Social Currency with Sammi Cohen
On Social Currency, Sammi Cohen unpacks the stories that are shaping business, culture and the intersection of the two. From boardrooms to Instagram trends, Sammi speaks with business leaders to connect the dots between brand, consumer and influence, so you don’t just keep up—you get ahead. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday.
Episodes
Jamie Siminoff (Ring) on Near Bankruptcy, Amazon, and Shark Tank
What does building a billion-dollar company actually feel like? According to Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, it's far less glamorous than most founder stories make it seem.
Jamie joins Sammi to unpack the journey from almost running out of money to building Ring into one of the biggest consumer tech acquisitions in history. He explains why entrepreneurship can be deeply traumatic, how close Ring cam
Peter Semple (Depop) on Scaling Beyond Gen Z, the CMO to CEO Pipeline, and the eBay Deal
Peter Semple is CEO of Depop, the fashion resale marketplace that became one of Gen Z's most influential shopping platforms and completely changed how a new generation thinks about secondhand fashion.
Peter joins Sammi to break down how Depop built a community-first brand, why the company made the surprising decision to eliminate seller fees, and what it takes to scale beyond Gen Z without losi
Gary Vaynerchuk (VaynerX) on the Next Digital Gold Rush, AI, and Intellectual Property
Twenty years after uploading his first YouTube video, Gary Vaynerchuk is still obsessed with where attention is going next. Today, he joins Sammi to talk about his predictions and why it’s not too late to get started on social media.
Gary explains why he believes social media has become “interest media,” how AI and authenticity are not mutually exclusive, and why quantity remains one of the bigge
Matilda Djerf (Djerf Avenue) on Creator-Led Brands, Secrets Behind 300% Growth and Tough Lessons in Entrepreneurship
Matilda Djerf transformed a growing social media audience into Djerf Avenue: a global lifestyle brand and an aesthetic that has genuinely shaped internet culture from fashion to beauty to the now-iconic Matilda Djerf hair.
In this episode, Matilda joins Sammi to share the full story behind Djerf Avenue— from packing orders with friends and family in an empty warehouse to scaling through the pand
Eugene Remm (CATCH) on the Business of Vibe, Restaurant Economics and Critics Who Gatekeep
Eugene Remm didn't set out to build a hospitality empire. He started as a bartender, worked in nightlife, and chased success through New York's club scene… until a major failure forced him to rethink everything.
Today, Eugene is the co-founder of CATCH Hospitality Group, the company behind some of the most sought-after restaurants in America, including CATCH, The Corner Store, Or’esh, and The Eig
Rick Caruso (Caruso) on Disney-Inspired Retail, Political Leadership, and Why California Is Losing Entrepreneurs
Rick Caruso has spent decades reshaping Los Angeles through projects like The Grove, Americana at Brand, and Palisades Village. In this conversation with Sammi, Rick talks through his entrepreneurial strategy with real estate and beyond.
Rick explains how he built a billion-dollar real estate empire by studying people instead of the industry, why he intentionally ignored traditional mall design r
Harley Finkelstein (Shopify) on AI Shopping Agents, Merit-Based Commerce, and the “Give a Sh*t Factor” That Makes Founder-Led Companies Win
Harley Finkelstein believes we’re entering the most important shift in commerce since the invention of online shopping itself.
As President of Shopify, Harley has helped build the infrastructure powering millions of businesses across more than 175 countries. Now, he says AI is about to fundamentally change not only how consumers discover and buy products online— but how “machine customers” might
Todd Kahn (Coach) on Winning Gen Z, Shrinking to Grow, and the Brand Turnaround That Changed Everything
Todd Kahn took over the commercial responsibility for Coach in March of 2020. Two weeks later, he closed all North America stores.
Today, Coach CEO Todd Kahn sits down with Sammi to break down the strategy behind one of fashion’s biggest brand turnarounds, and why Coach had to do the exact opposite of conventional growth advice to pull it off. He explains why trying to be “for everyone” almost d
Rebecca Hessel Cohen (LoveShackFancy) on Building a Multi-Generational Fashion Brand, D2C Versus Retail, and Collaborations That Actually Work
Rebecca Hessel Cohen didn’t set out to build a company, she just wanted better bridesmaid dresses. But that small idea turned into LoveShackFancy, a multi-generational, cult-favorite brand with dozens of stores, hundreds of retail partners, and a fiercely loyal community.
Today, Rebecca joins Sammi to break down the unfiltered reality of building a fashion business from scratch. From leaving her
Steven Schwartz (Whop) on Building a Unicorn, Creating Millionaires, and the Future of Work
What if the future of work doesn’t look anything like the office jobs we were told to chase?
Steven Schwartz started building businesses as a teenager and eventually turned that obsession into Whop, one of the fastest-growing marketplaces for internet businesses. Today, the company is valued at $1.6 billion and helps thousands of people earn income online.
In this episode, Steven joins Sammi to
Suzy Welch (NYU) on the Joy of Getting Fired, Decoding the 10/10/10 Method, and Why Most People Settle for a B+ Life
Suzy Welch has built a career helping people answer one deceptively simple question: What should I do with my life? She’s a bestselling author, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, former editor at Harvard Business Review, and creator of the “Becoming You” methodology.
Today Sammi sits down with Suzy to unpack why getting fired can actually benefit your career, why so many p
Jay Luchs (Newmark) on Building a Real Estate Empire, Strategy for Brick and Mortar, and Newbie Lease Mistakes
If you’ve driven through Los Angeles, you’ve already met today’s guest. Jay Luchs is one of the most influential retail real estate brokers in LA; his “For Lease” signs are plastered across the city’s most valuable streets, from Rodeo Drive to Melrose. But behind those signs is a business built on relationships, taste, and a deep understanding of what actually makes a retail concept work.
In this
Shreya Murthy (Partiful) on Winning Over Gen Z, Beating Copycats and Engineering Fun
Shreya Murthy built one of the rare social apps people want to open—and then immediately close. It’s all going according to plan.
Her company, Partiful, has quietly become the go-to way Gen Z and millennials plan parties, birthdays, dinners—and even weddings. But what’s more interesting is how it won: by rejecting everything Big Tech historically has optimized for.
In this episode, Shreya sits d
Seth Goldman (Just Ice Tea) on Selling Honest Tea to Coca-Cola, Starting Again, and the Future of Food
Seth Goldman built one of the most iconic beverage brands of the last two decades… only to watch it get discontinued by Coca-Cola.
In this episode, Seth tells Sammi the full story: bootstrapping Honest Tea in the late ’90s when the category didn’t exist, educating consumers one sample at a time, and eventually partnering with Coca-Cola to scale what he believed could become a billion-dollar brand
Nayeema Raza (Smart Girl Dumb Questions) on the Manosphere, How to Launch a Podcast (and Whether You Should)
Everyone has a podcast. So, where is the whitespace and what does it really take to break through?
Sammi sits down with Nayeema Raza, host of Smart Girl Dumb Questions and former The New York Times journalist, for a conversation on the modern media landscape, the podcast boom, and what they tell people who are thinking about starting a podcast. Sammi and Nayeema break down what it really takes
Listener Grab Bag: Career Risks, Leaving Corporate, and Building in Public
This episode is a little different.
Instead of a deep dive, Sammi turns the mic around and answers your questions—from career risks and leaving corporate to building a business, growing an audience, and figuring out what to keep private in a “build in public” world.
She shares the unconventional bet that changed her career (starting on TikTok when people thought it was a “teen dancing app”), why
Reid Hoffman (Manas AI, LinkedIn) on Why AI Is a “Humanity Elevator,” Digital Twins, and the Skills You Need Now
Reid Hoffman has spent decades shaping how we work, from building LinkedIn to investing in some of the most important tech companies of the last generation. Now, he’s focused on what might be the biggest shift yet: artificial intelligence.
In this episode, Reid breaks down why most people are thinking about AI wrong. Instead of replacing humans, he argues that AI is a “humanity elevator”—a tool t
How e.l.f. Beauty Turned $1 Makeup Into a $4.8B Cultural Machine
e.l.f. Beauty started as the makeup brand retailers thought was too cheap to trust: one-dollar products, white-label formulas, and no major retail partner willing to take the bet. Today, it’s one of the most culturally agile companies in consumer products, and one of the few beauty brands that consistently moves at internet speed.
Today, Sammi unpacks how e.l.f. built that machine: from landing e
Julie Smolyansky (Lifeway) on Power Struggles, Creating a Category, and How GLP-1s Are Changing Food Companies
When her father died of a heart attack, Julie Smolyansky became the youngest female CEO of a publicly traded company. Then, she helped turn kefir from a niche probiotic drink into a mainstream wellness product found in major retailers across the country.
Today, Julie tells Sammi how she scaled an unfamiliar category by teaching consumers what kefir even was before they were ready to buy it, why f
6 Habits of the Most Successful Female Founders
Months into interviewing founders for this podcast, Sammi noticed something surprising: the most successful women were often practicing the same habits, but almost none of them were the things people usually talk about in founder profiles.
Today, Sammi breaks down six patterns she has seen repeatedly across standout founders. The examples come directly from conversations with founders like Amy Li
Laura Meyer (Envision Horizons) on AI’s Shopping Disruption, How to Show Up in ChatGPT Searches and the New Cost of Attention
Laura Meyer has spent nearly a decade helping brands navigate Amazon, TikTok Shop, retail media, and now the next major shift in commerce: AI-driven shopping. Today, Sammi is partnering with Laura’s strategic commerce agency Envision Horizons to help brands get— and keep— attention in the changing world of online shopping.
Laura explains why consumers are facing what she calls an “invisible tax o
Julian Reis (SuperOrdinary) on Creator IPOs, Monetizing on TikTok Shop and Where China is Beating American Entrepreneurialism
Julian Reis has built businesses across hedge funds, beauty clinics, China e-commerce, creator monetization, and now TikTok Shop infrastructure, but the throughline is the same: spotting where consumer behavior is headed before most people do.
In this episode, Julian tells Sammi how he went from trading at JPMorgan Chase to founding Skin Laundry, pricing mistakes that almost hurt the business, an
QVC Built the Blueprint for Live Shopping—Then Lost the Market
Before TikTok Shop, before influencers sold products through livestreams, QVC had already perfected the live shopping formula: charismatic hosts, product storytelling, and frictionless buying through a screen.
Today, Sammi unpacks how the company that built the category became trapped protecting the wrong business. QVC saw digital change coming, but instead of building for where consumer attentio
Doug Evans (Juicero) on the Viral Takedown, Blessings in Disguise and Reinvention With The Sprouting Company
Doug Evans didn’t just build a juicer… he built one of Silicon Valley’s most debated startups. As the founder of Juicero, Doug raised more than $100 million to bring cold-pressed juice into people’s homes, only to watch the company crumble after a viral Bloomberg article questioned whether the machine was even necessary.
In this episode, Doug tells Sammi his side of the story. He shares what Jui
Grocery Store Botox? The $17B Med Spa Boom Meets the Private Equity Playbook
You can now get a discount on your Botox or Brow lift at… Erewhon? The latest partnership between Erewhon and med spa startup Ject isn’t just a publicity stunt. It’s a bigger signal: medical aesthetics has gone fully mainstream.
In this episode, Sammi unpacks how Botox went from cosmetic approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration just 14 years ago to a $17B industry with more than 10,000
Jesse Draper (Halogen Ventures) on Betting on Companies Early, Founder Red Flags, and Why Investing in Women Is NOT a Charity
Jesse Draper has heard it all: “nepo baby,” “charity fund,” “too niche”—and she turned every jab into fuel. After getting laughed out of rooms while raising her first fund, Jesse built Halogen Ventures into one of the earliest venture capital funds explicitly focused on backing female founders, now with 85+ portfolio companies and multiple unicorns.
In this episode, Jesse breaks down how she actu
Is This the Starbucks Comeback?
Starbucks didn’t lose to a cooler coffee chain. It lost to itself.
Today, Sammi unpacks how one of the most dominant brands in modern retail engineered its own slide and what new CEO Brian Niccol is doing to fix it. From nixing pickup-only stores and cutting a quarter of the menu to investing $150K per location and betting on traffic before margins, Starbucks is attempting something rare: looking
Gregg Renfrew (Counter) on the $1B Beautycounter Acquisition, Getting Pushed Out of Her Company, and Starting New
Gregg Renfrew didn’t just build a beauty brand; she helped create an entire category. Long before “clean beauty” became a marketing buzzword, Gregg was lobbying Congress, reformulating products, and turning a mission-driven idea into Beautycounter, a billion-dollar company acquired by private equity.
But the story didn’t end with the sale. Months after the $1B deal closed, Gregg was pushed out of
How Pat McGrath’s $1B Beauty Empire Ended in Bankruptcy
When the most legendary makeup artist in the world, Pat McGrath, finally launched her own beauty brand, her hero product sold out in minutes. Within three years, Pat McGrath Labs was valued at $1 billion. Today, it’s in bankruptcy court.
Today, Sammi dives into the dramatic rise and unraveling of Pat McGrath Labs. Valued at roughly 25 times revenue, the brand was suddenly operating under hypergr
Aparna Chennapragada (Microsoft) on AI’s Next Two Years, Category Collapse, and Using AI To Ace a Meeting
AI is no longer a future trend—it’s already reshaping how countless people work. And few people are closer to that shift than Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer for AI experiences at Microsoft.
In this conversation, Aparna pulls back the curtain on how AI is actually being built into everyday work. She shares her bold two-year prediction for how work will change, tips for using AI to ace
The 1 Rule That Made Aldi America’s Fastest-Growing Grocery Chain
Aldi is quietly becoming the fastest-growing grocery train, without flashy stores, massive advertising budgets, or endless product choice.
In this episode, Sammi breaks down how the company’s deliberately simple model (limited assortment, extreme cost discipline, productivity obsession, and private-label strategy) has allowed it to grow rapidly while competitors struggle with rising prices and co
Dianna Cohen (Crown Affair) on Building a Cult DTC Brand, Choosing a Hero Product, and Why “Take Your Time” Wins
What does it actually take to build a beauty brand that feels timeless? Today, Sammi sits down with Dianna Cohen, founder and CEO of Crown Affair, the cult haircare brand that made slowing down a competitive edge.
Before Crown Affair, Diana was behind the scenes of some of the most talked-about consumer brands of the last decade (Away, Outdoor Voices), Then, she walked away to build something qui
The $10M Influencer Empire That Collapsed Over a Pink Cake
Chiara Ferragni wasn’t just an influencer, she was a case study in how to turn social media fame into a multi-million-dollar business. And then a pink Christmas cake almost destroyed everything.
Today, Sammi breaks down the scandal that triggered regulatory fines, a criminal fraud investigation, mass sponsor exits, and a collapse of more than 90% of company revenue in a single year — all tied to
Stacy Martinet (Adobe) on AI Solving the Blank Page Problem, the Ethics of Generative AI, and Branding Hot Takes
Sammi sits down with Stacy Martinet, Adobe’s VP of Marketing and Communications, for a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most influential creative companies is thinking about AI, creativity, and trust. Stacy shares why AI’s biggest “unlock” isn’t replacing creators— it’s getting rid of the blank-page panic and helping people start faster, whether you’re a student, a solo creator, or a CEO b
Nicolas Jammet (Sweetgreen) on Pricing Strategy, Trendspotting in Food and the Future of Fast Casual
Today Sammi sits down with Nicolas Jammet, co-founder and Chief Concept Officer of Sweetgreen—the fast-casual brand that helped take “healthy food at scale” from a niche idea to a national movement with nearly 300 stores and a $5.5B IPO. Nicolas traces Sweetgreen’s origin story from Georgetown campus chaos (including a stolen laptop that nearly derailed opening week), to a three-founder partnershi
The Coach Turnaround Case Study and $5.6B Payoff
There was a moment when carrying a Coach bag felt cringe. Today, Coach is one of the hottest brands among Gen Z, with demand exploding and bags selling out. In this episode, Sammi unpacks how one of the most unlikely retail comebacks of the decade happened: a story of disciplined restraint, thoughtful pricing strategy, and creating sub-brands. Coach proved that the fastest way to lose relevance is
Rebecca Shostak (Flodesk) on Why “Marketing Is Dead,” Email Isn’t, and Building a Profitable SaaS in Two Weeks
Today Sammi sits down with Rebecca Shostak, co-founder and CEO of Flodesk—the email platform bootstrapped to profitability just two weeks after launch. In this conversation, Sammi and Rebecca trace the journey from Rebecca designing merch for Rihanna and Linkin Park, to running a Photoshop template shop, to finally fixing the “giant WTF” of ugly, broken email tools with Flodesk.
Then they get spi
Sami Sage (Betches) on Building a $24M Media Empire, Algorithms and Trad Wives
This episode is the second half of a two-part look at women’s media in 2026. Last week, Sammi sat down with Brittany and Gabriel Hugoboom, the couple behind Evie Magazine—the self-described “conservative Cosmo.” Today, Sammi is talking to Sami Sage, co-founder of Betches, a media company with a comparatively left-leaning audience that helped define millennial feminism, internet satire, and the way
When Luxury Goes Broke: The Saks Bankruptcy
Today, Sammi breaks down the unraveling of Saks Fifth Avenue — a luxury icon that survived wars, recessions, and cultural shifts, but couldn’t survive its own merger math. Through stalled vendor payments, junk-bond debt, leadership shake-ups, and a failed $2.7B Neiman Marcus merger, Saks entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and set off a ripple effect far beyond Fifth Avenue. This isn’t a “department sto
Brittany and Gabriel Hugoboom (Evie) on Building the “Conservative Cosmo,” the Raw Milkmaid Dress and the Business of Controversy
This episode kicks off a two-part exploration of the modern women’s media landscape. Today, Sammi sits down with Brittany and Gabriel Hugoboom, the husband-and-wife team behind Evie Magazine — a publication often described as a “conservative Cosmo.” Next week, she’ll speak with Sami Sage, co-founder of Betches, a media company with comparatively left-leaning readership.
Brittany and Gabriel Hugo
The Naked Truth About OnlyFans’ Billion-Dollar Business
While tech investors chased ad-based creator platforms, OnlyFans did the opposite—and made billions. Today, Sammi unpacks the counterintuitive decisions that turned OnlyFans into a cultural lightning rod and a creator-economy juggernaut. From dodging the App Store tax and outsourcing discovery to TikTok, to the economics of fan intimacy and the infamous adult-content ban, Sammi explains why OnlyFa
Jenn Hyman (Rent the Runway) on Creating a Category, Stock Highs and Lows, and Seeing the Future
Jenn Hyman built Rent the Runway on a contrarian insight back in 2009: women were already “renting” their clothes—borrowing from friends, cycling through fast fashion, and returning special-occasion outfits with the tags still on. Today, Jenn shares how she turned that overlooked behavior into one of the most influential fashion-tech companies of the last decade, why social media made outfit repet
The Credit Card War Behind Your Dinner Plans
Most people think restaurant reservations are about demand. They’re not.
Today, Sammi breaks down the quiet power struggle happening behind your hardest-to-get dinner reservations — and why credit card companies, not restaurants, increasingly call the shots. From OpenTable’s early dominance to Resy’s cultural takeover and American Express acquisition, Sammi explains how reservations became a tool
Rebecca Rittenhouse (Privet Beauty) on Hero Products, Hollywood and Identity Shifts
Building a business in public is hard. Building one when people already think they know you? Even harder.
Today, Sammi sits down with actor and founder Rebecca Rittenhouse to talk about reinvention—on her own terms. Rebecca shares how she went from studying business at UPenn to taking a sharp left turn into acting, landing her breakout role on The Mindy Project, and ultimately channeling those sk
Actionable Lessons From Launching Social Currency
2025 was a transformative year. In this episode, Sammi shares the biggest lessons she’s internalized since launching her podcast this spring. She leaves no stone unturned and recounts her biggest milestones, mindset shifts, and the challenges she faced while building her business. From beginning her year at Amazon to creating her podcast studio and launching 'Social Currency,' Sammi details her le
Rebecca Minkoff on Building a Fashion Empire, Fundraising Myths and Tupperware Parties
Rebecca Minkoff’s origin story is not a glossy founder fairy tale—it’s a closet-bedroom apartment, a $3.25/hour internship, $60K in debt, and a single Rebecca Minkoff designed tee that ended up on Jay Leno. Today, Rebecca breaks down how that moment got her foot in the door—and how the next viral moment, the Morning After Bag, almost didn’t happen (FedEx late, no movie placement)… until it sparked
What the Gender “Ambition Gap” Research Got Wrong
Women in corporate America aren’t burned out because of how much they’re working—they’re burned out by how much the system isn’t working for them.
Today, Sammi breaks down the latest Women in the Workplace report from Lean In and McKinsey, and the findings are more alarming than the headlines suggest. For the first time in over a decade, women are less interested in climbing the corporate ladder—
Andrew Chau (Boba Guys) on Turning Bubble Tea Into a Cultural Movement, the Future of Cafe Culture and Strawberry Matcha
Today, Sammi sits down with Andrew Chau, co-founder of Boba Guys—the brand that helped turn boba from a niche drink into a mainstream American obsession.
Andrew takes us back to the very first 2011 pop-up and the early decisions that shaped Boba Guys’ identity: choosing authenticity over gimmicks, educating customers on Asian culture without westernizing it, and designing drinks that were as aest
Williams Sonoma vs. Quince and the Future of the Dupe Economy
A blockbuster lawsuit just exposed the biggest fear in retail—but it could backfire spectacularly. Today, Sammi does a deep dive into Williams Sonoma vs. Quince, a case that’s revealing a seismic consumer shift: shoppers no longer believe legacy brands deserve legacy prices. Sammi breaks down why Quince’s billion-dollar rise is shaking old-guard retailers and how comparative advertising became the
Luana Lopes Lara (Kalshi) on the Money in Prediction Markets, Trading the Presidential Election and Suing the Regulators
Luana Lopes Lara didn’t just build a unicorn— she overturned a 100-year old ban, sued the regulators and became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the process. Luana co-founded Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market that lets you trade on the outcome of real-world events. Kalshi is one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the country; in fact, since Sammi spoke with Luana, Kals
Raw Chicken Nuggets and $75 Matcha: Meadow Lane’s Chaotic Rise to Fame and Infamy
Today, Sammi breaks down all things Meadow Lane—the Tribeca grocery store that launched like a luxury fashion drop and spiraled into one of the most chaotic openings New York has seen in years.
Founded by Sammy Nussdorf, the heir to a billion-dollar distribution empire, Meadow Lane was positioned as a bespoke, Manhattan-made answer to Erewhon. The result? A fandom of over 140,000 followers before
Babba Rivera (Ceremonia) on Making Business Personal, Winning Retail, and Convincing Investors to Bet on Latinx Communities
Building a beauty brand that celebrates Latin culture while competing on a global stage is no small feat—but for Babba Rivera, it’s not just business— it’s personal.
Babba founded Ceremonia to create a haircare brand rooted in Latin heritage, ritual, and community. Today, Ceremonia is one of the fastest-growing brands at Sephora, has raised over $11 million, and just took home an Allure Beauty A
Inside Rhode’s $1 Billion Deal: How e.l.f. Exposed Every Secret Behind Hailey Bieber’s Brand
Celebrity brands never release their numbers — until now. Beauty brand e.l.f. didn’t just acquire Hailey Bieber’s Rhode… they published every single line item of the company’s P&L. From shockingly low cost of goods sold to a 9x marketing efficiency ratio, Sammi unpacks why Rhode operates more like a billion-dollar conglomerate than a three-year-old celebrity brand.
You’ll hear the real story behi
Julia Cheek (Everlywell) on Revolutionizing Diagnostics, Shark Tank and Biohacking
Many people say the healthcare system is broken. Julia Cheek, is trying to fix a key part of that system: diagnostics.
Julia is the founder and CEO of Everlywell, the pioneering at-home health testing company that turned diagnostics from something that happened to you into something you control. Since launching in 2015, Everlywell has become one of the fastest-growing companies in consumer healt
The Row’s Quiet Luxury Gets Loud: Sample Sales, Influencer Drama, and the Future of Fashion’s Most Mysterious Brand
Today Sammi unpacks the silent spectacle of The Row—Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s luxury label. Known for its “no logos, no advertising” ethos and a fiercely minimalist aesthetic, The Row has built its brand on mystique. But when a chaotic, viral sample sale hit New York this past October—drawing TikTok influencers and 9 hour+ lines—the brand’s carefully curated image suddenly looked less refined a
Jaclyn Johnson and Marina Middleton (Create & Cultivate) on How To Sell Out a Live Event, the Future of Community, and Whether Virtual Events Are Dead
Today, Sammi sits down with Jaclyn Johnson and Marina Middleton—the powerhouse duo behind Create & Cultivate. Long before every brand wanted a “community,” Jaclyn and Marina built one that actually mattered: a movement where founders, Fortune 500 leaders, and creators came together to build what’s next.
After selling the company in 2021, Jaclyn stunned the industry when she bought it back—this ti
The “PayPal Mafia” Lore: Inside the Elon Musk Coup and the Beginning of Founder Culture
Today, Sammi uncovers one of the most iconic origin stories in tech: how a scrappy, chaotic startup from the late ’90s — PayPal — became the launchpad for a generation of founders who went on to build Tesla, LinkedIn, Yelp, Affirm, Palantir, SpaceX, and more.
Before they were billionaires or household names, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Max Levchin, and the rest of the now-famous “PayPa
Marina and Ricardo Larroudé (Larroudé) on Innovative D2C Models, Betting on Brazil and Trading in the 9-to-5
When the world shut down, Marina and Ricardo Larroudé hit go. Out of their Manhattan apartment, the former Teen Vogue fashion director and her financier husband built Larroudé—a shoe brand that went from zero to millions in sales in just a few years.
In this episode, Sammi dives into how they turned job loss into rocket fuel, built their own factory in Brazil, and reinvented the luxury e-commerce
The 90s Microdrama Revolution and Ghost of Quibi
Hollywood is changing—and its future might be vertical. Today, Sammi dives into the explosive rise of “microdramas,” the ultra-short, ultra-addictive scripted shows that are pulling in billions and leaving traditional studios scrambling to survive. From Chinese-backed apps like ReelShort to Hollywood execs betting on AI-powered storytelling, this is the story of how 90-second episodes are out-earn
Gwen Whiting (The Laundress) on Acquisition Cautionary Tales, Bootstrapping, and The Fill
Gwen Whiting co-founded The Laundress, the luxury laundry brand that transformed washing clothes into a lifestyle statement. What started as a passion project funded by credit cards became a cult favorite—and eventually caught the attention of Unilever, which acquired the company for a reported $100 million. But the dream deal didn’t go as planned.
In this episode, Sammi sits down with Gwen to un
Spirit Halloween: The Billion-Dollar Pop-Up That Can’t Be Beat
Today’s episode is all about the billion dollar business built on a business model that defies every rule of traditional retail; they occupy buildings for just three months a year, hire around 50,000 seasonal workers, carry zero inventory for nine months, and somehow they're not just surviving— they are thriving. The business? Spirit Halloween, of course.
While most retailers are bleeding cash o
RH’s Luxury Mountain and House of Cards: Part 2
In part two of her Restoration Hardware deep dive, Sammi pulls back the curtain on what’s really at the top of “Luxury Mountain.”
From the troubled Aspen expansion and RH’s sky-high ambitions in Europe, to eyebrow-raising governance decisions, failed ventures, and Warren Buffett’s very public goodbye— you have to wonder: is the RH foundation starting to crack? Sammi explores whether RH is still
Yachts, Private Jets and The Restoration Hardware CEO Lore: Part 1
Today, Sammi delivers the most requested episode topic yet: the lore of Restoration Hardware and its CEO, Gary Friedman. Gary Friedman is part visionary, part provocateur and part illusionist. He is the CEO who took a nearly bankrupt furniture company and convinced Wall Street that it was building the LVMH of America. And for a while everyone believed him.
In this first installment of her two-par
Jim McKelvey (Square) on How to Out-Compete a Goliath, Advice for “Wantrepreneurs,” and Economizing Drug Trials
Building something that lasts is rare. Building something that rewires an entire industry? That’s almost unheard of. But that’s exactly what Jim McKelvey did when he co-founded Square (now Block) with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Today, Jim and Sammi talk about how Square went head-to-head with Amazon and won, why Jim believes most startups don’t understand what real innovation looks like, an
The Future of Shopping Is Here— And It’s AI
What if you never had to click “Buy Now” again—because your AI did the shopping for you? Today, Sammi breaks down the partnership between OpenAI and Stripe that could rewrite the rules of e-commerce.
With the launch of the Agentic Commerce Protocol, AI can now recommend, purchase, and process transactions entirely within ChatGPT—no links, no websites, no Google searches. Sammi explains how this c
Tracy Anderson (Tracy Anderson Method) on Building a Fitness Empire, Debunking Wellness Trends, and IP in Fitness Routines
From small studios to celebrity status, Tracy Anderson has built one of the most influential—and imitated—fitness empires in the world. Today, Sammi sits down with the fitness icon whose method has shaped some of the most famous bodies in Hollywood to peel back the layers of the brand, the science, and the woman behind it.
Tracy opens up about the evolution of her signature method, the tension be
Why I Shut Down My Matcha Business
Have you ever built a business around something you love—only to realize it’s draining your passion? In this episode, Sammi shares her full founder story: launching a matcha brand during business school, fighting to scale it, surviving the 2020 lockdown, and finally deciding to shut it down. She breaks down the unglamorous side of entrepreneurship, the identity shift that comes with closing a comp
Neil Parikh (Casper, Slingshot AI) on Using AI for Emotional Wellbeing, Lessons from Cofounding Casper and Finding Winning Angel Investments
Neil Parikh disrupted the sleep industry with Casper. Now, he’s using tech to disrupt one of the most pressing crises of our time: mental health.
As co-founder of Slingshot AI, Neil is building tools to close the care gap in behavioral health, expand access to therapy, and still keep human connection at the heart of it all. He joins Sammi to chat about the buzziest topics in AI: ethics, regulatio
Jeep’s Flop Era?
Today, Sammi unpacks the dramatic meltdown of the Jeep brand. Once a cultural symbol that survived world wars and recessions, Jeep’s market share has now plunged to historic lows. Behind the scenes: a billionaire family dynasty, leadership obsessed with margins over customers, and a string of decisions so poor they’ll likely become a business school case study.
Sammi traces how Stellantis, the gl
Julia Hartz (Eventbrite) on Taking a Company Public, Leading Through Crisis and the Future of Live Events
Julia Hartz co-founded Eventbrite in 2006 with a bold vision: make ticketing accessible for anyone creating an event. Nearly two decades later, she’s still at the helm as CEO, having taken the company public in 2018 and steered it through one of the toughest crises imaginable—the pandemic, when live events disappeared overnight.
In this episode, Julia takes us behind the scenes of Eventbrite’s ri
Inside the Protein Boom: The $1.2 Billion Bet Reshaping What We Eat
Why is everything from your Starbucks drink to your popcorn now enhanced with extra protein? With 61% of Americans increasing their protein intake last year, cottage cheese sales skyrocketing 20%, and Starbucks rolling out drinks with 36 grams of protein, it’s clear this isn’t a fad—it’s a seismic shift in how we eat.
Sammi explores the cultural, medical, and social factors driving this change, i
Maria Davidson (Kojo) on Record-Breaking Fundraising, Building a $4B Platform and Breaking Barriers in Construction
Maria Davidson is making construction procurement cool— and a billion-dollar business. After studying philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford and a stint in venture capital, Maria set her sights on one of the least “sexy” industries imaginable: construction. What started with her hustling for meetings by showing up at job sites with pizza has grown into Kojo, a platform processing over $4 bi
Are Membership Clubs Dead?
From London’s 17th-century gentleman’s clubs to the meteoric rise of Soho House, private membership clubs have always been about more than cocktails and couches—they’re cultural status symbols. But as Soho House goes private again in a $2.7 billion deal, the playbook for exclusivity is being rewritten.
Today, Sammi unpacks the cracks in the traditional model and explores what’s next: hyper-niche
Vanessa Dew (Health-Ade Kombucha): From Farmers' Markets to a $500M Empire, Life After an Exit and Fundraising 101
From hand-bottling kombucha in an apartment kitchen to building a $500 million brand sold in tens of thousands of stores across the country, Vanessa Dew didn’t just build a company— she built a movement. As the co-founder of Health-Ade Kombucha, Vanessa turned a niche wellness drink into a household name, all while keeping true to the company’s artisanal roots. When Health-Ade was acquired in 2021
3 Lessons from Amazon That Changed My Business
Today, Sammi’s doing something a little different. She’s pulling back the curtain on her five years at Amazon—and the lessons she’s bringing with her as she builds Social Currency.
Sammi breaks down the three Amazon frameworks that really work: customer obsession (yes, the empty chair in meetings is real), the fiery but brilliant “disagree and commit rule,” and the counterintuitive magic of writi
Alli Webb (Drybar) on Selling for $255M, Second Acts, and Embracing the Messy Truth
What do you do after creating a $255 million brand that reshaped an entire industry? If you’re Alli Webb, founder of Drybar, you sell it, rebuild, and then launch something even more personal.
Sammi and Alli go deep into the scrappy early days of Drybar, the chaos of scaling to hundreds of locations, and the bittersweet reality of selling your life’s work. Alli gets real about the toll entreprene
The Denim War: How American Eagle, Gap, and Lucky Brand Turned Jeans into Culture and Controversy
This summer, denim wasn't just a fashion statement—it was a battlefield. Today, Sammi unpacks how American Eagle, Gap, and Lucky Brand launched three wildly different campaigns that turned jeans into a referendum on identity, controversy, and cultural capital.
From American Eagle’s headline-grabbing Sydney Sweeney campaign to Gap’s inclusive girl-band-powered clapback, and Lucky Brand’s nostalgia
Bill Ready (Pinterest) on Social Media’s “Big Tobacco” Moment, Growing Pinterest to 578M Users, and What Gen Z Really Wants
Bill Ready has never been afraid to make big bets—and at Pinterest, those bets are paying off. Since becoming CEO, he’s doubled down on building a healthier internet: one where all accounts under 16 are private by default, AI is tuned for positivity, and users come away inspired instead of exhausted.
Today, Sammi sits down with Bill to trace his journey from his father’s auto shop in Kentucky to
The Goop Paradox: $140M and 17 Years Later, Why Isn't It Profitable?
Seventeen years. $140 million in funding. And Goop—the empire Gwyneth Paltrow built on clean beauty, provocative candles, and aspirational wellness—is still not profitable.
Today, Sammi unpacks the paradox of Goop: a brand that pioneered the $6.3 trillion wellness industry, yet can’t seem to make money from it. From the downfall of Goop Beauty at Sephora to the unexpected success of Goop Kitchen,
Amy Liu (Tower 28) on Life-Changing Pitches, Picking the Right Partners and Standing Out in a Crowded Industry
Some say cult-favorite beauty brand Tower 28 is an “overnight success”— but founder Amy Liu is here to share how the brand’s success was years in the making.
Today, Sammi and Amy dive into the real story behind Tower 28’s rise: from Amy’s scrappy Sephora pitch and pandemic launch to lessons from her friends and family fundraising round. Amy also gives her take on the perfect morning routine and t
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