe in the parking lot of one of his Seattle gyms. He would go on to expand to a chain that is known for acai bowls, plant-based protein smoothies, and health conscious coffees. After opening up and running a few gyms of his own, Jacob tells us how he used his experience and entrepreneurial skills to create a space where his more novel ideas behind health and wellness could be shared with the world.https://www.spacebarwellness.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry Fitzgibbon is the co-founder and CEO of Tastemade, a modern media company that creates award-winning video content and original programming in the categories of Food, Travel, and Home & Design. Since its launch in 2012, the company has garnered more than 300M+ Monthly Viewers. However, Larry's path towards building this incredible company wasn’t always so clear. Larry began his journey as a communications major with a special passion for technology. Throughout college, he devoured cyber-culture magazines such as Mondo 2000 and Wired, absorbed information about stocks and IPOs, and began to apply his tech knowledge to the professional world. Starting at Kinko’s and Intertainer, he found that his ambitious visions for online streaming were still too advanced for the current stage of the internet. After facing a series of hurdles during a stint at Demand Media, Larry finally found his niche at Tastemade. Since then, Tastemade has opened studios around the world and their shows can be found on Apple TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Roku, Snapchat, Facebook, and many many more.https://www.tastemade.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter!https://findingfounders.co/subscribeWebsite: findingfounders.coFollow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world where Hydro Flask is now synonymous with water-bottle, how does one break into the insulated drink space? On today’s Founder Wisdom, we talk to Mike Beckham co-founder and CEO of Simple Modern, a drinkware company with the goal of designing water bottles as unique as you. Starting off in the non-profit space, Mike brainstormed a list of 100 products, decided on drinkware, and started one of the biggest companies in that space. In fact Mike has been responsible for over a billion dollars in sales! Mike talks us through his lows, his competition, and Simple Modern’s recent partnership with Disney. https://www.simplemodern.com/ Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Born in Turkey, Ege's flair for design led him to found the clothing brand TUTUNJ. Initially he started with nothing but a few designs in his head and the encouragement of some friends. Since then, TUTUNJ has seen its products donned and praised by superstar models Meredith Mikelson and Alessandra Ambrósio. However, what makes Ege’s story truly inspiring are not only the victories he celebrated but also the challenges he braved. Along his journey, Ege faced an inordinate number of “No’s” compared to “Yes’s”. He grappled with the rejection of a big-time investor in the early days of TUTUNJ. He received one decline after another when seeking influencers to help promote his brand. Though these obstacles might have broken anyone else’s spirit, they did not break Ege’s. Instead, he saw each “No” as an opportunity to simply try again and each “Maybe” as a reason to push himself harder. If there’s anything to be learned from Ege’s story, it is this: With time, patience, and endurance, success is never too far out of reach. https://www.tutunj.com/ http://instagram.com/tutunjcom Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alisha Flecky was delving into spirituality and came across a guru that would change her life. She followed him for years, abiding by his wisdom and feeling that her life was improving and slowly becoming the life she wanted. She saw this guru as perfect, as close to a deity. But everything changed when the veil was lifted and behind it was a flawed man that couldn't accept his humanity. This led to a question: Is the image perfection necessary for total devotion? Our full episode with Alisha will be coming out in a few weeks! https://alishaflecky.com/meetalisha Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices