Charles Brun is the co-founder of IZIPIZI, a Paris-based eyewear brand designing stylish, affordable glasses now sold in over 80 countries worldwide.

Expect to hear about:

– Founding with Friends: How Charles and two high school friends of his launched IZIPIZI in 2010, and the rules they set to protect their friendship.

– Wholesale to DTC: Why wholesale worked early, and how the desire to scale and build a lasting brand pushed them to add a DTC revenue channel.

– The Rebrand Bet: The 18-month switch from “See Concept” to IZIPIZI, and how they picked their new name.

– Cracking the U.S. Market: How IZIPIZI plans to turn the U.S. from 15% of their total revenue into their #1 market.

– Staying in Control: How they scaled mostly self-funded, then brought on minority PE without giving up the keys.

Find Charles on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbrun/

Ryan Rouse is a co-founder of Factor (a ready-to-eat meal delivery brand sold in 2020), and has also served in executive roles at Serenity Kids and Highkey. Today, he's President at MALK Organics, a plant-based milk brand leading the dairy-alternative space.

Expect to hear about:

– Leaving “Safety”: Why Ryan walked away from a lucrative finance career after the 2008 financial crisis reshaped how he viewed risk and ownership.

– Building Factor: Co-founding Factor, bootstrapping through the early years, and how him and his partner grew the business despite capital pressure.

– A Hard Tradeoff: Why Ryan sold his equity in Factor early to support his family, and how he made peace with that decision after the brand sold for $277M three years later.

– Finding His Edge: How Ryan realized his strength isn’t in zero-to-one startups, but in scaling fast-growth brands in the $40M-$200M stage.

– The MALK Journey: Why scaling MALK from $40M to $100M has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of Ryan's career.

Find Ryan on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrouse/
Twitter/X – https://x.com/MaalkMan

Myriam Belzile-Maguire is the co-founder of Maguire Shoes, a Montreal-based brand she started with her sister in 2016 that makes fashion footwear for women.

Expect to hear about:

– The Origin Story: How seeing a pair of shoes that were produced for $20 but sold for $500 convinced her there was room for high-quality shoes at affordable prices.

– Betting Her Savings: How she launched with $15K in savings and kept Maguire alive by working a part-time job for two years.

– Two Loss Years: Operating at a loss in 2023 and 2024, the toll it took emotionally, and the changes she made to fix it.

– Finding the Right Mentors: How guidance from experienced brand founders helped her return to profitability in 2025.

– What’s Next: Why she’s betting on European wholesale and a refreshed brand identity to go for Maguire's next goal: $20M annual revenue.

Find Myriam on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriam-belzile-maguire-6967b213/