Eugene Remm didn't set out to build a hospitality empire. He started as a bartender, worked in nightlife, and chased success through New York's club scene… until a major failure forced him to rethink everything.

Today, Eugene is the co-founder of CATCH Hospitality Group, the company behind some of the most sought-after restaurants in America, including CATCH, The Corner Store, Or’esh, and The Eighty Six. He breaks down the restaurant formula that most operators get wrong, why "vibe" is actually the last thing you should focus on, and how he thinks about building unforgettable guest experiences. He explains the psychology behind New York's line culture, why restaurant critics have lost their gatekeeping power, and how social media has completely reshaped hospitality.

They also dive into the business side of restaurants: scaling without losing quality, managing celebrity demand, hiring people who genuinely care, and the lessons Eugene learned from failed nightclub ventures and unsuccessful expansion deals. Plus, Eugene shares what happened after Taylor Swift started visiting The Corner Store, why he believes no celebrity has a bigger impact on consumer behavior, and how AI is poised to transform hospitality without replacing the human touch.

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Catch Restaurants, @catch 

The Corner Store, @thecornerstore

The Eighty Six, @the86.nyc 

Or'esh, @or.esh 

Here’s What Sammi Covers with Eugene

00:00 Eugene Remm’s Social Currency

02:10 Partner Message: Mercury for Business

03:31 From Bartender to Hospitality Entrepreneur

06:13 How Failure in Nightlife Led to CATCH

08:10 Reinventing a 15-Year-Old Restaurant Brand

10:58 Why Big Restaurants Stopped Working

13:53 The Three Pillars: Food, Service, and Vibe

14:05 Why Guest Experience Is the Hardest Thing to Scale

15:37 Partner Message: Mercury for Personal

16:50 Partner Message: Bilt

17:56 How Eugene Hires People Who Actually Care

20:30 Why Great Teams Beat Great Individuals

21:18 Why Most Restaurants Get Vibe Wrong

22:22 The Art of Curating a Dining Room

23:03 Building a Celebrity-Filled Restaurant Without Chasing Celebrities

25:14 The Million-Dollar Reservation Strategy

26:32 Why Restaurant Critics No Longer Matter

27:27 Michelin Stars vs. Customer Demand

29:14 How Social Media Replaced Traditional Gatekeepers

31:02 Why Eugene Chooses 10 A-Minus Businesses Over One A-Plus

32:45 What’s Next for CATCH Hospitality Group

35:03 Building an LVMH of Restaurant Brands

36:11 The Corner Store’s Viral Rise36:28 The Taylor Swift Effect

38:00 Why Fast Casual Is the Next Frontier

39:54 The Psychology of the “New York Hour”

41:28 Lessons From a Failed Dubai Expansion

43:02 How Tilman Fertitta Changed the Business

44:32 Eugene’s “Constant Gentle Pressure” System

45:28 How AI Will Transform Hospitality

47:53 When You’re Ready to Open Restaurant Number Two

49:31 Why Restaurants Might Be the Hardest Business in the World

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Rick Caruso has spent decades reshaping Los Angeles through projects like The Grove, Americana at Brand, and Palisades Village. In this conversation with Sammi, Rick talks through his entrepreneurial strategy with real estate and beyond.

Rick explains how he built a billion-dollar real estate empire by studying people instead of the industry, why he intentionally ignored traditional mall design rules, and the Walt Disney philosophies that shaped his approach to hospitality. He shares why he believes founders need to be comfortable being over their skis, how criticism actually signals progress, and the surprising rituals he still personally does for guests at his properties.

Then the conversation turns to Los Angeles. Rick gives an unfiltered breakdown of the Pacific Palisades fires, explaining exactly how Palisades Village survived while much of the surrounding area burned. He walks through the fire prevention systems his team built years in advance, the operational decisions that protected the property, and the broader lessons for government competency and crisis management.

Sammi and Rick also discuss why small businesses are increasingly struggling in California, why entrepreneurs are leaving cities like LA and New York, and the political climate that ultimately led Rick to decide not to run for governor. 

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Here’s What Sammi Covers with Rick:

00:00 Rick Caruso’s Social Currency

02:50 Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Bad Advice

05:16 Why Not Knowing the Rules Helped Him Win

08:05 Why Founders Need to Be “Over Their Skis”

09:23 The “Celebrate vs. Isolate” Framework

10:00 Building The Grove Around the Farmers Market

12:08 Why Criticism Means You’re Doing Something Important

14:00 The Hospitality Details Guests Never Notice

18:12 Walt Disney’s Biggest Lesson for Entrepreneurs

22:12 Why People Propose at the Americana Fountain

25:00 Expensive Mistakes

28:32 Why Retail Must Constantly Reinvent Itself

29:14 How Palisades Village Reinvented Retail Layouts

30:00 Why Rick Writes a Fictional Story for Every Project

31:17 What Saved Palisades Village During the Fires

35:05 Why Rick Thinks LA Leadership Failed

37:13 Why Rick Decided Not to Run for Governor

41:00 Why California Needs Business-Minded Leadership

44:18 Solutions to Homelessness in LA

49:29 Why Small Businesses Are Struggling in California

51:45 Rick’s Personal System for Life and Leadership

54:13 Why Entrepreneurs Are Leaving California

56:02 Innovation vs. Naivety for Founders

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Harley Finkelstein believes we’re entering the most important shift in commerce since the invention of online shopping itself.

As President of Shopify, Harley has helped build the infrastructure powering millions of businesses across more than 175 countries. Now, he says AI is about to fundamentally change not only how consumers discover and buy products online— but how “machine customers” might do our shopping for us.

Harley explains why agentic commerce could replace traditional search, his take on the idea that every brand is becoming a media company (featuring a Favorite Daughter case study), and why this new era may reward product quality more than ad spend.

Harley also shares the story of joining Shopify in its earliest days, why founder-led companies consistently outperform, and why he believes modern entrepreneurs can now go from a kitchen-table idea to a multi-billion-dollar company faster than ever before. Plus: the brands he thinks are getting retail right—and the critical “give a sh*t factor” he believes only founders truly have.

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Here’s What Sammi Covers with Harley:

00:00 Harley Finkelstein’s Social Currency

01:57 Partner Message: Mercury

02:30 Growing Up Around Immigrant Entrepreneurs

05:40 Why Harley Went to Law School

08:00 Meeting Shopify Founder Tobi Lütke

12:00 Why Shopify Felt Like a “Superpower”

15:00 Partner Message: Mercury

16:19 Partner Message: Mosh

18:00 The Moment Shopify Became a Generational Company

21:00 From E-Commerce Platform to Commerce Operating System

22:30 Every 26 Seconds a New Entrepreneur Gets Their First Sale

24:00 Why Some Brands Become Media Companies

25:00 Favorite Daughter and the Founder-Led Brand Flywheel

27:00 Why Most Brands Feel Inauthentic

28:30 What Great Retail Brands Understand About Emotion

30:00 Shopify’s OpenAI and ChatGPT Announcement

31:00 What “Agentic Commerce” Actually Means

32:00 AI Personal Shoppers and Curated Buying

35:00 Why AI Could Help Small Brands Win

37:00 The End of Traditional Search?

39:00 How Brands Maintain Identity Inside AI Platforms

41:00 Why Storytelling Matters More in an AI World

42:00 The Rise of Machine Customers

44:00 Why Harley Is a Techno-Optimist

47:30 Why Founder-Led Companies Win

50:00 The Founder “Give a Shit Factor”

51:00 Harley’s Framework for Finding Your Life’s Work

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Todd Kahn took over the commercial responsibility for Coach in March of 2020. Two weeks later, he closed all North America stores. 

Today, Coach CEO Todd Kahn sits down with Sammi to break down the strategy behind one of fashion’s biggest brand turnarounds, and why Coach had to do the exact opposite of conventional growth advice to pull it off. He explains why trying to be “for everyone” almost destroyed the brand, how flash sales quietly trained customers to wait for discounts, and why the company stopped greeting shoppers with coupons entirely during the pandemic.

Todd also shares how Coach rebuilt itself for Gen Z through “expressive luxury,” viral bags like the Tabby and Brooklyn, immersive retail experiences, and unexpected ideas like coffee shops, book charms, and co-creation stations inside stores. Plus: the real reason Gen Z shops in person more than people think, why virality can’t be engineered, and the internal operating system Todd uses to run a nearly $7 billion business.

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Here’s What Sammi Covers with Todd:

00:00 Todd Kahn’s Social Currency

02:30 From Corporate Lawyer to Coach CEO

07:52 Joining Coach During the Financial Crisis

10:00 What Actually Went Wrong at Coach

14:00 Flash Sales, Discounting, and Brand Dilution

15:00 Hiring Stuart Vevers and Resetting Creativity

19:00 Rediscovering Coach’s Brand Codes

20:44 Why Coach Focused on Gen Z

23:00 Closing 250 Stores to Save the Brand

24:00 Why “Stores Are Commercial Activities”

26:00 Cutting 40% of the Assortment

27:10 The “Timeless Gen Z” Strategy

28:40 Taking Over Coach Right Before COVID

29:50 Why Coach Stopped Leading with Discounts

30:20 Building a Billion-Dollar Digital Business

31:00 Why People Bought Handbags During Lockdown

32:00 From Performance Marketing to Brand Building

33:00 Bringing 2.9 Million New Customers Into Coach

34:00 Why Coach Wants to Be Your First Luxury Bag

35:30 The Real Story Behind Bag Charm Mania

38:00 What Actually Creates Virality

39:45 Why Coach Only Does Two Big Campaigns a Year

40:00 What “Expressive Luxury” Really Means

42:00 Why Gen Z Loves Shopping In Person

43:00 Coach Play Stores and Experiential Retail

44:00 The Business Strategy Behind Coach Coffee Shops

47:30 Todd’s Operating System for Leadership

50:22 The Story Behind Coach’s Viral Book Charms

52:00 Why Gen Z Is Returning to Books and Community

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Rebecca Hessel Cohen didn’t set out to build a company, she just wanted better bridesmaid dresses. But that small idea turned into LoveShackFancy, a multi-generational, cult-favorite brand with dozens of stores, hundreds of retail partners, and a fiercely loyal community.

Today, Rebecca joins Sammi to break down the unfiltered reality of building a fashion business from scratch. From leaving her dream job at Cosmopolitan, to launching her first collection the same week she had her first child, to schlepping dresses in her car to early customers— this the unfiltered look at what it means to start a business.

They also get into Rebecca’s viral social media moments (including the most epic bat mitzvah), building a brand that resonates from “babies to eighties,” how she evaluates collaborations from Stanley to Victoria's Secret, and what actually makes a retail store feel magical instead of transactional. 

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Here’s What Sammi Covers with Rebecca:

00:00 The Gwyneth Paltrow Moment That Changed Everything

02:03 Partner Message: Mercury for Personal Banking

03:00 Growing Up in Fashion Closets

06:00 Life as a Fashion Editor at Cosmopolitan

10:30 The Bridesmaid Dress That Started It All

14:00 Turning a Side Hustle Into a Business

18:30 Launching a Brand While Having a Baby

20:53 Partner Message: Mercury for Business Banking

22:07 Partner Message: Mosh Bars

23:42 Why LoveShackFancy Wasn’t an Overnight Success

26:00 Building a Team and Scaling the Business

29:00 Opening Retail Stores During COVID

33:00 Dividing Roles With Her Husband

36:00 Building the Beauty Business and Sephora Strategy

38:30 Where Inspiration Actually Comes From

41:00 Designing for “Babies to Eighties”

43:30 How LoveShackFancy Approaches Collaborations

47:00 What Makes a Partnership Actually Work

49:30 Building a Brand Through Community and Retail

52:00 The Power of Experiential Shopping

55:00 Supporting Female Founders Through Trunk Shows

58:00 The Viral Home Tour and Social Media Strategy

01:02:00 Instagram vs. TikTok: How Rebecca Thinks About Both

01:05:00 What She Shares Online (And What She Doesn’t)

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What if the future of work doesn’t look anything like the office jobs we were told to chase?

Steven Schwartz started building businesses as a teenager and eventually turned that obsession into Whop, one of the fastest-growing marketplaces for internet businesses. Today, the company is valued at $1.6 billion and helps thousands of people earn income online.

In this episode, Steven joins Sammi to break down how he met his co-founder on Facebook at 13, why they almost quit Whop after just three months, and how they scaled it into a unicorn backed by names like Peter Thiel and Kevin Hart.

They also unpack the creator economy, why everyone is a creator now, why traditional 9-to-5 career paths are being disrupted, and what “agentic income” could mean in the next era of work. Plus: why Steven thinks the biggest mistake aspiring entrepreneurs make is waiting to feel ready.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Steven:

00:00 How Steven Met His Co-Founder at 13 on Facebook

03:15 Building Sneaker Bots as a Teenager

06:00 20+ Side Hustles Before Whop

10:30 Almost Quitting Whop After 3 Months

14:00 What Whop Actually Is

19:00 50,000+ New Users Per Day

22:00 The $1.6 Billion Valuation Explained

25:00 Why Stablecoins Matter for Global Business

29:45 Whop Has Created Hundreds of Millionaires

32:30 Advice for New Entrepreneurs

36:00 AI and the End of the Creator Economy

39:30 What “Agentic Income” Means

41:30 The Company That Tried to Buy Whop

43:00 Why Steven Wants to Redefine Work

46:00 Whop Finance and the Future of Money

50:00 Why Creators Shouldn’t Rely on One Platform

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Suzy Welch has built a career helping people answer one deceptively simple question: What should I do with my life? She’s a bestselling author, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, former editor at Harvard Business Review, and creator of the “Becoming You” methodology.

Today Sammi sits down with Suzy to unpack why getting fired can actually benefit your career, why so many people get trapped in what she calls a “B+ life,” and how fear, expectations, and convenience quietly pull people away from who they really are.

She also shares the framework that made her famous: the 10/10/10 method, how to make better decisions by thinking about consequences in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. Plus: why only a small percentage of people truly know their values, how AI is changing career anxiety, and what to do when the life you built no longer fits you.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Suzy:

00:00 Suzy Welch’s Social Currency02:15 Starting as a Crime Reporter in Miami06:30 What Covering Crime Taught Her About Human Nature09:00 Falling in Love with Business Journalism13:25 Why Everyone Should Get Fired Once17:30 The Workplace Dynamic of “Toxic Handlers”19:45 Rebuilding After Loss and Choosing Life Again23:00 The Origin of “Becoming You”25:15 Why AI Is Changing Career Anxiety28:50 Why Only 7% of People Know Their Values32:40 Can Your Values Change Over Time?34:10 Why Family Isn’t Everyone’s Top Value38:05 The Trap of a B+ Life40:50 The Four Horsemen of Values Destruction48:30 How the 10/10/10 Framework Works

51:43 Social Currency Corner

55:51 How to Show Social Currency Some Love

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If you’ve driven through Los Angeles, you’ve already met today’s guest. Jay Luchs is one of the most influential retail real estate brokers in LA; his “For Lease” signs are plastered across the city’s most valuable streets, from Rodeo Drive to Melrose. But behind those signs is a business built on relationships, taste, and a deep understanding of what actually makes a retail concept work.

In this episode, Jay sits down with Sammi to break down how the business really works: how he wins listings in one of the most competitive markets in the country, what founders consistently misunderstand about signing their first lease, and why picking the wrong landlord can quietly kill a business.

They also go deep on the future of retail in LA—from why food and coffee are now the backbone of any successful retail strip, to how brands like Erewhon can completely transform a street overnight, to why there’s actually less available space than people think. 

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Jay:

00:00 Jay Luchs’ Social Currency

02:22 Real Estate Origin Story

06:40 Why Real Estate Is a Creative Business

09:27 How the “For Lease” Empire Works

12:05 Winning Listings in a Competitive Market

14:19 What Founders Get Wrong About Leases

15:25 How to Spot a Bad Landlord

17:00 Choosing the Right Retail Location

18:46 Why LA Has Less Retail Space Than You Think

21:15 What Makes a Retail Area Thrive

22:24 How Social Media Changed Real Estate

29:03 Inside a Decade-Long Development Project

32:00 Turning Retail Into a Destination

37:23 Building Relationships That Last

40:01 Jay’s Daily System for Clarity

41:21 Can Retail Rebuild Communities?

45:12 What Makes a Brick-and-Mortar Store Succeed

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Shreya Murthy built one of the rare social apps people want to open—and then immediately close. It’s all going according to plan.

Her company, Partiful, has quietly become the go-to way Gen Z and millennials plan parties, birthdays, dinners—and even weddings. But what’s more interesting is how it won: by rejecting everything Big Tech historically has optimized for.

In this episode, Shreya sits down with Sammi to break down why she turned down the metaverse narrative, refused to pivot to virtual events during the pandemic, and built a product designed to get people off their phones… not glued to them.

They also get into what happened when Apple launched a nearly identical invite app, why Partiful draws a hard line on user privacy, and how tiny features like “boops” and “crushes” are actually the secret to product-market fit. Plus: the real monetization plan, why Gen Z hates “cringe” design, and how one party invite helped spark a viral cultural moment.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Shreya:

00:00 Shreya Murthy’s Social Currency

00:50 The Problem With Social Media

02:22 From Palantir to Consumer Tech

08:22 The Idea That Sparked Partiful

10:04 Turning Parties Into a Product

11:05 Launching During the Pandemic

13:56 Resisting the Metaverse Pivot

15:40 Building for IRL Connection

16:00 Why Gen Z Loves Partiful

18:27 The “Least Cringe” Product Strategy

20:20 Consumer vs Corporate Use Cases

22:05 Why Partiful Protects User Data

24:57 Monetization Without Selling Data

29:27 How Partiful Makes Money Today

31:23 The Philosophy: Get Off Your Phone

32:00 Discovering Events IRL

33:17 Brick and Mortar?

34:38 Features Like Boops and Crushes

38:00 Apple’s Copycat Moment

41:00 Growth Despite Competition

42:00 The Viral Timothée Chalamet Event

47:00 What Winning Looks Like

50:16 Social Currency Corner and Touching Grass

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Seth Goldman built one of the most iconic beverage brands of the last two decades… only to watch it get discontinued by Coca-Cola.

In this episode, Seth tells Sammi the full story: bootstrapping Honest Tea in the late ’90s when the category didn’t exist, educating consumers one sample at a time, and eventually partnering with Coca-Cola to scale what he believed could become a billion-dollar brand. Then came the gut punch: years after the acquisition, Coca-Cola made the decision to shut Honest Tea down.

Instead of walking away, Seth did something few founders would do— he started over. He shares how he launched Just Ice Tea, rebuilt his supply chain using decades-old relationships, and scaled faster the second time around.

Sammi and Seth also get into what it really takes to build a sustainable CPG brand, why most beverage startups fail, and the one mistake founders make before they even launch: focusing on branding before validating taste. Plus, Seth shares his long-term perspective from his work with Beyond Meat—and why he still believes the biggest consumer shifts take decades, not years.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Seth:
00:00 Seth Goldman’s Social Currency

00:50 Building Honest Tea Before The Market Existed

03:03 Creating Demand Through Sampling

05:00 Bootstrapping And Staying Scrappy

06:06 The Coca-Cola Investment Story

09:26 Inside The Coca-Cola Acquisition

10:48 Culture Clash With A Corporate Giant

11:00 The Day Honest Tea Was Discontinued

12:10 Why Seth Decided To Start Again

15:26 Why Beverage Is The Hardest Category

19:29 Launching Just Ice Tea Differently

20:53 The Mission Behind “Just Ice Tea”

23:17 What Makes The Product Different

25:00 From Eat The Change To Just Ice Tea

26:46 Betting Early On Beyond Meat

28:05 The Rise, Fall, And Rebuild Of Alt Meat

35:05 What It Takes To Build A CPG Brand

36:45 The Power Of Relationships And Karma

37:00 Would Seth Sell Again?

39:11 Seth’s Daily System For Clarity

40:03 The Future Of Food

41:18 The #1 Thing Founders Must Validate

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