One Hundred Percent with Marcus Lemonis

While many of us spent our time in college drinking beer and playing football in the quad Muhga Eltigani built what was essentially a lab in her dorm room. There she concocted fresh new hair products using fruits, vegetables, and oils from her native Sudan to restore natural African American hair. Marcus knows the potential of the niche black hair care industry and wants to help NaturAll grow even more. Grammy-nominated singer and multi-business owner Kandi Burruss joins the conversation to talk about black owned businesses and how you can’t stop for too long to celebrate your success. You have to always be looking ahead to the next milestone. 

Everyone loves a ballsy business move and Marcus is no exception. This week’s guests Erik and Muhammad had high paying jobs at a successful consulting firm, but they decided to bet it all on a business they believed in. They identified a product that hadn’t evolved in looks or technology in almost 50 years and saw a chance to essentially create a new generation of window air conditioners. Marcus has recruited fellow risk-taker Byron Allen, who turned a childhood raised by a single teenaged mom into becoming a global media mogul. He and Marcus counsel the two on keeping clients happy and playing the long game. Marcus is so impressed with July AC he makes them a $2.5 million offer.

Heidi Hertel was just trying to be a good mom, but when her children were told they needed glasses and she realized the lack of styles and sizes available...she jumped into action. Recruiting a digital designer from Pixar and teaching herself all about 3D printing, she created a new digital way to create custom, perfectly fitted glasses. Alongside style icon and TV personality Carson Kressley, Marcus and Heidi discuss new ways of expanding Fitz Frames’ approach to technology and cutting-edge design. Carson even agrees to get in on the designing process, determined to make the kids with glasses the coolest.

If you live anywhere near the DC area you’ve probably stood in line for a veggie based Chaia Taco. With over 3 million tacos sold, owners Bettina and Suzanne have squashed the idea that vegetables don’t belong in a taco attracting even die hard meat lovers to their two restaurants. Marcus sees a business that could explode with the right franchising strategy so he invites Grammy award nominee and Nashville native John Rich to share his restaurant expertise as well as a tacos jingle he comes up with on the fly.

As Marcus likes to say, entrepreneurship is about more than money. It can also solve problems and change the world, like his guest Ryan Frankel is doing. On a sunny morning in 2015, Ryan had bicycled into an intersection in Manhattan just as a driver ran a red light while looking at his phone. Ryan was in the hospital for weeks, and he started to wonder what he could do to stop this from happening again, and his app was born. This App Saves Lives partners with top companies to offer free rewards to safe drivers. Marcus loves the concept and welcomes celebrity host Dr. Oz to help Ryan understand even further how our phone addictions put us in danger and how the app can create custom rewards for each user.

Actress and influencer Cara Santana was living the dream. Her self-named fashion line was selling at Kohl’s stores across the nation and businessmen like Marcus had noticed the brand. But then Covid hit and a little pandemic clause in her contract left herself and her design partner at an impasse. Because Marcus believes that the ability to pivot in life and in business is one of the keys to success, he invited his friend, fashion mega-mogul Nicole Miller, on to share her ups and downs. She has weathered design trends, recessions, and even 9/11, and has some unbelievable stories to share about never giving up. 

Marcus’s mother was a huge influence on his life and success, so when he learned about amazing new tech designed to keep our older loved ones safe, he had to hear more. Creator Jean Anne’s supermodel mother flat out refused to don a device that marked her as elderly, so Jean created a monitoring device disguised as jewelry. Marcus invites American supermodel and mogul Kathy Ireland onto the pod, who not only shares advice with Jean Anne but she dishes about her friendship with business tycoon Warren Buffet.

Word was spreading in Marcus’s hometown of Miami about brothers Brendan and Sebastian who were barely old enough to tie their own shoes when they started their business, selling splashy socks to help others.  Today they are bringing in over half a million dollars a year with half being donated to charities. Marcus invites pro skater, star of Ridiculousness, and businessman Rob Dyrdek on to test the boys on their business acumen and remind them that while age might be nothing but a number, the value of your product is something worth paying attention to. 

As an outdoor lover and CEO of Camping World, Marcus was immediately drawn to Parks Project, what’s called a Mission-Based Business. Founders Sevag and Keith had a goal to start a business that would support them but also support America’s National Parks. By selling mod graphic tees and other hip outdoor themed merch, they’ve donated millions to support National Parks. Marcus sees their potential but honestly tells them their lackluster sales pitch “sucks.” Enter Marcus’s friend, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, who brings her journalism skills to tailor the guys’ sales pitch into a love story that speaks to America’s love for our precious park lands. 

Head injuries seemed to follow entrepreneur Jessie Garcia like a bad habit, earning her the nickname “Tozuda”, or “hard head” in Spanish. Playing through a head injury during a rugby match left her with post-concussive symptoms that lasted months. That’s why she created a helmet-attaching device that signals when the wearer has been hit hard enough to be checked for a concussion. Marcus saw the game-changing potential of her invention and called up Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed to help Jessie understand how she can break barriers in the boardroom and get organizations interested in her product.