Blog Archives

To kick off 2020 I have an entrepreneur on Hitting The Mark who knows a thing or two about how to build a brand. From co-founding fantasy sports unicorn startup Fanduel to being left with nothing after their company’s $465M acquisition. Today we will dive into Lesley Eccles’ brand experiences while chatting about her new startup Relish. It is a fascinating story with – as you may imagine – plenty of branding insights along the way. This conversation with Lesley was both an honor and a delight, as you will be able to tell since it feels much more like a chat rather than an interview. We talk about how to build culture and instill values; about the emotional journey of running a startup; not to blindly trust data as you craft your brand; why every CEO should dedicate time to customer service calls; how to make it through the highest highs and lowest lows of entrepreneurship; how authenticity and sales should be the backbone of every successful startup, …and much more!

Jordann Windschauer-Amatea is the third consecutive ‘mom entrepreneur’ on this show who successfully conquered the food business. And she is another amazing inspiration to anyone who wants to move a passion into a business and subsequently into a brand with heart and soul. Jordann founded Base Culture as a bakery catering to the healthy, pure, and primal lifestyle that can be summed up as the Paleo diet while she was in college. She wanted to live a healthy lifestyle, but have a brownie, so she baked it until it was perfect. She could not find a co-packing facility, so she created her own and waited for 2 years to have it finished while keeping hundreds of stores and journalists interested in her products waiting. What I learned about Jordann is that she is stubborn and passionate – and those two traits may just be the key ingredients to her success. Today, at age 27, she is working out of a 44,000 square foot facility and her range of products can be found in over 7,000 stores nationwide.

Junea Rocha, co-founded Brazi Bites. Since our last episode, we know it takes no culinary background to create a food product that sells like hotcakes, or in Junea’s case, like hot cheese bread. I had such a great time hearing her story, from being a civic engineer to running her brand with her husband. Killing it on Shark Tank, making Inc’s fasting growing private company list in the U.S. for the past two years, spending three grueling years on the road selling and testing their product, to today, where they run 8,000 stores. And you will soon know why, as you will be able to witness her drive, her contagious energy, and learn from Junea’s vast branding and positioning knowledge. Not only if you’re in food and beverage or branding, or if you want to take the leap into entrepreneurship from your cushiony job. No, even if you are a regular consumer, this is a fascinating conversation.

This episode can be seen as a ginormous tease for those who are new to the podcast. It is concise brand insight overload. And, it sums up the reason as to why I created this show.
 
When I started this journey it was just a little idea that came out of a coffee chat with a friend who insisted that I just had to create a podcast. And since listening is a key aspect of building a brand, I did listen to her that afternoon, and a few months later launched the first episode of Hitting The Mark, relying on the kindness of strangers to sign up as guests to a show that did not even exist yet.
 
One year later we heard from some of the stars of the entrepreneurship world, some celebrated disruptors, and many passionate, up and coming founders who discovered their brand differentiators early on. All of them share the same contagious enthusiasm and drive to build meaningful, sustainable and admired brands.
 
If you had to pick only one episode to listen to, this is the one. Regardless if you are new to the show or if you want to revisit some of the most powerful advice and thoughts on brand building from these inspiring founders and investors.

Fabian sits down with Raquel Tavares, the founder and CEO of Fourth & Heart, an artisanal food brand based in Los Angeles, set on a mission to modernize ancient pantry food staples – starting with a line of grass-fed, flavored, pure spreadable butters known as ‘ghee.’
 

A fascinating story on how to make it in the food business while coming from a marketing background, how to utilize branding to introduce a product in a category unfamiliar to many shoppers, why crafting messaging from your heart is key, and how to juggle family and entrepreneurship.

Fabian talks with Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water, one of the most trusted and admired non-profits in the world.
 

Solving the water crisis one donation and one well at a time, Scott and his team created a brand that breaks the stereotypes of what a charity is and how a charity acts. He re-branded ‘charity’ while creating a beloved brand of his own.
 

Charity: water is a champion in brand messaging, design, and storytelling while leading with technology and innovation. A paramount episode not to be missed.

In this 20th episode of Hitting The Mark, Fabian talks with the first founder of a ‘new green economy’ brand to make it on this show, Clement Kwan of bespoke lifestyle cannabis brand Beboe.

Clement comes from the world of high-end fashion. He helped reposition the Diesel brand for America, moved to Milan to take back the license for D&G (Dolce & Gabbana), and later became the president of Net-a-Porter, the biggest online luxury retailer on a global basis.

This episode shows what can happen when you follow your heart and how a brand is being built by adding one authentic layer of story, emotion, and design on top of another.