GUT with Christianne

About GUT with Christianne

Ambition, pressure, taste, instinct. FP decodes how the best builders actually think and decide; the gut-feel behind the companies that work. Long-form founder conversations, hosted by Christianne, a former comms & media banker who traded the deal desk for the mic. Formerly GUT with Christianne (CC).

Publisher

Christianne

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Jan 2026

Latest episode

10 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

13 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Cam Stajer: The $20 Logo That Became an Olympic Sponsor

   He cold emailed the Olympic committee with no connections and no reply for weeks. Three months later, his company had exclusive rights as Team Canada's official wellness recovery partner through 2028.Cam Stajer started Kala with 5,000 dollars, a 20 dollar Fiverr logo, and a product he found through a podcast because he couldn't afford the real thing. He turned down a deal on Dragon's Den. He bought out his co-founder. He recalled a million and a half dollars of product over a manual printing error. He didn't pay himself a cent for three years.Now Kala is the exclusive red light therapy partner of the Canadian Olympic Committee, sold in Costco, Walmart, and Cam still owns the company outright.What does it actually take to build a brand from your parents' basement into an Olympic sponsorship, without giving up equity? And why walk away from a deal that was already on the table? 00:00 Cold open 00:53 Meet Cam: CEO of Kala Therapy 01:35 20 years of hockey & what it taught him 02:40 Discovering red light therapy 03:56 Starting Kala: $20 logo, Alibaba & the name 06:02 Going on Dragon's Den 09:19 Early disaster: the Suez Canal shipment 10:49 Betting the whole farm12:12 Paying himself $0 for three years 14:33 The $1.5M Costco recall17:52 The dumbest mistake: wiring $50k to the wrong supplier 20:60 The Q4 inventory "Hail Mary" 22:54 Hype, misinformation & medical-device approvals23:55 Sponsor break26:40 Loneliness, mentors & building solo 28:42 Who shouldn't be a founder + ADHD as a superpower30:20 Growing up "different" 32:00 Envy, Forbes 30 Under 30 & what nobody sees 34:47 The Olympic deal 42:52 The Richard Branson cola story 44:47 The Shopify screenshot on his vision board 45:31 Manifestation & training the mind 48:42 Being the main character 49:19 What's next for Kala 50:16 OutroCam Stajer is the founder and owner of Kala, a red light therapy company and the official wellness recovery partner of the Canadian Olympic Committee.Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@founderportraitsListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6T3jeLZ0wkMrUE2T9jkRzzListen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/founder-portraits/id1875549655Follow on Instagram: @founderportraitsFollow on X: @founderportraitWebsite: https://www.founder-portraits.com #podcast #founderstory #entrepreneur #redlighttherapy #founderportraits

2. 

   23 Jul 2026

   Ilias Anwar: His Company Died in One Night

   Ilias Anwar is the founder New York's startup world can't stop talking about; the one who throws 16 events in a week, treats every room like a king, and once faked a $28 million sale on April Fool's just to get investors to call him back. What almost nobody knew: months before the crowds, he was broke, subleasing from a roommate about to be evicted, and borrowing money from his younger sister, swearing every time it was the last. This is a conversation about what generosity costs when you use it to feel safe. Ilias traces his drive back to childhood family weddings; the only place he felt secure with everyone he loved under one roof. And to a mother who taught him that being a good host means forgetting everything about yourself. He gives everyone everything. The question he's still sitting with is what's left for him.

3. 

   21 Jul 2026

   Brian Schardt: He Killed 250K Users to Bet on Nancy Pelosi

   He was 24, eating at Michelin-star restaurants in New York. He'd never been more miserable. Brian Schardt was Director of Engineering at Warner Music Group; parties, money, everything he thought he wanted. Then he flew to Argentina for a wedding and watched people with nothing laugh harder than anyone he knew in Manhattan. He quit from a dinner table that night. No two weeks notice. Just an email: "This is my last day." He came home and built a stock trading app with his brother. Then in one week, everything collapsed: the market crashed, his investor threatened to sue, his girlfriend left, his dad passed away, and his faith went quiet. He fired everyone. Reduced his salary to zero. Took three months off. When he came back, he did the thing his entire team told him was insane, killing a 250,000-user app to bet everything on four words: Invest Like Nancy Pelosi. It hit number one in the App Store. Craft Ventures wrote a million-dollar check without a pitch. Autopilot now manages $1.7 billion. His dad once texted him: "There's no doubt in my mind you will change the world." His dad never saw Autopilot.

4. 

   20 Jul 2026

   Why a 'Safe' Job Is the Most Dangerous Bet | Ex-Big Law Founder, Sabih Siddiqi

   Sabih Saddiqi had the golden handcuffs: big law, the prestige, the paycheck, and walked away to build Irys (formerly Iqidis), a legal-AI company he calls "Palantir meets Bloomberg." A cancer diagnosis at 18 blew up the pre-med identity he'd built his whole life around. He rebuilt it as a litigator, spent nearly seven years in the law, then gave up the safe, charted track for the uncharted one. On this episode of GUT, host Christianne digs into why staying would've been the real risk, why "trust your gut" is the exact instinct a legal career trains out of you, and the difference between starting a startup and starting a company. If you've left the corporate track — or you're sitting in one wondering if you should — start here. In this episode, you'll hear how to: Know when it's actually time to quit a stable job Take action before you feel ready Think about financial risk when you're starting from scratch Make the worst-case scenario work for you instead of against you Build resilience from injury, setback, and rejection Trust your gut when everyone around you says to play it safe Live with a decision that scares you Guest: Sabih Saddiqi, founder of Irys (formerly Iqidis) Host: Christianne Find Sabih and Irys on LinkedIn: @sabihsid and linkedin.com/company/irys-legal-ai Watch the full conversation on YouTube: @theGUTpod

5. 

   15 May 2026

   He Quit a Top Ad Agency to Bet on a Category That Didn't Exist | Rei Lalo, TRIHARD

   If you've been telling yourself you'll start the thing "when you're ready," this episode is for you. Rei Lalo had a stable job at McCann — one of the biggest ad agencies in the world. He'd been promoted twice in three years. He had a clear ten-year trajectory, a real salary, and the kind of resume that opens doors for the rest of your career. He walked away from it. With no college degree, no credibility in the industry he wanted to enter, and some savings, he started building TRIHARD — a hair and skincare brand for athletes. Six years later, it's in over Dick's Sporting Goods stores across the country, used by Olympic swimmers, and has raised ~$5M. In this conversation, we get past the highlight reel. Rei tells us about the rounds that almost didn't close and what it really took to break free from corporate. The voice in his head that is against playing it safe — and the question he asks himself every time he's tempted to hold back. If you're in the comfortable job dreaming about the uncomfortable one, this is the conversation you didn't know you needed and the best use of your time. In this episode, you'll learn: How to know when it's time to quit a stable job How to fundraise without experience or a track record How to take action before you feel ready How to build a brand in a category that doesn't exist yet How to make the worst-case scenario work for you instead of against you How to think about financial risk when you're starting from scratch How to keep going when investors push back How to build resilience from injury, setback, or rejection How to listen to your gut when everyone around you says to play it safe How to live with a decision that scares you Three takeaways for the founder you might become: The "right time" doesn't exist and is a story your fear tells you Your worst case is almost never as bad as you think Regret compounds faster than money does Connect:Rei Lalo: on LinkedInTRIHARD: trihard.com / @wetrihard Follow GUT for conversations with founders about the calls they made that no one else would have.

6. 

   4 May 2026

   Clarke Pennington: From Wall Street to CPG Startup Founder

   Clarke Pennington spent a decade in finance: investment banking, Columbia MBA, a consumer hedge fund. Then he left to build Lasso, a better-for-you gelatin cup with protein and fiber that no one had been able to manufacture before. He gave himself 12 months. He did it in 11 — with six failed production runs, a co-manufacturer who wouldn't return his calls for four months, and stress so severe his hair started falling out. We talk about what it's like to leave a career everyone envies, what happens when the people who raised you to always perform your best become your investors, and the line between relentlessness and self-destruction. "As long as you don't kill yourself in the process." @eatlasso on Instagram and TikTok Claim Your Complimentary Career Clarity Session: https://www.wellthbykirsten.com/booking-calendar/complimentary-consultation?referral=book_button_widget

7. 

   10 Apr 2026

   Anonymous Big Law Associate: Her High Pain Tolerance Almost Killed Her

   She walked into her boss's office crying and came out smiling. For years, Sabrina was the Law Associate everyone thought was fine. Her firm literally put "high pain tolerance" in her performance review. She took it as a compliment. Her body was telling a different story. This is GUT's first anonymous episode. Sabrina is still close to the world she left behind, so her voice and identity have been disguised. What hasn't been disguised is what she went through: a childhood spent performing composure, a career in big law that rewarded her for never needing anything, and the moment she finally saw what everyone around her had been watching all along. This episode is for the change-curious folks out there. Topics: big law burnout, performing calm, identity and achievement, immigrant parent expectations, the cost of competence, anonymous interview

8. 

   17 Feb 2026

   Kirsten Breidenbruch: VP at BlackRock to Quitting With No Plan

   Kirsten Breidenbruch spent a decade at BlackRock. She made VP. She was making great money. From the outside, she had everything figured out. From the inside, she was waking up two hours early every day just to calm herself down enough to walk to work. Her feet felt like cinder blocks. Her body was rejecting the life she built. In this conversation, Kirsten takes us inside the war between the identity she spent years constructing and the person she was becoming underneath it, the panic attacks she masked, the mindfulness sessions she led at work while quietly falling apart, the spreadsheet she made to see if she could afford to quit (and then ignored for months), and the walk on the beach with her dad where she finally said it out loud. She talks about what it actually feels like to dismantle a life that looks perfect, why she wore a white Anthropologie dress to her quitting meeting, and the moment her boss called an hour after she resigned and said "I'm kinda jealous." This is for anyone who has everything they're supposed to want and still feels like something is fundamentally wrong.

9. 

   11 Feb 2026

   George Foreman: How to Rebuild Your Name

   George Foreman built an identity the way entrepreneurs build empires, with brutal focus and no room for weakness. But the man he constructed to dominate was deeply sensitive underneath, and that fracture nearly destroyed him. This is what happened when the persona he'd engineered to survive his childhood became the cage that broke his championship, his marriages, and his relationship with his daughter. Then he spent 30 years rebuilding, not just as a fighter, but as a father, preacher, and businessman who understood something most ambitious people never do: the identity that got you here might be exactly what stops you from going further. For anyone building something big and wondering if the foundation is actually solid.

10. 

    3 Feb 2026

    Marcus Aurelius: How to Lead Through Collapse

    Winter, 169 AD. The most powerful man on earth is sitting in a freezing tent on the battle frontier, covered in mud, surrounded by dead soldiers. Rome is collapsing. A plague is killing 2,000 people a day. The economy has crashed. Marcus Aurelius has just buried his co-emperor. He's watching his own children die. By all accounts, everything is falling apart. That night, by torchlight, he dips his pen in ink and writes a single sentence: Death smiles at us all. All one can do is smile back. This episode is a case study in survival. We deconstruct the mind of a man who stared into the abyss for two decades. War, plague, betrayal, death, and came out not bitter, not broken, but something else entirely. The meditations weren't written in a marble library. They were written in a war zone, by a man trying to hold it together. What stands in the way becomes the way. The obstacle is the curriculum. Fire feeds on obstacles. This is the story of how Marcus Aurelius built a mind that could take the worst life had to offer and turn it into something useful. Content note: This episode contains mentions of death, war, and mature themes.

11. 

    25 Jan 2026

    Arsh Toor: Her Dad Would Have Killed for the Job She Quit

    Arsh Toor's dad moved from India to Canada as an engineer and ended up taking whatever work he could find to support a family on a single income. The message was clear: work hard, get good grades, get a steady job. Arsh did exactly that. She got into an impressive school, landed in investment banking, and spent five years at two different shops in New York. Then she quit to make pistachio butter. Arsh talks about what it felt like to look at the seniors on her team and realize she didn't want their life. About logging back on at 9 p.m. and knowing that was never going to change. About telling her parents she was leaving the career they would have done anything to have. And about what it's actually like to go from building financial models to tracking inventory, running Instagram, and putting everything on the line for a product she and her partner made in a blender. Arsh is the co-founder of Stesh, a pistachio butter brand built on the idea that what you eat should bring you a second of joy in your day. Topics: investment banking, quitting corporate, first-generation immigrant, entrepreneurship, food startup, pistachio butter, Stesh, career change, burnout, founder life GUT is hosted by Christianne. New episodes weekly.

12. 

    24 Jan 2026

    Beethoven: The Man Who Couldn't Hear His Own Masterpiece

    In 1824, Beethoven stood on a podium conducting a symphony he couldn't hear. The orchestra had been told not to look at him. He was flailing at a tempo that existed only in his mind, several bars behind when the music ended. A singer had to walk over and turn him around so he could see the five standing ovations. He heard nothing. We tell the story everyone skips past. The abusive father who beat music into him as a child. The six years he kept his deafness a secret, terrified someone would speak to him and he wouldn't answer. The night he almost ended his life in a quiet village outside Vienna. The nephew he tried to control so completely that the boy put a pistol to his own head. And the final years, when Beethoven stopped writing for the crowd and started writing music so strange that critics called it incomprehensible — music it took the world a century to catch up to. This is a historical deep-dive episode of GUT, examining what grit can build, what brute force can destroy, and what happens when the tools you spent your life mastering break. Content warning: this episode includes descriptions of childhood abuse, suicidal ideation, and a suicide attempt. Topics: Beethoven, classical music, deafness, Ninth Symphony, Heiligenstadt Testament, grit and resilience, perfectionism, trauma, late string quartets, historical biography GUT is hosted by Christianne. New episodes weekly.

13. 

    19 Jan 2026

    Maya Angelou: How to Find Your Voice

    At three years old, Maya Angelou was put on a train to Arkansas with a tag on her wrist and no adult to watch her. At eight, she was sexually assaulted. She believed her voice killed a man, and she stopped speaking for nearly five years. The woman who read a poem at a presidential inauguration in front of 20 million people spent her childhood in silence. This episode traces the full arc: the abandonment, the assault, the years of silence, and the woman who smashed fine china to get herself fired, lied her way into a Creole cooking job she'd never done, invented herself as a Cuban calypso singer, and eventually wrote one of the most important memoirs in American history. Maya Angelou didn't wait for permission or credentials. She just kept moving. This is a historical deep-dive episode of GUT, exploring how the worst things that happened to her became the raw material for everything she built. Content warning: this episode includes descriptions of childhood sexual abuse, racism, abandonment, and violence. Topics: Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, childhood trauma, post-traumatic growth, resilience, performing arts, civil rights, memoir, survival, historical biography GUT is hosted by Christianne. New episodes weekly.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

17 ratings

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