Professional Jealousy Podcast: Founder Stories, Brands and Business Innovation

How She Built a $40M Bootstrapped Brand From Her Garage | Megan Trottier (Oh My Mahjong)

How do you turn a traditional tile game into a $40,000,000 business without taking a single dollar of venture capital? In this episode of Professional Jealousy, Natasha Jakubowski (Chief Innovation Officer at Anomaly) chats with Megan Trottier, the entrepreneurial force behind Oh My Mahjong (OMM). Megan shares her blueprint for scaling an ultra-fast-growing consumer brand. From realizing a product failed because it was ahead of its time, to building an army of local brand ambassadors that unlocked the wholesale market, this is a masterclass in modern brand building, marketing, and the art of the business pivot. If you are a founder, creator, or marketeer looking to understand how to build authentic demand and a lifestyle category from scratch, this episode is for you. 🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives into business innovation and founder stories! Check out Oh My Mahjong: https://ohmymahjong.com/

Beyond Doom-Scrolling: How The States Project Built a Movement Around Grassroots Social Networks

If you are completely exhausted by national political noise and panic-driven fundraising spam, you are looking at the wrong political map. On this episode of Professional Jealousy, Anomaly’s Chief Innovation Officer Natasha Jakubowski sits down with Daniel Squadron (former NY State Senator, Co-founder and Executive Director of The States Project, and author of the new book The Fourth Branch) and Melissa Walker (Head of Giving Circles at The States Project) to explore how true political power can be reclaimed from the ground up. As Melissa puts it: "We work not where the glamour is, just where the power is." 💡By bypassing traditional, top-down political gatekeepers and focusing directly on community grassroots, The States Project has engineered a model that allows everyday friend circles to completely shift the balance of power in state capitols. They have taken complex, intimidating political systems and turned them into a simple, collaborative math problem that trusted social networks can solve together. Tune in to discover how a former state lawmaker and a novelist teamed up to demystify power, break right-wing supermajorities on razor-thin margins, and prove that real change starts right within your own social circle. Key topics include: 00:00 – Intro: The Illusion of Federal Power 04:15 – Why Daniel Left the State Senate to Build a Movement 11:30 – Enter Melissa Walker: Translating Politics into Human Stories 18:45 – What is a Giving Circle? (And Why It Beats Traditional Campaigns) 27:10 – The ROI of Grassroots Dollars: State vs. National 36:15 – Overcoming Cynicism: How to Build a Brand People Trust 44:30 – Outro & How to Take Action Check out: https://statesproject.org/ And look for 'The Fourth Brand: How State Governments Can Save Our Union' by Daniel Squadron, Co-Founder of The States Project https://statesproject.org/fourthbranch/

From Elle Editor to Fragrance Founder: How Carol Han Pyle Built a Bootstrapped Sephora Favorite

Six months into launching her clean luxury fragrance brand, NETTE, Sephora slid into Carol Han Pyle's DMs. In this episode of Professional Jealousy, host Natasha Jakubowski (Chief Innovation Officer at Anomaly) sits down with Carol to discuss her wild journey from fashion editor at Elle to beauty mogul. Carol shares the raw reality of building a physical product business, the supply chain nightmares that cost her six months of revenue, and why she chose to keep her business 100% bootstrapped. If you've ever wanted to know what it really takes to get onto the shelves of Sephora, and stay there. This episode is a masterclass in resilience, brand clarity, and creative intuition.✨ What we cover: - How a pandemic client-loss sparked a luxury beauty brand. - The concept of functional fragrance: Blending poetry with neuroscience. - Why your brand message needs to be simple before you ever touch social media. - The operational hurdles of "hardware vs. software" businesses. - Carol's advice for corporate giants who have lost their connection to consumers. Subscribe for more behind-the-scenes interviews with founders, CEOs, and creatives we are secretly (and professionally) jealous of! Checkout:https://nettenyc.com/

Redefining Energy: How WIP is Building the "Zyn of Caffeine" with Richard Mumby

In this episode of Professional Jealousy, Natasha Jakubowski chats with Richard Mumby, CEO of Wip, to discuss the birth of the next generation energy pouch. Richard shares his journey from DTC pioneers like Gilt and Bonobos to the front lines of category disruption at Juul, and how those experiences informed the launch of Wip.We dive into why liquid caffeine is failing specific consumer groups—from marathon runners to construction workers—and how Wip is using a "product-first" mentality to mask the bitterness of caffeine while building a brand that feels like a "witch’s cauldron of Red Bull, GoPro, and Supreme."Whether you’re an entrepreneur interested in retail velocity or just someone looking for that 25th hour in the day, Richard’s insights on building movements and the "set by 40" career trajectory are not to be missed.Key Themes[00:00] – Introduction: Meeting Richard Mumby and the Wip origin story.[01:58] – The "Zyn" Effect: Why pouches are the next generational shift in consumption.[03:55] – Solving the Liquid Problem: Bloating, spills, and the "biological" bathroom issue.[07:02] – Product vs. Marketing: The science of masking caffeine’s bitterness.[09:32] – Pilot to Launch: Transitioning from LFGO to the global brand identity of Wip.[14:19] – The Brief: Combining the DNA of Red Bull, GoPro, and Supreme.[17:26] – Lessons from Juul & Gilt: Using culture to create a category.[20:40] – Retail Strategy: Why "retail velocity" matters more than vanity metrics.[33:07] – Career Philosophy: Why your trajectory is often "set by 40."[38:25] – Superpowers: The art of building movements and pulling people along.

Ep.26 / Stop Wasting Time on Facials: Rachel Liverman’s No-Fluff Blueprint for Glowbar

In this episode of Professional Jealousy, Natasha Jakubowski chats with Rachel Liverman, founder of Glowbar to peel back the curtain on how she turned a 2017 manifestation email into a multi-city skincare empire. Rachel shares why she stripped away the "fluff" of 90-minute massages to focus on 30-minute clinical results, and how she maintains a high-performance culture with over 400 employees. In this episode: - The "Ranch House" Philosophy: Why you need a solid foundation before you scale. - The "Try Three, Then Me" Rule: Rachel’s genius hack for delegating and preventing leadership burnout. - Legacy vs. Innovation: How she’s honoring her grandmother (the woman who brought esthetics to the US) while reinventing the industry. - Why Glowbar Says NO to Botox: Staying focused in a crowded "MedSpa" market. - Fundraising Realities: How she raised her first $1M from friends, family, and former bosses. [Timestamps] 0:00 - Intro: Meeting the Founder of Glowbar 2:15 - The "Aha" Moment: Why traditional facials are failing consumers 5:30 - Raising $1M: The power of your professional network 8:45 - Building the "DOPEST" company culture 12:10 - The "Try Three, Then Me" delegation rule 15:50 - Why Glowbar won’t do injectables or GLP-1s 22:30 - Skincare trends: Retinol, Exosomes, and Longevity 28:15 - Professional Jealousy: Who does Rachel Liverman look up to? #Glowbar #RachelLiverman #SkincareBusiness #FemaleFounders #StartupScaling #BeautyIndustry #ProfessionalJealousy #EntrepreneurLife #SkincareRoutine #businessgrowth