Predicting The Turn W/ Dave Knox

When you ask Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just, his view on the future of food, he points to what he believes is inevitable change.  But he starts the comparison by pointing to other change that one point people dismissed.  Few believed in streaming music, electric cars, or lab-made diamonds but today they are common place.  Its with this inspirations in mind that Eat Just is challenging two big assumptions on what it means to eat an egg or a piece of chicken. I sat down with Josh Tetrick, CEO and cofounder of Eat Just, to learn more about the company’s journey, why he believes this change is inevitable, and how they are going about driving the change.

For Brett Berish, CEO and co-founder of Sovereign Brands, building industry challenging brands is in his blood. The company he co-founded, Sovereign Brands, is a family-owned, family-run wine and spirits company dedicated to the creation and development of unique, premium beverage brands. I sat down with Berish to learn about the company’s history, his family’s background in the spirits industry and the growth Sovereign has seen in recent years.

Started in 2017, Ro is a health care technology company building a patient-centric healthcare system. The pandemic gave rise to a remarkable time of growth for the company, marked by the rise of telehealth and multiple acquisitions by the business. Since just this spring, Ro has launched a one of kind in-home vaccination program, raised $500M in funding, acquired two companies (Modern Fertility and diagnostics startup Kit), and premiered its products across 97% of Walmart stores in the US. I sat down with Rob Schutz, Chief Growth Officer and Co- Founder of Ro, to talk about the company’s growth trajectory, the boom of telehealth during COVID, and their new national rollout with Walmart.

For over two decades, Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon has been one of the most sought-after brands in the world. It is a business built upon a family heritage in the bourbon industry that goes back to Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle opening the famed Stitzel-Weller Distillery in the 1930’s. As the 4th generation of Van Winkles move into the family business, they have expanded it with the launch of Pappy & Company, a bourbon lifestyle brand launched by the three daughters of Julian Van Winkle III. I sat down with the three co-founders / sisters to talk about the inspiration behind Pappy & Co and how the business has grown since launch.

Harry’s, Inc. known as one of the pioneer brands in the direct-to-consumer space and today a family of brands including Harry’s, Flamingo, Cat Person and Headquarters, is on a mission to create things people like more. As the company charts its future strategy, Harry’s is shifting the focus of Harry’s Labs — the company's incubation arm that launched in 2018 — to acquiring disruptive brands that are looking for a new type of strategic partner. I sat down with Tehmina Haider, who's the head of Harry's Labs, to discuss this strategy and why she believes brands can and should look at different types of strategic and financial partners to scale faster and more successfully.

When Steven Szaronos and Rishi Prabhu were in Business School, they decided they’d rather launch their own business than go work for someone else. After realizing their initial startup wasn’t playing to their strengths as founders, the two launched Bespoke Post in 2011. A decade later, the company has gained a loyal following of consumers who turn to them for discovery. I sat down with the two co-founders to talk about their founding story, how the brand has evolved over the years, and how data from their customers drives this evolution.

When Upper Deck was started in the late 1980’s, they brought first-of-its-kind innovation to the sports trading card industry. Over thirty years later, the company continues to push the envelope as the industry experiences a new surge. I sat down with Jason Masherah, President of Upper Deck, to talk about the heritage of innovation at Upper Deck, their efforts in digital, and how they are investing in the growth of the industry through local hobby shops.

Peanut butter is found in nearly every kitchen pantry. But with its high fat content and inherent “messiness”, this staple was missing the trend of people searching for healthier alternatives and higher protein. That is until the invention of powdered peanut butter by PB2. I sat down with Craig Entwistle, CEO at PB2 Foods, to learn more about how the brand is changing the peanut butter category and how they are approaching innovation in growing the business.

On any given day in the US, 50% of adults drink at least one glass of soda. And despite soda’s heritage as a product sold in pharmacies, today it is best known as a sugar-laden beverage linked to weight-gain and obesity. David Lester and Ben Goodwin, co-founders of OLIPOP, want to change that and use soda as a force of good. I sat down with the two of them to learn more about OLIPOP, what goes into the business of a functional beverage, and why they picked soda as the way to change digestive health.

When Michael Browning started Urban Air, the business was a trampoline park for kids like many others in the industry. But with a background in data science and analytics, Browning was able to see the opportunity to create a more innovative model that was centered around the needs of parents and kids both. I sat down with Browning, the founder and CEO of Urban Air, to learn about the founding story of the business, how data plays such a key role in their decisions, and how the business has evolved over the last year.

Aamir Baig, founder and CEO of Article has a simple philosophy for building a business. In his eyes, a business is not a business unless it has a profit formula that comes with it. That approach to business has allowed Aamir and his co-founders to build Article into one of the leading DTC Furniture companies without relying on raising tens of millions in venture capital. I sat down with Aamir to learn more about Article, the original inspiration behind the business, and how the business has grown over the last year.

In June 2020, Zena Arnold took on a new role at Kimberly-Clark as its Chief Digital and Marketing Officer. Despite the difficulty of making this change during the middle of COVID-19, Arnold believes the lessons of the pandemic have shown companies the potential of a newfound agility in how they approach business. I sat down with Zena to talk about moving into this new role during the middle of the pandemic, how her team has responded, and how she is bringing lessons from her time at Google into theworld of CPG.

Very few brands can find themselves at home on the shelves of both Ace Hardware and Ulta.  But Duke Cannon isn’t your typical brand.  Launched nearly 10 years ago, Duke Cannon is proudly unpolished.  The approach has led the company to be one of the fastest growing brands in the men’s grooming space.  I sat down with Ryan O'Connell, Duke Cannon’s president and CEO to learn what proudly unpolished means to them and how the brand’s unique approach to retail has set the business apart.

In 2019, Lume Cube launched one of the first video conference lighting kits made for Zoom meetings at CES.  After sales fell dramatically short ofexpectations, the company was sitting with over 20,000 units in their warehouse in March 2020.  As the world moved to work from home, Lume Cube saw a tremendous reversal of fortunes.  I sat down with Riley Stricklin, President and Co-Founder of Lume Cube to talk about the inspiration behind the business and the pivot the company went through during COVID as they wrestled with the unexpected demand.

Today, Whisps Snacks are one of the most popular snacks on grocery shelves and the leader in a new category that they helped create. But just a few years ago, it was merely an idea sitting within the food innovation team at Schuman Cheese, the largest importer of Italian cheeses in the United States. I sat down with Ilana Fischer, CEO of Whisps, to learn more about how they created this new snacking category and the advantages of launching this “startup” within the halls of a larger company.

With 38 million members and a potential audience of 110 million people aged 50 years plus in the United States, AARP is a trusted voice.  This role became even more critical during the past year as people turned to AARP as an authoritative voice during the pandemic.  I sat down with Martha Boudreau, AARP’s Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, to discuss how they rose to this challenge and how AARP is working with the marketing industry to recognize the opportunity with the 50+ consumer.

Trilith Studios has been home to some of the largest blockbusters in entertainment, ranging from “Avengers: Endgame” to “WandaVision”.  With a recent rebrand of the business,Trilith has started on a new expansion of the business given changes they see in technology and content. I sat down with Frank Patterson, President and CEO of Trilith Studios, to talk more about the company rebrand, his vision for Trilith, and how the studio got back to work in the height of the pandemic.

After a health scare in his life, Jason Karp, started to really study the food that he was putting in his body. That led him to start Hu, a better-for-you snack maker that recently sold to Mondelez. In his latest entrepreneurial venture, Jason is the CEO and co-founder of HumanCo, whose mission is to make living a healthier life easier. I sat down with Jason to learn about his plans for HumanCo, the launch of its first brand Snow Days, and why it’s so hard and confusing to live a healthy life.

14 years ago, a late night of drinking inspired Jordan Silbert to make a better tonic water. Today, Q Mixers, the company he founded, makes carbonated mixers, ranging from tonic water and ginger beer to club soda and ginger ale that are served in tens of thousands of bars, restaurants and retail stores.  I sat down with Jordan to talk about this journey and why 2020 is the year Americans learned to make cocktails at home.

When Michael Tierney was nineteen years old, he had an innovative idea that he assumed no one ever thought of: putting chocolate inside the marshmallow. He soon discovered that not only had others thought of it, but top candy manufactures invested (and wasted) millions of dollars trying to make this idea work.  For nearly a decade, he was faced with constant rejections of “this idea cannot be done,” but through perseverance and superhuman work ethic, Tierney eventually solved the unsolvable and created Stuffed Puffs, one of the only filled marshmallows in the market. This resulted in a national launch with Walmart, and today in its second year, Stuffed Puffs is carried in over 22,000 retail locations nationwide. I sat with Michael to talk through his long journey of launching Stuffed Puffs, how he solved the manufacturing challenge, and where the business is headed next.