CPG Insiders

The New Consumer Economy: Where CPG Brands Can Still Win

Consumers are feeling more pressure—but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped spending. In this episode of CPG Insiders, Mark Young and Justin Girouard sit down with Baringa

Private Label Has Changed. Is Your Brand Ready?

Private label has changed. Store brands used to wait for successful products, create a cheaper alternative, and sit next to them on the shelf. Now? Retailers are buildi

How to Scale Your CPG Brand Without Bleeding Cash

Getting a massive retail PO can feel like the breakthrough your CPG brand has been waiting for. But what if saying “yes” actually puts you out of business? In this episo

The Best Time to Sell Your Business Is Earlier Than You Think

When is the right time to sell your CPG brand? In this episode of CPG Insiders, Mark Young and Justin Girouard break down one of the biggest—and most emotional—decisions

The Hidden Funding Problem Keeping CPG Brands Out of Retail

Landing a purchase order from Walmart, Target, Walgreens, or another national retailer can transform your business overnight. But it also creates one of the biggest chall

From Compliance to Growth: AI's New Role in CPG

AI isn't coming—it's already here, and it's transforming how CPG brands launch products, manage compliance, and compete with industry giants. In this episode of CPG Insi

AI Is Changing Everything - These Are the Books to Read Next

The future belongs to the curious. In this episode of CPG Insiders, Mark Young and Justin Girouard discuss why mindset, imagination, and continuous learning are becoming

The New Rules of CPG Packaging

What separates brands that scale at retail from brands that struggle to stay on shelf? In this episode of CPG Insiders, Mark Young and Justin Girouard sit down with Scot

CPG Retail Fundamentals Every Founder Needs w/ the hosts of "Road2Retail"

Breaking into retail isn’t just hard—it’s brutally unforgiving. With only a fraction of new CPG products surviving beyond two years, what separates the winners from the r

The 3 Plans Every Founder Needs Before Selling

Most entrepreneurs build their business for freedom—but end up creating a prison they can't leave. In this episode of CPG Insiders, Dr. Mark Young and Justin Girouard s

From Startup to Scale: The Rules That Actually Matter

In this special episode of CPG Insiders, the tables are turned as Justin Girouard takes the interviewer seat to ask Dr. Mark Young about his highly anticipated new book,

27 Rules That Change How You Build a CPG Brand

A lot of founders believe scaling a CPG brand is about working harder, running more ads, or grinding through incremental growth. But what if the real path to scale is c

How to Build Your Retail Team

You don't need a bigger team to scale your CPG brand. You need the right who. Most founders think the next move is hiring a full-time VP of Sales, a marketing team, or a

Scaling DTC Without Breaking Cash Flow

In this episode of CPG Insiders, Dr. Mark Young and Justin Girouard tackle one of the most common—and most misunderstood—questions in direct-to-consumer marketing: How do

Scaling Smart: How to Grow Without Giving Up Control

Quitting a cushy job at American Airlines to sell recipe cards? Sounds crazy—until you realize it's an eight-figure business. Josh Hadley, host of the podcast Ecomm Break

Creative vs. Frequency: What Really Drives Ad Performance?

Most brands fail—not because their ads are bad, but because they're not seen enough. In this episode, Mark and Justin unpack the misunderstood power of frequency and how

Seasonal Retail: How to Win Big Without Taking Big Hits

A big seasonal order might look like a win—but it can quietly crush your margins if you're not careful. In this episode, Mark and Justin break down the real mechanics of

Primal Intelligence: Your Superpower AI Can't Touch w/ Angus Fletcher

What if the smartest tool in your business isn't a dashboard or a spreadsheet—but your own brain? Dr. Angus Fletcher, author of Primal Intelligence, joins Mark and Justin

Former Mega Brand Executive Reveals the Secrets to Retail Success w/ Tony Guilliano

When you've been category captain at brands like Coppertone and Dial, shelf space is handed to you. But what happens when you leave the big leagues and start from zero?

Celebrity Deals Decoded: Real Talk from Both Sides of the Table

How do you hire a celebrity for your CPG brand without getting burned? In this episode, Mark and Justin pull back the curtain on the celebrity endorsement game — from nav