Inc. Uncensored

Our new segment, What I Know Best, hones in on a superpower of the founders and thought leaders from our biweekly, longform interviews. This week, Kim Lewis, the CEO and cofounder of CurlMix, explains how to sell anything, when face to face with a potential customer.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Kim and Tim Lewis, founders of Curl Mix, about their circuitous funding journey and landing at No. 93 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 after attaining more than 4,000 percent growth over the past three years.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Rosie Mattio, founder and CEO of Mattio Communications, about saying yes and taking a risk on a burgeoning industry.

Corporations feel like they have to take on social issues, but as we've been discussing, doing so isn't easy. Recent research from RepTrak found that 36 percent of consumers have "felt betrayed" by what a company stands for, and 47 percent have stopped doing business with the company as a result. 63 percent prefer to do business with companies that "stand for a purpose that reflects their values and beliefs, and will avoid those that do not." We sat down with Laura Lane, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at UPS, who had some great food for thought on the topic.

The world of business leadership has shifted dramatically in the past few years – from stockholder capitalism to stakeholder. A higher purpose is what businesses need to be about and companies need to take a stand on societal issues. There's one big problem though: today's leaders weren't trained for this new world. There was no class for this in business school. In some ways, it's the wild west – a new frontier with no map. And C-suiters are struggling to find the way forward. As a result, there's a vacuum in purpose leadership. Company purpose is often toothless and company social activism backfires. How do CEOs navigate this new terrain? How do CHROs build this new culture of leadership into the employee experience? How do CMOs build purpose effectively into their brand?

What do Millennials think about purpose? Do they actually buy and work for companies and brands that have activated purpose? Is this a real thing? And what should leaders know about this important generation?  We've invited a couple of Millennials to chat about it. Fast Company's Social Media Producer Christina Royster and Fast Company's Associate Editor Yasmin Gagne from the podcast, Hit the Ground Running, are here to share their opinions and ideas about what purpose means to them.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Evan Horowitz and Geoffrey Goldberg, founders of the Los Angeles-based brand-marketing firm Movers+Shakers. Movers+Shakers is #78 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list.

To celebrate the launch of the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest growing private companies, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews the co-founder and chief executive of Carbon Health, the startup aiming to make health-care more accessible and affordable--and which earned the No. 2 spot on the Inc. 5000 list with $45 million in 2020 revenue and an astounding 39,734 percent three-year growth rate.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to John Christakos and Maurice Blanks--two of the three founders of Blu Dot Furniture--about how they used their design thinking to build a business.

​​When she had the idea for an organization to elevate women in leadership roles and entrepreneurship, Cate Luzio didn't even intend to start a company. Three years later, she's built Luminary, a thousands-strong networking and career-coaching company that's weathered the pandemic--and taken the opportunity to expand digitally and globally. She tells Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about the challenges she faced, and what she's learned along the way.

On this episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Sarah LaFleur, founder and CEO of womenswear brand M.M. LeFleur.

Garry Tan is known for his investments in Coinbase and Instacart--but before cofounding and managing his fund, Initialized Capital, he was a partner at Y Combinator, where he advised more than 700 startups. He'd been down that road before--founding two of his own companies. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Tan--now a thought-leader with a popular YouTube channel, about his journey from food-insecurity in the Bay Area to student to founder to investor, and what he's learned along the way to shaking up venture capital and managing the flow of early-stage money to young companies.

We've been thinking a lot about how companies responded to recent social events and wanted to dig into it some more on today's episode. What's at the heart of it? What are companies going to do to show they have a point of view, that it's not all talk and they are doing something meaningful for everyday people?

Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013, when he decided to break into and transform part of the global-shipping industry by bringing reliable data and tracking to even the smallest companies. Now he has more than $1 billion in revenue and 2200 employees globally--and the industry is facing an unprecedented challenge in the wake of the pandemic. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Petersen about what he's learned this year--and through the early chaotic days of scaling his company fast--about finding a balance between too much order and too much disorder when starting up.

On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Sallie Krawcheck. Sallie is the co-founder and CEO of Elle-evest, the digital financial advisor that focuses on the money needs of women. She founded it in 2016, after spending decades as an analyst and executive on Wall Street.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Fawn Weaver, the CEO and founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur, about how she built her brand and company after setting out to tell the remarkable story of Nearest Green, the first known African-American master distiller and man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Melissa Bernstein, the co-founder of $500 million toy company Melissa & Doug and the author of a new book about mental health, LifeLines, about her own journey to building a company while suffering from depression.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Ashley Mills and Mark Mullett, the founders of Obé Fitness, about how the former adversaries founded their company--and how when the pandemic hit they reacted with creativity, sending the company into a period of wild growth.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Matthew Inman and Elan Lee--founders of Exploding Kittens--about how they founded their company, when to give up on a potentially good idea, and the $1 million dollar meow.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews the founder of Crowned Marketing and Communications about how she turned $500 in pageant winnings into a thriving company that advises big brands on inclusive marketing. She’s also an expert on Gen Z, who has researched their consumption habits for her book FutureProof: The Blueprint for Building a Brand Gen Z and Millennials Love.

Christina Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Jack Dangermond, co-founder of ESRI, about starting his business with little over $1000 in personal savings and turning that into a billion dollar, privately held business.

Part 2 of Christine Lagorio-Chafkin's conversation with Jim Collins.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Jim Collins--author of best selling books Good to Great and Built To Last--about his three decades of research and writing about the skills and practices that make strong, lasting companies

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Eric Kinariwala--founder and CEO of Capsule--about disrupting the prescription drug industry.

A look back at some of the best moments of the year on What I Know

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin speaks with Blake Mycoskie, the serial entrepreneur best known for founding Toms Shoes, about the inspiration behind Toms' giving model, plus his mental-health struggles and the revelation that led to his new company, Madefor.

On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Phil Libin, the serial entrepreneur and investor known for co-founding Evernote, about starting what he's learned since starting his fifth company, Mmhmm. They also delve into the ills of the social-media ecosystem, and why Libin says he'll never touch an indirect-funding model again.

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Daina Trout, co-founder and CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha, about starting a company with her husband and best friend, running a company during the pandemic, and managing relationships with investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Matthew Prince, co-founder of Cloudflare, about transparency as leader, election security and how his company has grown over the past decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Steve Huffman, founder and CEO of Reddit, about the rise of the community The_Donald, political disinformation online, and running a 700-person company through this pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to tennis star Maria Sharapova about starting a company while in the midst of an entirely different career, finding balance in the pandemic, and her passions for design and branding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Supergoop! founder, Holly Thaggard, about changing perceptions around a product, taking every meeting you can and how building her company over the past thirteen years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Melissa Ben-Ishay, founder and CEO of Baked by Melissa, about tiny cupcakes, combatting imposter syndrome and stepping into the role of CEO at her company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. They discuss company culture, learning from mistakes and his new book Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Scott Svenson--co-founder, chairman and CEO of MOD Pizza--about the purpose behind his company’s existence and balancing that motivating mission with fiscal sustainability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jim Damian talks to our host, Cameron Albert-Deitch, about his Book Smart pick, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Rich Kleiman, co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures, about his partnership with NBA superstar Kevin Durant, his time at Roc Nation, and how to break out of complacency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Michael Acton Smith, co-founder and co-CEO of Calm, about executing on the day-to-day work of starting a business, serial entrepreneurship and digital monsters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, about mitigating risk, preparing for business after COVID-19 and a food dehydrator informercial that sparked Neil's entrepreneurial spirit as a child. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Sandra Oh Lin, founder and CEO of KiwiCo, and leadership during COVID-19, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Tariq Farid, CEO and Founder of Edible Arrangements Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The founder of the iconic clothing brand Eileen Fisher built a company rooted in creative values and radical simplicity of design. Over the years, the vision frayed--especially when she became less involved in maintaining it. She explains to Christine Lagorio-Chafkin how she found her voice and is using it to bring her brand back to its roots while calling on the industry to adopt sustainability Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zola CEO and co-founder Shan-Lyn Ma speaks with Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about why building and fortifying her vision for a wedding-registry company took four years. Only then was it time to branch out into new products and services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of Everlywell, talks to Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about being a first time entrepreneur, facing uncertainty and believing in your ideas even when no one else does. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can subscribe to What I Know on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inc. Magazine presents What I Know. Please enjoy this first episode with astronaut Scott Kelly. To hear more of What I Know, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best business leaders make a point of staying a step ahead of the competition. Despite the crisis we face today, there is no time to sit back and hope for the best. This is the time for leaders to plan and execute on the strategies and tactics that will not only keep their businesses afloat, but will provide a blueprint for success. In this episode, host Shannon LaNier speaks to Robert Herjavec, founder and CEO of Herjavec group and star of ABC’s Shark Tank, about what the post-world might look like and the steps smart leaders must be taking immediately in order to prosper in what will be a vastly different business landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strong leadership skills have never been more important. While many leaders are panicking or giving up, the best leaders are keeping their businesses alive and poised to thrive again by communicating effectively with their employees and keeping cool in the face of extreme adversity. There’s no getting around the fact that many of the decisions business leaders will be making in the weeks and months to come will be difficult ones.  In this episode, host Shannon LaNier discusses leadership behaviors through the pillars of honesty, transparency and resiliency with Robert Herjavec, founder and CEO of Herjavec group and star of ABC’s Shark Tank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Inc. staff discusses what comes next for small businesses. Plus: A startup that's solving supermarkets' problems. Subscribe to Inc. Magazine's new podcast What I Know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Small Biz Challenge: Where We Grow From Here, host Shannon LaNier talks to Robert Herjavec-- Founder and CEO of the Herjavec group and star of ABC’s Shark Tank -- about creative ways to manage cash flow during this difficult time. Robert provides practical advice for finding the funding to make payroll, keep the supply chain intact, and keep the doors open and the lights on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inc. staffers discuss what it's like to be on lockdown with your business partner, plus the latest on the chaotic loan application process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices