Whether you want to grow your business, become a better leader, or reach your full potential, leveling up is tough work. Add a global pandemic to the mix and it can feel near impossible!  This week, we're joined by Eric Partaker, an award-winning Peak Performance Expert and author of The 3 Alarms, who combines his own entrepreneurial journey at Skype and Chilengo with his in-depth knowledge of behavioral science to guide Fortune 50 CEOs to reach their full potential in work and life.  In this episode, Eric reveals his proven strategies for unlocking new levels of performance and how to leverage your current knowledge and resources to overcome challenges, discover your 'Why' and achieve sustainable success. 

Brand Builder

How to Unlock Your Peak Performance and Level Up with Peak Performance Expert and Author Eric Partaker

How would we describe Mark Samuel, the founder of the award-winning wellness brand IWON Organics?  Intensely focused, brutally honest, and above all, ruthlessly authentic.  It's this authenticity and his commitment to wellness that has fueled Mark's 17 years as an entrepreneur, launching IWON Organics to promote healthy snacking and successful, long-term eating habits. Along the way, this same authenticity has attracted thousands to Mark's Linkedin, where he shares every lesson, every win, and every ugly truth about being a founder in the world of CPG.  In this episode, Mark reveals his secrets to achieving optimal focus, dedication, and authenticity as a CEO, with tactical tips for pushing your brand forward.  

How to Master Ruthless Authenticity as a CEO and LinkedIn Influencer with iWon Organics Founder Mark Samuel

What happens when one of the world's renowned CPG behemoths take on the emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) space?  You may think they'd have it easy with endless resources, envious budgets and national access, but you'd be wrong.  This week, we're joined by Caroo alumni Jordan Narducci, who now spearheads Kellogg's budding D2C efforts. After launching D2C at emerging startups, he's using these learnings to tackle Kellogg's unique challenges in a scrappy and innovative way.  In this episode, Jordan gives us an insider look at how one of the world’s largest brands is taking on the world of D2C. He'll also reveal the secret weapon that emerging brands can leverage to make massive gains in D2C and new trends Kellogg is keeping their eye on in the months to come.

How Kellogg is Leveraging a Startup Mentality to Master the Direct to Consumer Space with Kellogg's Global D2C Director Jordan Narducci

You’ve heard the adage, “If you talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk.”  This week, we’re joined by Michele Liddle, founder of The Perfect Granola and a shining example of what it means to ‘walk the walk’ and build a truly cause-based brand. 

How to Build an Ethical Brand with Zero Marketing Budget with The Perfect Granola Founder Michele Liddle

If you’re an emerging brand, you know that marketing can be a Pandora’s Box that leads to more questions than answers:  Which marketing strategies will give me the most bang for my buck?  How can I create buzz for my brand, while doing everything else on my to-do list?  How do I connect with influencers and customers in an authentic way?  As the founder of marketing communications agency SchroderHaus, Elexis Schroder has helped build powerhouse brands like Lily’s, Good Karma, and C2O Coconut Water by honing in their marketing strategies across PR, digital media, brand positioning and more.   In this episode, Elexis bottles up her 15 years of experience to offer the ultimate crash course on brand marketing. From PR and media training, to influencers and branding on a budget, you’ll discover the secrets to creating a laser-focused marketing strategy where small steps make a massive impact.

How to Radically Optimize Your Brand’s Marketing Strategy with SchroderHaus Founder Elexis Schroder

What does it take to solve one of the nation’s most complex and pressing issues? For Cole Riley, he believes it takes a fresh entrepreneurial perspective and a new way of doing things. This week on Brand Builder, we’re joined by Cole Riley, the founder of Wellfare. Not to be confused with government support, Wellfare is a nonprofit subscription box that’s making better-for-you foods more accessible to those navigating food insecurity. With over 50 million people in the US lacking reliable access to healthy, nourishing food, Cole is on a mission to break down the barriers of food insecurity including accessibility, awareness, and affordability by bringing healthier options straight to people’s doorsteps.

How Wellfare is Revolutionizing The Fight Against Food Insecurity with Co-Founder Cole Riley

Sometimes your greatest idea hits you at the most unexpected time. For Velobar founder Brant Reiter, it was during a leisurely bike ride in 2015 when he realized the world was missing a cannabis-infused protein bar.  From that moment until now, Brant has navigated a Wild West-style cannabis industry, creating and recreating an award-winning, high-protein CBD snack that can now be found in grocery stores, coffee shops, and gyms across the country. In this episode, Brant demystifies the world of cannabis and takes us on the journey of Velobar, from breaking through red tape to finding a niche customer base with fans nationwide. Plus, we announce the arrival of Brand Builder’s new co-host!  Links: Velobar Connect with Brant on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What’s your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo.

How This Reality TV Producer Pioneered the First High-Protein CBD Bar with Velobar Founder Brant Reiter

“Climate change and sustainability can feel like such huge problems that you struggle to even know the first step you can take. So I thought, why don’t I start with something small?”  Where some see an overwhelming problem, Julia Collins sees a wondrous opportunity.  As founder and CEO of Planet FWD, Julia Collins is on a mission to tackle climate change using the magic of food, starting with the world’s first climate-friendly snack brand Moonshot Snacks.  Not only does Moonshot Snacks make ridiculously delicious crackers, but every step of their creation is dedicated to reducing emissions in the food system, improving soil health and optimizing human health.  In this episode, Julia shares how her and her team are using technology to discover scalable solutions to the food system’s biggest problems, and getting customers excited about making conscious choices that reflect the world they want to live in.    Links:  Moonshot Snacks @moonshotsnacks on Instagram @moonshotsnacks on Facebook Connect with Julia on LinkedIn Have an idea for the show? Drop us a line! Brandbuilder@snacknation.com. Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

How Moonshot Snacks is Pioneering a Climate-friendly CPG Movement with Co-founder Julia Collins

Pass the Honey Founder Douglas Raggio will be the first to admit that Pass the Honey is, in fact, a front. Behind the scenes, Pass the Honey is working to restore legitimacy in the honey space, an industry that’s the third most fraudulent in the world. They’re on a mission to promote pollinator health, fight for land conservation and support habitat creation while creating 100% pure snacking honeycomb.  There’s no doubt that Douglas is a founder on a mission to good, but he’s not afraid to admit his journey to Pass the Honey has been coupled with dark times, hard truths, and wrongs he’s working to make right. In fact, our interview went to some deeply personal and unexpected places that you’ve got to hear for yourself.  In this episode, Douglas also highlights what he believes to be short-sighted venture capital and private equity investments in the food and beverage space, and how he’s tackling them head-on through his Bias and Blindspots Consulting Agency.  Pass the Honey Bias and Blindspots Consulting Agency Connect with Douglas on LinkedIn 

How Resilience and Redemption Inspired This Entrepreneur to Do More with Pass the Honey Founder Douglas Raggio

This week on Brand Builder we’ve got Ryan Hansen, the President and Founder of FireCreek Snacks, joined by  Dustin Riechmann, FireCreek’s Chief Marketing Officer. FireCreek’s origin story isn’t just a wholesome tale, it’s the inspiration behind their wildly successful beef and pork snack sticks and their path for the future.  As a self-proclaimed 3rd generation meat man, Founder Ryan has been around the jerky industry for a lifetime...and that’s not hyperbole. After following in the footsteps of his grandfather’s meat company, he partnered up with Dustin to introduce a new and delicious jerky stick to an already competitive category.  Four years later, FireCreek’s success has only grown as they’ve proven to be masters of alternative retail channels, trade shows, and data-driven branding.  In this episode, Ryan and Dustin reveal the family values that drive their products’ success, and how their niche retailing strategy has set them up for FireCreek’s next big move.    Links:  FireCreek Snacks @firecreeksnacks on Instagram @firecreeksnacks on Twitter Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn Connect with Dustin on LinkedIn    Have an idea for the show? Drop us a line! Brandbuilder@snacknation.com.   Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

How FireCreek Snacks Found Massive Success in Alternative Retail Channels with Founder Ryan Hansen and CMO Dustin Riechmann

Whether you’re ready or not, the ball is always snapped. It’s how you react that matters.  Business is full of sports metaphors… and some are definitely better than others. But this one carries a little extra weight because it comes from someone who played one of the toughest positions in football at the highest levels - including the NFL.  That man is Jeff Byers, a pro-athlete turned entrepreneur who is currently building the next great human performance platform.  The platform is called Amp Human, and their mission is to help athletes at all levels achieve their limitless potential. He also happens to be our guest on this episode of Brand Builder. To achieve this audacious goal, Amp Human has adopted a strategy to “win at the top." This means validating the product with elite athletes, pro-sports teams, and institutions like the military. In this episode we talk to Jeff about the the serious science behind their flagship PR lotion and new Vitamin D lotion, why competing everyday is the key to entrepreneurial success, and why comparisons to aspirational brands like Nike and Gatorade really aren’t too far off. This interview got us all sorts of FIRED UP… and we think it will have the same effect on you. Links Amp Human Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo. 

How Amp Human Is Building the Next Gatorade By Winning at the Top

Beverage has been described as a “brand forward” category.  This is especially true in the premium beverage space. Consumers align themselves with particular beverage brands to make a statement about who they are. A drink in hand becomes like a fashion accessory - an expression of values and identity - and it’s not uncommon for premium beverage companies to think of themselves more like lifestyle brands than CPGs. But sometimes the brand - or the can - hides a lackluster product.  Fortunately, that’s never going to be the case for Cloud Water.  Cloud Water is an all-natural sparkling beverage made with premium botanicals. Their two principle product lines are their original hemp-infused CBD sparkling waters and their new Immunity line, designed to boost your body’s ability to fight infection.  Cloud Water is a functional product that supports physical and mental wellness. But the real star of the show are their totally unique flavor profiles, like blood orange & coconut or Aztec chocolate and strawberry.  Now that’s not to say that Cloud Water doesn’t focus on its brand aesthetic - quite the opposite. The real genius of Cloud Water is that instead of thinking about brand and product separately, they focus on creating a holistic premium experience, marrying taste, function, and aesthetic. We spoke to Cloud Water Brands co-founder and CEO Marc Siden about what it takes to create a holistic experience like this and the many ways this approach has paid dividends.  Marc also opens up about his entrepreneurial journey, his leadership style, and how the constraints of the pandemic inspired their latest innovations. Links Cloud Water Brands Follow Cloud Water on Instagram and Twitter Connect with Marc on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo. 

How Cloud Water Creates Premium Customer Experiences, with Cloud Water Brands CEO Marc Siden

Food is a ticking time bomb. CPG entrepreneurs often learn this the hard way. The minute your product comes off the line, you have 90 days to get it to a distributor. If not, you're looking at progressive discounts every month after that.   The reason? Most distributors insist on a 75% shelf life. If you can’t guarantee that timing at the outset, you’re taking on way too much risk. If you’re not careful, you can whittle away your margin completely.  That’s what makes demand planning and forecasting - the topic of this episode - so important. If you can nail the when, where, how often, and how much of your product, you’re well on your way to CPG success.  To help us understand all this we’re joined by CPG veteran and master-forecaster Alex Duong. Today Alex is the CEO and founder of Ancient Provisions, a wholesome and delicious cheese-flavored cracker. Alex has seen CPG from just about every side of the business. And with previous experience onboarding emerging brands at Whole Foods and Procurement at Thrive Market, he’s honed some serious forecasting chops.  Alex also has a history of being ahead of trends, and he isn’t afraid to pivot when faced with new information. This is a big reason why Ancient Provisions is thriving, despite launching in one of the most challenging environments imaginable.  Alex shares how to nail your 2021 forecast, the single most common planning mistake he sees companies make, and why every entrepreneur should ask themselves: are they a Russell Westbrook, a Lebron James, or a Kawhi Leonard?  Links Ancient Provisions Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo. 

How to Master Demand Planning in 2021, with Ancient Provisions Founder Alex Duong

CPG veteran and insights guru Mark Mallardi is taking on a new challenge: build a brand from the ground up...and save the rainforest in the process. Mark has decades of experience helping emerging brands scale using data and insights. Today, he's channeling that knowledge into AMARUMAYU, a newly launched line of superfruit juices. The stars of the show are Camu Camu and Buriti, two immunity-boosting antioxidant-rich superfoods found deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.  AMARUMAYU relies on a bio-economic model of preservation. By creating a viable commercial market for the sustainable harvest of Camu Camu and Buriti, the brand helps ensure the survival of the surrounding ecosystem.  For this to work, AMARUMAYU must adhere to a set of “wild-harvest” best practices that include never harvesting from felled trees and leaving a percentage of fruit on the vine for the area's wild fauna.  Another key to the success of this model is the close cooperation of local indigenous communities. Mark and his Peruvian counterparts have marshaled an impressive network that includes Peru’s Ministry of the Environment, local NGOs, and the Peruvian Indigenous People's Chamber of Commerce.  AMARUMAYU just launched exclusively on Amazon (where else?), and Mark walks us through they novel ways they're reaching customers at a time when sample and trial is so limited.  Mark also talked to us about how the survival of the Amazon rainforest is connected to the overall health of the planet, what it takes to harvest in a protected national park, and why this product was the right opportunity for him to become a true brand builder. Links AMARUMAYU AMARUMAYU launch press release Connect with Mark on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo. 

How AMARUMAYU Is Helping Indigenous Communities Save the Amazon, with AMARUMAYU GM Mark Mallardi

This week we’ve got a guest who approaches brand building unlike anyone we’ve talked to yet.  In fact, he’s less of a brand builder and more of a portfolio builder. Our featured guest is Harrison Fugman, the CEO & co-founder of The Naked Market. Our first question for Harrison was probably one you’re asking now: what exactly is The Naked Market? According to their site it’s “an omni-channel food and beverage platform,” but I’d argue that the portfolio analogy is the easiest way to understand what Harrison and the team are doing.  Rather than focus on one brand, they launch multiple brands with the goal of creating market leaders in a capital efficient manner. As you’ll hear, the approach borrows a bit from the worlds of tech and finance. Data is definitely king, and “fail-fast” is a foundational concept. Considering Harrison’s seven years with Credit Suisse, it all makes sense.  At the risk of oversimplifying, The Naked Market approaches brand building like this:  Step 1: Identify a category that’s ripe for disruption Step 2: Create products to attack that category Step 3: Monitor the data to see if the brand is tracking the way it needs to If yes, scale it If no, shut it down Harrison walks us through what that looks like in practice with TNM’s three flagship brands - Flock chicken chips, Avo Crazy, and Beach House bowls. Harrison talks about the role of trends in this process (and the difference between true trends and fads), the potential downsides of this model and how they work to avoid them, and why the pandemic is the perfect time to double down on their strategy.  Links The Naked Market Flock Chicken Chips Avo Crazy Beach House Bowls Press Release: The Naked Market Closes $6MM Seed Funding Round Connect with Harrison on LinkedIn Join our Exclusive Facebook Group! What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? Join our invite-only, private Facebook group just for Brand Builder Community members, where you can connect with fellow entrepreneurs and founders, crowdsource ideas, share best practices (or lessons learned), and get your most important questions answered. Join now! Facebook.com/groups/brandbuilderpod Brand Builder is produced by Caroo.  

How The Naked Market Creates Category Kings by Thinking Like a Tech Startup, w/ CEO Harrison Fugman

Brand Builder brings you the people, stories, and lessons learned from the most innovative brands in the world. Presented by SnackNation. Hosted by Sean Kelly, Jordan Cohen, and Jeff Murphy. Similar to How I Built This, The Dave Ramsey Show, and Seeking Wisdom by Drift.

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