What's Working

Real strategies. Real results. What's actually working right now. Hosted by Isaac Medeiros and Zain Ali, What's Working Pod is a weekly business podcast dedicated to one question: what's actually working right now? Isaac Medeiros is the founder of Mini Katana and Content Forge. Zain Ali is the co-founder of Zainith Agency and Etta Maison Each episode covers the strategies, tools, and business models that are producing real results for founders and entrepreneurs.

What's Working is a business podcast hosted by What, with 14 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.

What hosts What's Working, a business show with 14 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 #15

  The GLP-1 Effect: Why The Beauty Industry is Crashing

  Aug 17, 202642 minS1

  Cody Plofker took Jones Road Beauty to $160 million in revenue without a VP of Finance or a VP of Marketing. Now, he’s stepping down as CEO to stop the burnout and build the future of lean, AI-powered e-commerce. In this episode of What's Working, Cody breaks down the reality of running a 9-figure family business, why he stepped down to focus on high-level strategy, and his unapologetic take on why "AI UGC" is a complete oxymoron. He also pulls back the curtain on his exact AI tech stack (including Claude, Codex, and multiplayer AI tools like HQ) and explains how he is building a brand new sleep supplement company in public with near-zero operating expenses. If you want to know what the next era of DTC looks like, this is the episode. Key Takeaways: The Reality of Scaling Too Fast: Cody sped-ran Jones Road Beauty to nine figures but suffered from burnout due to a lack of proper organizational structure and executive support. Cody is extremely bearish on AI-generated creative, noting that true UGC relies on authenticity, while AI should be reserved for data analysis, web design, and administrative workflows. The DTC Twitter Bubble: Performance marketing isn't everything. Cody argues that real-world, larger brands invest heavily in brand health and tracking upper-funnel metrics, contrary to the hyper-performance bias of "DTC Twitter". The 1-Person Brand Era: As part of the new "Operators Build" podcast, Cody is helping launch a sleep supplement brand in public, aiming to use AI to replace entire agency functions for just a few hundred dollars a month in token costs. Retail Leverage: Jones Road Beauty opted to build its own brick-and-mortar stores rather than rely on Sephora, allowing them to control their own product trends and avoid being dictated by massive retailers. Connect with Cody: Follow Cody on X: https://x.com/codyplof Listen to the Marketing Operators: https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Why Cody Stepped Down as CEO of Jones Road Beauty 02:35 - Running a Brand Without Industry "Passion" 04:16 - Transitioning to AI Consulting & CRO Bounties 06:06 - Why "AI UGC" is a Complete Oxymoron 08:11 - Cody's AI Stack: Claude, Codex, Hermes, and HQ 10:19 - How to Actually Implement AI in Creative Teams 13:23 - The State of the Beauty Industry & K-Beauty Trends 17:23 - Retail Strategy: Why Jones Road Avoids Sephora 20:21 - The "DTC Twitter" Bubble & Investing in Brand Health 25:30 - The Death of Non-Subscription DTC Brands 29:23 - Announcing "Operators Build" & The Sleep Supplement Brand 34:11 - Building a Brand Skeleton on a $200/Month Token Budget 39:37 - The Power of Building in Public & Networking 41:42 - Outro & Where to Find Cody

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  Episode #14

  Going ALL in on TikTok doubled their Sales (Beauty By Earth CEO interview)

  Aug 10, 202638 minS1

  In Episode 14 of the What's Working Pod, we sit down with Prudence Millsap, co-founder of Beauty by Earth, to unpack the exact strategies she used to build one of the most successful bootstrapped beauty brands on the internet. Prudence pulls back the curtain on how taking TikTok Shop in-house catapulted them to $700k/month, and how that external traffic miraculously slashed their Amazon ad spend by 34% while increasing top-line revenue. We dive deep into the gritty reality of bootstrapping with just $20,000, why she insists on US manufacturing, and how she maintains a shockingly low 4-7% OpEx using an in-house Texas warehouse and Latin American offshore talent. Beyond the business, Prudence shares her refreshing philosophy on personal branding, how she balances entrepreneurship with family life, and why she recently sold off a brick-and-mortar business to stay hyper-focused on DTC. Key Takeaways: The TikTok Shop "All-In" Strategy: After burning $20k/month on agency retainers with zero growth, Prudence brought TikTok in-house and cracked the algorithm by aggressively seeding 30-40 product units a day. The Amazon Halo Effect is Real: Generating external demand on TikTok allowed Beauty by Earth to lower their Amazon ad spend by 34.2% year-over-year while actually growing their top-line revenue by 33.3%. Ruthless Financial Discipline: Prudence built the brand off an initial $20,000 investment. She took zero distributions in year one, lived exclusively off her husband's income, and ran the business purely on credit cards for the first 6-7 years. US Manufacturing: Manufacturing 100% of their formulas in the US is more expensive upfront, but it is exactly what their consumer wants and protects them from high finished-goods tariffs. Hyper-Lean Operations: Beauty by Earth operates on a 4-7% OpEx. They achieve this by running their own warehouse in Texas and heavily leveraging offshore talent in Latin America for their growth team. Connect with Prudence: Follow Prudence on X: https://x.com/MillPrue Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The TikTok Shop Strategy Hook 00:39 - Cracking TikTok Shop & Seeding Strategy 01:45 - The Amazon Halo Effect 02:35 - Why Expensive TikTok Agencies Failed 06:45 - Dialing in Amazon PPC & Slashing Ad Spend 09:36 - Bootstrapping from $20k 11:41 - Standing Out in the Beauty Market & K-Beauty 17:49 - Navigating Business with a Co-Founder 19:14 - Why They Avoid Retail (Sephora, Ulta) 21:51 - The Anti-Personal Brand Philosophy 26:37 - Quitting the 9-to-5 & Building While Parenting 29:04 - Using AI (Claude) for Market Research 30:53 - US Manufacturing vs. China 33:13 - Running a 4-7% OpEx with Offshore Talent 34:57 - The ROI of Hiring a Fractional CFO 37:58 - Killing Distractions: Selling a Brick & Mortar Business #tiktokshop #AmazonSeller #Ecommerce #BeautyBrand #WhatsWorkingPod

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  Episode #13

  This 9-Figure Founder Replaced His Whole Creative Team with AI | Nik Sharma

  Jul 7, 202633 minS1

  Nik Sharma sold his agency Sharma Brands for a reason most people miss, and now he's building entire DTC brands using only AI, from ads to assets. In this episode of What's Working Podcast, Nik breaks down the exact move that led him to sell Sharma Brands through a reverse RFP process, why he wanted a blank slate going into January, and how he went from running one of the most recognized DTC agencies to becoming Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar while quietly launching an AI first brand holdco on the side. He walks through launching a health and wellness brand using nothing but AI, covering static ads, UGC, copywriting, and design briefs, including what happened when they finally commissioned a real photo shoot. Nik introduces the concept of the creative supply chain, the idea that brands don't fail because of bad products or poor media buying, but because they run out of creative to feed the machine. He explains every format of creative a brand needs, how to build an endless supply behind it, and what most agencies get wrong. The conversation also covers whether services still have a real moat in an AI world, why taste is the only durable advantage left, how he's validating new brands for under $150K before scaling, and what he learned from watching brand incubators raise millions and still fail. Nik also shares his personal brand strategy, why he's most bullish on Twitter and YouTube, and what he'd do differently building a personal brand from scratch today. If you're running an agency, building a DTC brand, or figuring out where AI fits in your business in 2025, this episode is essential. Nik Sharma is a DTC operator and former founder of Sharma Brands, now Chief Growth Officer at Lunar Solar. Key Takeaways: AI is a tool, not a replacement for "taste": While AI is democratizing software and automating lower-level tasks, human taste and strategic direction are becoming the ultimate moats for both brands and agencies. The "Creative Supply Chain" is the biggest growth bottleneck: Brands trying to scale from $50M to $100M usually don't fail because of a bad product or bad media buying—they fail because they haven't built a system to constantly generate a diverse, never-ending supply of ad creatives. Connect with Nik: Follow Nik on X: https://x.com/mrsharma Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Who Is Nik Sharma? 01:31 - Why He Sold His Agency 04:17 - His AI Wake-Up Call 05:13 - Do Services Still Have a Moat? 07:42 - Launching a Brand With Just AI 08:39 - What Categories He's Building In 12:10 - The 70% Ads Budget Future 13:06 - AI Video Ads That Actually Work 15:12 - The Creative Supply Chain Explained 18:01 - Will AI Kill Jobs? 21:29 - How to Build a Personal Brand Today 23:47 - Twitter vs YouTube vs LinkedIn 27:31 - The Holdco Model 32:35 - Where to Follow Nik #NikSharma #Ecommerce #WhatsWorkingPodcast

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  Episode #12

  How Apple made him $100m | Roman Khan

  Jun 24, 202647 minS1

  Roman Khan has spent the last decade building, scaling, and acquiring e-commerce brands, taking his portfolio to nine figures in revenue. From nearly going bankrupt to achieving a 3% OpEx and netting eight figures in EBITDA, Roman has mastered the mechanics of highly profitable DTC businesses. Now, he’s shifting his focus from private equity to the highly inefficient public markets. In Episode 12 of What's Working, Roman breaks down his tactical playbooks for scaling massive e-commerce brands. He explains how to spot a winning product category using Google Trends, why the "Bryan Johnson" strategy is crucial for brand awareness, and how to use his PC1, PC2, and PC3 framework to maximize cash distributions. Plus, discover why he believes TikTok fundamentally changed the influencer game and why he thinks Hong Kong is the ultimate home base for any serious e-commerce entrepreneur. Key Takeaways: Spotting the Mega-Trend: A successful brand requires the right category at the right time. Roman explains how to use search volume data and find the "whale" in a market to guarantee your product has massive tailwinds. Public vs. Private M&A: Roman is shifting his focus to public micro-cap companies, explaining that public markets are often mispriced. You can sometimes buy companies for less than their cash on hand or cut excess bloat to massively multiply your returns. The TikTok Shift: TikTok completely removed the "S-curve" of follower dependency, bringing a true merit-based culture to influencer marketing and top-of-funnel brand awareness. The Profit Contribution (PC) Framework: Roman breaks down how he achieves eight figures in EBITDA by meticulously tracking three levels of profit contribution (PC1, PC2, PC3) and driving revenue per employee to over $3 million. Cash Flow & Float: Why negotiating net-90 payment terms and shrinking production lead times is the ultimate secret to taking actual cash distributions off the table every single month. Connect with Roman: Follow Roman on X: https://x.com/RomanEcom Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & Roman's 9-Figure E-com Journey 03:32 - First Principles: What Makes a Good E-commerce Brand? 08:12 - The "Whale" Strategy & Scaling Raycon 09:51 - Tracking Google Keyword Trends for Product Validation 15:26 - Why Public E-com Markets Are Undervalued Right Now 24:26 - TikTok Shop vs. Meta Ads: Margins & Conversions 27:48 - Hitting a 3% OpEx & $3M Revenue per Employee 31:30 - Slashing Logistics & Packaging Costs by 20% 35:00 - The PC1, PC2, PC3 Profit Framework Explained 37:46 - Maximizing Cash Flow & Managing Payment Terms 44:25 - Why Hong Kong is Still the Best Base for E-commerce 46:13 - Outro & Where to Find Roman #BusinessStrategy #EcommerceTips #WealthBuilding

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  Episode #11

  Chris Meade | Why I Quit a 8-Fig D2C Brand for Brick & Mortar | What's Working Podcast

  Jun 3, 202636 minS1

  Chris Meade took the ultimate leap of faith, pulling his $7,000 life savings from a 401k to build Crossnet. By age 27, he had grown the invented sport into a massive $10 million business netting $2 million in EBITDA. Today, he has moved away from the brutal grind of physical products to focus on high-cash-flow brick-and-mortar Pilates studios and the ultra-exclusive Founders Club. In Episode 11 of What's Working, Chris breaks down his incredibly diverse entrepreneurial journey. He reveals the harsh realities of seasonal, heavy-product e-commerce businesses, how he made $60k a month writing a newsletter, and why he eventually walked away from lucrative sponsorships to protect the integrity of his community. Plus, discover how he's scaling his Pilates studios to a 4-month payback period with zero paid marketing, and exactly how Founders Club uses Claude AI to run customer service and match members. Key Takeaways: Brick & Mortar vs. E-com: Physical businesses with great margin profiles generate real cash every single day without the inventory tax traps of DTC. Chris's Pilates studios are seeing a 4-month payback period with $0 in paid marketing, smashing the industry standard of 18 months. The Problem with Sponsors: Chris built a newsletter that generated up to $60,000 a month in sponsorships. However, he realized that relying on sponsor money compromises your integrity when making recommendations and eventually "sucks the soul out of everything". AI for Unified Brand Voice: To keep customer interactions consistent across 40 employees, Chris exported five years of newsletters and customer service data into Claude to create a master "brand voice". AI-Curated Community Matching: Founders Club uses proprietary AI tools to analyze 200 minutes of entry interviews alongside Slack data, perfectly matching founders based on shared experiences and interests. Connect with Chris: Follow Chris on X: https://x.com/thechrismeade Connect with the hosts: Follow Isaac on X: https://x.com/theisaacmed Follow Zain on X: https://x.com/NotZainAgain Production & Scaling Partners: This video is fully edited and produced by Content Forge. Need DFY YouTube organic for your brand or full-service editing for your YouTube channel? Get a free consultation here: https://getcontentforge.com/ Need help launching or scaling your brand on TikTok Shop? Book a free consultation with Zain at: https://zainith.agency/ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro & The Crossnet Origin Story 01:31 - The Brutal Reality of Seasonal E-com Businesses 04:48 - Writing a Newsletter & Making $60k/Month from Sponsors 06:38 - Hosting Dinners for 4,000 Founders Around the World 08:03 - Why Sponsorships Destroy Community Integrity 09:15 - Pivoting to Brick & Mortar: The Pilates Studio Empire 12:29 - Achieving a 4-Month Payback Period with $0 Paid Ads 15:48 - The Launch & Explosive Growth of Founders Club 21:48 - Rejecting E-com Grifters & Fake "Gurus" 23:31 - Taking the Leap: Funding a Startup with a $7k 401k 27:46 - AI-Powered "Curated Connections" for Founders 30:05 - Using Claude to Build a Unified Brand Voice for 40 Employees 32:50 - Why the Average Age of Founders Club is 40 34:59 - Outro & Where to Find Chris

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