PODCAST · business
Commerce is Chaos
by Samantha Rose
Look, we've all heard the polished founder story—the perfect pitch, the seamless scale, the overnight success. But what about the time you oversold by 100K units? Or when your 'seamless' integration crashed right before Black Friday?Host Samantha Rose has been there—from founding her first consumer business, GIR, managing fulfillment and industrial design for your favorite brands, or acquiring distressed brands on her own.Welcome to Commerce is Chaos, the podcast for founders who knows that building a real business is beautifully, chaotically messy.
Episodes
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🍝 MADALINA DEFTA // KAIZEN CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Madalina Defta cofounded Kaizen with her husband Arash — and if you're picturing a slick, well-funded launch story, this is not that. Their first pasta prototype was rolled out with an empty wine bottle and cut by hand in their kitchen, and it took three years (plus a doomed run with almond…
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🫧 OLLY DIXON // SOMETHING & NOTHING CO-FOUNDER
Olly Dixon started Something & Nothing in 2017 with Rupert Pugsley — basically a side hustle next to the pub he ran and the branding agency he owned. It launched as a “seltzer” in the UK, but between White Claw's hard seltzer invasion and their own boozy spritz line, everyone got confused about...
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🌊 SAGAR PATEL // YUCCA FINS CEO
Sagar Patel runs Yucca Fins, the Costa Mesa brand making swim and body-surf fins out of premium Malaysian rubber — the kind lifeguards and bodysurfers up and down the California coast actually trust with their lives. He spent 22 years in tech before this, most recently in marketing for a…
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🥟 VANESSA PHILLIPS // FEEL GOOD FOODS CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Vanessa Phillips is the Founder and CEO of Feel Good Foods, the #1 natural frozen snack and appetizer brand in the country. Her dad owned Chinese restaurants in New York City, and after a celiac diagnosis pulled her out of the hospitality career she'd always pictured for herself, she started…
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🧼 KATE ASSARAF // DIP SUSTAINABLE HAIR CARE FOUNDER & CEO
Kate Assaraf is the founder and CEO of Dip Sustainable Hair Care, a plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bar brand she built after 20 years working inside the beauty industry. She launched Dip in October 2021 out of frustration: the plastic-free hair care that existed was made for the crunchy,...
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🍞 ADAM HINER // CO-FOUNDER & CEO @ PACHA
Adam Hiner has started five companies — catering, restaurants, an acrobatics festival, hard kombucha, and now bread. He built Boochcraft into the nation's first hard kombucha brand, grew it to $15 million, hired himself out of every role, and went looking for the next thing nobody was doing. He...
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🌾 SUAHN HUR // BARI CO-FOUNDER
When Subin Hur's pediatrician told her U.S.-grown rice wasn't safe for her baby, she called her sister Suahn and started a company. For most Asian families, rice isn't just an ingredient — it's the first solid food, the thing that's been on the table at every meal across every generation. They...
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🧵 CHRIS KOLBE // HYPERNATURAL FOUNDER
Chris Kolbe spent 30+ years as a senior executive at Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, Original Penguin, Lands' End, and Kohl's — which means he knows exactly how the industry works, and exactly what it's been getting away with. After decades of watching apparel shift to petroleum-based synthetics, he left…
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🫘 MATT COHEN // SIMPLi CO-FOUNDER & CO-CEO
Matt Cohen left a decade in finance to co-found SIMPLi with his wife Sarela Herrada, and if that sounds like a wild pivot, it was. They started with 80 farmers in Peru and have since scaled to 75 products across 13 countries, 2,500+ retail doors including Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Wegmans, and a...
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👶 JUDAH BERGMAN // JOOL BABY FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Judah Bergman is the Founder and President of Jool Baby, a fully bootstrapped baby gear and child-safety brand he started in 2015 with a single magnetic cabinet lock he designed because no product on the market met his standard. Since then, he’s grown Jool Baby into an eight-figure Amazon…
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🦏 TED REPIC // RHINO USA CEO
Ted Repic is the CEO of Rhino USA: the family-owned adventure gear company his sons Cameron and Dylan started in 2015 with a pickup truck and a gap in the market. Cameron was 19. Dylan jumped in with his savings while he was still in high school. Ted came in as CEO to help guide the growth. A...
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🍵 JENNIE RIPPS // OWL’S BREW CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Before Jennie Ripps built one of the most talked-about RTD brands in the country, she was convincing Momofuku and Soho House that tea deserved to be taken as seriously as wine. That instinct — that what's actually in your glass matters — became the entire thesis behind Owl's Brew. She launched it...
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🧀 AARON MENITOFF // BOARDERIE CO-CEO & CO-FOUNDER
Aaron Menitoff and his wife Julie spent over 20 years catering high-end events in South Florida — think Prince Harry and Bruce Springsteen — before the pandemic canceled everything overnight. So they did what any reasonable couple would do, bet the farm and built something entirely new. The idea...
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🥪 DAVID MCCORMICK // AYOH! CO-FOUNDER & CEO
David McCormick co-founded Ayoh Foods with Molly Baz, the cook, writer, and food personality who has basically rewired how a generation thinks about cooking and eating. Together they built a chef-driven mayo made with 100% pure avocado oil, and created a condiment that's making sandwich...
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🛋️ HELEN SMITH // ROO & YOU FOUNDER & CEO
Helen Smith is the Founder and CEO of Roo & You, Canada's largest manufacturer of modular play couches for children. A Kurdish immigrant and former child and youth counselor, Helen built the business from a home office under the stairs: Self-funded, no outside capital, no industry connections.…
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🍬 ALISON WHRITENOUR // UNREAL SNACKS CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Alison Whritenour has spent two decades turning mission-driven brands into commercially serious businesses — from Colgate-Palmolive to a decade climbing every function at Seventh Generation, surviving its Unilever acquisition, and now leading Unreal Snacks as Chief Commercial Officer. She also...
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🛁 SHANNON DAVENPORT // ESKER BEAUTY FOUNDER & CEO
Shannon Davenport is the Founder & CEO of Esker Beauty, a clean, plant-based bodycare brand she launched in 2018 after 12 years as a trend forecaster for global brands including L'Oréal, Unilever, and Beiersdorf. She bootstrapped Esker to approximately $1M in revenue before raising outside…
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🥄 CARYN WASSER // LITTLE SPOON CHIEF BRAND OFFICER
Caryn Wasser has spent nearly seven years building Little Spoon into the largest direct-to-consumer kids' food brand in the U.S. — scaling from a two-person startup to $150M+ in net revenue across 11 product categories, and recently engineering what Target called its largest food and beverage...
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🍦 DANIEL GOETZ // GOODPOP FOUNDER & CEO
🍦 DANIEL GOETZ // GOODPOP FOUNDER & CEO Daniel Goetz built GoodPop from a $3,500 investment and a borrowed kitchen at UT Austin into one of the U.S.'s top-performing better-for-you frozen novelty brands — generating over $63 million in gross sales across 10,000+ retail locations including…
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🌿 HUDSON DAVIS-ROSS // PLANT PEOPLE CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Hudson Davis-Ross has spent nearly two decades building and scaling consumer brands, culminating in Plant People — the practitioner-grade supplement brand now ranking as the #1 seller at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Erewhon. After co-founding RISE Brewing Co., running CROSBY Advisory, and serving on...
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🍝 NAKUL KAPOOR // LAZY FOOD CO. CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Nakul Kapoor left a career at the International Monetary Fund to build Lazy Food Co., a brand making authentic Italian one-pot pasta meals that are gluten-free, high-protein, and ready in under 20 minutes. Now available nationwide at Whole Foods Market and on Amazon, Lazy Food Co. was named to...
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✍️ ALI KRIEGSMAN // BRAND CONSULTANT & FORMER FOUNDER
Description Ali Kriegsman built Bulletin, the B2B wholesale marketplace, from a side-hustle newsletter at age 24 to a full-scale platform connecting 3,000 independent brands with over 26,000 retailers — before selling to Emerald Holding for roughly $10 million in 2022. Since then, she's channeled...
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💼 BRIAN ROSE // ENDLESS COMMERCE CO-FOUNDER
Brian Rose is Co-founder of Endless Commerce, an AI-powered commerceOS serving consumer brands scaling from $1M to $500M+ in revenue. With nearly a decade at BlueMountain Capital as a Consumer & Retail Investment Analyst, Brian brings a unique perspective combining investment analysis, brand...
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💀 JAKE KOUNS // DEAD MEAT SOCIETY FOUNDER & CHIEF GRILLING OFFICER
Jake Kouns has built Dead Meat Society into a mission-driven grilling community after founding and scaling Risk Based Security, a cybersecurity company acquired by Flashpoint in 2022. Transitioning from B2B SaaS to consumer products, he's launched a grilling tools brand with a social purpose -...
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🧇 EMILY GRODEN // EVERGREEN FOUNDER & CEO
Emily Groden has built Evergreen into one of America's fastest-growing frozen breakfast brands, scaling from a household Vitamix to $9.3 million in retail sales across 8,000+ stores. A Harvard Law graduate who cold-emailed her way from corporate law to General Counsel at three-Michelin-star…
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💊 JAMIE NORWOOD // WINX HEALTH COFOUNDER
Jamie Norwood has built Winx Health into a profitable women's health brand revolutionizing sexual and vaginal wellness. Since launching in 2019, she's scaled from a single DTC pregnancy test to a nationwide presence in over 7,000 Walgreens stores, achieved profitability in early 2024 by…
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🛒 LOUISE FRITJOFSSON // MARTIE CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Louise Fritjofsson is the co-founder and CEO of Martie, an online discount grocery marketplace that rescues surplus food from waste while making quality groceries accessible nationwide. A four-time founder with two exits across Europe and the United States, Louise has scaled Martie since 2021 to…
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🧠 WILL NITZE // IQBAR FOUNDER & CEO
Will Nitze has built IQBAR into a leading brain and body nutrition brand by making unconventional operational decisions. From bringing his supply chain in-house during COVID to keeping his team lean through strategic agency partnerships, Will has scaled distribution across major retailers while...
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🌿 AMANDA GOETZ // FOUNDER @ HOUSE OF WISE
Amanda Goetz is the founder of House of Wise, a luxury CBD brand focused on women's sleep, sex, stress, and strength. She built the company while working as VP of Marketing at The Knot, ultimately selling to a cannabis company. Her experience offers unique insights into building brands in...
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🍛 VICTORIA HO // KHALO CO-FOUNDER
Victoria Ho brings a rare dual perspective to consumer brands—over a decade consulting for CPG companies through Sherpa CPG, and now building her own Ayurvedic cooking paste brand, Khalo, after a personal health journey through chemotherapy led her back to ancient wellness principles. 🔧 The...
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🧻 GREG BROWN // DUDE WIPES SVP OPERATIONS
Greg Brown is the SVP of Operations at Dude Wipes, the category-creating personal care brand that's disrupted the men's hygiene space. Under his operational leadership, Dude Wipes has scaled to major retail partners including Target, Walmart, and Kroger, while expanding from a single SKU to a…
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🥘 UMAIMAH SHARWANI // FOUNDER @ PARO
Umaimah Sharwani is the founder of Paro, a South Asian comfort food brand bringing authentic Pakistani recipes to the American mainstream market. A first-generation Pakistani American who previously scaled digitally native brands like Glossier, Bravo Sierra, and Jet.com, Umaimah launched Paro…
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🧼 LESLIE TESSLER // CEO & FOUNDER @ HANNI
Leslie Tessler has built Hanni into a breakthrough body care brand that reimagines sustainable beauty for busy lifestyles. After burning out from beauty marketing, she spent 11 years in Argentina before returning to launch Hanni in 2021. Since then, she's scaled from DTC to all ~600 Sephora…
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💰 ANNA WHITEMAN // PARTNER @ COEFFICIENT CAPITAL
Anna Whiteman is a Partner at Coefficient Capital, where she leads early growth investments in digitally powered consumer brands. Previously at VMG Partners working on investments including Quest Nutrition, Drunk Elephant, and Spindrift, she now focuses on brands that align the physical world…
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🍷 ALLISON LUVERA // JULIET WINE CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Allison Luvera has built Juliet into a category-disrupting wine brand that's completely reimagined boxed wine. She's raised $6 million, achieved 150% year-over-year growth, scaled to 700+ retail doors including Costco and Whole Foods, and is projecting revenue to triple between 2024 and 2025....
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🍜 LAURYN BODDEN // S’NOODS FOUNDER
Lauryn Bodden has built S'noods into the first chef-driven noodle chip brand after winning Netflix's Snack vs Chef. In less than two years, she's scaled from a KitchenAid pasta maker in her home kitchen to 225+ retail locations including Fairway, ShopRite, and The Fresh Market—all while...
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🍄 CHARLOTTE CRUZE // ALICE CO-FOUNDER
Charlotte Cruze has built Alice Mushrooms into a breakthrough wellness brand, creating functional mushroom chocolates that make mushrooms mainstream. Since launching in 2022, she's secured investment from L Catterton and celebrity backers like Zac Efron, scaled to over 400 retail locations...
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🌀 NATALIE SPORTELLI // BULLISH DIRECTOR
Natalie Sportelli is a Director at Bullish, the unique early-stage consumer VC and creative agency that invests $500K-$3M while providing hands-on operational support. Working with portfolio companies like Warby Parker, Sunday Lawn, and Hally Hair, she brings a rare perspective from journalism at...
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🥗 JORDAN WANNEMACHER & BLAKELY BAR // SALADSPRINKLES FOUNDERS
Blakely and Jordan have built SaladSprinkles into a distinctive category-creating CPG brand, launching sprinkle-sized rice puffs that are replacing croutons with their #NoMoreCroutons positioning. Within their first year, they successfully launched three SKUs, built customer loyalty, and…
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🍫 JESSE BARRUCH // WHIMS CO-FOUNDER
Building Better-for-You Products That Actually Taste Good: The WHIMS Playbook for Premium CPG Jesse Barruch cracked the code that stumps most better-for-you brands: creating a 1-gram sugar chocolate that actually tastes like the original. As co-founder of WHIMS, he's proven that healthy...
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🐄 NOAH AVERBACH // ARMRA VP OF PROCESS
How a VP of Process Turns Operational Chaos Into Scalable Systems: Frameworks from Inside ARMRA Noah Averbach holds one of the most critical roles in modern consumer brands: VP of Process at ARMRA. As companies scale, the operational complexity becomes overwhelming—and that's exactly what Noah…
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🥛 CHRISTINA DORR DRAKE // WILLA'S OAT MILK FOUNDER
Scaling CPG in the Most Competitive Category: Oat Milk Founder's Playbook for Retail Success Christina Dorr Drake built Willa's Oat Milk from concept to national distribution in one of the most brutal CPG categories. Competing against giants like Oatly and Califia, she's developed battle-tested...
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🪒 ADAM SIMONE // LEAF SHAVE & SMOOSH FOUNDER
How to Build Better Products That Actually Work: Frameworks from the Founder Who Disrupted Shaving & Body Care Adam Simone has cracked the code on sustainable product innovation. As co-founder of Leaf Shave (helping thousands ditch plastic razors) and Smoosh (revolutionizing body care), he's…
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Lupii founder Isabelle Steichen on the CPG roller coaster ride and diving into your "why"
On today's episode of Best Day Ever, Sam is joined by Isabelle Steichen. Isabelle founded Lupii in 2019 and reflects on the wins and headwinds from its lifetime-- and how those learnings have lead her to find her "why" on the other side.
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Product development, kitchenwares & white label with Creative Home and Kitchen's Bibi Nucci
Two product developers at heart geek out on all things cookware, kitchenwares, and white label, featuring host Samantha Rose (GIR, Mvnifest, Endless Commerce) with guest Bibi Nucci of Creative Home and Kitchen!
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BackerKit's Maxwell Salzberg on the future of crowdfunding creators
Maxwell is the founder of BackerKit, which helps thousands of crowdfunding creators all over the world focus on doing what they love. Maxwell and Sam talk GIR's Kickstarter beginnings, and a big update for the BackerKit team.
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Saying no to say yes with Vive Organic founder JR Simich
From lifeguard to serial founder, my buddy JR Simich-- founder of Vive Organics-- and I talk alignment, saying no to make space for a yes, goal-setting, and more!
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Haven's Kitchen founder Alison Cayne on ops, fundraising, and can't-miss strategy for all founders
Sam sits down with Haven's Kitchen founder Alison Cayne who talks us through her journey to start the cooking school turned nationally distributed CPG brand-- and how she sees things now on the other side of running the business. Great lessons and learnings for founders of all stages and sizes!
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From Cameo to next-gen diapers: Freestyle founder and angel investor Mike Constantiner
I caught up with my buddy Mike Constantiner on his founder journey-- from starting Cameo, to PRNCPLS, to his current gig as an angel investor in buzzy consumer brands like Sanzo, Vacation and Cadence, and as founder of Freestyle.
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Balancing virality & longevity with Petra Brands CRO Geoff Bekavac
How do you set a consumer brand up for success? What tools can you lean on to help engineer a brand and product that's both engineered for TikTok-era virality while also ensuring it has longevity? Petra Brands CRO Geoff Bekavac has done it all, and he joins me on the podcast to dish on the exact...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Look, we've all heard the polished founder story—the perfect pitch, the seamless scale, the overnight success. But what about the time you oversold by 100K units? Or when your 'seamless' integration crashed right before Black Friday?Host Samantha Rose has been there—from founding her first consumer business, GIR, managing fulfillment and industrial design for your favorite brands, or acquiring distressed brands on her own.Welcome to Commerce is Chaos, the podcast for founders who knows that building a real business is beautifully, chaotically messy.
HOSTED BY
Samantha Rose
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Commerce is Chaos have?
Commerce is Chaos currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Commerce is Chaos about?
Look, we've all heard the polished founder story—the perfect pitch, the seamless scale, the overnight success. But what about the time you oversold by 100K units? Or when your 'seamless' integration crashed right before Black Friday?Host Samantha Rose has been there—from founding her first consumer...
How often does Commerce is Chaos release new episodes?
Commerce is Chaos has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Commerce is Chaos?
You can listen to Commerce is Chaos on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Commerce is Chaos?
Commerce is Chaos is created and hosted by Samantha Rose.
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