Uncertain Times

Joe welcomes John Fieldly, the CEO of Celsius, to the podcast this week. If you work long hours, study all night or work out regularly, you’ve probably sampled an energy drink, but have you ever wondered how a small beverage startup could cut through the noise and colossal competition in that space to succeed. John talks about the company's red-hot growth and what it's like playing the role of David in a world of energy drink Goliaths.

During the pandemic, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about COVID Testing, but there's one company based out of Irvine California that is changing the game in the world of medical diagnostic testing. This week Joe is joined by Tej Patel, the President, and co-founder of Fluxergy. Tej talks about the current state of medical diagnostic testing, the inspiration for starting the company, and what the future of Fluxergy looks like.

It’s been a transformative 15 months for the fitness industry. The pandemic forced brick and mortar gyms to close and launched the movement to virtual and at-home workouts. This week, Joe chats with Austin Cohen, the founder of Founder, President, and CEO of FlexIt, a fitness app that enables users to seamlessly access fitness facilities and live 1-on-1 virtual personal training with certified trainers. Austin talks about his formative years at Columbia, the lessons he's learned as a startup entrepreneur, and how's helping connect fitness enthusiasts with thousands of health clubs across the U.S.

Trying to scale a business can be a difficult task, especially during a pandemic. Many companies found that embracing e-commerce over the past year was a force multiplier for their business. Joining Joe this week is Hugh Gaither, the Founder & CEO of Feetures, a leading performance sock brand, that has been family-owned and operated in North Carolina since 2002. Hugh discusses the birth of Feetures and how e-commerce was a big driver for the company in 2020.

Subscription based apps are ubiquitous and big business. A couple of years ago, App Annie reported that in-app subscriptions accounted for $32 billion consumer spend in App Stores. This week, Joe is joined by two members of the senior leadership team at EverWash, a company that is disrupting the carwash business and offering users unlimited monthly carwash plans at their neighborhood carwash. Scott Caplan, the President and Co-Founder, and Scott Pashley, the Chief Revenue Officer, discuss how they used their knowledge in the fitness industry to build EverWash, how their service helped carwash owners during the pandemic and what the future of the EverWash looks like.

We hear a lot these days about companies and their core values, but have you ever thought about your own values? Do those core values match the values of the job you currently have? This week on the podcast is Robert Glazer, the creator of the online course Discovering and Developing Core Values. The hour-long, on-demand course guides learners through an exercise that helps them identify and articulate core values. Robert shares what inspired him to create his viral newsletter and new online course, why is it important to be in touch with your values and why core values are so crucial.

Fear is described as an unpleasant emotion caused by being aware of danger.  These days many of us are consumed by fear, but how can we replace that fear with purpose?  This week Joe is joined by Michal Oshman, the Head of Company Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at TikTok Europe, and the author of the new book, What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?​  Michal tells Joe how she discovered Jewish wisdom and shares her very personal journey that inspired her to write the book.

Gambling has come along way since 1989’s baseball betting scandal that forced Hall of Famer Pete Rose to be permanently banned from the sport. Fast forward 30 years later and advertisements for DraftKings and FanDuel can be found on stadiums and television and radio broadcasts for every professional sport. But what’s the next big thing for gambling besides football, basketball, mixed martial arts and the rest? It could be E-Sports. Joining Joe this week is Steven Salz, the Co-Founder and CEO of Rivalry which has been called the ‘Robinhood of esports’. Steven discusses the current state of sports gambling across the globe, why gambling on E-Sports has exploded over the last few years, and what’s next for Rivalry.

Saving money for retirement can be hard, especially if you are behind or cannot save much. For some people retirement is the last thing on their mind. Just contributing 1% of your salary to retirement savings to start and slowly increasing that contribution can make a big difference over time.

But what happens when you do have a retirement plan? What do you do? Nothing? Think again.

This week Joe talks to Ed Slott. Ed has taught millions of Americans and financial pros how to get the most out of their retirement savings…he is a nationally recognized IRA distribution expert and the author of The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb.

The public relations industry has taken a big hit due to pandemic induced budgets cuts. According to a survey of PR and marketing professionals, almost two-thirds of clients reduced communications budgets as a result of the pandemic, 90% of PR agencies said clients had postponed campaigns, and one in five agencies laid off staff and instigated furloughs. Now one year after COVID-19 locked down the planet, what is the current state of the PR and marketing industry? Joining Joe this week is Amanda Whitcroft, the Founder of Panda PR & Marketing who talks about how she successfully pivoted her agency's focus from the hospitality industry to the health and tech sectors during the pandemic.