Joe Welstead is a former pro swimmer and co-founder of Motion Nutrition, sold in 2022. Today, he's the co-founder of Oshun, a brand that offers electrolyte and magnesium supplements in a pump dispenser bottle.

Expect to hear about:

– Athlete vs. Founder: The similarities and differences between being a pro athlete and an entrepreneur.

– Lessons from his First Brand: Why, if he could do it all over again, he'd launch Motion Nutrition with one hero product instead of 15 SKUs.

– Rethinking Hydration Branding: Why Oshun positions electrolytes for daily brain fog, skin health, and sleep instead of traditional sports performance.

– Profitable by Design: How Oshun has stayed profitable from day one to keep the door open for either holding the brand or selling when the timing is right.

– Building a Life, Not Just a Brand: How Joe is structuring his second founder journey to preserve time with his family.

Find Joe on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-welstead/

Meredith Mills-Merritt is the founder and CEO of The Original Southside, a canned gin cocktail brand made from a family recipe. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands. 

Expect to hear about: 

– From Beauty to Booze: Why Meredith left her corporate career in beauty brand management to start her own consumer brand. 

– 13 Months to Perfect: The long R&D process to commercialize her family recipe while keeping it organic and true to the original recipe. 

– Stadium Deals: How an Instagram DM led to a Florida Panthers partnership and opened doors with college programs like LSU. 

– Fighting for Shelf Space: Competing in a capital-intensive RTD category with standout packaging and “liquid to lips” marketing. 

– What’s Next: New drink products in development, a focus on growing in retail, and Meredith’s vision for Southside’s next stage of growth. 

Find Meredith on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithleahmills/

Ben Dancer is the founder of Zed Sleep, a new brand creating performance sleepwear designed to help people sleep better. This episode is part of “The Climb,” our series featuring founders in the earliest stages of building their brands.

Expect to hear about:

– From Harry’s to Founder Life: Why Ben left his role as Director of Brand at Harry’s after six years to start his first venture.

– Why Sleepwear: How opportunity in the sleepwear category and a lifelong interest in wellness inspired him to start Zed Sleep.

– Technical Apparel: How Ben's partnering with fabric mills in Austria and sleep scientists to create temperature-regulating and ultra-soft garments that improve sleep.

– Brand Challenge: Stretching into a space where "performance" and "sleep" go together, and creating an aspirational brand.

– Early Founder Lessons: The emotional rollercoaster of launching his first company and learning to make decisions without perfect data.

Find Ben on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bendancer/

Steven Sashen is the co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes, a barefoot-inspired footwear brand doing over $70M in annual revenue.

Expect to hear about:

– From Stand-Up to Start-Up: What Steven learned as a professional stand-up comedian and how solving his own running injuries led to Xero Shoes.

– Shark Tank: Why he turned down Kevin O’Leary’s $400K offer for 50% of the company, and how this experience convinced him to go all in on Xero Shoes.

– Scaling: How Xero hit $70M in annual sales and maintains one of the highest repeat-purchase rates in footwear.

– PE & Agencies: Why Steven believes that working with PE and agencies can be tricky, and his rules for identifying worthwhile partnerships.

– Life Lessons: Steven thoughts on happiness, luck, how to spend wisely, and his top two book suggestions for anybody looking to live better.

Find Steven on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashen/

Aaron Zagha is the CMO of Newton Baby, one of the largest DTC baby sleep brands in the U.S., known for its innovative baby mattresses, cribs, and more.

Expect to hear about:

– From Banking to Ecom: How Aaron went from M&A to e-commerce after two failed startups, and found his calling in data-driven marketing.

– Bootstrapped Growth: Why Newton Baby scaled to 8-figure sales without outside funding, and how Aaron thinks about profit-first marketing.

– The Influencer Bet: How leaning into Instagram creators early helped Newton dominate a premium, trust-based category.

– COVID Opportunity: Why Aaron doubled ad spend while competitors pulled back, and how that unlocked a lasting step change in growth.

– AI & Brand: How Aaron's using GenAI for creative and his take on what marketers get wrong about the difference between "brand" and "performance" marketing.

Find Aaron on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronzagha/

Brad Woodgate is the founder and CEO of Joyburst and The No Sugar Company, the two latest brands in Brad's long history in CPG, beginning with Wellnx Life Sciences in 2000. 

Expect to hear about: 

– Bootstrapped from Day 1: Why Brad never raised outside capital, and how each brand he started built the financial foundation for the next one. 

– The No Sugar Bet: How Brad recognized that “no sugar” would be a lasting global health movement, and built a brand to lead it. 

– Disney x Joyburst: The story of how Disney’s executive team discovered Joyburst and made them the official beverage partner for Inside Out 2 and Lilo & Stitch. 

– On Stage with Vanilla Ice: How Brad met Vanilla Ice and created a "Joyburst" song with him, to help Joyburst break into Costco. 

– Founder Advice: How Brad manages his time running 4 companies and his #1 piece of advice for other founders. 

Find Brad on: 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-woodgate-b30b8113/

Henrik Jonsson is the CEO of agood company, a Swedish brand that creates truly sustainable or "circular" phone cases and other products, hitting profitability in 2025 under his leadership. 

Expect to hear about: 

– The Circular Revolution: How agood company turns old phone cases into new ones using a circular model, creating products that are truly sustainable. 

– The Retail Pivot: How agood company shifted from DTC to 85% retail sales after realizing online acquisition wasn’t profitable. 

– Breaking the Premium Myth: Realizing that reports from consumers saying they'll pay more for sustainable products are simply not true, and how agood company adapted. 

– Local Production, Global Scale: The strategy behind opening factories in Texas, South Africa, and India to localize production and enable their circular model. 

– Leadership in Balance: Henrik’s candid take on the emotional rollercoaster of being a first-time CEO, and why sleep, health, and family time are how he stays in balance. 

Find Henrik on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrik-jonsson-1915378/

Dr. Andrew Hughes returns to the "Human Thread" series to help Forest and Leah tackle one of marketing’s most delicate frontiers: emotion. Where’s the line between resonance and manipulation? Together, they unpack how emotion captures attention, why overload leads to burnout, and how brands can use emotion responsibly in an always-on digital world.

Expect to hear about:

• The Amygdala Effect: How emotional triggers hijack attention
• Emotional Overload: What happens when every ad makes you feel too much
• Sensory vs. Emotional Fatigue: Why today’s marketing feels “too loud”
• Ethics & Emotional Profiling: When empathy becomes exploitation
• Brand Takeaways: Designing emotion that connects—without crossing the line

Nick Saltarelli is the co-founder and co-CEO of Mid-Day Squares, a functional chocolate brand doing $40M in annual revenue across North America.

Expect to hear about:

– Family as Cofounders: The journey of building with his wife and brother-in-law, and why weekly therapy was non-negotiable.

– Starting with Constraints: Why they made a self-imposed rule to not use Facebooks ads in year one and still hit $1M in sales.

– Building in Public: How transparency and a commitment to authenticity shaped Mid-Day Squares’ bold content strategy.

– Securing Costco: How they relied on their fanbase to beat Costco's Road Show record in 36 days.

– Bitcoin & Cocoa: How a 700% spike in cocoa prices led Nick to start transacting directly with farmers in Bitcoin.

Find Nick on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-saltarelli-063a5965/ 
Twitter/X - https://x.com/nickywonka

Jillian Chisari is the VP of Digital at Bucherer, the global luxury watch retailer known for selling everything from $1,000 timepieces to six-figure collectibles.

Expect to hear about:

– (Very) High-Ticket Ecommerce: Why selling $1K-100K watches online requires a different playbook than apparel or beauty.

– Building Trust: The authentication, servicing, and CX strategies that make customers comfortable buying luxury watches digitally.

– Testing at Low Volume: How Jillian approaches running marketing experiments with high-AOV but low-volume tests.

– Leadership & Boundaries: The lessons she’s taken from past bosses, her direct-yet-flexible management style, and why she protects time with her family.

– The Future of Search: How answer engines like ChatGPT are already reshaping discoverability and what brands must do to adapt.

Jillian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianelizabethsmith/