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Second Nature

Second Nature

Written by: Dylan Bowman & Aaron Lutze
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The business of outdoor hosted by Aaron Lutze & Dylan Bowman2024 Economics
Episodes
  • The Most Overlooked Health Category Nobody Built - Until Now.

    The Most Overlooked Health Category Nobody Built - Until Now.
    Oct 16 2026
    Allie Melnick, co-founder of Climatic, joins Second Nature to talk about building an entirely new health category: proactive lung health. A ten-year veteran of Harry's (now Mammoth Brands), Melnick explains why breathing, not legs, not sleep, not gut health, might be the next frontier in everyday performance, and what it actually takes to convince people a problem exists before you can sell them the solution. She and Aaron dig into Climatic's L-MAX inhaler, the sheep-lung testing and Mount Sinai clinical research behind it, and the surprising communities who found the product before the company expected them to. The conversation also covers the discipline it took to stay patient through a sold-out, scarcity-driven launch, and closes with an unplanned detour into the hidden world of startup advising: how operators with full-time jobs can build equity and expertise on the side, and why a sharp, one-sentence pitch beats being a Swiss Army knife. Second Nature is proudly supported by Popfly and Halo: Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands Popfly for Creators: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators Halo: https://www.poweredbyhalo.com Show Notes: Allie Melnick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-melnick-4269034/ Climatic: https://www.climatichealth.com/ Harry's: https://www.harrys.com/ Seed: https://seed.com/ Mount Sinai Study: https://insider.fitt.co/press-release/mount-sinai-medical-center-researcher-co-authors-peer-reviewed-study-on-inhaled-formulations-designed-to-strengthen-the-lungs-natural-defenses/ Performance Advisory Board: https://insider.fitt.co/press-release/climatic-launches-performance-advisory-board-to-advance-daily-lung-health-as-the-next-frontier-in-wellness/ Mentorpass: https://www.mentorpass.co/ BPC - Brand, Product, Content: Loonen Water: https://loonen.com/ Defense Soap: https://amzn.to/47qT1Z4 Find Us: Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Building A New Category: The Signal Was The Strategy

    Building A New Category: The Signal Was The Strategy
    Oct 9 2026

    John Schade first discovered Dry Brew:a patented, waterless, ready-to-eat cup of coffee, while searching for something better than a mediocre coffee gummy he'd seen on Shark Tank. He reached out to the original founders immediately. It took over five years, and a random cold email in 2024, before he finally got the chance to help build it.

    In this conversation, recorded after meeting at Outdoor Retailer through Popfly's Wild Reach program, John walks through Dry Brew's go-to-market journey, starting in aviation with pilots who instantly understood the product, then following that same signal into trade shows, outdoor specialty retail, and eventually Target. He also gets into the patent that protects the entire category, why packaging has to do all the talking on a retail shelf, and the wild, unexpected use cases customers keep finding - including a police officer who uses it for 2am hostage negotiation call-outs.

    BONUS: The team at Dry Brew has shared a 20% discount link for Second Nature listeners. You can use this link (or type in SecondNature20 at checkout) for your order: https://drybrew.com/discount/SecondNature20

    Second Nature is proudly supported by Popfly and Halo:

    Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands

    Popfly for Creators: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators

    Halo: https://www.poweredbyhalo.com

    Show Notes:

    Dry Brew: https://drybrew.com/

    John Schade: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnschade/

    Dry Brew on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drybrew

    Dry Brew on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drybrew

    Final Boss Sour: https://finalbosssour.com/

    Neurogum: https://neurogum.com/

    Nathan's Gum: https://nathanandsons.com/

    BPC - Brand, Product, Content:

    Veloci: https://velocirunning.com/

    Bookshop.org (Second Nature Books!): https://bookshop.org/shop/secondnature

    Find Us:

    Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media

    Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature

    Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media

    Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media

    Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • How A Brand From The Bottom Of The World Went Global

    How A Brand From The Bottom Of The World Went Global
    Oct 2 2026
    Hamish and Hannah Acland, co-founders of Mons Royale, join Second Nature to tell the story of building a global merino wool brand from Wanaka, New Zealand. The brand started with an email titled "Anatomy of an Idea" that brought the two of them together. They talk through the founding insight that base layers were the one piece of ski gear nobody had bothered to make exciting, and how they set out to build a global brand from day one rather than a New Zealand one, despite a disastrous first trade show and years of razor-thin margins as distributors took their cut. Hamish and Hannah are candid about the harder second chapter of the business: losing their creative conviction under pressure from wholesalers, the challenge of scaling a founder-led vision into a real team, and the ongoing tension between growth and funding. They also get into how "action sports can better people and planet" became the brand's operating mission over the language of sustainability, why Mons Royale built an athlete program when visibility wasn't even possible for a base-layer brand, and what it's taught them about resilience, team-building, and staying global-minded from a town of a few thousand people at the bottom of the world. Second Nature is proudly supported by Popfly and Halo: Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands Popfly for Creators: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators Halo: https://www.poweredbyhalo.com Show Notes: Mons Royale: https://monsroyale.com/ Hamish Acland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishacland/ Hannah Acland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-acland/ ISPO: https://www.ispo.com/ Mattie Sims on Second Nature: https://youtu.be/tJl441qcZLk Robin Goomes: https://www.youtube.com/@robin_riding_hood Future Ground Event: https://monsroyale.com/blogs/news/future-ground-full-video BPC - Brand, Product, Content: Keen Shoes: https://www.keenfootwear.com/ Belonging (Book): https://bookshop.org/a/128566/9781529410310 Insta360 X6: https://store.insta360.com/consumer?utm_term=SUPERRIDER Find Us: Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia
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    1 hr and 12 mins
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