Episode 115: Ricky Silver Kyle Matthews sits down with Ricky Silver, CEO of Daily Harvest, to discuss how one of America's fastest-growing healthy food companies is changing the way people eat. Ricky shares his unconventional journey from studying chemistry at Skidmore College and pursuing a PhD at NYU to becoming a personal chef, working in PepsiCo's research and development division, leading innovation at Vita Coco, and ultimately becoming CEO of Daily Harvest following its

Episode 114: Paul Tran In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Kyle Matthews sits down with Paul Tran, founder and CEO of MANSCAPED, the company that transformed men’s grooming by creating an entirely new category and turning it into a global brand. Born in Vietnam and arriving in America as a first-generation immigrant with his family, Paul’s story is a true example of the American Dream. From growing up in poverty and putting himself through USC to launching mult

Episode 113: Brian Finnegan In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Kyle Matthews sits down with Brian Finnegan, President and CEO of Brixmor Property Group (NYSE: BRX), one of the largest open-air shopping center owners and operators in the United States. Brian’s story is a masterclass in leadership, patience, and long-term career growth. Starting as a leasing representative in 2004, he spent more than two decades working through nearly every operational role in t

Episode 112: Sam Miller On the Matthews Mentality podcast, host Kyle Matthews interviews four-time founder and Kasheesh CEO Sam Miller, who dropped out of college, bootstrapped early companies, achieved three exits, and now leads a fintech platform that lets consumers split purchases across multiple cards with no loans, interest, or credit checks. Miller explains Kasheesh’s origin as a response to predatory buy-now-pay-later lending, its evolution from a browser extension to

Episode 111: Neil Hershman In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Kyle Matthews interviews Neil Hershman, CEO of 16 Handles, entrepreneur, franchise operator, Everest summiter, endurance athlete, and business owner. Neil shares how he left a hedge fund career at 23 years old, bought a single 16 Handles frozen yogurt franchise with an SBA loan, and scaled it into a rapidly growing national franchise brand with nearly 80 locations. This episode covers entrepreneursh

Episode 110: Marc Riccio Kyle Matthews interviews Marc Riccio, CEO of USA Lacrosse, about the sport’s growth, access challenges, and lacrosse’s return to the Olympics in LA 2028 as a medal sport for the first time since 1908. Riccio explains the sixes format (a faster, smaller-sided game akin to rugby sevens) and notes the U.S. women are ranked No. 1 while the U.S. men are No. 2 behind Canada. He discusses obstacles such as high school sanctioning (24 states still not sanctio

Episode 109: Stephen Smith Kyle Matthews interviews Stephen Smith, founder and CEO of HOTWORX, a 24-hour infrared fitness studio franchise that has grown to over 800 locations since opening its first studio in 2017 after a Jamaica conversation sparked the “yoga in a sauna” concept and a patented infrared fitness sauna. Smith explains HOTWORX's model—app-based access and booking, isometric sauna sessions (30 minutes) and HIIT sauna workouts (15 minutes) using cycling, a total

Episode 108: Deb Liu Kyle Matthews interviews Deb Liu, former Facebook senior executive who built the first mobile ad product, created Facebook Marketplace, and launched Facebook Pay, later serving as CEO of Ancestry and now co-founding Ember AI to bring AI-driven enterprise back office automation. Deb explains how Ember identifies workflow “hotspots” where human time is trapped in routinized tasks—often in procurement/invoicing and customer service— then re orchestrates syst

Episode 107: Brad Beeler Kyle Matthews interviews Brad Beeler, a retired U.S. Secret Service special agent and prolific criminal polygraph examiner who served on President George H.W. Bush’s protection detail and was named Special Agent of the Year for work combating crimes against children. Beeler discusses polygraph accuracy and how it works, emphasizing preparation, baselining, and that people “beat the examiner” rather than the instrument. He shares practical deception-de

Episode 106: Michael Burcham On the Matthews Mentality Podcast, host Kyle Matthews interviews Dr. Michael Burcham, who launched, scaled, and sold three healthcare companies and later founded the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Burcham recounts being rejected by 30 Nashville investors before flying to New York for his first trip and securing $10M at Rockefeller Center, then building Therapy Physics by consolidating outpatient rehab practices and ultimately selling at a high mul

Episode 104 Real estate developer Mike Nielson, CEO of LivAway Suites and West 77 Partners, explains economy extended stay hotels as a hybrid closer to multifamily than traditional lodging, serving essential-workforce and life-transition guests needing furnished stays from roughly 90 days to six months. He shares how COVID revealed the segment’s resilience when traditional hotels collapsed, inspiring the mission to deliver a cleaner, safer, more consistent product for underse

Episode 103 Kyle Matthews interviews Tony Zaccario, president and CEO of Stretch Zone, the largest practitioner-assisted stretching franchise. Zaccario shares his leadership principle “never confuse effort with results,” emphasizing data-driven decisions, franchisee profitability, and removing emotion from business. He recounts joining Stretch Zone in 2016 when it had four locations, becoming CEO at 26 in 2019, navigating COVID across differing state and local rules, and grow