Someone's Gotta Make It

Cash flow is something that all founders have to figure out in order to get their businesses on strong footing. But even experienced entrepreneurs can be thrown off-course by unexpected expenses or lower-than-expected orders. On the season finale of Someone’s Gotta Make It, we talk to Wareologie Founder & CEO Gina Adams, who has learned plenty of cash flow lessons the hard way while designing and selling medical equipment and adaptive devices. What do you need to know about cash flow before starting a business of your own? What are the common landmines that often surprise inexperienced owners? If you’re early in your journey as a business founder, Gina’s advice could save you a lot of emotional anguish. Plus: What it’s like to get an angry memo from the White House.

We all struggle to be understood at work sometimes. And most of us don’t have to spend all day speaking two languages while promoting a technology that sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. As the Chief Business Innovation Officer for Genoskin, Eric Merle is an expert at getting his point across. On this episode of Someone’s Gotta Make It, Eric shares his advice on the most common challenges of business communication, from cross-departmental collaboration to putting complex ideas into terms everyone can understand. We also talk about “ex vivo human skin models” and how this unique (and kind of freaky) technology has helped the pharma industry move away from human and animal test subjects. Plus: Why does your arm swell up when you get a shot?

How can your company succeed in a crowded category when you have a fraction of the resources of the well-established market leaders? On this episode of Someone’s Gotta Make It, Lillie’s of Charleston Co-Founder Tracey Richardson tells us how she built a rabid following for her barbecue sauce company by focusing on local buyers and differentiating her brand with a compelling story. Competing against mega-brands means you have to be scrappier and more creative than the big dogs, and Tracey shares what that looks like in the real world. She also explains how barbecue sauce gets its saucy consistency. Plus: The one weird trick that will transform your Thanksgiving leftovers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many small businesses faced a choice: Pivot or perish. That was especially true for TentCraft CEO and President Matt Bulloch, whose promotional tent business relied on the kind of public gatherings that vanished overnight. Instead of trying to survive on the scraps, Matt spotted an opportunity to completely reinvent how his company operated. On this episode of Someone’s Gotta Make It, Matt discusses the process of going all-in on a new direction, and the “trial by movement” mentality that helped TentCraft stay afloat while so many others were sinking around him. Matt also shares his advice for building a company culture of continuous improvement and juggling work and family life as a business owner. Plus: What Matt learned about himself from his experiences on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley.

What if you launched a new business and nobody showed up? It’s the kind of nightmare scenario that would make an entrepreneur wake up in a cold sweat—and Janet Wischnia survived it. After leading her family’s bedsheet business as CEO for 16 years, Janet launched the direct-to-consumer brand American Blossom Linens in 2019. But running a DTC business came with a steep learning curve, and Janet was suddenly faced with everything she didn’t know about selling in the modern era. On this episode of Someone’s Gotta Make It, Janet discusses the challenges of keeping up with modern business tactics to stay competitive and how she was able to overcome her early stumbles to breathe new life into a very traditional product category. Plus: Why “thread counts” are a total scam. //////// VIDEO: How to fold a fitted sheet, with Janet Wischnia Use the coupon code NUTSHELL15 when you buy from American Blossom Linens to get 15% off your order!

Being the smartest person in the room will only get you so far. To grow a successful business, you have to hire people who know more than you do and keep them fired up in their roles. So how do you nail hiring and management when you’ve never, ever done it before? The Motz Group Founder Joe Motz started his turf business out of a single pickup truck in 1977, and has since built up a resume that includes sports fields for the Cincinanti Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Atlanta Braves. On this episode of Someone’s Gotta Make It, Joe discusses how his approach to hiring evolved as he gained experience as a leader, and why his company’s early “command and control” model of management needed to change in order for the business to survive. Plus: What’s the biggest difference between a sports field and the grass in your backyard?

We talk to the founders and leaders behind businesses that make products you use all the time but never really think about, from bedsheets to barbecue sauce. Who makes this stuff, and how did they overcome the growing pains of building a great company from scratch? Tune in for practical tips on getting unstuck in your own business, random trivia to pull out at cocktail parties, and the occasional sandwich recipe.