Shows
RootedCo-Founder of Spring & Mulberry, Kathryn Shah: Reimagining Sweetness, Storytelling Through Ingredients, and Returning to the Earth Through FoodCo-Founder of Spring & Mulberry, Kathryn Shah: Reimagining Sweetness, Storytelling Through Ingredients, and Returning to the Earth Through FoodIn this episode of Rooted, I had the chance to sit down with Kathryn Shah, the co-founder of Spring & Mulberry, a brand that’s redefining what indulgence means by creating chocolate sweetened only with dates and inspired by nature’s pantry.Kathryn’s journey into wellness and clean eating started with a deeply personal health scare. In Dubai, she had a seemingly simple encounter with dates, which completely shifted her view of natural sweetness and planted the seed f...2025-07-0850 min
RootedCo-Founder of Chomps, Pete Maldonado: Building a Leading Snack Brand Without a Traditional PlaybookIn this episode of Rooted, I sat down with Pete Maldonado, the co-founder of Chomps. Chomps is the grass-fed meat stick brand that’s become a household name among health-conscious eaters, busy moms, athletes, and college students alike.Pete’s story is such a powerful reminder that there’s no one path to building a successful company. He didn’t come from a flashy corporate background or a fancy business degree. He left college early, got certified as a personal trainer, worked in real estate, and even went bankrupt. What Pete has is a relentless entrepreneurial mindset, shaped b...2025-07-011h 09
RootedFronen Co-Founders, Jessy Gartenstein and Erik Nadeau: Reclaiming Dessert with Fronen’s Real IngredientsOn this episode of Rooted, I interview the Co-Founders of Fronen, a non-dairy ice cream made with the simplest ingredients on the market. For example, the Vanilla flavor has just coconut cream, vanilla extract, water, and honey. The rest of the flavors follow a similar pattern, with just about 4 ingredients, never using any fillers, gums, or artificial ingredients. This is genuinely the best tasting and best quality (in terms of ingredients) of better-for-you ice cream that I have had or seen, which is why I was so excited to talk to Jessy and Erik!We...2025-04-0945 min
RootedCo-Founder/CEO of Force of Nature, Robby Sansom: Exposing Myths in our Food System and Providing Regeneratively Raised Meats to Save Soil, Animals, and Our HealthIn this episode of Rooted, I interviewed Robby Sansom, the Co-Founder and CEO of Force of Nature, a regeneratively sourced meat company based in Austin, TX.Previously, as CFO/COO at EPIC, Robby spent much of the last decade studying regenerative agriculture at ranches all over the world. Through this education, Force of Nature was co-founded with the intention to accelerate the creation of a global regenerative supply network. Force of Nature works in partnership with land stewards, ranchers and farmers committed to creating a positive return on the planet. With Force of Nature, consumers now have...2025-03-211h 12
RootedCo-Founder/CEO of Sweetgreen, Jonathan Neman: Bringing Real Food Back to Fast FoodIn this episode of Rooted, I interviewed Jonathan Neman, the Co-Founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, a nationwide fast-casual restaurant chain that serves healthy, seasonal food, known for their commitment to sustainability, using local, unprocessed ingredients. This conversation is exactly why I started the Rooted podcast—getting to sit down with founders who are not only passionate about what they do but are also creating businesses that truly make a positive difference. I absolutely love every single thing about the concept of Sweetgreen and as a huge fan, speaking with Jonathan was especially exciting. The success of Sweetgreen is...2025-02-0943 min
RootedCo-Founder/CEO of Blue Zones Kitchen, Scott Marcus: Easy Way to Live Like the Longest Living PeopleIn this episode of Rooted, I speak with Scott Marcus, the Co-Founder and CEO of Blue Zones Kitchen, which are frozen ready meals inspired by the Blue Zones of the world (areas in the world with the longest living people).
We discussed so many amazing topics like:
Scott’s journey to Blue Zones Kitchen, starting with Mondelez and then Vital Farms
What the Blue Zones of the world are and what connects these areas
How Blue Zones Kitchen has the potential to change our perception around frozen foods
Why it...2025-01-1639 min
RootedFounder of Sircle Media, Adam Brown: Social Media Marketing for Our Favorite Better-For-You CPG CompaniesIn this episode of Rooted, I sit down with Adam Brown, who is the Founder and CEO of Sircle Media, which is a social media agency that represents many of the major better-for-you CPG players. For example, Purely Elizabeth, Primal Kitchen, Amylu, and CHOMPS, just to name a few.
In this episode, you will hear about how this was Adam’s second go at a career, as he was doing something he didn’t enjoy before. But, it will become evident instantly how much he loves his company and team he has created, space he’s in, clients...2024-12-0843 min
RootedCo-Founder of Hu Chocolate & HumanCo, Jason Karp: Defying Medical Diagnoses to Running Multi Hundred Million Dollar Health + Wellness CompaniesIn this episode of Rooted, I interviewed Jason Karp, the Co-Founder of Hu Chocolate and later HumanCo. For anyone that does not already know, Hu creates chocolate with simple, clean ingredients, with the mission of “getting back to human.”
This mission was born after Jason graduated from UPENN and faced multiple autoimmune diseases and was also told that he would go blind by age 30. Jason defied the medical diagnoses by studying many populations and regions of the world with long-living, healthy people. He realized that while there are some differences in each group, the commonality is that they...2024-11-2450 min
RootedCo-Founder/CEO of Smash Foods, Anna Peck: Personal Food Blog to Nationwide BrandOn this episode of Rooted, I interview the Co-Founder & CEO of Smash Foods, Anna Peck. Smash Foods (previously known as Chia Smash), is a better-for-you CPG brand that has fruit spreads made from only chia seeds, fruit, dates, and lemon juice. I’ve been a consumer of their first product, the fruit spreads for years. I love that it takes something that is part of the standard American diet (PB & J) and just makes it so much simpler and healthier. This was also an extra special one for me since Anna graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce at UV...2024-11-1748 min
RootedCo-Founders of Branch Basics, Kelly Love & Allison Evans: Back to the Basics With our ProductsIn this episode of Rooted, I speak with Kelly Love and Allison Evans, 2/3 of the Co-Founders of Branch Basics, a non-toxic cleaning company. Their mission is to help educate people on creating healthy homes and lives by ditching the harmful chemicals. They want people to experience the “power of pure.”
We discussed so many amazing topics like:
How each of the founders’ incredible and mind boggling stories led to the genesis of Branch Basics
The power of very simple changes and getting back to the basics (getting in the sunshine, eating pure food, touching...2024-11-0959 min
RootedCo-Founder of Fitt Insider, Anthony Vennare: Doing the Basics Well in Life and BusinessIn this episode of Rooted, I interviewed Anthony Vennare, the Co-Founder of Fitt Insider, the #1 newsletter for health and fitness operators. Anthony and his brother, Joe, also run Fitt Consulting (providing advice to founders and execs), Fitt Talent (a job board with all of the openings in the industry), Fitt Capital (their health and wellness company investments), and the Fitt Insider podcast.
I’m a huge fan of everything that they’re doing at Fitt because of how well they consolidate the information in the health and wellness industry into one place. What’s been clear to me sinc...2024-11-0145 min
RootedFounder of Honey Mamas, Christy Goldsby: The Vessel for Celebrating the Joys in LifeIn this episode of Rooted, I interviewed Christy Goldsby, the Founder of Honey Mamas, a refrigerated, honey-sweetened truffle bar using only whole food super ingredients. Ever since the first time I tried Honey Mamas, I have been a huge fan because of the absolutely amazing taste and unique flavors, and the idea that indulgences can be healthy, make us feel good, and offer a celebration of life. Honey Mamas might be my favorite tasting better-for-you CPG brand on the market. It quite literally tastes like fudge, without making you feel gross afterwards!
Christy is awesome and so...2024-10-2550 min
RootedFounder/CEO of Purely Elizabeth, Elizabeth Stein: Building a Brand You’re Passionate About, With a Passionate teamIn this episode of Rooted, I speak with Elizabeth Stein, the Founder and CEO of Purely Elizabeth, a better-for-you granola, cereal, and oatmeal company. It was so inspiring hearing from Elizabeth because from start to finish in this episode, it was so clear that she was meant to be doing this. She went after what she wanted (being in the health and wellness space), and then also had a great balance of letting the pieces fall into place.
We discussed so many amazing topics like:
How her triathlon training led to a passion for the...2024-10-1846 min
RootedFounder/CEO of MUSH, Ashley Thompson: What Life Can Look Like When You Feel a Deep Purpose Behind What You DoIn this episode of Rooted, I speak with Ashley Thompson, the Co-Founder and CEO of MUSH, a ready to eat overnight oats, made with only simple, healthy ingredients.
Ashley is an incredible human being and someone that I now consider a mentor. She is an extremely caring, thoughtful and deep person, which is what contributed to our great conversation. We discussed so many amazing topics like:
Her upbringing, the impact her dad had on her, and the genesis of MUSH
Why MUSH made sense to be the company that she started, specifically ...2024-10-101h 07
RootedPrimal Kitchen Co-Founder: Morgan Buehler Zanotti on the Benefits of Being a Hot Mess in Your 20s, Figuring out What You’re Passionate About, and How We Can All Live More Like Our PrimalsIn this episode of Rooted, I speak with Morgan, Co-Founder of Primal Kitchen. Primal Kitchen makes condiments and sauces with simple, better-for-you ingredients, such as Avocado Oil. Morgan and Mark Sisson sold the company in just 3 years for 200M.
This was a very philosophical conversation and we discuss a wide range of topics from:
Morgan’s winding path in her 20s and how it eventually led her to being a Co-Founder
Why nature, slowing down, and getting back to the basics is where the beauty of life is
How processed foods are...2024-10-0352 min
Rooted[solidcore] CEO, Bryan Myers: How to Create Once in a Lifetime Career OpportunitiesIn this Episode of Rooted, I sit down with Bryan Myers, the current CEO of [solidcore], the rapidly growing pilates studio with about 100 studios across the US. L Catterton just acquired a majority stake in [solidcore], which now values the chain at $600M–$700M.
Before ending up at [solidcore], Bryan graduated from the UVA McIntire School of Commerce, which made this conversation even more special for me. He then went to BCG and then was one of the first employees at Sweetgreen.
Bryan is incredibly intelligent and personable. He provided such amazing, practical, and actionable ad...2024-09-2754 min
RootedJackson’s Chips Co-Founder, Megan Reamer: the Powerful Story Behind Jackson’s ChipsIn this episode of Rooted, I sit down with Megan Reamer, who is the Co-Founder and past CEO of Jackson’s Chips. I’m sure anyone who likes making healthy swaps, has had or seen Jackson’s Chips before.
But, what not everyone knows is the story behind this amazing company. Jackson’s Chips is named after Megan’s son Jackson, who at a young age was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease.
After many difficult years, they discovered that his diet played a huge role in how he felt. Jackson began implementing a low-carb, high fat die...2024-09-201h 01