The Kara Goldin Show

What if the secret to better seafood starts the moment the fish leaves the water? 🐟
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Saif Khawaja, Co-Founder and CEO of Shinkei Systems and the entrepreneur behind Seremoni, the premium seafood brand powered by Shinkei’s technology.
Saif started the company at just 22 after seeing firsthand how much quality and value can be lost between the ocean and our plates. His solution combines robotics, AI, supply-chain technology, and principles inspired by the traditional Japanese ike jime method to rethink how wild-caught fish is harvested and handled.
We talk...

Sometimes the biggest opportunities are hiding in the most familiar categories.
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Elisabeth Galvin, Co-Founder of Stellar Snacks, the mother-daughter-owned company reinventing one of America's most classic snacks: the pretzel.
We talk about how Elisabeth and her daughter Gina built Stellar from scratch, why they chose to take on the complexity of manufacturing themselves, and how unexpected flavors like Maui Monk and French Dijon helped them bring something completely different to the category.
Elisabeth also shares what it's really like to build a company with your daughter, why...

What happens when you make it to the top of your industry—and decide to start over?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Chris Salgardo, Founder and CEO of ATWATER, and former President of Kiehl’s. After more than 40 years in beauty, Chris left the corporate world to build a skincare and grooming brand of his own.
We talk about what nearly two decades at Kiehl’s taught him about building brands that last, why he decided to become an entrepreneur, what men still get wrong about skincare, and why simpler, high-performance routines are winnin...

Luxury is hard to break into. Building a new luxury brand from scratch—and aiming for $100 million—is an entirely different challenge. ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Lola Banjo, Founder and Chief Executive of Silver & Riley, the luxury fashion and travel accessories brand she launched in 2019.
Lola built Silver & Riley while balancing a demanding corporate career, investing her own capital and learning firsthand that understanding business and actually building one are two very different things.
Today, Silver & Riley is a multimillion-dollar business with an incredibly loyal customer base and a hero product—the New...

What does it take to turn one big idea into a $100M+ brand that lasts?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Matt Scanlan, Co-Founder and CEO of NAADAM—the cashmere brand that started with a trip to Mongolia and a plan to rethink the industry.
We talk about the $98 sweater that helped put NAADAM on the map, what consumers get wrong about cashmere, and what Matt has learned about growth, profitability, failure, and knowing when to double down—or walk away.
After more than a decade of building, Matt has plenty to say abou...

What if one of the biggest opportunities in consumer products is hiding in a category most people don’t even want to talk about?
On today’s episode, we welcome Sam Nebel, Co-Founder, Chief Commercial Officer — and King of All Wipes — at goodwipes, the bold personal hygiene brand changing the way people think about one of the most basic routines in our lives. Sam and his team have taken flushable wipes from an overlooked category and made them fun, culturally relevant, and increasingly mainstream, with goodwipes now sold at major retailers including Target, Walmart, and Kroger.
In this epi...

What happens when a doctor and surgeon with millions of followers decides the gut-health industry still isn’t getting one of the basics right?
On today’s episode, we welcome Dr. Karan Rajan, Founder and CEO of LOAM — a science-backed, doctor-formulated prebiotic fiber brand rethinking how we support the gut microbiome. After more than a decade as a doctor and surgeon, Karan became one of the world’s most recognized health educators, building an audience of more than 12 million followers by making complex medical science understandable and useful.
In 2025, he launched LOAM after recognizing a major gap: an estim...

What if managing everyday pain didn’t have to mean pills, creams, or simply living with it?
On today’s episode, we welcome Heather Sloan, Co-Founder of Heali Medical — a wellness company creating wearable, drug-free products designed to help people manage pain, recover, and keep moving. A trained chiropractor with more than a decade of experience in medical sales, Heather saw firsthand how many patients and athletes were looking for better ways to manage pain and recovery in their everyday lives.
Together with Co-Founder Enwei Li, a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Heather built Heali around a different approa...

What does it take to turn a beloved local food brand into a franchise without losing what made it special in the first place?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Dinah Bengur, Co-Founder and CEO of Pitango Gelato Franchise Co. — the artisanal gelato brand known for authentic Italian gelato and sorbet made from scratch with high-quality ingredients.
We talk about why Pitango decided to franchise, what Dinah learned from working with major franchise systems before building one herself, and what entrepreneurs should really understand before buying—or building—a franchise.
We also get into c...

What if everything we’ve been taught about anti-aging skincare is focused on the wrong thing? What if the future isn’t about temporarily fixing what we see on the surface — but understanding how to help our skin function, repair, and regenerate differently as we age?
On today’s episode, we welcome Dr. Ivona Igerc, better known as Dr. Ivy, an internationally recognized aesthetic doctor and regenerative medicine expert with more than two decades of experience working at the intersection of science, skin health, and aesthetics. Her career has taken her across Europe and Asia, giving her a unique p...

What happens when you see millions of consumers being overlooked—and realize that isn't just a problem, it's a massive business opportunity?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with KJ Miller, Co-Founder and President of Mented Cosmetics and President of Elevated Beauty Group. Mented launched in 2017 with six nude lipsticks created with deeper skin tones in mind, helping prove that inclusive beauty wasn't a niche—it was good business.
We talk about how KJ built Mented into one of the early leaders in inclusive beauty, what it took to expand beyond its original hero products, and...

What does it take to build companies across three completely different eras of the internet — and then start all over again with AI?
On today’s episode, we welcome Jessica Herrin, Founder and CEO of Marklo, the AI revenue planning platform helping direct-to-consumer brands understand what actually drove revenue, decide what to do next, and execute smarter. A serial entrepreneur, Jessica previously founded Stella & Dot Brands and co-founded WeddingChannel.com, one of the first companies to bring wedding registries online.
In this episode, Jessica shares what she’s learned building companies across decades of technological change, why she de...

When did taking care of ourselves become another job?
On today’s episode, we welcome Danielle DuBoise, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Sakara — one of the pioneering companies behind the modern food-as-medicine movement. Danielle and her childhood friend and Co-Founder Whitney Tingle launched Sakara in 2012, building it from a small meal-delivery startup into one of the most recognizable names in wellness, with plant-based meals, functional foods, supplements, and wellness programs.
In this episode, Danielle shares how her own health journey led to Sakara, what she understood about food and wellness before much of the industry caught up, and...

On today’s episode, we welcome Olowo-n’djo “Olo” Tchala, Founder and CEO of Alaffia — a clean beauty brand rooted in West African traditions and built around fair trade, ethical sourcing, and creating economic opportunity.
Alaffia is what happens when purpose isn’t added to a brand — it is the reason the brand exists. In 2004, he co-founded Alaffia with a mission to create sustainable economic opportunities for women in West Africa through women-led cooperatives, while building effective, accessible beauty products using ingredients including unrefined shea butter and African black soap. In this episode, Olo shares how he turned that mission i...

How do you take a place, a memory, and a feeling—and turn them into a fragrance brand that stands out in one of the most crowded categories in luxury?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Andrew Rose, Founder of Montauk Man—a new fragrance house inspired by the raw beauty, contrasts, and character of Montauk.
We talk about Andrew’s lifelong fascination with fragrance, why experiencing Montauk in the quiet of winter inspired him to build the brand, and how he worked with renowned perfumers Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Antoine Maisondieu to create the debut...

Pet food needed a reality check. Open Farm gave it one. ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Jacqueline Prehogan, Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Open Farm — one of the fastest-growing premium pet food brands in North America.
This is a brand built on a simple but powerful idea: if pets are family, then we should know what we’re feeding them.
We talk about how Jacqueline helped build Open Farm around responsibly sourced ingredients, high animal welfare standards, sustainability, and radical transparency — long before those words became marketing buzzwords in the pet aisle.

Retail is not dead. Bad retail is. ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Ron Johnson, the creator of the Apple Store and author of Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple’s Genius.
Ron worked directly with Steve Jobs and helped build one of the most successful retail concepts in history — not by making stores look cooler, but by rethinking what a store was actually for.
The Apple Store was not built to move boxes. It was built to teach, help, solve, connect, and build trust. The Genius Bar. Mobile checkout. Employees hired for curios...

Rethinking the cocktail — without the alcohol. That's the opportunity. ✨
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Milan Martin, Founder and CEO of Free Spirits — one of the fastest-growing independent non-alcoholic spirits brands in North America.
We talk about how Milan went from a 20-year career in advertising—leading Grey San Francisco to Global Agency of the Year three years running—to launching a self-funded beverage company in the middle of the pandemic. He shares the insight that sparked Free Spirits: what if alcohol wasn't actually the most important part of a great cocktail?<...

What does it take to enter a crowded category like sunscreen and build something that actually stands out?
Malachy Mitchnick is the Co-Founder and CEO of burnd, a science-driven sun and skincare brand focused on high-performance products for protecting, repairing, and restoring skin. He is building burnd alongside his father, Dr. Mark Mitchnick, the inventor of transparent zinc oxide—the breakthrough that helped make modern mineral sunscreen wearable.
In this episode, Malachy shares the story behind burnd, what he believes the sunscreen industry gets wrong, and how the brand is taking on a category dominated by much la...

What happens when you stop accepting the status quo and build the solution you wish existed?
Lauren Schulte Wang is the Founder and CEO of The Flex Company, North America's leading menstrual disc and cup brand. After years of believing her discomfort was simply part of having a period, Lauren realized the products—not her body—were the problem. That insight led her to build a company focused on reimagining period care through innovation, comfort, and education.
In this episode, Lauren shares how she challenged a category that had seen little meaningful innovation for decades, built a prof...

On today’s episode, we welcome Ann Williams, Founder and Creative Director of Yearly Co. — a Nashville-based fine jewelry brand built around celebrating life’s milestones with timeless, solid 14k gold jewelry.
Yearly Co. started with a family tradition. Inspired by receiving gold bangles to mark meaningful moments, Ann took a metalsmithing class and began making jewelry by hand in her garage during naptime. What started as a second-career experiment in 2016 has grown into an $11.5 million direct-to-consumer business that remains 100% founder-owned and self-funded.
In this episode, Ann shares how she turned a difficult-to-size product into a competitive advant...

Can a startup really take on Aperol and Campari—and win?
Ana Rosenstein is the Founder and CEO of Amante 1530, a modern Italian aperitivo that is less sweet than Aperol, less bitter than Campari, and made with 25% less sugar than Aperol.
In this episode, Ana shares how she saw an opening in a category dominated by legacy brands and built Amante as a modern alternative. We talk about challenger-brand strategy, winning distribution, building desire around a premium product, changing drinking habits, and what it takes to compete against companies with much bigger budgets.
Ana also shares wh...

Tolerate discomfort? Not today. ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Bree McKeen, Founder and CEO of Evelyn & Bobbie — the intimates brand reimagining what women should expect from their bras.
Bree’s own experience as a 34G woman dealing with tension headaches, shoulder pain, and posture issues led her to question one of the most worn — and least questioned — items in a woman’s wardrobe.
We talk about how she left a finance career to reinvent the bra from the inside out, developed Evelyn & Bobbie’s patented EB Core® wire-free support technology, and built a brand focused...

What does it really take to build a brand that lasts—not just through growth, but through every stage that follows?
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Kevin Gianni, Co-Founder and CEO of Annmarie Skin Care—a clean beauty brand built on ingredient transparency, thoughtful growth, and a commitment to doing things differently.
We talk about how Kevin built Annmarie Skin Care long before "clean beauty" became a buzzword, why he believes in making fewer, better bets instead of chasing growth at all costs, and what inspired him to launch his second company, Salt + Blue...

What happens when you've spent years helping build some of the world's biggest beauty brands—and decide it's time to create one that's completely different?
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I'm joined by Daniel Kiyoi, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Nocturnal Skincare. Before launching Nocturnal, Daniel built his career at iconic companies including Estée Lauder, Smashbox Cosmetics, Tarte Cosmetics, TULA, and L'Oréal. After years of helping shape global beauty brands, he set out to build one rooted in something much deeper: intentional design, cultural authenticity, and products that truly perform.
Daniel shar...

What if your greatest competitive advantage isn't your product, your funding, or even your experience—but the relationships you've built over time?
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I'm joined by Caroline Dell, Co-Founder and CEO of Goodword, an AI-powered relationship management platform helping founders and operators turn their networks into one of their most valuable business assets.
Before launching Goodword, Caroline was a founding executive at Chief, where she helped scale the company from 200 members to 20,000 and more than $120 million in ARR, recruiting 80% of its top-tier talent and helping build one of the fastest-growing fe...

On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Dr. Whitney Hovenic, double board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and Co-Founder of SPOOGE — a mineral SPF brand with serious dermatology expertise, a playful attitude, and a mission to change how people think about daily sun protection.
We talk about why sunscreen has always had a branding problem, what Whitney is seeing in her practice as she treats skin cancer patients — including people in their 20s and 30s — and why Gen Z and Gen Alpha tanning trends have made this conversation more urgent than ever.
Whitney shares how SPOOGE came to be...

What if the biggest opportunity to improve reproductive health—and even the health of future generations—starts long before pregnancy?
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Ayla Barmmer, Founder and CEO of FullWell, a reproductive wellness company setting a new standard for evidence-based nutrition before, during, and after pregnancy.
Ayla is a registered dietitian with more than 20 years of experience specializing in fertility nutrition. After years of working with patients, she recognized a major gap between what science supported and what consumers were being told about reproductive health and supplements. That real...

What if the future of hair restoration isn't another shampoo or supplement—but real science?
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Lauren Bartholomeusz, Co-Founder of KeraFactor, a medical-grade hair restoration company bringing evidence-based innovation to one of the fastest-growing categories in aesthetics and wellness.
Developed after six years of research by board-certified dermatologist Amy Forman Taub, MD, FAAD, and entrepreneur James Bartholomeusz, KeraFactor was created to address the growing need for clinically backed hair restoration solutions. Powered by a proprietary blend of biomimetic growth factors, skin proteins, and advanced compounds, KeraFactor is...

Building skincare from regenerative medicine — that’s the magic ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Keith O’Briant, CEO of HYDRINITY Accelerated Skin Science — one of the fastest-growing professional skincare brands in the U.S.
We talk about how HYDRINITY began not as a traditional beauty brand, but as a regenerative medicine company developing advanced wound care products and drug delivery systems for oncology and hematology patients. Keith shares how that medical and scientific foundation evolved into a professional skincare brand built around patented injectable-grade hyaluronic acid, proprietary delivery systems, and regenerative technologies designed to support...

Building a food brand from a health crisis, a farmers market, and one very big fire — that’s the magic ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Alysa Seeland, Founder and CEO of FOND Regenerative — the Texas-based company making verified regenerative bone broths, traditional demi-glace, and slow-rendered animal fats.
We talk about how Alysa’s journey began after serious digestive issues led to emergency surgery and the possibility of a second procedure. Instead, she chose to rebuild her health from the inside out, discovered the power of bone broth, and eventually sold her first jar of FOND at...

Rethinking the bra industry by finally listening to women — that's the magic. ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Heidi Zak, Co-Founder and CEO of ThirdLove — the intimate apparel brand that transformed how millions of women shop for bras through better fit, inclusive sizing, and technology.
We talk about how ThirdLove challenged an industry that had gone decades without meaningful innovation, introducing half-cup sizing and creating the online Fitting Room that has helped more than 20 million women find their correct size. Heidi shares why solving a real customer problem—not chasing trends—became the foundation for buildi...

Building a women’s health company that is also pushing for systems change — that’s the magic ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Alex Taylor, Co-Founder of Perelel — the first and only OB/GYN-founded vitamin company offering clinically backed nutrition for every stage of a woman’s hormonal life.
We talk about how Perelel was built around a long-overdue idea: women deserve better support, better information, and clinically backed products through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. Alex shares what she saw missing in women’s health, why trust matters so much in the supplement category, and...

What does it take to make sustainable furniture more accessible — without compromising on style, comfort, or quality?
On today’s episode, we welcome Phantila Phataraprasit, CEO and Co-Founder of Sabai — an AAPI and female-founded sustainable furniture brand rethinking what we bring into our homes. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Apartment Therapy Changemaker, NYU Law graduate, and board member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, Phantila brings a unique perspective to one of the most complex and overlooked consumer categories: furniture.
Inspired in part by her early experience working in her mother’s eco lodges in Thailand, Phantila built Sabai to addre...

Building a food brand around the belief that food is healing — that’s the magic ✨
On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Neka Pasquale, Founder and Chief Product Officer of Urban Remedy — a company on a mission to reimagine the food system and teach the world that food is healing.
We talk about how Neka’s background in acupuncture, Chinese medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine led her to create Urban Remedy, and how wellness retreats with her patients helped spark the idea for the brand. We also get into what it takes to scale fresh, certified...

On today’s episode, we welcome Catherine Hunziker, Founder and Chief Formulator of WishGarden Herbs — America’s #1 selling liquid herbal formulas brand. A pioneering herbalist, educator and entrepreneur, Catherine has spent more than four decades helping make herbal medicine more accessible to mainstream consumers.
In this episode, we speak about Catherine’s journey from environmental activism and women’s health advocacy to building a family-run, woman-owned wellness company that has been rooted in plant medicine since 1979. We talk about how WishGarden Herbs combines ancient herbal wisdom with modern science, why liquid herbal formulas can be so effective, and the import...

What if it's never too late to build the business—or the life—you've always imagined?
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Paula Blankenship, Founder of Heirloom Traditions and author of the new book, Just Open the Jar.
Paula built Heirloom Traditions, known for its All In One Paint, after the age of 50 with no outside funding, no industry connections, and no traditional business background. What started with teaching women how to transform old furniture and cabinets grew into one of the most successful direct-to-consumer paint brands in the country and a fi...

On today’s episode, we welcome Jennifer Martinez, Founder of Elevation Tea Company — a premium tea brand sourcing rare, organic and small-batch teas from underrepresented regions around the world. Inspired by Northern California wine country and her background in UX and graphic design, Jennifer has built a brand that treats tea not just as a beverage, but as an elevated tasting experience rooted in origin, flavor, aroma and ritual.
In this episode, we speak about tea sourcing from regions including Colombia, Tanzania, Kenya and Nepal, working with small-scale farmers, and how terroir impacts what ends up in the cup...

On today’s episode, we welcome Karen Behnke, Founder of Beauty Crush Skincare — a regenerative skincare brand bringing together biotech, sustainability, clean beauty, vineyard luxury and decades of product innovation. Recognized by Elle, Forbes and Cosmopolitan as one of the OGs of the clean beauty movement, Karen helped shape the organic and clean skincare industry long before it became mainstream.
In this episode, Karen shares what she has learned as a four-time founder and why she decided to build again with Beauty Crush Skincare. She talks about how the beauty category has evolved over the last 20+ years, what is d...

On today’s episode, we welcome Ravi Prasad, Co-Founder of Almora Botanica — a luxury, natural and sustainable skincare brand bringing together Ayurvedic wisdom, Himalayan botanicals, adaptogens, green chemistry and modern science. After decades working in Ayurvedic medicine and wellness, including leading Himalaya Wellness Company, Ravi saw a major gap in skincare: too many products treat symptoms, not the root cause.
In this episode, Ravi shares why he made the shift from Ayurvedic medicine and supplements into skincare, and how Almora Botanica is taking a “pharma to farm” approach rooted in the Himalayas. He breaks down the idea of research...