Explore the relentless pace of change and the innovators who drive it. Each episode, we dive deep into the world of cutting-edge ideas, breakthrough technologies, and fearless pioneers who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
Scott Lingle and Hunter Beale on High School Hustle: 2,500 Teen Entrepreneurs and $150K in Prizes
High School Hustle gives teenagers cash, mentors and a scoreboard to turn summer side jobs into real businesses, with students competing for $150,000 in prize money.
High School Hustle co-founder Scott Lingle and executive director Hunter Beale explain how the program grew from a 20-student pilot to more than 2,500 young entrepreneurs across Indiana and 30 states. Their model is built around action: students make their first $100, log the revenue and receive a $100 grant to reinvest in equipment or supplies.
Lingle and Beale break down the lunchroom recruiting strategy that uses a $100 bill, a QR code and a briefcase filled with $100,000 to get students pitching business ideas in 15 seconds. They also share the businesses students are building, from pressure washing, lawn care and car detailing to e-commerce, technology and sports-based babysitting.
One freshman tracked 1,031 doors knocked, heard yes from roughly 80 customers and closed a $6,000 pressure washing job that produced about $5,100 in profit. The conversation explains why hiring employees, learning sales, handling rejection and testing multiple ideas can move teenagers from self-employment toward building larger businesses.
Host Toph Day also asks about Orr Fellowship, mentorship, faith, the student marketplace and High School Hustle's plans for national expansion. Schools, students and mentors can get involved at highschoolhustle.org. Sponsors and donors can contact hunter@highschoolhustle.org.
17 Sept 2026
Ashley Nora: From Corporate Chemist to Full-Time Artist
2 Sept 2026
Bryn Jones of St. Elmo Steak House: From Shrimp Cocktail to 4,000 Stores
St. Elmo Steak House turned its famous shrimp cocktail sauce into a retail business reaching more than 4,000 stores nationwide, without turning the 125-year-old restaurant itself into a chain.
Bryn Jones, vice president of marketing and retail at Huse Culinary, explains how the team extended a legacy hospitality brand into consumer products while trying to protect what makes the original restaurant special. The cocktail sauce started as a response to guest demand, grew through small local retailers, and eventually reached thousands of shelves. Jones describes why the bottled version is intentionally made hotter than the restaurant sauce, how horseradish loses heat over time, and why learning from an unsuccessful East Coast expansion changed the company's approach to growth.
The same restaurant-first model now drives the spirits business. Sales data from cocktails served to guests helped guide products under St. Elmo Cocktails, while barrel sourcing created an opening for Rare Saint Whiskey. Barkeep Vodka grew from work on the espresso martini and uses a pressure filtration process designed to reduce bite, burn and aftertaste.
Jones also explains his "first, best, only" framework for product innovation, why copying another company's playbook rarely works, and why curiosity, fast testing and a willingness to celebrate failure are central to finding what does work. He also discusses the complexity of alcohol distribution across state lines and Huse Culinary's move to expand Harry & Izzy's into Phoenix.
Who has been a guest on Innovate or Evaporate
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jeanna Q Liu
Manny Ohonme
Chuck Surack
Alex Rodriguez
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
64,499
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 26 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
10
Social presence
0
YouTube
72
Engagement
32
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