ContenderCast with Justin Honaman

Elyse and her husband and business partner, Nick, seemingly have done it all. Together, they faced the notorious Sharks of ABC's Shark Tank, sold millions of bagels on live TV, invented multiple successful lines of frozen breakfast items, and built their company into a recognized national brand. But they have also faced challenge. In pursuit of their dream, Elyse and Nick spent seven days a week, 24 hours a day, bustling through financial struggles, rejections, pregnancies, births, miscarriages, crisscrossing the country, fighting tooth and nail for the survival of their company. And nearly every time they made a step towards success it was coupled by an equally sized calamity or failure. Elyse also just published "A Shark Ate My Bagel: How We Built Bantam Bagels, A Memoir." Elyse joins Justin to discuss launching, growing, and exiting a fast-growing bagel business.

Miles Marmo is a failed professional athlete turned marketing agency and brand owner. As the Co-Founder of Agency Squid and Stage Seven Tequila, he brings a wealth of consumer goods knowledge to every brand he develops. Prior to starting his own agency and tequila brand, he spent years at one of the leading RTD beverage brands in the US. As a trained strategist, Miles works to blend business acumen with creative expression. Miles joins Justin to discuss Consumer Goods and his new beverage brand!

With the arrival of her daughter in 2018, Emily Groden (Founder and CEO) knew she would not have as much time to cook. She needed a new go-to: something that was simple, tasty, and truly nourishing. But frozen waffles? Are they simple? Yes. Tasty? Definitely. Nourishing? Uh… no. It's a classic tale of a mom, a mission, and a waffle maker. Cramming all the good stuff like fruits, veggies, nuts and spices into something that tastes as good as it makes you feel. A few years and a few hundred recipes later, flavor, protein, fiber, and a whole serving of fruits and veggies are together at last… in a toaster. Emily joins Justin to discuss this delicious and fast-growing brand!

Moss Pure was created during a startup competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in June 2020, where it won First Place Startup in Track 1B: Health, Energy, and Waste Management (MIT Lebanon Challenge). It then went on to participate in the United Nations Development Programme where it won Top 10 Startup in August 2020. While most moss wall companies use preserved moss that is no longer living, Moss Pure is the first and only live moss air filter and stress relief device. Their patent pending science extends the lifespan of live moss within our design without needing any watering, sunlight, or maintenance. All while being an aesthetically pleasing decor piece in your modern space. Founder Jamie Mitri joins Justin to discuss this "growing" company!

Amante, the Italian word for lover, is designed to stimulate the senses and inspire a life of passion. LA DELIZIOSA VITA, the delicious life. Hailing from the historic Il Palagio 1530 estate in Tuscany, this latest innovation in amaro offers a new take on an old classic; combining aromas of Italian citrus, ginger and honeysuckle to help you enjoy a unique bittersweet taste and a thoroughly delicious afternoon. Amante 1530 transports the art of Italian spirit-making into the 21st century, and heralds a new era of amaro. Amante 1530. The delicious life. CEO Ana Rosenstein joins Justin to discuss this fast-growing brand!

Based in Las Vegas, Noovo introduces two groundbreaking models in 2024: Noovo Lite and the innovative Noovo Plus, the 'First Super High Roof Camper Van in the US. Designed for the evolving needs of remote workers, retirees, travel nurses, and adventurers, these vans represent our vision of seamless integration between life's work and pleasures. These vans are ideal for full-time van living. Co-founder Paul Aubert joins Justin to discuss this moving brand!

Renewal Logistics provides fulfillment solutions tailored to accommodate each brand's unique needs. Renewal streamlines the supply chain with customizable value-added services supporting direct-to-consumer, retail brick-n-mortar and ecommerce marketplaces routes to market. Founder and CEO Courtney Folk joins Justin to discuss this fast-growing CPG service brand!

Rebecca van Bergen is the Founder and Executive Director of Nest, a nonprofit supporting the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan and maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion. Rebecca leads an organization that is partnering with brand leaders such as Etsy, Madewell, Patagonia, Target and West Elm to improve transparency, social wellbeing, and economic opportunity for handworkers which includes both artisans and less skilled manual laborers, often working from their homes. Nest's comprehensive suite of artisan and maker programming reaches over 250,000 handworkers working across 1,500+ artisan businesses in 124 countries.

Lovers of snacks, devotees of quality food. This shared passion was met with an equally shared frustration that the snacks they loved the most often made them feel the worst. So the team at Myna Snacks set out on a journey to create the most craveable, poppable, feel-good snacks of all time. Real ingredients, sustainably sourced, vitamin D, no gluten, no GMOs, nothing artificial. Better snacks make Myna Snacks happy, so they made them to share with you. CEO and co-founder Darcey Macken joins Justin to discuss this fast-growing brand.

La Gringuita Cookies in Palm Beach County offers quarter pound gourmet cookies made with premium ingredients and handcrafted with lots of love. The frozen CookiDough, however, is what sets this business apart. Now you can bake these jumbo cookies in the comfort of your own home by purchasing the preformed frozen CookiDough balls. Founder and CEO Caroline McGinley joins Justin to discuss this fast-growing brand!