Wild Business Growth Podcast

Shraysi Tandon, the Founder & CEO of Kidsy, joins the show to share her journey from filmmaker & TV reporter to creating the TJ Maxx of baby & kids gear. Hear how to turn your idea into a real business, how to build relationships with suppliers, how to find your niche as a brand, how to make babies & children stop crying, and how to get comfortable on camera. Connect with Shraysi at Kidsy.co, on Instagram @ShopKidsy, and on LinkedIn

Ken Gavranovic, the Serial Entrepreneur and Board Member of Product Genius, joins the show to share his journey from growing up poor to leading several exits. Hear the 80's movie that rocked his world, how to lead your company toward IPO, how to best spend your time as an entrepreneur, how to start a business in the AI space, and how improv helps you as a business owner. Connect with Ken at KenGavranovic.com, ProductGenius.Guru, and on LinkedIn

Dori Yona, the Co-Founder & CEO of SimpleClosure, joins the show to share his journey from captaining battleships to making it easy to shut down your business. Hear how to start a unique business, when it makes sense to close your business, how to shut down your business, how to keep going when you're ready to quit, and The Mexico Whiteboard Story. Connect with Dori at SimpleClosure.com, on LinkedIn, and on X @DoriYona

Sidney Collin, the Co-Founder & President of De Oro Devices, joins the show to share her journey from studying the brain to creating NexStride to help people with Parkinson's and other mobility disorders walk safely. Hear how the brain works, how Parkinson's disease affects the brain & mobility, what you can learn from a failed pitch, how to pivot from B2C to B2B, and the best tacos in Austin. Connect with Sidney at GetNexStride.com and on LinkedIn

Scott Marshall, the President & CEO of Semester at Sea and the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE), joins the show to share his journey from studying abroad in Japan to leading study abroad on a giant ship around the world. Hear the behind-the-scenes of Semester at Sea, how they manage the cost of a cruise ship, the favorite ports, the best Semester at Sea traditions, and the most beautiful sights on and off the water. Connect with Scott at SemesterAtSea.org and on LinkedIn

Nikki Seaman, the Founder & CEO of Freestyle Snacks, joins the show to share her journey from avoiding olives to reimagining olives in delicious snack form. Hear why olives are so polarizing, how to get customer feedback early on, how to differentiate your food brand, The Brineusual of fun facts about olives, and olive the puns. Connect with Nikki at FreestyleSnacking.com and on LinkedIn

Emily Cho, the Founder of Juvie for STEM aka JSTEM, joins the show to share her journey from volunteering in prisons to creating the largest youth-led education technology nonprofit. Hear what makes prison so fascinating, what you can learn from teaching in prison, how to structure your business, how to run a business with limited time, and Emily's work with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Connect with Emily at JuvieForSTEM.org

Len Kretchman, the Creator of Uncrustables and Co-Founder of Bread Kneads, joins the show to share his journey from college football star to creating the crustless PB&J sandwich that became a billion-dollar brand. Hear how his wife Emily came up with the idea for Uncrustables, the insights that made them possible to produce, the moment they knew it would be a success, how they sold Uncrustables to Smucker's, and Len's favorite route to run as a wide receiver. Connect with Len at BreadKneadsLLC.com and Orders@BreadKneads.net

Anne Candido & April Martini, the Co-Founders of ForthRight People and Co-Hosts of Strategic Counsel by ForthRight Business, join the show to share their journey from P&G and the agency world to helping businesses grow through strategy & brand building. Hear how to find your business partner, how to know when it's time to pivot your business, how to use your podcast as your primary marketing strategy, how to batch your podcast recordings, and the song Anne can't stand. Connect with Anne & April on LinkedIn, ForthRight-People.com, and check out Strategic Counsel by ForthRight Business. Stay tuned at the end of this episode for a special announcement about the Wild Business Growth podcast

Greg Fisher, the Kelley Professor of Entrepreneurship and Author of The Principles of Entrepreneurial Progress, joins the show to share his journey from accountant in South Africa to teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs at Indiana University (IU). Hear how to become a college professor, the mistakes many new entrepreneurs make, how to keep things simple as an entrepreneur, how to maintain a sense of urgency, and the moment Greg felt truly at home in Bloomington. Connect with Greg on LinkedIn and check out his book on Amazon

Alan Kraft & Jim Kabakow, the Co-Founders & Managing Partners of Bin 113, join the show to share their journey from starting, growing, and selling Media Horizons to building the wine marketing company for wineries in all 50 states. Hear how to start a marketing agency, how to add more services to your business, how to sell your business, the marketing opportunity for wineries in the US, and Alan & Jim's favorite wine regions outside the US. Connect with Alan & Jim on LinkedIn, Bin113.com, and check out Wine Across America

Ashley Lynn Priore, the Founder & CEO of Queens Gambit and Queenside Ventures, joins the show to share her journey from 4-year-old chess prodigy to teaching girls and NFL teams chess, life, and entrepreneurship skills. Hear how to start a business while you're in school, start multiple businesses, take risks, work with professional sports teams, and Ashley's top chess tips. Connect with Ashley at QGChess.org, QueensideVentures.com, and on LinkedIn

Sasha Siddhartha, the Co-Founder & CTO of Thrive Market, joins the show to share his journey from growing up in several countries to building the online organic grocery store with over 1.6 million members. Hear how to immerse yourself in a new culture, create a company mission that attracts a strong team, use a membership model, invent new recipes, and the longest coding sprint Sasha's ever done. Connect with Sasha at ThriveMarket.com and on LinkedIn

Tom Kubiniec, the President & CEO of SecureIt Tactical, joins the show to share his journey from heavy metal guitarist to creating the global leader in military weapon storage & armory design. Hear how to become the authority in your space, focus on simplicity & innovation, work with the military, the hardest song Tom's ever played on guitar, and what kept him going on a 2,000-foot ice climb. Connect with Tom at SecureItTactical.com and on LinkedIn

Dr. Steven Pritzker, the Creativity Professor, TV Writer, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Creativity, joins the show to share his journey from writing for The Mary Tyler Moore Show to teaching college students how to stay creative. Hear what makes a great writers' room, why creativity is important for entrepreneurs, how to think outside-the-box, how to create a long creative work, and how creativity has changed over the years

Gary Arndt, the Host of Everything Everywhere Daily and Award-Winning Travel Blogger & Photographer, joins the show to share his journey from selling his house to travel the world in 2007 to starting the daily podcast that gets over 1.5 million downloads per month. Hear what you need to know before traveling the world, how to create a daily podcast, how to stay curious, the most fascinating stories Gary's covered, and the era he'd love to time travel to. Connect with Gary at Everything-Everywhere.com and check out his podcast Sign up for Podcaster's Kit 6: https://bloggingconcentrated.com/members/aff/go/max/?i=91

Dr. Andrew Branstetter, the ER Doctor and best brother in the world, joins the show for a very special family edition during Thanksgiving week to be interviewed by his brother, Max Branstetter. Hear his journey to becoming an ER Doctor, how to switch between being nocturnal and daytime, how to handle when patients die, infamous stories of butterflies & birds, and the best lesson he's learned from Mom & Dad. Connect with Andrew on Instagram @AndrewBranstetter

Nadia Neytcheva, the Co-Founder & CEO of Doctorsa, joins the show to share her journey from starting an in-person clinic in Rome to curating English-speaking doctors for no-stress urgent care across over 30 countries. Hear how to start a business in the medical space, how to pivot to an online business, how to optimize your processes, how to expand your business to new countries, and the most confusing English word. Connect with Nadia at Doctorsa.com and on LinkedIn

Jake Peters, the Co-Founder and Chief Product & Technology Officer of Fora, joins the show to share his journey from studying computer science to building The Modern Travel Agency. Hear why the travel industry is ripe for disruption, the tools & flexibility Fora offers travel advisors, how to stand out with your tech, how to write bedtime stories with ChatGPT & AI, and the best travel perks. Connect with Jake at ForaTravel.com and on LinkedIn

Dane Barnes, the Co-Founder of Shibumi, joins the show to share his journey from learning from Adam Grant at UNC to creating The Original Wind Powered Beach Shade. Hear how to start a business with your sibling and/or best friend, how to prototype your product, the NASCAR Wind Tunnel that helped make Shibumi a success, how to keep your eye out for problems & solutions, and Dane's favorite beaches in North Carolina. Connect with Dane at ShibumiShade.com and on LinkedIn

Warning: the activities discussed in this episode are extremely dangerous. Vitaliy Raskalov, the Urban Explorer, Photographer, and Founder of On The Roofs, joins the show to share his journey from climbing trees as a kid to scaling the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Hear how he pulled off his most famous climbs, how to find your courage, how to be strategic with your social media content, whether he ever gets afraid of heights, and Wild tales from his motorcycle adventures across Asia. Connect with Vitaliy on Instagram @Raskalov and YouTube @OnTheRoofs

Hannah Redmond, the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Happy Box, joins the show to share her journey from creating a breakup care package for her sister Ariel to building the one-stop shop for gifting with her. Hear the Valentine's Day breakup that inspired Happy Box, how to build an eCommerce website, how to create your own fulfillment center, how to start a business with your sibling, and some fun facts about SNICKERS. Connect with Hannah at HappyBoxStore.com, on Instagram @HappyBox, and on LinkedIn

Maxime Barbier, the Co-Founder and CEO of Timeleft, joins the show to share his journey from going all in on vertical video to connecting strangers for dinner around the world every Wednesday. Hear the logistics behind Timeleft, how they match people, what's driven their growth, how to keep your business concept strong and simple, and the Sydney Segment of operations questions. Connect with Maxime at Timeleft.com, on LinkedIn, and Instagram @MaximeBarbier

Cara Bognar, the Founder and CEO of Top Tier Lessons, joins the show to share her journey from Captain of the University of Illinois Swim Team to matching student athletes with parents looking for sports lessons for their kids. Hear the impact of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), how to expand your business to multiple cities, how to keep the hours flexible for your team, the hardest swimming stroke, and what Cara learned growing up as the oldest of 5 siblings. Connect with Cara at TopTierLessons.com and on LinkedIn

Ben Erwin, the CEO of Charitybuzz, joins the show to share his journey from deciding between money and nonprofits to leading the provider of once-in-a-lifetime experiences that support charities. Hear how to inspire your team and customers, provide magical experiences, create new offerings, start a business with a charity component, and the most memorable experiences offered on Charitybuzz. Connect with Ben at Charitybuzz.com Register for the International Podcast Day webinar presented by Graphy: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/3017266903021/WN_s3ErtxdgRAaSaHwxxu4sWg

Jess Weiner, the Cultural Expert and Founder and CEO of Talk to Jess, joins the show to share her journey from playwright to advising the world's leading brands on the issues facing women and girls today. Hear the story behind the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and the rebrand of Barbie, how to establish yourself as an expert, how to get your first big client, how to decide if a risk is worth taking as a brand, and what happened when Jess missed that ferry in Crete. Connect with Jess on LinkedIn, on Instagram @ImJessWeiner, and at JessWeiner.com

Jamila Musayeva, the Certified Etiquette Coach and Author, joins the show to share her journey from learning several languages to teaching etiquette to over a million subscribers on YouTube. Hear the most difficult language to learn, the rules of business etiquette, why etiquette and first impressions are so important, how to grow your YouTube Channel, and the biggest etiquette mistake people make. Connect with Jamila at JamilaMusayeva.com, on YouTube @JamilaMusayeva, on Instagram @Jamila_Musayeva, and on Patreon

Liz Picarazzi, the Founder and CEO of CITIBIN, joins the show to share her journey from feeling trapped as an entrepreneur in the corporate world to creating the award-winning brand of trash enclosures and package lockers. Hear how to start a side hustle, how to know when it's time to close your business, Liz's quest for the rat-proof trash enclosure, how to work with your significant other, and fun facts about trash. Connect with Liz at CITIBIN.com, on Instagram @CITIBIN, and on LinkedIn

Ross Simmonds, the Founder and CEO of Foundation, joins the show to share his journey from blogging about fantasy football to becoming the go-to expert and marketing agency owner on content distribution. Hear how to go on a successful workcation, how to hire your first employee, how to approach sharing out your content, what you can learn from the top deathbed regrets, and the best fantasy football season of all time. Connect with Ross and check out Create Once, Distribute Forever at RossSimmonds.com

Wilder, Wilder, Wilder. Hear special reunion interviews with returning Wild entrepreneurs, fan-favorite moments from Episodes 201-299, and behind-the-scenes bloopers in this Episode 300 Special of the Wild Business Growth Podcast. Hear how your favorite Wild entrepreneurs are growing their businesses through speaking, books, magazines, podcasts, acquisitions, teamwork, operations, innovation, versatility, company culture, inspiration, creativity, and more. Enjoy the weird voices, whistling, singing, false starts, dad jokes, and voice cracks. Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur shares the wildly creative and unusual ways they grew their business - and teaches you how to do it, too. In this Trailer, meet your Host, Max Branstetter, hear what to expect on the Wild Business Growth Podcast, and discover some of the fan-favorite episodes, including Nancy Cartwright aka Bart Simpson, Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, Alli Webb of Drybar, Stacy Madison of Stacy's Pita Chips, Scott Hanson of NFL RedZone and Gold Zone, Joe Pellettieri of Big Mouth Billy Bass, and Susan Bennett aka The Voice of Siri. Follow or Subscribe to the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite podcast platform, leave a rating or review if you're feeling extra Wild, and Subscribe on YouTube @MaxBranstetter for the video versions

Emily Vaca, the Founder and CEO of MINNIDIP, joins the show to share her journey from living and breathing design to creating the original designer inflatable pool. Hear how to find a manufacturer for your product, perfect your R&D process, get distribution in major retailers, the most beautiful sight from a Chicago roof deck, and some zingers from the Queen of Puns. Connect with Emily at MINNIDIP.com and on Instagram @MINNIDIP and @ShopLaVaca

Ahmed Beshry, the Co-Founder of Caper, joins the show to share his journey from Y Combinator (YC) to creating the smart shopping cart. Hear how to figure out your most valuable product attributes, when to start pitching customers, how Caper got acquired by Instacart, the biggest difference between universities in the US and Canada, and the element of chemistry Ahmed geeks out about. Connect with Ahmed at Caper.Ai and Instacart.com

Dr. Jason Wersland, the Founder and Chief Wellness Officer of Therabody, joins the show to share his journey from scary motorcycle accident to creating the world-leading wellness company. Hear how he created the first Theragun, the key decisions that led to the success of Therabody, how to expand your product lines, the athlete he can't believe he gets to work with, and the song he plays best on piano. Connect with Dr. Jason at Therabody.com, on Instagram @DrJasonWersland, and on LinkedIn

Margo Jordan, the Founder and CEO of Enrichly, joins the show to share her journey from serving in the Army to helping kids boost their self-esteem through games and e-learning. Hear why self-esteem is so important, how to find your ideal client, how to build tech as a non-tech founder, the creative games on Enrichly, and her favorite video game of all-time. Connect with Margo at Enrichly.World, on Instagram @Enrich.Ly, and on LinkedIn

Priscila Martinez, the Founder and CEO of The Brand Agency, joins the show to share her journey from the world's most beautiful college campus to starting the award-winning PR agency that works with Fortune 5 clients and celebrities. Hear how to work with bigger clients, how to land big features as a startup, the best way to pitch press, how to keep your finger on the pulse of pop culture, and the celebrity she was most starstruck by. Connect with Priscila at TheBrand-Agency.com, on Instagram @PrisMartinez, and on LinkedIn

Hilah Stahl, the Co-Founder and CEO of Spoak, joins the show to share her journey from working on bizarre reality TV shows to creating the easy online platform for interior design. Hear how to build software in a new category, identify the personas of your customers, recognize when to stop, load the dishwasher like Tetris, and the secret to making delicious maple syrup. Connect with Hilah at Spoak.com, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram @HilahsThings and @Spoak

Bill Shufelt, the Co-Founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Co., joins the show to share his journey from working at a top hedge fund to starting the biggest non-alcoholic craft brewery in the US. Hear how he discovered the opportunity for non-alcoholic craft beer, how to reinvent a product category, what's driven the success of Athletic Brewing, the story behind their flagship Run Wild IPA, and his favorite bars and restaurants in StamVegas. Connect with Bill at AthleticBrewing.com and on LinkedIn

Dal LaMagna, the Founder of Tweezerman, joins the show to share his journey from starting Tweezerman with $500 to selling the iconic tweezer business for $57 million. Hear the first person you should hire, the Equilateral Triangle of Focus for your business, why you should fear success more than failure, the best lasagna Dal LaMagna's ever had, and his favorite color of Tweezerman tweezers. Connect with Dal at DalLaMagna.com and RaisingEyebrows.com

Stephen Lease, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Octopus of goodr, joins the show to share his journey from ultradistance marathons to creating the best running sunglasses ever invented. Hear how a 100-miler works, how he comes up with goodr's iconic designs and names, how to grow your flock of flamingos aka your team, how to create a fun place to work, and how to find your spirit animal. Connect with Stephen at goodr.com, on LinkedIn, on Instagram @StephenLease, and check out the CULTURE goodr podcast

Tina Sharkey, the Advisor, Professor, and Co-Founder of Brandless and iVillage, joins the show to share her journey from working at Sesame Street to disrupting the categories that demand our attention today. Hear how she got the job with Sesame Workshop, how to manage your time as an advisor, when you are most productive, how she coined the term social media, and the Sesame Street character who made her most starstruck. Connect with Tina at TinaSharkey.com

Dr. Juan Salinas, the Founder and CEO of P-nuff, joins the show to share his journey from bodybuilder to creating the peanut protein puff and ripping off his shirt on Shark Tank. Hear what Mark Cuban is like in real life, how to find the right mix of ingredients, how to get distribution in major retailers, how sports and fitness help you as an entrepreneur, and the best food from Honduras. Connect with Juan at Pnuff.com and on social media @PnuffCrunch

Kordel France, the Founder and CTO of Theta Diagnostics, joins the show to share his journey from self-driving tractors to developing the sense of smell in robots and machines. Hear how smell sensors work, the top use cases for machines that can smell, how to convince potential clients your technology isn't too futuristic, the dog breed with the best sense of smell, and the one scent Kordel would smell for the rest of his life. Connect with Kordel at ThetaDx.Ai and on LinkedIn

Sam Rosen, the Co-Founder and CEO of Deskpass, joins the show to share his journey from starting a rollerblading delivery service growing up to making coworking spaces easier to reserve than ever. Hear how he started the first coworking space in Chicago, the most creative coworking spaces, how to manage thousands of customers, his favorite lessons from his creative parents, and the best things to do in the Chicago River. Connect with Sam at SammyRosen.com and Deskpass.com

Erika De Santi, Co-Founder of WeRoad, joins the show to share her journey from a life-changing trip to Peru to creating the group travel and adventure company used by hundreds of thousands of Millennials. Hear how to design the trip of a lifetime, build a community, embrace Plan B, the most unique trips on WeRoad, and the hardest Italian words to pronounce. Connect with Erika at WeRoad.com and on LinkedIn

Scott Dikkers, Founder of The Onion and Bestselling Author of How to Write Funny, joins the show to share his journey from cartoonist to building one of the funniest newspapers and websites in history. Hear the time he got stalked by Saul Goodman, how The Onion comes up with its headlines, how it evolved formats over the years, how to write funny jokes, and his all-time favorite article from The Onion. Connect with Scott at ScottDikkers.Substack.com

Greg Berry, the Founder and CEO of Municibid and Surplus.com, joins the show to share his journey from city councilman to creating the online government surplus auction marketplace. Hear the most random items ever sold on Municibid, how to manage an online marketplace, whether to focus on buyers or sellers, how to nail a cross-country road trip in an RV, and a little Breaking Bad. Connect with Greg at Municibid.com, Surplus.com, and on social media @Municibid and @GregMBerry

Katie Thomson, the Co-Founder and CEO of Square Baby, joins the show to share her journey from first-ever Nutritionist at Starbucks to creating the only organic baby food offering 100% daily nutrition. Hear how to leave your dream job, come up with fun and delicious flavors, find customers, how we develop taste preferences, and the best flavor combinations. Connect with Katie at SquareBaby.com and on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @SquareBabyFood

David Sauers, the Co-Founder of Royal Restrooms, joins the show to share his journey from porta-potty horror story to creating the luxury portable restroom franchise across the country. Hear how to differentiate your product and service, find your target customer, start a franchise, unusual fun facts about toilets, and the most notable celebrity weddings Royal Restrooms has satisfied. Connect with David at RoyalRestrooms.com and on LinkedIn

Camilla Opperman Morse, the Founder and CEO of Nimbus, joins the show to share her journey from selling late night grilled cheese and cookie dough to cooking up the innovative shared kitchen company. Hear how to run your business more efficiently, expand to multiple locations, raise funding from angel investors, the best business lessons from gymnastics and piano, and a magical number of Harry Potter references. Connect with Camilla at NimbusKitchen.com, social media @NimbusKitchen, and LinkedIn

Nicole Smith, the Founder and CEO of Flytographer, joins the show to share her journey from selling her car to stay in business to creating the vacation photo marketplace that's captured over 4 million memories in nearly 400 cities around the world. Hear how to sleep on a trampoline, turn your side hustle into a full-time business, stay easy to work with, run a global company, and a special Travel Edition of Rapid-Fire Q&A. Connect with Nicole at Flytographer.com, on Instagram @Flytographer and @FlytographerLife, and on LinkedIn