Sweet Takes

In October 2024, Johnny Fauver was a financial advisor with 30 business ideas sitting on his phone. Eighteen months later, he's running a Costco roadshow, rolling into 150 Smith's grocery stores, and in talks with Harmons, Maverik, and Planet Fitness. The product? Tide Treats, a protein-packed crispy rice treat with 25 grams of protein, six grams of fiber, and no added sugar.

In this episode of Sweet Takes, host Coby joins Johnny on the way to a Costco roadshow in Saratoga Springs to unpack the wild journey behind Tide Treats. From cold-calling 50 food science labs before one finally said yes, to six months of R&D, to 30,000 bars showing up in his Sandy, Utah garage and selling out in six weeks, Johnny shares the unfiltered story of building a snack brand with zero industry experience.

Along the way, they get into:

• Why Johnny left finance to chase an idea he'd been sitting on for years
• The "protein for the rest of us" philosophy and breaking the gym-bro stigma
• How six months of R&D shaped the final product
• The brutal learning curve of inventory forecasting, margins, and retail
• Working alongside his dad Rob and hand-packing 3,000 Costco variety boxes with his wife and seven-year-old son
• Launching Tide Treats six weeks before his newborn son spent two weeks on life support
• Why ignorance can be an entrepreneur's greatest asset
• What's next: a permanent Costco placement and potential national rollout

Plus, Coby and Johnny break down all five Tide Treats flavors in a live taste test, including the polarizing Island Berry that one shopper called "the most vile thing I've ever tried" right before another customer bought five boxes.

Whether you're a founder, a snack enthusiast, or just someone who loves a good underdog story, this episode is a candid, behind-the-scenes look at how Tide Treats is quietly disrupting the protein aisle, one crispy rice treat at a time.

🎧 Subscribe to Sweet Takes for more conversations with the founders, creators, and thinkers shaping what's next.

Find Tide Treats at tidetreats.com, on Amazon, at select Costco locations, and coming soon to Smith's grocery stores.

Preparation beats luck. Every time.

In Episode 10 of Sweet Takes, Coby sits down with brothers Bryce and Brandon Doman, former BYU football standouts and co-founders of Dominator, the premium basketball and pickleball brand bringing pro-level play into your backyard. Over plates of the legendary Doman nachos at Milagros Mexican Restaurant in Orem. The three dig into what it actually takes to build something that lasts.

Inside the episode:

• Preparation Creates Opportunity: Brandon, a former NFL quarterback, shares the formula that shaped his career: preparation plus opportunity equals success. Luck never supersedes the work.
• The Hill Before the View: After 12 years of building together, the Doman brothers reflect on the long climb of entrepreneurship and why the breakthrough only comes after years of grit.
• Brotherhood as a Business Advantage: Bryce and Brandon unpack what it means to build with family, how lifelong trust shapes better decisions, and why the right people change everything.
• The Power of Being Seen: From parents who celebrated every small win to building teams and products that create moments of confidence, they explore how positive reinforcement shapes leadership.
• Building Beyond Yourself: A candid turn into service, humility, and why the strongest businesses aren't built for self-validation — they're built to elevate the people around them.

Success isn't random. It's prepared for, fought for, and built one hard day at a time.

🎧 Subscribe to Sweet Takes for more conversations with the builders, doers, and dreamers shaping what comes next.

In episode 9, Coby sits down with Tyler Brown, Head of SEO and AI at Big Leap, to unpack training-data latency, why AI can spot AI-generated content, and how brands can move now to win the next era of search.

bigleap.com/sweet-story

AI promises speed, scale, and smarter work. But what if it’s actually making your thinking worse?

In this episode of Sweet Takes, Jaime Theler joins Coby for a trip to Lehi Bakery and a conversation about the real divide in AI. It’s not adopters versus resisters. It’s how you use it.

They dig into the tension between efficiency and creativity, why using AI as an “easy button” can quietly erode your work, and how top performers are using it instead as a thought partner to sharpen ideas, not replace them.

Along the way, they explore a bigger shift happening in marketing: why better thinking is becoming more valuable than faster content, and what it actually takes to create work that stands out in an AI-saturated world.

Thanks for listening! Learn more at: bigleap.com/sweet-story

Most marketers don’t have a Google Ads problem. They have a paid strategy problem. In Episode 07, Scott Smoot, Director of PPC at Big Leap, joins Coby to explain why automation alone can’t drive results and why brand strategy is more important than ever.

We’re breaking down:

• Signals Over Control: How to feed the algorithm the right data so automated campaigns actually work.
• Beyond the Bottom Funnel: Why focusing only on conversions misses the bigger picture.
• AI ≠ Magic: What AI can and can’t do in paid media campaigns.
• Brand First, Clicks Second: How strong branding sets the stage for better performance across the funnel.

Stop hoping the algorithm figures it out. Start designing campaigns that move your audience and your business forward.

Thanks for listening! Learn more at: bigleap.com/sweet-story

Automation is supposed to make business better. Faster responses. Smoother systems. Happier customers.

So why do so many automated experiences feel like you’re just a mere digit in someone’s CRM funnel?

In this episode of the Sweet Takes Podcast, Coby goes for a Swig run with Dallas Olsen, Director of Revenue Operations at Big Leap. 

Together, they unpack one of the biggest misconceptions about AI and automation: that scaling systems via automation means sacrificing humanity.

Your AI isn’t broken. Your content is.

In this episode of Sweet Takes, Coby hits the road with Ben Ard, co-founder and CEO of Masset, to unpack the real problem hiding behind “AI strategy”: content chaos. Lost files. Wrong versions. Ancient docs treated like truth. Sound familiar?

Ben shares how Masset is building proactive AI that finds the right content before you ask—and why AI should amplify real expertise, not pretend to replace it.

They cover:
• Why “clean libraries” beat massive databases
• How customer ideas turn into real product features
• What most founders get wrong about growth
• Why authenticity finds product-market fit faster
• And how raving fans drive better than ads ever will

Also: startup culture in Utah, brutal honesty about building, and a very serious discussion about Ben’s special Fiiz order. 

If you care about AI, startups, or making work less chaotic and more human—this episode is your drink of choice.

bigleap.com/sweet-story

What do leaders misunderstand about motivation, and why does it matter so much for performance?

In this episode of Sweet Takes, host Coby sits down with Eric Jackson, EVP of Client Operations at Big Leap, for a practical conversation about what truly drives human behavior at work. As they head to Swig for a midday treat, Eric reflects on his evolution as a leader, from people-pleasing to leading with honesty, clarity, and trust.

Together, they examine why values alone rarely change behavior, how incentives shape priorities and outcomes, and how poorly designed systems can create unintended consequences. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding individual motivators and aligning them with shared goals.

This episode offers a grounded perspective for leaders who want to motivate teams ethically, build durable trust, and create environments where people can perform at their best.

Thanks for listening!

When you own the conversation you own the conversion, which is why a podcast can be such a powerful component of your brand-led performance marketing engine. Learn more at: bigleap.com/sweet-story

In today's episode James Straatman, VP of Product Development at Big Leap, joins the show to discuss why the digital marketing landscape is shifting from purely performance-based strategies to brand-led performance.

We dive into the power of storytelling, personal truth, and challenging market bias to create high-growth strategies.

Thanks for joining us! Visit bigleap.com/sweet-story to learn more.

Tired of impersonal, formal business interviews? Sweet Takes is the bi-weekly podcast that brings you honest, behind-the-scenes looks at the complex business landscape, one sweet run at a time.

In this episode, we join Jared Strain, co-founder of Super Top Secret. From skateboarding and snowboards to billion-dollar brands, this conversation traces a single idea: disruption requires courage. We talk about trust, fear, creativity, and why every great business story starts with someone willing to ignore the data and do something different.

This episode explores why rule-breakers outperform rule-followers, how fear keeps brands average, and why listening to your gut might be the most profitable move you can make. Thanks for listening!