Brand New Blueprint by Smoketown

How did JuneShine, a hard kombucha brand started in a garage in San Diego, become a rocket ship that is disrupting the alcohol industry while setting a new bar for sustainability? Forrest Dein, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, grew up in Hawai'i, where his exploration of the beautiful landscape became a passion for the planet. Years later, he and his old college roommate found a way to combine that passion with helping to create a new alcohol category. In this episode, Forrest shares ...

How did Julia Collins, a three-time founder and the only Black woman in history to found a unicorn, create a new venture that channels her passion for joy, food, radical inclusion and regenerative agriculture? Her company, Planet FWD, makes it easier for food brands to create climate friendly products through a software platform that simplifies the search for sustainable, regenerative and climate-friendly ingredients. Planet FWD also owns the software platform's first client, a climate-friend...

How did Everytable, a social enterprise in Los Angeles, create a food service business that can solve two persistent symptoms of racism -- food deserts and the wealth gap? When Sam Polk quit his coveted job on Wall Street, he watched a Netflix documentary about poverty and food that lit a fire...eventually leading to Everytable, a brilliant restaurant chain in South L.A. Everytable has figured out how to sell high quality, incredibly healthy food that is affordable for residents of underserve...

How did a Chobani Incubator brand, founded by a single mother who serves in the military, start out as a promise to the founder's daughter and become a rising star in the plant-based dairy scene? Thereasa Black carries a heavier load than most of us can imagine. She could be redeployed to a combat zone at any moment. She’s raising a preschooler by herself. All while navigating the challenges of managing a gelato shop and building a CPG brand from scratch.In this episode, Thereasa shares how s...

How did a plant-based food brand expand from farmer's markets to every Chipotle and thousands of grocery stores by focusing on quality, innovation and empathy for its employees? Minh Tsai, Founder & CEO of Hodo Foods, quietly built one of the most influential food brands in the U.S. by channeling the empathy that he learned as a Vietnamese refugee. In this episode, Minh shares how his mission-driven company combined "old school" business fundamentals with artisanal craft, a commitment to ...

What's fueling the runaway success of Good Eggs in e-commerce, and how does it decide which brands to sell? In our second conversation with CEO Bentley Hall, he shares the company's turnaround story, including the blueprint that's driving their obsessive focus on "absurdly fresh groceries" in northern California. Beyond the company's strategy, he lays out the specific criteria that any brand needs to achieve in order to maximize its shot at being on the Good Eggs platform.See below for what y...

How could an e-commerce company double in size in just 120 days and still anticipate more growth? That's what Bentley Hall is experiencing as CEO of Good Eggs, an online grocery retailer that has become a rocket ship since COVID-19. In this episode, the first of two parts, Bentley shares how his purpose-driven company kept up with "infinite" demand growth and why he's betting that these changes in shopping behavior are permanent.See below for what you'll learn in this episode.* How to find ca...

What happens when a company’s social mission is so clear, so all-in, that it actually leads to a breakthrough? That’s what happened for Tim McCollum, founder and CEO of Beyond Good (formerly called Madécasse), a chocolate company committed to improving livelihoods in Madagascar. But that commitment led to an amazing discovery that helped the brand get to a new level.See below for what you'll learn in this episode. Text the word BLUEPRINT to 66866 for additional advice and tools to apply what ...

What happens when Jay-Z becomes an early investor in your company? For Denise Woodard, founder and CEO of the allergen-free cookie startup Partake Foods, the answer was simple: she stayed scrappy. During this episode, Denise offers a masterclass in scrappiness -- from selling her wedding ring to fulfilling hundreds of Amazon orders in her living room to making deliveries around New York City in her SUV.See below for what you'll learn in this episode. Text the word BLUEPRINT to 66866 for addit...

How does a brand drive epic levels of velocity and loyalty with zero venture capital investment? Many founders assume that equity investment is the only way forward...but most of them will struggle to successfully close a round. With a severe recession looming, fundraising will be harder than ever. That's why this conversation with Sadie Scheffer is so valuable. She is the Founder & CEO of Bread SRSLY, a gluten-free sourdough company that has never raised outside equity investment, despit...