Building While Flying

Max Greb, also known as Max the Meat Guy, has a passion for meat and grilling, and shares his passion with more than 8 million followers across various social channels. After spending the last 10 years in China, Max returned to the U.S. in 2020 and has spent the last few years growing his personal brand and sharing his passion for grilling good food.

In this episode of the Building While Flying podcast, Max and Joe Quattrone talk about the differences between building a personal brand and a business, what it takes to be a content creator, going into business with family members, and even some beginner tips for grilling at home.

In-flight topics:

• Balancing a day job and content creation
• Building a personal brand vs. a business
• Sustaining your career as a creator
• Trusting the people you work with
• Making money as a content creator
• …and more!

Connect with Max:

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MaxtheMeatGuy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxthemeatguy/?hl=en

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maxthemeatguy?lang=en

Website: https://www.maxthemeatguy.com/

Jess Flack is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ubiquitous, an influencer-managed marketplace that specializes in matching influencers and brands on TikTok. Her previous job at a moving startup helped her realize the power of TikTok and creators as a new marketing channel for brands. Now, she and her team at Ubiquitous help brands run their best influencer campaigns, instill the importance of opportunities within TikTok in their clients, and are building tech that will power and run the influencer marketing industry as a whole.

In her conversation with Mickey Cloud, Jess talks about how Ubiquitous was born and how it's evolved since its inception. She talks about the future of influencer marketing, and how a managed marketplace like Ubiquitous can make the process easier and more effective for everyone. And the conversation wouldn't be complete without talking about the impact TikTok has had on marketing for the last two years.

In-flight topics:

• How Ubiquitous was started
• Benefits of working with influencers
• What works on TikTok vs. other platforms
• Influencer opportunities for B2B brands
• The future of influencer marketing

Connect with Jess Flack:

Jess on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-flack/

Jess on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__flack/?hl=en

Ubiquitous website: https://www.ubiquitousinfluence.com/

Ubiquitous Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ubiquitousofficial/

Ubiquitous TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ubiquitousofficial

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/

Ashley Thompson is the Co-Founder and CEO of MUSH, healthy, ready-to-eat cold oats that are plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free, wholesome and delicious. Ashley and her co-founder launched MUSH in 2015, with the conviction that easy, delicious, nutritious food can elevate the world in powerful ways. MUSH products are sold in stores around the country, and directly through their website.

In her conversation with Mickey Cloud, Ashley shares how MUSH got started and what inspired her lifelong journey of nutrition. She also discusses their split between retail and DTC, how they partner with influencers, and how an appearance on a popular TV show changed their business.

In-flight topics:

• Choosing retail over DTC
• Solving health issues with food
• Finding the right messaging for consumers
• Leveraging influencers in marketing
• Learning experiences from Shark Tank
• Navigating relationships with mentors and investors
• Opportunities for growth

Connect with Ashley:

Mush website: https://eatmush.com/

Mush store locator: https://eatmush.com/pages/store-locator

Mush on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mush/?hl=en

Ashley on LinkedIn: ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-thompson-50888626/

Rajesh Sinha is the Chairman and Founder of Fulcrum Digital, a business platform and solution engineering company that helps with rapid digital acceleration and scaling. He started Fulcrum at 27 years old, with the goal of making the world a better place to live and work, through smarter digital platforms. Rajesh is also the author of the book Digital Operating Model: The Future of Business, which comes out early next year.

In this episode of Building While Flying, Rajesh talks with Katie Hankinson about his entrepreneurial journey, early influence from his father, the birth of Fulcrum Digital, and the future of work.

You can pre-order Rajesh's book on Amazon here.

Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Operating-Model-Future-Business/dp/1119826837/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Q51HLIVG538M&keywords=rajesh+sinha&qid=1657113835&sprefix=rajesh+sinha%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1

In-flight topics:

• Defining "digital transformation"
• Fulcrum's "digital doctor" mindset
• The power of strategic platforms
• Early mistakes in business
• How the pandemic framed the future of work
• Data, emotion, and culture to scale your business
• …and more!

Connect with Rajesh:

• Fulcrum website: https://fulcrumdigital.com/
• Fulcrum on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fulcrum_digital
• Fulcrum on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fulcrum_digital/
• Rajesh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-sinha-162975/

Joel McCauley is the owner and founder of Freedom Fit Gym, a fitness and training gym in Ashland, Virginia (outside of Richmond). They serve working professionals, athletes, and anyone looking to make a change in their fitness and health. Joel opened Freedom Fit Gym in 2015 in an old warehouse, and has grown it through two expansions, more services, more staff, and many happy clients.

Joel joins the Building While Flying podcast this week with Joe Quattrone, SVP at The Sasha Group, to share his journey from frequently injured high school athlete to gym owner and certified strength & conditioning specialist, and all-around entrepreneur and hustler.

In their conversation, Joel and Joe discuss:

• A family history of entrepreneurship
• Knowing when to expand
• Influence of "warehouse fitness"
• Survival tactics during the pandemic
• Developing an internship program
• …and more!

Connect with Joel:

• Freedom Fit Gym on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomfitgym/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFitGymVA
• Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-mccauley-cscs-26bb02ba/
• Website: http://www.freedomfitgym.com/

Joel McCauley is the owner and founder of Freedom Fit Gym, a fitness and training gym in Ashland, Virginia (outside of Richmond). They serve working professionals, athletes, and anyone looking to make a change in their fitness and health. Joel opened Freedom Fit Gym in 2015 in an old warehouse, and has grown it through two expansions, more services, more staff, and many happy clients. 

Joel joins the Building While Flying podcast this week with Joe Quattrone, SVP at The Sasha Group, to share his journey from frequently injured high school athlete to gym owner and certified strength & conditioning specialist, and all-around entrepreneur and hustler. 

In their conversation, Joel and Joe discuss:

• A family history of entrepreneurship
• Knowing when to expand
• Influence of “warehouse fitness”
• Survival tactics during the pandemic
• Developing an internship program
• …and more!

Connect with Joel:

• Freedom Fit Gym on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomfitgym/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFitGymVA
• Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-mccauley-cscs-26bb02ba/
• Website: http://www.freedomfitgym.com/

Edgar Carreon is the Founder and CEO of dree, a peer-to-peer laundry marketplace based in Salt Lake City, Utah. His family immigrated to the United States when he was young. He shares some of the challenges his family faced when moving to the U.S., and that his mother is a large reason and inspiration behind why he started dree. In this week's episode of Building While Flying, Edgar joins Maribel Lara for a vulnerable, honest conversation about his journey as a founder and entrepreneur and what inspires him along the way.

In this episode, Edgar and Maribel discuss:

• How dree was started
• The purpose behind dree
• How his mom inspires his business
• Finding the right co-founder
• The future of dree's leadership
• Why he chose Utah for his business
• …and more!

Connect with Edgar:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edgaricarreon/
• Email: [email protected]
• dree website: https://dreenow.com/
• dree Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joindree/?hl=en

Modernizing an Old Industry

Jessica Warch is CEO and Co-Founder of Kimai, a sustainably made, respectfully sourced lab diamond company. Kimai uses 100% recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds that are chemically and physically identical to their mined equivalents, without the environmental consequences. Jessica and her partner Sidney started Kimai after growing up around the diamond trade in Antwerp, Belgium, and wishing for more sustainability and transparency in the industry.

In this episode of Building While Flying, Jessica joins Elizabeth Cates, VP at The Sasha Group, to share their business journey and discuss what creating sustainable jewelry means to her, the industry at large, and the environment.

In-flight topics include:

• How Kimai was born
• How to make jewelry more sustainable
• The future of the jewelry and diamond industry
• Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
• Strategies for investors and partnerships
• …and more!

Connect with Jessica & Kimai:

Kimai website: https://kimai.com/

Kimai on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimai.co/

Jessica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-warch/

Jessica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicawarch/

It all started when he got fired. David has amassed over 2.5 million followers combined through his social media channels where he offers career tips, resources, and job search help. While experimenting with a bunch of different ideas, David decided to make a TikTok account to share his perspective on navigating careers and what worked for him to land jobs. Turns out, that it worked for others too. In this episode of Building While Flying, David joins Joe Quattrone to talk about his journey from insurance to career advisor. Driven by the passion to make education accessible to everyone, he's built a business out of execution instead of monetization, never accepting money for his advice. David shares why he gets down in the dirt with DMs and urges us all to pursue what you believe fundamentally needs to exist.

In-flight topics:

• How David got started pursuing his passion
• Using Twitch to learn how to sustain attention
• Sharing his career perspective instead of expertise
• Pivoting from Twitch to Tiktok to grow community
• The magic of sharing information for free
• …and more!

RELEVANT LINKS:

• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@davidpaykin
• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/davidpaykin
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidpaykin/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpaykin/
• Community - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9018999/
• Resources - https://beacons.ai/davidpaykin