Wisdom.MBA

Andrew Lachlan is the founder and CEO of Sauna House, a modern bathhouse committed to enhancing bathing culture and social wellness.  Joe Rogan, Jesse Itzler, Russell Brand, Wim Hof … there is no shortage of Internet health and wellness gurus talking about the benefits of sauna and cold plunge. Atlantic writer Helen Lewis argues that we are in the “Golden Age of Gurus” where there has been an explosion in podcasters and internet personalities promoting the benefits of these ancient practices.

Is this a fad or will it become a lasting part of American culture like yoga? Andrew and I go deep into this topic and discuss his founder journey and why he has felt compelled to bring modern communal bathing to American audiences. He shares the ups and downs of founding the business and operating pre and post-COVID and why he is looking to franchise the Sauna House model.

As someone who has travelled the world experiencing multiple bathing cultures first hand, this topic is very dear to my heart. I love it and I feel that Andrew is at the leading edge of trying to build a large and lasting brand in this growing space.

If you like a good founder story, care about the health and wellness space or are just curious about the sauna/cold plunge boom, then I think you will enjoy this podcast.

Discussion Topics:

(1:32) Icebreaker … saunas and bathhouses in films.

(7:53) The golden era of gurus and the rise of sauna and cold plunge in the US.

(14:29) How COVID-19 impacted Sauna House.

(17:40) Is this a trend or a lasting movement?

(24:21) No phones, clocks or mirrors. Designing a sacred space.

(32:16) Health benefits of sauna and cold plunge.

(38:22) Where Andrew’s passion for sauna came from.

(44:05) Sauna House business origin story.

(54:31) Sauna House franchise goals.

(1:00:38) Rapid fire questions.

Jason Gulya is a Professor of English at Berkeley College. In 2020, Jason received Berkeley’s Faculty of the Year Award for Teaching Excellence. He is also a higher ed consultant who helps students and professors prepare for the future and gives advice on how to utilize artificial intelligence in and outside of the classroom.

Jason has a wealth of knowledge and actionable advice for using A.I. He outlines many great resources that you can use immediately to make yourself more productive at work. We talk about the future of the humanities, white collar work, the idea of a second brain and the emergence of a new profession he calls an A.I. Prompt Engineer. He even shares A.I. hacks for creating online classes and training manuals in record time.

If you are an educator, entrepreneur or just someone who is interested in A.I. and how to “work smarter, not harder” then you will enjoy this podcast.

Discussion Topics:

(1:06) A.I. tools you need to be using right now.

(10:50) What A.I. means for the future of work.

(13:00) A.I. and the future of the Humanities.

(18:33) Second brains and offloading effects.

(26:45) Using A.I. to build a business.

(36:00) Who owns A.I. copyrights?

(41:25) OpenAI Codex.

(44:38) Advice for educators. Grade the interaction with A.I.

(45:27) New careers as a prompt engineer.

(49:34) Advice for colleges and universities.

(54:42) What does the future look like?

(59:19) Rapid fire questions.

Jake Karls is the Co-Founder and Rainmaker for Mid-Day Squares, the first functional chocolate bar on the market. The company was founded in 2018 by Jake, his sister Lez and brother-in-law Nick. Their goal is to build a modern chocolate company with functional ingredients.

The company has since exploded. Their peanut butter bar became the number 1 selling SKU in its category at Target. They received over 20 million organic views on social media in three months, and Jake was recently on the cover of Forbes 30 Under 30 digital edition.

Jake and I talk about a whole host of topics, social media marketing, brand building and the hardships of entrepreneurship. Jake gives lectures at universities on branding & story-telling and has some incredible insights on the importance of fostering connections with your audience. Jake has infectious energy and I really enjoyed this podcast. Even if you are not an entrepreneur or founder, I think there is a great deal of wisdom and insights in this episode that you’ll enjoy.

Discussion Topics:

(1:45) Living life with cameras always on.

(3:49) Having a supportive partner as an entrepreneur.

(10:28) Mid-Day Squares growth stats.

(15:34) Founders as storytellers.

(22:34) Using humor and emotion to go viral.

(30:07) Entrepreneurship demystified. 

(36:00) Amazon & wholesale strategies.

(39:39) Raising $17.5 million in growth capital.

(43:00) Rapid fire questions.

Finn McKenty is one of my favorite YouTube content creators who is also a brand strategist and marketing director. Between his Punk Rock MBA and personal channel, Finn has over 500k subscribers on YouTube. The Punk Rock MBA looks to promote career, business and life advice for the DIY community. Finn skillfully analyzes the cultural significance of punk and metal like a tenured English lit professor. With deep research and an incredible wealth of knowledge, you can easily find yourself going down a YouTube rabbit hole for hours on topics like how “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater changed music forever” or “what actually killed grunge?” We talk about his process and what it takes to make a living as a YouTuber. 

Finn also has a successful career as a marketing strategist and brand coach. We discuss what impact OpenAI’s ChatGPT will have on marketing, how to create content for viral lift on TikTok, whether being an entrepreneur is truly punk rock and why he thinks celebrity cap tables are a dumb idea.

I am a big fan of Finn’s and his brutal honesty when it comes to mentoring founders, entrepreneurs, and band members. His advice is very direct and to the point. We geek out on a lot of topics and try not to hold back any punches. If you are interested in popular culture, music, brand marketing, data analysis and what it takes to make a living as a YouTuber, then I think you’ll enjoy this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(1:37) Icebreaker – Artists that capture the zeitgeist of the 2020s.

(9:16) Reverse engineering the TikTok effect.

(18:29) ChatGPT for marketers.

(24:07) Is being an entrepreneur punk rock?

(35:27) Digital marketing business case: GetGood Drums.

(42:45) Succeeding as a YouTuber.

(1:05:32) Celebrity cap tables are dumb.

(1:16:31) Rapid fire questions.

Harvard Business School Students Juan Ruiz and Doug Walsh run communEtA -- an MBA student-run fund which invests in search entrepreneurs. The first of its kind; it is a community of LPs, students, and searchers.  The group looks to provide exposure and training on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and source high-quality investment opportunities for LPs and finally highlight ETA as a viable career option.

We discuss why communEtA was launched and Juan and Doug provide their insights on how best to source and close deals. As a West Point graduate, a platoon leader, and a team leader for the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade for the US Army, Doug also gives advice for veterans who are both looking at business school and ETA as a career choice.

This episode focuses heavily on ETA, the process of searching for a business to buy, closing on it and ultimately running it.  Even if ETA has never crossed your mind, I think there’s value for you in in this episode … particularly if you are like me and want to constantly find ways to increase your personal net worth. For the search fund entrepreneurs listening, we try to add value, particularly on ways to better source deals and increase the odds of going from LOI to close … something that I have struggled a fair amount personally.

Discussion Topics:

(1:29) Icebreakers.

(7:14) communEtA’s origin story & screening criteria for investments.

(14:34) The economics of search. Is it worth it?

(19:02) The deal sourcing process.

(25:55) Advice for self-funded searchers.

(29:33) Advice for Veteran searchers.

(35:28) communEtA’s portfolio.

(38:56) Increasing the odds of getting from LOI to close.

(48:24) Rapid fire questions.

Sheena Brady is the founder of Teasewellness.com, a wellness brand that creates all natural, tea and botanical based products that support you to live and lead consciously. As a B-Corp and through its’ Founder Fund, Tease also helps support under-represented women entrepreneurs with mentorship, strategic resources and funding.

Sheena is a tea Sommelier with a wealth of knowledge. As an owner and co-founder of a tea company myself (mositea.com), we geek out on the different ways teas can support you throughout your day. Sheena also blows my mind with some genius tea and booze infused cocktail ideas. She really knows her stuff.

Having worked at Shopify for almost 8 years on the merchant success team, Sheena shares her insights into eCommerce, changes in omni-channel marketing and how to succeed as a D2C brand in the post-Facebook era. As two eCommerce vets, we also share our secrets on how to prepare for this holiday shopping season.

Finally, Sheena tells her story of appearing on TV’s Dragons’ Den (Canada’s version of Shark Tank) and how she managed to out-smart one of the Dragon with the ultimate chess move which you will not want to miss.

Justin Sibley is the CEO of POWDR, an adventure lifestyle company that owns some of the best resorts on earth, including Copper Mountain, Killington, Silver Star and more. Justin is a fellow Fuqua MBA graduate who was the Vice President of Finance at Backcountry.com before becoming CFO and then co-President of POWDR. POWDR also owns Woodward. If you know anything about board sports, you know that Woodward is the leading name in action sports progression and innovation with facilities across North America. Justin and I talk about how he has been able to help leverage the Woodward brand and assets across POWDR’s portfolio of resorts.

As an international company with properties in different states and provinces, we talk about the challenges of running a hospitality business during the pandemic. Justin and the team at POWDR put on a master class on adjusting to adversity. He shares a lot of great insights and wisdom for managing a massive organization through COVID-19.

This episode was a lot of fun for me. As a life-long shredder with a failed pro-snowboard career, I got to geek out on both business and the snowboard industry. If you love the outdoors, action sport or just want to learn more about scaling a large complex organization, this podcast is for you.

Discussion Topics:

(3:11) New offerings at POWDR.

(4:54) The business strategy of expanding into more year-round offerings.

(12:51) Woodward … perhaps one of the greatest strategic acquisitions ever?

(21:53) Woodward Park City build and opening.

(24:02) Managing through COVID-19 with 8,000 employees.

(30:29) Playing forever and focusing on environmental protections.

(34:25) Advice for people looking to build a career in outdoor adventure lifestyles.

(37:47) Rapid fire.

Natalya Wallin is an endurance athlete with an amazing work career. Natalya just finished a 100-mile ultramarathon in Moab, Utah. We talk about setting hard goals, remaining tenacious when faced with adversity, the ups and downs of ultrarunning and the parallels between endurance races and pursuing an MBA.

Natalya talks about her time at the White House, meeting the Obamas and working for the US Department of State and the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery. She is currently consulting for the apparel action forum in London and serving as interim Chief Strategy Officer. The forum brings together industry leaders and CEOs at St. James's Palace to identify solutions to address supply chain risks, including forced labor and promote sustainable practices in the apparel industry.

Natalya is a complete bada$$ with inspiring wisdom to share. This episode provides great motivation for anyone looking to tackle really hard challenges, and we open up about our difficulties raising kids while working full-time and pursuing and MBA. 

Discussion Topics:

(1:19) Traveling to over 30 countries and favorite locations.

(7:15) 100-mile ultramarathon in Moab, Utah.

(11:14) The highs and lows of ultra-running.

(17:30) The parallels between pursuing and MBA and ultra-running.

(24:20) Interning at the White House.

(28:44) Working for the US Department of State & preventing human trafficking.

(44:11) Advice for working parents pursuing an MBA.

(51:12) Rapid fire questions.

Rory Gillis is the President of Triangle Media Partners and Founder of Triangle Digital Partners. Triangle Media Partners is the largest lifestyle influencer in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina. The company owns Chapel Hill Magazine, Durham Magazine, Chatham Magazine, Heart of NC Weddings, Sip + Savor and Triangle Weekender. Triangle Digital Partners is the digital wing of the business which focuses on display advertising, social media marketing and more.

With CNBC recently naming North Carolina as America’s Top State for Business in 2022, Rory and I talk about why more businesses and professionals are moving to the area and what makes it ideal for professional recruitment. We also talk about small to medium sized business ad budgets, geofencing, digital marketing and how her company has managed to bridge the gap between traditional print media and cutting-edge online marketing techniques.

As a warning, this episode focuses heavily on our hometown, but even if you are not from here, there is a great deal of wisdom on how best to grow and build a business in an ever-changing digital landscape.  If you are from North Carolina, you’ll want to stick around as we dish out dirt and have heated exchanges about our favorite local businesses and more.

Discussion Topics:

(1:25) Why North Carolina is the top state for business in 2022.

(8:25) Triangle Digital Partner’s origin story.

(16:27) Geofencing, location data and microproximity.

(21:30) Scaling a business.

(28:02) Mentorship and team building.

(31:38) Hiring and motivating Millennials and iGen.

(37:04) Intraprenurship vs. Entrepreneurship. 

(46:15) Controversial rapid fire.

Kasper Kubica and David Spratte are the co-founders of Carpe, makers of Dermatologist recommended sweat care products. Carpe is quickly becoming a major player in the world of antiperspirants, competing against giants like Unilever which owns Degree, Dove and AXE. From their humble beginnings, we then talk about how they have positioned Carpe to succeed in a hypercompetitive market and what makes their products unique.

Both Kasper and David have become true sweat experts and have leveraged their knowledge to produce hilarious and informative content across channels like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube. If you are interested in start-ups, co-founding a business with a close friend, launching a direct-to-consumer brand and the different ways you can die from sweating too much, then this podcast is for you.

Discussion Topics:

(1:46) How you can die from sweating too much.

(7:11) Becoming sweat experts.

(12:09) Early product development.

(14:47) Carpe’s total addressable market.

(19:16) Launching a D2C product in a highly competitive market.

(25:02) Content strategies for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

(32:16) Expanding into retail.

(35)52) Rapid fire.