Shawn Nelson is the founder and CEO of LoveSac. What started out as a giant foam "beanbag" company and just a side hustle for Shawn in college turned out to be one of the top furniture companies in the U.S., and an innovative and design-forward consumer brand. Over the past 25 years of crazy ups and downs, including winning a reality TV show hosted by Richard Branson, Shawn has learned a lot of life, and business, lessons. He captured those lessons in a book: "Let Me Save You 25 Years", and is also the host of his own podcast with the same title. Shawn was very gracious to accept my invitation to be on the BST podcast, and it was great diving into some of the details of his entrepreneurial journey and the insights he's gained over the past 2.5 decades of business building and personal development.

Book: Let Me Save You 25 Years: Mistakes, Miracles, and Lessons from the Lovesac Story

Podcast: Let Me Save You 25 Years

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for brands to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on YouTube and all popular podcast platforms.

Jon Pierre (JP) Francia is another long-time friend of mine, and has one of the most varied and interesting backgrounds of anyone I know.

He's a pilot, a chef, a branding and marketing wizard, a video producer and artist, inventor, and multi-time founder and creator. He was a flight instructor, he created a TV series called Andy's Airplanes, he was the founder and chief creative mind behind the fast food franchise Sweeto Burrito, and is most recently the founder and creator of a new apple-cider-vinegar health beverage called Life Cider.

We talked about the many things he's learned from his various adventures, and what drives him to create. Grab some Life Cider and settle in for another interesting episode!

www.lifecider.com

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for brands to create a pool of equity to reward and motivate their customers, influencers, and fans. Ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on all popular podcast platforms.

Bubba and I go way back. We met over 15 years ago when we were both doing our first startup ventures. We've been friends and have supported each other ever since, including working on one startup - Quotadeck / Outro together. Bubba has done almost everything in startup land! He had a chair company, a lead generation company, a sales software company, and built a budgeting + parenting + smart family living seminar / content / consumer goods company with his spouse, Jordan. Bubba is a social media influencer and has also done many angel investments into consumer products and B2B software companies. Most recently he started his own investor syndicate, Influence Ventures, where he and many influencer friends in his network invest in companies that they can help grow not only with their cash, but also by promoting them to their vast networks. Bubba is energetic, passionate, talented, and one of the most connected people I know. We talk about shared ownership, startups, and investing in software as well as consumer products. Enjoy!

https://influence.vc/

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for private companies to use a small pool of their equity to reward and motivate their employees, contractors, partners, brand ambassadors, creators, customers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on all popular podcast platforms.

Rachel Nilsson is a rock star creator and the founder of Rags. A brand born out of necessity, Rachel started designing and sewing clothing for her kids when she couldn't afford to buy them expensive brands, and didn't like many of their offerings anyway. She wanted something functional and unique, fashionable but affordable. She started making them for her kids and then others wanted them so she started selling them online and each new product drop started to sell out via word of mouth, sometimes in just minutes.
She went on Shark Tank and struck a deal with one of the sharks, but then decided not to take it as her brand was already growing rapidly and she could barely keep up with demand. Over time, she's added more styles and products and has learned a lot about herself, the business of e-commerce, and creating a brand that means something.
She's had great mentors in her father and in fellow consumer product experts, including Jeremy Andrus the CEO of Traeger Grills.
Almost every founder I've interviewed on this podcast, including Rachel, had no prior experience or knowledge or training in consumer products before they started. She's an inspiration to future consumer product founders, especially working moms who are trying to do it all.

www.rags.com

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for brands to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is also available on YouTube and all popular podcast platforms.

Karalynne Call, Certified Nutritionist, is the Founder and CEO of Just Ingredients, a health and wellness company dedicated to inspiring people to live healthier, happier lives. Recognized as one of Utah’s Top 10 Fastest-Growing companies, Just Ingredients offers 200+ nutrition and personal care products made with nourishing, real, and natural ingredients. Karalynne has a strong influence on social media and has grown her Instagram community, @Just.Ingredients, to over 1 million people where she educates about the importance of knowing about the ingredients we put in and on our body. Her Top 20 ranking podcast, Just Ingredients, has been host to nationally renowned experts and doctors who help her share the best ingredients for life. Karalynne’s passion for mental health, educating others, and creating nourishing products has transformed lives and inspired millions.

Shop Just Ingredients at justingredients.us
Learn more on Instagram @just.ingredients
Listen to The Just Ingredients Podcast

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for brands to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on YouTube and all popular podcast platforms.

You're never too young to take over the world! Abby and Sadie Bowler, two young sisters and co-founders of the up-and-coming brand, SadieB, are doing just that. They've created an amazing personal care product line focused on girls' physical and mental hygiene that offers stylist-grade personal care products with clean ingredients and a commitment to giving back through mentorships and support for organizations like Girl Up. They are in Target and other retail stores in the U.S. and their e-commerce sales are booming. They are brilliant, energetic, hard-working entrepreneurs and it was super cool to hear their startup story. Can't wait to see where these girls go!

https://sadieb.co/

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for private companies to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their employees, advisors, partners, customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on YouTube and all the popular podcast platforms.

Sharon Cryan is an impressive entrepreneur and inventor. Inspired by her mom's health challenges, Sharon was motivated at a young age to eat healthy and learn about the correct foods to fuel her body. In law school and as a lawyer she prepared healthy meals for co-workers, clients, and friends, who affectionalely gave her the nickname "Food Nerd".

As her nutritional savvy and the popularity of her meals grew, she decided to make the leap from lawyer to food entrepreneur. Then, as she had her first child she was even more motivated to find healthy, packable snacks she could feed her kiddo on the go - but there weren't many great options.

She partnered with some brilliant food scientists and together they created a freeze-drying process that can preserve nearly 100% of the essential nutrients and vitamins in fruits and vegetables in snacks that kids love to eat. Food Nerd will be the next major hit in the healthy+convenient food space and it was amazing to hear Sharon's story.

https://www.foodnerdinc.com/

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for private companies to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their employees, advisors, partners, customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!
 
The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on YouTube and all popular podcast platforms.

Dale Majors hails from a large Utah family. His dad was a state table tennis champion 27 times (what?! for reals though...) and he's one of 9 children who are all very talented. Dale is a multi-time entrepreneur whose latest venture is an outdoor gear company, Grand Trunk. Dale is smart, scrappy, and knows how to hustle. Tune in for some fun stories, amazing adventures (he and his wife have taken their kids on some serious cross-country biking trips, including a recent one through Europe), and great startup insights.

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for private companies to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their employees, advisors, partners, customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity.

Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is also available on YouTube and other popular podcast platforms.

Charity Lee learned from her Grandma Ora May how to make potato-dough spudnuts when she was young. Her Grandma would make them for friends, neighbors, and sometimes even strangers - and everyone loved them. Charity started making them for family on special occassions and then for raffle events and fundraisers for her kids' sports teams. A friend, and now investor, Scott Warner, twisted her arm and almost forced her to start a business selling the donuts and Spudly was born. Businesses are buying them on a subscription model for employees, partners, and customers, and consumers are buying them online and in their store... the Spudly Donuts are a big hit. It was fun to get the origin story and talk to Charity about how it all came about, and where Spudly goes from here.

https://www.spudlydonuts.com/

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for private companies to use small amounts of equity to reward and motivate their employees, advisors, partners, customers, influencers, and fans. It’s like Venmo for equity. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!
 
The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on YouTube and other popular podcast platforms.

Will Nitze has a growing suite of unique consumer products and is building an impressive food & beverage business. Starting with the IQBar, a food bar for your brain and your body, the company has expanded into hydration packets and coffee mixes. His focus on mental clarity and fuel for the brain has made IQBar a standout and rapidly growing hit among the many bar + beverage mix options on the market. Will is a talented, methodical, and persistent founder who often shares his learnings and strategies on social media. Keep your eye on this brand!

www.iqbar.com

This episode was sponsored by Awsm (www.awsm.com) - a platform that makes it easy for consumer brands to reward and motivate their customers with equity ownership. Customers with ownership buy more product, stay loyal longer, are and are more likely to refer their friends. Awsm is Ownership, and ownership is Awsm!

The Brand, Sweat, & Tears podcast is available on all popular podcast platforms.