OPERATORS

“95% of AI pilots fail. I lived that, full stop.” Craig Foldes (Founder of ChatWalrus, fmr. Global Head of AI at Crocs) and Matt Kruer (CIO at Bissell) join host Sean Frank to explore the state of AI within enterprise versus DTC brands. 
The conversation covers how to find + celebrate the 10% of employees who are AI power users, what it looks like when adoption works, and why this is “for the rebels.” 
They debate whether AI is the great equalizer or a quiet advantage, unpack which parts of the AI hype cycle are overblown, and make the case that the people who learn to master these tools now are the ones who will win, in their careers and in their companies. 

Craig Foldes 
https://www.chatwalrus.com/ 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-foldes-1b949b96/ 
Matt Kruer 
https://x.com/matthew_kruer 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kruer-9a90b716/ 

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How did a married couple with $30k in savings and no business plan build one of the biggest beauty and accessories brands in America? 

Cassandra Thurswell (Founder & CEO of Kitsch) and Jeremy Thurswell (COO), join hosts Mike Beckham and Matt Bertulli for their first-ever joint podcast interview. 

Together, they unpack the full story of building a bootstrapped empire from a living room apartment to over 30,000 retail doors and more than 10 million ecommerce orders. 

Cassandra and Jeremy open up about eight failed businesses before Kitsch, catching their manufacturer stealing IP on their “honeymoon” in China, and navigating a terrifying pivot that led to 70 million face masks. They share how they’ve protected their marriage while running a company together, the reality of balancing motherhood with being a CEO, and why scarcity — not funding — created the focus that made Kitsch unstoppable. 

Learn more about Latinas in Beauty, where Cassandra serves on the Advisory Board: https://latinasinbeauty.org 

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Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case and Lomi, and Mike Beckham, CEO of Simple Modern, sit down with Kat Cole, CEO of AG1, to trace one of the most unconventional executive careers in consumer. From hostess at Hooters at 17 to vice president by 26, to leading a multi-billion dollar restaurant empire through the pandemic, Kat's path defies every traditional playbook. 
The conversation covers how crisis sharpens leadership into an arrow, why Kat’s “Hotshot Rule” has been a weekly practice for nearly two decades, and how AG1 quietly spent two years shoring up operations and clinical science before unleashing a wave of launches — new products, new flavors, a Costco debut, and Hugh Jackman — in a single six-month run. They also dig into the Athletic Greens to AG1 rebrand, what it really means to stay close to your customer when you're fully remote, and why Kat believes product quality is the most underrated growth strategy in the game.

Is your brand built to survive the next five years or just the next quarter? Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and co-host Katy Mimari, Founder and CEO of Caden Lane, sit down with Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective, to reflect on the wild ride from 2020 to 2025 and what it means for the road ahead. Together, they unpack what worked, what failed, and what they'd do differently as operators who've built and scaled brands through one of the most volatile decades in e-commerce history. The conversation covers how AI is quietly reshaping creative production and how unchained AI outperforms humans in head-to-head studies. Taylor breaks down why TikTok Shop is essentially an affiliate Ponzi scheme but still an arbitrage opportunity. Sean reveals his new supplement brand and the logic behind launching new brands every year, while Katy shares how wholesale is really just training wheels for her ultimate goal of owned retail.

Finally, all three dig into the Four Peaks framework — a practical, steal-worthy strategy for engineering conversion spikes and clearing your funnel all year long.

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Leadership isn’t about being liked. It’s about making hard decisions, living with the consequences, and still winning.

Mike Beckham, Matt Bertulli, and Jason Panzer sit down to talk honestly about what leadership really costs when the stakes are high. They dig into hiring and firing decisions, culture trade-offs, growth versus profitability, and the personal pressure that comes with running large, successful businesses. The conversation avoids motivational clichés and focuses on what actually works when real money and people are involved. 

The episode moves beyond strong opinions into the results behind them, including margins, growth trade-offs, enterprise value, and scale. They explore why most people shouldn’t lead, how insecurity quietly damages businesses, and why saying no is often a leader’s most important job. Along the way, they challenge common leadership advice and ask uncomfortable questions about who leadership is really for. 

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