Welcome back to the latest episode of season 2. In this episode, Drew sits down with Zach Spring, Founder & CEO of YourEkko, a startup born from Zach’s personal journey through cancer, loss, and resilience. Zach shares his powerful story of survival and how it led him to create a platform that helps people support loved ones through grief with scheduled messages, financial gifts, and meaningful gestures.
Together, Drew and Zach explore why grief and end-of-life experiences are often overlooked in business, and how brands that lean into humanity during these moments can build lasting loyalty. They discuss how small gestures from Chewy sending flowers to a grieving pet owner, to YourEkko making it possible to leave a lasting message, can transform customer and employee experiences.
The conversation dives deep into:
- Why grief is a universal but often ignored part of customer and employee experience
- How companies can support grieving employees and customers in authentic, meaningful ways
- Why authenticity and human connection are the ultimate differentiators in a noisy, AI-driven market
- The importance of mentorship, trusted advisors, and community for founders
- Practical lessons Zach learned (and missteps he made) while building a mission-driven startup
Chapters:
[00:00] – Welcome & Zach’s origin story
[03:00] – From diagnosis to inspiration: the birth of YourEkko
[08:00] – Lessons from grief & why it matters for CX
[12:40] – Small gestures, big impact: brands that do it right[
[18:00] – Mentorship, mistakes & founder lessons learned
[21:10] – How YourEkko works & the vision ahead
[24:30] – What leaders can do to support grieving employees
[28:40] – Launch plans, giveaways & where to find Zach online
Connect w/ Drew & StealthX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhburdick/
StealthX:https://stealthx.co/
Connect w/ Zach & YourEkko
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachspringms/
YourEkko: https://yourekko.com/
