THIS is a Thing

Loren Ostrow spent over two decades thinking about building senior housing for the LGBTQ community before he ever broke ground. In this episode, he tells the story of Living Out — one of the first senior living communities in the country built specifically for LGBTQ seniors — and how it finally came together in Palm Springs with his business partner of 50 years, Paul Alanis.We talk about why Loren was so certain this would work, how he raised $29 million in equity in three weeks, the fight to win over a skeptical lender, and the lesson from his mom that's shaped every partnership in his career.Living Out: livingout.comDana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Dave Campbell spent years scribbling game ideas on index cards during long drives as a traveling salesman before Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza became an international hit, selling over 12 million copies. In this episode, Dave shares how he taught himself to recognize when a prototype has "electricity," why he ran his game company as a side hustle for years before leaving his day job, and what happened when a random viral video sent Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza from garage prototype to shelves at Target, Walmart, and Barnes & Noble. We also get into the moments that surprised even him, and what's coming next from Taco Cat Games.Taco Cat Games: https://tacocatgames.com/Dana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Tara Chapman spent a decade at the CIA working on issues surrounding Afghanistan and Pakistan — then quit to become a beekeeper in Austin, Texas. In this episode, she talks about the Groupon beekeeping class that changed her path, why she took a seasonal job with a commercial beekeeper before going all in, and how a simple idea to sell honey turned into Two Hives Honey, an agritourism business that now hosts thousands of visitors a year for hive tours and honey harvest parties.We get into how she found her first paying customers on Meetup before she owned any land or bees of her own, why she believes in making the best decision with the information in front of you rather than waiting for the perfect one, and what finally convinced her to stop doing everything herself.Two Hives Honey: https://www.twohiveshoney.com/Dana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Raj Shingadia always wanted to be a lawyer — until a professor convinced him the reality of a law career was nothing like he imagined. With no backup plan, he started taking steps. He tried commercial real estate. He went deep on his aquarium hobby. He started growing coral in his basement to offset the cost. And then 2008 happened — and everything he had built was wiped out overnight.What came next is one of the most compelling founder stories I've heard: how Raj turned a side hustle into Southeast Aquariums, one of the most respected custom aquarium design and construction companies in the country — and how that same business landed him a contract to build sets for Marvel's Black Panther.Southeast Aquariums: https://www.seaatlanta.comDana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Marc Evan is the co-founder of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, a New York-based studio that has elevated pumpkin carving into a legitimate fine art — with work displayed at MoMA, the Whitney, and Yankee Stadium, and clients including Martha Stewart, Food Network, and the New York Botanical Garden.In this episode, Marc traces the whole journey: from carving Halloween decorations at the East Village bars where he and co-founder Chris worked, to posting on Flickr, to getting a cold email from Wired Magazine asking for a Star Wars pumpkin, to fielding a call from the New York Yankees needing 50 pumpkins in 48 hours.What makes Marc's story especially interesting is how deliberate he and Chris were about not just building a business, but building an entire industry. When they started, there was no market for fine art pumpkins. People balked at spending $50. So every press opportunity — morning shows, Food Network, Martha Stewart — was a chance to plant a seed: pumpkins are worth spending money on. The long game paid off.We also talk about identity: what it means to call yourself a professional pumpkin carver, how pricing changed everything, and why Marc kept bartending for years even as the business grew. It's a story about following the fun, being ready when opportunity knocks, and sometimes having to create the market before you can sell to it.Maniac Pumpkin Carvers: www.maniacpumpkincarvers.comDana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Dasti Llenga was juggling three things at once — private equity job, master's degree, growing side hustle — when he asked himself a simple question: what could he do if he put all his focus into one?It started with a $4,000 Mercedes he flipped for $15,000 in three days. Then came the flea market finds, the first liquidation pallet, a truckload of Costco returns sold out of his parents' garage. By the time his employer told him to come back to the office, the decision was already made.Today Dasti runs American Liquidations — New England's largest liquidator — with nearly 100 employees and 200,000 square feet across Connecticut.www.americanliquidations.comNewsletter --> nationofdoers.substack.com

Arthur Wei was a three-time national chess champion by age 11 — and then he quit. That decision taught him a framework for making big choices that he's used ever since: always choose the path that maximizes the number of potential positive outcomes. It's the logic that led him to leave a stable job at Oracle, travel the world for four years as a filmmaker, build a custom camper van in Brooklyn during the pandemic, expanded that into a thriving business and launched another business creating mobile offices. In this episode, Arthur talks about how he built Brooklyn Camper Vans from a pandemic side project into a thriving business — and why he recently launched Next Gen Vans to regain more of his freedom. 🚐 Brooklyn Campervans: https://www.brooklyncampervans.com🏢 Next Gen Vans: https://www.nextgenvans.com📩 Subscribe to THIS is a Thing newsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com

Rachel Clowes founded The Sustainable Sequin Company out of an MA thesis project asking one deceptively simple question: why do the materials in special occasion clothing last thousands of years when we only wear those clothes two or three times? Her answer — bio-based, biodegradable sequins — turned into a business she started with a government startup loan and a customer lined up before she had any inventory.In this episode, we dig into the decisions behind the business: why she launched with recycled plastic sequins instead of going all-in on bio-based from day one, how she thinks about bespoke custom work versus scale, and the moment she stopped thinking of herself as someone developing a product and started thinking of herself as someone running a company. It's a really honest, grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to build something unusual from scratch — without a business background, without a lot of capital, and with a lot of genuine passion for the craft.🌐 The Sustainable Sequin Company: thesustainablesequincompany.com📩 Dana's newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Dave Kozuha spent 18+ years in corporate IT. He always wanted to be in food. So when he got fed up enough to start thinking about an exit, he started researching coffee for a crepe cart he was planning to open.That was the beginning of a very unexpected rabbit hole.He couldn't find coffee he loved, so he ordered green beans and roasted them himself on Thanksgiving morning in a frying pan. Smoked out the kitchen. Made the best cup of coffee he'd ever had. Moved to the driveway. Built his own roaster out of a six-burner gas grill. Started roasting so much that strangers pulled over just to see what the smell was — and started handing him money.Dave and his wife Yolanda opened Greenwood Lake Roasters in May 2017, initially open two evenings a week. Yolanda quit her day job first, then Dave followed in 2019 — after the shop had earned enough revenue to make the leap feel like a real decision, not a leap of faith.Today they run two locations in a tiny lakeside town in New York State, with customers driving out from the city just for the coffee.🛒 Order Dave's beans online: https://www.gwlrcc.com📩 Read the newsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com

Jessica Zouaoui started out with a one dream: quit her corporate job, travel the world, and open a small business when she returned. Then she met Damien. Nine months later they were married — and their individual dreams had become one joint plan.They quit their jobs and bought one-way tickets to travel the world with the goal of finding a business idea worth bringing back to the United States. Over 14 months and 25 countries, they visited hedgehog cafes in Japan, went Mario Kart racing through the streets of Tokyo, and soaked in wine spas in France — until a rainy day in Zakopane, Poland changed everything.A beer spa. It checked every box: novel, scalable, hospitable, and achievable without outside investors. They spent the back half of their trip visiting onsens in Japan and jjimjilbangs in South Korea, refining their concept and writing a full business plan from hostel common rooms in Australia. Then they flew directly to Denver — a city neither of them had ever visited — and started knocking on doors.In this episode, Jessica talks about how she and Damien evaluated business ideas on the road, how they secured funding through an unexpected city program, and what it actually took to get a landlord to rent to a beer spa.🔗 Read the article + subscribe to the weekly newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com🍺 Learn more about Oakwell Beer Spa: https://oakwell.com/

Gene Neffenecker II — aka King Gene — is the founder of Balloon Kings. What started as a single store on the Upper West Side with and a cult following among locals (including me) is now a growing franchise. Before all of this, Gene was a Marine Corps veteran who survived cancer, lost his sign-making business in the 2008 financial crisis, and was picking up landscaping work to make ends meet. A chance visit to a friend's balloon store changed everything. We talk about leaving his family's sign-making legacy, the four hours that turned his life around, and why he decided to grow through franchising instead of just opening more stores himself. 🎈 Balloon Kings: https://balloon-kings.com/📩 Dana's Newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Bob Young didn't just build a business, he built an entirely new category: using Border Collies to humanely chase geese off golf courses, school yards, parks, and neighborhoods. He didn't go looking for the idea — a golf course owner flagged him down while he was exercising his dog Boomer and begged him to clear his course. That was 1999. GeeseChasers now has 13 franchises and 27 consecutive years of growth. We talk about how Bob knew he had a real business on his hands, how he quit his day job in stages, and the advice from a billionaire that made him go all in.GeeseChasers: https://geesechasers.comBob's Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8Q9MY12📲 FOLLOWInstagram: @thisisathingpod | TikTok: @thisisathingpod | YouTube: @thisisathingpodNewsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Charlie Todd is the founder of Improv Everywhere — the group behind 200 people freezing in Grand Central Station, the No Pants Subway Ride, and some of the most joyful viral videos on the internet. He's been staging surprise performances in public spaces for 25 years. And it all started as something he did just for fun.In this episode, Dana and Charlie talk about the three decisions that built his career: putting on his first mission on a total whim, sharing his work publicly before it was easy to do so, and finally quitting his day job when a very understanding HR rep gave him the push he needed.Plus: why YouTube was the real turning point, how he thinks about saying yes to wildly different opportunities, and what keeps him excited after 25 years.https://improveverywhere.com/Join IE's next mission! https://hudsonriverpark.org/visit/events/event/improv-everywhere-mp3-experiment-21-june-21-2026/

He sold candy bars at recess when he was 7. By 31, he was the youngest plant manager in his industry. Today, Omar Atia is co-founder of Zero Carb Lyfe — a growing company famous for its chicken-crust pizza. Dana Mauriello talks to Omar about three pivotal decisions: leaving his corporate career in big food, partnering with an inventor who had the idea but needed someone who could scale it, and choosing to grow through retail, new product lines, and venture capital.What makes Omar's story stick is how methodical he was. He tested everything — the product, the co-founder chemistry, the channels, the logistics — before going all in. His advice: don't project on hope, project on data.You'll hear about the mother who called Zero Carb Lyfe's company line sobbing because her daughter with celiac disease finally got to eat pizza at a pizza party. That's the moment Omar knew they were onto something real.This Is a Thing is hosted by Dana Mauriello, Professor of Entrepreneurship at NYU Stern. Every episode features a founder of an unusual business talking about how they made their wild idea happen.New episodes weekly. Find the newsletter at nationofdoers.substack.com.

Kyle Bergman launched Swoveralls — sweatpant overalls — while getting his MBA, working full-time at Birchbox, teaching up to 8 fitness classes a week at Orange Theory, and training for triathlons. All at the same time.We talk about three decisions: the decision to start Swoveralls, the decision to quit his day job (his take is not what you're expecting), and the decision to sell.Along the way: how a full plate creates leverage instead of chaos, why he never paid himself from Swoveralls until the day it was acquired, what it actually feels like to bootstrap an e-commerce brand, and what he's building next after going viral at the Chicago Marathon finish line.

Owen had a wild idea: starting a new rugby 7s professional sports league in the US, Premier Rugby 7s.In this episode, Owen talks through some of the big decisions that got him there — from raising his hand for a summer internship with the New England Free Jacks Rugby Team, to running a scrappy pilot tournament as a proof of concept, to making the hard call to pivot the business toward talent development when factors outside his control threw up challenges to pro competition. This one's great if you've ever thought about pivoting your career into an area you're more passionate about or wondered what the business of sports actually looks like from the inside.https://prsevens.com/ 📩 Read the newsletter: nationofdoers.substack.com

Antoine Richard graduated a top French business school and quit a marketing job at L'Oréal to learn to be a mountain guide. Then he stumbled into a job post that caught his eye and decided to jump into a new adventure running one of the world's top climbing wall manufacturers. After 12 years, he walked away to start something entirely his own: HAPIK, a fun indoor rock climbing concept that's growing fast.https://hapikclimbing.com/@hapikclimbing

Richard Worsham's Janus Motorcycles hand-builds classically-styled motorcycles inspired by the 1920s and 30s — and makes them in small-town Indiana with a network of Amish craftsmen, local RV suppliers, and other domestic manufacturing partners. He graduated with a master's in architecture and had never run a business, but turned a moped hobby into a thriving busieness with a passionate following, and is currently in the midst of a crowdfunded equity raise to support their financial goal of $20M in annual revenue by 2030. We talk about betting on a place, building community before building a company, and why his COO was once just a customer.Janus Motorcycles: https://janusmotorcycles.comJanus WeFunder: https://wefunder.com/paragonmotorcyclesinc/📲 FOLLOWInstagram: @thisisathingpod | TikTok: @thisisathingpod | YouTube: @thisisathingpodNewsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

David Barnett co-founded Noble Signs, a Brooklyn-based design studio specializing in hand-painted and neon signage His wild idea? Keeping the art of craft signage alive in a world where fast and cheap vinyl signs are becoming the norm. He's in his dream job now, but before this he was in a different dream job -- designing album covers and posters for Def Jam Records as Art Director. He tells the story of how he landed that interview with Damon Dash and why he eventually decided to leave and bet on himself. https://www.noblesigns.com/📲 FOLLOWInstagram: @thisisathingpodTikTok: @thisisathingpodYouTube: @thisisathingpodNewsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Entrepreneur Joe Hession built SNOW Partners into a $100M company from just $60,000 in savings— he rescued Mountain Creek from bankruptcy and opened Big Snow American Dream, North America's largest indoor ski area, after it sat unfinished for 15 years. We talk about how he made two wild ideas a reality that everyone doubted, why credibility beats capital when starting a business, and what it really means to walk through every open door.This Is A Thing is a podcast about founders who built unusual businesses — and how they made wild ideas a reality.SNOW Partners: ⁠https://snowpartners.com⁠Mountain Creek: https://mountaincreek.comBig Snow American Dream: https://www.bigsnowamericandream.com

Peter is one of the only artisan globe makers in the world today. He and his team make custom globes out of his London studio for passionate individuals, collectors, and museums that can run well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. He didn't start out in the arts, though. He created a business for pizza parlors, ran a nightclub, did some property development ... It was only when he tried creating a custom globe as a birthday present for his Dad that he fell in love with the craft and decided to turn it into a business. Bellerby & Co Globemakers - https://bellerbyandco.com/Bellerby Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/globemakersI’m Dana—NYU entrepreneurship prof and host of THIS is a Thing, a podcast about founders who built unusual businesses. If you’re curious how people make wild ideas a reality (and maybe have some wild ideas of your own), you’re in the right place.Subscribe to the This is a Thing newsletter to get new stories first- https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Chris Turner is a treasure hunter and the Founder of the Ring Finders. He and his community of over 300 treasure hunting professionals across 18 countries are there to find anything you've lost (wedding rings are the most common!). In this interview, Chris shares his story of starting and growing the Ring Finders -- it wasn't part of his master plan, but he says it's better than anything he could have dreamed. The Ring Finders -- https://theringfinders.com/The Book of Smiles -- https://theringfinders.com/#bookNation of Doers Newsletter -- https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Pete builds high-end treehouses, bringing dreams to life for the young at heart. In this interview, we talk about how he fell in love with treehouses, how he ventured into turning his passion into a business, and how he grew beyond his wildest dreams with a major assist from a TV show on Animal Planet. Nelson Treehouse and Supply: https://nelsontreehouse.com/Treehouse Point Resort: https://www.treehousepoint.com/Nelson Treehouse on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nelsontreehousePete's original coffee table book: https://www.amazon.com/Treehouses-Art-Craft-Living-Limb/dp/0395629497This is a Thing Newsletter: https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Andrew Evans started a magic speakeasy in his apartment in San Francisco as a fun project with friends -- after selling 1000 tickets in 60 seconds he realized he was on to something and quit his job at the design firm IDEO to build his business full time. This is an awesome story of following your curiosity and always evolving. Check out Andrew's show and get tickets here: https://www.themagicpatio.com/Subscribe to my newsletter to read about all of the founders of unusual businesses on this podcast: https://nationofdoers.substack.com/

Assaf Eshet is the founder of the toy company Clixo, which makes incredibly innovative building toys are a bit like magnetic origami and lot like magic ⭐️In this conversation, he talks about how he transitioned from graphic designer to toy designer, how he prototypes, and how he knows when to stop tinkering and launch. Check out Clixo toys here: https://clixo.com/

When Laura was working as a police officer in Kansas City, she responded to a homicide scene where the victim’s family asked when the police would return to clean up the body. The answer was: they wouldn’t. Even more surprising, Laura couldn’t find a single local company to recommend to the family.In that moment, she saw a real, unmet need in the market.Spaulding Decon grew from a business Laura ran entirely on her own into a nationwide company with 75 franchise units. And on the very day I interviewed her, Laura was signing the papers to exit and sell the business.She had achieved success on her own terms—which, in her words, meant gaining the reward of flexibility: the ability to “do what I want, when I want, how I want.”

Leah Koch founded the romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice with her sister Bea Koch - they now have two locations, consult to major movie and TV studios, and have been rightfully called "the cool whisperers of romance." In this episode, I talk to Leah about how she made her wild idea of being the first romance-only bookstore in North America happen, despite the many skeptics who told her it couldn't be done. https://www.therippedbodice.com/Leah's museum rec: https://www.dackelmuseum.de/

Have you ever looked at a business and thought, "Wow, I cannot believe that is a thing!" With the right alchemy of skill, passion, and a healthy dose of good timing and luck even the wildest dream can become a successful business.In a world where we're inundated with stories of huge tech businesses and mainstreet store fronts, I want to tell you the stories of all those other businesses, the businesses that fly under the radar. The cool, unique, unusual, the amazing. I'll talk to an entrepreneur who started an inflatable water park. Another who guides photographers on journeys to take pictures of elusive cats, a professional magician, a toy maker, and so many more.I want to know how they came up with their wild idea and why they decided to turn it into a business. We’ll dive into what success means to them and what makes them love their jobs. My name is Dana Mauriello and I’m an entrepreneur – I spent most of my career building software for small business owners to help them get started and grow. For five years at Etsy, I built tools for artisans that made bracelets out of old records, started goat farms to make handmade soap, personalized cutting boards. It was so inspiring to be around entrepreneurs who were following their dreams in all of the many unique directions that took them.I'm also an adjunct professor at NYU Stern, teaching students how to generate new business ideas and decide which to pursue. I often hear when talking to aspiring entrepreneurs that they're searching for that one great idea - the idea that will help them raise funding and earn tons of money.I believe that there are no good or bad ideas. There's only the right idea for us. I wanted to start this podcast to explore the incredibly wide range of entrepreneurship.The vastly different goals that we all have, the different ways that we define success, and the unbelievably unique paths we pursue. Oh and a warning – I am *super* excited about these entrepreneurs and their business and I’m not going to try and play it cool and hide it. You can expect a fair amount of gushing, fan-girling, and general hysteria. Talking to these is folks is my dream and I’m stoked that I can make it a reality. So, it's going to be a wild ride. I'm just so happy you're here.

Robert Cirjak is the co-founder of Wibit Sports, the world leader in floating waterparks. Robert started his career as a professional soccer player and now is the CEO of a waterpark company... the two dream jobs of every kid. His company inspires so much passion and excitement that he has fans with Wibit tatoos and he's even gone to a wedding of two people who met on a Wibit. Wibit: https://www.wibitsports.com/Robert's Wibit Bucket List Recommendations: https://landofnatura.com/https://www.zlatniratbol.com/enhttps://www.visitdubai.com/en/places-to-visit/aquafun-the-beach-waterparkCrystal Lagoons: https://www.crystal-lagoons.com/

Rachel Tobias left her career in tech — quitting her job at Salesforce — to travel the world with her husband, Sebastian, photographing wild cats. Together, they lead small-group expeditions across the globe where guests can learn about, photograph, and support the conservation of some of the planet’s most elusive and endangered feline species.I talk with Rachel about her decision to walk away from corporate life, how she defines success now, and what it’s really like to spend nearly every day of the year on the move. (Spoiler: there’s a lot of heat rash.)Cat Expeditions: https://catexpeditions.com/Cat Expeditions Youtube Show:    • This Secret Cat Lives in a Minefield  Whale Expeditions: https://whaleexpeditions.com/Rachel's Shout-out for the Magic Patio! https://www.themagicpatio.com/