When Your Life Makes Sense in Reverse

Most people want a straight line.

A clean story. One that starts with an idea, moves through a plan, and ends with success.

But real careers rarely work that way. More often, they look messy while they’re happening and obvious only after the fact.

That’s what makes Alex Fredericks’ story so compelling.

He is the founder of ToneWell, an AI wellness platform that turns a 30-second voice note into personalized insights about energy, body, and readiness. But if you only look at ToneWell, you miss the point. The real story is not just about what he built. It’s about how every earlier chapter in his life prepared him to build it.

Music. Consumer goods. Brand building. Touring. Problem solving. Reinvention.

At first glance, those things may look unrelated. They are not.

The Skill Was Never the Title

Alex does not define himself as your typical founder. He does not lead with startup language or a polished origin story. He talks about being a problem solver.

That matters.

Because too often, people confuse a job title with a skill set. They think the path matters more than the pattern. Alex’s path says otherwise. He started in music not because he wanted attention, but because music helped him move through the world as a dyslexic child. Later, he moved into consumer goods, where he learned how to understand products, people, and why something works.

The through line was never the industry.

It was the instinct.

He sees things. He understands how they fit together. He works backward from the outcome.

That is a founder skill, whether or not anyone calls it that.

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Reinvention Is Not Random

There is a version of career growth that treats reinvention like a dramatic pivot. One day you are in one world, the next day you are in another.

But most reinvention is quieter than that.

It is accumulation.

Alex’s years in the music business taught him how to adapt, move fast, and figure things out with limited resources. Touring bands meant solving the immediate problem: Where are we going? Where are we sleeping? How do we keep moving? What is the next decision?

That kind of experience does something important. It teaches you not to freeze when conditions change.

It teaches you that execution matters more than identity.

And that may be why ToneWell makes sense. It is a company built by someone who has spent years learning how to translate chaos into action.

The Best Ideas Often Come From Real Life

ToneWell is built around a simple but provocative idea: your voice may carry signals about your body and your state of readiness.

That idea feels futuristic, but it is also deeply human.

It does not ask people to become something else. It asks them to pay attention to what they already have: their voice, their rhythm, their presence. In a world full of complicated wellness promises, something is refreshing about a product that starts with something familiar and accessible.

That is part of why this conversation stands out.

It is not about technology for technology’s sake. It is about using technology to notice patterns in everyday life that people usually ignore.

And that raises a bigger question: what else are we overlooking because we are too busy looking for complicated answers or perhaps are distracted?

The Hard Truth About Building

Alex says he had never really thought of himself as an entrepreneur until now.

That is interesting, but it is also revealing.

A lot of people imagine founders as people who wake up with a startup identity already intact. In reality, many founders become founders by doing founder work long before they use the word. They adapt. They ship. They solve. They keep going when things break.

They connect the dots along the way.

That is what makes the work real.

Not the branding. Not the label. Not the language.

The work.

Alex’s story is a reminder that entrepreneurship is often less about declaring yourself and more about proving, over and over again, that you can move an idea into the world.

Key Takeaways

• Your career does not have to be linear to be meaningful.

• The skills that matter most are often hidden inside earlier, unrelated chapters.

• Reinvention is usually built through repetition, not sudden transformation.

• The strongest ideas often come from close observation of real human experience.

• Founder identity is less important than founder behavior: adapt, solve, execute, repeat.

• Be of service in whatever you pursue to either the people you market to, or the vocation or industry you’re in

Something to consider

Not every path looks strategic while you are walking it.

Some paths look like detours until one day they look like preparation.

Alex Fredericks’ journey is compelling because it illustrates how a life created through curiosity, resilience, and problem-solving can eventually become a company. And maybe that is the lesson underneath all of it: the work you do before the thing you are “supposed” to be doing is often the very work that makes the future possible.

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No drinks. No substances. No fun, supposedly. No social life, supposedly.

MJ Gottlieb is building the opposite story.

On the Worthy for Thirty podcast, the Loosid co-founder laid out a vision that is part recovery, part product strategy, and part cultural correction: sobriety is not the thing that shrinks your life; it’s the thing that makes a fuller life not just possible but attainable.

What started as his own reckoning became a company built around one clear thesis: people struggling with addiction, loneliness, and mental health need more than advice. They need community, tools, and a place to belong.

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That’s what makes Loosid matter and stand out.

It’s not just a sobriety app. It’s a place where people in recovery, or simply choosing a different way to live, can find connection, accountability, dating, and support without having to navigate it all alone.

In other words: it is a startup with a moral center and a real business model.

For founders and operators, the lesson is clear. MJ and his co-founder didn’t scale a message. They scaled a solution. They looked at the treatment world, saw how limited the reach could be, and built a platform that could help far more people at once. That belief, to evolve from one-off impact to repeatable infrastructure, is what separates a compelling founder story from a serious company.

For everyone else, the takeaway is simpler and more pressing.

If you’re sober, sober-curious, in recovery, or quietly struggling, Loosid is built around the idea that you do not need to be ashamed of needing support. You do not need to wait until your life falls apart to look for help. You do not need to navigate shame, loneliness, or relapse risk in isolation.

MJ said it succinctly: “service keeps you sober”. That concept pervades through everything he described, from community support to sober dating to the mental health resources embedded in the platform. The mission is not just to help people stay sober. It is to help them rebuild.

And that’s why this conversation lands.

Loosid is not chasing a trend. It is responding to a much larger shift: people are looking for healthier ways to connect, regulate, and live. Sober spaces, non-alcoholic beverages, breathwork, meditation, and digital recovery support are not fringe anymore; they are becoming part of the mainstream vocabulary of wellness. MJ and his co-founder are simply building one of the clearest brands in that category.

The most important thing he said may be the simplest: “We don’t care why you’re here; we just care that you’re here”.

That is not just a good tagline.

It’s a worldview.

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This conversation is about more than music. It’s about arts education, community impact, nonprofit leadership, and the idea that creativity can serve as infrastructure for healthier, more connected communities.

“Creativity isn’t something we consume. It’s infrastructure for healthier communities, stronger connections, and greater human dignity.”

Why this conversation matters

Monica and Camille trace the roots of Sing for Hope back to a moment of crisis, when they began singing for first responders in the days after 9/11. What began as a response to grief became a 25-year mission to bring the power of the arts into public spaces, hospitals, schools, elder care facilities, and communities that are too often left out of cultural life.

That framing matters because it shifts the conversation from “art as enrichment” to “art as necessity.” As they explain in the episode, the arts support health, dignity, connection, and well-being, and they should be treated that way.

What we talk about

In our conversation, Monica and Camille open up about:

• How they met at Juilliard and developed a friendship that grew into a mission-driven partnership.

• The early experiences that shaped their belief in the power of music and community service.

• Why Sing for Hope was born out of crisis, and how that origin still informs the organization today.

• How the Sing for Hope Pianos became one of the country’s most recognizable public art projects.

• Why they believe the arts are a social determinant of health.

• What it takes to build sustainable nonprofit programs that are both beautiful and operationally effective.

• How they think about access, creativity, and the role of artists in public life.

A few standout moments

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation is their reflection on how access to the arts shapes a person’s sense of possibility. Monica shares how music was present in her childhood through church, elder care performances, and community events, while Camille talks about how her family’s musical culture and public school music education influenced her path.

Another standout thread is that their effusiveness around the concept of creativity doesn’t have to be reserved for professionals. They referenced doodling, singing in the driveway, trying something new, and permitting ourselves to make art without judgment (work through the cringe!).

For founders and changemakers

If you’re building a nonprofit, a community initiative, or a mission-driven brand, this episode offers more than inspiration. It offers a framework.

Monica and Camille talk candidly about fundraising, scaling, partnerships, and the challenge of keeping a mission intact while building systems that can grow over time, all while remaining mindful of the reason they started 25 years ago. They also share how they think about long-term impact, from public art installations to arts curriculum development and healthcare partnerships. For anyone interested in social impact, arts entrepreneurship, or nonprofit storytelling, this conversation is packed with practical insight.

You can listen to this full episode on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Ahem, doing good while doing well.

I sat down with Rob for a wide-ranging conversation about how Allagash grew from a fledgling brewery built with used equipment into one of the most respected and admired breweries in America. What ensues is not just a story about beer, but a case study in endurance, operational excellence, and values that are actually embedded in the business. The foundation that has allowed Allagash to stand the test of time and competition!

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Why this conversation matters

Rob’s origin story is unusually relatable: he graduated from Middlebury with a geology degree, spent time working construction and restaurant jobs, stumbled into brewing, and quickly realized he had found a craft (no pun intended) that combined science, mechanics, creativity, and hard work. He did not begin with a polished master plan; he began with curiosity, grit, and a willingness to build something from the ground up. Perhaps intangibles that successful founders need to tap into when moving from abstract to reality.

Connect the dots!

That origin matters because it helps explain why Allagash never became a company built around trends. Rob describes choosing a Belgian-style wheat beer at a time when very few people even knew what that meant, then spending the first decade hearing, in effect, that the beer was cloudy, strange, and unlikely to sell. The lesson is timeless: if you want to create something durable, the goal is not to be instantly obvious; it is to be worth discovering. Or said even more simply, make something that you like and that you would use or consume. Then decide if it should be shared with the world.

The Allagash model

The transcript makes one thing clear: Allagash is not simply a brewery; it is an operating philosophy. Rob repeatedly returns to the idea of doing the work well, improving the process, and treating the team as the engine of the company rather than a backdrop to it. He talks about investing in raw materials, quality control, equipment, logistics, and culture as interconnected parts of the same system.

That philosophy shows up in Allagash’s latest Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) Report, which breaks down how the company’s sustainability work touches nearly every part of the operation. The report highlights carbon capture that reduces emissions by more than 18,000 pounds annually, a de-aerated water system that saves ingredients and labor, and partnerships that repurpose millions of pounds of spent grain and yeast each year.

The numbers are striking, but the deeper story is that Allagash treats sustainability as an operational discipline rather than a branding exercise. The company says it diverted 98% of brewery waste from landfill, maintained water use at 3.4 gallons per gallon of beer, and redesigned logistics to reduce shipping miles and eliminate unnecessary plastic.

Leadership lessons

What makes Rob’s journey compelling is that he sounds like a founder who has stayed close to the work. He talks about walking the floor, keeping his door open, spending time with employees across departments, and remembering that credibility comes from participation, not posture. That is one reason his leadership feels sincere rather than performative. Being of service to your employees and community is certainly not a tactic. No job is too big or too small for him to lend a hand.

“The best companies aren’t built by finding one breakthrough. They’re built by getting a little better every year for decades.” - Rob Tod

He also makes a strong case for patience. In the early years, Allagash nearly failed, a bank pulled the loan, and the company spent a decade grinding through uncertainty before the market caught up. His response was not to chase the next trend, but to keep refining the product, the process, and the team until the business could stand on its own.

That mindset is especially relevant now, when many founders are tempted to optimize for speed, novelty, or algorithmic attention (e.g., trends). Rob’s case study suggests a different benchmark: build something distinctive enough that it still matters when the market changes around you.

Culture as strategy

One of the most resonant parts of the episode is his discussion of culture. Allagash’s purpose is to “brew with integrity and build community.” It appears in employee benefits, volunteerism, internal innovation, and the company’s habit of giving people across roles a voice in product development and business improvement.

“We’re never resting on our laurels here. We’re always trying to improve.” - Rob Tod

That approach matters because Allagash is not using culture as a soft concept; it is using culture as a strategic advantage. The company’s report notes that employee engagement surveys help guide internal priorities, and the brewery has been named one of Maine’s Best Places to Work multiple times.

He also describes long-term rituals like five-year Belgium trips for employees, which create cross-functional bonding and reinforce the company’s identity. Those are the kinds of details that make a business feel alive, memorable, and human, and they are exactly what separate a transactional company from an enduring one.

What you will leave with from listening

This episode is for founders, operators, nonprofit leaders, and anyone trying to build an organization that lasts. It offers a practical reminder that mission is not what you say; it is what you repeatedly design, measure, reward, and protect.

If you listen closely, you will hear a blueprint for building trust: start with authenticity, stay close to the work, help improve and deepen everyone’s responsibility, and never confuse growth with momentum. Rob Tod’s Allagash story is a rare confluence of humility (his self-awareness is off the charts), precision, and persistence. The kind of story that can change how people think about leadership, not just beer.

We can cheers to that!

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Some conversations make you think differently about a topic you thought you already understood. This episode did that for me.

I sat down with Diego Mariscal, founder of 2Gether-International and returning guest, now co-host, Mindy Scheier, founder of Runway of Dreams and Gamut Management, for a conversation that started with disability inclusion but quickly morphed into something much bigger: how mission-driven founders build, lead, and scale when they stop treating access as an add-on.

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That idea feels especially relevant right now. In May 2026, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities ages 16 and older was 23.9%, compared with 67.6% for people without disabilities, and the unemployment rate was 9.1% versus 3.8%. Those numbers are not just statistics. They’re a reminder that too much talent is still being left out of the room.

And that’s exactly why this conversation matters.

Diego shares the personal story behind 2Gether-International and how being born with cerebral palsy shaped his perspective on resilience, adaptability, and entrepreneurship. What stands out is not just the journey itself, but the reframing: the idea that disability can create a kind of leadership muscle that businesses desperately need. Tenacity. Problem-solving. Creative adjustment. The ability to keep moving when the system wasn’t designed with you in mind.

Mindy brings that same clarity from a different angle. Her story begins with her son Oliver - who has muscular dystrophy - inspired her to push the fashion industry toward something more inclusive and more functional. That effort ultimately helped lead to the first mainstream adaptive clothing line at Tommy Hilfiger and later to her starting Gamut Management, where the work is about helping brands build with people with disabilities, not simply market to them.

What I loved most about this conversation was how practical it became. Diego talked about building accommodation into the budget from the start. Mindy talked about inviting disabled people into product development before something goes to market. Both of them kept coming back to the same core idea: inclusion works best when it is built into the DNA of a company, not added on later as a fix.

That message should resonate with every founder and operator, whether you’re building a startup, managing a team, or trying to make your product more useful to more people. The lesson is simple, but not easy: if you design for the margins, you often end up building something better for the mainstream too.

That manifests everywhere in this episode: in the stories, in the examples, in the way Diego and Mindy challenge the assumptions baked into how businesses think about access. It’s a conversation about entrepreneurship, yes. But it’s also about dignity, systems, and what it really means to build something that lasts.

“When accessibility moves from accommodation to innovation, it doesn’t just change lives, it changes businesses, industries, and what’s possible for everyone.” - Diego Mariscal

If you care about leadership, innovation, accessibility, or mission-driven business, this one is worth your time.

A few things you’ll hear us talk about:

• Why disability inclusion is a business advantage, not a charitable endeavor.

• How founders can embed access into their operating model from day one.

• What adaptive design teaches us about building for more people.

• Why the future of entrepreneurship should include more disabled founders, more disabled consumers, and more disabled voices shaping the table.

This episode is for the builders who want to do more than just grow. It’s for the people who want to build in a way that actually reflects the world they live in.

And maybe that’s the bigger takeaway here: the future doesn’t need more companies that simply fit the old model better. It needs companies willing enough (hello, Ryan Berman) to redesign the model itself.

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“Most entrepreneurs don’t burn out because they’re lazy. They burn out because they keep building businesses that demand more of them than they were ever designed to give.” — Jen Aly

In this conversation on the Worthy for Thirty podcast, thanks to Boardy.Ai, I got to sit down with coach, TEDx speaker, and entrepreneur Jen Aly to unpack what happens when success stops feeling sustainable and what it looks like to build a business that supports your life instead of consuming it.

Jen’s story is one of reinvention, resilience, and honest self-awareness. She opens up about moving through burnout, bankruptcy, rebuilding her career, and eventually creating a business model rooted in freedom and flow. For entrepreneurs who feel exhausted, overcommitted, or unsure how to keep going without sacrificing themselves, this episode offers both perspective and a practical path forward. It helps that Jen has ‘walked in the shoes’ of some of her founder clients and can see what they’re experiencing by stepping into their shoes.

One of the most valuable themes in the episode is Jen’s refusal to romanticize hustle culture. As she says, people may assume that a coach is someone who is chasing “a quazillion dollars,” but her work is actually centered on the opposite: creating time freedom, defining prosperity personally, and helping clients build businesses that feel aligned with who they are now. That perspective makes this conversation especially relevant for founders who are successful on paper but drained in reality.

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Jen also shares how her nomadic lifestyle has changed the way she thinks about business and energy. Living in new places has forced her to create stronger structure, accountability, and community, even while prioritizing flexibility and freedom. That tension between possibility and the need for sustainable rhythm is something many entrepreneurs will recognize immediately.

The episode dives into how Jen works with clients. She explains that many of the people she supports are experienced entrepreneurs in their forties and fifties who want to redesign their businesses around their current lives, not their old identities (Hello, James Clear & Atomic Habits!). Whether it’s an acupuncturist who wants more leverage and less time in the office, or an astrologer who wants to shift from one-off sessions to a more sustainable, long-term offering, Jen helps clients rethink both their business model and their relationship to their capacity.

This is where her Freedom and Flow framework comes in. Jen walks through her five-step process: clarifying vision, reverse engineering an aligned life and business, leveraging genius and simplifying for flow, creating systems and rhythms for sustainable momentum, and expanding confidence through accountability and support. It’s a thoughtful, practical structure rooted in reality that works for entrepreneurs who want more than motivation; they want a real reset.

The conversation also touches on burnout symptoms that are easy to miss. Jen points to dread, resentment, loss of impact, and physical depletion as signs that something is off. She describes burnout not just as being tired, but as a disconnect between the work someone is doing and the life they actually want to live — we all yearn for a life of fulfillment. That distinction is powerful for creators and founders who may be ignoring the early signs because the business is still growing.

We also dove into the role of identity in transformation. Drawing from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, the conversation underscores that lasting change often starts when someone stops identifying as “burnt out” and starts seeing themselves as a thriving, creative business owner with autonomy and direction. That shift in identity is often what makes the difference between temporary change and long-term reinvention.

Another memorable part of the episode is when we discussed AI and its impact on founders and their businesses! Jen shares how she, personally, uses tools like Claude as a thinking partner, especially for writing and ideation, while still emphasizing the irreplaceable value of human connection, experience, and coaching. Ai doesn’t exude empathy or compassion or basic human understanding. For entrepreneurs navigating the fast-changing landscape of work, this section adds a timely layer to the conversation.

By the end of this episode, one thing is apparent: this is not just a talk about burnout. It’s a conversation about designing a business and a life - in alignment - that can actually be sustained. For the burnt-out entrepreneur who wants more freedom, more clarity, and more alignment, Jen offers a clear reminder that success does not have to come at the detriment of your wellbeing.

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A quick FYI: Kustom Entertainment is a live event production and ticketing company focused on delivering memorable fan experiences through concerts, festivals, and transparent ticketing. It also owns and operates Country Stampede and strives to make the full event experience clear, fair, and high-value for fans and artists alike.

What stands out most is his belief that trust is built through clarity, consistency, and an eagerness to listen, whether that means being frank about ticket fees or making sure fans get above-and-beyond value from any festival or concert they pay to attend.

For leaders in any industry, Stan’s perspective is a practical reminder that transparency is not just a brand value; it is a business strategy. His approach to ticketing, event production, and audience feedback shows how companies can strengthen loyalty by making the customer experience simpler, fairer, and more respectful.

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Legacy Meets Leadership

Stan’s story begins with legacy. We talked about his father, Bud Ross, whose innovations in guitar amplifiers and pedals helped shape music history and taught Stan the importance of quality, reliability, and humility. That foundation still influences how Stan thinks about business today: build something people can trust, and then keep improving it.

He also shared how being raised around music and creative people gave him an early appreciation for passion and craftsmanship. His dad built amps and pedals for Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, John Fogerty, and more! That background helps explain why he sees business not just as operations and revenue, but as a way to create meaningful experiences for artists, fans, and partners.

Why Transparency Wins

One of the clearest themes in the conversation was Stan’s frustration with hidden ticket fees and his decision to build Kustom Entertainment’s own ticketing systems that show the full price upfront. He explained that consumers are already comparing multiple platforms, so the company that is most honest and simplest to use often wins their trust. That is a valuable lesson for any leader: if customers feel surprised at checkout, the relationship is already damaged. When it comes to both a frictionless fan and artist experience, vertically integrating the value chain wins.

Put another way, transparency reduces friction. When people know the full cost and understand what they are getting, they are less likely to feel manipulated and more likely to return. In a marketplace where trust is fragile, that kind of clarity becomes a competitive advantage.

Listening to Fans and Fixing Problems

Stan offered a concrete example of how listening to feedback can improve a business quickly. After acquiring Country Stampede, one of the biggest complaints was food variety, so the team responded by bringing in a wide mix of food trucks to broaden the festival experience. That is a simple but powerful model for any founder or operator: identify the real complaint, pinpoint what you can control, and make a visible change.

He also described how the team follows up with attendees after events to ask for suggestions, ratings, and artist requests for future lineups. That kind of feedback loop turns audience feedback into a management tool instead of a marketing afterthought. The message is straightforward: if your customers are telling you what is broken, treat that input like operational intelligence.

Lessons for all Leaders

There were several actionable ideas in Stan’s comments that leaders can apply beyond entertainment. He explained that his team tries to make events feel worth more than the price of admission, which translates well to any business focused on retention and loyalty. He also stressed the importance of being present, solving problems in real time, and staying close to the work instead of hiding behind titles.

As I like to say, Coach John Wooden, who coached UCLA basketball in the 60s and 70s and won multiple championships, was known to ‘sweep the floors’ after practice. No job was beneath him. Stan uses a similar mindset, which all leaders should heed: humility and being human win at the end of the day. The ability to acknowledge and address faults while understanding where the consumer is coming from is an advantage vs. the competition.

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In this episode, I had a chance to speak with Sam Stewart, co-founder of Mad Hippie (Dana, his wife, is his co-founder), to unpack how a personal problem while living in Nicaragua turned into a purpose-driven beauty brand with staying power.

Sam’s story is a great reminder that meaningful businesses are rarely built in a straight line. My mind immediately went to the childhood parable ‘tortoise vs. the hare.’

Mad Hippie began with late nights, a chemist friend, dozens of product iterations, a scrappy SEO strategy, and a willingness to listen when the market said, “not yet.”

From Surfboards to Skincare

Sam and his wife were living in Nicaragua, surfing often, and noticing the toll all that sun was taking on their skin. Instead of shrugging it off, they got curious. They started exploring ingredients that could help protect skin from oxidative stress, testing ideas, and eventually building the first versions of what would become Mad Hippie.

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What’s interesting is how real the origin story feels. This wasn’t a big-VC-backed launch or a polished brand concept dreamed up in a boardroom. It was a real problem, a real lifestyle, and a real attempt to build something they could believe in.

‘Purpose-driven businesses don't start with a pitch deck. They start with a problem you've lived with long enough that solving it becomes personal.’ - Serial Entreprenuer, Michael Lazerow

The Long Game

One of the clearest themes in the conversation is that building a durable company takes patience, humility, and repetition. Sam discussed the 50+ iterations of early products, learning that surfers weren’t the best core audience, and then pivoting toward a larger natural skincare market.

That willingness to adapt mattered. So did the discipline to keep going when a Whole Foods buyer told him no one in Boston would buy a product called ‘Mad Hippie.’ Instead of taking that as a final no, Sam treated it as feedback, kept refining, and eventually entered the Whole Foods region by region before scaling nationally. Persistence is key, especially when you’re driving value.

Building With Intent

A big part of Mad Hippie’s appeal is that the brand’s values weren’t added later as marketing polish or a facade. They were built into the brand’s DNA from the beginning (sounds similar to Mission Craft Cocktails, for instance). Sam explains how the company has donated a dollar from every web sale to conservation, used recyclable and sustainably sourced packaging, and built recycling programs that make it easier for customers to do the right thing.

That intentionality also shows up inside the business. Mad Hippie invests in employee benefits, values respectful communication, and hires with cultural fit in mind. Sam is clear that building a good company means treating people well: customers, team members, and the planet included.

Lessons For Founders

• Start with a real problem, not a trend. Mad Hippie came from Sam and his wife noticing sun damage in their own lives, then building around that need. Get curious!

• Expect your first idea to be wrong. The brand began by targeting surfers, then pivoted when that audience didn’t respond the way they hoped.

• Iterate until the market gives you a signal. Sam described making about 50 versions before landing on products and packaging that resonated.

• Let scrappiness be an advantage. Early SEO helped Mad Hippie attract tens of thousands of site visitors a month without a huge budget.

• Don’t confuse a ‘no’ with a final answer; treat it as a ‘not yet.’ A Whole Foods buyer initially dismissed the name, but Sam and the brand kept improving and eventually scaled through the chain.

• Build a company you can be proud of. From packaging to donations to hiring, Sam kept returning to the question: Does this feel good, useful, and aligned?

• Hire people who are not the same as you. Sam emphasized the value of putting together a team with diverse strengths, not just people who think like the founder.

• Keep learning longer than feels necessary. Sam credited books, podcasts, and relationships with other entrepreneurs for helping him grow over time.

Why It Resonates Now

This conversation lands because it speaks to a moment so many founders are in right now: overloaded channels, shifting consumer behavior, AI search, TikTok Shop, influencer fatigue, and the pressure to grow fast. Sam’s and what I imagine the company’s perspective are refreshingly grounded. He and his team are not chasing shiny-object tactics; they’re focused on authority, consistency, long-term partnerships, and staying useful to the customer.

That makes this episode especially valuable for entrepreneurs who are trying to build something meaningful without burning out or losing the plot. It’s a reminder that the best brands usually aren’t the loudest ones; they’re the ones that remain consistent and stay true to their values even as they scale!

‘Til next time.

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In this Worthy for Thirty podcast episode, that foundation becomes the basis for a larger conversation about what it really takes to build something meaningful: not just a company, but a community; not just momentum, but trust; not just growth, but staying aligned with your values as the stakes rise. Elisa speaks with the clarity of someone who has lived through the messy middle of entrepreneurship and come out with a sharper sense of what matters most.

“Our mission was to create opportunities for community, education, exposure, and economic empowerment for women who blogged.” - Elisa Camahort Page

What makes this conversation especially valuable is that it doesn’t stay in the abstract. Elisa is clear about the choices founders face when mission and monetization collide, and she offers a first-hand point of view molded by years of building, scaling, and evolving in public. For aspiring entrepreneurs, that means a rare chance to hear how ideas become reality when they are combined with discipline, patience, and a desire to start before everything is perfect. For the seasoned entrepreneur, it’s a reminder that experience does not completely remove uncertainty; rather, it simply teaches you how to make better decisions inside it.

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A major throughline of Elisa’s experience is the importance of optional thinking: not getting trapped by one path, one identity, or one definition of success. Elisa’s reflections on community-building, capital, authenticity, and AI point toward a more flexible model of leadership, one that values adaptation without losing purpose. She makes a compelling case that entrepreneurship is not only about scale but also about judgment: who you work with, what you protect, and how you decide what “enough” looks like.

Key takeaways

• Build for the people you serve, not for abstract scale or something ephemeral
  Implication: The strongest businesses grow from a clear understanding of what your audience actually needs, not just wants.
  How to implement: Spend time listening before growing or expanding; talk to customers regularly, identify recurring pain points, and let their real-world problems shape your roadmap.

• Treat mission as an operating system, not a slogan.
  Implication: Values should be a guide for daily decisions, not just marketing language or a tactic
  How to implement: Use your mission to evaluate partnerships, hires, pricing, and product choices, and ask whether each move strengthens or dilutes your core purpose.

• Don’t confuse funding with success.
  Implication: Capital is a tool, not a trophy.
  How to implement: Define milestone-based funding needs, explore alternatives to venture money, and raise only when the capital clearly advances a specific next step.

• Protect authenticity by setting boundaries.
  Implication: Being real does not mean sharing everything.
  How to implement: Decide in advance what you will and won’t disclose, create clear personal and brand boundaries, and stay consistent in how you show up across channels.

• Stay flexible about what success looks like.
  Implication: Entrepreneurship is a moving target, and your strategy should evolve with it.
  How to implement: Revisit your goals quarterly, assess whether your current model still fits your life and business, and be willing to change course when the facts change.

• Use AI as leverage, not replacement.
  Implication: New tools can expand your capacity without replacing your judgment.
  How to implement: Use AI to brainstorm, prototype, research, and draft faster, then apply human judgment to decide what is useful, ethical, and worth pursuing.

For newer founders, the takeaway is to build with intention and stay close to the people you serve. For experienced founders, the reminder is to keep questioning whether your current model still matches your values, your market, and your life. Elisa’s story ultimately suggests that the most durable businesses are built by people who know how to hold both ambition and integrity at the same time.

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What a great way to extend last night’s celebration of an incredible nonprofit with a slew of Broadway stars; a new epsiode with a founder who’s doing exceptional work in the space!

On this episode of the Worthy for Thirty podcast, I sat down with Bobby Gibson, Co-founder of LuxGive, to unpack a model that is helping nonprofits turn luxury travel into a smarter fundraising engine. Bobby breaks down how LuxGive works as a no-risk, high-touch partner: nonprofits set a reserve price, keep everything above it, and only pay LuxGive through that reserve price if the experience sells.

A win-win for everyone!

What makes this conversation especially relevant for nonprofit leaders is that Bobby is not offering a generic fundraising pitch; rather, he is describing an infrastructure layer designed to make auctions streamlined and intuitive, more professional (hello, concierge service), and more effective. Bobby details how LuxGive helps nonprofits with curation, marketing collateral, a nonprofit portal, concierge-level service, and a consultative process that matches the right experience to the right audience. He also described one of the biggest epiphanies for partners: a single LuxGive destination experience can be sold multiple times, allowing nonprofits to monetize a broader slice of their audience than they could with a one-off donated item.

Think in experiences, not specific weeks.

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The data is supportive.

The broader nonprofit landscape makes this approach timely. A 2025 NonProfit PRO report found that 77% of nonprofit professionals reported consistent or increased auction revenue, and 90% expected that trend to continue, signaling that auctions remain a durable fundraising channel worth optimizing. At the same time, donor-engagement research continues to show that trust, clear impact, and compelling experiences matter; Yale researchers found that framing a nonprofit as a source of solutions (like a consumer experience, making it frictionless) significantly increased intent to donate, and that trust-building, data-driven communication, and emotional connection all strengthen engagement.

LuxGive sits right at that overlap, helping nonprofits showcase an experience that feels premium to donors while generating meaningful revenue for mission-driven work. Psst, past non-profit guests, you’ll be hearing from me.

For nonprofit leaders, the takeaway is straightforward: this episode is worth your time if you want to rethink auctions as more than an annual event and see them as a strategic tool for revenue, donor excitement, and relationship-building. Or better yet, you’ve been reluctant to try auctions because you may think it doesn’t fit in your model. Bobby and team would like to tell you differently.

Bobby and his co-founders’ perspective is especially invaluable because they’re steeped in hospitality; having started and sold Travel Keys to Accor, which then turned into onefinestay before they turned their sights on the nonprofit world.

Any nonprofit leader I’ve spoken to has said raising money is #1 on their priority list. If your team is looking for new ways to raise more while creating better donor experiences and reducing operational friction, this conversation will give you a fresh lens on what’s possible.

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Fun fact: Peter is the longest-tenured active trader and one of the most photographed traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Also to the creators reading this: take the risk. Reach out. Send the cold email. I met Peter at a SXSW panel

This conversation is not just about trading. It is about how people make decisions under pressure, how fortunes are built and lost, why markets punish emotion, and why discipline still wins when the world is moving faster than common sense. Peter’s story runs from his New York City roots and family resilience to the NYSE floor, where he learned that opportunity rewards those who keep showing up.

If you are a founder, investor, creator, or simply someone trying to make better decisions in a noisy world, this episode is worth your time because Peter connects market mechanics with life mechanics. He makes the case that investing is not a get-rich-quick fantasy; it is a long-game discipline, a probability game, and a way to build a legacy instead of buying more stuff.

Peter is not looking backward. Through Wall Street Global Trading Academy, he and his partner, David Green, are training retail traders, both new and seasoned, with structure, mentorship, and risk awareness instead of hype. That matters because the barrier to entry into equities trading is lower than ever, but the barrier to staying in the game is still high.

What makes this episode especially resonant is Peter’s larger perspective: he sees the market as a living organism shaped by war, oil, AI, social media, institutional behavior, retail enthusiasm, and the psychology of fear and greed. He also sees the upside in all of it, especially for younger people willing to learn, adapt, and treat the market like a vocation rather than a casino.

I encourage you to listen to this episode, which will leave you thinking differently about money, attention, risk, resilience, and what it takes to create value in a world that rewards both speed and substance. It is a conversation with practical takeaways, but it is also a reminder that behind every chart is a human story, and behind every winning strategy is a mindset.

“Wall Street is not a get-rich-quick scheme.”

What this means now

The implications extend beyond trading. Peter’s perspective suggests that the winners are the people who can identify signal in noise, control downside, and avoid turning a temporary edge into a permanent loss. In today’s business landscape, that translates to clearer decision-making, faster adaptation, and stronger risk discipline when markets, customers, or platforms suddenly shift.

He also makes a strong case that accessibility changes the game, but not everyone who enters survives it. That reflects what we see in business: lower barriers to entry create more competition, but the people who last are the ones who learn the rules, manage cash flow, and keep their heads when everyone else is chasing the next shiny thing.

Steps to consider

• Treat every major decision like a trade: define the upside, downside, and exit before you start.

• Build a habit of taking profits or locking in wins earlier instead of waiting for perfection.

• Stop confusing motion with progress; not every market move, business trend, or opportunity deserves your capital or attention.

• Invest in what you understand and observe in daily life, whether that is consumer behavior, software adoption, or brands people already use.

• Separate excitement from conviction. If your thesis cannot survive volatility, it is probably just a mood.

• Keep building skills that compound over time: judgment, patience, pattern recognition, and emotional control.

• Use setbacks as data, not identity. Peter’s message is that resilience is not optional; it is the price of entry.

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When a child goes to sleep on a floor, a couch, or a pile of clothes, something far deeper than comfort is missing. It is hard to overstate what a bed means: safety, dignity, rest, routine, and the quiet belief that home is a place that holds you.

That is the heart of my conversation with Luke Mickelson, Founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, the nonprofit that began with one simple act of service and grew into a national movement serving children in more than 350 chapters across the U.S. and beyond. What started as a local response to a child in need became a model for how purpose, community, and operational clarity can scale in ways that change lives.

Luke’s story is compelling because it is grounded in something many leaders understand naturally: once you see a problem and truly feel it, you are no longer free to dismiss it. In the episode, he describes discovering that children in his own town were sleeping on floors, on pallets, and on makeshift bedding, and how that realization turned a garage project into a mission with lasting impact. That same pattern shows up in other community responses, like One House at a Time’s Beds for Kids program in Philadelphia, which has provided beds and bedding to more than 15,000 children and youth since 1998.

The need is bigger than most people realize. Sleep in Heavenly Peace says roughly 2-3% of American children are without beds, a figure that becomes even more sobering when paired with the broader reality that millions of children live in poverty and that sleep deprivation is already widespread among young people. The CDC has reported that more than three-quarters of high school students were not getting enough sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic, and students sleeping less than seven hours were more likely to report poor mental health and difficulty doing schoolwork. In other words, bedlessness is not just isolated to housing, it affects education, physical health, and, invariably, a child’s future.

“Big moments result from tiny moments in action, right?” - Luke Mickelson

Luke also offers something especially valuable for founders, owners, and operators: a practical operating philosophy. He illustrates how the mission becomes stronger when it is made tangible, repeatable, and local. Sleep in Heavenly Peace did not try to solve everything at once; it built a chapter model, empowered communities to own the work, and turned volunteer energy into a scalable system. That is a lesson that applies just as much to for-profit leadership as it does to nonprofit work.

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What This Teaches Leaders

Luke’s approach points to short but clear takeaways that leaders can apply right now:

• Make the problem visible. Luke did not build a brand around theory; he built it around a real child, a real need, and a real community response.

• Turn service into an operating system. Sleep in Heavenly Peace grew because it created a chapter model that allowed others to participate without centralizing every decision. Therefore, equipping people to solve the problem in their own towns, not just admire the problem from afar

• Let the mission do the marketing. When people understand the impact, they want to help, and the mission becomes the message.

• Use emotional clarity to drive practical action. The strongest movements do not begin with complexity; they begin with a problem people obsess about.

For nonprofit leaders, that means designing an organization that is easy to join, easy to fund, and easy to trust. For for-profit leaders, it is a reminder that people rally behind businesses that stand for something concrete and human. Luke’s story provides evidence that a company or cause becomes more powerful when it moves from abstraction to clear action.

Why It Matters

A bed may seem simple, but for a child, it can change the entire rhythm of life. Safe sleep supports emotional regulation, physical health, and learning readiness, while chronic sleep loss has been linked to behavior challenges, mental health strain, and difficulty in school. When a child finally gets a bed, they are not just receiving furniture; they are receiving a place to rest, recover, and grow.

There is also a sobering operational truth in Luke’s work: the demand is still enormous. Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s own reporting has highlighted a significant waiting list and a need that far outpaces current capacity, which is why the chapter model matters so much. This is what scalable compassion (empathy + action) looks like: not just feeling the need, but building infrastructure that helps more people respond to it.

How To Apply It

If Luke’s episode leaves a mark, the next step is action. Here are a few ways to put the insights into practice:

• Audit your own mission for hidden pain points. Ask what need you are solving that people may not fully see yet.

• Create a simple entry point for participation. Whether it is volunteering, donating, or partnering, make it easy to take the first step.

• Build a local activation model. Local leaders often move faster and care more deeply because they are closest to the problem.

• Pair the story with data. The emotional pull becomes stronger when it is reinforced by credible third-party evidence.

• Treat generosity like an operating principle, not a campaign. Luke’s model shows that sustainable impact comes from consistency, not one-off events.

• If you lead a team, use service as culture-building. Shared work toward a meaningful goal can deepen loyalty, purpose, and trust.

Luke Mickelson’s story is a reminder that some of the most important work in the world begins quietly, in a garage, with a question most people overlook. And sometimes, changing a child’s night changes their entire future.

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What if the future of social connection isn’t about what’s in your glass, but how it makes you feel?

In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with J.W. Wiseman, founder of Curious Elixirs, to unpack a deceptively simple idea: the most powerful businesses don’t just solve a problem, they reimagine a behavior.

Curious Elixirs isn’t just a non-alcoholic beverage company. It’s a cultural intervention steeped in presence, intentionality, and the belief that rituals matter more than substances.

For founders, operators, creators, and marketers, this conversation is a masterclass in building something that doesn’t just compete but reframes the category entirely.

The Throughline: Build for How People Want to Feel

J.W.’s journey didn’t start with a market gap. It started with a personal inflection point: after a night of 20 drinks and no hangover, something felt off, not physically, but existentially.

That moment sparked a question that would define the business:

“What if drinking could feel just as meaningful, without the alcohol?”

That question became the foundation of Curious Elixirs, and it reveals the deeper throughline of this episode:

The best brands don’t just deliver a product. They design a feeling.

Curious isn’t selling beverages. It’s selling:

• Presence over numbness

• Ritual over routine

• Inclusion over exclusion — hello, thriving community

And that shift, from product to feeling, is where the opportunity lives for any builder.

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What Makes Curious Elixirs Different

J.W. didn’t set out to replicate alcohol. He rejected that premise entirely.

Instead, Curious Elixirs is built on three core principles:

1. Stack, Don’t Subtract
They don’t remove alcohol from existing drinks. They build from the ground up using botanicals, adaptogens, and flavor layering.

2. Occasion-Based Design
Each drink maps to a moment:

• A Negroni alternative for aperitivo hour

• A “beer” for post-workout refresh

• A red wine for unwinding

3. Flavor + Function
Every product is designed not just to taste good, but to do something:

• Calm focus

• Relaxation

• Social ease

This is a blueprint for modern CPG: utility meets experience.

Then vs. Now: Category Creation in Real Time

In 2015, the non-alcoholic category was essentially:

• Soda

• Water

• Juice

No menus. No rituals. No identity.

Today, it’s a movement.

But as J.W. points out, we’re still early:

“Maybe we’re 10% of the way there.”

That’s the opportunity—and the challenge.

Lessons for Founders, Operators, and Creators

1. Start With Personal Truth, Not Market Trends

The best ideas don’t come from spreadsheets. They come from lived experience. Jeff Boyd, Co-Founder, MTE, created the original formula out of his need to find a natural energy supplement without the negative effects of caffeine or stimulants.

J.W. didn’t ask:

• “Is there a market for this?”

He asked:

• “Why doesn’t this exist for me?”

That’s a more powerful starting point.

2. Design for the Occasion, Not the Category

People don’t buy products. They buy moments. Remember Eliza Blank, Founder, The Sill, who realized that ‘plants make people happy?’

Ask:

• Where does this show up in someone’s life?

• What replaces the habit you’re disrupting?

Curious wins because it understands the ritual of drinking, not just the act.

3. Build Culture, Not Just Distribution

From 100-city cocktail parties to community-driven events, Curious invests in belonging. Mark your calendar: May 13th is the Great Curious Cocktail Party.

Because in the end:

People don’t just want better products. They want places to belong.

4. Iterate Relentlessly (and Publicly)

J.W. openly admits the latest batch isn’t perfect.

That’s not a weakness, it’s a strategy.

• Listen deeply

• Adjust or iterate quickly

• Improve continuously

Perfection isn’t the goal. Progress is.

5. Ask Better Questions

For early-stage founders, J.W. offers a simple framework:

• What flavors do you love?

• What feels underserved?

• What already exists, and can it be better?

Curiosity isn’t branding. It’s operating discipline.

6. Community Is the Moat

Products can be copied. Community cannot.

Whether it’s:

• A sober bar

• A dinner party

• A shared experience

The real value is in the people, not the product.

“The community focus is what people are most thirsty for… you build it one customer at a time, one bar stool at a time.” - JW Wiseman

The Bigger Shift: From Consumption to Consciousness

This episode taps into something larger than beverages.

It’s about a generational shift:

• From excess → intention

• From escape → presence

• From isolation → connection

And that shift is opening entirely new categories.

Actionable Takeaways

If you’re building something, or contemplating, start here:

1. Run the “Feeling Test”
What does your product make people feel, and is that clear?

2. Map the Ritual
Where does your product live in someone’s day or life?

3. Build With Your Early Community
Your first 100 customers are your co-creators.

4. Start With Subtraction
What can your audience remove from their life—and what replaces it?

5. Stay Curious, Not Certain
The best founders aren’t the ones with answers.
They’re the ones asking better questions.

Closing Thought

Curious Elixirs isn’t trying to eliminate alcohol.

It’s offering something more interesting:

a choice.

And in that choice lies a powerful idea for any builder:

You don’t have to fight the old system.
You can create something people would rather choose.

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In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with Sapreet Saluja, Executive Director of New York Cares, to discuss what it really takes to turn compassion into action at scale.

New York Cares is the largest volunteer organization in New York City, and Sapreet leads efforts to connect everyday New Yorkers with urgent community needs across the city, from winter coats and meals to tutoring, tax prep, senior support, and more. What made me think most was not just the size of the impact, but the operating system behind it: a thoughtful, human, and highly organized approach to service that any founder or operator can learn from.

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Sapreet’s background spans the private sector, civil rights, education, youth leadership, and community service, and that mix gives her a uniquely useful lens on leadership. We talked about how purpose is not something that belongs only in the nonprofit world. It can show up inside a startup, a brand, a team, or a business model, if you build it intentionally. That idea reminded me of the kind of leadership we’ve seen from entrepreneurs like Yvon Chouinard at Patagonia or Whitney Wolfe Herd at Bumble: leaders who’ve demonstrated that mission and business performance are not mutually exclusive paths. The best organizations, whether for-profit or nonprofit, make it easy for people to participate in something bigger than themselves.

Sapreet also broke down how New York Cares creates meaningful volunteer experiences by removing friction, designing for accessibility, and making sure there is a true fit between the need and the person showing up to help. As a quick reference, Sapreet and her team work with over 400 nonprofits, schools, and city agencies that support these vital causes! That part especially resonated with me because it applies far beyond volunteerism. The same principle is true when building a company, a podcast, or a team: if you want people to engage, you need to make it simple, clear, and emotionally rewarding to do so. In other words, impact is not just about having good intentions; it’s about building the infrastructure that helps those intentions move.

We also discussed what impact measurement really means. It’s easy to count inputs, but much harder to understand outcomes. That’s true in business, too. Are you just tracking activity, or are you actually changing someone’s life, work, or day-to-day reality? Sapreet’s perspective was a compelling reminder that meaningful leadership requires both heart and rigor. If you want to do good while doing well, you have to measure what matters, listen closely to the people you serve, and stay open to learning from the private sector without losing your values.

For me, one of the biggest takeaways was this: people are hungry to feel connected, useful, and part of something larger than themselves. Especially in a world with increased automation, and Ai becomes louder and louder by each passing minute.

That is true in New York City, and it is true in business. Whether you’re building a company, launching a project, or simply trying to be more intentional with your time, you can take a page from New York Cares by making service easier to access, more human, and more joyful. Start small, remove friction, invite others in, and keep asking whether your work is really creating the kind of impact you want to be known for. Or better yet, the world around you is reflective of your values.

🔑 Takeaways

• Make your mission easy to understand and easy to join.

• Measure outcomes, not just activity.

• Build for belonging, not just conversion.

• Look for ways your daily work can create real human connections.

• Borrow the best systems from business without losing the heart of your mission.

Daily Application

If you want to apply what Sapreet shared, start with one simple question: What is one way I can make it easier for someone to participate, contribute, or feel seen today? That could mean simplifying a process at work, checking in on someone outside your usual circle, volunteering a few hours, or making your own product or service more accessible. The point is not to do everything, it’s to build or create systems that make an impact on your everyday life.

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For decades, financial products have trained us to think in straight lines: save now, access later. Protection today, payout tomorrow. But Craig and his co-founder are challenging something deeper. Why is so much of our financial value locked in the future when real life is happening right now?

The origin of Kaleido Life comes from a deeply human moment, a sudden loss that exposed just how transactional and delayed traditional life insurance can feel. That spark led to a bigger question: what if the same system designed to protect your family after you’re gone could actually support you while you’re here?

And that’s where this episode becomes bigger than life insurance.

The Real Insight: Value Isn’t the Problem, Access Is

Craig reframes the entire category with a simple but powerful idea: most people’s wealth isn’t behind them, it’s ahead of them.

Traditional finance looks backward:

• Credit scores

• Income history

• Assets already accumulated

But Kaleido Life is asking: what if we underwrote people based on their future earning potential, not just their past?

That shift, from backward-looking to forward-looking, isn’t just relevant to insurance. It’s already reshaping multiple industries:

• Education → Income share agreements (betting on future earnings instead of upfront tuition)

• Creator economy → Platforms advancing cash based on projected revenue

• Housing → Shared equity models replacing traditional mortgages

• Fintech → Companies like Affirm are redefining how consumers access purchasing power

Kaleido Life is applying that same logic to one of the oldest, most untouched categories in finance.

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A Familiar Pattern: New Models Feel Obvious… After They Work

Craig’s comparison to Uber is more than a metaphor; it’s a blueprint.

At first:

• “Why would I get into a stranger’s car?”

• “Why would I trust an app with my transportation?”

Now:

• It’s second nature.

The pattern is consistent across disruptive businesses:

1. Skepticism

2. Early adopters

3. Evangelists

4. Normalization

Craig’s insight is that education often follows experience, not the other way around.

In other words: don’t wait for people to understand—give them something worth experiencing.

Practical Takeaways for Business Leaders

If you’re building, scaling, or trying to disrupt a legacy space or category, this episode is filled with applicable lessons:

1. Find trapped value
Every industry has it: capital, data, time, or access that’s sitting idle.
Your opportunity is to unlock it.

👉 Ask yourself: Where is value being underutilized in my industry?

2. Reframe the category, don’t just improve it
Kaleido Life isn’t making life insurance “better,” they’re reframing what it’s for.

👉 Instead of optimizing features, ask: What is this product actually meant to do, and is that still true?

3. Build for a different entry point
Traditional insurers target people looking for life insurance.
Kaleido Life targets people who need liquidity.

👉 Growth often comes from changing who you’re speaking to, not just what you’re offering.

4. Design for evangelism, not just adoption
Craig isn’t chasing millions of users on day one; he wants thousands who tell others.

This mirrors ideas popularized by author Seth Godin: small groups of believers can move markets.

👉 Ask: Would someone tell a friend about this tomorrow? If not, why?

5. Don’t over-index on skeptics
Every breakthrough sounds wrong at first:

• Cars replacing horses

• Streaming replacing cable

• Remote work replacing offices

👉 If your idea makes everyone comfortable, it’s probably not that new.

The Deeper Shift: From Protection to Possibility

What makes this conversation compelling isn’t just the product; it’s the philosophy.

Traditional life insurance is about protection against worst-case scenarios.

Kaleido Life is betting on something different:

• Funding a wedding

• Paying down debt

• Taking a dream trip

• Starting a new chapter

It moves the narrative from “What happens if I die?” to “What becomes possible while I’m alive?”

Why This Matters Now

We’re in a moment where people expect more flexibility from everything:

• Work is flexible

• Money is flexible

• Ownership is flexible

Financial products that don’t evolve toward access + optionality risk becoming irrelevant.

Kaleido Life could be an early signal of where that shift is heading.

Final Thought

The most interesting companies don’t just build new products; they challenge assumptions or long-held beliefs we didn’t even realize we had.

This episode is a reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunity isn’t creating something new…

…it’s unlocking new utility.

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That’s the quandary that sits at the center of the conversation I had with Jeff Boyd, Co-Founder, MTE (More than Energy). He is someone who has lived on both sides of the equation.

Before co-founding MTE, he helped scale a logistics company across 100+ countries, saying “yes” to opportunity before knowing how it would work. It’s the kind of scrappy, figure-it-out-as-you-go mindset you see in companies like Airbnb in its early days, say yes, then figure it out afterwards. That line of thinking worked. The company grew, thrived, and ultimately exited.

But here’s the twist: success didn’t feel like success.

Behind the scenes, Jeff was running on fumes powered by stress, caffeine, and the cultural belief that burnout is just the cost of ambition.

15% off Your MTE Purchase

And that realization became the basis for something entirely different, where obsession became a business.

From “Say Yes” to “Something’s Off”

In his first company, Jeff helped build a global operation by refusing to say no. A call from North Carolina? Yes. A shipment to France? Yes. Cape Verde? Sure—then figure out where it is.

That relentless bias toward action is something you’ll recognize in companies like Amazon, which obsess over the customer and then build the infrastructure to support them.

But while the business scaled, something else quietly broke: his energy.

Not the hustle. Not the drive. The foundation underneath it.

It’s a familiar story for high performers. You win externally while losing internally—and you don’t even notice until you stop.

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The Real Problem: Not Lack of Energy, But How We Get It

What Jeff discovered wasn’t just personal; it was systemic.

We’ve built an entire culture around stimulation over sustainability.

Coffee → energy drink → afternoon crash → repeat.

It’s a loop. A flywheel. And not the good kind.

Think about how Starbucks became a global staple, not just by selling coffee, but by embedding itself into daily ritual. Now layer in modern hustle culture, and suddenly energy isn’t optional; it’s survival.

But Jeff saw the gap:
What if energy didn’t have to come with a crash?

Building MTE: A Product That Starts With “No”

Where most brands begin with price points and margins, Jeff started somewhere else entirely:

“I just wanted to build the perfect product for myself.”

That meant saying no a lot.

• No caffeine

• No sugar

• No artificial sweeteners

• No cutting corners on ingredients (even expensive ones like saffron)

This is where the story starts to mirror brands like Patagonia, build with conviction first, optimize later. The product becomes the marketing.

And it worked.

Instead of chasing trends, MTE built something fundamentally different:

• Energy without spikes

• Focus without jitters

• Recovery is built into the experience

Not a quick fix, rather a system upgrade.

15% Off Your MTE Purchase

The Founder Advantage: Not Knowing the Rules

One of the most powerful threads in this conversation is Jeff’s “outsider advantage.” Sound familiar? Marcin and Amit from Mission Craft Cocktails also had the same epiphany and stance.

He didn’t come from the supplement industry. He didn’t know the “right” way to do things.

Which meant he didn’t inherit the same limitations.

It’s the same pattern we saw with Warby Parker disrupting eyewear or Dollar Shave Club rethinking grooming—fresh eyes create better questions.

And better questions lead to better products.

While others asked:

“How do we make this cheaper?”

Jeff thought:

“I didn’t start with price. I just wanted to build the perfect product for myself, and then we’d figure the rest out.”

That shift changes everything.

The Lesson Most Founders Miss

There’s a moment in the conversation that deeply resonates:

Jeff and his team did extensive research. Thousands of surveys.

Customers said:

“If it works, I don’t care how it tastes.”

Reality?
They absolutely cared.

It’s a classic founder lesson, one that companies like Netflix learned early when user behavior contradicted stated preferences.

People don’t always tell you the truth. Their actions do.

Instead of resisting that insight, Jeff leaned into it.
Made the product taste great.
Turned a weakness into a strength.

That’s the difference between a product people try—and one they stick with.

Redefining Energy (and Success)

Zoom out, and this isn’t just a story about supplements.

It’s about identity.

Who are you when you’re not running on stress?

What happens when your baseline isn’t burnout, but balance?

Jeff’s vision for MTE isn’t to win shelf space.
It’s to reshape how we think about energy altogether.

Not:

“How do I get through the day?”

But:

“How do I feel good while doing it?”

That’s a much bigger game.

So…Where Do You Start?

If you’re building something, or even just trying to rebuild your own energy, Jeff’s philosophy is surprisingly simple:

1. Stop Borrowing From Tomorrow

If your current system creates crashes, it’s not sustainable.
Whether it’s your business model or your daily routine—fix the foundation first.

2. Build (or Choose) for How You Want to Feel

Not just output, but experience.
Energy, focus, clarity, and recovery should work symbiotically, not against each other.

3. Start, Then Learn Fast

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need momentum.
Clarity comes from action, not overthinking.

At its core, this episode is a reminder:

You can scale a business.
You can win the game.

But if you’re not careful, you might build it on a system that can’t sustain you or isn’t authentic to you or aligned with your core fundamental values.

Jeff Boyd chose to rebuild that system, from the inside out.

And that might be the most valuable kind of entrepreneurship there is.

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In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with Elizabeth Sobol, CEO of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), for a conversation that feels less like an interview and more like catching up with a wise friend who’s lived a few lifetimes and learned and gained from each one.

Elizabeth’s story doesn’t begin in the C-suite. It started when she was a 13-year-old leaving home to follow her classical piano dream, chasing excellence with everything she had, until she made a realization that changed everything. Hearing peers who surpassed her technically, she made a decision that many high-achievers struggle to make:

She let go.

But instead of walking away from music, she moved closer to its impact, shifting from performer to champion of artists. That pivot led her to a decades-long career at IMG Artists and later Universal Music Group, where she helped shape the careers of world-class talent.

And yet, her most meaningful chapter may have started when she thought she was done.

From Achievement to Alignment

Four days into “retirement,” living in Florida, Elizabeth got a call about leading SPAC. Her initial reaction? Hard no.

But something nudged her to visit.

And that’s where the story changes.

She describes arriving in Saratoga Springs and feeling something click: a natural sense of belonging. Not ambition. Not a strategy. Something deeper.

That moment echoes a similar theme we’ve seen in leaders like Howard Schultz returning to Starbucks or Satya Nadella reshaping Microsoft, the shift from scaling success to stewarding purpose.

For Elizabeth, SPAC wasn’t just a role. It was a return to nature, to community, to service.

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Leadership as Service (Not Just Results)

One of the most striking throughlines in this conversation is how Elizabeth defines leadership:

Service first. Results second.

That wasn’t always the case. Early in her career, the language of business was about performance, metrics, and outcomes. Words like “gratitude” and “compassion” weren’t part of the vocabulary.

“Service is the word. It’s the lens through which I now understand everything I’ve done—and everything I try to do.” - Elizabeth Sobol

Today, they’re foundational.

And it shows up in the smallest details.

She shares a moment when a guest approached her on the SPAC grounds and said every single employee she encountered from the box office to ushers exuded kindness.

That’s not training. That’s culture.

It’s reminiscent of what Danny Meyer built at Union Square Hospitality Group: the idea that if you take care of your people, they take care of everyone else.

At SPAC, kindness isn’t a tactic. It’s the product.

Reinvention Is a Skill

Elizabeth calls herself “restless” in the best way.

Over 35 years at IMG, she continuously reinvented her role, expanding beyond classical music into broader cultural programming. She didn’t wait for permission; she followed curiosity.

That instinct, to evolve from within, is something we’re seeing across sectors today.

Think about Reed Hastings shifting Netflix from DVDs to streaming to content creation. Or nonprofit leaders rethinking delivery models post-pandemic.

The takeaway?

Longevity isn’t about staying put, it’s about staying in motion.

Access Is the Mission

If leadership is service, then access is the strategy.

Under Elizabeth’s leadership, SPAC has expanded from serving 5,000 students to over 60,000 annually. That includes:

• Free tickets for veterans and underserved communities

• Partnerships with over 100 local organizations

• Programs for individuals with disabilities

• Taking the arts into communities, not just asking communities to come to them

• In partnership with Skidmore College, SPAC creates immersive, intergenerational arts experiences like pairing students with older adults in community-based dance programs to combat isolation, foster connection, and measure the deeper social impact of the arts

This isn’t just programming, it’s equity in action.

And it aligns with a broader movement across institutions, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art expanding free access initiatives to leaders like Darren Walker pushing for cultural institutions to become more inclusive and community-centered.

Elizabeth puts it simply: “Those stages belong to everyone.”

The Business Case for Human Connection

In a world increasingly driven by automation and AI, SPAC is doubling down on something analog:

Human connection.

(Side bar: my personal thesis is we’ll see the automation pendulum swing back to more human connection — watch the micro!)

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Elizabeth points to emerging research showing that engagement with the arts activates empathy and compassion. In other words, experiences like concerts, dance, and storytelling don’t just entertain—they heal.

That idea is gaining traction across industries. Companies are investing in experiences, not just products. Communities are prioritizing spaces that bring people together.

SPAC sits at a unique intersection of nature, art, and community, all designed to create moments of awe.

And in Elizabeth’s words, what could be more important than that?

Building for the Next Chapter

Looking ahead, Elizabeth is focused on transforming SPAC into a fully year-round institution, anchored by a newly renovated 500-seat theater and expanded programming across culinary, literary, and healing arts.

It’s a reminder that even legacy institutions can and must evolve. Just like us as individuals.

Because stewardship isn’t about preserving the past.

It’s about making it relevant for the future.

Final Thought

There’s a moment in the conversation where Elizabeth reflects on luck vs. hard work. Her answer?

It’s both, but luck favors those willing to jump before they have all the answers.

For mission-driven leaders, that might be the takeaway:

Follow the pull. Do the work. Stay open to reinvention. And build something that serves more than just yourself.

Listen to the full conversation on your favorite podcast platform.

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On this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with Amy Bett, co-founder and CEO of Melo, a non-alcoholic sparkling kava brand helping people unwind without the hangover, sugar crash, or regret.

What struck me most wasn’t just the product.

It was the posture.

Amy moved to Los Angeles without her family for a year to get Melo off the ground. She also recently slept in her Tesla for 15 days to personally demo product across three states when Melo launched into Sprouts Farmers Market, knowing she landed on the bottom shelf, and went store by store to make sure the product actually made it onto the floor.

These are just a couple of incredible examples of her determination and focus.

This isn’t a story about glamour.

It’s about grit.

The Insight: Replace, Don’t Remove

Amy didn’t set out to build a beverage empire.

She was a mom of three in her 30s who realized alcohol was slowing her down. She didn’t want to quit drinking entirely; she just wanted something that could “take the edge off” without ruining the next day.

That insight is powerful and very present.

We’re living in the era of:

• The rise of non-alcoholic spirits

• Functional beverages going mainstream

• Younger consumers redefining “social drinking”

• Retailers carving out space for better-for-you alternatives; functional beverages

Think about the explosion of brands like Athletic Brewing Company or the creator-led retail dominance of Feastables. They didn’t shame old categories. They created alternatives that felt culturally relevant.

Amy’s takeaway?

If you’re asking someone to give something up, you better offer something better.

That’s not just true for beverages.
It’s true for any startup disrupting an incumbent.

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Actionable Lessons for Founders

1. Stop Over-Strategizing. Start Shipping.

Amy admitted they got stuck in strategy early; tagline debates, positioning tweaks, endless refinements.

Her biggest hindsight lesson?

It’s all a hypothesis until the customer speaks.

Action step:

• Launch sooner than you’re comfortable.

• Talk to 100 real people.

• Adapt fast.

• Repeat.

You can’t A/B test your way to conviction in a vacuum. If you’re not embarrassed by your first version, then you launched too late.

2. Go Big Earlier (If You Believe in the Product)

Most emerging CPG brands grind through independents first.

Amy would do it differently.

She’d go straight for major retail because scale unlocks:

• Purchase order financing

• Credibility

• Better data

• Faster feedback loops

The risk? You'd better be confident in your product.

This mirrors what we’ve seen from brands that bet early on national chains instead of slow regional rollouts. Big swings create big data.

If your product converts when sampled, consider pitching higher up the food chain (no pun intended) sooner than you think you’re “ready.”

3. Demo Like Your Life Depends On It

Amy’s Tesla road trip wasn’t scrappy theater.

It was data acquisition.

She:

• She sometimes introduced herself as the founder.

• Watched real reactions.

• Listened to objections.

• Observed what flavors moved fastest.

• Verified repeat purchase behavior.

Via DTC, she’d even call abandoned cart customers directly.

That’s founder-level obsession.

In a world obsessed with paid ads and CAC dashboards, she went analog — do the unscalable things well.

Ask yourself:

• When was the last time I personally watched someone use my product?

• Do I know why someone didn’t buy?

• Have I asked what stopped them?

Your most valuable growth lever may not be another paid ads campaign; it may be one uncomfortable conversation with a consumer.

4. Product > Marketing (But Shelf Placement Matters)

Amy said it plainly:

Marketing can spark trial. Only product earns repeat.

This echoes what we’ve seen across contemporary brands: the ones that stick don’t just win on branding. They win by making a great product.

But here’s the nuance she highlighted:

Placement plays a huge part in brick-and-mortar retail.

Launching on the bottom shelf isn’t a death sentence but it demands hustle.

Think about the MrBeast story of walking into Walmart stores to make sure Feastables were actually on shelves.

Distribution isn’t the finish line.
It’s the starting gun.

Action for founders:

• Visit your stores.

• Meet managers.

• Check inventory.

• Don’t assume execution.

Retail is a living organism. Stay close to it.

5. Obsession Is Required. Loneliness Is Real.

When I asked Amy what she wishes people would ask her, she didn’t say:

“How did you scale?”
“What’s your revenue?”
“What’s your next retailer?”

She said:

“I wish people would really ask how I’m doing.”

Founding is disorienting.

You can be winning in business and feel like you’re failing at home. You can land retail and still lie awake at night questioning everything.

We talk a lot about resilience.

We don’t talk enough about emotional cost.

If you’re a founder:

• Build your circle intentionally.

• Find people who understand the weight.

• Don’t confuse momentum with mental stability.

And if you’re supporting a founder?

Ask the second-level question.
Not “How’s business?”
But “How are you, really?”

The Bigger Conversation

We’re watching consumer behavior shift in real time.

Alcohol consumption trends are changing. Functional beverages are rising. Retailers are more open to innovation. Distribution models are evolving.

But none of it matters without:

• Courage to launch

• Speed to adapt

• Willingness to be embarrassed

• Relentless customer proximity

Amy didn’t just build a drink.

She built proximity.

And proximity compounds.

If you’re a current or aspiring entrepreneur, here’s your challenge:

1. Identify the tension in your own life.

2. Build the replacement, not just the disruption.

3. When your product is in the market, talk to 25 customers per month (at least).

4. Ask what’s stopping them from buying.

5. Move faster than feels comfortable.

The mountain gets built one can and one conversation at a time.

And sometimes… one night in a Tesla at a time.

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It’s a masterclass in how founders move markets.

Primi is redefining convenience with Italian-made pasta cups that are non-GMO, preservative-free, under 300 calories, and ready in minutes. But as Janine makes clear, this isn’t about “instant food.” It’s about modernizing a legacy category without compromising values.

And that distinction changes everything.

The Real Innovation: A Point of View

One of the biggest unlocks from this conversation is Janine’s perspective on innovation:

“Don’t lead with features. Lead with a point of view.” - Janine Shea

Too many founders try to educate customers with specs, attributes, and bullet points. But transformation doesn’t happen through explanation; it happens through reframing. (Sounds familiar to my conversation with Eliza Blank, Co-Founder, The Sill. ‘Plants Make People Happy.’)

Janine shares how early on, Primi could have leaned into the word “instant.” It would have been easier. Familiar. Search-friendly.

Instead, they rejected it. Not them and what they’re building.

Why? Because “instant” belongs to yesterday’s category, associated with low quality and compromise. By refusing that label, they forced a new mental model: traditional pasta, redesigned for modern life.

It’s the same playbook used by companies like:

• Liquid Death — who didn’t sell “water in a can,” but reframed single-use plastic as absurd.

• Apple — who didn’t just improve MP3 players, but made CDs feel obsolete.

• Salesforce — who didn’t sell software features, but made on-premise servers look antiquated.

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The Psychology of Category Change

Primi operates in a $600B convenience food ecosystem. Pasta alone is a $9B category that’s largely unchanged for decades.

Ready-to-eat meals are growing. Traditional boxed pasta is stagnant.

That gap is where opportunity lives.

Janine breaks down the tension every founder faces:

• Honor the past.

• Build for the future.

• Don’t alienate the customer.

• But don’t stay trapped in legacy thinking.

Her insight is incisive: your job as a founder is to usher people into a new world. That requires courage, especially when entrenched incumbents dominate shelf space and mindshare.

This is classic innovator’s dilemma territory. Incumbents optimize. Founders reimagine.

Values Aren’t Marketing. They’re Operational.

Primi’s non-negotiables: non-GMO, no artificial preservatives, ingredient sourcing from Italy, continuous improvement aren’t branding decisions. They’re operational ones.

Janine details how even replacing sunflower oil with coconut oil (without increasing cost of goods) was an easy call. If there’s a better way, do it.

This hits upon a broader shift in modern entrepreneurship:
Consumers are educated. Social media has accelerated ingredient literacy. Distrust in legacy brands is rising. Transparency isn’t optional anymore; it’s expected.

For founders and change-makers, the takeaway is clear:

You can’t bolt values onto a product. They must be embedded in the supply chain, sourcing, and decision-making. It must permeate every facet of your business!

Happiness, Autonomy, and Leadership

Perhaps the most unexpected thread in the episode is Janine’s study of human happiness during COVID.

Quick factoid: Janine is also a certified meditation teacher, which quietly shapes how she leads, builds, and handles the pressure of early‑stage entrepreneurship.

Her conclusion?

People are happier when they are doing good, when their actions positively affect others.

That philosophy shapes how she leads:

• Giving team members autonomy.

• Avoiding micromanagement.

• Distinguishing clearly between her skillset and her co-founder’s.

It’s a reminder that culture is strategy.

When founders understand their strengths and hire or partner accordingly, they create momentum instead of friction.

Three Big Lessons for Builders

If you’re an entrepreneur or operator listening to this episode, here are three concepts to come back to:

1. Make the old way feel obsolete.
If customers can comfortably return to legacy behavior, you haven’t gone far enough.

2. Lead with perspective, not product specs.
Features support the story. They don’t drive it.

3. Operationalize your values.
Modern consumers reward integrity — and they can smell shortcuts.

This conversation with Janine Shea isn’t about pasta.

It’s about how founders reframe categories, earn trust in skeptical markets, and build businesses that uplift rather than exploit.

If you’re building the “new way” in your industry, this episode will challenge you and sharpen you.

Listen in, and ask yourself:

What old assumption in your category or industry needs to be made obsolete?

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In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sat down with Tom Leigh, the UK-born brand builder and fundraiser turned food entrepreneur behind Tommy Popcorn, a gourmet popcorn brand designed to give popcorn its long-overdue “craft moment.”

Tommy Popcorn isn’t built around health badges, macros, or functional claims. Instead, it’s built around bold nostalgic flavors, cinematic storytelling, and data-driven market insight tethered to a mysterious fictional character named Tommy, a popcorn-obsessed Brooklyn filmmaker from the 1950s who funded his film career through a side hustle selling popcorn.

Tom walks through how his experience in data-led marketing helped him uncover unmet demand in the U.S. snack market (whiskey-flavored and pizza-flavored popcorn), how he and his co-founders resisted the urge to rush to market, and why they chose to obsess over taste, quality, and narrative from day one.

The conversation crosses flavor development, brand world-building, fundraising realities in CPG, and why Tommy Popcorn purposely sits in the white space between indulgence and health-washed snacks. Along the way, Tom shares how experiential activations, consumer feedback, and community-driven storytelling are shaping not just the brand but its future roadmap.

This episode is a masterclass in how modern brands can use data to uncover opportunity, storytelling to build emotional connection to consumers, and discipline to scale without diluting the core values of the brand.

Real-World Business Case Studies Embedded in the Episode

• Data → Demand Creation (Amazon Search Insights)
  Tommy Popcorn originated from analyzing high-intent search data for flavors consumers wanted but couldn’t find, substantiating that discovery doesn’t have to start with intuition alone.

• Experiential Marketing Over Shelf Placement
  The ‘Berry Hot’ flavor activation (password-protected popcorn giveaways tied to Tommy’s backstory) shows how brands can “take over spaces” instead of competing passively on shelves.

• Brand as IP, Not Just Packaging
  By not having Tommy’s face on the packaging, the brand invited consumers to co-create the character, flipping storytelling on its head. Turning it into a feedback loop rather than a fixed narrative.

• Fundraising Discipline in Early-Stage CPG
  Tom’s anecdotes on advising other founders and restructuring raises to avoid losing control provide a candid look at capital strategy before seed and Series A. It’s part of his ‘give back’ ethos.

5 Actionable Takeaways for Founders & Operators

1. Let Data Tell You Where to Play Not Just What to Build

Tommy Popcorn didn’t start with “we want a popcorn brand.” It started with search intent, unmet demand, and whitespace analysis.
Action: Before building, validate who is searching, what’s missing, and how saturated the category really is.

2. Don’t Rush to Market, Win on Taste First

The team spent months testing flavors, including hundreds (if not thousands) of taste tests, before launch.
Action: If your product doesn’t over-deliver on the core experience, no amount of branding will save it.

3. Storytelling Works Best When Consumers Help Write It

By leaving Tommy intentionally undefined, the brand encourages customers to project their own ideas, creating emotional ownership.
Action: Design brand narratives that are open-ended, not over-explained.

4. Choose a Strategic Middle Ground in Crowded Categories

Tommy Popcorn avoids both extremes: ultra-indulgent junk snacks and hyper-functional “better-for-you” products.
Action: Look for the ignored middle where consumer demand exists, but brand leadership doesn’t.

5. Guard Your Non-Negotiables as You Scale

From in-house production to values-aligned investors, Tom is clear about what won’t change even at 100 million bags sold.
Action: Define your non-negotiables early, before growth pressures force reactive decisions.

Why This Episode Matters

This conversation isn’t just about popcorn. It’s about how modern brands are built where data sparks ideas, storytelling creates loyalty, and discipline sustains growth.

If you’re building in CPG, consumer tech, or any crowded category, this episode offers a blueprint for turning insight into impact without losing your soul or north star along the way.

🎧 Listen in, take notes, and then ask yourself: where is the white space you’re not seeing yet?