Architects of Impact

Episodes

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  What Building Your Own Brand Teaches You About Everyone Else's | Sarah Meis, SVP Innovation at JustFoodForDogs 11.08.2026 41m

  Episode SummaryIn this episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards sits down with Sarah Meis, SVP Innovation at JustFoodForDogs and former Co-Founder and CEO of The Humble Seed. Sarah brings a perspective that is genuinely rare in CPG: she has been a senior marketing leader at some of the most respected better-for-you brands in the industry — Vans Natural Foods, Lily's Sweets, Purely Elizabeth, and Good Karma Foods — and she has also sat in the founder seat, building a brand entirely from scratch and successfully exiting it.The conversation covers the cross-functional empathy that only comes from doing every job yourself, the strategic discipline behind naming a brand as a platform rather than a product, and the honest lessons Sarah would apply if she launched The Humble Seed again today. She also shares how the pet food category is the next frontier of the better-for-you movement, why the buyer and the consumer are two entirely different problems to solve, and why the most important question a marketer can ask is simply: what is the job this product does for you?About the GuestSarah Meis is SVP Innovation at JustFoodForDogs, a premium fresh pet food brand on a mission to improve the health and longevity of dogs through real, whole-food nutrition. She brings over two decades of experience building and scaling better-for-you consumer brands.Sarah began her career at White Wave Foods, where she worked in brand management on International Delight. She went on to serve as VP of Marketing at Purely Elizabeth, SVP of Marketing and Innovation at Lily's Sweets, and SVP of Marketing at Good Karma Foods. In 2022, she co-founded The Humble Seed, a grain-free, seed-based snack cracker brand, which she launched into Sprouts and other national retailers before exiting in 2024. She joined JustFoodForDogs in June 2024.Sarah is known for her instinct for unmet consumer needs, her ability to move fast in resource-constrained environments, and her belief that great taste is always the non-negotiable first principle in better-for-you food.Connect with Sarah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-meisLearn about JustFoodForDogs: https://www.justfoodfordogs.comKey TakeawaysSarah opens with a reflection most senior marketers never get: what it actually feels like to run every function yourself. Founding The Humble Seed forced her to think about cash conversion cycles, contract manufacturer minimums, and truckload economics in a way that years of senior marketing roles never had. The result was a level of cross-functional empathy she couldn't have built any other way.She makes a case for naming a brand as a platform, not a product. When she named The Humble Seed, she was deliberate about choosing a name that could flex across multiple seed-based snack categories — knowing the first product line might not be the one that ultimately scales.Her most candid moment is what she'd change about The Humble Seed. She wonders whether the grain-free formulation was over-engineered — adding cost and pushing the price point to a level that limited velocity, in service of an attribute only a select group of consumers saw as meaningful.Her sharpest strategic story involves Vans Natural Foods. The team was certain their equity was in breakfast. A mindsight attitude and usage study revealed the opposite: their real equity was in great-tasting gluten-free foods. That single insight unlocked nine new products across three new categories, all shipped within nine months.About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through candid conversations, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc
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  Why Emerging Brands Stall Out—And How to Win the Aisle | Lauren Start, Chief Marketing Officer at NuTrail 28.07.2026 47m

  Episode SummaryIn this episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards is joined by Lauren Start, Chief Marketing Officer at NuTrail, a premium nut-based granola brand backed by EagleTree Capital. Lauren represents a rare breed of CPG marketer who successfully transitioned from the highly structured, resource-rich world of Big CPG to the fast-paced, high-stakes environment of emerging, private equity-backed brands. Lauren shares her "player-coach" philosophy, her scrappy approach to consumer research on tight budgets, and a high-stakes brand crisis at Rudy's that taught her the most important lesson of her career: the consumer's perception of your brand is their truth, and you violate that trust at your peril.About the GuestLauren Start is the Chief Marketing Officer at NuTrail, a brand redefining granola with clean, high-quality, nut-based ingredients and no added sugar. She began her career as a research analyst at Nielsen, then went to BCG before moving into brand management at Danone, where she ran International Delight. She subsequently led marketing at Lily's Sweets, Good Culture, Good Clean Love, and Rudy's Organic Bakery before joining NuTrail. Lauren is known for her deep consumer empathy, her research-informed decision-making, and her ability to build high-performing brands in resource-constrained environments.Connect with Lauren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-start-3252a411/Learn about NuTrail: https://nutrail.com/Key TakeawaysLauren describes the courage required to leave a stable Big CPG portfolio for an emerging brand, and outlines the "player-coach" model: smaller brands need leaders who can design the 3-year strategic roadmap and fill out retail coupon forms in the same afternoon.She shares a scrappy consumer insights playbook for emerging brands: leverage your existing email database for free surveys, use social media polls to test product ideas, and always prioritize qualitative in-home research when budget allows. She notes that consumers are not good at accurately reporting their own behavior—there is always a gap between the "aspirational self" and the "actual self"—and that research is about signals and direction, not certainty.Lauren also addresses a critical mistake she sees repeatedly among emerging brands: investing all resources into getting on the shelf while forgetting that the real battle is getting the product off the shelf. She emphasizes that packaging and targeted consumer marketing are critical to driving pull-through.Her most powerful story comes from Rudy's Organic Bakery, where a product line expansion inadvertently violated the trust of the brand's loyal gluten-free consumer base. The lesson: what consumers know and believe about your brand is their reality, and you must honor that truth or systematically earn it back.About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through conversations with founders, operators, and investors, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc
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  The Consumer Signals Private Equity Investors Trust Most | Sharon Fox, Operating Partner at Stride Consumer Partners 14.07.2026 43m

  Episode SummaryIn this episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards sits down with Sharon Fox, Operating Partner at Stride Consumer Partners. With over two decades of experience spanning brand management at Kraft and Unilever, e-commerce leadership at Ralph Lauren and Quidsi, Sharon brings a rare, 360-degree perspective on consumer brands. Sharon demystifies Stride's core investment thesis—the "Passion Brand"—and explains why true passion brands enjoy structural economic advantages that make them highly defensible investments. She shares the exact consumer metrics she trusts to separate healthy brands from those built on temporary marketing hype, and addresses the common "founder blind spot" that prevents many promising brands from scaling beyond their initial community.About the GuestSharon Fox joined Stride Consumer Partners as a founding member in 2019. She has over 20 years of hands-on experience across brand management, performance marketing, e-commerce, consumer insights, and new product innovation. Prior to Stride, she was an Operating Partner at Castanea Partners. She has served as CMO at Freshly and Melissa & Doug, led e-commerce as SVP at Ralph Lauren, and held senior roles at Quidsi (Amazon). She spent over a decade in brand management at Kraft and Unilever, working across food, ice cream, and beverage portfolios. Stride's portfolio includes brands such as Chomps, Serenity Kids, Jennie's Ice Cream, Tatcha, Drybar, and First Aid Beauty.Key TakeawaysSharon defines a "Passion Brand" as one that has an extraordinary, authentic connection with an underserved consumer group. These brands possess structural advantages: lower customer acquisition costs driven by word-of-mouth advocacy, higher loyalty, higher buy rate, and greater resilience to economic fluctuations.When evaluating investments, Sharon ignores trial rates (which can be bought with marketing spend) and focuses on two metrics: Repeat Rate (how often consumers return, proving product efficacy) and Sustained Velocity (how fast the product turns on the shelf over a long period compared to category benchmarks).Sharon also addresses the "founder blind spot": while founders understand their "founding consumer" deeply, scaling requires transitioning focus to the "growth consumer"—a broader segment that may not yet be aware of the brand. She uses the Graza olive oil squeeze bottle as a brilliant case study in how packaging can function as a psychological "permission structure" that transforms consumer behavior.Connect with Sharon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-fox-b979265Learn about Stride Consumers: https://www.strideconsumer.com/About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through conversations with founders, operators, and investors, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc
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  The Indulgence Paradox of the GLP-1 Journey | Erin Krubeck, Executive Director of Insights at mindsight 07.07.2026 41m

  Episode SummaryIn this special bonus episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards is joined by Erin Krubeck, Executive Director of Insights at mindsight, to break down the findings of mindsight’s massive, custom GLP-1 consumer study. Moving past clinical trials and superficial trend reports, Shawn and Erin dive into the deeply human, emotional, and strategic realities of the GLP-1 consumer journey.The conversation explores how GLP-1 medications are reshaping culture and CPG, scaling from just 2% of US adults in 2023 to 11% today. Erin reveals the "Indulgence Paradox"—why cravings for sweets and fatty foods disappear, but the desire for the emotional and social rituals of food remains as strong as ever. They map the four distinct consumer segments of the GLP-1 journey, explain why brands must shift from "healthy" to "useful" claims, and discuss the massive opportunity to support lapsed users who are navigating a difficult "tug of war" as their cravings return.To download mindsight’s complete, 100% free, and ungated GLP-1 strategic research report, visit mindsight.inc/glp-1.About the GuestErin Krubeck is the Executive Director of Insights at mindsight, a leading consumer insights and brand strategy firm that helps CPG brands make smarter decisions at critical growth stages. Erin is an elite researcher and strategist who specializes in designing mixed-method studies that pair large-scale quantitative validation with deep qualitative empathy. She led the design, execution, and analysis of mindsight’s landmark GLP-1 consumer study, translating complex behavioral data into actionable strategies for better-for-you brands.Connect with Erin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekrubeck/Learn about mindsight: https://mindsight.incKey TakeawaysErin explains that the GLP-1 experience is not just a biological shift; it is a deeply human journey marked by both triumph and grief. While users celebrate rapid weight loss, they also describe a profound sense of loss and grief around food. This "Indulgence Paradox" reveals that even when cravings for chocolate or pizza disappear, the desire for the emotional and social rituals those foods represented—comfort, reward, family pizza nights, and sharing ice cream with their kids—remains entirely intact.She dismantles the myth of the single "GLP-1 consumer" by mapping four distinct segments along the journey. New Adopters are in a reactionary phase of safe experimentation, navigating side effects and the sudden, quiet removal of "food noise." Active Losers are solution-oriented problem solvers, making them the most open to trying new brands and remaking their routines. Maintainers have reached a stable "cruise control" where routines are locked in and harder to penetrate. Lapsed Users are not "exit stage left" but are actively trying to maintain habits while fighting a difficult biological tug of war as cravings return.Erin makes a critical distinction between "healthy" and "useful" positioning. For a consumer with a finite plate and smaller portion sizes, vague health halos like "all-natural" are no longer enough. GLP-1 users are highly purposeful shoppers—over 70% are actively reading nutrition labels. They demand specific, functional utility: high protein to prevent muscle loss, high fiber, digestibility, and nutrient density. About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through conversations with founders, operators, and investors, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc.
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  How Suja Life Repositioned Cold-Pressed Juice for Double-Digit Growth | Saxon Seay, Chief Strategy Officer at Suja Life 30.06.2026 48m

  Episode SummaryIn this episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards sits down with Saxon Seay, Chief Strategy Officer at Suja Life. Fresh off the milestone of Suja Life going public, Saxon shares her journey from business school to leading major brand transformations at both The Coca-Cola Company and Suja Life. Saxon discusses the critical concept of "Brand Edge"—how a brand uniquely delivers on a consumer's deepest needs compared to its competitors—and explains why the product itself, along with its packaging, is always a brand's most powerful billboard. She also reveals the exact consumer insights that drove massive turnarounds for Coke Zero Sugar and Suja Organic, and explains why being closest to the consumer makes you the most powerful person in any boardroom.About the GuestSaxon Seay has served as Chief Strategy Officer of Suja Life since May 2025, having previously served as Chief Marketing Officer from December 2022. She brings more than 15 years of consumer marketing and brand-building experience across the better-for-you beverage and consumer goods sectors. Since joining Suja Life, Saxon has helped drive 19% topline growth across the company's portfolio, which includes Suja Organic, Vive Organic, and Slice. Prior to Suja Life, Saxon spent nearly seven years at The Coca-Cola Company, where she was part of the leadership team that orchestrated one of the brand's most significant commercial turnarounds and helped establish Coke Zero Sugar as the number-one share gainer of the decade.Key TakeawaysSaxon defines "Brand Edge" as a brand's unique point of difference—identifying the exact attribute a consumer wants most, and positioning the brand to deliver on it in a way competitors cannot. She argues that product and packaging are the primary consumer impression point for any brand, regardless of media budget.She details how Suja Organic's repositioning came directly from listening to consumer "breadcrumbs" in focus groups. Health-engaged buyers were describing Suja as a "nutrition and health drink," not a juice. This led to a packaging redesign that listed ingredients clearly on the front of the bottle—like a "Kind bar and an RXBAR having a baby"—which drove double-digit velocity growth.Saxon also makes a passionate case for qualitative, face-to-face research. She shares how a Vive Organic consumer described the shot as "a cold plunge for your mouth," an invaluable insight that a quantitative survey could never surface. Her ultimate advice: the person who knows the consumer best holds the most power in the room.Connect with Saxon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saxonseayLearn about Suja Life: https://www.sujalife.com/About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through conversations with founders, operators, and investors, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc
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  Move Fast, Just Don't Move Blind: Launching Architects of Impact | with Shawn Edwards at mindsight 16.06.2026 2m

  Episode SummaryIn this inaugural episode of Architects of Impact, host Shawn Edwards introduces the core mission of the show and shares the philosophy behind mindsight, the consumer and brand research firm he founded to help better-for-people and better-for-planet brands scale. Shawn breaks down why early traction can be a deceptive metric and how deep consumer understanding is the ultimate catalyst for durable growth. He discusses the difference between simply selling a product and building a resilient brand that tightly delivers on a consumer's core needs.Architects of Impact is a show about the high-stakes decisions, tradeoffs, and moments of pressure that determine whether a brand breaks through or stalls out. If you are a founder, operator, marketer, or investor in the better-for-you space, this show was built for you. Subscribe!Key TakeawaysThe show opens with a foundational truth: brands that completely understand their consumer's needs—not just who they are, but what they need and what motivates them—will scale far faster and more effectively than those that don't. Shawn references CPG pioneer John Foraker (Annie's, Once Upon a Farm) who put it plainly: if brands "tightly deliver" on a consumer's need, they will scale effectively.Shawn also introduces mindsight's ongoing research as a recurring resource for listeners. The show will serve as a platform for sharing proprietary consumer and brand research to help operators and investors make smarter decisions at every stage of growth.About the ShowArchitects of Impact is a podcast hosted by Shawn Edwards, founder of mindsight. Each episode explores the high-stakes decisions that shape growth: the tradeoffs, the pressure, and the moments when leaders need real clarity to move forward. Through conversations with founders, operators, and investors, Architects of Impact reveals how smarter decisions create stronger brands, greater impact, and more valuable outcomes. Learn more about mindsight at mindsight.inc