Building a business you’re passionate about can be the source of your joy. Or it can cause stress, frustration, and sleepless nights.
More often than not, it’s a mix of both.
Taking the easy route is easy, but it never results in happiness, business success, and a life of meaning.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to create a business you’re passionate about (without worrying on the weekends about customers).
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CBD brands have to play business on “hard mode” when it comes to advertising their products. .Facebook and Google are quick to drop the ban hammer on your ad accounts. And at the push of a button, you lose access to all your customers.
If you get banned, how would you market your products?
Imagine not being able to keep the lights on, do payroll, or be forced to give up on your passion because of some big tech giants from Silicon Valley.
Luckily, Dennis Mistrioty, Co-Founder of Batch CBD, will show you 5 “underground” ways you can market your CBD products – even if you’ve been censored by Facebook and Google.
In this episode, you’ll discover a “cookie-cutter” approach to reduce costs and attract more of your dream buyers. And Dennis reveals a practical way to “accidentally” build up a loyal army of farmers – and generate an unbreakable supply chain.
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Trying to compete with the big guys is tough. Well established brands have a lot of capital, raving fans, and unfair competitive advantages.
So how can you compete with Snapple and Gatorade?
Today’s guest, Ted Volz, founder of Clean Energy, reveals the secret to launching a wildly profitable and competitive business (even in cutthroat industries).
In this episode, you’ll discover a bizarre way you can create any product by reading the back of a juicebox. And 3 “cold” strategies to find your ideal buyers – even if you have no pre-existing connections.
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Marketing is tough, time-consuming, and expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. This applies even more to groundbreaking products at the forefront of innovation. Look at Apple - they struggled for decades before they dominated their market.
So how can you create an effective marketing campaign if no one knows about your product?
Today’s guest, Ryan Tolbert, discovered 5 “older style” advertising methods to penetrate any market by selling skin tone bandages.
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Every entrepreneur wants success. It’s a long, hard, and lonely road being a business owner. It could take years before all of your hard work is finally paid off.
But what if you went through all that hardship because you didn’t focus on the fundamentals?
Today’s guest, Austin Roberts from LogOX, reveals the fundamentals of running a highly profitable e-commerce store.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to find “complementary” businesses and unlock hidden sources of revenue with only a napkin.
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As lovers of the great outdoors, our enjoyment comes from nature. It’s only logical to run a sustainable business, so the next generation can enjoy the same lifestyle.
But if you’re running an apparel brand, being sustainable is almost impossible! Sustainable packaging and materials are either non-existent, hard to source, or expensive.
That hasn’t stopped our guest Stephen Weisbuch. His apparel company, The Recycled Planet, has taken this ethos of sustainability to the extreme. They use exclusively recycled, repurposed or sustainable materials — no matter how expensive it makes his jackets.
Now, if you’re running your business to make a living, I’m not saying you have to go broke in the name of sustainability.
In fact, in this episode, you’ll discover a variety of tricks for making your brand sustainable (without sacrificing your bottom line).
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There’s no right or wrong way to live. But let’s be honest: you didn’t grow up wanting to work in a confined space 40 hours a week, did you?
It’s why we need hobbies on the side.
Travel, hiking, boating… These passions turn a mere existence into a life worth living.
But what if you could turn your “side hobby” into a business? Instead of hitting snooze 5x before you wake up, you’d spring out of bed, ready to seize the day.
Today’s guest, Mike Goldfarb, founder of Bhanti, reveals the secret for transforming your side hobby into a money-making machine.
In this episode, you’ll discover how following your passion (and listening closely to the market) can turn the activity you love into the activity that brings you money.
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The supplement business is cut-throat. If you can’t stand out from the competition, your business will look like everyone else’s and be ignored.
But if you find a gap in the market, you’ll enter a league of your own. With no direct competitors, it’s like having a license to print money.
Today’s guest Sarah Whyte got her start formulating supplements for other companies. Now she’s broken into the health market with her own brand, Bloat No More. She found a gap in the competition, and she’ll show you how to do the same.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to stand out from the competition, grow your revenue, and retain your customers for longer.
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Bootstrapping can be great: you get to control every part of your business and choose your lifestyle.
But if you waste precious time on mundane tasks because you don’t have the funding, then bootstrapping becomes a cage.
Today’s guest is Hailey Swartz, co-CEO of Actual Veggies. They started out washing and reusing their competitor’s packaging because they couldn’t afford their own.
But in this episode, you’ll hear how she took on VC funding, and how you can use it to achieve greatness: like filling the shelves of grocery stores nationwide.
In this wide-ranging discussion, you’ll discover how to combine bootstrap philosophy with venture capital - so you can live that free lifestyle you’ve been dreaming of.
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If you’ve ever dreamt of building a million-dollar ecommerce business, the following might scare you: out of $1 million, most ecom businesses take home only $50k in profit. That’s less than a truck driver’s wages!
But there’s a small group of entrepreneurs that take home a much bigger chunk of the sales. Today’s guest Jeremy Lux of lifestyle brand Illumine Collect is a prime example. He gives away 20% of Illumine Collect’s revenue to charity, and still has enough profit to go around.
In this episode, you’ll discover strategies that give you fat profit margins, so you can give more, live a free lifestyle or buy your dream car.
Listen now and discover strategies that give you a fat profit margin without blowing all your money on expenses.
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Turning your passion into your business sounds great.
But you know what usually ends up happening? You get so caught up in your passion that you ignore what your market needs. So you barely turn a profit, you get burned out and you give up.
So why not do the opposite? You start with a passion for entrepreneurship. You find a lucrative opportunity, you learn about the business, and then you develop that passion.
That's what today's guest Jacob Durham did with NOMATIC.
In this episode, you'll discover the importance of curiosity and a bigger vision when it comes to your long-term happiness. You'll also find out how to launch and scale your business through Kickstarter and product development.
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Most big brands start with a big idea. But when you’re establishing your business, thinking too big holds you back and turns into procrastination.
Your business success could start as simply as an idea for better ski gear and a factory in some guy’s garage.
At least that’s how it was for Chris Pew of TREW Gear. Chris is here to tell you the story of how to build your business from an idea to a successful brand.
In this episode you'll discover how to build a lucrative business from scratch with nothing but a simple idea and some courage.
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Life as a bootstrapper can be tough. You don't have the luxury to hire extra team members. And you can't pour money into marketing like the bigger brands.
But with the right mindset your small size becomes an advantage that lets you run rings around your competition.
In today’s episode, you’ll meet Priority Bicycles’ co-founder, Connor Swegle. Along with his co-founder, Connor made Priority Bicycles one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history and turned his passion into his job.
In this episode you will discover how to turn your bootstrapper status into an advantage and carve out a lucrative niche in your market.
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A common dream amongst entrepreneurs is to create a brand so big it defines a culture.
These brands start from passionately serving a niche community. But if you’re not careful, money gets in the way and you lose sight of your purpose.
So, how do you prevent it?
By remembering that your business is not your identity. By detaching yourself from the results, even when your competitors overtake you. And by learning from someone who’s done it before.
Like today's guest Dan Abrams. He started Flylow to serve the backcountry skiing community. Even as Flylow expands into new markets, they never stray too far from their roots.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to build a brand so big it defines a culture, while staying true to your roots.
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There’s a nasty trap that plagues today’s entrepreneurs.
They think all you have to do is build a better product and the customers will form a line. But if you go into business with that attitude, all you’ll do is burn a bunch of money without making a sale.
Even if you’ve got a great product, you still need to find your customers. Which can seem like an uphill battle, so it helps if you learn from someone who’s done it before.
Someone like today’s guest Travis Merrigan of Grayl. Grayl’s bigger message is doing good, helping people and driving to make the world a better place, any way they can. They’re doing good, and they’re doing well financially too!
In this episode, you’ll discover how to find consumers for your product, how to attract superstar team members, and how to change the world through your business.
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In business it’s important to play to your strengths. So if you’re a manufacturer, keep manufacturing. If you’re a marketer, keep marketing.
But playing it too safe can blind you to a big opportunity for decades. If you step outside of your comfort zone, you could be bound for a big payday.
That was the case for Devil-Dog Dungarees. The company had been manufacturing apparel for other brands since 1927. But now, Devil-Dog is on track to become the next Levi’s.
In this episode, you’ll meet our guests Sean Connelly and Stephanie Newman. They’ll show you why pivoting unlocks explosive growth. You’ll discover insider tips for growing your brand (or even starting it from scratch).
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Sure, making money is great. But what if you could use your business to change the world?
I’m not talking about cheap tricks like “we donate 1% of profits to charity”.
I’m talking about real changes you can see, like saving the rainforests, sheltering the homeless, and feeding the hungry… all while maintaining a healthy profit.
It’s possible. And today’s guest Philip Freeman is here to show you how. He’s the founder of Murphy’s Naturals, an outdoor lifestyle brand and certified B Corp.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to put more money in your pocket, while making a lasting positive impact on the world.
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Our lives are full of “first world problems”. It’s annoying to tie your shoes… you ran out of milk… your drink is a little too warm…
You might think they’re meaningless… but what if you could turn these “first world problems” into a business that sets you up for life?
Chris Gronkowski did exactly that after taking an NFL “first world problem” and turning it into The Ice Shaker.
In this episode, he’s here to show you how to get Ice-Shaker success, even if you aren’t an NFL celebrity.
If you’re looking to launch a new business or get recognized by VCs, you can’t miss this episode.
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You’ve probably taken vitamin, protein or magnesium supplements before. Those are great for your health, but there’s an invisible aspect of our health most people ignore: Our gut biome.
The trillions of bacteria in your body control more of how we feel, think and perform than most of us know.
When your gut biome is unhealthy, you might gain weight, feel stressed or get sugar cravings. When you fix your gut biome, you’ll have more energy, feel healthier and watch health issues disappear.
In this episode, you’ll hear from Jonathan Scheiman and Carolina Barsa, two of the founders of FitBiomics. They developed Nella, a game-changing probiotic designed to improve your gut health and help you perform your best.
They’ll share why probiotics are so important—and how you can improve your gut health to unleash your full potential.
Want to improve your performance every day? Listen now!
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Kinona was started while Tami and fellow co-founder, Dianne Celuch were getting more and more into Golfing. Having a background in fashion, it was tough to look past the lack of innovation in apparel options for women that the industry had to offer. When it comes to style and inclusion the Golf Industry has been a little slow to adapt to the changing times and those are two major keystones that Kinona is built on. After years of getting more and more into the sport, they decided to roll up their sleeves and help bring the Golf industry into the 21st century by providing more than just a “pink it and shrink it” option for women. Having years of experience bringing brands to life and products to market they managed to develop apparel that doesn’t just look incredible but, breathes life into the sport.
In this episode of Built On Passion Tami Fujii shares her journey leading up to starting Kinona, some of the skills and tools that were key to Kinona’s swift success, how the golf industry’s need to evolve to open up the space, and the “How” and “Why” behind Kinona
Matt sits down with Take Two founder Jerek Lovey. Take Two makes plant-based barely milk with a huge emphasis on sustainability using upcycled spent grain as a key component in their tasty game-changing dairy-free milk.
Take Two is changing the game for plant-based milk on seemingly all fronts. To start, their dedication to sustainability is unparalleled to the point of them helping to repurpose thousands upon thousands of spent grain that otherwise would go to waste. On the nutrition front, their barely milk is so much more nutrient-dense than your typical plant-based milk but, most importantly the taste and texture of Take Two is amazing. It really all comes down to barely as the x-factor to fixing the classic problems of plant-based milk while helping offer a better more sustainable solution. So, how just how does one start a plant-based milk company let alone pioneer a new and progressive upcycling technique.
In this episode of Built On Passion, Jerek Lovey shares the story of how he started a plant-based milk brand from the ground up, how barely is a game-changing grain of the future, what it took to build out their upcycling process, and the ‘How’ and ‘Why’ behind Take Two.
Matt sits down with Ranger Ready co-founder Chris Fuentes. Ranger Ready makes a highly effective Picaridin insect repellent. Mosquitoes and ticks bites aren’t something to be taken lightly. Obviously, they can be a pretty big annoyance but there are some really life-changing diseases that you’re exposed to when you get bitten. Though there are plenty of bug spray options out there to help keep you protected, a good amount of them can still be fairly toxic to people so you have to ask yourself, ‘how can you actually protect yourself from exposure?’ That’s exactly what Chris Fuentes and Ted Kensten hoped to answer when they started Ranger Ready.
When Chris and Ted started Ranger Ready, they weren’t just looking for the next project to work on, they wanted to tackle a major issue that desperately needed a better option. They found that Picaridin was the key to making bug spray WAY safer for both people and pets than your average DEET bug spray. In fact, they even have the scientific findings behind it to back up their claim and the results are fairly staggering. Ranger Ready has been meticulously tested for effectiveness and has a scientific guarantee of offering 12-hours of protection. It’s easy to talk the talk but, Ranger Ready actually walks the walk and has the science to prove it. They also just so happen to be the bug spray of choice for some major organizations including SpaceX and the military. So what actually goes into creating and building a bug spray brand.
In this episode of Built On Passion Chris Fuentes shares what led him to dedicate himself to creating a better bug spray option, how they manage to stay committed to their mission, developed a devoted team leading to unparalleled customer service and satisfaction, and the “How” and “Why” behind Ranger Ready.
Matt sits down with Rebo Bottle founder Pierandrea Quarta. Rebo Bottle makes a smart water bottle that doesn’t just help you stay on your hydration game but, also is designed to help actively remove plastic waste from natural areas.
Water bottles are fairly simple in and of themselves but, the intricacies behind Rebo Bottle are absolutely incredible. It all started with Pier wanting to do more to help remove plastic from the environment. His past experience working as a Brand Manager for one of the world’s most widely known name brands gave him an opportunity to not only sharpen his knives to build a brand but, also expose him to a newfound passion, sustainability, and coming up with progressive practices to support it. Ultimately Pier wanted to create a product to help push the world towards a much more sustainable future and focusing on something everyone interacted with was the starting point.
Rebo Bottle’s smart bottle isn’t just a container for H20, it’s designed to help encourage people to stay hydrated, track their water intake, and find and track nearby refill stations all through their app.
On top of making a smart bottle with extremely detailed features, Rebo has developed some interesting strategic partnerships to help actively remove plastic from the environment. What’s most remarkable of all is that in creating Rebo Bottle, Pier is building an extremely unique and progressive brand around a global issue in a way that hasn’t really existed.
In this episode of Built On Passion Pierandrea shares what inspired him to dig deeper into sustainability, some of the challenges that came with building Rebo Bottle, and the “how” and “why” behind Rebo Bottle.