The Failure Factor

Megan Driscoll is the founder and CEO of Evolve MKD, a public relations and social media agency in New York City. She's grown her business from one employee (herself) to 19 in two and a half years. But Megan's success came out of a "bad breakup" at her previous company. Listen in to hear her advice on building an agency, outsourcing PR, using fear as a motivator, negotiating the conflict of being a woman who doesn't want children, and more.

Danielle LaPorte is an internationally renowned speaker, writer, entrepreneur, and blogger. The wise, hilarious, self-proclaimed "seeker" has mastered scaling the personal brand; but prior to Danielle's massive success, she was fired – from her own company. Listen to this rich interview filled with Danielle's personal story of challenge and "failure," as well as her advice for protecting oneself when building your company, dealing with haters, and building a successful brand.

Lauren Berlingeri and Katie Kaps are the founders of HigherDOSE, the infrared sauna experience that's taking over NYC. In this episode, they share with Megan how past career challenges have led to their present success. Berlingeri, previously a fitness model and star of the popular web show Woman v. Workout, opens up about her struggles in the world of modeling, while Kaps shares a painful near-death experience that transformed her perspective. Listen into hear their founder story, as well as their advice for owning weaknesses, building relationships, and not taking things too seriously.

Christina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard are the founders of Primary.com, a direct-to-consumer children's clothing company known for its evergreen basics and affordable prices. Tune in to hear them discuss their "failure" – believing they could take care of the supply chain themselves. The result? Little product in-stock and a lot of unhappy customers and investors. Listen in for their advice for managing supply chain, hiring with value proposition in mind, asking for help, and handling rejection.

Lauren Foundos spent a decade on Wall Street before starting Forte, a boutique fitness streaming platform. A first-time founder, Foundos stresses spending wisely, building authentic partnerships, detaching from an expectation of what the company will be, and several other nuggets of wisdom you won't want to miss. Tune into hear Megan and Lauren share laughs and advice on how to optimize your starting-up success as an entrepreneur, in business, and in life.

Melissa Hartwig is a Certified Sports Nutritionist, co-author of the New York Times bestsellers The Whole30 and It Starts With Food, and the author of Food Freedom Forever and The Whole30 Cookbook. She's been featured by Dr. Oz, The Today Show, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Details, Shape, Outside, and SELF; she has presented more than 150 health and nutrition seminars worldwide; and she also provides support to more than 2 million people a month through the Whole30 website. But before Melissa's massive success, she struggled with heroin addiction. Listen in to hear the details of her journey, including how in the early stages of her business she made the mistake of undermining her competition as a strategy (that seriously backfired). Listen in to hear Melissa's advice for coping with shame, apologizing, and building a "fiercely loyal community."

A former gang member, Ryan Blair is now a self-made multimillionaire, New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and CEO of the global healthy lifestyle company, ViSalus. He appears regularly on CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV, CNN, and Fox, and has been featured in Inc Magazine, Fortune Magazine, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. But along the way, Ryan hit rock bottom--at one point standing on a balcony contemplating suicide following bankruptcy. Listen in to hear his poignant and inspiring journey, plus his advice on owning failures, bouncing back from depression, and asking for help.

Shalini Vadhera is a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, beauty expert and internationally recognized TV personality. From jewelry and fashion entrepreneur, to celebrity makeup artist, to Founder of a $21-million beauty brand, to founder and CEO of Passport 2 Beauty and Power Beauty Living, she helps women power up their business, beauty, and life. But Power Beauty Living was birthed from Shalini's most traumatic "failure." Listen in to hear Shalini's gripping story, and her advice for choosing the right investors, trusting in the process when life feels out of control, and finding the beauty in failure.

Matt Mayberry realized his dream of becoming a professional football player, then watched it all crumble in a instant. He suffered a career-ending injury in his FIRST game in the NFL. Shattered both physically and emotionally, Matt entered a deep depression. If he wasn't a football player, who was he? But Matt persevered and ultimately found his purpose in his pain. Drawing on his previous experiences of failure in the sport, and as a teenage drug addict, Matt recreated his identity as a keynote speaker and performance strategist. As the CEO of Matt Mayberry Enterprises, he now helps individuals and organizations all over the world maximize their potential. Listen in to hear how Matt survived the darkest time of his life, and the formula he uses for capitalizing on failure.

Joe Cross is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, filmmaker, and wellness advocate. He's the founder of the socially conscious health and wellness company, Reboot With Joe, as well as the founder of the Reboot Media, which produces educational media. Joe is best known for the hit film in which he juiced his way from sickness to health, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. But Joe makes it clear he's had "more failures than successes." In this episode of The Failure Factor, Joe tells the story of investing in a fashion brand and losing millions. He shares why some people bounce back from failure and some don't, how to create your own luck, and why failing 80% of the time can still be a recipe for success.