High Stakes Growth

High Stakes Growth® takes you inside the boldest decisions behind today’s most exciting consumer brands. We bring you candid conversations with the founders and CMOs who built them—unpacking the high-stakes moments, tough calls, and game-changing strategies that made these brands what they are today. No fluff. No surface-level insights. Just real stories from the leaders who made it happen. Hosted by Forest Bronzan and Leah Lloyd, they bring a combined four decades of consumer brand expertise to these conversations.

High Stakes Growth is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts High Stakes Growth, a business show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #49

  Katie Sturino: From Starting in a Garage to Running an 8-Figure Body Care Brand

  Aug 18, 202629 min

  Katie Sturino is the founder and CEO of Megababe, the body-care brand behind Thigh Rescue, its signature anti-chafe stick, plus deodorants, sweat powders, cooling products, and more. Expect to hear about: – Launching while Divorcing: Why she decided to launch Megababe during a difficult personal time. – The Today Show Sellout: How a man-on-the-street TV segment sold out 20,000 units in a few weeks. – Five Years, Zero Ads: How Megababe grew through PR, organic social, and retail before spending a dollar on paid. – Buses and Low-Fi TV: Why she leaned into NYC buses and deliberately low-fi network TV spots. – Ready to Sell: How a strategic partner could scale Megababe and take the brand to the next level. Find Katie on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-sturino-10b62023/

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  Episode #48

  Shizu Okusa: Exiting Her First CPG Brand and Raising $35M for the Next

  Aug 4, 202647 min

  Shizu Okusa is the founder and CEO of Apothékary, a liquid herbal supplement brand that bridges Eastern medicine with modern Western science. Before then, she launched, scaled, and exited JRINK, a juice brand. Expect to hear about: – Losing a Co-Founder: Why her best friend's exit from JRINK was emotionally difficult and changed how she approaches partnerships. – The Form Factor Bet: Why she built Apothékary on liquid tinctures when pills, powders, and gummies rule the supplement space. – $1M a Month on TikTok: How TikTok Shop became one of Apothékary's top channels. – AI's 12-18 Month Window: Why she gives AI tools that long to live up to the hype before widespread frustration sets in. – The Long Game: How she closed $19M in 12 months while most investors chased AI. Find Shizu on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/shizu-okusa-87a25415/

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  Episode #47

  Andrei Negrau: Why Empathic AI Agents Now Outperform Human Support

  Jul 23, 202643 min

  Andrei Negrau is the co-founder and CEO of Siena AI, an empathic AI agent that handles customer service for consumer brands. He built luxury apparel Shopify brands out of Romania starting in 2014, exiting his first in 2018, then founded the SMS marketing startup Cartloop before betting everything on AI-native CX. Expect to hear about: – CX as the Edge: Why he texted stuck-at-checkout shoppers instead of outspending rivals on ads. – Burning the Boats: How one GPT-3 test convinced him to kill Cartloop and rebuild on AI from scratch. – Beating Human Agents: Why his empathic AI consistently outscores human reps on CSAT. – Turning Cancels Into Saves: How DTC brands use Siena to catch why subscribers churn and save them. – Never the Cheapest: Why he refuses to run Siena on the cheapest AI models to cut costs. Find Andrei on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/negrau/

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  Episode #46

  Scott Dancy: How He Built Azuna From 10 Orders a Day to Nine Figures

  Jul 9, 202638 min

  Scott Dancy is the founder and CEO of Azuna, an all-natural odor eliminator built on Australian tea tree oil. Expect to hear about: – The Month the World Changed: How COVID took Azuna from $12K to $105K a month almost overnight. – Betting the Farm on Glass: How a $1M glass jar order became the brand's turning point. – Landing Josh Allen: How the NFL MVP went from a "maybe" to Azuna's official partner. – Built to Sell: Why Scott has planned to exit Azuna since the start and is now building data rooms to prepare. – Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul: Why Scott thinks the best founders let others win instead of chasing the spotlight. Find Scott on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-dancy-189542200/

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  Episode #45

  Ari Murray: Getting Brand-Agency Partnerships Right, From Someone Who's Done Both

  Jun 24, 202647 min

  Ari Murray is the Chief Digital Officer at Salt & Stone, the premium personal care brand reinventing the deodorant category. Previously, she was Chief Growth Officer at Sharma Brands, where she led growth across dozens of consumer brands. Expect to hear about: – Law School to Ecom: Why she dropped out of law school, then found her footing at an ecom brand. – Working With Celebrity Brands: What working at Kourtney Kardashian's and Halsey's beauty brands taught her. – Agency or In-House: Her take that growth marketers should start brand-side first, and how kindness to agencies pays off. – BFCM Sprint: What it was like joining Salt & Stone just weeks before the biggest sales weekend of the year. – Top-of-Funnel Bet: Why she's pushing past a Meta-heavy mix into new channels and taking a longer view of the customer. Find Ari on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/arimurray/

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