Finding Your Niche
30 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -Welcome to Finding Your Niche, hosted by Willow Creek Media’s founder Jake Kranz. On this podcast you’ll find a mix of interviews and monologues centered around two things:
1. What business leaders have done to find their personal niche’s in life.
2. What companies do to gain access to and activate their target audiences.
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Episodes
#25: Shifting from B2B to B2C Marketing Amongst COVID with Mike Arnold from FloWater
February 02, 2021 11:00 - 38 minutes - 53.5 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Mike Arnold, the CMO of Flo Water, a brand on a mission to share clean, cool water with everyone across the United States. In the show we primarily discuss what Flo Water is and how its marketing strategy has shifted away from B2B and towards B2C because of COVID-19. To get in touch with Mike you can do so below: Mike's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-s-arnold/ ----- Our Website: Willowcreekmedia.com ...
Finding Your Niche #24: Two of the Twin Cities' Finest Creatives
January 26, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 42.4 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Jordan Lundell and Tyler Webb, two freelance creatives from the Twin Cities that are on a similar path as me. In the show, we discuss our lives, careers, fears, strengths, and weaknesses, and explore what we're all up to right now as we head into 2021. To get in touch with Jordan and Tyler you can do so below. -- Jordan's Instagram: @jordanlundell Tyler's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylermwebb/ ----- ...
#23: Expanding My Powder Snowledge with Eric Lee O’Brien
January 12, 2021 11:00 - 28 minutes - 38.7 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Eric Lee O’Brien, the Co-Founder and CEO of Snowledge, the only app you need on the mountain. Eric started his career interested in law, but always had a passion for the outdoors and being on the slopes. In 2013 he stepped into Snowledge full time and has been building its brand and their following ever since. To download Snowledge, visit Apple’s App Store, the Google Play Store, or click below: Apple App Store: https:...
#22: Moving to Boulder and Blending Nuts with Justin Gold
December 23, 2020 16:30 - 55 minutes - 75.9 MBIn today’s episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a well-known name in the CPG space. His name is Justin Gold and he is the founder of the famous brand Justin’s which makes high-quality nut butter that you can find just about anywhere you shop. In the show, we talked about his founding story, what he’s done to find his people out in Colorado, and what the future holds for him and his brand. This is his story… ----- Justin’s Website: http://www.justins.com/ Buy some nut butter here: ...
Finding My Niche #2 - A Little Something About If Marketing Works
December 08, 2020 11:00 - 11 minutes - 15.8 MBIn today’s episode, I took another step in my journey to find my niche and did an overview of what I've learned about marketing in the last few months / years. Let me know what you think! Here's a link to a good video I did a while ago with Scott Paul from Wooly about Word of Mouth and referral marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZiXdz1VLaI&t=2s ----- Our Website: Willowcreekmedia.com Jake's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakekranz/ Subscribe to Finding Your Niche: htt...
#21 : How to Find Your People with Mick White
November 24, 2020 11:00 - 35 minutes - 49 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I was joined by a friend of mine, Mick White, who is the founder of 100 Year Manifesto, his life and business coaching business. Mick is one of the most humble, disarming people I know and today we did a deep dive into what it means to find your niche in life and what you can do if you haven’t found it yet. Be sure to go check out his son Macallister’s YouTube channel at Macallister Ultimate. I hope you enjoy ----- Mick’s LinkedIn: https://www.l...
#20: Selling to Grow: an Entrepreneur's Journey with Brian Bosché
November 17, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 47 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I was joined by Brian Bosché, the co-founder of Slope a collaborative marketing software that was acquired by SmartSheet in 2019. He’s also the host of CreativeBTS, a podcast that goes behind the scenes with marketing and creative leaders to discuss their campaigns, strategies, and projects. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy :) ----- Brian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianpbosche/ Brian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Br...
Finding My Niche #1 - A Little Something About Introversion and Extroversion
November 10, 2020 11:00 - 4 minutes - 6.84 MBIn today’s episode I wanted to try something a little different and share some things that I’ve been learning and what I’m doing to find my personal niche in life. Today I wanted to talk about introversion and extroversion and how those two seemingly opposite ends of a spectrum have played out in my life. I hope you enjoy… Link to good video about introversion and extroversion from ASAPScience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfjN15zsPyQ ----- Our Website: Willowcreekmedia.com Jake's L...
#19: Building an Apparel Brand with Nick Lamothe from Legends
November 03, 2020 11:00 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Nick Lamothe, the Chief Marketing Officer at Legends, a fashion-forward athletic apparel brand based out of California. Nick has worked for brands like Reebok and Adidas and ran his own e-commerce agency for a while with some business partners. In the show we discuss the differences between branding and direct marketing as well as what brings them together. I hope you enjoy :) ----- Nick’s LinkedIn: https://www.link...
#18: Developing, Deploying, and Tracking a Marketing Strategy with Serial CMO Mark Lewis
October 20, 2020 10:00 - 38 minutes - 53.4 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Mark Lewis, a multi-company CMO that was most recently at Tres Agaves, a Tequila company based out of California. Mark is an incredibly experienced marketer having overseen analytics and marketing for brands such as Mitsubishi Motors, Blue Shield of California, NBA 2k, Premier Protein, adn several others. In today’s episode, we shared a conversation about what truly goes into a company’s marketing strategy and what can ...
#17: Content-based Networking with James Carbary
October 13, 2020 10:00 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with James Carbary the Founder of Sweet Fish Media, a podcast agency based out of Central Florida. James and his team founded Sweet Fish Media in early 2015 and transitioned a few times before becoming a podcast agency focusing on helping B2B brands, especially SaaS products, connect with their customers through content-based networking. James is one of the main reasons I started my podcast and it was my absolute pleasure to...
#16: Innovation in Brick and Mortar Retail with Mike Fogarty
October 08, 2020 11:00 - 24 minutes - 34.2 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Mike Fogarty, the founder, and CEO of Choice, a better for you food market with 3 locations in Colorado. Choice has placed a strong emphasis on technology and innovation since its inception and because of this, they’ve developed a strong brand and have been able to rapidly grow in the over-crowded brick and mortar retail industry. This is their story… ----- Our Website: Willowcreekmedia.com Jake's LinkedIn: https://w...
#15: Asynchronous Video Interviews with Matt Baxter
September 29, 2020 10:00 - 22 minutes - 30.3 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Matt Baxter, the Founder and CEO of Wedge, an asynchronous video solution for HR firms and large organizations. Matt is an entrepreneur through and through and is the host of the Matt Baxter show which focuses on helping people find their purpose. His SaaS product, Wedge, is an asynchronous video solution that prospective employees use as a part of the hiring process to introduce themselves to recruiting teams. I’ve be...
#14: Spiritual Awakenings and the Road to Entrepreneurship with Connor Griggs
September 22, 2020 10:00 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Connor Griggs, the Founder of Tropical Tundra, a clothing brand on a mission to save the world’s nature from the tropics to the tundra. Connor started his career after graduating from the University of Minnesota at Mankato in 2014 and was initially a consultant working with medical device companies. Later he started his own consultancy and after a set of unfortunate events in his life he decided to take a trip down to S...
#13: Wurk Services and the Early Stages of Starting a Business with Xander Kazanowski
September 15, 2020 10:00 - 27 minutes - 37.2 MBThis episode of Finding Your Niche was an absolute vibe from start to finish. I sat down with Xander Kazanowski the Founder and CEO of Wurk an early stage Odd Jobs staffing firm based out of Chicago. Xander dropped out of college last year and starting connecting two ends of the odd job market, people with wurk, and wurkers. It was a blast sitting down with him and some of the other boys on their team in today’s episode as they navigate the early stages of their company. Here’s the...
#12: Entrepreneurship with Chris Joyce
August 27, 2020 10:00 - 47 minutes - 65.9 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Chris Joyce, the Founder, and CEO of Gusher. This episode is a super dense, value-packed interview of Chris’s takes on some questions centered around entrepreneurship. I hope you enjoy -- Chris’s Contact Info: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dealrules/ Website: https://gusher.co/
#11: Buyer Enablement and Building a Personal Brand with Josh Fedie from SalesReach
August 20, 2020 15:07 - 50 minutes - 68.7 MBIn today’s episode, I shared a conversation with Josh Fedie, the Founder of SalesReach, a buyer enablement interface built for B2B Brands. Josh spent several years of his career working for agencies and later started his own. Unfortunately a few years into his journey at his agency he simultaneously lost several major clients and was in the process of closing down shop when he revisited the buyer enablement tool that he built and started thinking about how he could turn it into a business....
#10: Alex Varouhas - CEO and Co-Founder at Avocadish
August 13, 2020 11:00 - 26 minutes - 36.5 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Alex Varouhas, the Co-Founder and CEO of Avocadish an avocado bar that recently launched in Dinky Town. Alex started his “career” and work-life as a professional gamer playing Halo when he decided to drop out of high school. A few years later, without a high school degree, he moved to Minnesota and attended a community college before ultimately going to the U of MN. In 2018, Alex took a bus trip while traveling in Portu...
#9: Bret Caretsky - CEO and Co-Founder at Unicorn Drinks
August 04, 2020 11:00 - 38 minutes - 52.6 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Bret Caretsky the CEO and Co-Founder at Unicorn Drinks Bret is a former lacrosse player from the University of Maryland and U-Mass Amherst. Coming out of college he jumped into a career in consulting and in 2014 he launched the Montauk Juice Factory in Montauk New York. It was here while working on the launch of The End in Brooklyn that Bret and his business partner came up with the idea of The Unicorn. -- Bret’s Link...
#8: Liz Tunheim Sheets - Chief Marketing Officer at Tunheim
July 28, 2020 11:00 - 32 minutes - 44.2 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Liz Tunheim Sheets, the CMO at Tunheim. Liz is a University of Minnesota graduate and started her career working as a freelance marketer while working for Destination X Television back in the early 2000s. From there she worked in experiential marketing for Best Buy and later worked as a Social Media Manager at Spyder Trap before ultimately coming back to work for Tunheim, the communications company that her mom, Kathy T...
#7: Alex French - Co-Founder and CEO at Bizzy
July 21, 2020 11:00 - 21 minutes - 30 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Alex French, the Co-Founder and CEO of Bizzy a cold brew coffee brand based out of the Twin Cities. Alex started his career working as an investment banking analyst at Lazard, then spent a few years working as an analyst for two of Minnesota’s largest companies, Best Buy and General Mills. In his time at General Mills, Alex shifted into a role working for 301 Inc. General Mills’s venture capital arm and brand elevator. ...
#6: Stephen Pacinelli - Chief Marketing Officer at BombBomb
July 14, 2020 13:54 - 31 minutes - 43.4 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Steve Pacinelli, the Chief Marketing Officer at BombBomb a software service that enables companies to build better business relationships with video messaging via email. Think about receiving an email as a video instead of simply words on a screen. BombBomb is a pretty fascinating product and Steve is a great and was a pleasure to have on the show. I hope you enjoy :) -- Steve’s Info: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin....
#5: Dan Slagen - Chief Marketing Officer at ClimaCell
July 07, 2020 11:00 - 35 minutes - 49.2 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I shared a conversation with Dan Slagen, the Chief Marketing Officer at ClimaCell a Weather Intelligence Platform which enables businesses to forecast weather, so they can proactively optimize their business plans. Think companies like Uber, the United States Air Force, and Delta. Dan is a super interesting guy with a ton of marketing knowledge, and I personally got a lot out of this one... I hope you enjoy :) -- Dan’s Info: LinkedIn: https://ww...
#4 - Allison Phillips - CEO and President of the National Podcast Association
June 30, 2020 13:25 - 35 minutes - 48.5 MBAllison Phillips is the current President and CEO of the National Podcast Association. Her career started in Hollywood following her graduation from college and she slowly found her way back to Milwaukee where she launched EDGE Sports and began building her media company, EDGE Marketing and Media which is home to the EDGE Podcast Network and soon to be EDGE radio. Her team has most recently launched the Wisconsin Podcast Association and is in the process of launching the National Podcast A...
#4: Allison Phillips - CEO and President of the National Podcast Association
June 30, 2020 13:25 - 35 minutes - 48.5 MBAllison Phillips is the current President and CEO of the National Podcast Association. Her career started in Hollywood following her graduation from college and she slowly found her way back to Milwaukee where she launched EDGE Sports and began building her media company, EDGE Marketing and Media which is home to the EDGE Podcast Network and soon to be EDGE radio. Her team has most recently launched the Wisconsin Podcast Association and is in the process of launching the National Podcast A...
#3: Ross Overline - Co-Founder and CEO at Scholars of Finance
June 23, 2020 11:00 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBToday’s episode of Finding Your Niche is a fun recording from a live event a few weeks ago hosted by the Wisconsin Podcast Association. In the show, I sat down with Ross Overline, the Co-founder and CEO of Scholars of Finance to discuss the founding of Scholars of Finance and all of the great work that the rest of the SOF team is doing across the country right now. Connect with Ross below: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossoverline/ Website: https://scholarsoffinance.org/
#2: Scott Paul - Chief Executive Officer at Wooly
June 16, 2020 11:00 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MBIn today’s episode of Finding Your Niche, I sat down with Scott Paul the founder and CEO of Wooly inc., a marketing software company based out of Utah, to discuss his theory behind C-Commerce, and the digital word of mouth platform that he and his team are building right now called Wooly. -- Scott’s Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottpaul2/ Website: https://www.wooly.com/
#1: Mark Samuel - Founder and CEO of IWON Organics
June 09, 2020 06:00 - 26 minutes - 35.8 MBWelcome to the very first episode of Finding Your Niche!! I wanted to start by thanking everyone that’s supported me so far as I’ve been preparing to launch this show and Willow Creek Media and I’m excited to get this show going with a bang. In today’s show, I had on one of the highest energy people I know, Mark Samuel, the Founder, and CEO of IWON Organics a plant-based protein snack company out of California. In the episode, we dig into Mark’s story and the big things that are happening...
Introducing: Finding Your Niche
June 03, 2020 17:16 - 32 seconds - 772 KBHello and welcome to Finding Your Niche! I’ll be your host, Jake Kranz, and in this podcast, you will find a mix of interviews, conversations, and wonderful stories about how individuals and companies found or are finding their niches. If this sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to follow or favorite this podcast and in the meantime, I’m looking forward to creating these for all of you.
Trailer
May 15, 2020 15:15 - 32 seconds - 772 KBHello and welcome to Finding Your Niche! I’ll be your host, Jake Kranz, and in this podcast you will find a mix of interviews, conversations, and wonderful stories about how individuals and companies found or are finding their niches. If this sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to follow or favorite this podcast and in the meantime, I’m looking forward to creating these for all of you.