Pat and Posh sit down for one of the most important conversations they’ve had on The Founder Hour. As Armenians, Pat and Posh are passionate about their culture — in all its vibrancy and peace. This timely discussion with Mihran Toumajan, Director of the Western Region of the Armenian Assembly of America*, sheds light on the conflict between Armenians in Artsakh and Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey. The discussion focuses on Azerbaijan and Turkey’s recent bombing of Artsakh, a region governed by Arm...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 164
Ronnie Fieg is a footwear and clothing designer and the founder of Kith, a retail establishment and streetwear brand that he launched in 2010 with stores in New York, LA, Miami, London, and most recently Tokyo. Over the last decade, Kith has absolutely taken over the streetwear game, collaborating with brands such as Calvin Klein, Versace, Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, and many others, as well as launching their own collections of men’s, women’s, and kid’s clothing. In this episode, we did a dee...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 163
Ellen Marie Bennett is the founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, which specializes in handcrafted premium aprons and culinary gear for the best chefs, home cooks, and makers worldwide. Her story is a wild one, full of adventure and discovery, so we were excited to get a chance to hear about Ellen’s early days, moving to Mexico after graduating from high school and creating a whole new life for herself there, why she decided to move back to the U.S. and pursue a career in the culinary world, w...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 162
Steven Galanis is the co-founder and CEO of Cameo. Cameo is a video-sharing platform that allows celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Caitlyn Jenner, Carole Baskin, and over 40,000 others, to send personalized messages to fans, such as birthday shoutouts, congratulations, and more. The company has seen a meteoric rise since launching in 2017, so we were excited to sit down with Steven to see what it’s all about. We talk about everything from Steven’s upbringing and various entrepreneurial ventures le...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 161
Aline Kamakian is a renowned restaurateur, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Mayrig. Mayrig, which means “mother” in Armenian, Aline’s native language, is one of Beirut’s most beloved restaurants specializing in authentic Armenian cuisine, which she founded in 2003. As you may know, the city of Beirut was hit with a massive explosion on August 4th of this year that decimated the city, causing at least 190 deaths, 6,500 injuries, and destroying half of the city’s homes and businesses which lef...
Sep 08, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 160
Opal Tometi is a human rights activist, writer, strategist, community organizer, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter. Starting out as a hashtag on social media in 2013, Black Lives Matter has grown to become the largest movement in U.S. history, as reported by the New York Times. We had the unique pleasure of speaking with Opal and learning about her personal background and upbringing, what inspired her to become a human rights activist, how Black Lives Matter ultimately came together, what the...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 159
Warren Hogarth is the co-founder and CEO of Empower, a mobile app that helps consumers retake control of their financial lives by offering automated savings, personalized coaching, cash advances, and much more. In the episode, we chat with Warren about his childhood growing up in Australia, his college experience and where he got his entrepreneurial bug from, his biggest learnings from investing in early-stage startups as a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital, why he’s so passionate about fint...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 158
GT Dave, a.k.a. the “King of Kombucha,” is the founder of GT’s Kombucha (now known as GT’s Living Foods), the #1 selling Kombucha brand in the world and the originator of bottled kombucha. Born and raised in LA, GT dropped out of high school and started the company at just 15 years old, and over the past 25 years, they’ve pioneered and dominated a whole category of beverages that merely didn’t exist before GT bottled his first kombucha in 1995. Today, the company is worth over $1 billion. In thi...
Aug 17, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 157
Alexa von Tobel is the founder of LearnVest, a personal finance company that made financial planning affordable and accessible for everyone, which was acquired by Northwestern Mutual in 2015 for $375 million. She’s now the founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the next wave of tech entrepreneurs. In this episode, we chat with Alexa about her early life and college days, dropping out of Harvard Business School to launch Learn...
Aug 10, 2020•56 min•Ep. 156
Josh Luber is the founder of StockX, the world's first online consumer “Stock Market of Things” for high-demand, limited-edition products featuring a live marketplace where participants anonymously buy and sell limited-edition consumer products such as sneakers, watches, clothing, handbags, and trading cards. In this episode, we talk about everything from Josh’s formative years and how going to law school helped him become a better problem solver, the various business ventures he’s had throughou...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 155
Blake Mycoskie is the founder of TOMS, a for-profit company that designs and markets shoes, as well as eyewear, coffee, apparel, and handbags, that he founded in 2006 after a trip to Argentina. He recently launched his new company, Madefor, a simple 10-month program that harnesses the proven power of neuroscience to elevate your mental and physical baselines while cultivating a mindset that allows you to achieve everything you are truly made for. In this episode, we talk about everything from hi...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 154
Jim McKelvey is the co-founder of Square, a financial technology company powering millions of small businesses that he launched in 2009 with Jack Dorsey, who’s also the founder and CEO of Twitter. The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2015 and is currently worth about $53 billion. Jim is also the author of “The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time,” where he breaks down what it truly means to be an entrepreneur and build a world-changing busi...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 153
Bedros Keuilian is the founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp, one of the nation’s fastest-growing franchises, as well as a best-selling author, speaker, consultant, and investor in startups. In this episode, we spoke with Bedros about his early days and immigrating to the United States at 6 years old, what influenced his path to entrepreneurship, the valuable lessons he learned from his mentors growing up, the worst and best deal he ever made, what inspired the idea for Fit Body Boot Camp, why h...
Jul 13, 2020•47 min•Ep. 152
Trevor Milton is the founder and executive chairman of Nikola Corporation. Founded in 2014, Nikola is an energy technology company that designs and manufactures hydrogen-electric semi-trucks, pickup trucks, and more. In June 2020, the company debuted on the Nasdaq and is worth over $20 billion. They are expected to fully reveal the Nikola Badger, the company’s first pick-up truck built with hydrogen fuel-cell technology, at their highly-anticipated event, Nikola World, in December 2020. In this ...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 151
Chip Wilson is the founder of Lululemon Athletica, the athletic apparel company that pioneered a whole industry in performance clothing, which he launched in 1998. In this episode, we talk to Chip about his upbringing and younger years as a troubled student in school, how he was able to make $750,000 at 19 years old working on the Alaska pipeline, what motivated him to have his own business by age 30, his advice for entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to enjoy long-term success, his entrepreneuri...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 150
Paolo Pirjanian is the founder and CEO of Embodied, Inc. Founded in 2016, Embodied is an industry-leading robotics and AI company creating state-of-the-art companion robots to revolutionize human-centric care and wellness by enhancing quality of life for individuals and families. They recently developed Moxie, a revolutionary new animate companion for children designed to help promote social, emotional, and cognitive development through play-based learning and captivating content. In this episod...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 149
Vicky Tsai is the founder and Chief Treasure Hunter of Tatcha, a modern skincare brand rooted in timeless Japanese beauty rituals. In this super candid conversation, Vicky opens up about what she was like growing up and her early personal struggles and insecurities and why she never fit with her surroundings. We chat about how she got her start on Wall Street as a credit derivatives trader after college, how being at Ground Zero during 9/11 changed her life forever, getting her MBA from Harvard,...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 148
Glenn Sanford is the founder of eXp Realty, CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc. and Chief Strategy Officer for VirBELA. After being involved with a number of internet start-ups in the 1990s and early 2000s, including a stint at AOL, Glenn started a highly successful real estate career in 2002. In 2006, his fourth full year in the business, Glenn and his team closed over $60,000,000 in real estate almost entirely from online lead generation and was ranked as one of the top 50 teams nationally with Ke...
Jun 08, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 147
Join us as we try and unpack everything that’s going on in America right now - from protests to riots to the systemic racism that is so prevalent in our country today. The recent killing of George Floyd was truly a tragedy and we are optimistic that we can all make a change by coming together and standing up for what is right and condemning racial injustice, not just in the streets and on social media, but at home and in the workplace. #BLACKLIVESMATTER Towards the end, we also share our thought...
Jun 03, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 146
Stuart Landesberg is the founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative (formerly known as ePantry), an online platform that delivers eco-friendly home essentials, including household cleaning, personal care, baby, kid, and pet products. In this episode, we chat about everything from Stuart’s upbringing to his experience working on Wall Street during the economic crisis of 2008 to where he got the idea for Grove. Stuart also shares some of the early challenges and constant rejection he faced after pitch...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 145
Gaby Dalkin is a cookbook author, chef, entrepreneur, and writer. Founded in 2009, her website What’s Gaby Cooking established her as the go-to source for all things California, including delicious recipes, videos, and travel guides. After graduating from college, Gaby worked in fashion marketing and PR for less than a year before the financial crisis of 2008. Not sure what she wanted to do next, she pursued her passion for food and hospitality by going to culinary school and working as a privat...
May 26, 2020•52 min•Ep. 144
Born and raised in Canada and fresh out of college, Simon Huck found himself in New York City in the company of A-list celebrities after landing the job of his dreams in PR with Lizzie Grubman and Jonathan Cheban. After quickly establishing himself in the industry as a savvy PR executive, Simon grew to eventually take over Command PR from Cheban in 2012 and rebranded it to Command Entertainment Group, which he’s been running ever since. In 2020, after seeing several friends fall victim to a seri...
May 18, 2020•58 min•Ep. 143
Known as the “Father of Modern Wellness,” Dr. Howard Murad is one of the world’s leading authorities on skincare and healthcare and has been practicing in the field of dermatology for almost 50 years. In 1989, he founded Murad, a global prestige skincare brand that he sold to Unilever in 2015. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Murad about his humble beginnings and immigrating to the U.S. from Iraq, going to medical school, his experience in Vietnam after being drafted in the army as a battalion su...
May 11, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 142
George Arison is a serial entrepreneur and the founder & CEO of Shift, an online peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Prior to Shift, George spent time as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a Product Manager at Google before starting Taxi Magic (now known as Curb & acquired by Verifone), the first on-demand mobile transportation booking technology, before Uber and Lyft were an inkling in the minds of ride-hailers everywhere. George, a Georgian immigra...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 141
Marc Randolph is the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. He’s also the author of “That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea,” where he shares the untold story of what became known as one of the most successful companies in history. In this episode, Marc joins Pat and Posh to share stories from his upbringing that helped shape who he is today, how Netflix was born, his experience as the first CEO of Netflix, as well as answering questions submitted by the audienc...
Apr 27, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 140
For our first-ever virtual episode of The Founder Hour (thanks, Coronavirus!), we sat down with Melanie Wolff and Darien Williams, co-founders and co-CEOs of Brella, an on-demand and high-quality center-based child care. A little over 3 years ago, Darien met Melanie on a blind friend date. Darien was an architect living in New York, who brought up the idea of an on-demand childcare space with Melanie, a marketing executive. Both women were working mothers who had not found a good solution to chi...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 139
It’s a challenging time in our world right now, but we must be optimistic and work towards a more positive future together. A lot will change, but we will ultimately be better for it. In this episode, Pat and Posh (while sitting 6 feet apart) talk about what they’ve been up to while quarantining, as well as a deep discussion about the after-effects of COVID-19 and its impact on business, work, and the social landscape. They also share their thoughts on how businesses can bounce back, FAANG vs. B...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 138
Yancey Strickler is the co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter, a global crowdfunding platform that has helped bring hundreds of thousands of creative projects to life since its launch in 2009. As of today, the platform has received more than $4.6 billion in pledges from 17.2 million backers to fund 445,000 projects, such as films, music, journalism, video games, technology, and more. Some notable companies that started off with a successful Kickstarter campaign include Oculus VR, MVMT, Popsoc...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 137
IN-Q is a National Poetry Slam champion, award-winning poet, and multi-platinum songwriter. His groundbreaking achievements include being named to Oprah’s SuperSoul 100 list of the world’s most influential thought leaders, being the first spoken word artist to perform with Cirque Du Soleil, and being featured on A&E, ESPN, and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. He’s inspired audiences around the world through his live performances and storytelling workshops. Many of his recent poetry videos have gone vir...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 136
Catherine McCord wasn’t your average teenager. While in middle school, she began modeling and traveling the world to be on runway shows and magazine covers such as Glamour, Elle and Vanity Fair, eventually being discovered by the likes of Calvin Klein and Patrick Demarchelier. She was also one of the 15 original Victoria’s Secret Angels. Her modeling career eventually turned into a career in journalism, as she hosted shows such as Extra, The Big Moment, and Loveline. All throughout, Catherine al...
Mar 23, 2020•55 min•Ep. 135
