Blog Archives

Brad Manning is one of the Co-Founders, or Co-Brothers as he puts it, of Two Blind Brothers, a mission-based company whose name is telling at least one important part of this brand’s story.

Two Blind Brothers is a NYC-based clothing line that focuses on luxury casual wear. Both founders are affected with a form of macular degeneration and pledge 100% of their profits to medical research to cure blindness. And their brand campaigns and stories are heartfelt and master examples of whip-smart marketing.

In this wonderfully inspiring conversation, we talk about what happens when mission-based brands pivot once their vision is fulfilled, how brands with a deep purpose have an easier time expanding across different product categories, how their ‘shop blind’ strategy is working miracles, how underproduced brand materials often outperform polished ones and above all, if you want to get a master class in authentic brand storytelling, this is it.

And as you know me, we also go a bit off-topic as I was wondering how a great keynote speaker like Brad works a big speech without being able to rely on a confidence monitor. The lesson: Despite being partially blind he has an advantage over those with perfect vision. And that is a key takeaway for those of you living with an impairment. You can follow Brad’s lead and turn that impairment into your superpower.

Bernd Roggendorf is known as the Co-Founder of Ableton, the tremendously popular software that helps millions of musicians unleash their creative potential. But today we are talking about EIDU, the social enterprise Bernd founded 5 years ago to improve education standards for the 800 million children who live on $2 or less per day.

We are chatting about how he took his entire family around the world, trying to live as closely as possible like people in poverty so he could understand his future audience’s needs, on what role branding played within the organization, the meaning of brand purpose, and the surprising story behind the brand name. Plus, Bernd takes us on his journey of pivot after pivot on his great mission to bring better education to those who need it the most.

A delightful conversation that will make you quickly understand how his passion is contagious.

Jeanne David and Vasa Martinez, the Founder and the CMO of Outer Aisle, respectively, are joining me to look behind the curtains of how the Outer Aisle brand was crafted; a brand Jeanne founded in her 50s that invented the cauliflower carb-swap category by offering gluten-free, nutrient-dense, low-carb Cauliflower Pizza Crusts and Sandwich Thins/Wraps.

Jeanne’s innovation combined with Vasa’s knack for community-building and trend-setting has led the brand to become the fastest-growing food company in California on the Inc. 5000.

We talk about the importance of foresight when it comes to creating your company name, how social media helped catapult the brand to where it is today, and how Jeanne successfully employed her entire family which is now a big part of their company culture.