Building While Flying

Welcome to Building While Flying: a weekly business podcast from Gary Vaynerchuk's agency The Sasha Group. We are the small- to medium-sized business arm of VaynerX, the most contemporary independent holding company in the industry. At The Sasha Group, we teach, guide, and execute modern-day brand building and marketing for ambitious businesses looking for meaningful growth.

Building a business isn't linear. The journey is wrought with turbulence, delays, and re-routes. Those who win are resilient, unafraid of challenges, and willing to flex in order to reach their destination. We get it; entrepreneurship is in our DNA, and we're built of people with entrepreneurial experience and empathy.

Right now, times are volatile and ambiguous. Across all sectors, there is an air of experimentation. Brands and businesses are investigating new methods, exploring new paths, testing and learning, adapting, and, well, building the plane while flying. By adopting an uncertainty mindset, we can navigate the ever-changing skies of entrepreneurship together by listening, learning, applying, and sharing.

On Building While Flying, we hear from a diverse range of business leaders about how they face challenges head on and stay calm under pressure. Their stories are riddled with the unexpected and share how their strategies have been put into practice and changed their business.

Past episodes have featured stories of turning side hustles into main hustles, building businesses inspired by their families' needs, dealing with rejection, selling the company they built, innovating better-for-you foods and products, and above all else, following their dreams and navigating the trials of entrepreneurship.

Thanks so much for flying with us. We're glad you're on this journey, too. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss our weekly episodes.

Dr. Michele Forbes is the founder of Compassionate Care Animal Hospital, which is a Fear-Free certified practice, and an AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) accredited hospital, which only 15% of animal hospitals are. She worked as an emergency veterinarian for 12 years prior to opening CCAH as well as founding Spirit's Legacy Fund in 2015. Dr. Forbes is passionate about caring for patients and clients. She enjoys making a difference in helping patients live their best lives. Outside of veterinary medicine, she shares her life with her husband, three kids, two dogs, two cats, and a variety of wildlife who mostly stay out of the garage.

In this episode of the Building While Flying podcast, Michele joins Joe Quattrone to explain why the US is about to be in an animal care crisis. Michele gives some insight into the statistics, how this happened, and what makes her animal hospital unique.

In-flight topics:

• The bleak statistics of where animal care in the U.S. is headed

• The cash flow of animal hospitals

• Small independent vet vs. big corporations

• Why her hospital is unique and wants to change vet culture

• Is being a vet the right way scalable?

• …and more!

Connect with Michele:

Michele's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-forbes-a99773202/

Michele's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drforbeez/

CCAH Website: https://www.ccahpetvet.com/

CCAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccahpetvetina2/

"I started Compassionate Care with the one goal of I want these amazing vet professionals to show up at work, love the team, love what they're doing even though it's hard. And even though there are challenges, I still want them to walk away feeling like I am part of something really special and amazing and we're accomplishing really special and amazing things." - Michele

Cate Luzio is the founder and CEO of Luminary, a global professional education and networking platform created to uplift and up-skill women through all phases of their professional journey. Members are comprised of a multi-generational and intersectional community of individuals, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations including JP Morgan Chase, Unilever, Verizon, Indeed, MasterCard, Spotify, Power Map, BlackRock, Yelp, and more. Before starting Luminary, Cate spent two decades in financial services leading global multi-billion dollar businesses.

In this episode of the Building While Flying podcast, Cate joins Maribel Lara to share more about Luminary and her experiences as an entrepreneur. Cate gives some insight into her professional journey, adapting to her environment, and why being an entrepreneur is so hard.

In-flight topics:

• How banking made her entrepreneurial

• The evolution of Luminary's vision

• Being a business fueled by its members

• The isolation and constant mental struggle of an entrepreneur

• Why hearing stories from members makes it worth it

• …and more!

Connect with Cate:

Cate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cluzio/

Cate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cateluzio/

Luminary website: https://www.weareluminary.com/

Luminary Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareluminary/

"While everyone likes to use the word pivot for us, we didn't pivot… pivot means we changed directions, we didn't change directions. We adapted to the environment and what was happening. Our core mission never changed, how we delivered it evolved." - Cate

Sehreen Noor Ali is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sleuth, a search engine for parents to help with their children's health and development. Sleuth originally began as a solution for her own family's needs, and Sehreen quickly realized it would help more than her own family. After meeting her co-founder Alex in an incubator, they got to work building Sleuth into what it is today.

In this episode of the Building While Flying podcast, Sehreen joins Maribel Lara to share more about Sleuth and her experiences as an entrepreneur, mother, and caretaker. Sehreen gives some insight into how she came up with the name and what it means to her, and talks about meeting her now co-founder and how they best work together.

In-flight topics:

• What inspired Sleuth and how it works

• Finding her co-founder

• Lessons learned in entrepreneurship

• The story behind Sleuth's name and logo

• Advice for maintaining relationships as an entrepreneur

• …and more!

Connect with Sehreen:

Sehreen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sehreennoorali/

Sehreen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sehreennoorali/

Sleuth website: https://hellosleuth.com/

Sleuth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellosleuth/

In honor of our 100th episode, we thought it would be a great time to check in with previous guests and see what's happened since we last spoke to them. Listen to our guests share exciting new updates like viral TikToks, exciting partnerships, launching NFTs, and more! We hope you are encouraged by how far our guests have come!

Thank you for listening to and supporting our podcast! Subscribe to Building While Flying so you don't miss out on future episodes.

Updates From:

• Alice Kim, Founder and CEO of PerfectDD

• Anita Laney, Founder and CEO of DataLou

• Anouck Gotlib, CEO of Belgian Boys

• Giovanni Vaccaro, Co-Founder and CBO of Glamsquad

• Kyra Peralte, Creator of The Traveling Diary Tour

Connect with our Guests:

Alice on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicekim007/

PerfectDD Website: https://perfectdd.com/

Anita on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-laney-8a76699/

DataLou Website: https://www.datalou.com/

Anouck on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anouck-gotlib/

Belgian Boys Website: https://www.belgianboys.com/

Giovanni on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovanni-vaccaro-b4137a90/

Glamsquad Website: https://www.glamsquad.com/

Kyra on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyra-peralte-aa227917/

The Traveling Diary Tour Website: https://www.thetravelingdiarytour.com/

"Since our podcast in February, so much has happened, where do I start? With the support of The Sasha Group and Gary Vee, I finally launched on TikTok in April and we went viral! Our highest viewed video was watched 7.5 million times and that one video alone generated over $30,000 in sales." - Alice Kim, Founder and CEO of PerfectDD

Nicholas Stone is the founder and CEO of Bluestone Lane, the fastest-growing premium café brand in the United States. Almost a decade ago, Bluestone Lane reset the coffee scene, introducing New York to the flat white and its Australian-inspired café experience. Now with over 65 locations across 8 markets, Bluestone is committed to providing great café experiences that are focused on human connection.

In his conversation with Katie Hankinson, Nick shares how getting coffee in his home in Australia felt more like a communal experience whereas in America it was all about convenience. He started Bluestone Lane to try to recreate the Australian experience in the US. He discusses the challenges of COVID, human connection in a digital world, scaling, and adjusting to a hybrid workforce.

In-flight topics:

• His origins and the cultural coffee differences in the US and Australia

• Getting through COVID

• The power of hospitality and making people feel special

• Choosing the right brand partnerships

• Adjusting to the hybrid workforce

• …and more!

Connect with Nicholas Stone:

Bluestone Lane Website: https://bluestonelane.com/

Bluestone Lane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluestonelane/

Bluestone Lane on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BluestoneLane

Nicholas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-stone-49465767/

Nicholas on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicholas_j_stone/

Matt Higgins is the CEO and co-founder of RSE Ventures. Matt is a noted serial entrepreneur and growth equity investor. He is also an executive fellow at the Harvard Business School where he teaches the course "Moving Beyond The Direct Consumer." His first book "Burn The Boats: Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential" was published by Harper Collins William Morrow and became available on February 14, 2023.

In his conversation with Joe Quattrone, Matt shares his personal journey from humble beginnings to now writing his first book. He discusses the hardships along the way and the lessons he learned from them. He hopes his book will encourage others dealing with their own traumas and teach them how to remove the things that are standing in the way of fully committing to the things they care about.

In-flight topics:

• Why everyone can do personal branding

• How 9/11 shaped him

• What gets him to invest

• Life lessons from having cancer

• His new book and being vulnerable to encourage others

• …and more!

Connect with Matt Higgins:

Get "Burn The Boats": https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Boats-Overboard-Unleash-Potential/dp/006308886X

Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-higgins-rse/

Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhiggins/

Matt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mhiggins/

We love taking questions from our listeners and answering them in our episodes. In this episode of Building While Flying, Joe Quattrone, SVP at The Sasha Group, is back to answer some of YOUR questions!

Topics in this Q&A include:

• Best approaches for a merger or buyout of competitors
• Attracting donors for your non-profit on social media
• How to gradually scale your media team
• Content marketing is hard work, there's no cheat code
• Finding the best practice for scheduling posts on social media
• …and more!

Like what you heard? Want to have YOUR questions answered on the podcast? Connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Linkedin, and tell us what you want to know.

Subscribe to Building While Flying so you don't miss out on future episodes — including more Q&A's!

Connect with Joe: LinkedIn / Twitter

We love taking questions from our listeners and answering them in our episodes. In this episode of Building While Flying, Joe Quattrone, SVP at The Sasha Group, is back to answer some of YOUR questions!

Topics in this Q&A include:

• Content recommendations to make your business more interesting
• The impact of AI on influencer marketing
• Quick hacks for creating content when you're an introvert
• How to tell a manager they aren't manager material
• Where Joe would invest $5,000 if he had a very small business
• …and more!

Like what you heard? Want to have YOUR questions answered on the podcast? Connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Linkedin, and tell us what you want to know.

Subscribe to Building While Flying so you don't miss out on future episodes — including more Q&A's!

Connect with Joe: LinkedIn / Twitter

SHOW NOTES:Ken Moskowitz, aka Spanky, is the founder and CCO of Ad Zombies, while also being the founder and business coach of the podcast EntreGrow. Spanky started his creative career in New York City and quickly rose to the top of the broadcast creative industry. He's led rebranding efforts over the last three decades for many major and smaller brands such as the Indy 500, FritoLay, Samuel Adams, Coca-Cola, and M&M's (Mars).

In his conversation with Joe Quattrone, Spanky shares his creative journey and how he started his business by accident. Throughout the episode, he explains why he thinks human-written copy sells better than AI, what AI can be used for, and how storytelling is still the key to writing copy that sells.

In-flight topics:

• Starting a business on accidents
• Human vs AI, who wins?
• Why the moment matters when choosing between human and AI
• What's his ideal zombie?
• His book and learning from Gary Vee
• …and more!

Connect with Ken Moskowitz:

Ad Zombies Website: https://www.adzombies.com/

Ad Zombies on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adzombies/

Ad Zombies on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/adzombies/

Ad Zombies on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adzombies

Ken Moskowitz on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spankymoskowitz/