Step past the Red Velvet Rope into Zeitgeist, where Cameo co-founder Steven Galanis pulls back the curtain on the renegades behind the consumer brands owning pop culture.
Every week, Steven goes toe-to-toe with the masterminds—founders, CMOs, and disruptors—who’ve turned products into obsessions.
No polished TED Talks here.
These are the raw, unfiltered stories PR teams beg to bury.
Think late-night whiskey confessions with a side of boardroom chaos.
Expect:
• Leadership lessons that cut through the noise
• Secrets to hacking virality
• Origin stories so wild, you’ll hit rewind
• C-suite therapy, no buzzwords allowed
• The playbook to cement your brand in the cultural zeitgeist
Buckle up for Zeitgeist. Subscribe now and join the inner circle.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
How Great Restaurant Brands Stay Relevant for Decades (CEO Lettuce Entertain You, R.J. Melman)
Repeated Hit Brands
R.J. Melman, CEO of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, shares why some companies stay relevant for decades while others disappear:
“Restaurants don’t get tired. Restaurateurs get tired.”
Lettuce has built more than 120 restaurant concepts over 55 years.
Not one hit, but REPEATED hits!
Maggiano’s.
RPM.
Shaw’s.
Bub City.
Wildfire.
RJ Grunts.
Different eras. Different audiences. Different trends.
The same core engine underneath it all:
Reinvent early.
Stay obsessive about the details.
Build cultures people want to belong to.
And never assume yesterday’s success guarantees tomorrow’s relevance.
R.J. says:
Failure isn’t one giant moment. It happens slowly… every day… when leaders stop evolving.
That mindset is probably why Lettuce has survived while so many concepts fade the second they stop being “hot.”
Question: What do you think helps brands stay relevant?
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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.
Subscribe to Zeitgeist and catch Episode 8 now.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
9 Oct 2025
How Squire Built the Ultimate Brand Experience - Dave Salvant Co-Founder and President
Barbershop to Billion.
Dave Salvant, President and Co-Founder of Squire, built a platform that’s processed over $1B in payments — but it all started with a bad haircut experience.
When we sat down for the podcast, Dave told me how he and his co-founder got so frustrated waiting hours in chaotic barbershops that they decided to fix it.
But here’s the part that floored me: when their first test client backed out, they didn’t quit.
They bought the barbershop themselves — with their last $40,000.
That decision changed everything.
By running the business firsthand, they learned every inefficiency, every pain point, and built Squire from the inside out.
Today, that same obsession with the customer experience has turned Squire into the operating system for 3,000+ barbershops worldwide.
As a founder, that story hit me hard.
As a marketer, it reminded me: the best brands aren’t built on strategy decks — they’re built on empathy and immersion.
Sometimes the biggest growth move isn’t scaling faster.
It’s getting closer to the people you serve.
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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.
Subscribe to Zeitgeist and catch Episode 7 now.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
29 Sept 2025
How We Built Chomps Into a $1B Snack Brand - Co-Founder & CEO Rashid Ali
Rashid Ali, Co-Founder & CEO of Chomps, he told us something I can’t forget:
👉 “Our moms were our best customers.”
That’s how Chomps started.
A frozen steak business that couldn’t scale. No traction. Just moms buying to keep the lights on.
Then one day — Trader Joe’s calls.
At the time, they were doing only ~$400K in sales. The order was so big they needed to raise $1M in a single weekend just to deliver.
That was the turning point.
Today, Chomps is valued at over $1B.
But here’s the kicker — as Rashid put it:
💡 “It was an 8-year overnight success story.”
The biggest takeaways for me from this conversation:
1️⃣ Failure is data — the wrong customers showed them who the right ones were.
2️⃣ The biggest breaks often arrive when you’re barely hanging on.
3️⃣ Resilience beats speed — billion-dollar brands are built brick by brick.
From moms as their only customers → to Trader Joe’s → to $1B.
That’s not just a brand story. That’s a founder’s playbook.
👉 For other entrepreneurs: what was your own “mom was my only customer” moment?
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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.
Subscribe to Zeitgeist and catch Episode 6 now.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
26 Aug 2025
How I Built BetMGM & Rocket Mortgage Into Cultural Phenomena (Casey Hurbis, CMO of BetMGM)
What does it take to turn a mortgage company and a sports betting app into cultural icons?
Casey Hurbis, CMO of BetMGM and the marketing mind who helped Rocket Mortgage break into the Super Bowl spotlight, reveals the unfiltered truth about building brands that people obsess over.
In this conversation with Cameo co-founder Steven Galanis, Casey shares:
🔥 The risks behind Super Bowl ads (and why safe = dead).
🔥 How to transform “boring” industries into pop culture staples.
🔥 The biggest branding mistakes that cost millions.
🔥 Why CMOs must go big always if they want to stay relevant.
No PR polish. No buzzword bingo. Just battle-tested lessons every founder and CMO needs to hear.
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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.
Subscribe to Zeitgeist and catch Episode 5 now.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
22 Jul 2025
Four Loko's Jaisen Freeman (The Brand Too Bold To Break)
They tried to cancel Four Loko. It didn’t work.
This is the untold story of how one of the most hated, hyped, and misunderstood brands in America refused to die.
Jaisen Freeman — co-founder and co-CEO of Phusion Projects — takes us behind the scenes of Four Loko’s rise, rebellion, and resurrection.
From a bootstrapped college hustle to a billion-dollar juggernaut, he unpacks:
🔥 How they built an iconic brand with zero outside funding.
🚫 Why politicians, the media, and Big Alcohol came after them.
💥 What it took to survive $30M in debt, 90 lawsuits, and a federal crackdown.
📈 And how he’s now building the next breakout brand — powered by data, culture, and unapologetic storytelling.
This isn’t just about a drink. It’s about building something so bold it couldn’t be ignored.
A wild ride through controversy, comeback, and the playbook for turning chaos into brand gold.
👉 If you're building a brand, breaking the rules, or betting on yourself—this one’s for you.
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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.
Subscribe to Zeitgeist and catch Episode 4 now.
The Zeitgeist podcast is brought to you by Cameo, Personalized videos from your favorite stars. Book yours here: https://www.cameo.com/
4 Jul 2025
America's Youngest Woman CEO (Lifeway Foods' Julie Smolyansky)
Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods, recounts her journey from immigrant roots to transforming a niche product into a billion-dollar brand, demonstrating resilience and challenging expectations in this interview.
3 Jun 2025
Bourbon Just Became Currency - Unicorn's Phil Mikhaylov
Phil Mikhaylov, CEO of Unicorn Auctions, discusses disrupting the spirits industry by building a digital auction platform that treats rare bourbon as an investable asset, highlighting organic growth and community building in this interview.
12 May 2025
Dude Wipes, Chief Executive Dude & President, Sean Riley
Chief Executive Dude and President Sean Riley discusses with Steven Galanis how Dude Wipes disrupted the personal care industry by embracing humor and authenticity, resulting in a $200M empire in this interview.
Who has been a guest on Zeitgeist: How breakout brands got built
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Julie Smolyansky
Phil Mikhaylov
Sean Riley
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
3.7 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 25 / 100
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Quality
37
Social presence
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YouTube
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Engagement
32
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