Evolved Entrepreneur Podcast

Celebrity brand partnerships work best when you start with the retail buyer and choose the face that buyer already loves. Weston Woodward, partner at A to B Brands in Austin, Texas, builds celebrity brands for consumer packaged goods, handles talent negotiations, and runs retail and distribution strategy for products headed to shelves like Target and Home Depot. If you have a great product and no way into the room, your problem is access. You can spend months chasing agents, managers, and lawyers, or you can work with people who reach them in days because the relationships already exist. When everyone is chasing the next tool, trust and proximity still close the deal.

On this episode of the Evolved Entrepreneur Podcast, Marc Anthony, Private Founder Advisor and founder of Evolved Entrepreneur, sits down with Weston to unpack how he went from politics and startups to fractional business development, and why it took him until the last few years to turn his gift for connecting people into a real business. Weston also shares his advisory work with Synergy Sports Capital, the $150 million fund led by former NFL players Reggie Bush and Terrence Murphy that invests in emerging teams and leagues like League One Volleyball, plus Off Market, his community for family office capital allocators. You walk away knowing why in person relationships are the long game, and how to build a network that brings you deals.

Are you the bottleneck in the business you built? Take the free Ceiling Code diagnostic: https://ceilingcode.scoreapp.com/

In this episode, you'll learn:
• How celebrity brand partnerships work in retail, and why A to B Brands asks the Target or Home Depot buyer which celebrity they like before Weston Woodward signs any talent.
• What CPG means, and why consumer packaged goods brands in beverage, beauty, and wellness pair with content creators online and with celebrities when the goal is a retail shelf.
• Why direct relationships with agents, managers, and talent lawyers let A to B Brands reach the right celebrity in days, while most brands spend months making cold calls.
• How Weston Woodward sharpened his read on people over two decades in business, and why he now only chooses partners he can see himself working with for life.
• Where handshake deals still happen, with Weston naming Austin, New York, the UK, and parts of the Midwest as places where a person's word still carries weight in business.
• Why sports, community, and in person experiences are growing, how Synergy Sports Capital invests in emerging leagues, and why Weston is betting on real life businesses for the long term.

We talk about:
00:00 Meet Weston Woodward of A to B Brands
01:10 What are celebrity brand partnerships in retail
03:53 Leaving politics for business built on integrity
06:52 Where handshake deals still happen today
09:11 Synergy Sports Capital and the Off Market community
12:23 How did Weston find his career through line
14:11 What is CPG and what Weston brings
16:39 Your vibe attracts your tribe in business
18:21 Sports and entertainment as predictors of the future
20:56 Is drinking coming back with Gen Z
32:30 AI adoption, hype, and the dot com lesson
34:48 Where to find Weston Woodward

Connect with Weston Woodward:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westonarmstrongwoodward/

Connect with Marc Anthony:
Ceiling Code: https://ceilingcode.scoreapp.com

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Founder visibility is an amplifier: whatever you are behind closed doors gets louder the moment more people are watching. If you're building a personal brand as a founder, your audience meets your character before they meet your offer. The way you treat your partner, your team, and the waiter who can do nothing for you is the preview of who you become at scale. As of 2026, with more founders building in public than ever, integrity is the ground your reputation, your trust, and your whole visibility strategy stand on.

On the Evolved Entrepreneur Podcast, Marc Anthony, Private Founder Advisor to established founders, sits down with Elizabeth Mae Honeycutt, visibility strategist and founder of Luminary Agency. Before Luminary, Elizabeth built the podcast division at a large PR agency and managed 40 to 50 clients on her own, which gave her a close view of what attention does to people. You'll walk away with her meet his wife rule for vetting a business partner, the waiter test, the under $100 reciprocity test, and the 30 day window she uses to see who someone is. Marc Anthony adds his own standard: grace only works when accountability comes with it. Then Elizabeth gives you the line to sit with before your next post. You're ready for visibility when you're ready to take responsibility for the people who believe you.

In this episode, you'll learn:
- Founder visibility works as an amplifier, so the way you treat your partner, your team, and the waiter who can do nothing for you gets louder once an audience arrives.
- The two paths Elizabeth Mae Honeycutt watched founders take as their profile grew: one toward foundations and real generosity, the other toward cheating, shady deals, and a steady drop in empathy.
- The meet his wife rule: why Elizabeth meets a married man's wife before she signs any business deal, and what that one conversation tells her about his character.
- How to tell real kindness from a performance of it, with Marc Anthony's answer (time) and Elizabeth's 30 day to four month window for seeing who someone is.
- The reciprocity test: how a favor worth under $100 told Elizabeth everything she needed to know about a potential business partner before any contract existed.
- Discernment is a skill you can build, and Elizabeth shares the stillness practice she uses to hear the truth in her body before she says yes to a person or a deal.
- When you're ready for founder visibility: Elizabeth's standard is the day you're ready to take responsibility for the people who believe you and act on what you say.

We talk about:
00:00 Meet Elizabeth Mae Honeycutt of Luminary Agency
01:04 A dangerous childhood and anger as raw material
04:00 Building a podcast division with 40 to 50 clients
08:45 Why does founder visibility amplify who you are?
12:09 Integrity starts with the thoughts you think alone
21:22 The two paths founders take once they're seen
23:40 Meet his wife before you sign the deal
25:43 Success as a multiplier and the waiter test
28:30 How do you know when kindness is real?
31:54 Discernment as a skill and the 30 day window
36:42 The reciprocity test for a potential business partner
42:35 Are you ready to be responsible for being believed?

Find the ceiling on your capacity as a founder. Take the free Ceiling Code diagnostic from Marc Anthony and the Evolved Entrepreneur Podcast: https://ceilingcode.scoreapp.com

#foundervisibility #personalbrand #personalbranding #founders #entrepreneurship #integrity #character #visibilitystrategy #leadership #businesspartners #discernment #trust #influence #founderlife #reputation #accountability #capacity #evolvedentrepreneur

CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH

Luminary Agency: https://elizabethmaehoneycutt.lovable.app/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/elizabethmaehoneycutt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmaehoneycutt/

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Viktor Popovic grew up in what was then Yugoslavia. When civil war broke out in the early nineties he left for Hungary as a refugee, along with the girlfriend he had met in high school who would later become his wife. They arrived with nothing. Their idea of a night out in Budapest was splitting a single McDonald's hamburger and hunting for discount movie tickets because full price was out of reach.

Four and a half years later an opportunity brought them to the United States. Viktor studied aviation at Embry Riddle, graduated straight into the collapse of the airline industry after 9/11, and took the first real opportunity that came his way instead, a friend's idea to sell pressure washers online. That business, Ultimate Washer, survived a brutal Google algorithm update that wiped out their organic traffic overnight, forced a pivot into Amazon, and ran for twenty one years before Viktor sold it in 2024.

He didn't stay retired long. Today he is co founder and president of Avendo, a FinTech company built around a simple but overlooked problem. Merchants have almost no idea what they are actually paying to process a credit card. Avendo evaluates each transaction the instant it happens, reading factors like card type, transaction size, and whether it is domestic or international, then routes that single transaction to whichever processor offers the best available rate for it. All of it happens in milliseconds, on the back end, invisible to the customer.

This conversation covers what it actually costs to leave everything behind twice, why the person next to you can carry you through decisions you cannot make alone, and why almost nobody, including business owners processing millions in transactions, has ever checked their own rate.

What we cover

Leaving Yugoslavia during the civil war and starting over in Hungary as a refugee
Splitting a hamburger in Budapest and building a life from zero with the woman who became his wife
Studying aviation, graduating into 9/11, and saying yes to an idea with no connection to his degree
Surviving a Google algorithm update that erased twenty one years of organic traffic overnight
Selling Ultimate Washer after two decades and starting over in FinTech
How Avendo reads risk factors in real time and routes each transaction to the cheapest available processor
Why most business owners have never once looked at what they actually pay per transaction

Connect with Viktor here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktor-popovic-b8a6b416/

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Michelle Doan, founder of Emani Vegan Cosmetics. From surviving a refugee camp in Thailand after escaping Vietnam to launching a pioneering clean beauty brand in 1998, Michelle shares her incredible journey of resilience, self-acceptance, and entrepreneurship.

In this episode, Michelle opens up about:

• Her family’s harrowing escape from Vietnam on a small fishing boat
• Overcoming severe cystic acne and how it sparked her passion for clean skincare
• The life-changing encounter with an aesthetician that shifted her perspective
• What it really means to build an "indie brand" and pioneer clean, vegan cosmetics long before it was a trend

Connect with Michelle

Website: https://emani.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emanicosmetics/

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Why do incredibly successful business owners struggle with their mindset, while elite athletes can flip a switch and dominate? 

In this episode, 6-time Olympic Coach Justin Kavanagh (Coach Kav) breaks down the exact high-performance strategies used to put athletes on the podium and applies them directly to the boardroom. Discover how to shift out of a fixed mindset, master situational awareness, and build emotional maturity to run your business like a pro sports team.

Connect With Coach Kav:

Website  Instagram

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

What does it take to build an AI-powered longevity company by using your own body as the lab?

In this episode, Marc Longwith sits down with Tony Medrano, CEO and Co-Founder of LongevityPlan.AI, to break down what peptides actually do, which ones touch the testosterone axis, and how AI and genomics are turning generic protocols into something built for one specific body.

This conversation covers real numbers, real side effects, and the science behind a 55 year old training for his fourth Ironman.

Topics Covered:

• What LongevityPlan.AI's Digital Twin technology does with wearable data, labs, and genetics
• Why wearables like Oura and Whoop give inconsistent readings, and how to use the data anyway
• BPC 157 and TB500 for injury repair, and whether site injection actually matters
• What a peptide actually is, explained through Tony's Lego analogy
• Tesamorelin vs Retatrutide for visceral fat loss and the different mechanisms behind each
• The real side effects at higher GLP-1 doses that don't make it into the marketing
• Why protein intake and resistance training determine whether you keep your muscle on any protocol
• Testosterone, fertility, and the conversation most people are too nervous to have out loud
• Creatine's role in muscle retention, sleep recovery, and reducing dementia risk
• The origin story of BPC 157, tracing back to Pavlov and battlefield medicine
• Where AI, genomics, and biotechnology are headed next, including organ regeneration and implantable health monitoring

Connect with Tony:
 Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

You can make six figures, climb the corporate ladder, travel the world, and still wake up feeling like something is missing. That's exactly what happened to Billy Keels. After spending 26 years in corporate leadership, working with world-class CEOs like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and other global business icons, Billy discovered a truth that most people don't learn until it's too late: Success without freedom isn't success at all. In this conversation, we dive deep into identity, entrepreneurship, personal growth, time freedom, abundance mindset, manifestation, leadership, and what happens when you stop living according to everyone else's definition of success. Inside this episode you'll learn: Why high achievers often feel trapped The hidden cost of corporate success How to build income outside your job The difference between scarcity and abundance Why most people don't know what they actually want How to reclaim control of your time The role of mentors, coaches, and advisors Why your biggest setbacks may be preparing you for your future Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, business owner, or someone feeling stuck in life, this conversation will challenge the way you think about success. If this episode resonates, subscribe and let us know: What's one definition of success you've outgrown?

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Most people think leadership is about control. A Navy SEAL Commander says that's exactly why most leaders fail. In this powerful conversation, former Navy SEAL Commander Tom Chaby breaks down the real principles behind elite leadership, high performance, team culture, accountability, and success under pressure. From leading combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to advising elite sports teams and speaking with Bill Gates, Tom shares the lessons that transformed his understanding of leadership. You'll learn why talent alone is overrated, why most people focus on the wrong metrics, and how the world's highest-performing teams actually operate. Inside this interview: Navy SEAL leadership principles High-performance team culture The paradox of success Why process beats outcomes Confidence under pressure Accountability and ownership Building elite organizations Performance psychology Identity, mindset, and resilience One of the most powerful lessons from this conversation is that true leadership isn't about commanding people—it's about creating the conditions for others to thrive. Whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, athlete, manager, coach, or someone trying to improve your life, these lessons can completely change how you approach success. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe for more interviews on leadership, business, performance, mindset, and personal growth. Comment below: What's the biggest leadership lesson you've learned the hard way? https://marc-longwith-dffa.mykajabi.com/evolved-100-community-1

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Most people leave school completely unprepared for real life. No money skills. No business skills. No clue what AI is about to change. In this powerful conversation, Michelle Jackson — President of Junior Achievement in Southern Nevada — breaks down the real problems facing the next generation… and why traditional education may no longer be enough. From financial literacy and entrepreneurship to AI replacing entry-level jobs, this episode dives deep into what young people ACTUALLY need to survive and thrive in the modern world. We also explore the rise of comfort culture, entrepreneurship, risk-taking, philanthropy, faith, personal growth, and why human connection matters more than ever. You’ll hear incredible stories about: How Mark Cuban credits Junior Achievement for teaching him entrepreneurship Why AI is making college graduates unemployable The dangerous mindset keeping people stuck How entrepreneurship can change a young person’s future Why discomfort may be the key to success This episode is packed with raw truth, powerful perspective, and real-world wisdom for parents, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone trying to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

You climb the mountain… and realize nothing changed.

This conversation will completely change how you see success, masculinity, competition, and purpose.

In this powerful podcast episode, legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Robert Drysdale opens up about modern society, weak culture, masculinity, suffering, competition, parenting, entrepreneurship, and why achievement alone never fulfills you.

From the decline of discipline and meaning in modern life to the psychology of champions, this episode dives deep into the ideas nobody wants to talk about anymore.

Robert explains why struggle creates purpose, why competition is healthy, why comfort is dangerous, and why today’s world is producing emotionally fragile people.

Inside this episode: The hidden emptiness behind success Why modern men feel lost Jiu-jitsu philosophy and mental toughness.

The psychology of high performers.

Why suffering builds stronger humans Masculinity, family, and modern culture Lessons from ADCC, MMA, and elite competition.

Why the process matters more than the trophy. 

It’s a deep discussion about meaning, ambition, discipline, and becoming dangerous in the right way.

If you’re an entrepreneur, athlete, fighter, or someone searching for purpose, this episode will hit hard.

Comment your biggest takeaway below and subscribe for more conversations on growth, mindset, discipline, and modern masculinity.

Connect with Marc:
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube