Sweet Takes

The Brands That Win Aren't Afraid to Experiment

What do a billion-dollar mattress company, a hands-free shoe brand Nike invested in, and a smart-oven meal service all have in common? One marketer: Alex McArthur. In this episode of Sweet Takes, fractional CMO Alex McArthur sits down with Dan over fresh-baked focaccia from a Lehi bakery called F'kosh to talk about what really drives brand growth. Alex has helped build and scale some of Utah's most recognizable brands, from Purple (concept to public) to Kizik to Tovala, and now works with companies like Just Ingredients. His big idea? Most brands stall because they're afraid of their own customers. They get so locked into rigid brand guidelines that they never experiment, never take a point of view, and never find the "tension" that separates a real brand from a commodity. Along the way, Alex shares: * Why Purple ran funny mattress ads for four years despite pressure to "get serious," and grew like crazy doing it * How Kizik stumbled into an unexpected breakthrough with nurses during Covid * What "fixed and flexible" branding actually means, and why it matters * The difference between executives who want to grow and those who just want money * Why your customers are far more forgiving than you think If you're a marketer, founder, or anyone trying to build something people genuinely connect with, this conversation is full of practical wisdom and a few good laughs. Grab a sweet treat and settle in. There's plenty of sweetness ahead. Learn more: bigleap.com/sweet-story

Protein for the Rest of Us: The Tide Treats Origin Story

In October 2024, Johnny Fauver was a financial advisor with 30 business ideas sitting on his phone. Eighteen months later, he's running a Costco roadshow, rolling into 150 Smith's grocery stores, and in talks with Harmons, Maverik, and Planet Fitness. The product? Tide Treats, a protein-packed crispy rice treat with 25 grams of protein, six grams of fiber, and no added sugar. In this episode of Sweet Takes, host Coby joins Johnny on the way to a Costco roadshow in Saratoga Springs to unpack the wild journey behind Tide Treats. From cold-calling 50 food science labs before one finally said yes, to six months of R&D, to 30,000 bars showing up in his Sandy, Utah garage and selling out in six weeks, Johnny shares the unfiltered story of building a snack brand with zero industry experience. Along the way, they get into: * Why Johnny left finance to chase an idea he'd been sitting on for years * The "protein for the rest of us" philosophy and breaking the gym-bro stigma * How six months of R&D shaped the final product * The brutal learning curve of inventory forecasting, margins, and retail * Working alongside his dad Rob and hand-packing 3,000 Costco variety boxes with his wife and seven-year-old son * Launching Tide Treats six weeks before his newborn son spent two weeks on life support * Why ignorance can be an entrepreneur's greatest asset * What's next: a permanent Costco placement and potential national rollout Plus, Coby and Johnny break down all five Tide Treats flavors in a live taste test, including the polarizing Island Berry that one shopper called "the most vile thing I've ever tried" right before another customer bought five boxes. Whether you're a founder, a snack enthusiast, or just someone who loves a good underdog story, this episode is a candid, behind-the-scenes look at how Tide Treats is quietly disrupting the protein aisle, one crispy rice treat at a time. 🎧 Subscribe to Sweet Takes for more conversations with the founders, creators, and thinkers shaping what's next. Find Tide Treats at tidetreats.com [http://tidetreats.com], on Amazon, at select Costco locations, and coming soon to Smith's grocery stores.

Why Luck Never Beats Preparation

Preparation beats luck. Every time. In Episode 10 of Sweet Takes, Coby sits down with brothers Bryce and Brandon Doman, former BYU football standouts and co-founders of Dominator, the premium basketball and pickleball brand bringing pro-level play into your backyard. Over plates of the legendary Doman nachos at Milagros Mexican Restaurant in Orem. The three dig into what it actually takes to build something that lasts. Inside the episode: * Preparation Creates Opportunity: Brandon, a former NFL quarterback, shares the formula that shaped his career: preparation plus opportunity equals success. Luck never supersedes the work. * The Hill Before the View: After 12 years of building together, the Doman brothers reflect on the long climb of entrepreneurship and why the breakthrough only comes after years of grit. * Brotherhood as a Business Advantage: Bryce and Brandon unpack what it means to build with family, how lifelong trust shapes better decisions, and why the right people change everything. * The Power of Being Seen: From parents who celebrated every small win to building teams and products that create moments of confidence, they explore how positive reinforcement shapes leadership. * Building Beyond Yourself: A candid turn into service, humility, and why the strongest businesses aren't built for self-validation — they're built to elevate the people around them. Success isn't random. It's prepared for, fought for, and built one hard day at a time. 🎧 Subscribe to Sweet Takes for more conversations with the builders, doers, and dreamers shaping what comes next.

SEO in the AI Era: The Models Are 15 Months Behind

In episode 9, Coby sits down with Tyler Brown, Head of SEO and AI at Big Leap, to unpack training-data latency, why AI can spot AI-generated content, and how brands can move now to win the next era of search. bigleap.com/sweet-story [bigleap.com/sweet-story]

The People Who Thrive With AI Think Differently

AI promises speed, scale, and smarter work. But what if it’s actually making your thinking worse? In this episode of Sweet Takes, Jaime Theler joins Coby for a trip to Lehi Bakery and a conversation about the real divide in AI. It’s not adopters versus resisters. It’s how you use it. They dig into the tension between efficiency and creativity, why using AI as an “easy button” can quietly erode your work, and how top performers are using it instead as a thought partner to sharpen ideas, not replace them. Along the way, they explore a bigger shift happening in marketing: why better thinking is becoming more valuable than faster content, and what it actually takes to create work that stands out in an AI-saturated world. Thanks for listening! Learn more at: bigleap.com/sweet-story [bigleap.com/sweet-story]