Know Your Ship

Chris Lang didn't build a brand first. He built a community, and the brand followed.

In this episode, Chris Lang, co-founder of Fresh Chile Co., shares his path from growing up on a Cherokee reservation in extreme poverty to building one of the most community-driven e-commerce brands in the country.

Chris and host Frank Dolce talk through the moment he realized he was overcommitted across ten different businesses, why he walked away...

From sewer pipes to sales pitches, Romm Jackson's career has been anything but conventional.

In this episode, Romm Jackson, Head of Sales at Modo Studios, shares how an unplanned career path shaped the way he sells. His journey took him from leading a Planet Fitness location through COVID to working in industrial manhole repair and overseeing international call centers at TravelPass, with each role teaching him something new about p...

Some businesses are inherited. Zwick Construction was built from nothing, twice.

In this episode, Darin Zwick, President and CEO of Zwick Construction, shares the story of his family's construction company — founded by his grandfather in 1969, shut down entirely when his father left to serve a church mission, and rebuilt from scratch by Darin in 2007, just months before the 2008 recession.

Darin and host Frank Dolce discuss th...

From throwing boxes in a warehouse to helping scale four of the most disruptive consumer brands of the last two decades, Daylen Bushman's career reads like a masterclass in operational leadership.

In this episode, Daylen Bushman, Chief Operating Officer at Gozney, a company known for its outdoor pizza ovens, shares his path through Skullcandy, Goal Zero, and Traeger before landing at Gozney. Daylen and host Frank Dolce talk through ...

Sometimes the best ROI story isn't the big client — it's the nobody you helped become somebody.

In this episode, Trevor Crump, co-founder of Bestie Media and host of The Unstoppable Marketer podcast, breaks down what it actually takes to differentiate a brand in a market flooded with content.

Trevor and host Frank Dolce dig into why "good" products are just table stakes; how influencer marketing has evolved from big-name endor...

What if 1,000 orders could be picked, packed, and shipped in three clicks?

In this episode, Ron Bester shares his winding path from a professional BMX racer to leading e-commerce and fulfillment operations at several major online retailers, and how years of watching order management needlessly remain complicated led him to build his own solution.

Ron and host Frank Dolce dig into the ROI of automation, why simplicity is the real goa...

Some fathers and sons build memories together. Brynden King and his dad built a company.

In this episode, Brynden King, VP of Sales and VP of Business Development at FFE Solutions Group, shares what it took to go from warehouse floor to leadership, working alongside his father and co-founder, Jeremy King. He and host Frank Dolce talk about earning his place as more than "the founder's son," scaling FFE's fulfillment operations, and ...

What does 18 years in the Army teach you about running a warehouse? For David Luna, Senior Manager of Fulfillment at DIME Beauty, it comes down to one idea: it's never just "your" problem — it's "we."

In this episode, David breaks down how military leadership shapes the way he runs a fulfillment team, from staying humble enough to be challenged by his own people, to building real relationships across every department. Whether ...

How do you know when it's time to sell the business you built from scratch? In this founder story, Jenny Wecker (founder of Fawn Design) reveals how she secretly sold her 12-year brand—making the call using 50% data and 50% gut feeling.

In this episode of Know Your Ship, Jenny opens up about starting Fawn Design at 21 with no business background, building it into a multimillion-dollar brand, and transitioning from owner to tea...

What’s the ROI of turning down a sale? Travis Stringham, owner of Origin Brand Merch, built a national custom merchandise business by rejecting quick transactions to focus on brand strategy, client trust, and long-term e-commerce growth.

In this conversation, Travis shares his founder story—from leaving a commercial banking career to scaling a basement hustle into the origin story behind Junior Jazz and custom gear for ...

How do you move 25,000 sq ft of robotics in 5 weeks? In this episode, Leo Alves breaks down the realities of warehouse automation, AI agents, and why human-in-the-loop logistics matter.

Whether you're scaling an e-commerce brand, evaluating warehouse management systems (WMS), or navigating supply chain growth, this conversation covers what it actually takes to build a smart warehouse.

Key Timestamps:

[00:00] — Relocating 25,000 ...

Jose Montoya co-founded Otishi, a gym shoe brand that's grown from a $60K Kickstarter launch to $1.2M in annual revenue in just three years. Jose joins this episode of Know Your Ship to share how Otishi found its breakout moment through a single viral TikTok video, and what it took to turn that moment into a sustainable, growing brand.

Jose breaks down the e-commerce fundamentals behind Otishi's growth: finding product-market fit, b...

Is modern education teaching kids how to think, or what to think? In this founder story, Balance of Nature CEO and Liberty Village founder Lex Howard explains why he is building a business with a massive physical purpose: constructing a 140-acre, full-scale replica of 1776 America to combat division and political partisanship.While Lex usually manages the complex global logistics, supply chain, and e-commerce shipping demands of ru...

Some companies chase trends. Balance of Nature was built on the opposite bet — that people already knew what they needed to do, they just needed someone to make it possible.

Lex Howard, CEO and owner of Balance of Nature, and Cedric Ebisch, Executive Vice President, unpack how they took that founding bet and built a company disciplined enough to scale it nationally, long after face-to-face selling alone could no longer suppor...

Why is fast shipping actually hurting your brand? Geoff Tamman (CFO & Operations at Shipium) breaks down why delivery predictability builds significantly more long-term value than raw speed in e-commerce shipping.

Discover how nine seasons of commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska, shaped the risk management, team alignment, and operational discipline needed to run a high-growth logistics technology company.

In this builder ...

In this episode of Know Your Ship, we return with the second edition of eHub Gives a Ship — our segment highlighting individuals and organizations working to do good in the world and create meaningful community impact.Host Frank Dolce, alongside co-host Preston Cochrane, sits down with Kelsey Lewis, Executive Director of Friends of the Children Utah. Kelsey breaks down how she built a fully operational Utah chapter from the g...

This e-commerce founder story reveals how Lissy Skincare built a 7-figure brand with zero paid ads. Learn the realities of custom formulation logistics, organic influencer marketing, and transitioning from vibes-based marketing to data-driven business leadership when building a business from scratch.A million dollars in revenue. No ads. No investors. No formal business plan. Just a product that actually worked and an audience that ...

How do you scale a creative passion into a global, digital-first retail brand? The executive staff at Natural Life breaks down the backend mechanics, operational adjustments, and organizational culture required to sustain hyper-growth. For founders managing rapid digital expansion, this case study details how to align internal talent and protect brand integrity.In this customer story panel, we deep-dive into the logistics of an e-c...