In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast seventeen-time All-American, ESPN analyst, and former Olympian, Samantha Peszek. Samantha was a member of the USA Gymnastics team that won the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing. Since then, Samantha has continued her career in gymnastics as an entrepreneur, advocate, coach, analyst and champion for the sport. Her I Have Cool Friends podcast, which just recently reached 100,000 downloads on iTunes, features interviews with some of the biggest names in gymnastics. From sports psychologists and nutritionists to former Olympic teammates and coaches, her show provides a wide spectrum of information from the world of gymnastics. Samantha talks all about the peaks and valleys of her illustrious career, including the devastating injuries she suffered both at the Olympics and at the collegiate level. However, her steadfast drive and determination carried her on to her latest projects. She is the co-founder of The Gympire, a training community for those looking to become the best they can be. She also started the Beam Queen Bootcamp, a gymnastics camp specializing in beam and instilling confidence in young women. Finally, Samantha shares her long-term goals of having her own sports talk show and growing her gymnastics camp internationally so she can make a meaningful impact on young female athletes around the world.    

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast CEO and President of Health-Ade LLC, Daina Trout. Health-Ade ferments, brews and sells organic kombucha beverages in small glass batches in order to ensure the freshest product. Health-Ade is also the fastest growing brand in the beverage category and kombucha is the fastest growing category in beverage industry. This year they gained eight full market share points, a truly unbelievable feat. Today, Health-Ade products can be found in over 18,000 stores across the United States and Canada, including Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco, Walmart and Target. Daina talks all about the health benefits of kombucha, the "better for you beverage." Kombucha is rich in probiotics, which help with digestion, immunity, and giving the body more energy. Daina tells the story of how she, her husband and her best friend all quit their jobs to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. After six years, Daina and her co-founders have found huge success within this niche market. Daina credits hard work, prioritization, and sacrifice for the success of Health-Ade. Finally, Daina shares some of the lessons she learned along her entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast best-selling author, Le Mans class-winning racing driver, hobbyist photographer, and entrepreneur, David Hansson. David is the founder and CTO at Basecamp, a software as a service company aimed at making project management and communication more organized. David is also the creator of Ruby on Rails, an open-source web framework that's optimized for programming applications. Some of the more famous applications that have been created using Ruby on Rails include, Airbnb, Shopify, Kickstarter and Goodreads. Above all else, David is a philosopher on business. He has written four books on topics ranging from working remotely to running a company by forgoing the lure of excessive growth. Barney and David discuss David's vision for a better work environment. They also discuss the antiquated notion of meetings and open office spaces. David shares his thoughts on serial entrepreneurship and talks about why he chose to focus most of his attention back on Basecamp. Finally, David opens up about his personal life, including his racecar-driving hobby and his love for travel. David has lived all across the world, from Copenhagen and Chicago to Malibu and Spain.

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast KC Holiday, co-founder of Qalo, the functional wedding band that fits your life. Qalo is a brand that isn't built solely on silicone wedding bands; it is about so much more. The success that the Qalo brand has experienced is due to their commitment to the ideals and values of family, relationships and, above all, love. Along with co-founder Ted Baker, KC knew he wanted to continue wearing something that represented the commitment he made in marriage. They both knew that whatever they created had to meet certain requirements and standards that fit their lifestyles and personal beliefs. KC talks about the impact he and Ted have made in the sixteen billion dollar wedding ring industry. He discusses the organic growth of Qalo, and how it continues to strive for differentiation as a disruptor in the industry. KC speaks to importance of Qalo's brand as a company that strives to keep families together and promote a sense of community. It is Qalo's brand messaging that has made it possible to expand into an ever-evolving global community. Finally, KC shares parting words of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs on how to achieve their dreams and goals.   

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast Alex Brown, co-founder of the popular subscription service, The Beard Club. A disruptor in the marketplace, The Beard Club is shaking up the beard care industry by offering wholesale prices on top quality products. Alex is a self-proclaimed 'serial-entrepreneur, having founded multiple start-ups, and is an active advisor to multiple others. With The Beard Club, Alex and co-founder Chris Stoikos grew the business from zero to ten million dollars in revenue in their first year of operation within this niche market. Barney and Alex discuss Alex's early struggles in his entrepreneurial journey. They talk about beard accelerators, Alex's nomadic lifestyle, and valuing the journey over the destination. Alex also touches on his role as founder and CEO of Subscription Hacks, a media and educational platform supporting entrepreneurs looking to build impactful subscription and e-commerce companies. Finally, Barney and Alex compare their lists of the most iconic beards of all time, from Santa Claus and Gandalf, to Abe Lincoln and Connor McGregor.

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast Brian McDonell, co-founder and President of Melin, a Southern California premium lifestyle brand aimed at crafting the highest quality headwear on the planet. Brian talks all about his entrepreneurial journey, from developing the idea for luxury performance headwear to getting the funding necessary to get the company off the ground. Brian discusses the major breakthroughs he and his co-founder Corey Roth made with the Melin brand and the eventual partnership acquisition that ensued. By collaborating with a major lifestyle brand, Brian and Corey were able to scale Melin up to reach its full potential. Brian also discusses the various marketing tactics that Melin implements, including brand ambassadorships and athlete influencers who wear and promote Melin products in a genuine and organic way. Melin's biggest concern is brand recognition, which Brian believes can be rectified with proper marketing and promotion. Finally, Barney and Brian discuss the passion that is necessary to build successful brands like K-Swiss and Melin.

In this episode, Barney welcomes to the podcast Jesse Lee, founder of the marketing and public relations agency Dub Frequency Media, aka, DFM. Originally from Chicago, Jesse moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. At its core, DFM aims to couple content with experience in order to create and drive commerce. After successfully launching DFM, Jesse decided to start Westwood Westwood, a content platform that celebrates creative entrepreneurs who are mastering their crafts. Jesse is a huge pop culture junkie; he seeks out the latest in music, fashion, design, art, and tech. He's also not afraid to take risks or try new entrepreneurial pursuits, which led him to start the technology company, Basic Space. Jesse talks about aiming for a win-win-win model where customers, sellers and brands all benefit from utilizing Basic Space. Barney and Jesse also talk about social influencers and the role they play in modern marketing. Finally, Jesse shares his recent projects, including community outreach and political activism.

In this episode, Omar & Barney welcome to the podcast author, entrepreneur, public speaker, and CEO of Build Your Empire, Casey Adams. Author of the best-selling book, Rise of the Young, Casey truly has a remarkable story. He turned a near fatal neck injury from a negative situation into a positive outcome by using his recovery time to learn everything he could about building a personal brand by leveraging social media. Today, Casey has catapulting his brand, Build Your Empire, into one of the top influential brands for young entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses. Casey breaks down the three pillars he utilized to build his personal brand: collaborations, podcasting and traveling. He believes that understanding a brand's core message is imperative in order to grow and leverage it. Additionally, Casey stresses the importance of building and maintaining strong, meaningful relationships. He credits his own relationship-building skills as one of the reasons he has been so successful in his endeavors. Finally, Casey identifies the difference between influencers and entrepreneurs and gives advice to young upstarts looking to build their own brands.

Barney Waters is the President of K-Swiss, responsible for all aspects of sales, product and marketing for the global K-Swiss brand, and Omar Prestwich is a community manager. Together, they field audience questions regarding sneakers, business, branding, and entrepreneurship. In this episode, Barney speaks to K-Swiss' efforts to be brand transparent and the belief that companies need to allow consumers inside in order to foster and grow brand loyalty.

Barney and Omar discuss how K-Swiss has differentiated its brand to that of the sneaker for the hustler, the brand builder, the CEO, and the entrepreneur. In this new effort, K-Swiss has collaborated with bold entrepreneurs who have been disruptors in their respective industries, achieving brilliant results. Barney credits their success to a clear mission statement, a strong ethos, and tangible actions that reflect those statements. Finally, Barney and Omar discuss K-Swiss' philosophy behind striving to improve daily, even if that improvement is incremental and small at first.

In this special AMA (Ask Me Anything) edition of the CEOs Wear Sneakers podcast, Omar and Kirk field audience questions in a fun and unique style befitting the K-Swiss brand. Kirk is the director of e-commerce for K-Swiss global brands and Omar is a community manager. Together, they make up almost half of the K-Swiss digital marketing team. Throughout the episode, Omar and Kirk discuss K-Swiss' social media marketing, collaborations that the brand is working on, and how the brand maintains its authentic voice. They talk about what it's like working for a brand like K-Swiss and how effective leadership and creative contributions from President Barney Waters has been vital to their success. Omar and Kirk speak to the reasons behind K-Swiss' focus on dreamers, hustlers and other disruptors in the industry. Finally, they talk about the importance of being consistent, present and engaged in social media in order to be successful marketers.