Podcast appearances and mentions of lemon perfect

After a challenging 2024, Lemon Perfect knew it was time for a bold reset. Founder Yanni Hufnagel led the charge with a reengineered bottle and improved formula, but the brand's comeback wouldn't be complete without a new look. Enter Paula Grant and creative studio Suite9C, tasked with developing a daring visual identity refresh. This is the story of how a brand turned setback into spotlight. Also in this episode: the hosts unpack Guayaki's unprecedented rebrand to Yerba Madre and what it means for the category-defining brand. They also dive into Gopuff's new GoXL product and whether “value” is shaping up to be a defining theme of 2025. Show notes: 0:45: All Rain, All Rain, All Rain. A Dead Rabbit, A Great Thing. Madre Musing. XLerated Delivery. – Where's that Texas heat? The hosts encounter a rainy, gloomy Austin, but at least The Dead Rabbit delivers on every front. Prior to Taste Radio's meetup later in the day, they discuss Guayaki's rebrand to Yerba Madre and why they're excited to hear from Ghost co-founder Dan Lourenco at BevNET Live. John professes his love for Gopuff, but is he excited about the prospect of buying 12 rolls of toilet paper from the delivery platform? Ray feels left out of a meeting with an Austin-based founder of chai drinks. 12:55: Paula Grant, Founder, Suite9C & Yanni Hufnagel, Founder, Lemon Perfect – Paula chats about Taste Radio's NYC meetup and stealthy afterparty, before Yanni talks about how Lemon's Perfect's product quality issues spurred the company's refreshed formulation and decision to pursue a brand refresh. Paula Paula explains why she rejects the traditional “agency vs. founder” model, instead favoring deeply collaborative, in-the-room design processes. Yanni, a self-described detail obsessive, talks about their intensely collaborative design process, from aligning on visual simplicity to debating tiny but crucial details, like color balance, label hierarchy, and shelf visibility. Paula emphasizes the importance of powerful design that is about aesthetics, storytelling, brand trust, and commercial performance. They both discuss how the refreshed identity positions Lemon Perfect for future innovation and category expansion. Brands in this episode: Yerba Madre, Ghost, Uncrustables, Chobani, Kimbala, Lemon Perfect, Vitaminwater, BodyArmor

Yanni Hufnagel, a former college basketball coach turned entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect, a fast-growing enhanced water brand. With a background in coaching at top programs like Harvard and Vanderbilt, Hufnagel applied his competitive drive and leadership skills to disrupt the beverage industry with a health-focused, innovative brand.Lemon Perfect is a fast-growing beverage brand redefining the enhanced water category with its refreshing, zero-sugar, lemon-infused drinks. Made from organic lemons and packed with antioxidants and electrolytes, Lemon Perfect delivers great taste and hydration without artificial ingredients, appealing to health-conscious consumers seeking a flavorful, better-for-you alternative.Lemon Perfect offers a lineup of refreshing, zero-sugar, lemon-infused beverages made from organic, hand-picked lemons. Packed with antioxidants, electrolytes, and vitamin C, the brand's flavors include classics like Original Lemon and fan-favorites like Dragon Fruit Mango, Peach Raspberry, and Blueberry Acai. The drinks are cold-pressed, keto-friendly, and designed for guilt-free hydration.Lemon Perfect has rapidly expanded its distribution footprint, securing shelf space in major retailers like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, Publix, and Costco, while also growing its presence in convenience stores, gyms, and online marketplaces nationwide.Yanni was inspired to create the Lemon Perfect brand in 2017 after a chance encounter with a man who introduced him to drinking organic lemon water each morning as part of his daily routine. Squeezing and juicing lemons each morning was a hassle and Yanni was determined to create a product that took the work out of drinking organic lemon water. Seven years after launching the brand, Lemon Perfect has sold more than 100 million bottles.In early 2020, Beyonce featured a bottle of Lemon Perfect in one of her Instagram posts. It gave the brand a boost. In April 2022, she became a key investor in the brand. QUOTES “So many parallels between coaching and entrepreneurship and running a business. At the core, you're telling a story. Being a great storyteller is probably the most important skill you can have as a recruiter and as a college baseball coach. [As an entrepreneur] being able to tell a story is also important, and it all starts with the product.” (Yanni) “There's a difference between selling and presenting. I've always felt like presenting was more important than selling. I've always tried to present our story and vision and not sell it.” (Yanni) “I was having lunch with an angel investor and I said ‘John, what do you think about this idea?' and he said ‘I love it. Anything you can build that captures a piece of someone's daily routine is worth going for. You can build a business around it.' “ (Yanni) “We've sold 100 million bottles. How do you sell one billion? In America and beyond, they don't read words, they read pictures on packaging. Putting fruit on the (packaging) was a big decision. Simplifying our message.” (Yanni) “We had an incredible entrepreneurial culture for the first five years and then we lost our way a little bit. I've been focused in the last six months or so on refinding our entrepreneurial way. When you're building a beverage and you have to scratch and claw and fight and bleed every day, you need that.” (Yanni) “You have to have a relentless motor and I think we have a group that will do that.” (Yanni)

Collaborations – the good, the strange, and the wow – anchor this episode. The hosts debate whether a tomato-based wine co-created by Pizza Hut can help change the fortunes of a sluggish industry and discuss an unusual, but effective, marketing campaign featuring a partnership between sex workers and non-alcoholic spirits. This episode features an interview with Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou, the co-founders of better-for-you gummy brand Better Sour, which recently collaborated with Disney on a new product that celebrates the release of the movie “Moana 2.” Show notes: 0:25: Haven't Seen It. Just Ask, We'll Answer. Stop Wine-ing. Mike's New Meme. Brodo FTW. Breakfast Shrimp. — No, not everyone has streamed Moana. The hosts urge listeners not to miss out on the upcoming events and share tips on how attendees can prepare for them. They're also divided on a libation created to pair with a popular Italian dish. Ray highlights The Free Spirit Co.'d provocative take on non-alc naysayers before spreading the wealth of broth sent to the office. The hosts also riff on fruit punch and Jacqui's unusual first meal of the day. 27:55: Bella Hughes & Semira Nikou, Co-Founders, Better Sour – Bella and Semira talk about their backstory as friends and founders and the genesis of Better Sour, the brand's growth strategy and how it's positioned to appeal to modern consumers. They also discussed the company's partnership with Disney and how they prepared for the rollout of the new flavor and how they're maintaining Better Sour's focus and trajectory amid a wave of new opportunities for the brand. Brands in this episode: Better Sour, Minor Figures, Proxies, Basic Cellars, Lemonday, Lemon Perfect, Plezi, Hawaiian Punch, Hodo, Scott & Jon's

Andy is president of Gellert Global Group. The company imports more than 5,500 unique food items from more than 60 countries and is one of the largest food importers in the world. Gellert Global Group is home to 12 companies, led by Atalanta, the largest privately-held food importer in the U.S.Gellert Global is a third-generation family-run business. The Gellert Global Group comprises many of the leading North American food-importing companies and has been importing food products for over 100 years. The combined revenues of the Group exceed $1.7 billion.The Gellert Global family includes Andy's sister, brother and cousin. Andy's father and uncle are also part of the company. Andy's father, George, was recently inducted into the New Jersey business hall of fame. Gellert Global's goal is to be a part of every food and beverage experience. Andy and his team use a variety of factors to determine which products and brands to partner with, including trends and the needs of customers. QUOTES “Some of these family businesses and you hear about fighting and people not getting along. I think we're successful because we keep growing and there's enough things for everyone to do and for everyone to bring value.” (Andy) “You want (joining the family business) to happen organically. It's a fun business. There's opportunities for (family) to join if they want. There's no obligation to come in. We'd like them to come in, but we don't want to make a rule that they have to come in.” (Andy) “Network is important to my father. I learned that from him early on. Being a part of YPO (Young President's Organization), I love leveraging my network. I like investing in early-stage CPG's and helping and leading them to other opportunities.” (Andy) “We don't want to lose direction. We're very big and we're happy where we are but we're not in a rush to get to two billion. We're going to get there smart. If it means pairing down and doing SKU rationalization to be more profitable, all the better.” (Andy) “It's really all about efficiency. As you get bigger you can be more efficient, but you have to be diligent.” (Andy) “We're an importer of products so our products are expensive already. We're always looking for ways to (save). You always have to turn over rocks to look for more opportunities.” (Andy) “I love eating. I love food experiences. I love being surprised. I like going to a chef and saying ‘Just surprise me. Just give me what you do best.'” (Andy)  TRANSCRIPT 00:00.45Andy GellertBye. 00:01.87vigorbrandingHey there, welcome to Fork Tales. I’m ah Michael Pavone, and I’m happy to really get a chance to talk to a good friend of mine. ah Today we have Andy Gellert here. He’s a good friend I’ve known for and respected for a long, long time. Andy’s the president of Gellert Global Group, one of the largest food importers in the world. ah They import more than 2,500 product lines from more than 60 countries. Andy, thank you so much for being here. 00:27.05Andy GellertMike, always a pleasure, always great seeing you, and nice seeing your smiling face, and I love hanging out with you. We’re always having a lot of fun together. 00:34.39vigorbrandingYeah, absolutely. You know, if they if they have music for this in the beginning, you know, I was going to, I was going to change up our, our forktails music and have a little. 00:41.11Andy GellertListen, I don’t like to brag about my my my my my my my my my beautiful voice. where You saw me on stage with Welcome Pepper a long time ago. I hung that up a long time ago. 00:52.98Andy GellertI got straight into the food business, Mike. I can’t cant just think my life away, you know? 00:54.81vigorbrandingYeah. The little salt and pepper in the beginning of this thing i gets us off on everything and everything. The thing is, Andy, I have known you for a long time, but I love doing these interviews because I always learn more. so it’s like I might have seen you over the years at these shows and get to hang out and you know have a drink together, but you know when you’re digging a little deeper about the family business and about the food industry and and all of that, it’s just I’m always blown away. and your Your company and your family, which is the company, is absolutely amazing. 01:21.57vigorbrandingSo tell us a little bit about Gellert Global Group and know what they do. 01:24.57Andy Gellertbut i mean like Next year we’ll celebrate our 80th birthday and we’re very excited. and As I said, you know I’m third generation and I live i live food. It’s a passion of mine. I love all aspects of the food industry. and you know like My grandfather started this in 1945. 01:46.38Andy Gellertimporting meats from Eastern Europe and seafood. We’ve grown and got other lines of businesses in. We’re selling food service, retail, manufacturing, cruise line. 01:57.56Andy GellertWe’re now involved in, you know thanks to YPO, I’m i’m involved in the franchise business. By the end of the year, we’ll have 55 guys. Thanks to our good friend Dan Rowe. 02:05.09vigorbrandingWow. Yeah. 02:07.17Andy GellertWe’re introducing their first one. And you know we invest in food businesses and it’s just, ah We’re all about food. I tell everyone I hit my belly, it’s this is R and&D. 02:17.29Andy GellertThis is R and&D. I mean, 02:20.68vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. Now, you know, I know family owned, super important. I know you treat everyone like family because I’ve seen you around ah customers, employees, the whole thing, but your dad, he is an older gentleman, but still very much involved in the business. Is that correct? 02:35.09Andy Gellert86. I went to his house to play tennis at 6 o’clock in the morning today. We play with people from our company. He loves it like he’s, my mom goes away for the summer. 02:45.63Andy GellertHe’s having, ah lot this summer is incredible. He’s 86. Every, twice a week, he has people from the company come over and have dinner and just different groups of people. 02:52.74vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 02:53.86Andy GellertAnd and he loves what he does. It’s it’s it’s really it’s really an honor to to to work with him and and watch him. he loves He loves his suppliers. 03:04.49Andy GellertWe love our bankers. We love our employees. It’s all about, you know, yeah he’s all, he’s all about people. And it’s really great. 03:11.81vigorbrandingYeah. 03:12.97Andy GellertI said this summer at the fancy food show, he was honored with a lifetime achievement award. And it’s such a good honor to see him up there and enjoying all the success of the role we’ve done together. 03:22.47vigorbrandingWell, it’s so well deserved. He deserved that honor. The company’s amazing. But you should give him a break. I mean, I think you you put sneakers on him. 03:28.24Andy GellertHe loves, 03:28.57vigorbrandingi had He had sneakers on in the booth to run around. I mean, you know. 03:32.00Andy Gellertyou know, listen, like I said, he works out before we play tennis in the morning and He’s all about the next activity and what we’re doing next. So, you know. 03:39.84vigorbrandingThat’s it’s fantastic. how many So how many members of the family are currently working in the company? 03:45.07Andy GellertSo today we have my sister, my brother, and my cousin in my generation. And my cousin who, my other cousin who runs the Five Guide business. And then I have my father and my uncle. 03:56.25Andy GellertSo there’s, you know, three, six of us, you know. 03:58.55vigorbrandingthat’s great 03:59.47Andy GellertAnd we’re getting ready for the third generation. 03:59.41vigorbrandingand look 04:01.81Andy GellertHopefully, you know, there are nine kids in the next generation. Hopefully one of them or two of them will come in and we’re we’re excited. It’s all about, you know, we love what we do and there’s a lot to do. 04:12.31Andy GellertAnd, you know, some of these family businesses, you know, the family, you hear about them and they’re fighting and they’re not getting a along. 04:18.50vigorbrandingThat’s 04:19.38Andy GellertI think we’re being successful because we keep growing and there’s enough things that everyone can do and everyone brings value that no one’s stepping each other’s toes. 04:25.06vigorbrandinggreat. 04:27.57Andy GellertWe’re all different, we but we appreciate each other’s opinion and listening to each other. We argue, but, you know, we all, we we get her off our chest and we move forward. You know? 04:36.10vigorbrandingWould you go out and play tennis, right, and solve it over the own tennis court? 04:37.88Andy GellertExactly. We stopped it on the court. We stopped it on the court. 04:40.98vigorbrandingSo you the kids, are are they are they interested? are they old not I don’t know how old they are. Are they old enough to be getting close? 04:47.10Andy GellertSo I think um my daughter my daughter is a social worker therapist. I don’t think she’s going to come in, you know. But my, you know, my other two ah potentially will come in. 04:57.29Andy Gellertone One probably more likely than the other. 04:57.44vigorbrandingMm-hmm. 04:59.68Andy GellertOther is in the real estate industry. And then my sister’s kids potentially were there and my brother’s kids were a little bit younger. So I definitely think at least three or four will come in for the next generation. But in the meantime, we keep growing and getting bigger and and looking at opportunities and we have fun. Why why are we doing it? 05:17.12vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Well, so in in your situation, I mean, we’re we’re of a generation, you and I, I’ll say that, like, did you, did you have a choice or did you always know that this is what I’m going to do or I want to do it? Or did you, did dad put a little pressure on you and say, Hey, look, you know, you got to do your thing. 05:32.22Andy GellertI did everything wrong in the family business. youre They all that go out and get the outside experience. And I came right in. 05:38.08vigorbrandingyeahh Yeah. 05:38.43Andy GellertAnd it was difficult. I’m not going to say it was a piece of cake. And my brother was a lot. 05:41.30vigorbrandingYeah. 05:44.06Andy Gellertyou know He went to business school. He went to law school. He worked in private banking. And then he came in. So it it made a lot of sense. And my sister, the same thing. yeah I did everything wrong but it’s good to know, it’s good to do it because then you know you’re not going to repeat it. 05:57.78Andy GellertSo you know my son who who definitely looks forward to maybe joining one day says he want he wants to spend three or four years you know the outside and coming in. 05:58.16vigorbrandingYeah. 06:05.42vigorbrandingyeah 06:08.26Andy GellertHe says he doesn’t like his boss I’m like that’s good get used to it. you Get used to it better than me you know. 06:12.52vigorbrandingGet used to it, right? 06:17.21vigorbrandingWell, you know, that’s I had the same rule with my girls. I mean, I don’t know that they’ll ever want to come into it. Why would anyone would go to an advertising agency or come into a marketing firm? But if they would, I said they had to work somewhere for two years and get one promotion. 06:28.93vigorbrandingAnd thankfully, they’ve both been doing that. 06:29.31Andy GellertYeah. 06:31.08vigorbrandingIn fact, they’ve been doing it for a while now, so maybe they’re not interested. So ah they may have dodged the bullet or maybe I have. But I just think our generation was one of those things where, you know, yeah, go do what you want to do, but you’re coming into the company kind of thing, you know. 06:43.02vigorbrandingI started my own business, I didn’t go to my dad’s company but I mean it was one of those things where I just think a lot of folks, it was just I guess different. ah Now I think with, I’ll say with my daughters and probably your kids like go out and do your thing and if you’re interested talk to me, don’t you know, don’t don’t not talk to me about it but you know, no pressure, that kind of thing. 07:00.05vigorbrandingYou know, it’s just a little different. 07:01.20Andy GellertYeah you want it to happen organically and you know listen he he comes around a lot of the meals and the family all gets together and a lot of time is talking about work so he’s interested and you know he spends weekends he came to the fancy food show they all came I can see what’s going on and it’s it’s a fun business so I think there’s opportunities for them in the future if they want but there’s no pressure we’re growing we we have a lot of we’ve done a great job of hiring a lot of outside ah you know ah 07:03.16vigorbrandingYeah. 07:19.45vigorbrandingYeah. 07:30.22Andy Gellertah you know professionals to help us run the business and they don’t have to come. re We’re doing well and you know they’re all going to enjoy the from the fruitfuls of the business as as it as it gets bigger but there’s no obligation for them to come in. We like them to come in but we don’t want to make a rule if they have to come in. 07:48.07vigorbrandingYeah, but on that note, and we’ll jump in more about the business, but on the family side, you mentioned earlier that we’re both in YPO. And we both know that a lot of YPO businesses are family owned businesses. And there’s there are challenges, right, with being family owned and led. I mean, you know, what, you know, can you talk a little bit about that? 08:05.93Andy GellertListen, it’s hard, but thank God for YPO. To me, it’s one of the best opportunities of my life. I really enjoyed all the people like yourself and getting involved in the Food Network and my New Jersey Forum. 08:23.49Andy GellertThese guys are my board of directors and my own personal board of directors. 08:26.70vigorbrandingyou 08:28.15Andy GellertThey really helped me grow. where you know where I was i was being stubborn, they told me to relax, where I was not being aggressive enough, they pushed me. And it’s just been a great environment for me to to prosper as a leader because of YPL. 08:43.66vigorbrandingThat’s great. When I know your food and beverage form or that group and boy, you know, I can’t believe you learned anything from them. So ah you guys have a group of, you guys have ah ah a group of, uh, of, uh, cherished individuals, yeah characters. 08:49.65Andy GellertThank you. 08:56.99Andy GellertWe’ve got a great group and we’ve been together for over, you know, some of us back almost 16, 18 years and it’s great. 08:58.20vigorbrandingYes, you do. 09:03.87Andy GellertI love seeing the guys and we don we try not to miss meetings and and we’re supportive of each other. 09:06.99vigorbrandingYeah, it’s cool. Yeah, I’ve had a couple of them one here, so it’s ah it’s been great. They’re they’re they’re like the characters, that’s for sure. So yeah and you mentioned your father got an award at Fancy Food. I was there at Fancy Food this year, and what it’s a great honor. He’s also a member of the New Jersey Business Hall of Fame. 09:24.61Andy GellertYeah, please listen, though we it’s not easy. I think we’re the 11th largest privately held business in New Jersey. We’re very proud of that. and we you know it’s We work hard and he deserves to be honored for what what what he’s accomplished. 09:39.11vigorbrandingYeah. i mean so As I was saying earlier, you know I get to meet folks and we get to see you know different folks at different shows. and i had i i mean I knew you ran a great, important company. I had no idea the size and scale. so you know on Your vision is to be a part of every food experience. and you know Well, I will say that sounds like a really you know audacious goal, right? But with your company, you kind of are. i mean you have you have you have You have a franchise, you have you import your frozen food, you have CPG, you have a private, I mean, it’s it’s incredible. 10:13.44vigorbrandingCan you talk a little bit about the breadth and the different companies within your organization? 10:15.87Andy GellertI mean, it’s exciting and I think we’ve grown over the years through acquisitions. I think the last 18 months we made three acquisitions. We’re probably closing on one the next month and have two on the table that we’re looking at. So growth is, you know, we’re always looking at mergers and acquisitions. And we like to say, listen, private equity, if you’re a family business, you want to stay apart, you know, how enjoy the ride, take some money off the table and join our family instead of private equity where they 10:44.81vigorbrandingYeah. 10:45.10Andy Gellertchange your business up and listen if you want to cash out you can always cash out but if you want to enjoy the ride a little bit longer and take some money off the table we’ve been very successful about people wanting to join a family business and ours is that we’re like a large very large family business so we get to a lot of opportunities to look at business deals. 11:05.69vigorbrandingYeah, and you know, ah your your ah passion for the business and your your love of people, it sort of precedes you. Like I’ve always seen that about you, your energy and i it’s not, it’s not, it’s not artificial. 11:18.40vigorbrandingYou do that. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen you at the booth when I’m standing walking the shows and stuff. And it’s, ah it’s really kind of ah really cool. And I’m sure that’s a compliment to your father and and I’m sure your whole family’s like that. But you do treat everybody like family. 11:29.62vigorbrandingAnd I think that’s ah admirable. 11:30.12Andy Gellertbut You know, network is always um is important to my father. I learned that from him early on. And being part of YPO, I love leveraging my network and not for myself, but helping people. 11:39.05vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. 11:41.20Andy GellertI like investing in early stage CPGs and helping these young people and watching their passion and, you know, leading them to other opportunities. I love putting two people together and let let them prosper. 11:53.58Andy GellertIt’s it’s really a ah pleasure of mine, you know, watching that happen. 11:58.17vigorbrandingYeah, well, and that’s, that leads to success, right? 12:00.84Andy GellertIt’s really pure joy. 12:00.82vigorbrandingYou know, you help people out. 12:01.68Andy Gellertat You’re 100%. 12:01.74vigorbrandingYeah, absolutely. So, and I will say, ah you know, I’ve been informed with you and you were a treasure and valuables all get out. And the amount of people you know, and and the connections you have are second to none. 12:14.02Andy GellertWell, 12:14.00vigorbrandingAnd you know, 12:14.46Andy Gellertwe do have a good friend in LA who like to compare. 12:16.32vigorbrandingokay 12:17.18Andy GellertMy good friend, our good friend Clara, who probably knows one more than I do. 12:20.44vigorbrandingyeah hey 12:22.30Andy Gellertjob 12:23.31vigorbrandingheard I would always keep score when we’d be talking, like who knew who or who knew the other person better or whatever else, but I will say, yeah I’m excited for you to be on here because I know my podcast now will be, I’ll rival the the football games, you know the upcoming football games for for for viewership because because of you. 12:34.55Andy GellertYeah. 12:38.34vigorbrandingSo I just, I appreciate that. So, but but back when companies, though you have frozen, you have CPG. can you Can you talk a little bit about the different types of of ah products? 12:46.45Andy GellertYeah, so we’re in the frozen fruits, frozen vegetables. You know, we just actually, a few years ago, we invested in a company called Cafe Spice. I made him join YPO and they make ethnic meals. um I just, you know, we did ah the Bloomberg of Food, the Food Institute, 13:04.37Andy GellertWe made a minority investment in there. 13:04.43vigorbrandingYep. 13:06.90Andy Gellertwere you know We do a lot of different retail, private label, manufacturing. We’re just trying to leverage all the everything on a plate. look at you know we’re We’re looking at an olive business, a rice business. There’s so many opportunities out there. We just want to add on to our great team here. We’ve got great people. 13:27.64Andy Gellertah We have great sales people, great buyers, and you know, finance. And we just, we can do some more. So we’re looking for more opportunities. 13:33.69vigorbrandingMm hmm. That’s great. Do you need an ad agency? I’m just kidding. 13:37.95Andy GellertWe’ve said, a lot of us not our own brand. We do have some brands that we, that are ours. 13:43.18vigorbrandingYeah. 13:43.84Andy GellertAnd we bought, we bought two brands from, from UNFI, Mountain Vicos that was owned by UNFI and Sonoma Cheese. 13:48.53vigorbrandingMm hmm. 13:52.16Andy GellertSo we do, we do work on our brand. So we, you know, we and um we have a marketing department. 13:54.60vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 13:56.46Andy GellertWe got a, get you more engaged, Micah. 13:58.46vigorbrandingThere you go. 13:58.78Andy GellertI’ll get to that. 13:59.35vigorbrandingHey, I’m always here for that. That’s awesome. 14:01.26Andy GellertFor even your Philly cheesesteak, we’ll have a meeting, you know, that’s all I need. 14:03.59vigorbrandingYou got it. Hey, that’s done. No no no problem there. So when you’re when you’re building and you’re always looking for these new new products or companies, ah yeah what when you want to import them, what what factors are you looking at? 14:15.50vigorbrandinglike I mean, obviously you you go to need a lot of things, there but you’re in so many different places. What what is it that you’re you’re kind of like, what’s on your checklist at the top of the checklist? 14:23.65Andy GellertSo we want to look at something that makes sense. so if you know We love the the old math, one plus one equals four. So we want to find efficiencies. Maybe they’re doing the same thing we are, but they have a big they have a big finance team that we don’t really need going forward. 14:38.14Andy GellertOr maybe they’re in one segment of the business where we’re not in. 14:42.04vigorbrandingUh-huh. 14:42.16Andy GellertSo we try to really identify where we can do the math where one plus one equals four and five. 14:47.91vigorbrandingRight. 14:48.70Andy Gellertyou know we don’t want to doesn’t that A copycat doesn’t really help sometimes, but if they have a you know a big ah big staff on the some redundancy there, then it could make sense. 14:54.08vigorbrandingUh-huh. 14:58.10Andy GellertOtherwise, it could be a whole new field that we can add to our already you know deep bench of of products that we do. So we don’t have a playlist of what we’re looking for. We just look at different opportunities and see if they make sense. 15:11.27Andy Gellerti mean like Just like building a network, we love looking at decks and looking at opportunities or 15:16.32vigorbrandingMm hmm. 15:16.75Andy GellertWhy are companies for sale? Why aren’t they aren’t? And a lot of times, i likeck listen, this is going to go to private equity. We’re not going to need a bit because we know we’ll be blown out of the water. 15:25.59vigorbrandingright Yeah. Yeah. that makes That makes a lot of sense. So, I mean, obviously, and you know, I kind of had this philosophy as well in the business. It’s like, you’re opportunistic. You know, you’re not saying I’m looking for this exact thing. 15:36.91vigorbrandingIt has to be this big, that, you know, that that category doing that thing. It’s sort of like, Oh, here’s an opportunity. Hmm. This fits or no, it doesn’t fit. Or, Hey, this can enhance that. 15:43.96Andy GellertYeah. 15:44.95vigorbrandingAnd if we do this, maybe we can go here. And so I’ve always looked at that. It’s kind of fun to do it that way. I kind of always. 15:50.32Andy GellertIt’s not a good idea. You’re looking under the rug and see what’s there and putting that puzzle together because like I said, a big company that’s competitive in mind, it’s going to go for a lot more for private equity. 15:51.60vigorbrandingYeah. 15:54.65vigorbrandingYeah. 16:03.40Andy GellertI don’t even want to play in there. I don’t have private equity money where I could afford to strike out. 16:05.38vigorbrandingRight. 16:10.74Andy GellertI want to make sure these are successful acquisitions and they fit in them all. 16:15.96vigorbrandingYeah, and you make a really good point because we’ve seen, you know, I’ll say, and um I know you’ve seen for sure, but in my business with CPG and in the restaurant side, private equity will come in and they, I’m not gonna say they don’t care if they fail, but they they know it’s a numbers game. 16:31.27vigorbrandingThey know that all aren’t gonna pan out. So they make these investments and then they they do their, they they they they apply their playbook and then, you know, if it’s like baseball. if they They hit three out of, ah if they hit three out of 10, they feel like they’ve done something and and you probably have financially, but 16:40.88Andy Gellertyeah 16:44.73vigorbrandingThe other seven are just left to the wayside. 16:46.68Andy GellertExactly. And and they’ve, you know, they can afford to do that. We really don’t want to do that. 16:49.73vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. 16:51.36Andy GellertAnd we don’t want to, we don’t want to lose direction. 16:51.34vigorbrandingNo. 16:53.42Andy GellertI mean, listen, and we like, you know, we’re very big and we’re happy wherever you are, but we’re not in a goal to rush to get to 2 billion. 17:00.89vigorbrandingRight. 17:01.14Andy GellertWouldn’t get there smart. And if it means paring down and skew rationalization to be more profitable, all the better. 17:06.88vigorbrandingMm hmm. Do you find yourself doing that a lot? Do you do you have to go in there and and do skew rationalization or? 17:12.64Andy Gellertall the time, all the time, we really, you know, skew rash, customer rationalization, and we’ll bundle a bunch of customers and give them to a bigger customer just to make sure our warehouse is more efficient. 17:13.21vigorbrandingYeah. 17:16.68vigorbrandingYeah. 17:21.11vigorbrandingYeah. 17:23.25Andy GellertIt’s really all about efficiency. I mean, as you get bigger, you could be more efficient. 17:24.87vigorbrandingYeah. 17:27.21Andy GellertAnd, but you have to be diligent and skew rationalization, customer rationalization, people rationalization, you know, rationalization as well. 17:32.84vigorbrandingYep. 17:35.97Andy GellertYou know, it’s important. 17:37.23vigorbrandingYeah. And that’s that’s such ah’ such an interesting point because I think, you know, and I’ll say i’ll say in my own experience, you know, i in our holding company, we have several different marketing companies and I’m always afraid to let customers go. 17:48.21vigorbrandingLike, oh, though no, that we can do it for them. Sometimes it’s not good business, right? And sometimes you have to make those tough decisions and, you know, it’s it’s hard to let employees go, but it’s it’s hard for you to let, or I’ll say for me, to let a piece of business go, a paying customer. 17:52.67Andy GellertYeah. 18:00.83Andy GellertYeah, ah it’s, you know, you don’t like the same thing. But, but you got to look at it like, you know, you still have another 300 other employees out there that you want to do for the better the of the group. 18:07.78vigorbrandingRight. 18:10.14vigorbrandingRight. 18:10.45Andy GellertSo it makes sense to let someone go or let a customer go in order to be more efficient for everyone else. 18:10.42vigorbrandingThat’s right. 18:17.54Andy GellertSo it’s hard. 18:17.83vigorbrandingyeah 18:19.55Andy GellertAnd initially, it’s hard. But over time, you realize It’s a better decision and to be you know to be more efficient and just try. 18:27.95vigorbrandingAbsolutely. So I mean, one of the things that, you you know, we have the two agencies, we have quench, we have, ah which is CPG food and beverage, we have a vart of Vigor, which is ah ah restaurant marketing. and you you You cover them all because you’re in franchise with five guys, you’re in, you know, in the CPG world. um You know, it’s it’s sort of like, it’s hard to keep track of everything. How do you manage it all? I mean, I know you have different folks, but you’re sitting up there, are you just pulling up a different P and&L for each of these business units every two days? or 18:56.16Andy GellertI mean, we’re on ah basically a lot of these Zoom calls and just listening in and we just had one a few minutes ago, you know, we do a lot of nut and dry fruit business and we’re working on getting bigger in the bakery in the in the supermarket. 19:09.09Andy GellertSo how could we be, you know, and and we sat down today and we talked about all of our items and they all fit in the bakery. bill We’re selling very little of the bakery. So it’s an untapped market and it gets everyone excited. 19:21.02Andy GellertAnd we sit down and f throw things at the wall and see what sticks. 19:24.19vigorbrandingThat’s great. 19:24.58Andy GellertAnd we’re kind of fun. like we just said hey You know, we do this item, this will be good for, and I just, I love sitting in these meetings and just, you know, throwing out ideas. 19:32.21vigorbrandingThat’s great. That’s great. Very cool. Well, I know at Quench, you know, the CPG side, we would do to learn, to understand the industry. You know, we started the agency in food and beverage. 19:43.65vigorbrandingIt’s like, you can’t just say you do advertising and marketing food and beverage. You have to have an expertise. We’re going to hire people from the CPG world. But then what we did was we created a food and beverage trench to learn what was going on. 19:54.01vigorbrandingRight. And the first year we’ve done them for 15 years. You know, you’ve probably seen me speak on them at different events. 20:00.02Andy GellertYeah, are you do a great job. I love hearing your updates on the YPO conferences and you really got a pulse of what’s going on in the industry. 20:07.49vigorbrandingYeah. would So we we would do that. just We did it actually just for our own edification, just to learn. And then when we did it, we said, well, let’s let’s just give these away. So we do them every year. We give them away, fast companies written about them and all that. Do you use trends ah for your business to for like that next big thing? 20:21.92vigorbrandingOr is it more of truly just looking at the pieces and moving things around on the board? 20:26.18Andy GellertWe look at trends, we look at pieces, you know, we lot of our a lot of our suppli customers say, we like this item, can you go out and find it for us? And we got people or, you know, and in some cases we do a lot of business, some of our our customers say, here’s an item, you know here’s the supplier, you know, you’re you’re a great importer, we want you to import it for us. So it just, because we’re a trusted supplier, we’re good at logistics, they actually given us business to to handle. 20:53.89Andy GellertAnd it’s it’s exciting. And then we take that business and look at other opportunities as well. 20:59.70vigorbrandingHow is there anything are you doing anything in the beverage side is it mostly all just food? 21:01.22Andy Gellerte 21:04.27Andy GellertNo, I mean, we the beverage side we have, so we, Cipriani, you know, the so we we handle all their CPG items. 21:09.46vigorbrandingMm-hmm Okay Mm-hmm 21:13.80Andy GellertSo they make a the bulini mix, non-alcoholic bulini. So we’re slowly getting it. That’s our beverage and, you know, we’ll see where that takes us. but That’s new space for us. 21:24.96Andy GellertAnd we’re doing it on the retail side. Now we’re looking to try to listen to all the beverage distributors we don’t really touch on. So we’re getting a ah handle on that business as well. 21:31.95vigorbrandingMm-hmm. Yeah. 21:34.96Andy GellertSo that’s the only part of beverage. know I’m an investor in a few CPG, like Ollie Pop and Lemon Perfect, a few others. 21:40.57vigorbrandingMm-hmm. 21:43.06Andy GellertBut but not I think that’s a tough space. But I think we’re we’re getting our feet wet with this Trippiani land. 21:48.39vigorbrandingSee, that’s interesting. 21:48.67Andy GellertWe’re very excited. 21:50.05vigorbrandingYou’re 11 perfect. We just took over their space in Atlanta. They’re headquartered in Atlanta, yeah. 21:53.76Andy GellertOh, 21:54.76vigorbrandingAnd we just took over their space. They went ah they went all virtual, so yeah. 21:58.07Andy Gellertyeah. Yani went to Cornell with me. 22:00.32vigorbrandingYeah. Oh, is that right? 22:00.83Andy GellertYeah, yeah he’s a you should get him on your podcast. 22:03.45vigorbrandingWell, I’ve met him, he’s a great guy. 22:05.26Andy GellertI he’s Mr. Energy. It was his birthday this week. 22:06.69vigorbrandingOh my gosh. 22:07.72Andy GellertSo I just I love that guy. 22:08.28vigorbrandingIs that right? I will reach out to him. Yeah, i we you you can you can appreciate this, Andy, you know me pretty well. 22:11.20Andy GellertHe 22:15.37vigorbrandingSo i’m goingnna I was gonna sublease his his office, right? So you know it’s a real estate deal. I’m gonna sublease it, we’re gonna move from one ah ah one office to this other office. So I talked to him and he was like, he was going 180 miles an hour and it was great and all that. 22:29.28vigorbrandingAnd I was like, I really like this guy. And I’m like, 22:31.92Andy GellertHe’s an infectious personality. 22:32.86vigorbrandingYeah. 22:33.53Andy Gellertyou 22:33.75vigorbrandingAnd I’m like, you know, johnny i said hey if you want, I mean, I’ll, I’ll do the deal here with you, but if you want to stay, like, you know, I mean your energy and what you’re, you’re in the beverage, that’s what we do. 22:44.21vigorbrandingI mean, you can stay, you know, like if you have meetings here and like your, if your people come in, like it’s a big enough space for all of us, I’m not asking for anything on the other side. 22:46.07Andy GellertYeah. 22:51.86vigorbrandingah You can stay. I mean, I just i thought energy, you know, creates more energy. So, and we talked about that, but then he was like, you know, isn’t that crazy? 22:57.60Andy GellertThat’s so funny to know that guy. I met him at Expo West. And he had a small little table. 23:03.20vigorbrandingYep. 23:03.40Andy GellertAnd I’m like, wow, this guy’s this guy has a firecracker. 23:07.14vigorbrandingYeah. 23:07.31Andy GellertAnd I’m like, um’m I’m supporting you. 23:09.42vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 23:09.51Andy GellertAnd it’s a great story. 23:11.92vigorbrandingThat’s very cool. That’s the end goes to show you know everybody that’s amazing to me amazing. That’s funny. 23:17.14Andy GellertTake that, Clara. 23:21.03vigorbrandingI’ll make sure we tell her that. 23:22.87Andy Gellertbut 23:22.95vigorbrandingSo, all right, now I’m gonna bring up something, I guess negative or whatever, but inflation. Inflation is, ah you know, is it affects every industry, especially food. 23:28.56Andy GellertIt’s tough. its you know 23:30.55vigorbrandingYeah. how How much of an impact has that had on you guys? 23:32.99Andy GellertThat’s a very important product. 23:33.03vigorbrandingand 23:34.29Andy GellertSo our product are expensive already. And so it’s tough. We have to find you know so you know find other opportunities. That’s why we invested in this cafe spice that makes meals. 23:44.93Andy GellertSo maybe we make things more efficient for more of our customers and look at other opportunities. Maybe so source something that’s coming from Europe, getting it from South America. And and we’re always looking for ways to skin. 23:59.19Andy GellertWe started importing French fries from Belgium. to the East Coast because it’s it’s more effective and looking at opportunities like that. and Now we’re looking at opportunities in India. You always have to turn over rocks, look for more opportunities. It’s scary. 24:14.30Andy Gellertand it’s it’s you know the It’s all the news, the the price inflation. So we’re always looking for newer opportunities to try to make things better for our customers. 24:25.43vigorbrandingAnd being a global you know accessing globally with conflict and things like that, I mean obviously that’s affecting everything. i mean are you having are you ah is there um Is there ever a chance where one area of the business is sort of shut down or hey we can’t get this from there? 24:40.46Andy GellertYeah, things happen all the time. I mean, you know, when the Ukraine war first started, you know, it was it was a big factor because happened old Europe was tough. 24:42.39vigorbrandingIt’s crazy. 24:51.28Andy GellertAnd then when there was a ah big problem of freight from the from from Asia, supply chain issues from COVID. I mean, we’ve we’ve seen them all, Mike. 25:00.35vigorbrandingcrazy 25:01.71Andy GellertAnd now ah there’s an impending dock strike that’s going to come. So that’s going to affect from Maine all the way to Texas. 25:07.59vigorbrandinghear about that? 25:09.05Andy Gellertand 25:09.51vigorbrandingYeah. 25:09.86Andy GellertThat’s really making us very nervous and our customers nervous. 25:11.55vigorbrandingOh yeah. 25:12.86Andy GellertSo, but we, you know, we do the best we can and we keep fighting every day, you know, get up, get up and play some tennis, you know. 25:13.80vigorbrandingWow. 25:18.34vigorbrandingYes, I was gonna say, you get played tennis and smile and have a positive attitude and that’s the secret sauce. 25:23.15Andy GellertYou just got to, you know. 25:25.04vigorbrandingYou know, and I do love because every time I’m talking, I think, I think you always say, yeah, I played tennis with my dad this morning and you know, family businesses, there’s so many family businesses that end up like not talking to each other and you hear all the the generational strife or the the falling apart. 25:37.72vigorbrandingThe fact that you you still hang with your dad, my dad was my best friend. So that’s just so near and dear to me. It’s incredible. I think that’s so awesome. 25:43.18Andy GellertWell, today is a little, today is a little flat with him. I showed up at his house at 10 to 6, pouring rain, and the the match was canceled. So I had to wake up for nothing, and I’m a little annoyed. 25:50.67vigorbrandingah Oh boy. 25:53.10Andy GellertBut that doesn’t matter at all. 25:55.76vigorbrandingI hope you don’t ever let him win. 25:57.56Andy GellertWell, i I’m his partner. He doesn’t move very well, and people, no one was allowed to drop shot him, you know? 25:59.16vigorbrandingOkay. 26:04.11Andy Gellertget Everyone starts booing, whoever dropped off him. 26:06.88vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 26:07.02Andy GellertBut it was an accident. They’re like, no, you know? He’s got a bunch of rules, you know? 26:11.16vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. It’s his own tennis game, right? It’s his own. 26:13.99Andy Gellerttheel game is his ze tennis game 26:16.17vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. So, if I if i may ask, and I know if there’s something you can’t say, that’s fine, but what’s what’s next for Gellert Global? I mean, what is anything new on the horizon, anything exciting you could talk about? 26:23.54Andy Gellerti We’re looking at more opportunities. you know we will be like We have such a great team. We have such great suppliers, such great employees, such great customers. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing and look for more opportunities. And if it makes sense to to make an acquisition, we’re going to do it. 26:40.44Andy Gellertand uh, it’s, it’s fun. You know, I mean, you know, just look at my cousin and the five guys, we were like 12, five guys. Now this year, by the end of the year, we’ll have a hundred. I mean, it’s just, uh, opportunistic and good people and growth to move forward. 26:50.43vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 26:57.42vigorbrandingYeah. And, and Dan Rowe, as you mentioned, he’s a king of a guy and he, he was actually on the podcast and he, he’s, he’s fantastic. 27:00.10Andy GellertYeah. 27:03.17vigorbrandingSo that’s good company right there. 27:05.70Andy GellertYeah. Yeah. We were at a YPL event and he’s like, and we’ we’re looking My cousin at the time had a bunch of cinnabons and we’re looking for our second concept and we’re at a YPO in DC. 27:11.89vigorbrandingUh-huh. 27:15.43Andy GellertHe’s like, Andy, come try this concept. And I took a bite of the five guy burger. I’m like, this is like a, like the, when you taste a cinnabon for the first time, it’s wow factor. 27:23.93vigorbrandingRight. Yeah. 27:25.78Andy GellertI called my cousin and the next thing we know, we you know we’re down there signing the deal. So it was, it’s been a great journey. 27:30.70vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah. Fantastic. Very cool. All right. So now I asked this question. I have one last question, right? And this probably, well, I don’t know if it’ll be easy for you, but it’s not like you have to say, you can’t say five guys. 27:41.96vigorbrandingSo I have to fill it out there. So, but if you have one final meal, what would you eat and why, and I’m going to say this too. 27:48.70Andy GellertLike, that’s the hardest thing because I love. 27:48.90vigorbrandingAnd and and who with, I want to know who with. 27:52.53Andy GellertThat’s like the hardest question anyone can ever ask me. I love like, it’s like, we I think I told you was before we started out that you was open with my son and my wife and there’s so much food options. 28:00.19vigorbrandingYeah. 28:04.26Andy GellertI had a headache. I couldn’t find what to get. Would I get to the Korean bowl or the palette for the steak sandwich? or or the fancy chicken with truffles, the dumplings. 28:15.10Andy Gellertyou know i’m like I almost get a headache, I can’t even decide. 28:15.19vigorbrandingyeah 28:19.04Andy Gellertso back It’s impossible. I just i love eating, I love food experiences, I love being surprised. I like going to a chef and say, just surprise me. 28:29.38Andy Gellertonly even Just give me what you you you do best and let me try it. 28:29.31vigorbrandingYeah. 28:33.30Andy Gellertand and you know it’s really i can’t i There’s not one meal that I have to have. i 28:39.23vigorbrandingYeah. 28:40.25Andy GellertI love a good sandwich. I love a good burger. I got a good steak. I like Italian, French, Spanish food, everything. 28:45.72vigorbrandingYep. ah You know, it’s funny. i I’m the same way. I’m lucky. I can eat anything. Like I don’t get nothing. I don’t have any allergies. I don’t get sicker. But you know, if I have a go to at a certain thing at a certain place, i will I’ll have a go at my go to. 28:56.26vigorbrandingBut nine out of 10 times when I go to a restaurant, like whatever the chef wants to make, because I figured he’s gonna put his heart and soul on it. 28:56.44Andy Gellerte 29:00.90Andy GellertYeah. 29:02.21vigorbrandingRight. If it’s, if I’m asking him his opinion. 29:02.59Andy Gellertbut i agree yeah if if if If they put it on the menu and then they’re behind it, I would take their recognition and set something I really want. 29:05.89vigorbrandingYeah. 29:09.81Andy Gellertso My father, yeah. 29:10.21vigorbrandingRight. That’s right. That’s right. You nailed it. And I love the fact that you mentioned the U.S. Open and there was somebody there at the U.S. Open that had better seats than you, which was your. Of course, yeah. 29:21.87vigorbrandingAndy, you know, I love being with you. I love talking to you and I appreciate your time. ah Just thank you so much for being on Fork Tales. 29:28.25Andy Gellertah mike First of all, congratulations to you and the organization you built and you’ve always been You’re always smiling, too. i mean actually That’s why we like each other so much. 29:36.16vigorbrandingYeah. 29:36.89Andy GellertWe’re always smiling. Have a good time. And your trends are amazing. And I really enjoyed seeing you and doing this with yourself. 29:43.81vigorbrandingfantastic well thank you so much 29:45.78Andy GellertAll right? 29:46.39vigorbrandingtake care 29:46.78Andy GellertTake care. Bye. 29:47.78vigorbrandingright 30:07.41vigorbrandingFantastic. 30:11.01vigorbrandingWell, thank you so much. Take care. 

With Taste Radio's London meetups on the horizon, the hosts have their say on trendy brands, new products and the coming crush of seasonal LTOs. They share their respective takes on David, the high-profile protein bar brand launched by RXBAR co-founder Peter Rahal and whether decaf coffee is about to take off. They also get giddy about green cocktails and a record-breaking advent calendar. Show notes: 0:25: A “Man Cold”? An English Itinerary. Let's Eat David. Welcome Back, Pop. TUR-meric. Jacqui's X-Mas Gift. – John is recovering from a sniffle, but still well enough to take a cross-country day trip. Ray gives a rundown of the hosts' London plans. The Newton crew samples David bars and everyone weighs in on the brand's positioning and potential. Ray congratulates an industry veteran on a “perfect” gig before Mike talks about a turmeric-centric beverage brand and its upcoming package refresh. Jacqui digs on caffeine-free coffee and coffee alternatives and John breaks out an unusual RTD cocktail, while Ray praises Straightaway Cocktails' latest opus. Brands in this episode: Lucky Saint, Trip, Dash, Doughlicious, David, RXBAR, Lemon Perfect, Vita Coco, Jagermeister, Red Bull, Golden Tiger, BodyArmor, Celsius, Olipop, Mud/Wtr, Ryze, Cuppa, Explorer Cold Brew, Gardenista, Nurri, Fancypants, Straightaway Cocktails

Washington Wizards Forward Kyle Kuzma is heading into year 8 as one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA. The Flashy PF is known for his celebrity lifestyle, flashy outfits, and fun on social media. However, what you need to know about Kuz is his business portfolio. Kuz is an active angel investor in many companies such as Bezel, Lemon Perfect, and Surf, and advisor for Scrum Ventures, and more. So how do we compartmentalize what Kuz is doing off the court and the insights he has to offer? Kuz Kontrol is the answer. This is his newsletter. Noah discusses why this is a big deal and why the newsletter should not fall of the radar. You are looking at a glimpse into the future. The views and opinions expressed in this video are solely those of the individuals featured and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Athletes & Assets. We do not accept liability for any advice given in this video, and viewers are encouraged to seek professional guidance before making any business decisions. Additionally, the participation of athletes in this video does not imply endorsement or sponsorship by their respective employers

This week, Cassie and Erica briefly recap our recent NYC networking event in partnership with Creative People and share the 6 standout career insights shared by our incredible panelists: Les Alfred of Balanced Black Girl, Jack Appleby of Future Social, Michael Kaye of OkCupid and ARCHER, and Kelly Gordon of Creative People. We also celebrate 3 YEARS of the Marketing Happy Hour podcast with a fun game of "this or that." Thank you again to our NYC event sponsors: Creative People, 99designs by Vista, ILIA Beauty, The New Bar, Lemon Perfect, and MyMuse. Grab a drink and listen in to this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation! ____ Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed this episode: Navigating the Interview Process (for Job Seekers AND Hiring Managers) | Marketing Happy Hour Co-Hosts Cassie Tucker + Erica Spitzley A Marketing Recruiter's Advice for Today's Job Seekers | Matthew Kantner of Creative People How to Find a Mentor | Matthew Miller of Orlando Informer ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know which episodes you're loving - we can't wait to hear from you!  Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our FREE MHH Insiders online community to connect with Millennial and Gen Z marketing professionals around the world!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get the latest from MHH, straight to your inbox: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow MHH on Social: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ New to Marketing Happy Hour (or just want more)? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download our Marketing Happy Hour Starter Kit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Co-Host Erica: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Co-Host Cassie: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This podcast is an MHH Media production. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about MHH Media!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Interested in starting your own podcast? Grab our Podcast Launch Strategy Guide here.⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketinghappyhour/support

In this episode, Ramon Vela interviews Lemon Perfect's founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel.   He takes us through the evolution of his innovative beverage company, from the early days of securing investor support to achieving the remarkable milestone of selling nearly 100 million bottles!   He candidly discusses the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, shedding light on the vital role of persistence, competitive stamina, and strategic decision-making in driving growth.    Yanni also celebrates the unwavering dedication of his amazing team, whose efforts have been instrumental in expanding Lemon Perfect in a fiercely competitive market.    Yanni also opens up about his leadership journey, sharing moments of doubt and triumph, and emphasizes the health benefits of Lemon Perfect – a zero-sugar, calorie-free, sodium-free beverage enriched with organic lemons.    Discover how Lemon Perfect is changing the game by offering a delicious, healthy alternative to sugary drinks, and explore the variety of flavors now available at national retailers.    For more on Lemon Perfect, visit: https://lemonperfect.com/   If you enjoyed this episode, please leave The Story of a Brand a rating and review.    Plus, don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify.    Your support helps us bring you more content like this!   *   Today's Sponsors: Compass Rose - Advisor for CPG Brands: https://compassroseventures.com/ramon/ Compass Rose is offering “no-cost” CPG advice exclusively for the Founders and CEOs featured on The Story of a Brand Show and listeners. The calendar is limited, so book your one-on-one call (a $500 Value) with the Compass Rose team today. Visit using our unique link. Shopline - An All-in-One Commerce Solution for Brands: https://www.us.shopline.com/story Shopline is offering a complimentary three-month trial when you schedule a demo. Seamlessly manage multi-channel sales, create user-friendly websites, and drive conversions with targeted marketing. Ready to streamline operations and accelerate your business? Visit our unique link.

Join us in this invigorating episode as we sit down with Yanni Hufnagel, the Founder and CEO of The Lemon Perfect Company. Dive into the story of Lemon Perfect, a zero-sugar, hydrating, and delicious flavored lemon water that is transforming the beverage industry. Learn about Yanni's unique transition from a successful career as a men's college basketball coach to creating a health-focused drink that's gaining rapid popularity. Lemon Perfect, infused with organic lemons, electrolytes, and vitamin C, is not just a beverage but a mission to offer healthy hydration accessible to all. In this episode, Yanni shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges and triumphs of building a brand, and how Lemon Perfect is reshaping the way we think about hydration. We also delve into Yanni's vision for the future of the beverage industry and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. The Lemon Perfect Company, based in Atlanta, GA, is a testament to Yanni's commitment to promoting a healthier lifestyle. Tune in to hear more about this innovative company's journey and Yanni Hufnagel's inspiring story. This show is supported by Match Relevant. A company that helps venture-backed Startups find the best people available in the market, who have the skills, experience, and desire to grow. With over a decade of experience in recruitment across multiple domains, they give people career options to choose from in their career journey. Learn more about Match Relevant at matchrelevant.com

Jacqui's recap of the recently held Vegan Women's Summit spurs a conversation about consumer perception of – and some resentment about –  plant-based food and meat alternatives, in particular. The hosts also highlight a new high-test coffee brand that's backed by a high-profile investor, note a new and valuable benefit for Insiders and sample prebiotic sodas, BFY cookies and a show-stopping non-alcoholic red wine. This episode also features a conversation with Dr. Farnoush Fadavi is the co-founder of Bala Enzyme, a brand of plant-based drink mixes formulated with a proprietary blend of turmeric, bromelain, and papain that contain no sugar. When taken regularly, the products are said to help regulate the body's inflammatory response and improve circulation to accelerate recovery and natural healing.  Show notes: 0:43: Almost T-Boned. The Grimace Burger. Sporty Samples. Wine Keys. Uncouth Swine! - Mike recalls a moment in time when Jon Landis may have saved four lives; Jacqui gives a rundown of a recent vegan-centric event that emphasized inclusivity and the hosts discuss Beyond Meat's less-than-rosy outlook and Actual Veggies' newly announced funding round. They also sample and chat about Throne Sport Coffee, a new brand whose primary investor is NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes; how to access useful data at a nominal cost; why they're gaga about a certain saint; and how Craven cringes every time Ray pours anything into a cup. 29:47: Interview: Dr. Farnoush Fadavi, Co-Founder, Bala Enzyme – Bala launched in 2019 and has since picked up distribution in over 2,000 retail locations, including nationwide at Sprouts and is also sold DTC via its website and on Amazon. In this interview, Dr. Farnoush talks about how a confluence of her education, career as a dental surgeon and an unfortunate accident spurred the creation of Bala, why the company is emphasizing brick-and-mortar retail as much as e-commerce, its package size and pricing strategy and the key terms that help drive trial. Brands in this episode: Bala Enzyme, BodyArmor, Core Hydration, Fuze, NOS Energy, Beyond Meat, Meati, Actual Veggies, BodyArmor, Lemon Perfect, Equitea, Aura Bora, Nguyen Coffee, Heywell, Saint Viviana, Levo, Olipop, Good Word, Cien Chiles, Fishwife

Today we explore Yanni Hufnagel's journey from basketball coach to CEO of Lemon Perfect, a beverage brand that's making waves. Yanni shares how his competitive spirit and leadership from sports translated to his business success. Key Insights from Yanni: ⚡ Competitive Drive: Yanni underscores competitiveness as key. Aiming to top the flavor-enhanced water category, it's all about clear goals and a driven team culture. ⚡ Sports to Business Leadership: Transitioning skills from coaching to entrepreneurship, Yanni applies leadership, teamwork, and strategic insights from sports to his business, illustrating the value of cross-domain skills. ⚡ Embracing Change: Yanni's pivot from sports to starting Lemon Perfect, driven by a simple personal preference, showcases the importance of adaptability and seizing market opportunities. This is true entrepreneurship. To pursue a passion. Learn more about Yanni - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yhufnagel/

This week Steve sits down with Lemon Perfect's SVP of Marketing, Dana Barba.

When Target embraces emerging categories, we take notice. The hosts discussed the retailer's new curated endcaps of non-alcoholic cocktails and wine and what it means for the nascent set of zero-proof beverages. They also spoke about why Nosh is broadening its coverage (and tapped a new leader to helm the vertical) and how a fast-growing hydration brand and popular sparkling water company have each taken a bigger-is-better approach to their packaging,  This episode also features an interview with Will Fabry, the master distiller for CraftCo, a Michigan-based portfolio company that owns several acclaimed spirit brands, including  Jos. A. Magnus and Fox & Oden. Fabry spoke about CraftCo's distilling philosophy, how it operates at the intersection of production, consumer demand and pricing, and how he attempts to improve upon and become more proficient in his role. Show notes: 0:40: More Green Juice & THC. LinkedIn Loves Monica. A ‘Perfect' Upgrade. Kids + Tuna… Hmmm. – The hosts shared their thoughts on healthy habits for 2024 and chatted about Nosh's expanded lens and the warm reception online for its new managing editor, Monica Watrous. They also spoke about Lemon Perfect's move to a larger bottle and Spindrift's similar shift, why they're not convinced that a tuna company's attempt to woo kids will work and a sports drink brand's new line of better-you-sodas. 28:24: Interview: Will Fabry, Master Distiller, CraftCo – A 20-plus year veteran of the culinary industry, Fabry joined CraftCo in 2018. In our conversation, he spoke about the impact of Michigan's climate in how the company's spirits are finished, how he and his team are consistently meeting the high expectations that consumers have come to expect from CraftCo brands, and how he managed Covid-driven supply chain challenges. Brands in this episode: Trader Joe's, Evolution Fresh, Pressed Juicery, Biena, The Good Crisp, Lesser Evil, Lemon Perfect, Spindrift, De Soi, Ghia, Kin Euphorics, Surely, Nooma, Coppercraft, Jos. A. Magnus, Fox & Oden

Gina is a long-time operator and advisor in the consumer industry. She started her career in Email and Content Management and has since emerged as one of the industry's most pronounced thought leaders on all things customer experience and retention. 5 years ago, she and her co-founder, Pierson Krass, set out to start a different kind of agency. Lunar Solar Group was built on the idea that technology empowers e-commerce brands to scale. Gina has worked on launching and scaling brands like Olipop, Super Coffee, Lemon Perfect, and many other leading e-commerce brands that you all know and love. Most recently, Gina co-founded Stay Ai which is the subscription platform for modern e-commerce brands where she currently operates the company's CEO.In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:00] Intro[00:54] What is Stay Ai and what does it solve?[02:07] How Gina became passionate about subscriptions[03:59] Lunar Solar Group: Clients, solutions, evolution[05:18] Building and selling KnoCommerce[07:50] From an agency to building an app[09:42] Where Stay Ai came from[11:54] Acquiring Retention Engine[15:21] The advantage of being specific in your outcome[15:55] Always have an exit strategy[17:04] No one has gone public in the Shopify ecosystem[17:37] The sign of a mature entrepreneur[18:40] The 3 things that make Stay Ai unique[21:40] Subscription tips and tricks[22:49] Where to support Stay AiResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeConnect with Gina linkedin.com/in/ginaperrelliProviding revolutionary subscription management software stay.aiProviding Ecommerce and digital marketing services that drive transformational growth for our clients lunarsolargroup.comThe customer survey platform built for Ecommerce brands /knocommerce.comIf you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

This week Yanni welcomes Jordan Fliegel, managing director of Techstars NYC and Techstars Sports. Over the course of the conversation, Jordan details how Techstars identifies promising startups, and the ways it works with successful applicants to help their businesses develop. The pair also cover the equity terms and ongoing support offered by the accelerator. As well as Jordan's search for “the Topgolf of fishing”, the discussion touches on what qualities Techstars looks for in its founders, their teams, and products, plus the sectors and areas that are exciting Jordan in 2023. This leads to the unlikely story of how Jordan became an early investor in Lemon Perfect. Founded by former basketball coach Yanni Hufnagel, the hydration company has since raised more than $70m. Jordan is a former managing partner at Founders First, an angel fund and syndicate. He was co-founder and CEO of CoachUp, a platform to connect athletes with coaches. Among other ventures, he was co-CEO of Draft.com – a fantasy sports site which sold to Paddy Power Betfair in 2017 for ~$48m. Timestamps 04:30 – What does an accelerator like Techstars do? 09:30 – How does Techstars attract and vet companies? 14:00 – The decision process of admitting a company 23:00 – What the end goal for each company they bring in? 18:30 – What makes a company too mature for Techstars? 31:15 – Where Jordan expects to find the next big opportunity 38:15 – How the economic landscape has shifted 43:20 – What makes a good founder or team? 56:00 – Lemon Perfect

Can Coolhaus make a comeback? Although the beloved non-dairy ice cream brand is reportedly on the chopping block, the hosts discussed a potential salvation akin to those of discontinued brands resurrected by new owners. This episode also features the latest installment of The Goat Pen with Carlton Fowler, the co-founder of Goat Rodeo Capital, who spoke about his “obsession” with outliers.  Show notes: 0:41: Wine In Baja. RIP… But, Maybe Not? Bliss Balls, Energy Gels, Pizza Nuts. – Jacqui shared details of a recent visit to Baja's burgeoning wine scene, before the hosts collectively reflected on their favorite defunct brands and why some received a second chance. They also chatted about a mashup of notable products, including canned beans with a nostalgic twist and citrus-infused cold brew coffee. 30:00: Segment: The Goat Pen With Carlton Fowler – Fowler riffed on his love for Magnolia Bakery's new packaged cookie line before explaining how he defines and invests in outlier companies and his perspective on celebrity and creator-led brands. He also explained why a brand's track record isn't necessarily an indication of its potential, how and why investors can get it wrong and his advice on what to leave out of a pitch deck. Brands in this episode: Vita Coco, Zico, Coolhaus, Brave Robot, Honest Tea, Just Ice Tea, Dirty Lemon, Ibex, NJoy, Rise Brewing Co., La Colombe, Door County Coffee, Bai, Lemon Perfect, Chargel, Raw Bliss Balls, Creation Nation, Healthy Truth, Combos, Daily Crunch, Goldfish, Heyday Canning Co., A Dozen Cousins, Fillo's, Barnacle Foods, Frank's Hot Sauce, Tabasco, Nectar Hard Seltzer, The Good Crisp, HopLark, BeatBox Beverages

Connect with Brian Rappaport, Founder and CEO of Quan Media Group here.See the Lemon Perfect campaign with Jalen Hurts in their 2023 campaign.See the Tubi campaign here.See the Bombas campaign here.Key MomentsIndustry Growth and Drivers [00:05:19] Brian Rappaport discusses the growth of out-of-home advertising and how it is being driven by brands exploring the channel for the first time or those who are not fully educated on its potential.Education and Collaboration [00:08:03] The use of education to enable collaboration between agencies and the importance of finding like-minded partners.Challenges in Out-of-Home Advertising [00:10:34] Discussion on the hard questions asked during a meeting with marketers and media buyers, including out-of-home measurement and unrealistic stunts.Out-of-Home Specialists [00:12:17] Brian praises the work of other out-of-home specialists, including Project X and Glossier, Rapport's work with the NBA, and Miss Jiff's work with Netflix and Tinder.Measurement and ROI [00:18:12 - 00:21:38] Brian discusses the need for a universal system of measurement for out-of-home advertising and mentions various ways to measure the impact of out-of-home advertising, including brand lift studies, mobile retargeting, and cause lift analysis.Challenges with media partner relationships [00:33:04] Brian talks about the challenges that arise when media partners reach out to clients directly, and how it affects the relationship between the agency and the client.Programmatic Advertising and Digital Cities [00:42:45] Brian Rappaport discusses the trend of programmatic advertising and the evolution of smarter digital cities, offering more opportunities for out-of-home advertising.Universal Out-of-Home Measurement [00:44:24] Brian Rappaport predicts the development of a universal measurement system for out-of-home advertising within the next two years.https://www.theoohinsider.com/guests/brian-rappaport/https://quanmediagroup.com/Do you have napkin sketches and big ideas that you want to bring to life for a brand? If so, you should head over to tryadscout.com Expedite procurement with verified & responsive companies who turn napkin sketches into reality. TryAdScout.com Is Simplified Discovery For Marketing In The Real World.

Welcome back!! Today, Yanaiya sat down with Madison Utendahl, the founder of Utendahl Creative, a female focused, empathetic creative agency & studio that focuses on branding, social media & content strategy, servicing clients such as Refinery29, Milk Bar, Lemon Perfect. She was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 for marketing and advertising in 2021 AND she was also a Founding Partner at Museum of Ice Cream and former Head of Content & Social, where she grew their digital presence to reach an audience of over 1 Billion people in under 20 months. She is also a 2x webby award winner! Today, we touch on everything from personal principles to business principles and dive into how we can be the best to ensure success!! Enjoy:)

Does pickleball need its own beverage brand? Why is Jennifer Lopez, who doesn't drink alcohol, getting into the booze business? Who is Blob Guy? The hosts discuss… Also in this episode: interviews with Elavi co-founders Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott, who explained how they launched a package revamp for less than $200, along with Goat Rodeo Capital co-founder Carlton Fowler, who shared his perspective as an active investor in emerging and growth-stage companies.  Show notes: 0:37: JLo, What Are You Doing? A Dinky Concept. Lady Boba And Blob Guy. – Jacqui chatted about her preparation and plans for the upcoming Coachella festival before sharing new speaker announcements for BevNET Live Summer 2023. The hosts collectively wondered about the scaling potential of a brand that has a hyper-specific target consumer and why authenticity is a glaring issue with Jennifer Lopez' new RTD cocktail brand. Later, BevNET's director of community Melissa Traverse joined the episode and spoke about recent and upcoming episodes of Community Call, and the hosts riffed on several notable brands including a canned boba tea and a functional granola. 30:41: Interview: Michelle Razavi & Nikki Elliott, Co-Founders, Elavi – Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott are the co-founders of Elavi, which markets low-sugar and gut-friendly protein bars and cashew butters. Taste Radio editor Ray Latif sat down with Razavi and Elliott at Expo West 2023 where they shared a remarkable story about a recent package revamp that was executed in two weeks and at minimal cost.  44:49: Interview: Carlton Fowler, Managing Partner, Goat Rodeo Capital – Fowler spoke with Latif as part of a new series in which he will regularly discuss investment-related topics that are relevant and top-of-mind for food and beverage founders. In this first conversation, Fowler discussed his background as an operator and the impact of that experience in his investment strategy, how investors evaluate branding at each stage of a company's development and the emergence of creator-led brands. Brands in this episode: Yesly, Spindrift, Super Coffee, Dink, LifeAid, BodyArmor, Delola, Biena, Siete, Lady Boba, Sanzo, Golden Grahams, Lacroix, Diet Coke, Forij, Kiddiewinks, Tally Kids, Elavi, RxBar, Poppi, Liquid Death, Lemon Perfect, Prime, Feastables, Nectar

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures.  Event of the Week:  A lot of moving money this week but before we get there, I want everyone to know about the must-attend event of the week hosted by Kyle Tothill of eHire. This event of the week is the TAG Sales Leadership Society and their Fireside Chat with Marc Gorlin. Marc started, scaled, and sold Roadie to UPS. Marc is a serial entrepreneur with tremendous stories. I highly recommend attending this event on Monday night at the Atlanta Tech Village starting at 6:30 p.m. We put the link in the show notes because there is a charge of $10 if you're in TAG or $30 if you're not.     Raise of the Week: I mentioned there was some money movement this week. First off is Queues. This one went a little under the radar as I didn't see much from Atlanta Inno or Hypepotamus on this but Queues was started by Sam Porta out of Georgia Tech. As a student, Sam was so bewildered and frustrated at the amount of lines he waited in – particularly at the coffee shop. So he set out to fix it. Today, his app, Queues is used by thousands of Georgia Tech students to view and assess wait times. How do they do it? Queues software can detect, down to the minute how long the line will be based through machine vision. Atlanta Ventures, Kenzie Lane, and Chris Klaus all made up the $1.1M investment. Queues is hiring!    Another major raise was from Lemon Perfect. If you remember, I interviewed their CEO, Yanni Hufnagel on The Atlanta Story about their growth plans. He alluded to big news but now we know what he meant. Just last week, Lemon Perfect closed on $36M of growth capital. The roles that they are hiring for likely just doubled. Lemon Perfect is the 4th fastest growing water brand in the country and Yanni's goal is to be the largest beverage acquisition in the history of beverage acquisitions.   Okay, one more on the raise front. MatchPlay Brands led by decent golfer but better Pickle player, Michael Gottfriend raised $4M from BLH Ventures led by Ashish Mistry. These guys are running back the playbook from their KontrolFreek days which was a superior success. MatchPlay brands has two major brands which include Piper Golf Balls and PCKL – two sports that have taken off post-Covid. If you want to learn how to run a successful e-commerce business, hustle down this team and company! Company Coming Up: I love stories of companies that plotted along for several years and then a transformational event occurred. These events can be a new technology, leader, customer or approach to the business. Activ Technologies is a great example. This is a company that is 10 years old but in the last 3 years, they began the shift to SaaS. Activ Technologies is a cloud-based platform for real-time supply chain visibility and management. Supply chain technology seems so vast and expansive to me. The industry is huge. The good news is their CEO, Jaymie Forrest who has been a 20 years industry veteran. This company has sticky customers and their growth plans are ambitious, which also means they are hiring. Beta Product of the Week: This week's beta product is Cookonnect led by Erica Tuggle. She is bringing talented and vetted family chefs into the kitchen. For working families who have enough trouble finding healthy, edible food to feed the kids and afterwards default to Uber Eats a few times a week, this product is for you. Cookonnect matches you with cooks who come to your house and will cook anywhere from 2-4 meals for you in one day. They cook, package, and clean so you have food for the entire week. Oh, and they also go to the grocery store to get the food. The price average is around $20-$30 a meal per person. If you're always on the go and want good healthy food for you and the kids without spending precious after-work and pre-Netflix time, check out Cookonnect right now. Link in the show notes.  Podcast of the Week: Lastly, we just launched this week our sitdown interview with Bloomberg columnist, Conor Sen. Each week, Conor writes for Bloomberg on all things housing, economy, and more. If you want to skip the paywall and get his thoughts on major trends on the housing market and the Sun Belt, give it a listen.  Annnnd that is five minutes! Links discussed: 

Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast's most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes.  My name is Jon Birdsong and I'm with Atlanta Ventures.  Beta Product of the Week: Former Atlanta Ventures intern and Georgia Tech student, Aidan Pratt has a new and fun beta product called PinPoint. Here is how it works. You go to pinpoint.city and login with your Twitter account. After authorizing the app, you're taken to a picture of the world and you immediately see where everyone you follow is located in the country or world. Now this data is not real time, it only records the static location from your Twitter Bio. It is cool to see where everyone who has publicly stated the city they live in, especially post-covid. If you're looking for a fun, free rabbit hole to dive down for 15-30 minutes check out this neat product from Georgia Tech undergrad.  Events of the Week: This week we caught up with Joe Colopy of Bronto Software fame which sold to NetSuite in 2015. Today Joe and his team started Jurassic Capital and he also helps run GrepBeat - which is a Triangle specific publication on all things startup. The dates for the 2nd Grep-a-palooza have been set and it is June 1st at the Durham Convention Center. Put that one on your schedule for the summer now.    Raise of the Week: This week some strong national news occurred from Fortune announcing Atlanta-based Parable which raised $2.75M co-led by M13 and and Break Tail Ventures. Brian Davis is the Co-CEO and started the company nearly 2 years ago. Parable provides daily nutrients your brain needs in one scoop. The product is called Daily and comprises of eight active ingredients; including green tea extract, ginseng, lemon balm, and a few I won't attempt pronouncing. Check their link out in the show notes.  Also, out of Richmond, Virginia the HopDrive team raised an $8M round led by Cox Automotive as well as ACERTUS and Ally with existing investors, Overline participating as well. HopDrive provides short distance vehicle delivery solutions for automotive dealerships, independent service centers, and fleet management companies. Congrats to Nick Mottas and Rob Newton of Richmond on the raise.     Podcast of the Week: This isn't some form of inception promoting content other content we do but we did just launch a new Atlanta Story Podcast with a company that is hiring, more in the next clip. Lemon Perfect is the name of the business and it's a CPG company that sells healthy lemon water and is the 4th fastest growing water brand in the country. If you don't listen to the podcast, here are the main three takeaways: Yanni Hufnagel is the CEO and started the business after spending the first nearly 20 years of his career as basketball coach: point 1, it's never too late to pivot your career. When identifying factories to produce his product, found a company with two partners in the plant. Those partners ended up splitting up but Yanni built the relationship with the one who still produces the product today: point 2, just like in basketball or any sports, business is a game of inches and you need the ball to bounce your way to be successful. Make sure to put yourself in a position for the ball to bounce one way or another and keep at it. When I asked him what is in store for the future of Lemon Perfect, his answer was simple: “wake up and win tomorrow.” Spoken like a true coach. Keep it simple and let's all win today.   Companies Worth Applying To:  Just yesterday, I ran into Joshua Silver the CEO of Rainforest and he has been hiring like crazy. We've covered them a few episodes ago after their raise. Josh is currently looking for a zero to one marketer and ideally someone who has already been in fintech. We put their company link in the bio.  Also, Lemon Perfect's team of 79 is also hiring. They are looking for several marketing specialists to bring their drink in the hands of more consumers.   Annnnd that is five minutes! Beta Product of the Week: PinPointEvents of the Week: Grep-a-palooza Raise of the Week: Parable and HopDrive Podcast of the Week: Atlanta Story - Lemon Perfect Companies Worth Applying To: Rainforest and Lemon Perfect 

The Atlanta Story podcast features meaningful stories of Atlanta's builders, creators, and entrepreneurs. In this episode Jon Birdsong sits down with Yanni Hufnagel, Founder of Lemon Perfect. Yanni started his career in basketball. From team manager at Cornell to Assistant Coaching positions at Oklahoma, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and Nevada, Yanni is a student of building great teams, recruiting the best, and leaving it all out on the court. Five years ago a spark was ignited around the idea of building a premium, healthy, and delicious water brand. That brand, headquartered out of Atlanta, is called Lemon Perfect and can be bought nationwide.    In today's interview, Yanni shares stories about his lessons and decisions from his basketball career that helped him build one of the fastest growing water brands in the country and much more!   The Atlanta Story is put together by the folks at Atlanta Ventures -- and we can't wait to share some of the personalities behind the brand. Atlanta Ventures invests in entrepreneurs through community, content, and capital -- most notably through our Studio with companies like Greenzie and Intown Golf Club. We believe the best entrepreneurs learn from other great artists in different fields.

A successful ecommerce strategy takes more than an online shopping cart for your product or service. You'll probably want some kind of online ads.But that can be hit or miss. How do they really work? What can you do to create a truly successful ecommerce strategy?Chris Moe explains how in this information packed episode.What You'll Discover About eCommerce Strategy:* The 5 pieces of information every successful ecommerce strategy includes on their Amazon page* How to include a realistic investment level into your ecommerce strategy* How to find the search volume on Amazon for better product placement in your ecommerce strategy* The biggest mistake businesses make in trying to create a successful ecommerce strategy* And MUCH more.Guest: Chris Moe Chris is the Co-Founder of Cartograph, a team of 60+ people that help CPG and e-commerce brands grow their companies on Amazon. They currently manage $100M+ in GMV.Their clients include Magic Spoon, Four Sigmatic, Lemon Perfect, Popchips, and Kin Euphorics.Chris himself has 10+ years experience in sales and marketing. Before Cartograph, he worked at McKinsey as an Engagement Manager helping consumer companies in the US, Canada, Brazil, Europe, and Australia, with growth and pricing,He attended Cornell University, where he led a group that recycled and sent computers to developing countries and interned at Google on the Google Earth team.Related Resources:If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Marketing episodes.Contact Chris and connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.The Amazon Research Tool Chris mentioned during the interviewCartographJoin, Rate and Review:Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidentialJoining the Business Confidential Now family is easy and lets you have instant access to the latest tactics, strategies and tips to make your business more successful.Follow on your favorite podcast app here as well as on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Download ♥ Follow ♥ Listen ♥ Learn ♥ Share ♥ Review ♥ Comment ♥ Enjoy

Description: Yanni Hufnagel joins the show today to chat about his journey to becoming the Founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect, a great tasting flavored lemon water. Yanni shares his story from being a college basketball coach, to launching his first startup Lemon Perfect. We talk about how the name Lemon Perfect came to him, why he almost hired a CEO, and how he keeps the energy in his organization higher than ever and his team either sprinting or resting, but nothing in between.Exclusive Deals from Our Sponsors:Give the gift of the world's most beautiful spice rack and get 15% off by using the promo code STAIRWAY15 at www.evermill.comGet 20% off luxury fitness equipment that you won't want to hide in your closet by using the promo code STAIRWAY20 at www.equiptmovement.comIn This Episode You'll Hear About:(1:30) More about Lemon Perfect, lemon-flavored water with zero sugar and no artificial flavors or sweeteners powered by organic lemons, containing electrolytes from potassium, and packed with Vitamin C, making healthy hydration more refreshing than ever. (4:00) Why he believes entrepreneurship is a lot like coaching a team, and why you have to constantly be looking at the scoreboard why he almost hired a CEO, but then decided against it in the last moments before signing the contract (7:50) What his life was like growing up, how he always had the inclination of being a coach(12:40) How he ended up being a student manager of the basketball team at Cornell, and how that kick-started his career in coaching college basketball(19:10) The a-ha moment for Lemon Perfect, how the name came to him, and why it was important to him to buy the domain name(25:30) The launch strategy for launching Lemon Perfect, knowing that flavor was the most important, and how to make it great flavor and good for you (30:51) The story of how they got Beyonce as a celebrity investor(36:00) What fundraising has been like, what the process has been, and the advice he has for other aspiring entrepreneurs (45:00) How to persevere through the everyday rollercoasters (50:00) What he's taken from being a coach that makes a great CEO(54:00) How he maintains the excitement across the company, and having the leadership team invest time in their people(57:00) Why he decided to pull back in hiring a CEO, and build Lemon Perfect himself based on gut instinct(1:06:00) The final advice he has for entrepreneurs tuning inTo Find Out More:https://lemonperfect.com/Quotes:“We tried to create packaging that was a fashion show on the shelf, in a cooler, or on display.”“There is no scoreboard when you're first starting.”“It was really this intersection of flavor that's also good for you, and how do we get there, and the idea just stuck with me.”“We have to create a product that's delicious and refreshing that hits on relevant consumer treads.”“We are delivering real innovation to a stale, enhanced water category.”“Have the perseverance to keep going.”“I don't have a choice but to be the last team standing.”“I have the burden of delivering something to the market  that can truly make America and eventually the world a healthier place.”“Entrepreneurship is a high-stakes game.”“We don't allow people to walk or run here. We only sprint or rest.”“I've always been about compressing our gross margin story today to build a big share story for tomorrow.”“Run the race until you have nothing left.”“Focus on product. I've talked a lot about recruiting and retention, but you do have to focus on product, because product market fit is ultimately really the most important.”

Welcome back!! Today, Yanaiya sat down with Madison Utendahl, the founder of Utendahl Creative, a female focused, empathetic creative agency & studio that focuses on branding, social media & content strategy, servicing clients such as Refinery29, Milk Bar, Lemon Perfect. She was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 for marketing and advertising in 2021 AND she was also a Founding Partner at Museum of Ice Cream and former Head of Content & Social, where she grew their digital presence to reach an audience of over 1 Billion people in under 20 months. She is also a 2x webby award winner! Today, we touch on everything from personal principles to business principles and dive into how we can be the best to ensure success!! Enjoy:)

We talk going from college basketball to making lemon water, mile deep in sales, raising capital and spending to get trial and big revenue, plus matching brands with content creators.

Yanni Hufnagel - the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect - is one of the most passionate entrepreneurs in the country - not just the $13 billion enhanced water industry. He has created a product, a brand, and a values-driven corporate culture that is widely admired by consumers and celebrity-investors across the country - including Beyonce, Blake Griffin, Sloane Stephens, Jared Mccain, and C.J. Stroud. After a decade coaching basketball - and learning from some of the most iconic head coaches in the country - Jeff Capel, Eric Musselman, Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), and Tommy Amaker (Harvard), including - he decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge. After he raised his first dollar from a supportive investor, he knew he was all in, and there simply was no turning back. It wasn't easy. There were a lot of dark days. A lot of tears. But now the company is experiencing hockey stick growth straight to the stars. Any comments, questions or thoughts to share with today's podcast guest - Yanni Hufnagel - join our community at www.imperfectleaders.com.

Yanni Hufnagel - the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect - is one of the most passionate entrepreneurs in the country - not just the $13 billion enhanced water industry. He has created a product, a brand, and a values-driven corporate culture that is widely admired by consumers and celebrity-investors across the country - including Beyonce, Blake Griffin, Sloane Stephens, Jared Mccain, and C.J. Stroud. After a decade coaching basketball - and learning from some of the most iconic head coaches in the country - Jeff Capel, Eric Musselman, Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), and Tommy Amaker (Harvard), including - he decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge. After he raised his first dollar from a supportive investor, he knew he was all in, and there simply was no turning back. It wasn't easy. There were a lot of dark days. A lot of tears. But now the company is experiencing hockey stick growth straight to the stars. Any comments, questions or thoughts to share with today's podcast guest - Yanni Hufnagel - join our community at www.imperfectleaders.com.

This week's episode of the show is PACKED with Energy and passion from the CEO of Lemon Perfect, Yanni Hufnagel!Yanni had been a high level NCAA Division I basketball coach (which is how we met through our mutual friend Cuonzo Martin) before pushing the chips ALL IN on his idea.Now valued at over $100 Million and backed by Beyonce, he is using his competitive edge built from the basketball world to absolutely DISRUPT the beverage industry.If YOU would like to try Lemon Perfect, use the code BURN15 for a discount at checkout over at lemonperfect.comCatch the full episode live on Youtube and all podcast platforms.Watch here: https://youtu.be/bJ9wuR68v7MThe Burn Podcast, ignited by Punch'd Energy.https://www.puchdenergy.com************************************Let's work TOGETHER https://www.bennewmancoaching.comOrder my new book UNCOMMON LEADERSHIP: 11 Ways the Greatest Leaders Lead: www.bennewman.net/preorderConnect with me everywhere else:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/continuedfightFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Continuedfight/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ContinuedFighthttps://www.bennewmancoaching.com

Yanni Hufnagel, Founder of Lemon Perfect, is on a mission to help make America healthier. Learn why the former collegiate basketball coach decided to shift his passion for building teams from the courts into the beverage industry. Listen to how he evolved from a cut basketball player into a collegiate coach and now CEO of a fast-growing business. Yanni remembers as a kid playing under the covers at night, building starting lineups with figurines. He wanted nothing more than to be a basketball player, but being the last guy cut from the basketball team sent him in another direction. Soon he was voicing games and working on the operations side of the court. Hear how a chance conversation turned into an opportunity to be a manager for Cornell's basketball team. Before he knew it, Yanni was interning for the New Jersey Nets, learning from industry greats, serving as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma, and then coaching at programs like Vanderbilt, Harvard, and Cal-Berkeley. He was coaching in Nevada when he had the idea for Lemon Perfect. Drinking lemon water had become part of his wellness routine, but Yanni figured there had to be a better and healthier way to create flavored lemon water. He gave up coaching to pursue the idea. Through the ups and downs of launching into the competitive beverage industry, Yanni has always been all-in on delivering the best product at a reasonable price point with the best team of people intending to make America healthier. Gain insights into Yanni's approach to building a business and a successful team.

This week, we try out the new Trick or Treat Hard Seltzers from Urban Artifact and wow, those tricks are potent. We meet the creator and CEO of Lemon Perfect water who has almost as much energy as Mark does. We sit down with Madtree Brewing about their upcoming events here in Jungle Jim's, and close the show out with a musical performance by Claire Lefton! All this and more on the Jungle Jim's Podcast! Watch the show on YouTube here - https://youtu.be/--aRROfKoJg

In this episode, Jeff, Stacey, Jake and Hannah have a very honest conversation about alcohol and the reasons why we've chosen not to drink. We often get asked if we drink and why or why not, so we wanted to share our testimonies with alcohol and our reasoning for the decisions we have made (and continue to make). We encourage our listeners to take a stance and have convictions in this area, no matter where you draw the line. We have also attached our list of 11 alcohol alternatives from Season 1 since it applies to this topic! Here is the list (with some fun notes!): Kombucha (definitely the most like beer) Virgin Moscow Mule (fun one to order at a bar!) Cranberry juice, Le croix and lime (homemade mixed drink, so many variations) Ginger Beer - fever tree (extra spicy for a kick!) Shots of Apple Cider, Ginger, Wheat grass, or Lemon Juice (shot, shot, shot, shot!) Sparkling Cider (this one is a classic) Töst non-alcoholic Rosè (literally looks and tastes like Rosè - super fancy!) Karma Probiotic Drink (comes in a super cool bottle) Lemon Perfect (very yummy and simple) Liquid IV (super good flavors, easy on the go!) Rowdy (if you need a little energy)

Creating a new company in the food and beverage space is no small feat. While it's relatively easy to get started, securing shelf space, managing margins, and outmaneuvering extremely large and resourced incumbents create considerable barriers to entry. Lemon Perfect has been bucking that trend, having raised over $37M and achieving national distribution in 5 short years. Founder Yanni Hufnagel was in some ways an unlikely first time founder, a former division I college basketball coach with no background in the CPG space. But in this conversation it quickly becomes clear why he's been able to succeed where so many others have failed. We chat about the origins of Lemon Perfect, how he's applied his unique skill set to team building and vision casting, how he's instilled a culture of velocity and relentless execution, and much more. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review! https://kite.link/disruptors-lemonperfectPODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://manifold.group/podcastApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3EbkMEkSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3nqwNiDRSS: https://bit.ly/3ntcFw1Full episodes playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdnqR-lZH65HqCM09dwh6otuU7TArkq8JClips playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdnqR-lZH65HrrlaeQZnf1sicFkprjpqkSOCIAL:- Sean Johnson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/intentionally- Sean Johnson on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/seanjohnson- Sean Johnson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intentionally_- Manifold on Twitter: https://twitter.com/manifold_group- Manifold on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/m/company/manifold-group- Manifold on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themanifoldgroup- Manifold on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manifold_group/- Manifold on Medium: https://medium.com/build-better-products

Thank you for tuning into "Starting Small", a podcast about brand development, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the modern world. In this episode, I am joined by Yanni Hufnagel of Lemon Perfect, organic cold-pressed lemon water that's packed with all-natural flavor and superfruit benefits.  Make sure to check out Lemon Perfect at: https://lemonperfect.com/   Follow Starting Small: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingsmallpod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Startingsmallpod/?modal=admin_todo_tour LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/cameronnagle   Thank you to this episodes sponsor, YITAHOME. YITAHOME's online store dedicates to providing fashionable and practical home furniture, at a very low cost. Whether it's furniture for your bedroom, office, or living room, YITAHOME provides an array of products. Make sure to check out YITAHOME and use code yitahome10 for 10% off your purchase at: https://www.yitahome.com/

It's rare for an entrepreneurial food or beverage brand to generate a billion dollars in annual revenue. Yet that hasn't kept ambitious founders from envisioning a 10-figure future for their companies. Yanni Hufnagel, the founder and CEO of Lemon Perfect, is one of those aspiring leaders, and based on the trajectory for his brand this far, he has a realistic shot. Launched in 2018, Lemon Perfect markets a line of low-calorie, lemon-flavored water. Positioned as hydration beverages, the USDA certified organic drinks come in seven varieties each sweetened with a blend of erythritol and stevia and containing five calories per 12 oz. bottle.    Available nationwide at Publix, Kroger, Whole Foods and Ralph's, Lemon Perfect anticipates over $60 million in sales and a retail footprint of over 40,000 doors by the end of 2022 as it expands into Costco, CVS, Walmart and Target. Earlier this year, the company closed on a $31 million Series A funding round that included a high-profile roster of celebrity investors headlined by music icon Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. The recent financing brought Lemon Perfect's total funding to $42.2 million and a valuation of over $100 million. In an interview featured in this episode, Hufnagel spoke about his overarching vision for Lemon Perfect, the parallels between coaching college basketball and running a beverage company, why nailing “the big decisions” has been critical to the brand's development and how his perspective on gross margin has evolved. He also explained why Lemon Perfect has invested heavily in field sales, how he cultivated a culture of hustle and commitment and why he says that he's never sold the brand to an investor.   Show notes: 0:42: Interview: Yanni Hufnagel, Founder & CEO, Lemon Perfect – Before diving into Lemon Perfect's backstory, Hufnagel and Taste Radio editor Ray Latif chatted about the entrepreneur's Instagram handle, his brief flirtation with investment banking and the origin of the brand's name. Hufnagel also discussed the simplicity of Lemon Perfect's ingredients, how he got up to speed in the beverage industry (hint: a certain podcast was key), his counterintuitive advice about gross margin for early-stage brands, why moving to a shelf-stable formulation was instrumental in the brand's growth and why not hiring a CEO was one of the best decisions he's made. Later, he explained why Lemon Perfect's unit economics make it highly attractive to investors, his praise (and acronyms) for hard work and why “being great fiduciary of a capital” is a point of pride.  Brands in this episode: Lemon Perfect, Vitaminwater, Bai, Vita Coco

Today on Subscribing to Wellness we are joined by Yanni Hufnagel, CEO and Founder of Lemon Perfect. Lemon Perfect is a hydrating lemon water with five calories, zero sugar, and no artificial flavors or sweeteners. Episode Fun Facts: 1) Prior to starting Lemon Perfect, Yanni was a collegiate basketball coach holding roles at several universities such as University of Nevada, Berkely, and Vanderbilt. 2) Earlier this year Yanni closed a $31M Series A with a strong group of investors including Beechwood Capital, Goat Rodeo Capital, Melitas Ventures, and Beyonce Knowles-Carter. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/subtowellness/support

Yanni Hufnagel is a former college basketball coach for the California Golden Bears, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Harvard Crimson. But in 2017, Yanni left coaching and launched Lemon Perfect, a flavored cold-pressed lemon water brand. The business will do $60 million in sales this year, they have raised $40M+ at a $100M+ valuation, and their cap table now includes Beyonce, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Channing Frye, Nick Young, Spencer Dinwiddie, and others. We talk about how Yanni came up with the original idea, what made him decide to go all-in, the lessons he has learned along the way, and how he thinks the business can go from a $100 million valuation to a $5 billion valuation. Enjoy!

In our nineteenth episode of Honest Retail, we chat about the topics and headlines that are capturing our attention including: - Lemon Perfect's recent round - Cleark and grocery tech - The rise and staying power of gummy bears - Sephora's accelerator - NJ bag ban Cameron McCarthy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronkennethmccarthy/ Taylor Foxman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-foxman/ Carlton Fowler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlton-fowler-63069478/

Founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel created a product that met a consumer need, and has a super compelling mission to make the world a healthier place. It's true that his brand, Lemon Perfect, is “literally on fire.” So much so that they just announced $31 million Series A with investments from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and leading consumer products funds. Yanni's story and his passion are just the kind of magic that gets investors and consumers excited. So, what does it mean for a brand to be “literally on fire”? On The Irresistible Factor, you'll find out, with a little help from the always-energetic Yanni. Together, host Kristi Bridges and Yanni explore the story of how the founder first saw a need for this better-for-you product — super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with zero sugar — and the life-changing advice that really made him go for it. With a background in coaching college basketball, Yanni made quite the pivot. He'd been dabbling in keto dieting and drinking lemon water every morning — driving to Whole Foods for organic lemons, getting juice on his counters, and stomaching the bland taste. At the end of a basketball season, he had what he describes as a “lightbulb moment” in the locker room. *What if there was a lemon water that tasted great, just like the drinks his players wanted after a game?* In this episode, you'll find out why Yanni decided to flip from produce to grocery, and how the business has grown significantly as a result. Kristi and Yanni also cover his views on entrepreneurship, why he believes a lot of building a business requires putting on blinkers and just following your heart, and why he is grateful for the rare opportunity to create a great business that also does good. “Scaling a beverage brand is beyond hard,” Yanni said. “Not impossible, but very challenging. And what I would tell you is that we are more focused on growth versus our bottom line.”

In our thirteenth episode of Honest Retail, we are joined by Yanni Hufnagel of Lemon Perfect as we chat about the topics and headlines that are capturing our attention, including: - Everything Expo West - Insights from Yanni on the growth of Lemon Perfect - Plant-based total addressable market - Retail innovation investments starting to close Podcast Homepage: https://honestretail.notion.site/Honest-Retail-Podcast-1aaed3e50dcf4f12b0f2e7c0d8f2c267 Cameron McCarthy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronkennethmccarthy/ Taylor Foxman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-foxman/ Carlton Fowler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlton-fowler-63069478/ Yanni Hufnagel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yhufnagel/

On the heels of the Coca-Cola Co.'s latest foray into alcoholic beverages, the Taste Radio team discussed the potential for Simply Spiked and assessed the mission and mechanics of a new industry group focused on promoting low-sugar, better-for-you CPG brands. They also reviewed major investment deals in the meat stick and hard kombucha categories and riffed on new and notable products, including a line of non-alcoholic aperitifs launched by musician Katy Perry. Show notes: 0:37: Deja Vu. Snap Into A… Chomps? Ice Cream On Everything – It's A Thing. – The hosts realized that they have a couple trademarks to file, discussed the prospects for Coke's first hard lemonade brand and wondered about whether a seven-brand trade group is truly “aces.” Later, Ray hated on a legacy snack brand and shared the delights of an organic hard seltzer line and Lunar New Year-themed spirit, Mike and Jacqui praised the surging growth of better-for-you alternatives and they all weighed on how to use a horde of ice cream.  Brands in this episode: Simply, Fresca, Topo Chico, Super Coffee, High Key, Olipop, Lemon Perfect, Koia, Enlightened, Three Wishes, Slim Jim, Chomps, Flying Embers, Remy Martin, De Soi, Soda Bossa, Planted, Plant Snacks, Sfoglini

Carlton Fowler is back for another round. The co-founder and managing partner of Goat Rodeo Capital, a venture capital firm that holds stakes in several fast-growing beverage alcohol, non-alcoholic drink and premium snack brands first joined us for an interview in October 2020. Fowler's return to Taste Radio this week follows the recent launch of Goat Rodeo's second fund, from which the firm has made investments in hop-centric beverage company HopLark and premium canister snack brand The Good Crisp. Those companies joined a portfolio that includes ready-to drink cocktail brand DRNXSMYTH, canned wine company Archer Roose and Lemon Perfect, a brand of cold-pressed lemon water drinks. As part of our discussion, Fowler reflected upon the data and business criteria that influenced Goat Rodeo's initial investments and how that information is being utilized to make new funding decisions. He also spoke about how the firm evaluates non-portfolio DTC brands and their potential for omnichannel success, weighed in the continued blurring of lines within the non-alcoholic beverage and beverage alcohol industries and explained why Goat Rodeo's second fund will not include investments in cannabis beverages, despite Carlton being bullish about the future of the space. Show notes: 0:44: Carlton Fowler, Managing Partner, Goat Rodeo Capital – Fowler and Taste Radio editor Ray Latif riffed on the investor's role as a judge for BevNET's Cocktail Showdown 2 competition and a tweet about two of his two passions appearing in a limited-edition product. Fowler also spoke about how Goat Rodeo has and continues to deploy capital for its second fund, his perspective on brands that attempt to create a new category versus seeking an addressable market for their products and how he evaluates brand success on Amazon. Later, he explained why he celebrates greater crossover among non-alcoholic, spirit and beer brands, the reason he sees a big runway for zero-proof drinks and why cannabis drinks are on his mind, even if not part of Goat Rodeo's second fund. Brands in this episode: Golden Rule Spirits, Social Hour Cocktails, Arby's, Lay's, Guinness, HopLark, The Good Crisp, Lemon Perfect, Liquid Death, Tito's, Mountain Dew, Twisted Tea, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Monster Energy, Topo Chico, Seedlip, Heineken, Budweiser, CANN, Levia

“Capital is a commodity these days and you know most founders really can take their pick in terms of which venture capital funds they partner with.” How does the venture capital world view the current state of the food industry? Melitas Ventures founder and managing partner Alex Malamatinas (ex-Tyrian Investments, Indus Capital [former Soros Partners], and Morgan Stanley) shares his thoughts on trends centered on health and wellness, direct-to-consumer models, high valuations, plant-based products, and more. Malamatinas draws on his experience as a board member for companies ranging from Abbot's Butcher to MUD WTR to show how the early stage food and beverage industry has evolved in recent years, how COVID-19 changed his valuation processes, and what the food industry could see in 2022. More about Alex Malamatinas: Alex is the Founder and Managing Partner of Melitas Ventures, a New York based venture capital fund that partners with innovative early stage food & beverage companies. He serves on the boards of: Abbot's Butcher, NomNom, Verb Energy, Beekeeper's Naturals, Lemon Perfect, Elements, RIND Snacks, Nurture Life and MUD WTR. Alex was previously a senior member of the investment teams at Tyrian Investments (seeded by Tiger Management) and Indus Capital (former Soros Partners), where he invested in global consumer companies. He began his career in Morgan Stanley's London and New York offices. Alex received his MBA from Wharton, with a Major in Finance, and BA in Political Science, with honors and distinction, from Stanford University. More about Melitas Ventures: We partner with visionary founders who innovate and transform what consumers eat and drink. We believe in authentic brands which are better-for-you and have a positive impact on society and the environment. We apply our dedication, creativity and experience to fuel tremendous growth for our companies. Melitas Ventures is a New York based Venture Capital fund that invests in early stage food & beverage companies through the entire value chain. The team has unique access to competitive investment opportunities and a very selective investment process. The Melitas Ventures partners have established a successful track record investing in some of the most innovative and fastest-growing early stage food & beverage companies. More about Melitas Ventures: https://www.melitasventures.com/

Laura is currently the Southeast Area Sales Manager at Lemon Perfect – she and Shauna chat about her journey so far....and what a journey it's been!   Laura talks about:  Moving to America from Bolivia as a child  Then moving to New York as a young adult to follow her dreams  Starting her career at The Lemon Perfect Company and moving back to Miami  Seeking out change instead of just letting change happen to you  Social media vs. reality  The importance of building relationships   ...And much more!   

Elevation is not about getting to the top.⁣ Elevation is about becoming a better version of yourself while accepting everything that comes with it.⁣1.What does elevation mean?2. Why is this a good goal to have?3. In what areas can one elevate?4. How can elevation lead to greater fulfillment and success?5. What are the positives and negatives of elevation?6. Is elevation for everyone?7. How does one start to elevate?8. How does it relate to visualization, goal setting, affirmations, family, community, entrepreneurship, personal life?9,. Are there clear difference between people who just want to do enough to get by and those who want to elevate?10. Is a fear of elevation a reason that some accuse the black community of a "crabs in a bucket" mentality?We will discuss these concepts and many more including Letony Hadnot's company Different Mind DesignsLeTony W. Hadnot - "I'm a Native of Beaumont, TX. Moved to Houston in 2014. Starting doing photography in 2015. I officially started my photography business in 2018.My most significant achievements were working with a few brands such as JBL, The Hilton, Lemon Perfect, and a few more. My work has also been published in several magazines, including In Other Wordz Sports Magazine, Vegas2LA, and others. I've also had the opportunity to work with a few athletes and few other notable people, most recently Steve Francis, whose photo I shot is currently on a few billboards in the city of Houston."Facebook: Different Mind Designs Instagram: @differentminddesignsTwitter: @DMindDesignsTikTok: @differentminddesignswww.differentminddesigns.comThere are 53 more published episodes on varying topics!Click to listen or watch the youtube videos at www.laughzandlyrics.com.The audio is also on all podcasting platforms and available by googling The Zennurgy Podcast. Some links are here https://linktr.ee/zenase.Peace and blessings.Artists, entrepreneurs, educators and community leaders are also invited to become guests. Fill out the Would You Like to Be a Guest form found on both the links above. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-zennurgy-podcast/exclusive-content

Today we are talking with Jessica Abo who is a highly sought-after media trainer, storytelling coach, award-winning journalist, and best-selling author. Jessica started her public speaking career when she was only 15 years old and has spoken everywhere from TEDx, Facebook, Delta Airlines, Microsoft, WW, and the United Nations to hundreds of nonprofits and schools. Working more than 20+ years as a TV news anchor and reporter, Jessica has appeared on The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, CBS, FOX, CNN, CNN Headline News, NY1, and more. Today, she uses her love of storytelling to produce content through her production company. You can watch Jessica's weekly business segments on Entrepreneur.com.In today's episode we dive into getting camera ready (specifically how to go from camera shy to camera ready) she gives us tips on how to show up unfiltered and authentically on social media, and we go into a rapid fire on her top pitching do's and don'ts. Her favorite beverage is triple threat, just like her.Here's what you'll learn:How Jessica Abo got into the world of journalism and public speakingThe birth and creation of her book, Unfiltered, How to Be as Happy as Happy as You Look on Social MediaHow to determine your curated content for being on cameraYou'll hear about her new workshop, How to Go from Camera Shy to Camera ReadyWhen and how Jessica, as a member of the media, prefers to have pitches sent to herHow Jessica left the TV industry and got a book dealHow as a teenager, she got her own show with anNPR affiliate.How to curate the content you show on social media to truly reflect your brand and/or yourselfHow to get more comfortable with getting yourself out there, and becoming more ‘camera ready.'How to best prepare for media interviews…Her top pitching do's and dont'sAnd so much more!! Learn more about Jessica's latest workshop/summer special: https://jessicaabo.samcart.com/products/confident-on-cameraInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaabotv/?hl=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaabo/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaAboTV/Where to find her book: Unfiltered How to Be as Happy as You Look on Social Media: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unfiltered-jessica-abo/1128665978Entrepreneur.com Contribution: https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/series/jessica-aboWhere to find Jessica's favorite drink, Lemon Perfect: https://lemonperfect.com/Snag Lexie's free Pitch it, Pitch it Good! Checklist at theprbarinc.com/pitchitgoodInterested in learning more about Pitchin'? Book a Free Consultation here.Instagram: @theprbar_incGo back to the homepage

Who knew what would be in store for Yanni after coaching college basketball?

Turkeys, Tinder, and greek life with Jarred Graham Check your voter registration: https://www.nass.org/can-I-vote Follow Jarred: @jarred.graham / @tortoise90210 Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and stay up to date with the latest episodes @danachittavong / @canigetyouadrinkpodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Thank you CJ Fowler for the introduction to our guest today, Yanni Hufnagel, Founder & CEO of Lemon Perfect. Lemon Perfect is a super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with no sugar, artificial flavors, or sweeteners.Some of the questions I ask Yanni:Why did you become a coach?Why did you leave college basketball to found Lemon Perfect? What was the insight that led you?How did you think about the hydration category?What was your first steps when you started Lemon Perfect?How did you think about testing?Curious as to how their omnichannel strategy started, evolved(lessons learned), and what next steps areHow Beyonce drinking their product has helped them grow, did it help get into retailers?And more generally, his thoughts on working and taking money from celebrities.How did you get into retail?Moving forward what will be the best avenues to pursue for sampling ?What's the biggest change from your role going from early stage to growth stageWhat was the most surprising part in CPG since you were an outsider?How has college basketball helped shape you?How did you approach raising capital? How big do you want to go?Why did you go to recycled plastic? How do you think about margins?***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000. Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.