


Loren Castle started baking cookies after surviving cancer in her early twenties. Five years later, Sweet Loren’s refrigerated cookie dough was generating just $350,000 a year. But instead of giving up, she listened to customers, and reinvented the dough without gluten, dairy, eggs or nuts. That transformation turned a small regional business into a national brand sold in more than 30,000 stores.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
TIMESTAMPS:
8:40 – After her mother's leukemia diagnosis, Loren is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 22.
13:12 – Watching people line up for cookies at Levain Bakery: “I think this is America’s favorite food.”
14:54 – Selling baked goods at Smorgasburg: customers ask if they can just buy the dough
26:52 – Just as Whole Foods agrees to carry her cookie dough, Loren loses her mom
37:41 – What happens after Sweet Loren’s gets on The Today Show: “The whole country is excited by this.”
50:19 – Loren reconsiders her recipes after customers ask for dough without gluten, dairy, eggs.
56:24 – Loren takes the leap: discontinuing her original product line and going allergen-free for all.
1:05:41 – From one Whole Foods to 30,000 stores–the company expands nationally.
1:07:46 – After years of struggle, Loren explains why she wants to keep building the company instead of pursuing an exit.
This episode was produced by Carla Esteves, with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.
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Brian Rudolph started making chickpea pasta in his Detroit apartment because wheat made him feel sick. A decade later, Banza was in more than 25,000 stores, and today, it’s one of the most popular pasta brands in the country. Success was not automatic: The business barely got off the ground because the cooked pasta was turning to mush—and as Banza became known for its health benefits, a food-safety scare sent sales plunging by 30%.
In this episode, Brian explains why he was inspired to create a whole new category, how he turned chickpea skeptics into fans, and how the company rebuilt trust after a public relations disaster.
What you’ll learn
Timestamps:
08:15 - Brian uncovers the unexpected culprit behind his health issues: Wheat
09:52 - From Chewy bars and Chipotle to pasta made of… beans?
18:49 - Banza gets a big break on national TV
23:16 - The 192-store order that Banza wasn’t ready for, and why retreating to a smaller manufacturer helped them meet it
30:52 - Banza’s first production run turns to mush when cooked. The solution? “Steep it like tea”
38:44 - The origin of the distinctive orange box
43:53 - Pizza anyone? Banza expands into thousands of stores and launches new products
47:10 - The food safety scare that Brian never saw coming
58:23 - Even in the midst of a crisis, Brian says to “assume positive intent”
This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher, with music by Ramtin Arablouei.
Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Kerry Thompson. Our audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.
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Karissa Bodnar had a dream job at L'Oréal when a close friend died from cancer at age 24. It shook her up and made her reassess what she really wanted to do with her life. The answer? Build her own beauty business with a mission of “giving back.”
The problem? Nobody seemed to want to carry her products. She pitched Sephora, Nordstrom, Ulta, and others—and kept hearing no.
She stuck it out, pouring tens of thousands of dollars of her own savings into it, and worked a full-time job to fund the formulation of new cosmetics.
Two years in, another life-changing event. Karissa posted a video of herself teaching make-up application to domestic violence survivors, and it went viral. Five years later, the company was making about $150 million a year!
In this episode Karissa explains why mission alone will never save a bad product, how scarcity helped her build a better company, why she resisted raising too much money, and how she turned a deeply personal loss into one of the most distinctive brands in beauty.
What You’ll Learn:
Timestamps:
05:30 – Making makeup in the kitchen at age 10 and Karissa’s first steps into research
08:55 – Learning the beauty business from the ground up
11:22 – How Karissa landed her dream job in product development at L'Oréal
14:48 – The career lessons that got Karissa noticed at L'Oréal
22:03 – How a tragedy made Karissa leave a dream job to start a company “with purpose”
31:36 – The one-person-at-a-time marketing strategy
33:01 – The viral moment that changed Thrive Causemetics
37:06 – Why failing to raise money became an advantage
42:33 – Mission versus product: which really matters?
44:34 – Why Thrive Causemetics stayed direct-to-consumer
This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Andrea Bruce with research help from Chris Maccini. Our engineer was Jimmy Keeley.
Follow How I Built This:
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Kim’s inspiration to launch a business came from an unlikely source: Her son’s Crocs. She thought the durable, washable material would make a great beach bag. So she designed one. But after investing her savings—inlcuding some of her kids’ college fund—Kim was crushed when her first major shipment of Bogg bags was defective. It knocked her so off balance, that she put the entire business on hold.
Then something unexpected happened.The few thousand customers who already had a bag….clamored for more. So Kim decided to start over. She borrowed $120,000, found another factory, shared trade show booths with four other founders, and slowly built Bogg Bag into a $100 million phenomenon.
What you'll learn:
Chapters:
06:36 - Growing up without financial security
08:17 - From high-school dropout to a six-figure career
17:19 - Reading “Mommy Millionaire” and dreaming of inventing something
19:41 - The Crocs-on-the-beach moment
24:56 - Kim hits a wall with Crocs, so she decides to make Bogg Bag herself
33:33 - The early prototypes and a nervous visit to a boutique: “I don’t know what this is, but I think I need it.”
41:16 - The first big shipment, a $30,000 defect, and a decision to pull the plug
47:13 - A massive natural disaster presents an opportunity
52:15 - “Now I gotta make this damn bag”
54:45 - A factory showdown in China
59:52 - Starting over with $120,000
01:01:51 - The trade-show “timeshare” in a tiny booth
01:07:12 - Finally quitting her day job
01:10:42 - COVID boosts the business
01:13:28 - The acquisition offer that could have changed everything
01:23:40 - Learning to lead a much bigger company
01:26:13 - The dream of a family legacy
This episode was produced by J.C. Howard, with music by Ramtin Arablouei.
Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Sam Paulson.
Follow How I Built This:
Instagram → @howibuiltthis
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Facebook → How I Built This
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Instagram → @guy.raz
Youtube → guy_raz
X → @guyraz
Substack → guyraz.substack.com
Website → guyraz.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

