The Vancrux Podcast - Host Jeevan Matharu

What does it really take to build, scale, and sustain successful brands in a world that never stops changing?

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, I sit down with Phil Masiello — visionary entrepreneur, best-selling author, and founder of CrunchGrowth — to unpack the real lessons behind failing forward, thinking differently, and building businesses that actually work.

With over two decades of experience across e-commerce, digital marketing, and consumer brands, Phil shares hard-earned insights from his journey: from pioneering early e-commerce solutions in the meal industry, to co-founding Raw Essentials Skin Care with Carol Alt, to scaling disruptive direct-to-consumer brands like 800razors.com.

We dive into:

• Why failure isn’t the opposite of success — it’s the entry point
• How to think strategically in fast-moving, saturated markets
• The psychology behind why people buy (before you ever sell)
• Building brands that cut through noise without burning cash
• The future of e-commerce, and multi-channel growth
• What most entrepreneurs get wrong

🔗 Connect with Phil Masiello

🌐 Website: https://philmasiello.com/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-masiello/

🚀 CrunchGrowth: https://www.crunchgrowth.com/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philmasiello/

☕ Episode Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 👉 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.liqure.com

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

What if conflict isn’t caused by bad people… but by the environments we’re placed in?

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, we dive deep into the Robbers Cave Experiment — one of the most important (and unsettling) psychology studies ever conducted. You’re taken inside the experiment itself, experiencing how ordinary boys became bitter enemies almost overnight, and how that same hostility dissolved once the structure around them changed.

This episode explores:

• How identity and “us vs them” thinking are formed
• Why competition and scarcity fuel division
• How prejudice can arise without being taught
• Why simply telling people to “get along” doesn’t work
• The hidden psychological forces shaping politics, culture, media, and relationships
• And most importantly — what actually heals division at both a personal and societal level

This isn’t just a history lesson. It’s a mirror.

By the end of this episode, you’ll never look at conflict, group identity, or your own reactions the same way again.

☕ Episode Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy, focus & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 👉 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.liqure.com

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

In this Koan Story episode, Carrying the Woman Across the River, we explore a timeless Zen teaching about attachment, judgment, and mental weight. Two monks face the same moment — one helps, lets go, and moves on… the other carries the moment long after it has passed.

This story is a powerful reminder that suffering often isn’t caused by what happens — but by what we continue to carry in our minds. Judgment, resentment, guilt, and overthinking weigh far heavier than the original event.

The real lesson? Act fully in the present… then let go completely.

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

🎧 Episode Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.liqure.com

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, I sit down with Scott Martin — award-winning soccer coach, educator, author, and a living example of resilience in its purest form.

With over 30 years of coaching experience across youth, high school, and college levels, Scott earned multiple Coach of the Year honors and led teams to state championships. But his most defining moment came off the field.

After surviving a rare, life-threatening infection that resulted in the loss of both hands and parts of his feet, Scott was forced to rebuild his identity, leadership, and purpose from the ground up. What followed wasn’t just recovery — it was reinvention.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What leadership looks like when control is taken away
• How perseverance is forged through uncertainty and loss
• Redefining success when life rewrites the game plan
• Why purpose is revealed through how you show up, not what you achieve

Scott also shares insights from his powerful memoir Play From Your Heart, his work contributing to prosthetic research with the University of Washington and Johns Hopkins, and his role as a Global Advisor for Billion Strong, a global disability organization.

This episode is a reminder that real success isn’t measured by trophies or titles — it’s measured by heart, character, and the courage to keep moving forward when everything changes.

📘 Play From Your Heart – Scott Martin 🔗 https://librarytalespublishing.com/products/play-from-your-heart

☕ Podcast Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 🔗 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.liqure.com

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram / the_vancrux_label

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, we unpack one of Aesop’s shortest yet most devastating fables — The Frog and the Ox. A story not about envy, but about ego, identity, and the quiet danger of comparison.

When you measure yourself against someone else’s size, success, or timeline, you stop building real capacity and start inflating an image. And inflation without structure always collapses.

This episode explores:

• Why comparison activates fear, not motivation
• How ego inflation leads to burnout, anxiety, and self-destruction
• The psychological and philosophical cost of abandoning your own lane
• Why true growth comes from refinement, not imitation

If you’ve ever felt pressure to “keep up,” this episode will reset how you see success — and yourself.

☕ Podcast Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 🔗 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.liqure.com

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram /the_vancrux_label

What if the real danger in the world isn’t ignorance… but certainty?

In this episode, we step inside the mind of Bertrand Russell — the philosopher who believed that most human suffering comes not from evil, but from unexamined beliefs held with confidence.

Why did Russell think clarity was a moral act? Why did he distrust certainty more than doubt? And what happens to your life when you stop believing things simply because they’re popular, comforting, or inherited?

This is not just a biography — it’s a confrontation with how you think, why you believe what you believe, and whether your ideas are truly yours.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• How language distorts truth
• Why intelligent people fall into dogma
• Or whether thinking clearly is still possible in a noisy world

This episode is for you.

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

🤝 Episode Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 👉 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.liqure.com

What if one day… no one was left to watch? No audience. No legacy. No validation.

If you were the last human alive, would anything you do still matter? Would you still create, train, tell the truth, choose courage — or would everything collapse into comfort?

This episode is a slow, immersive descent into one of philosophy’s most disturbing questions: Is meaning real… or just something we perform for others?

And more importantly:

• How much of your current life is shaped by being seen?
• Who would you be if approval disappeared?
• And what kind of man are you becoming right now — the creator, or the Last Man?

By the end of this episode, you won’t just think differently. You’ll see your life differently.

🔥 Useful Links:

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

🤝 Episode Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 👉 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 👉 https://www.liqure.com

If you can observe your thoughts, are they really you?

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, we explore the subtle but powerful distinction between awareness and thinking. Rather than trying to control the mind, this conversation examines how stepping back from thought can reduce emotional reactivity, loosen rigid identity, and create genuine inner clarity.

This is a reflective, insight-driven episode for anyone interested in self-understanding, psychology, and conscious living.

🔥 Useful Links:

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses — The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand — Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

🔥 Sponsors:

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.liqure.com

Flattery isn’t kindness. It’s leverage.

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, we dissect The Fox and the Crow — a short fable with a long shadow.

Why does praise bypass intelligence? Why do smart people give things away without realising it? And what does manipulation actually sound like when it whispers?

Once you see the fox… you can’t unsee him.

🔥 Useful Links

📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram /the_vancrux_label

☕ Sponsors

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for energy & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) 🔗 https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) 🔗 https://www.liqure.com

What if the thing you’re running from is the only reason your life has weight? If you truly had infinite time… would you still choose courage today?

In this episode of The Vancrux Podcast, you’re taken deep into The Immortality Curse — the unsettling truth that living forever wouldn’t free you, it would slowly drain life of urgency, meaning, and intensity. Through second-person storytelling, vivid metaphors, and thought experiments, this episode confronts a dangerous question:

Is death the enemy… or the reason anything matters at all?

🔥 Useful Links: 📘 Become a Person of Value by J.S. Math https://amzn.to/4cJjMbu

📗 A Question a Day Journal https://amzn.to/3Xbkxo0

📕 Daily Quotes of Wisdom https://amzn.to/4cKiltb

🌍 Transformational Coaching & Courses – The Vancrux Label https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/

🧢 The Vancrux Clothing Brand – Wear the Mentality https://www.thevancruxlabel.com/store

📸 Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_vancrux_label

🎙️ Sponsored by:

☕ Strong Coffee Company — Protein-packed coffee for sustained energy & mental clarity Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.strongcoffeecompany.com

💊 More Labs — Clinically proven hydration & recovery drinks Code: VANCRUX1 (25% off) https://www.morelabs.com

🍬 LiQure Gummies — Electrolytes + vitamins for hangover prevention & recovery Code: VANCRUX1 (20% off) https://www.liqure.com