Episodes

  • How a Bartender-turned-Florist Became The First Ecommerce Giant: 1-800-Flowers' Jim McCann

    How a Bartender-turned-Florist Became The First Ecommerce Giant: 1-800-Flowers' Jim McCann
    Oct 19 2024
    Jim McCann fondly remembers his humble beginnings in Queens, growing up the son of a working-class Irish Catholic family. He worked plenty of jobs before he finally bought a flower shop, with plans to become a florist and build a business. After ten years in the florist game, he had acquired nearly 40 flower shops. But the world around Jim was changing; 1-800 numbers were all the rage, and e-commerce had exploded since the embrace of the Internet. 1-800 Flowers CEO Jim McCann joins Liz to share how he grew his one retail flower shop into a massive company worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He explains how he acquired the signature 1-800 Flowers and what he did to adapt his business through the decades to become the national brand they are today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • High School Dropout To Founder & CEO: How DUB’s Steven Wang Is Democratizing Investing

    High School Dropout To Founder & CEO: How DUB’s Steven Wang Is Democratizing Investing
    Oct 12 2024
    Steven Wang caught the startup bug early, launching his first business in the 1st grade. His parents immigrated from China, hoping to give their son a chance at the American Dream. That got complicated when Steven dropped out of high school. Once free from school, he wasted no time. He built and sold a VR company. By the age of 18, he was an engineering product manager at Apple. When he finally landed at Harvard, he soon felt the tug of a fresh new business idea calling to him. Tech CEO & DUB app founder Steven Wang joins Liz to share how his dropouts from high school and Harvard led him to revolutionize and democratize the investing world with his app that allows anyone to copy the leading investors or become a successful fund manager themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    41 mins
  • "Owning Manhattan" Real Estate Mogul Ryan Serhant Has No Regrets

    "Owning Manhattan" Real Estate Mogul Ryan Serhant Has No Regrets
    Oct 5 2024
    Ryan Serhant has worn quite a lot of hats. From soap opera star to off-off-Broadway actor, before eventually settling on hustling real estate agent. Remembering his earliest experiences living in New York City as humbling ones, as the city had been rough on him financially, mentally, and physically. Giving up was tempting, but Ryan was certain this was only one chapter in his success story. Real estate mogul and star of Netflix’s “Owning Manhattan,” Ryan Serhant, joins Liz to share how he struggled from the bottom of real estate all the way to the top. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • Never Too Old to Start Over: How NHL Star Mike Richter Left the Ice & Headed to Yale

    Never Too Old to Start Over: How NHL Star Mike Richter Left the Ice & Headed to Yale
    Sep 28 2024
    In 1994, the New York Rangers were in a drought—they hadn’t won a national hockey championship in 54 years. Enter goalie Mike Richter and his team, who would lead the Rangers all the way to a Stanley Cup. Reaching the heights of his hockey career in his 20’s, he never could have anticipated his next puck save would be his last. After suffering two concussions in a short eight-month span, he was given no choice but to retire from the sport. New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup-winning goalie Mike Richter joins Liz to share the incredible journey his team embarked on to win a national championship for their city. He explains how he adjusted to his transition from professional sports to Yale Business School and his ambitions for his clean-energy business enterprise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    47 mins
  • Sky High Ambitions: Frank Lorenzo's Turbulent Ride To The Top Of The Airline Industry

    Sky High Ambitions: Frank Lorenzo's Turbulent Ride To The Top Of The Airline Industry
    Sep 21 2024
    Growing up the kid of Spanish immigrants living in Queens, New York—Frank was always looking up at the sky to catch a glimpse of the incredible planes flying right above him. Soaring into adulthood, he committed himself to his studies at Columbia and later Harvard Business School, determined to make his dreams a reality. He went on to manage multiple airlines, becoming known to some as ‘the Godfather of low airfare.’ Former CEO of Continental Airlines Frank Lorenzo joins Liz to share how his first airplane ride inspired his ambition for a career in aviation, his bumpy professional path to the top, and the story of how he cut airplane fares lower than ever before, which he details in his new book, “Flying for Peanuts.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    23 mins
  • From Diagnosis to Dough : How Loren Castle Turned Health Crisis Into A Cookie Company

    From Diagnosis to Dough : How Loren Castle Turned Health Crisis Into A Cookie Company
    Sep 14 2024
    Just out of college at age 22, a cancer diagnosis upended the life Loren had planned on. After a year of chemotherapy and a stricter diet, she earns a clean bill of health, and along with it not just the will to live, but the will to thrive. Armed with a new understanding of nutrition and a delicious, healthy, vegan cookie recipe of her own design, Loren Castle launched her cookie business out of her mom’s kitchen. Founder of Sweet Loren’s, Loren Castle, joins Liz to explain how baking helped her overcome the challenges of cancer, the charity baking contest that launched her on an entrepreneurial path, and the recipe for getting Sweet Loren’s cookie dough in over 25,000 supermarkets across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • From The Basement To The Big-Time: DJ Duo Two Friends' Success Story

    From The Basement To The Big-Time: DJ Duo Two Friends' Success Story
    Sep 7 2024
    What’s better than one friend…Two Friends! Liz is joined by Matt Halper and Eli Sones of the dynamic EDM DJ/Producer Duo, Two Friends. They share how a friendship that began on the playground in the 7th grade catapulted to taking Madison Square Garden by storm. Matt and Eli share what’s in store for the next volume of their “big bootie mixes.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • The Climb: An Everyone Talks To Liz Labor Day Special

    The Climb: An Everyone Talks To Liz Labor Day Special
    Aug 31 2024
    On this special episode commemorating Labor Day, Liz revisits conversations of passion, persistence, and grit. In this one-hour special, Liz sits down with entrepreneurs and executives about their journey from the mailroom to the boardroom and all the roadblocks along the way. Interviews featured: Retired professional boxer & entrepreneur Laila Ali, Founder of The Agency and Real Estate Superstar Mauricio Umansky, Luxury Fashion Designer and Co-founder of her own namesake company Rebecca Minkoff and Red Carpet Fashion Expert and daughter of comedian and icon Joan Rivers Melissa Rivers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins