Founders 15 Kevin Lavelle

If you don’t want to run through walls and change the world after listening to this episode, then you must not have been paying attention. Anytime I’m around David Vobora, I am so inspired and fired up. David started Adaptive Training Foundation, which is a unique nonprofit that empowers those with physical disabilities to transform their lives through exercise and community. Mizzen+Main dedicates all of its philanthropic giving to ATF as our commitment to give back to the veteran community as many of those going through their program are veterans. David explains that ATF isn’t a veteran only organization because as society we shouldn’t view ourselves along that divide: veterans and civilians. We’re all Americans. We’re all human. We should reinforce and help each other, and there is power in that community and the bonds formed as people work hard to transform their lives. David’s story is truly remarkable. Drafted as “Mr. Irrelevant”, his NFL career was cut short by injury and an over prescription of drugs that led to a scary addiction. Thankfully, like so many founders, his wife helped redirect his life and give him new purpose. It wasn’t until he met Travis Mills, a quadruple amputee, that the new purpose really took shape. I’ll stop there and let our conversation speak for itself. Please say hello to David on Instagram @davidvobora and check out the life changing work ATF is doing @adaptivetrainingfoundation.

Bryce Goldman grew up in the family business in the beauty industry, but struck off in a particularly unique way. Watching coconut oil take over the food and beverage industry, an idea hit him as he learned about all the benefits of coconuts and coconut oil for the skin. He and a few others launched Kopari Beauty just over three years ago and have taken the beauty world by storm. They are a digitally native vertical brand but also are carried in over 2,000 locations, including Sephora and Ulta. Bryce and I have swapped stories for years, and we went a little deeper on some today, including how his company culture started to slip away and how they recovered from it, how they launched a revolutionary new product category that has come to be a huge part of their business, and some of the struggles of transitioning out of his family business. Bryce isn’t big on Instagram personally, so please say hi to Bryce and his team @koparibeauty and check out the magic of coconut oil for yourself! It’s an office-wide favorite here at Mizzen+Main.

I’ve known Lila and her husband Jeremy not just as fellow product founders but fellow Dallas founders for years! I love husband and wife founding teams for all the obvious fun reasons but also given Jen and I worked together for years. Lila and Jeremy started Hari Mari as a premium flip flop brand and have taken over people’s feet across the country! I actually just found out about their new initiative, Studio, to move into other areas of footwear given how much demand they’ve received from their customers. We talked about the unique challenges of building a company in the product space along with universal truths we face as founders along with building a company with offices and team members across the country. There’s quite a bit of relatable and educational bits of wisdom in this one! Say hello to Lila and Jeremy and the whole team on Instagram at @harimarishoes and go get yourself and everyone you know the most comfortable flip flops ever.

As a product founder, I’m fascinated by the process of physically producing goods. I had the privilege of touring Weiss Watch Company’s headquarters last year and cannot believe the process it takes to actually make a watch. Setting Weiss apart from virtually everyone else is they actually make everything here in the United States. Cameron received years long training as a watchmaker and has built a facility that machines all their own parts. He and his wife are building something truly extraordinary right here in the US. Each watch receives over 80 hours of handmade love. My wife got me my first Weiss Watch last year to celebrate Mizzen+Main’s five year company anniversary that I wear it with so much pride, not just as a gift from the most important person in my life, but as a piece of remarkable craftsmanship! Say howdy to Cameron on Instagram @cameronmweiss and give Weiss a follow at @WeissWatchCompany. Get a timepiece for yourself if you want hand crafted American glory adorning your wrist!

I’m not sure there’s a much better place to record a podcast live than a secret whiskey room showcasing a founder’s best whiskeys from around the world at a distillery that is located on a private golf course. Let’s just say this was a fun setting and the conversation lived up to the location. I met Leonard Firestone right when I launched Mizzen+Main. He was just launching TX Whiskey at that time as the first product of Firestone & Robertson, the company he started with his cofounder. While he was just launching that specific whiskey, the reality was it had already been in process for years because of the time it took to get all the appropriate pieces in place, then distill it, then put it in barrels, then bottle it! This conversation covered a wide range of topics that offer a lot to learn from, especially the courage and audacity that Leonard and his business partner Troy had with zero experience in the industry, the capital requirements, the lead times, and the difficulty of the spirits market. Imagine everything on the line, you haven’t even started selling your first product, and you start your second product line that will take several more years before you see a dime from it! That’s just what they did in pushing forward with TX Bourbon before they’d started to see sales from TX Whiskey. It’s no surprise, if you’ve met Leonard and Troy, that their Whiskey (and Bourbon) started getting wait lists from restaurants and retail locations and even thousands of people showing up to the distillery to get a chance to get one of the first bottles. Say hello at @frdistilling, stop by their distillery located on a private golf course, or pick up a bottle wherever it’s sold. I’m not sure if I have to say this legally, but you must be 21 or older to listen to this? Maybe, maybe not. Check your local laws - then enjoy this conversation with Leonard Firestone.

While Alex Ikonn is well known to many, his products are even more so. This was a fun conversation because it wasn’t just about one business. He and his wife started Luxy Hair - a business that is doing very well and helps fuel their pretty unique and remarkable lifestyle as they live in London so they can travel all over with their daughter. Alex and his wife Mimi are both celebrities as entrepreneurs given their massive online following while not actually being celebrities. Alex describes their choice to broadcast so much of their life as people who live with the curtains open rather than curtains drawn, and it’s made their life that much better for it. I’d been a happy customer of Alex’s for a long time without knowing of him directly. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see me post a few times a week (though not every day like Alex!) on Instagram Stories of my Productivity Planner (something I highly recommend for everyone and get at least a few requests a week for what planner I use). I also used the 5 Minute Journal every single day for all of 2017 to help train gratitude to be an automatic. It had a profound effect on my life and happiness. Say hello to Alex on one of his many social media platforms and follow along on his journey on Instagram @alexikonn.