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Tag: The CEO Series

  • How Morning Brew’s CEO Succeeds in a Noisy Media Landscape | Entrepreneur

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    In my conversation with Robert Dippell, CEO of Morning Brew, I wasn’t looking for a polished pitch or a viral soundbite — I was looking to understand how someone leads a media company in 2025 without getting swallowed by noise, distraction and industry cliché. What I got was a grounded perspective from someone who seems far more interested in building responsibly than chasing attention.

    Morning Brew’s rise is well-documented — what started as a college project and a newsletter has turned into podcasts, daily shows, video series and events. Dippell, formerly their COO and CRO, took over as CEO in early 2025. He didn’t pretend that leading a media company today is easy. Ad models are unstable, audiences are fragmented, and the pressure to grow is constant. But he wasn’t cynical either. The core idea seemed to be that if you’re honest about who you are as a company — and you empower your team — you can still produce valuable content without selling out or burning out.

    Related: Lessons from Macmillan’s CEO on Leading Through Change Without Losing Your Why

    We talked a lot about media fatigue, from clickbait overload to algorithm-choked social feeds, and how younger professionals are demanding more from their content and the companies that produce it. Not necessarily more volume, but more clarity and personality. Morning Brew, according to Dippell, is trying to meet that moment with a voice that feels like a smart coworker, not a corporate PR blast.

    Dippell didn’t carry himself like someone trying to reinvent the wheel, and that came through in how he talked about his role: not to overhaul, not to hype, but to stay focused on what works and guide a team that already understands its audience well. One theme that stuck out: You can’t just chase scale. Dippell described the trap of media businesses growing for the sake of growing, without clear monetization or audience loyalty. Instead, he’s focused on sustainable business models that prioritize direct relationships over anonymous traffic. It’s less glamorous, but more durable.

    Related: What Quiet Leadership Looks Like in a Loud World — and How It Took This Company to $3B in Revenue

    Dippell didn’t try to make himself the center of the story. There was no ego in how he described his team or Morning Brew’s strategy. That restraint, in a media landscape full of founders-as-personalities, was refreshing. If you’re leading any kind of business in 2025, there’s something to take away from that mindset. In an era of constant noise and hype, maybe clarity, consistency and humility go further than we think.

    In my conversation with Robert Dippell, CEO of Morning Brew, I wasn’t looking for a polished pitch or a viral soundbite — I was looking to understand how someone leads a media company in 2025 without getting swallowed by noise, distraction and industry cliché. What I got was a grounded perspective from someone who seems far more interested in building responsibly than chasing attention.

    Morning Brew’s rise is well-documented — what started as a college project and a newsletter has turned into podcasts, daily shows, video series and events. Dippell, formerly their COO and CRO, took over as CEO in early 2025. He didn’t pretend that leading a media company today is easy. Ad models are unstable, audiences are fragmented, and the pressure to grow is constant. But he wasn’t cynical either. The core idea seemed to be that if you’re honest about who you are as a company — and you empower your team — you can still produce valuable content without selling out or burning out.

    Related: Lessons from Macmillan’s CEO on Leading Through Change Without Losing Your Why

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    William Salvi

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  • CEO Shares Her Playbook for Continuous Growth | Entrepreneur

    CEO Shares Her Playbook for Continuous Growth | Entrepreneur

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    In the competitive world of tech, Amanda Lannert, CEO of Jellyvision, stands out not only for her unconventional career path but also for her dynamic leadership style. Under her guidance, Jellyvision has evolved from a gaming and digital agency into an HR tech company that now serves 25% of Fortune 500 companies. Despite the success, Lannert’s leadership mantra remains rooted in constant improvement. As she puts it, “There is nothing at Jellyvision that can’t be improved. There is nothing about me that can’t be improved. So, where do we want to get started?”

    Related: Inside a Sport Marketing Giant’s Playbook for Connecting Big Brands With Rabid Fans

    Lannert’s journey with Jellyvision began in 2000 when the company was navigating a rapidly changing tech landscape. With little prior experience in technology and gaming, Lannert initially joined Jellyvision hoping to learn and contribute. However, her adaptability and problem-solving skills led her to the role of CEO.

    Her story exemplifies the importance of being open to change and willing to pivot when faced with new challenges. One of her key pieces of advice for leaders is to recognize that, “The world is full of change. There is no more stability. You might as well do what you love with people you like and respect.”

    A pivotal moment in Jellyvision’s transformation was the shift from creating CD-ROM-based games to developing interactive educational software. As Lannert explained, this move was guided by the desire to engage and educate users on complicated subjects like health benefits—a space often neglected in terms of user-centric design. Today, Jellyvision’s flagship product, ALEX, uses engaging, personalized interactions to help employees understand and choose their benefits, a process that can save companies significant costs and boost employee satisfaction.

    Related: How Military Service Taught the CEO of Arc’teryx to Lead with Precision and Passion

    Lannert’s approach to leadership is both refreshing and grounded in authenticity. She emphasizes the need for transparency and integrity in business dealings. “You can do a bad deal with good people, but you can’t do a good deal with bad people,” she shared, highlighting the value she places on character over profit. For aspiring leaders, Lannert suggests focusing on surrounding yourself with individuals who will challenge you and offer truthful feedback. “Find someone who loves you and will tell you the truth,” she advises.

    Ultimately, Lannert stresses that a company’s success is built on its people. “Jellyvision is just a business that was, is, and always will be only as good as the people that we have,” she says. Creating a culture of openness and creativity is central to her leadership strategy. Lannert encourages other CEOs to embrace change and never settle for mediocrity. Her willingness to adapt, paired with her belief that everyone has room for improvement, sets a powerful example for leaders looking to drive growth and innovation in their own organizations.

    Related: How This Latina CEO Created the Fastest-Growing Hispanic Media Company in the U.S.

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    William Salvi

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  • How Al Capone Inspired the Launch of a 95-Year-Old Family-Run Company | Entrepreneur

    How Al Capone Inspired the Launch of a 95-Year-Old Family-Run Company | Entrepreneur

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    Creating our show The CEO Series has allowed me to sit down with some of the most innovative and inspiring business leaders in the world to get their insights on what it takes to launch, grow and sustain a meaningful business.

    This episode took us to Ozinga, the concrete and building material powerhouse. They’re based in Chicago and if you’re in the area, you’re surely familiar with their iconic red and white trucks. They have approximately 2,500 employees and I got to have an amazing chat with the guy who oversees it all, Marty Ozinga, the fourth-generation CEO of this 95-year-old company.

    Below are some highlights of that conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full video above.

    His approach to leadership

    “It’s not the people are working for you, they’re working with you. That’s the way I was mentored and taught. We all need each other. We all have different roles and responsibilities, but we’re working with each other.”

    Related: Why Notre Dame’s Football Coach Tells His Team to “Choose Hard”

    Ozinga’s 95-year history

    “Our family came from the Netherlands in 1893, the year of the World’s Fair here in Chicago. The family was always in the delivery business. Then in 1928, my great-grandfather was working with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department during Prohibition and dealing with the hazards of Al Capone and all of that. He had five kids at home and decided, “You know what? I don’t want to fight Al Capone anymore.” So he started a coal delivery business. And then around 1950, ready mix concrete became the era’s disruptive technology. Ready mixed means that it is batched for delivery from a central plant instead of being mixed on the job site. And so Ozinga became one of the first ready mix providers in the region.”

    Related: This Entrepreneur Started Making Short Videos to Share Her Passion for Cooking. Now Her Food Company Is a Global Powerhouse.

    On their iconic trucks

    “We’ve supplied concrete to iconic Chicago landmarks like Soldier Field and Wrigley Field, so it’s fun to be connected to places like that. And we’re really proud of our trucks’ red and white stripes. I think it was a combination of this keen sense of marketing, but also of national pride. But there’s also some joke that they were Dutch and very frugal and those were the two paint buckets in the garage. So I like both those stories.”

    The power of peacefulness

    “Our dispatch office is the nerve center of the business. It’s where all the orders come in from our customers, and then where we dispatch the trucks. It is intentionally very quiet inside. We’ve tried to get it as quiet and peaceful as possible because historically the dispatch office is a very intense, chaotic, loud and crazy place.”

    Building and sustaining a legacy

    “There’s an emotional connection for my family and this company. We’ve been really fortunate that we get to embed ourselves in communities throughout the Midwest. We’re committed to our employees and our customers — we want to be here for the next hundred years and longer. That’s our intention. And while change is necessary so you don’t get disrupted and die and go out of business, there are certain things that you shouldn’t meddle with. Our core principles are the foundation for who we are and why we do what we do — that should never change.”

    Related: How Personal Passions Fuel Business Success for the CEO of Vivid Seats

    Check out more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Series archives.

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    Will Salvi

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  • This Entrepreneur’s Evolution from Content Creator to Global Business Leader | Entrepreneur

    This Entrepreneur’s Evolution from Content Creator to Global Business Leader | Entrepreneur

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    For our show The CEO Series, I’ve been lucky enough to sit down with some of the smartest and most creative business leaders in the world and get their hard-won advice on what it takes to launch and grow a thriving brand.

    This episode took us to the New York Stock Exchange floor to talk with Norma Chu, founder and CEO of DayDayCook. The direct-to-consumer food and content brand has a reach of over 60 million users and completed its initial public offering in November of 2023. Norma told me that the company’s mission is to promote the joy of Asian cooking to the world through a growing portfolio of authentic Asian food brands focused on convenient ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products.

    Over the course of our conversation, Norma explained the evolution of DayDayCook, her passion for food, her strategy for business building, and, luckily, got me in the kitchen to whip up an insanely delicious red curry noodle lunch.

    Below are some highlights of our conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full video above to learn all of her incredible insights (and to see if Norma was able to turn me into a five-star chef!)

    DayDayCook’s business evolution

    “DayDayCook started about 13 years ago with a simple idea: I wanted to create something that can inspire the future generation to continue to enjoy cooking. And I started doing that by creating a lot of short-form videos and sharing the content on social media platforms like YouTube. For the first three years, we’re really focused on the Hong Kong market. And then later on we expanded into the mainland China market. That’s when we started exploring different things like going into content commerce and incorporating some product recommendations into our video. And from there, I decided to launch our own branded product portfolio.”

    Related: He Built a Personal Finance App That Manages $8 Billion for Half a Million Customers. Here Is the CEO of M1’s Hard-Earned Advice for Future Founders.

    Trends in the food industry

    “There have been a few really interesting trends in recent years. Number one is that three out of five consumers view the kitchen as the new epicenter for creativity and trying new recipes. The second trend is that East Asian cuisine has become more and more popular. And the third trend is that more people are cooking at home. Forty-three percent of consumers find themselves cooking at home more versus twelve months ago.”

    Her passion for spreading joy

    “I always tell people I had two true passions in life: cooking and the stock market. [Laughs] The passion for cooking started at a very young age. My parents and grandparents had a very early influence on me in terms of thinking about cooking not as a chore, but it’s as an act of care. So when you care about what you cook and what you eat and you share that with other people, joy and happiness come naturally. And that’s something very important to the company, continuing to share that joy while preserving our heritage.”

    Related: How Personal Passions Fuel Business Success for the CEO of Vivid Seats

    The keys to success as an entrepreneur

    “When I was young, I didn’t really think about starting my own business. But at a young age, I always liked trying new things. And that carried over to my work life. I worked as a hostess, and as an intern at a private bank and at accounting firms. I also taught Chinese and English in Japan. I think that having that kind of mentality of curiosity and not being afraid of the unknown are some of the key components of being an entrepreneur. And always thinking on the positive side. If you see maybe more people are coming into this space or there’s more innovation in this space, look at that in a positive light. Think about How can I be a part of that? And the third step is really going for it. Not just having an idea. Not just having awareness. When you see the opportunity, you actually seize it and you go for it.”

    Her changing role as CEO

    “I started the company with a co-founder and a very small team. At first, it was about just kind of executing on the early concept of this vision. But then over time, we started raising capital and then a few years later, we decided to take on institutional investor money. So I had to learn different things. I have to learn how to fundraise. What does the series A mean? How do you prepare to pitch to investors? What is a cap table? There are a lot of things to learn. I think it’s just a continuous journey of learning over and over again. That’s a constant of being an entrepreneur and being a CEO.”

    Related: Inside Potbelly’s Recipe for Fast Casual Success

    DayDayCook’s IPO

    “The listing journey itself was an exceptional experience. It challenged my mental toughness in terms of navigating all these different obstacles and staying level-headed and being able to map out the right strategy going forward. It was a rollercoaster. But after accomplishing something like this, I look back and realize it made me stronger and more prepared to become CEO of a listed company. And also I think the entire team just became stronger. You really need to come together to pull off a successful IPO and we did it.”

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    William Salvi

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  • M1 CEO Brian Barnes on Creating a Fintech Platform Built to Last | Entrepreneur

    M1 CEO Brian Barnes on Creating a Fintech Platform Built to Last | Entrepreneur

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    We’ve been visiting the headquarters of some of the most innovative and imaginative leaders in business for The CEO Series, learning what it takes to launch and grow a thriving brand. For this episode, our crew went to the office of M1, a fintech platform that bills itself as “the finance super app.” The powerful online investing and banking platform has raised $315 million at a valuation of about $1.5 billion and manages about $8 billion for half a million customers. I sat down with founder and CEO Brian Barnes to learn all about the platform, how it was created, and his advice to founders on running a company built to last.

    Below are some highlights of our conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. You can watch the full video above.

    The thrill of investing

    “M1 is a personal finance platform. We started the company about eight and a half years ago. We now manage about $8 billion on the platform for half a million customers. And we are really just trying to create the best possible way for someone to manage their finances. And we do that with a lot of personalization, customization, and automation. I was fortunate to be introduced to finance at a pretty young age and I was immediately hooked. I love the idea of investing, of trying to find out what a company’s worth and how it’s operating in a complex world. As an investor, you’re making a high-conviction bet. If you’re right, you make money. If you’re wrong, you lose money. And so, you know, some people like sports gambling. For me, it is what is a company going to be worth in the next five or ten years.”

    Related: The CEO of Catholic Prayer and Meditation App Hallow Says Founders Need to Be Part of Something Bigger Than Themselves

    Doing business in good times and bad

    “We want to create a financial institution that lasts for decades. There are companies out there that have lasted for centuries. If you are around for that period of time, it’s unquestionable that you’re going to have these massive disruptions in the overall market. And so we have been trying to build the organization so that we can survive in any macro environment and not just be tailor-made for one.”

    Calm in the storm

    “I try to stay calm — on the outside. [Laughs] The entrepreneurship quote I love is that the highs are high, the lows are low and they’re ten minutes apart. There are times when you think you’re taking over the world. And then there are times where you’re like, What the hell am I doing? I took all this money, I convinced people to quit their jobs and join me, I’m competing against the Schwabs of the world. But stewing in all of that stress accomplishes nothing. I think maintaining my emotions and figuring out how I can allocate my time productively has been a good attribute that I’ve had as I’ve built the organization.”

    Related: How Personal Passions Fuel Business Success for the CEO of Vivid Seats

    The life of a founder

    “Being a founder of a tech company is more than just being a CEO. You’re both the most senior and most junior person at the company. You get to set direction and strategy and things like that, but in any area where there is not someone dedicated to that role? It’s on you to fill the gap. I would say I played CEO from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. And then I played junior analyst from 11 a.m. to midnight every night. You’re just running around and trying to add value where you can. As you grow, you’d love to put things on pause while you figure out how to scale your team. But that’s not how it works — you’ve got to scale your team and build a product and acquire customers at the same time. There’s a little bit of chaos, but you have to sort of thrive in the chaos.”

    Related: Inside Potbelly’s Recipe for Fast Casual Success

    Legacy of leadership

    “My mom Brenda Barnes was CEO of PepsiCo and Sarah Lee. I mean, that’s a great person to learn from. She was one of seven sisters. They all shared a bedroom. They were a Polish immigrant family in Chicago. Her father was a factory worker. And so, I think she always had an insanely healthy respect for people who did the actual work at her companies. The people who bottled the cola, who loaded the delivery trucks. As a CEO, you need to respect that they know their job better than you. And the leader’s job is to set an example for what you want the values across the company to be. If you could write down all the positive attributes and values that you would want instilled throughout the company, then you better exhibit those things.”

    Check out more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Series archives.

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    William Salvi

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  • Hallow CEO Says Founders Need to Be Part of Something Bigger Than Themselves | Entrepreneur

    Hallow CEO Says Founders Need to Be Part of Something Bigger Than Themselves | Entrepreneur

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    Hallow is the number one Catholic prayer and meditation app in the world with over 12 million downloads. And after a surge in downloads following its Super Bowl ad, it took the top spot on Apple’s App Store across all apps.

    The company has raised a total of $105 million to date, thanks, in large part, to the blood, sweat, and tears of co-founder and CEO Alex Jones. On this episode of The CEO Series, we visited Hallow’s headquarters to speak with Jones about all things business, leadership, and faith. Below are some highlights from that powerful conversation which have been edited for length and clarity.

    Related: With Over $120 Million in Sales, Dude Wipes Is No Joke. Here’s How the Company’s Chief Executive Dude Keeps Things Fun and Profitable.

    Divine inspiration

    “Hallow is a prayer and meditation app for anybody looking to grow closer to God. Its origin goes back to my faith journey. I was raised Catholic but fell away from my faith in high school and college. After I graduated, I got really into meditation. I found these apps that had just launched, Headspace and Calm, and I started using them every day and I loved them. But every time I would meditate, my mind would oddly feel pulled towards something spiritual, like an image of the cross. So I started reaching out to priests, pastors, and folks I knew from Notre Dame and asked what I thought was a really interesting question: Is there any way that there’s some sort of intersection between this faith thing and this meditation thing? And they pretty much all laughed at me and said, “Yeah, we’ve been doing it for 2000 years. It’s called prayer!” And that changed my life. I knew I needed to do this. I knew how to code a little bit so we built the first version and went from there. The app has helped me grow tremendously in my own spirituality, which has been phenomenal.”

    Something bigger than themselves

    “My cousin passed away when he was 45. He died in his sleep randomly. He had just gotten married and his wife was pregnant with their first kid. His mom, who is my aunt, was obviously heartbroken. We had just launched the app and she sent us a note that I have saved to this day. It said, ‘I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to make it through my first Christmas without my son and I just want you to know that these little meditations on the app are the only thing that’s reminded me that I’m able to have hope and that I’m able to get out bed and carry on in this deep time of a pain.’ And I just like broke down crying on the floor in my tiny little studio apartment.”

    Related: ‘Becoming a Unicorn Is Really Just the Beginning’ Leadership Lessons From Tech CEO Godard Abel

    The challenges of fundraising

    “The fundraising thing is super stressful for any CEO because it is crazy hard, especially in today’s world. When you do the seed round, you have no real numbers to speak of. It’s just your own story. And people are just judging you and you’re questioning yourself. Do they like our concept? Are you sitting up straight enough? Are you looking in the eyes? Do I like this guy? I had roughly 80 meetings in the first two weeks, just pitching constantly. I remember I went back to my studio apartment after hearing no after no — people basically telling me that the core of who I am is stupid and this idea is never going to work. It was so heavy. I was so stressed. My heart was in pain. My back had all these knots in it. I started praying and I said, ‘God, look, this is too much. I can’t do this. I’m done. I can’t take this weight.’ And then I was like, ‘I’m gonna make a deal with you. I promise if this thing works out, you’re always gonna get the credit. I’m never gonna trick myself into thinking I’m some successful startup CEO who figured all this stuff out. It was all you.’ That massive weight immediately lifted and the next day we went for a pitch meeting at a coffee shop with this guy and he gave us a term sheet. And we then get like three, four more the next day. It was just God being like, ‘Just wait.’ I just needed to surrender.”

    Advice to founders

    “You have to find something bigger than yourself. You have to, there’s no choice.”

    Check out more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Series archives.

    Related: Inside Potbelly’s Recipe for Fast Casual Success

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  • Insights From a Tech CEO on Building a Billion-Dollar Business | Entrepreneur

    Insights From a Tech CEO on Building a Billion-Dollar Business | Entrepreneur

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    I’m on a mission to meet and pick the brains of some of the most successful and innovative leaders in business. On this episode of The CEO Series, we went to the headquarters of G2 in Chicago, a software marketplace and review platform that has raised $257 million at a valuation of over a billion dollars, which makes them a unicorn.

    Godard Abel, G2’s co-founder and CEO, sat down with me to share his perspective and philosophy on leadership — what it takes to manage the health of the business, engagement of employees, expectations of stakeholders and so much more.

    Related: Inside Potbelly’s Recipe for Fast Casual Success

    Abel previously built cloud CPQ pioneers BigMachines (which was acquired by Oracle) and SteelBrick (which was acquired by Salesforce) so his insights are invaluable to anyone hoping to launch and go big. Below are some highlights from our conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full video above.

    The realities of achieving a unicorn status

    “It was an amazing milestone. We had an amazing party. I loved becoming a unicorn. But then you wake up the next day, and you’re committed to giving at least three times that back to your investors. We raised $157 million that first round, so really we have to give them about $500 million back. So it’s a big commitment as a founder and CEO. It’s really the beginning of your next journey that hopefully ends with a successful public offering that gives those investors at least three times their money back — hopefully much more. But it’s many years of work to get to that next peak. It feels great, but it’s also a commitment to getting to that next peak.”

    Related: With Over $120 Million in Sales, Dude Wipes Is No Joke. Here’s How the Company’s Chief Executive Dude Keeps Things Fun and Profitable.

    His entrepreneurial beginnings

    “My first business was in high school. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was called Ultimate Car Care and I started with my best friend at the time, Joe. His dad had a nice red Corvette. We had prom coming up, so we took a picture in nice tuxedos in front of this Corvette. We wanted to do detailing for fancy cars, so we used the photo to make fliers with our phone number on it and that’s how we launched. I was born in Germany into a family of entrepreneurs. My father took over a family business from my grandfather who I always admired. My grandfather started the company in Germany in 1947, two years after WWII. He did it in the industrial part of Northwest Germany, which had gotten bombed to rubble. And I always think about that when I am facing struggles. I think wow, it’s nothing like those struggles.”

    Related: Avoid These 3 Key Mistakes for Team Success in 2024

    What drives him

    “I think almost all entrepreneurs go through failure. Usually, you struggle for years. For almost every successful entrepreneur I meet, it comes down to this: don’t quit, keep going. And that also applies after you’ve begun to find success. We talk about our ‘peak culture’ at G2. I do think we’re meant as humans to be climbing peaks. And so in that sense, I never want to stop climbing. I’ve had good breaks and I probably could retire and just sit on the beach. But I don’t believe I would feel gratified. And frankly, I don’t think any human would. I think we’re meant to strive, we’re meant to climb, we’re meant to have a purpose. And I think entrepreneurship really gives that to me.”

    Check out more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Series archives.

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    William Salvi

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  • Inside Dude Wipe’s $120 Million Success Story | Entrepreneur

    Inside Dude Wipe’s $120 Million Success Story | Entrepreneur

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    CEOs carry a lot of weight. They manage businesses, people, expectations of stakeholders, and so much more. What makes these people tick and what does it take to be successful in this role? That’s what I’m on a mission to find out with The CEO Series. I’m heading to the workplaces of inspiring business leaders to learn their personal stories and gain insights into their methods for getting the best out of their employees and themselves.

    Related: Avoid These 3 Key Mistakes for Team Success in 2024

    On this episode, I visited Sean Riley, CEO of Dude Wipes. It’s a really fun brand that has outrageous marketing, but they are no joke. They’re projecting to do over $120 million in sales, and they are disrupting the entire toilet paper industry. Here are some key takeaways from that conversation. Watch the video above to hear everything Sean had to say about the dynamic growth of the powerhouse company.

    On stepping into the role of a CEO

    “Well, the first thing I did was change my title. I call myself the Chief Executive Dude because that’s more fun and that’s more who I am. And that’s what Dude Wipes is supposed to be. Just because you’re a CEO doesn’t mean you can’t be yourself.”

    The surprising truth you learn as a CEO

    “You have to kind of transition to doing less and being there more for people in a supportive way. You have to learn to let things go when you become a CEO, which maybe people don’t realize. They think, ‘Oh, the CEO does it all the stuff. Things keep piling up on their desk and they’ve got to do this, this and that.’ But that’s not what you want to do as the CEO. You want to have great people around you and have them grow and inspire them to do well. Think of Phil Jackson’s journey. You’re not taking the last shot on the court anymore. You’re not the star player. You’re stepping off the court trying to be the Zen Master. You’re trying to make sure that all of the things in all of the different parts of your business work well together.”

    Origin story

    “Our origin story is a fun and authentic one that I think a lot of people can relate to. It was me and my buddies sitting around, wanting to come up with a great business idea. And I put these baby wipes in the apartment and everyone started getting hooked on them. They were so much better than toilet paper and we started to wonder Why doesn’t something like this exist? From there it was all about figuring out how to build a brand that represented who we were at the time. Guys sitting on a couch, eating burritos, drinking beers, Googling everything. making phone calls. Who can make these wipes? How do I incorporate a company? It was just about knocking out one thing after another.”

    On the key to success

    “We made $150,000 our first year, which kind of blew our minds. But it was the emotional reactions we saw from people very early on that gave us more confidence than probably the revenue. When Dude Wipes got into people’s hands, they laughed or they passed them to other people. Making people laugh, and getting them talking was a high that kept pushing us. That belief that this will connect with people is everything. You have to believe day one this will be big. If you don’t, you won’t make it to some of these breakout moments like when we got on Shark Tank. We saw that customers liked it, so we believed we could do all these insane things and disrupt a huge toilet paper industry.”

    Hear more from Sean about running a company with a truly unique culture in the above video. And check out more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting The CEO Series archives.

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    William Salvi

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