Michael Fisher is the founder and CEO of Rotten, a sour gummy candy brand launched in 2023 that's a better-for-you product, but also with fun, nostalgic 90s kids-cartoon branding. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands.

Expect to hear about:

– Candy-First Brand: Why he rejected looking like a “diet candy” and built a weird 90s cartoon universe around Dr. Rotten.

– Learning CPG from Scratch: Spending 2.5 years recipe testing, running focus groups, and launching a Kickstarter before selling a bag.

– TikTok to 6,000 Doors: Using DTC and social to validate demand, then scaling into ~6,000 retail stores.

– 1,000% YoY Growth Pains: What broke with rapid revenue growth, and how Michael resolved supply chain issues.

– From Solo to Team of 6: Shifting from doing everything himself to hiring operators and learning to lead.

Find Michael on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-fisher1/ 

Mark Samuel is the founder of Mark’s Snacks, a seed-oil-free kettle chip brand he launched in 2025, and previously the founder of IWON Organics.

Expect to hear about:

– Scaling IWON to 6,000 Doors: How Mark started IWON and grew the brand to thousands of retail doors.

– Knowing When to Walk Away: How Mark knew it was the right time to license the brand out to a manufacturer in 2024.

– Building in Public: How years of daily LinkedIn posting grew a 70,000+ follower base and helped launch Mark’s Snacks.

– Health as a Founder Edge: Why Mark puts personal health above all else, and how his workout routine has evolved over the decades. 

– A Seed-Oil-Free Second Act: Why he’s betting on avocado-oil kettle chips and putting his name on the bag to build a connection with customers. 

Find Mark on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markalansamuel/

Dinah Chapman is the founder of Little Trouble, an 8-figure kids clothing brand that has a fun and punk-inspired aesthetic.

Expect to hear about:

– Starting on Maternity Leave: Why Dinah launched Little Trouble in 2022 while pregnant and still working full-time in corporate marketing.

– Scaling to $10M: How product expansion, retention, and paid media drove rapid growth.

– Building Abroad: How traveling with her family to New Zealand, Bali, and Japan helped her leave her old routine in the U.S. and unlock bigger picture thinking for Little Trouble.

– Building a Great Team: How Dinah resisted the “cheap labor” playbook and ensured she could offer strong pay/benefits and invest in A-players.

– What’s Next: Inventory constraints, operational pressure, and the collabs and bets planned for 2026.

Find Dinah on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinah-chapman/ 

Allison Taylor is the co-founder of Le Prunier, a plum-powered skincare brand that partners with her family’s plum farm in northern California.

Expect to hear about:

– Growing Up on the Farm: Allison's childhood memories of the farm and the deep tie to the land that later shaped the brand.

– Early Retail Breakthroughs: Meeting Neiman Marcus early on and quickly earning credibility with retailers like Credo and Goop.

– 30,000 Orders Overnight: How an organic Chrissy Teigen post sent demand through the roof, and their sprint to scale operations.

– Sustained Growth: How they collaborate with affiliates, use UGC, encourage product reviews, retain customers, use Gen AI tools, and more.

– Building With Family: How the three sister co-founders divide roles, leaned on therapy early on to stay aligned, and navigate decisions as a bootstrapped family business.

Find Allison on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-taylor-98495a115/ 

AJ Patel is the SVP of Global Growth at U Beauty, a fast-scaling luxury skincare brand that just launched a Sephora partnership.

Expect to hear about:

– Career Shifts: Why AJ moved from analytics into commercial growth, and from Unilever to a startup.

– Growing Without Promos: Why U Beauty limits discounts and focuses on education over price cuts to build long-term brand trust.

– Sephora: How the Sephora partnership came together and why AJ sees it as an awareness and credibility engine.

– Creative > Targeting: Why creative is now the primary growth lever on Meta, and how U Beauty tests 100+ creatives per month to scale efficiently.

– Profit Over Growth-at-All-Costs: Why AJ prioritizes retention, margin, and long-term brand health as U Beauty scales.

Find AJ on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/aj-patel-ecommerce/

Charles Brun is the co-founder of IZIPIZI, a Paris-based eyewear brand designing stylish, affordable glasses now sold in over 80 countries worldwide.

Expect to hear about:

– Founding with Friends: How Charles and two high school friends of his launched IZIPIZI in 2010, and the rules they set to protect their friendship.

– Beyond Wholesale: Why wholesale worked early, and how they layered in DTC and retail channels to build a lasting brand.

– The Rebrand Bet: The 18-month switch from “See Concept” to IZIPIZI, and how they picked their new name.

– Cracking the U.S. Market: How IZIPIZI plans to turn the U.S. from 15% of their total revenue into their #1 market.

– Staying in Control: Charles' thoughts on when PE partnerships truly add value to your brand.

Find Charles on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbrun/ 

Ryan Rouse is a co-founder of Factor (a ready-to-eat meal delivery brand sold in 2020), and has also served in executive roles at Serenity Kids and Highkey. Today, he's President at MALK Organics, a plant-based milk brand leading the dairy-alternative space.

Expect to hear about:

– Leaving “Safety”: Why Ryan walked away from a lucrative finance career after the 2008 financial crisis reshaped how he viewed risk and ownership.

– Building Factor: Co-founding Factor, bootstrapping through the early years, and how him and his partner grew the business despite capital pressure.

– A Hard Tradeoff: Why Ryan sold his equity in Factor early to support his family, and how he made peace with that decision after the brand sold for $277M three years later.

– Finding His Edge: How Ryan realized his strength isn’t in zero-to-one startups, but in scaling fast-growth brands in the $40M-$200M stage.

– The MALK Journey: Why scaling MALK from $40M to $100M has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of Ryan's career.

Find Ryan on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrouse/
Twitter/X – https://x.com/MaalkMan

Myriam Belzile-Maguire is the co-founder of Maguire Shoes, a Montreal-based brand she started with her sister in 2016 that makes fashion footwear for women.

Expect to hear about:

– The Origin Story: How seeing a pair of shoes that were produced for $20 but sold for $500 convinced her there was room for high-quality shoes at affordable prices.

– Betting Her Savings: How she launched with $15K in savings and kept Maguire alive by working a part-time job for two years.
 
– Two Loss Years: Operating at a loss in 2023 and 2024, the toll it took emotionally, and the changes she made to fix it.

– Finding the Right Mentors: How guidance from experienced brand founders helped her return to profitability in 2025.

– What’s Next: Why she’s betting on European wholesale and a refreshed brand identity to go for Maguire's next goal: $20M annual revenue.

Find Myriam on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriam-belzile-maguire-6967b213/ 

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/