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/

Joe Welstead is a former pro swimmer and co-founder of Motion Nutrition, sold in 2022. Today, he's the co-founder of Oshun, a brand that offers electrolyte and magnesium supplements in a pump dispenser bottle.

Expect to hear about:

– Athlete vs. Founder: The similarities and differences between being a pro athlete and an entrepreneur.

– Lessons from his First Brand: Why, if he could do it all over again, he'd launch Motion Nutrition with one hero product instead of 15 SKUs.

– Rethinking Hydration Branding: Why Oshun positions electrolytes for daily brain fog, skin health, and sleep instead of traditional sports performance.

– Profitable by Design: How Oshun has stayed profitable from day one to keep the door open for either holding the brand or selling when the timing is right.

– Building a Life, Not Just a Brand: How Joe is structuring his second founder journey to preserve time with his family.

Find Joe on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-welstead/

Meredith Mills-Merritt is the founder and CEO of The Original Southside, a canned gin cocktail brand made from a family recipe. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands.

Expect to hear about:

– From Beauty to Booze: Why Meredith left her corporate career in beauty brand management to start her own consumer brand.

– 13 Months to Perfect: The long R&D process to commercialize her family recipe while keeping it organic and true to the original recipe.

– Stadium Deals: How an Instagram DM led to a Florida Panthers partnership and opened doors with college programs like LSU.

– Fighting for Shelf Space: Competing in a capital-intensive RTD category with standout packaging and “liquid to lips” marketing.

– What’s Next: New drink products in development, a focus on growing in retail, and Meredith’s vision for Southside’s next stage of growth.

Find Meredith on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithleahmills/

Ben Dancer is the founder of Zed Sleep, a new brand creating performance sleepwear designed to help people sleep better. This episode is part of “The Climb,” our series featuring founders in the earliest stages of building their brands.

Expect to hear about:

– From Harry’s to Founder Life: Why Ben left his role as Director of Brand at Harry’s after six years to start his first venture.

– Why Sleepwear: How opportunity in the sleepwear category and a lifelong interest in wellness inspired him to start Zed Sleep.

– Technical Apparel: How Ben's partnering with fabric mills in Austria and sleep scientists to create temperature-regulating and ultra-soft garments that improve sleep.

– Brand Challenge: Stretching into a space where "performance" and "sleep" go together, and creating an aspirational brand.

– Early Founder Lessons: The emotional rollercoaster of launching his first company and learning to make decisions without perfect data.

Find Ben on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bendancer/

Steven Sashen is the co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes, a barefoot-inspired footwear brand doing over $70M in annual revenue.

Expect to hear about:

– From Stand-Up to Start-Up: What Steven learned as a professional stand-up comedian and how solving his own running injuries led to Xero Shoes.

– Shark Tank: Why he turned down Kevin O’Leary’s $400K offer for 50% of the company, and how this experience convinced him to go all in on Xero Shoes.

– Scaling: How Xero hit $70M in annual sales and maintains one of the highest repeat-purchase rates in footwear.

– PE & Agencies: Why Steven believes that working with PE and agencies can be tricky, and his rules for identifying worthwhile partnerships.

– Life Lessons: Steven thoughts on happiness, luck, how to spend wisely, and his top two book suggestions for anybody looking to live better.

Find Steven on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashen/

Aaron Zagha is the CMO of Newton Baby, one of the largest DTC baby sleep brands in the U.S., known for its innovative baby mattresses, cribs, and more.

Expect to hear about:

– From Banking to Ecom: How Aaron went from M&A to e-commerce after two failed startups, and found his calling in data-driven marketing.

– Bootstrapped Growth: Why Newton Baby scaled to 8-figure sales without outside funding, and how Aaron thinks about profit-first marketing.

– The Influencer Bet: How leaning into Instagram creators early helped Newton dominate a premium, trust-based category.

– COVID Opportunity: Why Aaron doubled ad spend while competitors pulled back, and how that unlocked a lasting step change in growth.

– AI & Brand: How Aaron's using GenAI for creative and his take on what marketers get wrong about the difference between "brand" and "performance" marketing.

Find Aaron on:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronzagha/