Building While Flying
Welcome to Building While Flying: a weekly business podcast from Gary Vaynerchuk’s agency The Sasha Group. We are the small- to medium-sized business arm of VaynerX, the most contemporary independent holding company in the industry. At The Sasha Group, we teach, guide, and execute modern-day brand building and marketing for ambitious businesses looking for meaningful growth.
Building a business isn’t linear. The journey is wrought with turbulence, delays, and re-routes. Those who win are resilient, unafraid of challenges, and willing to flex in order to reach their destination. We get it; entrepreneurship is in our DNA, and we’re built of people with entrepreneurial experience and empathy.
Right now, times are volatile and ambiguous. Across all sectors, there is an air of experimentation. Brands and businesses are investigating new methods, exploring new paths, testing and learning, adapting, and, well, building the plane while flying. By adopting an uncertainty mindset, we can navigate the ever-changing skies of entrepreneurship together by listening, learning, applying, and sharing.
On Building While Flying, we hear from a diverse range of business leaders about how they face challenges head on and stay calm under pressure. Their stories are riddled with the unexpected and share how their strategies have been put into practice and changed their business.
Past episodes have featured stories of turning side hustles into main hustles, building businesses inspired by their families’ needs, dealing with rejection, selling the company they built, innovating better-for-you foods and products, and above all else, following their dreams and navigating the trials of entrepreneurship.
Thanks so much for flying with us. We’re glad you’re on this journey, too. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss our weekly episodes.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 29 minutes
- Episodes
- 99
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2023
Connecting Fitness, Water, and People Around the World with Bruce Smith, CEO & Founder of Hydrow
Bruce Smith is the Founder and CEO of Hydrow, an at-home full-body rowing experience that connects the user with the natural world through Hydrow’s patented design and technology. Bruce is also an ac…
How Staying Hyper Focused Helps Alice Kim Build and Grow a Clothing Brand
Alice Kim is a fashion industry veteran with more than two decades of experience. She’s now the Founder and CEO of PerfectDD, a sustainable clothing brand made specifically for mid-sized women with s…
Kyra Peralte Cultivates Connection and Community with The Traveling Diary
Kyra Peralte is a serial creator and entrepreneur who understands human needs and emotions, and creates products that meet those needs. Her most recent project is The Traveling Diary Tour, which conn…
Growing Your Brand and Mission Through E-Commerce - Doron Petersan
Doron Petersan is President of Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, a beloved vegan bakery in Washington, DC—and soon-to-be national e-commerce powerhouse. Doron has played a huge role in paving the way for…
Good News Saves Lives - with Tony Samadani (Good News Network)
Tony Samadani is the Co-Owner and Head of Strategic Partnerships at The Good News Network, a platform founded in 1997 as an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the mainstream media. …
Making Virtual Experiences Better - Farah Allen, CEO, The Labz
Farah Allen is an accomplished leader in the media technology space. Her career spans more than 20 years, from management consulting to founder and CEO. She currently serves as CEO of The Labz, a no-…
“We’re the Oldest Startup in the Nation” - Aly Wente, Wente Vineyards
Aly Wente is the VP of Marketing and Customer Experience at Wente Vineyards. Wente is the country’s longest, continuously operated family-owned winery; Aly is the fifth generation of the Wente family…
Jon Levy Teaches How to Create Meaningful Human Connection
Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist who uses science to meaningfully connect brands and people. He works with Fortune 500 companies and startups to help them apply the latest research to their marketi…
Community, Trust, and Running a Business with Your Olympian Sister - with Wes Felix, CEO, Saysh
Wes Felix is CEO and co-founder of Saysh, a lifestyle brand that creates products by and for women. He’s also the founder and managing partner of boutique sports management agency Evolve. He created …
Powering Your Content Strategy with Content Curation - Scott Rogerson, CEO, UpContent
Scott Rogerson is the CEO of UpContent, a SaaS content curation platform built to help its users power up their content strategy and save time in their operations. UpContent spun out of Rogerson’s fo…
Supplier Diversity in the Advertising Industry - Anita Laney, Professional Partnering Solutions
Anita Laney currently serves as President and CEO of Professional Partnering Solutions, a full-service supplier diversity consulting and technology firm, where she and her team also developed DataLou…
Sustainable is the New Black - Michelle Wiles, Head of Brand @ Son of a Tailor
Michelle Wiles is the Head of Brand at Son of a Tailor, a DTC “clothing tech” company that delivers made-to-order men’s clothing at scale. Their garments are custom fits to provide the best wearing e…
Finding Community with Your Neighbors - Maryam Banikarim (CMO, Nextdoor)
Maryam Banikarim currently serves as the CMO of Nextdoor, the popular hyperlocal neighborhood and community app. She’s no stranger to finding her own communities; as her family moved around the world…
How to Disrupt an Antiquated Industry - with Gio Vaccaro, Co-Founder @ Glamsquad
Giovanni Vaccaro left his family’s restaurant business at age 18 and went straight to cosmetology school. He says he was the worst beauty student they’d ever seen. After years of learning and hard wo…
Lessons from a 5x Healthcare Startup CEO - with Hal Andrews (Trilliant Health)
Hal Andrews is a lawyer turned entrepreneurial healthcare executive. He’s currently the CEO of Trilliant Health, an analytics and data science company that provides market analytics, predictive analy…
Victoria Garrick on The Hidden Opponent, Mental Health, Nonprofit Branding, and Real Realness
Victoria Garrick is not only an accomplished collegiate athlete. She’s a speaker, TED Talk host, nonprofit founder, and mental health advocate who shares her story and message of support to millions.…
Slow Down to Speed Up - with Stacy Tuschl (Academy of Performing Arts, Wisconsin)
When Stacy Tuschl started teaching dance classes in her parents’ backyard at age 18, she wasn't planning on starting a business. Within three years, she had 100 students, and the Academy of Performin…
Building the Leaders of the Future - with Gary Sheng, Civics Unplugged
For Gary Sheng, the year 2016 kicked off a deep exploration of civics, leadership, and the future of democracy—which ultimately led him to his calling.
Gary Sheng is a Co-Founder and the COO of Civi…
Reimagining the Status Quo - with Jess Tillyer, re—inc.
Jess Tillyer is the Chief Brand and Experience Officer at re—inc., an eco-conscious fashion and lifestyle brand. re—inc. was founded in 2019 by U.S. Women’s Soccer superstars Christen Press, Tobin He…
From the Street to the Stadium: Whitney Bansin & The Wild Collective are Taking the World of Team Sports by Storm
Sports fan apparel has gotten a major facelift recently, thanks to Whitney Bansin and The Wild Collective. In 2016, Whitney founded The Wild Collective, a fashion-forward lifestyle and apparel brand …