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In life there’s a saying, is it better to follow your heart or your head? In this case, Brian McDonell, the co-founder of Melin Hats, didn’t need to choose. He did both. He followed his heart and reinvented the baseball hat on our heads. Something we really didn’t even realize needed reinventing in the first place. Brian challenged the status quo and took the ubiquitous baseball hat- one that’s been around for over 150 years- and made it better. Much, much better. 

Chase Fisher is the founder of Blenders Eyewear, a company he bootstrapped to success and that was acquired by the second biggest eyewear company in the world for $90 million in 2020. It's an inspiring story of how Chase overcame his childhood struggles with learning in the classroom with his scrappiness, incredible work ethic, creativity, and desire to win. Blenders Eyewear makes sunglasses, snow goggles, and perscription eyeglasses and is based in San Diego- just a couple blocks off PCH. 

Invisible Universe is an entertainment tech company behind the  popular, celebrity-backed animated characters on social media including Qai Qai (Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian), Clydeo (Jennifer Aniston), Squeaky & Roy (The D'Amelio Family), and Crazynho (Dani Alves). In this episode we talk with Invisible Universe CEO, Tricia Biggio, about its wildly fun cast of characters and the business behind its success.  

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center rescues, rehabilitates and releases marine mammals along over 40 miles of the Southern California coastline. In this episode, we hear CEO Peter Chang share some moving stories about the work they do day in and day out to help out these seals, sea lions, dolphins and whales- and our ocean. The PMMC is located in Laguna Beach, California. 

Venture Capital (VC) provides the funding to get visionary ideas and entrepreneurial innovations off the ground. In this episode, we talk with Wil Chockley, a partner at 75 & Sunny, a seed-focused VC firm based in Los Angeles founded by serial entrepreneur Spencer Rascoff. In this episode, Wil shares his thoughts on the most important skills of early stage founders, helpful advice for entrepreneurs on how to create the most effective pitch deck to raise money, the future of work and HR, and the Metaverse.

Sophia Rascoff is the co-founder of Recon Food, a social media food app where people connect through a shared love of food. She co-founded this app while cooking at home during the pandemic with her dad, Spencer Rascoff. In this episode, we talk to Sophia about the future evolution of social media and why it’s unbundling into verticals, entrepreneurship, the value of intrapreneurship, and how a post-heroic leadership style can optimize team performance. Oh, and we also talk a lot about food.

In this rapid fire of questions, we reveal some fun, little known facts about Spencer Rascoff like... What's his favorite style of architecture? Where's his favorite place to "staycation" in Southern California? What's his favorite restaurant? What scares him? Join us for some fun in this bonus episode of PCH Driven. Be sure to check out the full conversation with Spencer Rascoff too. 

In this episode, Spencer Rascoff shares with us what drives him as the co-founder and former CEO of Zillow; and co-founder of Hotwire, dot.LA, Recon and his VC firm 75 & Sunny where he's invested in over 75 start-ups including SpaceX, Robinhood and more. 

In this rapid fire of questions, we reveal some fun, little known facts about Greg Creed like... Would he order a Doritos Locos Taco or Crunchwrap from Taco Bell? Would he take a free ride in a Bezos Blue Origin Rocket to space- yes or no? Join us for some fun in this bonus episode of PCH Driven. Be sure to check out our full conversation with Greg Creed too. 

As a kid, Greg Creed played a game with his dad where they would watch TV and try to guess the brands and products the commercials were promoting. This encouraged Greg to become a marketer. Greg then went on to become the CEO of YUM! Brands where he was at the helm of Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger. Greg shares with us what he's learned about leadership and culture along the way, marketing insights and the stories behind some of the most iconic marketing campaigns of all time. He also talks about Creed UnCo and his new book R.E.D. Marketing: The Three Ingredients of Leading Brands.  

Not only is Austin Keen a pro skimboarder and wakesurfer, he is also an innovator who helped take the sport of skimboarding to uncharted waters with his athleticism, creativity and his entrepreneurial instincts. In this episode, we talk to Austin about the hard work that went into blazing this trail- including the role social media, video and content creation played in his success. One of my favorite parts of our conversation is hearing him describe what goes into creating some of his epic athletic stunts like Hijacking a Boat Wake, the Tunnel Stunt and more. I have never in my life seen more captivating videos than Austin has created. Check out his videos at www.pchdriven.com.

What's it like reporting to Warren Buffett? Well, our next guest, Susan Jacques, tells us. She reported to him directly for over 20 years as the CEO of one of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio companies before becoming the global CEO of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) headquartered off PCH in Carlsbad, California. Susan shares with us the leadership lessons she learned from him and brought with her to role at GIA. She gives us a fascinating look inside the diamond, gem and jewelry industry and how technology like blockchain and AI is transforming its mission into the future.