Episodes

Kenneth Cole joins the advice line to help founders build lasting brands. Matt Jacobs of Pedestrian Project asks how to grow a bootstrapped wellness brand, Levi Case of Swing Sculpt wonders how to price custom golf jewelry, and Emma Fakwade of ISRAELLA KOBLA seeks advice on scaling a made-to-order fashion label. Kenneth shares lessons from 40+ years of Kenneth Cole Productions on storytelling, customer loyalty, and social purpose.

Tom Rinks turned a failed sunscreen concept into a $400 million empire by treating packaging like personality and distribution like performance art. From a fake Cocoa Beach headquarters to an iconic yellow gorilla logo, he engineered desire before most customers ever touched the product. He explains how the "Elvis Principle" of juxtaposed brand traits, a "Trojan Horse" retail strategy, and knowing when to hand off the CEO keys made Sun Bum an acquisition target for SC Johnson.

Jeni Britton returns for an Advice Line special on How I Built This, this time to discuss Floura -- her new fiber-forward food company launched after building Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams into a nationally recognized brand. She reflects on pivoting from ice cream to functional foods, the science behind her 13-gram fiber bars, and why she wants to make fiber accessible without sacrificing taste.

Guy Raz sits down with Krishna Kaliannan to unpack how a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis sparked a personal quest for better breakfast options and ultimately became Catalina Crunch, a high-protein, low-carb cereal brand now doing roughly $200 million in annual sales. Kaliannan talks about baking early batches in his New York City apartment, the challenge of making healthy food taste good enough to compete on grocery store shelves, and the strategic bets that carried the brand from direct-to-consumer experiments to Costco shelves.

On this Advice Line episode, Guy Raz and Spin Master co-founder Ronnen Harary help three small-business owners tackle scaling challenges. Ann Williams wants to expand her Nashville fine-jewelry brand beyond bangles without losing its personal touch. Felix Colon is ready to grow his family's Martha's Vineyard apiary but struggles with a limited product. Matt Smith shares how he turned personal tragedy into Wandering Soul Beer and asks how to scale without burning out.

Guy Raz sits down with Joey Shamah to unpack how a rejected dollar-store makeup idea became a billion-dollar beauty brand. Joey and Scott Vincent Borba launched e.l.f. Cosmetics in 2004 with the radical notion that high-quality cosmetics could sell for just $1. After facing universal retail rejection, a viral rumor about a Bloomingdale's acquisition crashed their servers with 18,000 daily orders. The episode reveals the gritty logistics behind that surge, the $225 million L'Oreal deal that collapsed, and the counterintuitive retail strategy that turned e.l.f. into a $4 billion public company.

Susan Griffin-Black of EO Products fields high-stakes scaling, growth, and global expansion questions from three founders on this Advice Line episode. She walks Ruchi Gupta through scaling her probiotic skincare line, guides Peter Andrews on growing his South African wine import business, and shares actionable insights for Dominic Wyndham-Giddens as he expands his Barbados coffee brand internationally. Founders get targeted, expert advice to solve their own business growth roadblocks.

Stephen Starr built a restaurant empire without ever caring about food. Starting from Atlantic City boardwalk sales and comedy clubs, he launched STARR Restaurant Group in 1995 and now runs more than 40 acclaimed venues including Buddakan, Le Diplomate, and Makoto. His secret? Treating dining as theater and obsessing over every sensory detail, from lighting to music to the greeting at the door. The result is nine of the 100 highest-grossing independent restaurants in America.

Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family Organics, joins Guy Raz to coach three early-stage founders on scaling, distribution, and investment. Daisy weighs expanding her UK barefoot shoe brand into the US, Rachel debates private labeling her protein sprinkle concept, and Andrew contemplates raising capital for his scented soil additive. The conversation balances practical go-to-market advice with Shazi's philosophy that entrepreneurship is one of the most creative outlets a person can have.

A former shoe executive turned retail on its head by founding Build-A-Bear Workshop in 1997, creating a global brand where kids stuff their own stuffed animals. Maxine Clark shares how the make-your-own concept evolved from a simple mall kiosk into a billion-dollar experience brand, the strategic bets that defined its culture, and why emotional connection - not transactions - built the company's most durable competitive advantage.

In this episode of How I Built This, Guy Raz talks with Christina Tosi, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and founder of Milk Bar, about building a dessert empire from a single idea. Christina shares how she turned unconventional ingredients like cornflakes and potato chips into iconic treats, the challenges of scaling a creative business, and her philosophy of blending childhood nostalgia with sophisticated technique. She also offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs on embracing imperfection, staying authentic, and building a brand that connects with people on an emotional level.

Guy Raz revisits his 2019 conversation with Tobias Lütke, the German-Canadian programmer who transformed a snowboard shop into Shopify, the e-commerce engine behind millions of online stores. From living in his in-laws' basement to leading a $150 billion public company, Lütke reveals how luck, timing, and relentless iteration built a platform that now powers over a trillion dollars in sales. This episode is a masterclass in turning a personal frustration into global infrastructure.