In this episode Scott Cunningham and I dive into something that honestly changed everything for me when it comes to Meta ads and getting a real return on ad spend. Scott is the creator of the Storyselling Formula and the moment I came across his work I knew I had to bring him on to…
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Common Thread Collective is now an owner in Commerce Roundtable. In this episode, Taylor with Jimmy Kim, founder of Commerce Roundtable, to tell the full story of how this partnership came together and why in-person events matter more than ever. Jimmy shares the origin story of Commerce Roundtable, from a 50-person CBD roundtable in a…
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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Lara Vandenberg, CEO and Founder of Assemble, which connects brands with senior freelance marketing talent on demand. Lara shares why traditional marketing organizational structures are breaking down, and how leading CMOs are rethinking how work actually gets done. They explore the shift…
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Enterprise AI programs rarely fail because of bad ideas. More often, they get stuck in ungoverned pilot mode and never reach production. At a recent VentureBeat event, technology leaders from MassMutual and Mass General Brigham explained how they avoided that trap — and what the results look like when discipline replaces sprawl. At MassMutual, the…
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The mantra of the modern tech industry was arguably coined by Facebook (before it became Meta): “move fast and break things.” But as enterprise infrastructure has shifted into a dizzying maze of hybrid clouds, microservices, and ephemeral compute clusters, the “breaking” part has become a structural tax that many organizations can no longer afford to…
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Russell Breuer is the Founder and CEO of Spot & Tango, an innovative pet health and wellness brand that provides dogs with high quality, human grade meals, delivered direct-to-consumer. Russell was inspired by his dog, Jack, to create the company, which now has over $100+ million in annual revenue and has sold over 120 million…
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Subscribe to DTC Newsletter – https://dtcnews.link/signup http://cocktailbuddies.com Tao, founder of Acid Buddy, joined the show to talk about a product that feels early, unusual, and potentially huge: flavored acids. After years working in bars and consulting, he kept running into the same issue. Citrus was inconsistent, messy, expensive, and limiting. So instead of treating acid…
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On today’s episode, we welcome Meredith Mills-Merritt, Founder and CEO of The Original Southside — the premium gin-based ready-to-drink cocktail brand redefining what “clean” and “craft” mean in the spirits industry.
Inspired by her mom Leah’s beloved gin, lemonade, and mint summer cooler, Meredith transformed a nostalgic family recipe into a fast-growing national brand. With a background in prestige beauty, she approached beverage the way few founders do — with precision around formulation, ingredient transparency, and sensory experience. The result is a 10% ABV cocktail made with certified organic, vegan, gluten-free ingredients, sweetened with 100% sugarcane, and crafted with a proprietary gin distilled in Vermont. Since launching in 2024, The Original Southside has expanded into 20+ markets and landed at retailers like Whole Foods and Total Wine — all while building a bold, vintage-meets-modern brand identity that stands out on shelf and at major cultural events.
In this episode, Meredith shares what it takes to break into a heavily regulated, traditionally male-dominated industry, how she defines “premium” in today’s ingredient-conscious world, and the lessons she’s learned scaling quickly without compromising quality. From retail strategy to brand storytelling to mindful drinking, this conversation is a masterclass in turning personal inspiration into a polished, high-growth consumer brand.
If you’re interested in the future of mindful drinking, building mission-driven companies, or how founders successfully reinvent themselves, this episode is for you. Tune in now on The Kara Goldin Show.
Are you interested in sponsoring and advertising on The Kara Goldin Show, which is now in the Top 1% of Entrepreneur podcasts in the world? Let me know by contacting me at karagoldin@gmail.com. You can also find me @KaraGoldin on all networks.
To learn more about Meredith Mills-Merritt and The Original Southside:
https://www.drinksouthsides.com
https://www.instagram.com/drinksouthsides/
https://www.instagram.com/meredithleahmerritt/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithleahmills/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/theoriginalsouthside/
Sponsored By:
AT&T Business – Switch to AT&T Business at business.att.com
RULA – Go to Rula.com/KARAGOLDIN for convenient therapy that’s covered by insurance.
Check out our website to view this episode’s show notes: https://karagoldin.com/podcast/822
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Andrew Youderian is the founder and CEO of Ecommerce Fuel, a private community for 7 and 8 figure ecommerce businesses. This data is from Andrew’s “Ecom Fuel Trends Report” which surveyed 300 ecommerce stores. Get the full report at https://ecommercefuel.com/blueprint. Get Andrew’s “Financial Mastery For Ecom Owners” course at https://ecommercefuel.com/mastery. Listen to the Ecommerce Fuel…
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Presented by Capital One Data security remains one of the least mature domains in enterprise cybersecurity. According to IBM, 35% of breaches in 2025 involved unmanaged data source or “shadow data.” This reveals a systemic lack of basic data awareness. It’s not because of a lack of tooling or investment. It’s because many organizations still…
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