How did a married couple with $30k in savings and no business plan build one of the biggest beauty and accessories brands in America?

Cassandra Thurswell (Founder & CEO of Kitsch) and Jeremy Thurswell (COO), join hosts Mike Beckham and Matt Bertulli for their first-ever joint podcast interview.

Together, they unpack the full story of building a bootstrapped empire from a living room apartment to over 30,000 retail doors and more than 10 million ecommerce orders.

Cassandra and Jeremy open up about eight failed businesses before Kitsch, catching their manufacturer stealing IP on their “honeymoon” in China, and navigating a terrifying pivot that led to 70 million face masks. They share how they’ve protected their marriage while running a company together, the reality of balancing motherhood with being a CEO, and why scarcity — not funding — created the focus that made Kitsch unstoppable.

Learn more about Latinas in Beauty, where Cassandra serves on the Advisory Board: https://latinasinbeauty.org

Operators Titans is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the our channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://9ops.co/channels

How does a bootstrapped brand go from $0 to $600 million in three years — without raising a single dollar?

Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, and Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case, break down the explosive rise of COMFRT, the anti-anxiety travel brand founded by Hudson Leogrande that has shattered every assumption about what’s possible in ecommerce.

They unpack the tactics, the mindset, and the cashflow mechanics behind one of the fastest-scaling bootstrapped brands in history.

The conversation dives into COMFRT’s radical affiliate strategy — recruiting thousands of zero-follower creators and turning them into brand missionaries through Discord communities, weekly coaching calls, and a grueling “1,000 videos in a month” challenge.

Sean and Matt debate why TikTok Shop is a top-of-funnel awareness play that no one profits from as a standalone channel, how paying affiliates after the sale creates a massive cashflow advantage, and why having a selfish mission — one that directly helps the buyer — is the secret ingredient most brands are missing.

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More than the incredible (true) story of one founder’s journey to turn around the company he created, this is a public coaching session on what it takes to win as a 6–7 figure brand.

Sean Frank and Matt Bertulli sit down with Ben Leonard, founder of Beast Gear, a strength and conditioning brand he built from scratch in Scotland, sold to Thrasio in 2019, and bought back after watching it decline for years.

Together, they dig into what went wrong, what Ben is doing to resurrect it, and why he’s launching a new product at the same time. The conversation covers the rise and fall of the Amazon aggregator model and the brutal math of earn-outs when a buyer stops investing in your brand. Ben walks through how Beast Gear went from $6 million in revenue to barely $500k after Thrasio killed the website, email marketing, and social media.

The hosts also guide Ben through their turnaround playbook, from TikTok Shop and founder-led content to reclaiming damaged Amazon listings.

Connect with Ben Leonard

https://www.youtube.com/@benleonardpro

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjleonard/

https://www.beastgear.co.uk/

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