Finding Founders

In this episode, we hear from Andrew Rea, the creative mastermind behind the Babish Culinary Universe. He’s amassed over 9 million subscribers on YouTube alone, but the scale of his community is far from what’s most interesting about this interview. With his humor and piercing honesty, Andrew shares a story of continuous self-improvement. Losing his mother at age 11 and enduring secondary school with no friends, he was dealt a handful of painful challenges early on in life. Upon graduating film school with flying colors and a crew of good friends, early adulthood slammed him with another set of roadblocks. Grinding endlessly to make a living, broken to his core by an emotionally abusive director and stuck in a failing marriage, Andrew spiraled into his darkest days of depression. Through every overwhelming bout of failure, loss, pain, and doubt, we learn how Andrew is able to pick himself up, grow into a better person and discover a more fulfilling life. 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

I’m here with Jay Clue, a conservationist here in Cabo San Lucas and today we’re going to talk about something a little different. Graffiti, specifically how Medieval Blackletter, a type of font, became a part of Mexican culture and how it became the building block of modern graffiti style. I know what you’re thinking. Medieval font? Modern graffiti style? How do those two have any connection at all, especially being centuries apart? I was perplexed as well, but I’ll let Jay explain it all from here. Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://findingfounders.co/subscribe Further Reading: https://www.sprayplanet.com/blogs/news/a-history-of-graffiti-the-60s-and-70s  https://books.google.com/books/about/Mexican_Blackletter.html?id=lpkVAQAAIAAJ&source=kp_book_description  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn’t love bacon? Today we sat down with Heat Laliberte, the owner and founder of One Arrow Meats, a Vancouver based, small-batch, hand-cured, naturally smoked, hormone-free bacon company. One Arrow is more than just bacon. It represents Heat’s indigenous heritage, his goals, and his ability to overcome obstacles. Spending his childhood in Saskatchewan, the Cree-Metis Chef has called Vancouver home since 2002. After a youth that consisted of running away, racism, and struggling with his identity as a trans man, Heat found a strong sense of family amongst the LGTBQ+ community in Davie Village. Starting as a linecook, Heat would go onto working in the kitchen of top hotels and starting his own business venture. Throughout his life, Heat has been on a journey to find himself, come to terms with his identity, achieve more and cook delicious food. One Arrow opened the door to reconnect with his heritage and his family. Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Links From the Episode Heat’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heat.laliberte/?hl=en Heat’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatlaliberte/?originalSubdomain=ca One Arrow’s Website https://www.onearrowmeats.com/ One Arrow’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/onearrowyvr/?hl=en VICE Article https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzd3yy/heat-laliberte-one-arrow-meats-vancouver The Residential School System - Erin Hanson, September, 2020: https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/ Residential Schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada - Piotr Wilk, Alana Maltby, & Martin Cooke, 03/02/2017: https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When was the last time you saw an advertisement for cigarettes? Was it good? Today’s founder wisdom is a snippet of an upcoming episode with Jay Clue, photographer, scuba diver and founder of Dive Ninja Expeditions. Before discovering his passion for the ocean, Jay worked as a freelance creative director for massive companies and tells us his experience working for the Tobacco industry. Links From the Episode Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Further Reading New Camel Brand Contains Crushable Capsule - Winston Salem Journa,(05/05/2008) https://journalnow.com/business/new-camel-brand-contains-crushable-capsule/article_0308f70e-d8ba-54c4-a6b0-1fc3cd0fc101.html Camel Cigarettes: A Long History of Targeting Kids - Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (06/18/2013) https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/microsites/camel/Camel_History.pdf FDA Orders Maker of Camel Cigarettes to End Sales of 4 Products - TIME, (08/15/2015) https://time.com/4034638/fda-rj-reynolds-camel-crush-bold-cigarette-end-sales/ African Americans and Tobacco Use https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/disparities/african-americans/index.htm --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How is it possible that the people who are feeding us cannot afford food? That is one of the questions that pushed this week's founder to tackle food insecurity and look for solutions. In today’s episode of Finding Founders, join us and Rick Nahmias in exploring where our food comes from and who is responsible for the food on our tables. Rick Nahmias is an LA native who, after working as a documentary photographer, decided to pursue his interest in food and cooking. He soon recognized the abundance of waste around him. From working on “The Migrant Project,” a book which highlighted the poor treatment of migrant farmworkers, to bringing attention to excess produce in his neighborhood through Craigslist ads, Rick is at the forefront of social justice and fighting food insecurity. His organization Food Forward combats food insecurity, food wastefulness and climate change. We joined Rick early one morning in Glendale, harvested lemons off a tree, and came back to the roots of Food Forward. Links From the Episode Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founders IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Rick’s Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-nahmias-95b0221/ Food Forward’s Website: https://foodforward.org/ The Migrant Project: https://unmpress.com/books/migrant-project/9780826344076 Rick Nahmias TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtjmNdiPLLg Food Forward Results: https://foodforward.org/our-impact/our-results/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial manager Chris Tran always knew he’d create something; however, despite her obvious creativity, data analyst Holly Paul never thought she’d be a founder. Working at a serial founder’s startup ignited Holly’s nascent entrepreneurial spirit and she decided to let one of her many ideas take flight. Business partners Holly and Chris wanted their product to incorporate classic Asian flavors from their childhoods, but struggled to find their ideal niche in the capital heavy food and beverage industry. Tired of hitting dead ends they decided to unwind with some alcoholic sodas, then inspiration struck. After cold calling contract packagers, crunching data and making huge personal investments they launched their hard seltzer line, Mizo. They’re on a journey to carve out a place for their vision in a saturated market and diversify mainstream American food and culture. Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founder IG: https://www.instagram.com/findingfounderspodcast/ Additional Links : Target Selects 30 + startups to join it’s accelerator program - Sam Danley, (08/02/2021) : https://www.supermarketperimeter.com/articles/6939-startups-join-targets-inaugural-accelerator-program The Hard Seltzer Market is Getting More Crowded - Hudson Lindenberger, (01/12/2021) : https://www.forbes.com/sites/hudsonlindenberger/2021/01/12/the-hard-seltzer-market-is-getting-more-crowded/?sh=45afbe701201 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it take to make your dreams a reality, especially as a woman in the restaurant industry? In this episode of Finding Founders, join us in exploring the entertainment side of the food industry with Gail Simmons, a food writer, author, cook, and judge on Top Chef. Gail grew up in a melting pot of both the city of Toronto and her Canadian, South African, and Jewish background. Her mother taught cooking classes and wrote a food column and Gail was a food enthusiast growing up, but Gail never saw her career going in that same direction until college. In pursuing food writing after college, Gail realized culinary school was the next step in pursuing this dream. After school and some brutal restaurant experience, Gail was ready to enter the world of food writing. She began as an assistant for Jeffrey Steingartern, a renowned food critic at Vogue Magazine. She continued to work as an event director at Food & Wine and eventually a judge on Top Chef. But this success was took time, listen to learn more! Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founder 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

When ideas are cheap, what does it take to make an idea come to life and become a thriving business? Today we answer this question in our conversation with Eric Chen, a marketing and sales whiz, boba aficionado and board game creator. Throughout his journey, Eric has been in a car accident, had a ruptured intestine but this has not slowed him down. What could have been considered sabotage for some, he turned into Sabobatage. https://sabobatage.com/ Website: findingfounders.co Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samueldonner/ Follow Finding Founder 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

Food can serve as a means to bridge culture and conflict. This episode starts our Food Conflict and Unity series, so join us in exploring the power of food with Barbara Massaad, a Lebanese-American cookbook author, photographer, food consultant, and TV host. Barbara Massaad spent the first 10 years of her life in Lebanon and moved to Florida as a result of war. Her lifelong relationship with food began with Lebanese culture and at 15, she started helping her father in the family-owned Lebanese restaurant. In 1988, her family returned to Lebanon. Flashing forward, after getting an advertising and marketing degree in college and taking 7 years away from work to start a family, Massaad embarked on a new journey in the restaurant business. Determined to pursue this dream, she trained with several renowned chefs at Lebanese, Italian, and French restaurants. Driven by her love of using cooking and photography to tell stories, Massaad began the journey of creating her first cookbook called Man'oushé: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery. She continues to use her love for cooking to heal and break barriers, whether it was during the Syrian Civil War and today when faced with conflict in Lebanon. Links From the Episode Barbara Massaad Website: http://barbaramassaad.com/food/food.html Barbara Massaad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.massaad First Book (Man'oushe: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery): https://www.amazon.com/Manoushe-Inside-Street-Corner-Lebanese/dp/1566569281/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KPRSSK0WJS4HYVY4ZHG --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does an ingredient like rice help better a community? Today we sit down with JJ Johnson, renowned chef on the African diaspora, and founder of the rice bowl restaurant, FIELDTRIP. Growing up in Harlem, surrounded by his grandmother’s cooking and international flavors, food has long formed part of JJ’s DNA. But as we follow his journey of becoming a chef, traveling to Africa, and establishing his own business, JJ’s story teaches us how food can actually break barriers, bring communities together, and celebrate cultural diversity. findingfounders.co --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-founders/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices