911 Saif Khawaja: Co-Founder & CEO of Seremoni and Shinkei Systems

Sometimes the biggest opportunities are hiding in the most familiar categories. On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Elisabeth Galvin, Co-Founder of Stellar Snacks, the mother-daughter-owned company reinventing one of America's most classic snacks: the pretzel. We talk about how Elisabeth and her daughter Gina built Stellar from scratch, why they chose to take on the complexity of manufacturing themselves, and how unexpected flavors like Maui Monk and French Dijon helped them bring something completely different to the category. Elisabeth also shares what it's really like to build a company with your daughter, why Stellar puts taste ahead of trends, the story behind its unique Artist Program, and what more than 30 years as an entrepreneur have taught her about spotting opportunities and building brands that last. This is a great conversation about entrepreneurship, family, food, and having the courage to rethink a category everyone else takes for granted. Listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts. 🎧

What happens when you make it to the top of your industry—and decide to start over? On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Chris Salgardo, Founder and CEO of ATWATER, and former President of Kiehl’s. After more than 40 years in beauty, Chris left the corporate world to build a skincare and grooming brand of his own. We talk about what nearly two decades at Kiehl’s taught him about building brands that last, why he decided to become an entrepreneur, what men still get wrong about skincare, and why simpler, high-performance routines are winning with consumers. Chris has seen the beauty business from almost every angle—from starting as a makeup artist at 18 to leading major brands and ultimately becoming a founder himself. This is a great conversation about reinvention, starting over, and what decades of experience can teach you about building something new. Listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts. 🎧

Luxury is hard to break into. Building a new luxury brand from scratch—and aiming for $100 million—is an entirely different challenge. ✨ On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Lola Banjo, Founder and Chief Executive of Silver & Riley, the luxury fashion and travel accessories brand she launched in 2019. Lola built Silver & Riley while balancing a demanding corporate career, investing her own capital and learning firsthand that understanding business and actually building one are two very different things. Today, Silver & Riley is a multimillion-dollar business with an incredibly loyal customer base and a hero product—the New Yorker Bag—that has repeatedly sold out. But Lola isn’t thinking small. Her goal is to reach $100 million in annual sales by year ten and ultimately build a billion-dollar global luxury house. We talk about what happens after you’ve proven product-market fit, why finding your next customer can be harder than keeping the ones you already have, and what really changes as you try to go from millions to $100 million. Lola also gets candid about putting her own money into the business, the hidden cost of being undercapitalized, scaling manufacturing without sacrificing quality, and why some founders seem to get funded on potential while others are expected to show up with proof. If you’re interested in luxury, consumer brands, capital, entrepreneurship, or what it really takes to turn a successful company into a much bigger one—this is a conversation you’ll want to hear. You can find it here or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 🎧

What does it take to turn one big idea into a $100M+ brand that lasts? On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Matt Scanlan, Co-Founder and CEO of NAADAM—the cashmere brand that started with a trip to Mongolia and a plan to rethink the industry. We talk about the $98 sweater that helped put NAADAM on the map, what consumers get wrong about cashmere, and what Matt has learned about growth, profitability, failure, and knowing when to double down—or walk away. After more than a decade of building, Matt has plenty to say about what it really takes to create a brand with staying power. This is a great conversation for anyone building something of their own. Listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts. 🎧

What if one of the biggest opportunities in consumer products is hiding in a category most people don’t even want to talk about? On today’s episode, we welcome Sam Nebel, Co-Founder, Chief Commercial Officer — and King of All Wipes — at goodwipes, the bold personal hygiene brand changing the way people think about one of the most basic routines in our lives. Sam and his team have taken flushable wipes from an overlooked category and made them fun, culturally relevant, and increasingly mainstream, with goodwipes now sold at major retailers including Target, Walmart, and Kroger. In this episode, Sam shares how goodwipes is challenging the status quo in personal hygiene, what makes a wipe actually flushable, and why “butt health” may be the next frontier of wellness. We also get into what it really takes to win in CPG — from retail velocity, category analytics, manufacturing, and supply chain to building a company in the field instead of behind a laptop. Plus, Sam shares why “team > founder,” how his philosophy of “have fun and get sh*t done” shapes the culture, and what brands can learn from goodwipes’ unexpected collaborations with OLIPOP and Liquid Death. If you’re interested in entrepreneurship, CPG, retail, brand building, consumer behavior, or how to turn an overlooked category into a brand people actually want to talk about — this one’s for you. Tune in now on The Kara Goldin Show. 🎧