The Failure Factor
Where entrepreneurs get real about their stories and turn failures into lessons for success.
Hosted by Megan Bruneau, The Failure Factor explores the journey of business owners, entrepreneurs and thought leaders who have faced significant challenges, persevered through adversity, and emerged triumphant providing listeners with insights to navigate their own entrepreneurial paths
There's a myth out there that failure is career-ending and that success is achieved without any bumps in the road. In reality, it's surviving rock bottom what gives entrepreneurs the experience, confidence and edge that ultimately causes them to thrive.
Packed with actionable insights, vulnerability, and inspiration, each episode aims to help you navigate your own challenges and grow stronger through adversity.
- Update frequency
- every 33 days
- Average duration
- 51 minutes
- Episodes
- 50
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
BONUS: Fresh Co-Founders on Building From $10,000 to Global Empire, the Soap That Sold Itself, and Resisting Shiny Object Syndrome
Alina Roytberg and Lev Glazman, co-founders of Fresh, built one of the first modern skincare brands rooted in natural ingredients, sensorial experience, and emotional connection—long before “clean be…
Othership Co-Founder & CEO Robbie Bent on a $20M Startup Failure, Addiction Recovery, and Creating a "Trojan Horse" for Emotional Healing
Robbie Bent is the co-founder of Othership—a multi-million dollar wellness movement centered around sauna, breathwork, cold plunge, and emotional connection. After a devastating startup failure left …
ILIA Beauty Founder Sasha Plavsic on Turning $25K Into $100M, Defining Clean Beauty, and Why Her Kidneys Shutting Down Saved Her Life
Sasha Plavsic, Founder of ILIA Beauty, the clean cosmetics brand known for redefining performance makeup, opens up about what it took to build a $100M business from a garage and a $25,000 line of cre…
The Clear Cut Co-Founder & CEO Olivia Landau on Growing an "Accidental Side Hustle" to Nearly $100M, Myths of Diamond Industry, and Proving Investors Wrong
Olivia Landau, Co-Founder and CEO of The Clear Cut—the largest digitally native natural diamond jewelry company in the United States—shares how a side hustle selling engagement rings through Instagra…
RXBAR Co-Founder Peter Rahal on Turning Dyslexia Into Opportunity, Why Product Trumps Marketing, and the $600M Exit That Defied Expectations
Join us for an unflinchingly honest conversation with Peter Rahal, founder of RXBAR (sold to Kellogg's for $600M) and David Protein. Once labeled "disabled" by the school system, Peter reveals how hi…
The NOW Massage Co-Founder Gara Post on Business Breakups, Scaling to 77-Locations, and Emotional Leaders' Edge
Gara Post—serial entrepreneur, franchise mogul, and self-proclaimed “hyper-emotional” leader—joins Megan Bruneau to unpack the realities of building The Now Massage and Bowie Barker. From her early d…
Charity: Water Founder & CEO Scott Harrison on the Misery of “Having It All,” Leveraging His Network, and Transforming The Nonprofit Marketing Game
Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water, a nonprofit that has funded over 171,000 projects to bring clean, safe, drinkable water to more than 20 million people across 29 countries.
Un…
Eight Sleep Co-Founder Alexandra Zatarain on Having Difficult Conversations and Being Throw Into The Leadership Fire
Alexandra Zatarain is the co-founder and VP of Brand and Marketing of Eight Sleep, the world's first sleep fitness company. With accolades like being named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc’s 100 female …
How I Rebuilt When EVERYTHING Changed at Once | Loss, Marriage, New City, New Life - Solo Episode
After more than a year of silence, Megan Bruneau returns with the Failure Factor to share a deeply personal episode about navigating one of the most challenging years of her life. In this raw and ins…
Viome Founder & CEO and Self-made Billionaire Naveen Jain on Shooting for the Moon and The Mindset Shift That Fuels Entrepreneurial Fortitude
Naveen Jain is a serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire whose latest venture, Viome, is revolutionizing personalized health and longevity. Jain rose to success as the founder and CEO of InfoSp…
Beekeeper's Naturals Founder and CEO Carly Stein Kremer on Staying Confident Taking a Risk and Convincing the Person Across the Table of the Upside
Carly Stein Kremer is the founder of Beekeeper’s Naturals, a collection of natural remedies and immune support products she developed after years of living with a chronically suppressed immune system…
Numinus Counder Payton Nyquvest on The Power of Psychedelics And Ethically Scaling A Mental Health Startup
Payton Nyquvest is the founder and CEO of Numinus, a mental health company at the forefront of the psychedelic-assisted therapy movement. He's raised over $80 million for the startup, which currently…
Good Dye Young Cofounders Hayley Williams and Brian O'Connor On Having The Courage To Build An "Offensive" Brand And Figure Out Entrepreneurship As They Go
Mermade Hair founder Tara Simich on blowing up on Instagram and handling unhappy customers
Serial entrepreneur Tara Simich launched Mermade Hair's hero product, the Mermade Waver, right before the pandemic hit. The brand became an overnight success, blowing up on Instagram to the point at …
Alchemy 43 Founder and CEO Nicci Levy on Seeing “No” As a Starting Point and No One Knowing Your Business Better Than You Do
Nicci Levy is the founder and CEO of Alchemy 43, a DryBar-meets-Botox-and-fillers concept transforming the experience of cosmetic injectables. In this episode, she shares the story behind Alchemy43; …
MyIntent.org and VoMo founder Chris Pan on navigating depression and pivoting during the pandemic
Blueprint Cleanse founders Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss on believing in your "absurd" idea and creating a category
Bluemercury Co-founder and CEO Marla Beck On Failing Her Way To Success
In this episode of The Failure Factor, Megan sits down with Bluemercury co-founder and Marla Beck. The CEO of the rapidly-growing luxury beauty retailer shares how the initially Ecommerce company alm…
Schmidt's Naturals Co-founder Michael Cammarata on Entrepreneurial Resilience, Leaving Your Mark Before You Die, and Making His First Million at Thirteen Years Old
In this episode of The Failure Factor, Megan interviews Michael Cammarata: serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder and CEO of Schmidt's Naturals – one of the worlds fastest-growing wellness bra…
The American Equality Failure With Sari Rosenberg
In this special episode, Megan sits down with her good friend: writer, American History teacher and feminist sociopolitical expert Sari Rosenberg to clarify myths around feminism and how it relates t…