Jes Wolfe is the CEO of Rebel Girls, an entertainment-driven, global empowerment brand dedicated to inspiring and instilling confidence in girls around the world. In her conversation with Maribel, Jes shares her journey from the finance world to CEO. She talks about what makes Rebel Girls so special: the opportunity to inspire girls and children everywhere and instill confidence from a young age. She emphasizes the importance of creativity and diversity on teams, and why honoring intersectionali...
Mar 10, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Bruce Smith is the Founder and CEO of Hydrow, an at-home full-body rowing experience that connects the user with the natural world through Hydrow’s patented design and technology. Bruce is also an accomplished rower and coach himself; he led the U.S. National Rowing Team to a bronze medal in the 2015 world rowing championships. In this episode, Bruce shares where his journey with rowing and water began, and how it led him to Hydrow. He talks about how rowing isn’t just great fitness for the body...
Mar 03, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Alice Kim is a fashion industry veteran with more than two decades of experience. She’s now the Founder and CEO of PerfectDD, a sustainable clothing brand made specifically for mid-sized women with size DD and up. In this episode, Alice chats with Maribel about every step of her journey: from starting her career in finance to leading PerfectDD today. Throughout their conversation, Alice shares lessons she learned along the way and offers advice for fellow entrepreneurs. She also emphasizes the i...
Feb 24, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Kyra Peralte is a serial creator and entrepreneur who understands human needs and emotions, and creates products that meet those needs. Her most recent project is The Traveling Diary Tour, which connects women around the world through written entries in a shared journal. She’s also the creator of Mermaid Quest, a fantasy game for kids with a focus on representation. In this episode of Building While Flying, Kyra joins Maribel Lara, SVP of Consulting at The Sasha Group, to talk about her journey,...
Feb 17, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Doron Petersan is President of Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, a beloved vegan bakery in Washington, DC—and soon-to-be national e-commerce powerhouse. Doron has played a huge role in paving the way for vegan options in the mainstream that actually taste good. She’s also a two-time champion of the Food Network competition “Cupcake Wars.” In her conversation with Katie, Doron shares the challenges she’s faced throughout her career: from breaking into the vegan food industry, to creating vegan fo...
Feb 10, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Tony Samadani is the Co-Owner and Head of Strategic Partnerships at The Good News Network, a platform founded in 1997 as an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the mainstream media. Tony joined the team in 2016 after a Google search for good news amidst a tumultuous, stressful time led him to the Good News Network website. The “plethora” of good news stories hooked him almost immediately. Tony’s conversation with Mickey touches on more than just the benefits of consuming good ne...
Feb 03, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Farah Allen is an accomplished leader in the media technology space. Her career spans more than 20 years, from management consulting to founder and CEO. She currently serves as CEO of The Labz, a no-code-required digital design platform that creates high-end, communication-rich websites for virtual experiences. In her conversation with Mickey, Farah opens up about her journey from consulting to founder, and shares some lessons from consulting that helped her as a founder. She talks about how the...
Jan 27, 2022•32 min
Aly Wente is the VP of Marketing and Customer Experience at Wente Vineyards. Wente is the country’s longest, continuously operated family-owned winery; Aly is the fifth generation of the Wente family to lead the business. In this episode, Aly shares the history of Wente Vineyards, what drives their success, the respect the current team has for past generations, and how they build upon past generations’ work to keep the brand thriving. She talks about balancing the retail and hospitality sides of...
Jan 20, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist who uses science to meaningfully connect brands and people. He works with Fortune 500 companies and startups to help them apply the latest research to their marketing and sales efforts, engagement, and culture. His book You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence debuted at #2 on the Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list. The book guides readers through the art and science of developing meaningful connections, and demonstrates how to gain trus...
Jan 13, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Wes Felix is CEO and co-founder of Saysh, a lifestyle brand that creates products by and for women. He’s also the founder and managing partner of boutique sports management agency Evolve. He created and launched Saysh with his sister, Allyson Felix, the most decorated Olympic track and field athlete in the world—and who’s faced many challenges of her own throughout her career. In this episode of Building While Flying, Wes breaks down how he sees customers and community differently, how each is v...
Dec 16, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Scott Rogerson is the CEO of UpContent, a SaaS content curation platform built to help its users power up their content strategy and save time in their operations. UpContent spun out of Rogerson’s former agency after it was created to solve internal problems. Now it helps hundreds of companies worldwide curate content, increase thought leadership, and build deeper trust with their customers. In this week’s episode of Building While Flying, Scott shares how UpContent was born, how it’s evolved ov...
Dec 09, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Anita Laney currently serves as President and CEO of Professional Partnering Solutions, a full-service supplier diversity consulting and technology firm, where she and her team also developed DataLou, a supplier diversity SaaS product and business. VaynerX’s Chief Diversity Officer, Vanessa Vining, previously worked under Anita at a previous position. We were fortunate to hear from Anita at the VaynerX Diversity Summit on November 4. This value-packed episode begins with Anita’s career journey: ...
Dec 02, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Michelle Wiles is the Head of Brand at Son of a Tailor, a DTC “clothing tech” company that delivers made-to-order men’s clothing at scale. Their garments are custom fits to provide the best wearing experience, and reduce waste in their production process. Michelle joined Son of a Tailor after starting her career at Proctor & Gamble, VaynerMedia, and MBA school. As Head of Brand, Michelle leads the charge of infusing brand ethos at all levels of the company. In this episode, Michelle and host...
Nov 18, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Maryam Banikarim currently serves as the CMO of Nextdoor, the popular hyperlocal neighborhood and community app. She’s no stranger to finding her own communities; as her family moved around the world, she found purpose in stepping in and being useful wherever her family lived. These experiences serve her well as she leads marketing at Nextdoor and keeps the brand’s purpose at the helm of their efforts. In this episode of Building While Flying, Maryam talks with Katie about the importance of purp...
Nov 11, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Giovanni Vaccaro left his family’s restaurant business at age 18 and went straight to cosmetology school. He says he was the worst beauty student they’d ever seen. After years of learning and hard work, Gio became one of the most well-known and respected beauty professionals in New York. He then parlayed his expertise with his passion for innovation by co-founding the mobile beauty app Glamsquad. For 8 years, this disruptive beauty brand has allowed their clients to get ready in the comfort of t...
Nov 04, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Hal Andrews is a lawyer turned entrepreneurial healthcare executive. He’s currently the CEO of Trilliant Health, an analytics and data science company that provides market analytics, predictive analytics and market research for healthcare providers. It’s the fifth healthcare startup for which he’s served as CEO. On this week’s episode, Hal joins Mickey to talk through each step of his career, and how his experience as a lawyer helped prepare him to lead healthcare startups as CEO. He shares a su...
Oct 28, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Victoria Garrick is not only an accomplished collegiate athlete. She’s a speaker, TED Talk host, nonprofit founder, and mental health advocate who shares her story and message of support to millions. After struggling with her own depression and mental health in college, she gave her now famous TED Talk, “The Hidden Opponent,” in 2017, which explored mental health challenges for student athletes. Now her nonprofit The Hidden Opponent aims to raise awareness for mental health issues in teens and s...
Oct 21, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 38
When Stacy Tuschl started teaching dance classes in her parents’ backyard at age 18, she wasn't planning on starting a business. Within three years, she had 100 students, and the Academy of Performing Arts was born. It’s now grown to hundreds of students, two locations, an entire team, a consulting business, and a 2019 Wisconsin Small Business Person of the Year award. Stacy’s small business journey is anything but ordinary. In her conversation with Mickey, Stacy tells how her businesses got sta...
Oct 14, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 37
For Gary Sheng, the year 2016 kicked off a deep exploration of civics, leadership, and the future of democracy—which ultimately led him to his calling. Gary Sheng is a Co-Founder and the COO of Civics Unplugged, a platform and movement focused on empowering the next generation to build the future of democracy. Its three-month civic leadership fellowship for high school students provides a civics foundation, teaches problem solving and effective dialoguing with others, and helps them build their ...
Oct 07, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Jess Tillyer is the Chief Brand and Experience Officer at re—inc., an eco-conscious fashion and lifestyle brand. re—inc. was founded in 2019 by U.S. Women’s Soccer superstars Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe, and Meghan Klingenberg to empower people to reimagine the status quo and the world around them. In this week’s episode of Building While Flying, Jess joins Katie to tell re—inc’s story and dive into why reimagining the status quo matters. She discusses the distinction between purp...
Sep 30, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Sports fan apparel has gotten a major facelift recently, thanks to Whitney Bansin and The Wild Collective. In 2016, Whitney founded The Wild Collective, a fashion-forward lifestyle and apparel brand that sits at the intersection of sports and fashion. They are licensed across the nation’s biggest sports leagues, including the NHL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, and MLS, as well as select collegiate teams. Whitney joins the Building While Flying podcast this week to talk about her journey and share some of her ...
Sep 23, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Storytelling has been in Alex Kushneir’s blood since birth. After studying film and television (and playing football) at Baylor University, Alex cut his teeth in the production world working for companies like CNBC, Huffington Post, Cheddar, and more. After just eight years in the industry, Alex and colleague Jay Shetty co-founded Icon Media, a full-service content studio that helps brands create purpose-driven content and emotionally connect with their audiences. In this episode of Building Whi...
Sep 16, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Not everyone can say they co-founded and built a brand while navigating business school. This week’s Building While Flying guest did just that—and this is only the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey. Libie Motchan co-founded Fulton with her business school classmate Daniel Nelson, after they bonded over shared foot pain and a lack of a reasonable solution for it. Between their classes and homework, they researched materials, found their production partner (in Portugal, no less), began buil...
Sep 09, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 32
College athletics are going to look a lot different this year, thanks to the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules that were signed into effect earlier this year. Joining us this week on Building While Flying is Mike Neligan, CMO of VaynerSports, to answer the question we’re all asking: what does all this mean? Mike joined VaynerSports two years ago, after 15 years in sports management at places like Excel Sports Management and BSE Global. He’s worked with household names like Peyton Manning, Ti...
Sep 02, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 31
We’re keeping it short and sweet this week on Building While Flying. Mickey and Katie announce a hiatus from new episodes for the month of August. We’ve tested and learned—as is in our DNA—and it’s time to optimize. There’s a lot of awesome work happening behind the scenes, with exciting new guests and improvements coming. We look forward to sharing them with you all in our first episode back on September 2nd. In the meantime, hit us up on social if you have a question, want to be a guest, or kn...
Aug 05, 2021•2 min
For this week’s podcast guest, almost every relationship, opportunity, and experience can be tied back to the sport of basketball. He now uses lessons from his own experiences and from some of the all-time greats to teach and lead others to success. Welcome to Building While Flying! This weekly podcast is brought to you by the Sasha Group. We’re the small-to-medium-sized business arm of the VaynerX family of companies. We help ambitious companies build strong brands that flex with the times thro...
Jul 29, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Building a brand for your clients is one thing. Building your own brand and company—with your husband, no less—is a whole different adventure. But it’s one adventure that this week’s guest embarked upon head on. And their story is quite magical. Welcome to Building While Flying! This weekly podcast is brought to you by the Sasha Group. We’re the small-to-medium-sized business arm of the VaynerX family of companies. We help ambitious companies build strong brands that flex with the times through ...
Jul 22, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Earlier this year, Mickey and Gary joined Matt Hunckler for the Powderkeg Unvalley Conference. Powderkeg is a network of local communities with global reach for tech entrepreneurs, investors, and top talent. Unvalley is a two-day virtual event that explores the untapped potential beyond Silicon Valley. In this special bonus episode, we’re bringing their keynote session to our listeners, so you all can learn more about how The Sasha Group landed in Chattanooga, attracting talent in new cities, th...
Jul 15, 2021•28 min
Some things just run in the family. Such is the case for this week’s guest. What started with a $2,000 investment and a dream is now one of the world’s most popular barbecue brands that people enjoy in restaurants and their own homes. Welcome to Building While Flying! This weekly podcast is brought to you by the Sasha Group. We’re the small-to-medium-sized business arm of the VaynerX family of companies. We help ambitious companies build strong brands that flex with the times through strategy, b...
Jul 08, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 26
The restaurant industry is not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re operating in college towns. When the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the industry, many businesses closed and let their staff go. This week’s guest did the exact opposite. Welcome to Building While Flying! This weekly podcast is brought to you by the Sasha Group. We’re the small-to-medium-sized business arm of the VaynerX family of companies. We help ambitious companies build strong brands that flex with the times thr...
Jul 01, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 25
