Emily Steele is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hummingbirds, a venture-backed platform that connects CPG brands with over 30,000 everyday content creators. With a deep belief in the power of authentic partnerships, Emily and team have scaled Hummingbirds to dozens of U.S. cities, helping brands drive shelf-level awareness by matching them with creators eager to try & share their products with friends.

What started as a love of sharing things in her own backyard in Des Moines, Iowa has turned into thousands of people across the U.S. sharing the brands near them that they love.

Francesca Pittaluga founded Ciao Pappy in 2022, inspired by her first-generation Italian roots and her love for both the California and Italian coasts. Growing up between these two worlds, she developed a deep appreciation for the beauty of Italian tradition and the laid-back vibrancy of the West Coast. Following a 14-year career in luxury fashion, Ciao Pappy brings those influences together—blending old-world flavors with a fresh, modern sensibility to introduce a new kind of Italian American story, rooted in quality and authenticity. Ciao Pappy’s premium marinara sauces are made with non-GMO ingredients, no added sugar, and California-grown tomatoes. A true people person, Francesca finds her greatest happiness in gathering and sharing meals, believing that food has the power to bring people closer and enrich everyday life. Today, Ciao Pappy is available online and in more than 300 retail stores across the U.S., including Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, Goop, Farmshop, and Gjusta Grocer. The brand has been featured in Goop, Eater, Town & Country, and the LA Times.

Blakely and Jordan are best friends, creative pros, and food lovers who met in art school fifteen years ago. Jordan is an award-winning designer and entrepreneur with a sharp eye for branding, while Blakely has spent over a decade running creative operations at a top global ad agency. Together, they created SaladSprinkles—born from a shared love of clean ingredients and clever shortcuts, and built to make everyone fall back in love with lettuce. We recorded this episode a few months back and a lot has changed in their business. Since then, Jordan & Blakey decided to stop production. Here is a note they sent out to thier followers this week:

We've hit a wall: our production costs are too high to make larger retail expansion work. To get our price point where it needs to be, we'd need to produce at a much larger scale—which requires capital we don't have. We've explored every angle (different suppliers, packaging options, cost models), but without significant funding upfront, we can't solve this puzzle on our own.

Rather than take on debt we can't sustain, we're pausing production to find the right partner—a larger company with the infrastructure and resources to produce SaladSprinkles more efficiently and get it into stores nationwide at a price that works.

Tune in as we have a really raw conversation of why they came to this decision and whats next for Jordan, Blakely and SaladSprinkles.

Clara Veniard is the co-founder and CEO of Coro Foods, a premium salami brand that marries old world techniques with unexpected flavors like Orange Cardamom and Lemongrass. With a life and career that has taken her all over the globe, it's no surprise that Clara has a deep passion for food and international ingredients. Sharing food is a way of life, whether it’s assembling after school snack plates for her kids, a thrown together charcuterie board to tide everyone over while dinner is cooking or an impressive-looking spread for company-Coro comes to the rescue every time. Clara is dedicated to making the best product possible. That includes only using pork from US family farms that are humanely raised without any hormones or antibiotics.

Sisters Meena and Tabi, first-generation Afghan Americans, founded Tursh to share the bold, soulful flavors they grew up with. Inspired by their mother Furoozan’s cherished recipes, they’ve reimagined traditional Afghan chutneys for the modern kitchen. Every small-batch jar of Tursh is handcrafted with real ingredients, no shortcuts, and a whole lot of heart—bringing tang, tradition, and a taste of home to tables everywhere.

From Uber to Blue Bottle to peanut butter powerhouse— Lucy Dana’s journey is all grit, vision, and a love for doing things differently. As the co-founder + CEO of One Trick Pony, she’s turned two simple ingredients (Argentinian peanuts + a whole lot of dedication) into the kind of peanut butter you’ll hide from your family. In our interview, Lucy shares how she built a brand rooted in quality and fun — and why the new packaging feels like the perfect reflection of the bold, playful spirit behind One Trick Pony. Trust me: this isn’t your average PB jar. It’s smooth, it’s gritty (in all the right ways), and it’s here to shake up the aisle.

Nicole Swartz is a trademark attorney in Austin, TX. In 2015, she started a CPG brand that was sold in hundreds of retailers around the world. But there was one BIG problem: She didn’t trademark her brand. One day, she woke up to a cease + desist letter in her inbox. Someone trademarked her brand name and now they owned it. She had to rebrand everything in 30 days. A total nightmare! Nicole became a trademark attorney to help other CPG founders own their brands. Today, she runs one of the top 3 trademark law firms in the U.S. Bread & Butter Law. She's filed over 1,200 trademarks with a 99.8% success rate. Her favorite snacks are sour candy, non-alc bevies, and hot chips.

Sarah Delevan is a Financial Consultant with over 15 years of experience in building and supporting sustainable and regional food systems. As the founder of The Good Food CFO, she works with purpose-driven food businesses—from farmers, ranchers, fishers, and producers— to help them achieve profitability by design. Sarah's career has spanned nearly every corner of the good food movement. From teaching kids to cook with seasonal ingredients, volunteering with No Kid Hungry and at farmers’ markets, to launching a pop-up grocery and managing food sourcing for a major LA-based catering company, her hands-on experience informs her values-driven financial approach. She is also the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast.

Jessie Kimsey is a results-driven merchandising leader with more than a decade of experience across e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail. At Misfits Market, she leads vendor strategy and category innovation, curating mission-driven brands and championing emerging products that are transforming the food system. A passionate advocate for quality, sustainability, and impact in grocery, Jessie helps like-minded brands connect with hundreds of thousands of highly engaged consumers on Misfits Market’s discovery-driven platform.

Alli Ball is the founder & CEO of Food Biz Wiz and the creator of Retail Ready®, an online program that has provided strategic support, curated curriculum, and values-aligned community for over 3,000 producers of packaged products in the food industry. As a former grocery buyer-turned-wholesale consultant, Alli has helped thousands of emerging brands understand what it takes to get on the shelf and have high sales once you’re there. Find her on her website here or on Food Biz Wiz®, her award-winning podcast about wholesale strategy, which contains a library of 250 episodes.

Today I’m sitting down with the powerhouse mother-daughter duo behind Skinny Dipped— the sweet snacking brand that shook up the chocolate-covered nut section and redefined the bulk bin. If you haven’t heard of them, you might be living under a rock… but don’t worry, we’ve got you. In this episode, Breezy and Val walk us through their decade-long journey of building Skinny Dipped from the ground up — the highs, the lows, and the gritty middle parts most people don’t talk about. Spoiler alert: Toward the end, Breezy shares the behind-the-scenes story of a full 18-month turnaround the team pulled off when investor dollars dried up. We’re talking a top-to-bottom rebuild that just might be the realest thing you’ll hear all week. If you need a reminder that building a brand is a marathon, not a sprint — this one’s for you.

Season 3 of It’s All Happening: Women in CPG is here! Host Danielle Calabrese kicks things off with a life and business update—fresh from a summer of travel, reflection, and recharging—and a deep dive into what’s ahead. From the evolution of her Launch Lab accelerator to the powerhouse lineup of founders, operators, and experts joining the show this season, Danielle sets the tone for what’s shaping up to be the most tactical and inspiring season yet. Expect insights from the minds behind Skinny Dipped, Misfits Market, One Trick Pony, Food Biz Wiz Creator, Alli Ball and more. Whether you’re launching your first product or scaling to shelf, this season is packed with the strategies, stories, and straight talk you won’t hear anywhere else.