The Growth Seat

Paul Earle has spent his career at the intersection of creativity, branding, and entrepreneurship — building new ventures from the ground up rather than waiting for someone else to fix what's broken. That instinct has taken him from a childhood economy of street hustles and startups to co-founding GOODLES, the better-for-you mac and cheese brand that's become one of the fastest-growing new brands in North American retail.

In this episode of The Growth Seat, host Dhani Jones sits down with Earle to talk about branding, timing, and staying power. The conversation covers:

• Why a great brand can't carry a mediocre product
• What separates an overlooked opportunity from a dead end
• Why creativity is the ultimate game changer

The conversation also covers picking the right capital partners and why staying disciplined about what a brand stands for only gets harder as it scales.

Weeks after this conversation was recorded, GOODLES announced its agreement to be acquired by the Barilla Group — a deal that keeps GOODLES headquartered in Santa Cruz, operating as a standalone brand, with co-founder and CEO Jen Zeszut remaining at the helm. It's a real-world example of the exact dynamic Earle describes in this episode: a deal built around fit, not just the size of the check.

Treana Allen on Building Leverage in Sports, Law, and Capital.

Treana Allen was a 5'6" guard in a sport that recruits for height. She couldn’t change what coaches were looking for, so she made herself indispensable on the court. She has taken that approach with her into every career move since. In this episode of The Growth Seat, host Dhani Jones sits down with Treana, co-founder and chief legal officer of CrestHaven, a private investment firm focused on critical and social infrastructure, to trace her path from the basketball court to the courtroom and ultimately to the boardroom.

Dhani and Treana discuss each career pivot: playing and coaching at Gonzaga, starting law school in her 30s as a single mother, moving from trial work to a corporate general counsel position, and co-founding CrestHaven; each move driven by discipline, curiosity, and relationships. Throughout her career, Treana has believed that confidence comes from reps, not talent; she’s willing to be bad at something long enough to get good at it. Treana notes that athletes carry a depth of ecosystem knowledge that newcomers to sports investing often lack. Finally, Treana explains how and why CrestHaven pairs sports with critical infrastructure, while she holds the legal seat on a lean deal team — careful not to get in the way of the deal itself.

In 1985, Joe Morgan took over a feed yard losing money on every pen of cattle. Interest rates were at 20%, the industry had been underwater for years, and the previous owners couldn't hold on any longer. Most people were looking for an exit. Joe was looking for an edge. In this episode of The Growth Seat, host Dhani Jones sits down with Joe — CEO of Poky Feeders and newly inducted member of the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame — to discuss what it takes to build a durable business when the odds are stacked against you.

Joe shares the unconventional moves that defined Poky's trajectory — cattle financing, grid pricing, full-time risk management — and the conviction behind all of it: make your customers money, and they'll be yours forever. The conversation also covers equity preservation through cycles, what outside investors misunderstand about production agriculture, and how Joe transitioned a relationship-driven business to the next generation without losing what made it work.

In this episode of The Growth Seat, host Dhani Jones sits down with Dean Warras, CEO, and Stacy Peters, Chief Commercial Officer, of Veterinary Solutions Holdings (VSH), a Granite Creek portfolio company serving the animal health market.

Dean and Stacy discuss VSH’s evolution from a specialized livestock compounding business into a broader animal health platform, including its acquisition of Diamond Animal Health. They share how the company turns customer challenges into practical product solutions, why innovation often starts in the field, and how VSH is expanding into new species and capabilities.

The conversation also covers the role of culture, thoughtful pacing, and the importance of knowing when to “go slow to go fast” while scaling a business. Listeners will hear how platform growth requires more than acquisitions: it takes the right people, sharp commercial focus, disciplined execution, and a clear view of where the market is headed.

In this episode of The Growth Seat, Mike Ray, operating partner at Granite Creek Capital Partners, joins host Dhani Jones to discuss the mindset, discipline, and risk tolerance required to build lasting businesses in agriculture and beyond.

Drawing on decades of experience as an operator, founder, investor, and board member, Ray shares how a willingness to take smart risks, work relentlessly, and stay grounded in data helped him build and scale companies across livestock, animal health, and adjacent sectors.

Listeners will come away with practical insight into what it takes to operate and grow a business in the agricultural sector, including how to lead through uncertainty, spot growth opportunities in tough markets, and build a business that can endure through changing cycles.

In this episode of The Growth Seat, Dhani Jones sits down with Renovo Financial CEO Kevin Werner to discuss building a culture-first private lending platform from the ground up. From recognizing opportunity after the financial crisis to scaling toward a $5 billion annual goal, Werner shares lessons on authentic leadership, ambitious goal setting, and why partnership—not just transactions—drives long-term growth.

In the debut episode of The Growth Seat, Dhani Jones sits down with serial entrepreneur and investor Sal Calvino, Founder of Equivu Capital, to unpack what it really takes to build, scale, and survive businesses over decades.

Sal grew up around airplanes, started his first company at age 26, navigated 9/11, the financial crisis, Covid, and volatile markets, and has built a global workforce of 5,500 people.  In this episode, Sal shares the hard-earned lessons you don’t learn in a classroom — only by being in the seat when the pressure is on.

This conversation cuts through theory and gets practical: leadership under stress, calculating risk, building businesses that don’t collapse when challenges arise, and why people — not spreadsheets — ultimately determine outcomes.

No playbooks. No shortcuts. Just lessons learned the hard way.

Welcome to The Growth Seat, a podcast presented by Granite Creek Capital Partners and hosted by former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones.

In each episode, we sit down with leaders, founders, investors, and operators behind growing businesses to unpack what really drives scale, resilience, and long-term value.

This trailer offers a preview of the conversations ahead—focused on leadership, strategy, capital, and collaboration, grounded in real-world experience. If you’re involved in building or backing growth, this is your seat at the table.