Advice Line with Ronnen Harary of Spin Master/PAW Patrol

Intro

Guy Raz is joined by Spin Master co-founder Ronnen Harary for another Advice Line episode. Ronnen built Spin Master from a garage startup into a $4 billion entertainment empire behind PAW Patrol and Bakugan. He brings that same scaling expertise to three callers who are each at an inflection point with their businesses.

Caller 1: Ann Williams & Yearly Co.

Ann Williams calls from Nashville with a jewelry brand that started in her garage. She sells solid 14 karat gold bangles sized to tell a personal story, and the business has reached about $11 million in annual sales. Her challenge is expanding the product line without losing the intimate, customer-first feel that made the brand popular. Ronnen's advice is to protect the brand's heart even as the catalog grows. He suggests Ann should think about how every new product still ties back to that original emotional connection, and to keep the customer experience as personal as possible at scale.

Caller 2: Felix Colon & Island Bee Company

Felix Colon calls from Martha's Vineyard about his family's 27-year-old apiary. Island Bee Company sells raw honey and skincare, with its patented Hive 5 moisturizer as the best seller. Felix works part-time and wants to take over to grow the business beyond farmers markets. Ronnen encourages him to lean into the product that already has demand. He also suggests exploring B2B and corporate gifting channels, where a local, story-driven brand can command premium pricing without needing to scale production overnight.

Caller 3: Matt Smith & Wandering Soul Beer

Matt Smith shares the origin of Wandering Soul Beer: in 2017, after the stillbirth of his daughter Melody, he created a hazy pale ale in her memory. The beer caught on, and during COVID the business hit nearly $500,000 in sales. Matt shut it down in 2022, then brought it back the next year after customers kept asking. His question is how to grow without burning out again. Ronnen tells him to celebrate the fact that he already built something meaningful twice, and to use a distributor so he can step back from daily deliveries.

Final Thought

All three callers are proof that the best businesses often begin with a personal story, not a business plan. Ronnen Harary's advice across the board is the same: hold onto the original reason you started, even as you figure out how to reach more people.