Dwayne Clark is the CEO and Founder of Aegis Living, an author, philanthropist, producer, playwright, longevity expert, husband, father and grandfather. On this podcast, Dwayne talks about how he got involved in the senior housing industry and why he’s been passionate about transforming the sad old folks’ home for over two decades. He openly shares his personal experience of losing a family member during the COVID-19 pandemic, how Aegis Living has been responding to the crisis and key insights o...
Jun 09, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Sari Davidson founded BooginHead, a baby accessories company, from her kitchen table in 2005 after not being able to find what she needed to keep her son’s sippy cup from constantly hitting the floor. Sari talks about coming from an entrepreneurial family, how she juggled her business with a full-time job at Microsoft for three years, and how BooginHead got picked up by large retailers like Babies R Us, Walmart and Target. She also discusses mask production, growing their e-commerce business dur...
Jun 02, 2020•34 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Back again, Dan Shapiro, CEO of Glowforge, discusses the Ear Savers they’ve been creating to help contribute during the COVID-19 crisis. With their “Two Million Essential Ears Initiative,” Glowforge is striving to provide one million free Ear Savers to anyone wearing a mask to keep us safe. He talks about how he’s shown up as a leader during this time, being grateful for Glowforge's open culture and why he ultimately decided to turn down the PPP money. Dan also shares an awesome new online learn...
May 26, 2020•41 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Matt McIlwain, one of the Managing Directors at Madrona Venture Group, explains the most important quality he looks for in a CEO before investing, Madrona’s new accelerator fund, how he spends his time as an investor and his passion for public policy on the What Fuels You podcast. On COVID-19, Matt brings up some interesting points about the “natural tension between freedom and boundaries” and how “barriers have been broken down to find sustainable preventions, cures and tests.” Listen to hear w...
May 19, 2020•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 12
Crowd Cow CEO and Co-founder, Joe Heitzeberg, tells the story of how the company came to be and how they are bringing people together through high quality craft beef and meats. He discusses how COVID-19 has impacted the meat industry and how his company's been continuing to help small and multi-generational family businesses during this time. Joe talks about their work with Arbor Day Foundation and how everything you buy on Crowd Cow, end to end, is 100 percent certified carbon neutral. You'll a...
May 12, 2020•43 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Chad Robins, CEO and Co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, discusses their recent partnership with Microsoft to decode the immune system's response to CODVID-19 and develop better diagnostic tools and their partnership with Amgen to develop potential antibody therapies to treat the disease. Chad also shares how the medical field is adapting and facing new challenges during this pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 07, 2020•42 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Jeff Wald, Founder of WorkMarket and author of The End of Jobs, discusses the benefits of being acquired by ADP in 2018 and their partnership with Volunteer Surge, a platform launched in response to the pandemic that is rapidly training one million volunteer community health workers to support frontline doctors and nurses. Hear Jeff also talk about being in New York City right now, takeaways from his book and his thoughts on how the COVID-19 crisis will impact the future of remote and freelance ...
May 05, 2020•39 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, Ellen Bennett, shares the story of how she started her company in her 20s and how they continue to evolve over time. Starting with just aprons, Hedley & Bennett has expanded to become an all-encompassing “workwear” company, most recently adding masks to their product line after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Ellen discusses how their values made it an easy decision to get involved, their buy one, give one model and their donation of over 100,000 masks t...
Apr 28, 2020•34 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Ian Morris is the Co-founder and CEO of Likewise, an innovative startup backed by Bill Gates that’s re-imagining the way that people find great recommendations. Though the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting every business in some way, Ian shares how the stay at home order and closure of recreational facilities has resulted in a tremendous jump in users on Likewise’s platform on this special episode of the What Fuels You podcast. He discusses how they’re up 400 percent on the number of recommendation...
Apr 22, 2020•23 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Angela Dunleavy-Stowell, CEO of FareStart, a non-profit that transforms lives and disrupts poverty through food, life skills and job training, shares how they are on the frontlines of King County’s COVID-19 response. Angela talks about how FareStart gives people second chances, their 1400 percent homeless shelter meal increase during the pandemic, and how they are serving 26 different locations, with the capacity to do up to 50,000 meals a day. She also discusses how people can help give back to...
Apr 21, 2020•29 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Heather Redman and Jill Singh are among a group of leaders spearheading an initiative to help Puget Sound during the COVID-19 pandemic called All In Seattle. As of their launch in mid-March, they have raised over $30 million to contribute directly to proven non-profits in our community and are continuing to support those in need. Heather and Jill discuss how this idea came about, how they chose the organizations they are supporting, details about putting the website together, and their thoughts ...
Apr 15, 2020•20 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Shannon Anderson, Madrona Venture Group’s Talent Director, joins us to discuss COVID-19’s impact on the Seattle community. Shannon shares how she’s advising their portfolio companies during this unique time and gives examples of CEOs who are truly living their values in the midst of this crisis. She also weighs in on best practices for leadership communication and provides details on Silver Lining, the new, free resource for connecting laid off employees with companies that are hiring. Hear why ...
Apr 14, 2020•28 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Jeremy Lott, President of SanMar, joins us on this special episode of the What Fuels You podcast to discuss SanMar’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the recent crisis, SanMar, the largest supplier of apparel to the Imprinted Sportswear and Promotional Products market, has joined a coalition of American-owned textile companies to be part of the solution. They are working with the White House to produce millions of much needed face masks to support hospitals and health care workers. Jer...
Apr 08, 2020•20 min•Season 6Ep. 3
President and CEO of Ben Bridge Jeweler, Lisa Bridge, shares the story behind their family business founded in 1912. Lisa grew up cleaning the store counters as soon as she was tall enough to reach them and now, she’s the first female president of the company and the youngest executive in over 60 years. She discusses their "family culture," what they do to make sure people feel recognized, their acquisition in 2000, diamond trends, and the work she’s doing to transform their in-store experience....
Apr 07, 2020•51 min•Season 6Ep. 2
As a former lawyer and a social justice advocate at heart, Frances Dewing is fueled by using whatever she’s doing as a platform for social advocacy and change. Now as the CEO of Rubica, a cybersecurity company, Frances is helping small businesses and consumers protect their digital lives and secure you from invisible threats online. On this episode of the What Fuels You podcast, Frances discusses fundraising three rounds, Rubica’s culture, what she believes people can do to support female founde...
Mar 31, 2020•54 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Co-founder and CEO of Barre3, Sadie Lincoln, candidly opens up about her unique childhood being raised by a strong group of women, her journey in the fitness industry and how building a business “has been the most amazing way to grow personally.” In 2008, Sadie co-founded Barre3 with her husband, which focuses on teaching people to be balanced in body and empowered from within. Today they have over 160 franchise studios powered by female entrepreneurs and an online workout streaming subscriber b...
Mar 24, 2020•51 min•Season 5Ep. 12
On this episode of What Fuels You, Stefan Weitz discusses gut health, his diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis and his probiotic subscription company, Jetson, that he founded as a better way to manage his chronic disease and also help “make 50 million Americans healthier.” In addition to Jetson, Stefan has an incubator called 87 that heavily invests in exciting direct to consumer companies – many of which he shares details about. Stefan also reflects on the impactful advice his first boss at Micros...
Mar 17, 2020•41 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Rebecca Lovell, Executive Director at Create33, shares knowledge from her 20+ years of management and operating experience and over a dozen years running and supporting startups in Seattle. At Create33, she’s helping support high-growth technology startups through targeted educational content, strategic connections and mentorship. She opens up about her vision for the company to become the most diverse and dynamic community that it can be, how her philosophy as a mentor is to ask a lot of questi...
Mar 10, 2020•45 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Sue Suh discusses her career journey, which includes undergrad at Princeton, two master’s degrees, the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, The Rockefeller Foundation and now TIME. As the first Chief People Officer at TIME, Sue is focused on culture-building, recruitment, human resources, security, facilities and other operational areas. She talks about how TIME is a “97-year-old start-up” that’s energetically evolving, her belief in courageous and trusted journalism, how inspiring it’s been u...
Mar 03, 2020•49 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Voracious reader and Southerner, JJ McKay, paints a picture of what his childhood was like growing up in a small town. After having success with the American Heart Association, JJ moved to Seattle and continued being a connector and gracious host, which has served him well in his career and his life. In 2016 he founded The Fresh Toast, an award-winning lifestyle, health and wellness platform, which partly focuses on making the cannabis conversation mainstream. On our podcast, JJ talks about rais...
Feb 25, 2020•49 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Jean Thompson went from owner to CEO of the Seattle Chocolate Company 18 years ago after the Nisqually Earthquake destroyed their factory and left the company in a difficult place. Over the last nearly two decades, Jean has re-branded the company using Pacific Northwest inspiration and ingredients and has more than quadrupled the company’s revenue. In this episode, Jean talks about the steps they are taking towards sustainability, how they are helping feed hungry families through the jcoco choco...
Feb 18, 2020•53 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Zillow veteran, Rebekah Bastian, joins us to talk about all things company culture. Rebekah has been with Zillow for nearly 15 years, most recently serving as their VP of Community and Culture. She discusses what makes their culture so great, their equity and belonging efforts and how she balances her family life with her career. We also chat about her college pivot from music to engineering and her most recent venture as CEO and Co-Founder of OwnTrail, inspired by writing her book Blaze Your Ow...
Feb 11, 2020•57 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Mohit “Mo” Bhende, Co-founder of Karat, loves connecting with people and interviewing, so it’s no surprise he found a pain point in the industry and founded the company in 2014. Karat has created the category of Interview Engineering and has conducted over 60,000 technical interviews on behalf of clients including Intuit, Wayfair, Indeed and Pinterest. In addition to his career journey and his learnings from Karat, Mo shares stories from his unique upbringing in India, how he got rejected from 1...
Feb 04, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 5
CEO of Gennev, Jill Angelo, is changing the stigma associated with women’s health in the second half of their life with the first-ever online clinic for women in menopause. Prior to starting Gennev, Jill had a 20-year career in tech, with 15 of those years at Microsoft in executive roles. During this episode, Jill shares details of her life growing up on a farm, her background in speech communication, how the idea for Gennev came to be during her sabbatical and the impact being on The NBC Today ...
Jan 28, 2020•57 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Chris DeVore, Managing Partner of Founders’ Co-op and former Managing Director of Techstars Seattle, shares how he’s helped over 200 Pacific Northwest startups raise over $1.5 billion in investor capital. You’ll learn what is unique about Seattle’s startup ecosystem, how seed rounds came to be and details on what the venture capital process is like for investors. Chris talks about how he’s now raised four funds, why he’d always rather back a founder who has been told she or he isn't 'enough' and...
Jan 21, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 5Ep. 3
OfferUp’s CEO, Nick Huzar, joins us to talk about the evolution of the largest mobile marketplace in the U.S. OfferUp, which he started in 2011 and has raised $261 million in funding so far. They have a strong focus on safety and live and breathe their product (their 70,000 square foot office is furnished entirely by furniture bought locally on OfferUp)! Nick discusses learning work ethic from his parents at a young age, how he’s raising his kids to have grit and how his “word is everything.” He...
Jan 14, 2020•54 min•Season 5Ep. 2
The CEO of RealSelf, Tom Seery, shares details about his upbringing in Upstate New York, packing up his car and moving west to Seattle in search of more innovation and startups, and how he started working with Expedia after getting his MBA. You’ll also learn about where the idea for RealSelf came from, how he chose the name, what their business model is and how the industry has shifted over the years. Tom is a visionary and incredible at giving back - supporting surgeons who donate their time an...
Jan 07, 2020•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 1
Apptentive CEO and Co-founder, Robi Ganguly, shares how his company is helping give consumers a voice and enterprise brands measure customer sentiment in actionable ways. Eight years in and over $17 million in funding raised, Apptentive has helped clients see a 500% increase in App Store ratings and reviews, an 80% increase in positive customer sentiment and a 100% increase in customer retention. In this episode, Robi gives helpful tips on what to look for in investors and board members, being i...
Dec 17, 2019•54 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Rathna Sharad is helping make international shipping easy, affordable and friction-free from “anywhere to anywhere” through her company, FlavorCloud , which she co-founded in 2017. Rathna started in the shipping space with her first company, Runway2Street, a marketplace to help smaller companies sell luxury women’s clothing and accessories internationally, after working in supply chain for many years. In just a short time, FlavorCloud has raised $2.3 in venture seed so far and was featured on CN...
Dec 10, 2019•41 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Clayton Lewis was one of the youngest Chiefs of Staff on Capitol Hill before he pivoted to the private sector at age 30. Since then, he’s helped take two companies public and was General Partner at Maveron for over a decade. His most recent company, Arivale, had several successful years and raised over $50 million before it closed down earlier this year. Clayton discusses his path into politics, his passion for health and wellness and how closing Arivale’s doors was “tragic” for him. He also cha...
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 10
