Strange Success with Jane Wells

Combat veterans, many of them from Special Ops, have found success in Las Vegas, where they’ve created a business that allows people to battle zombies in a global apocalypse. It all happens inside a massive facility east of the Strip—bringing in about $2 million a year—and it’s all strangely real. But to the men who created it, these battles are not just about money. They’re therapy. 

Two bored realtors in Calgary, Alberta, kept trying to come up with a “big idea” to make money. One day they were looking at a bottle of Fiji water and wondered, “If people will buy water from Fiji, will they buy air from Canada?” Apparently they will, especially if the air come from one of the cleanest, most beautiful places on the planet, Canada’s Banff National Park. 

Ed Currie was so miserable he wanted to die. Then an angel appeared and told him to live. Now he runs a hellish enterprise, growing the hottest peppers on Earth. How hot? “Stupid hot.” It’s made him rich. It’s also made this reporter sorry she ever took him up on the offer to taste one. 

A divorcee in Portland just wanted a hug, but all the men she met assumed that meant sex. It didn’t, and the only way she figured anyone would take her seriously is if she charged money to cuddle. It worked. It’s weird. It’s Portland. 

A guy in Colorado working in the pet food industry saw a huge gap, and filled it, with wine. Except it’s not really wine. He also won on “Shark Tank,” except he didn’t really win on “Shark Tank.” It’s strange. 

How two best friends living in a small apartment in LA with dreams of making it big in Hollywood instead came up with a $33 million dollar product to save lives. Hint: one nearly died. Reveal: they still live in the small apartment. 

How a dog lover near Kansas City, MO, came up with a product for neutered dogs to let them keep their “God given look.” Neuticles are testicular implants for dogs, though inventor Gregg Miller has made custom implants for a variety of other animals...including an elephant. It’s made him a multi-millionaire, even though Neuticles are “banned in three countries.”

CNBC’s Jane Wells is back for more rags-to-riches stories with a twist. “Strange Success” is about people who come up with a crazy idea to solve a problem you may not even realize exists. They take an even crazier journey to success, filled with failures, rejection, and stupidity. If you like weird stories with profitable outcomes, “Strange Success” is for you -- season 2, coming February 12. 

Matt McMullen accidentally fell into the sex doll business, but he has never regretted it. He makes the Real Doll, the most popular, most expensive, most...realistic...sex doll on the planet. Sales in 2018 could reach $3 million with a new model that has a robotic head. The artist-turned-entrepreneur has strong views about making his dolls in America, and he also believes they have therapeutic value. We interviewed McMullen on camera in his studio in 2016, but we decided at the time that the visuals were a little too graphic. But this is audio! Hear what we wouldn’t let you see. It’s one of the strangest successes ever.