Kimmy Pace, a former technology consultant, turned her lifelong struggle with chronic dehydration and gut sensitivity into a mission after discovering Korean roasted barley tea in a novel. Realizing that most "better-for-you" drinks were too sugary or carbonated for her system, she began brewing her own at home. This gentle, grounding ritual became the foundation for a beverage brand designed for those seeking hydration without the digestive stress.

Afternoon Toast is a line of ready-to-drink, caffeine-free teas crafted from steeped ginger and roasted barley. With a unique nutty and toasty flavor profile, the brand offers a sugar-free, non-carbonated alternative that supports digestion and eases bloating through natural fiber. By prioritizing calm over carbonation, Kimmy is redefining functional hydration as a soothing, everyday ritual.

Inside the Episode:

• The story of how a fictional ritual involving Korean barley tea sparked a real-world solution for chronic health challenges.

• Why Afternoon Toast focuses on a non-carbonated, fiber-rich profile to support sensitive systems.

• The tactical steps Kimmy took to move from a home-brewed ritual to a commercial product, including how she vetted advisors and structured her pre-launch operations.

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This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Danielle Calabrese is a CPG powerhouse with over 16 years of experience scaling brands from zero to $40M and guiding more than 100 founders to collective sales of over $100M. Known for her "build smarter, not harder" philosophy, Danielle has secured dozens of SKUs with top-tier retailers and distributors, making her one of the industry's most sought-after advisors for navigating the complex journey from kitchen table to retail shelf.

As the creator of Launch Lab, Danielle has developed a 10-week, cohort-based program designed to take early-stage founders through a proven, step-by-step framework for a profitable launch. The program is deeply execution-focused, providing direct feedback on everything from margins and operations to go-to-market strategy. By combining real-time guidance with access to a private community of experts, Danielle ensures that first-time founders avoid costly mistakes and launch with the confidence of a seasoned industry veteran.

Inside the Episode:

• Danielle's "build smarter, not harder" approach to scaling brands and securing high-value retail partnerships.

• A look inside the 10-week roadmap that moves founders from an initial concept to a profitable, retail-ready business.

• How direct feedback and a peer network can accelerate growth and prevent the most common (and expensive) launch errors.

Register for Launch Lab!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Nicole Schlesinger traded her corporate NYC desk for butchery classes at the Institute of Culinary Education after realizing the jerky market was dominated by sugary, "candy-like" options. Obsessed with quality, she squeezed two oversized dehydrators into her tiny apartment to perfect small-batch, chef-driven recipes that prioritized premium meat and clean ingredients over the industry standard.

This experimentation led to the birth of Strip Jerky, a brand redefining the protein-packed snack with an artisanal, modern approach. By blending culinary integrity with bold flavor profiles, Nicole has transformed a nostalgic staple into a sophisticated experience for a new generation of snackers, proving that a high-growth brand can start with just a few test batches and a lot of hustle.

Inside the Episode:

• How Nicole transitioned from a NYC desk job to studying butchery to find her true calling in the culinary world.

• Why Strip Jerky rejects sugary fillers in favor of clean labels and chef-inspired flavor profiles.

• Nicole's journey of moving from small-batch testing to a growing brand while maintaining artisanal quality.

Stay tuned for the launch!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Daniel Schwarz, Founder and CEO of CHUZA, is a leader who finds inspiration in the concept of poise under pressure. In Mexico, the word "CHUZA" carries a powerful double meaning: it signifies a strike for success, that precise moment when perfection is reached and the momentum continues. This philosophy was personified during the early days of the pandemic by a daily visitor to Daniel's window, an unflappable owl who remained calm while being challenged by crows. This "COwl-Founder" became a symbol of the resilience required to build a brand and served as the motivation Daniel needed to pursue his dream of sharing his culture with the world.

Through CHUZA, Daniel is sharing the vibrant, bold, and authentic snacks of Mexico with a global audience. The brand is a labor of love that elevates traditional street food into high-quality products that balance spice, sweetness, and crunch. By staying rooted in his cultural heritage and maintaining an "unflappable" focus, Daniel has transformed CHUZA into a brand that represents both a strike for perfection and a commitment to authenticity.

Inside the Episode:

• How a daily visitor during the pandemic provided the emotional stamina to launch a brand during a global crisis.

• A look at the process of bringing authentic Mexican flavor profiles to the modern snack aisle.

• Daniel's advice on staying focused and poised when the "crows are attacking" from all angles in the CPG world.

Shop here!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Anabel González, an ex-Parsons creative and founder of Good Bacteria, transformed her personal postpartum healing journey into a mission to fix a major flaw in the wellness industry: the lack of microbial diversity in traditional probiotics. Recognizing that static supplements often fall short, Anabel collaborated with a scientific advisory board from institutions like Johns Hopkins, Oxford, and Stanford to bridge the gap between clinical research and daily gut health.

The result is Good Bacteria, the first daily probiotic system designed to rotate weekly to mimic the variety of a fermented-food-rich diet. Formulated by Dr. Leigh Frame, this 28-day rotation cultivates a broader range of beneficial bacteria than standard supplements, moving beyond simple digestion to support immunity, mental clarity, and whole-body resilience.

Inside the Episode:

• Anabel's personal journey from health challenges to founding a science-first wellness company.

• The science behind mimicking a fermented-food-rich diet and why weekly shifts are the key to a resilient gut.

• How Anabel collaborated with experts from Johns Hopkins, Oxford, and Stanford to ensure efficacy and clinical innovation.

Shop here!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Alex Adam, Founder and Creative Director of Boredom Kills Creative, spent a decade in the music industry witnessing how powerful branding can build and unite communities across the world. This unique background gave him a deep understanding of market impact and emotional resonance, leading him to transition his expertise from the stage to the shelf. Alex now applies those lessons in cultural connection to the world of CPG, helping brands find their heartbeat and scale with purpose.

Boredom Kills Creative is a strategic branding agency that partners with CPG companies poised for growth to refine their message and identity. Alex and his team focus on ensuring the right people can find, understand, and love a brand for the long haul. By treating brand strategy as a tool for long-term community building rather than just aesthetic design, BKC helps founders transform emerging products into beloved household staples.

Inside the Episode:

• The specific strategic shifts CPG brands need to make when they are poised to scale from niche to mainstream.

• Why brand strategy is about more than just visibility—it's about being understood by your ideal consumer.

• Alex's philosophy on creating brand identities that foster long-term love and cultural relevance.

Connect here!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

In this solo episode, I'm sharing eight emerging brands that are redefining their categories. We are seeing a massive shift toward "functional nostalgia" taking the comfort foods we grew up with and upgrading them with high protein, fiber, and clean labels. From whipped cottage cheese dips to flash-frozen aromatics, these founders are solving real-world problems with flavor and radical transparency.

Inside the Episode:

• Functional Condiments & Dips: Why She's the Sauce and Cotto are reimagining everyday sauces and cottage cheese as protein-packed, gut-friendly essentials.
• The New Baking Aisle: How Little Twists and founder Dalya are making baking easier for families with chef-developed, allergy-friendly mixes that don't compromise on flavor.
• The Glow-Up From Within: A look at Glowstate's chic chia puddings and Afternoon Toast's roasted barley tea—brands making gut health, digestion, and hydration feel effortless (and aesthetic).
• Smarter Kitchen Shortcuts: How Nomie is solving the toddler mealtime gap, and how Nida is bringing frozen aromatics to the mainstream as a modern kitchen hack.
• Snacking, Reinvented: Why Strip Jerky is standing out in the jerky aisle with a female-chef-founded, honey-sweetened approach to clean protein.

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.

Shibani Baluja launched Lil' Gourmets with a mission to move baby food out of the dusty, shelf-stable aisle and into the refrigerated section where freshness and nutrients truly live. Based on the latest infant nutrition research, Lil' Gourmets offers fresh, organic, globally inspired meals that provide 100% of a baby's daily vegetable requirements with zero added salt or sugar.

With a professional background in mergers and acquisitions at Kraft Foods, Shibani saw a critical gap in the market for "veggie-first" foods that actually taste like the ingredients on the label. Today, Lil' Gourmets is providing peace of mind to time-strapped parents through retail partners like Walmart and Whole Foods Market, proving that convenience doesn't have to come at the expense of a child's developing palate.

Inside the Episode:

• Why Shibani focuses on the first 1,000 days of life to shape future eating habits and long-term health.

• The logistical journey of bringing fresh, refrigerated baby food to major national retailers like Walmart.

• How Shibani's decade at Kraft Foods prepared her to scale a startup that prioritizes integrity and nutrient density.

Find Lil' Gourmets near you!

This podcast episode was made possible by Glimpse — the AI-powered deduction management tool helping CPG brands recover lost revenue from invalid retail deductions. With in-house experts and custom-built AI, Glimpse saves founders time, money, and countless hours so they can focus on scaling. Try it free for 30 days at tryglimpse.com/trial.