Sam Nebel is the Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Goodwipes, an eco-friendly personal care brand known for its flushable and biodegradable wipes. He launched the brand with his college friend to create a stigma-free alternative to traditional bathroom products. Sam is also a board member of the Responsible Flushing Alliance and was a Regional Manager and a founding team member at Party Degree, where he catalyzed the growth of one of its branches to over seven figures in annual event and nightclub sales.

Some consumer products entrepreneurs stall when trying to scale from $10 to $100 million in revenue. They often underestimate operations, overestimate the impact of marketing, and delay building scalable systems until it’s too late. What does it take to build a durable, category-leading brand that lasts?

Operations-focused entrepreneur Sam Nebel scaled his brand by committing to operational excellence, product superiority, and category leadership. He emphasizes the importance of establishing supplier relationships early, hiring specialized talent to elevate execution, and prioritizing product quality and the consumer experience. Data-driven decision-making is crucial for outperforming the competition and positioning your brand as a category leader. Sam also recommends planning your infrastructure ahead of growth by reverse-engineering from long-term goals and identifying the capacities, vendor relationships, and supply chain redundancies needed to scale.

In the latest episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris sits down with Sam Nebel, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Goodwipes, to discuss building and scaling a high-performing CPG brand. Sam talks about shifting your role as a founder to scale, how operations impact product performance, and the value of consumer-driven product design.

William Harris is the Founder and CEO of Elumynt, an e-commerce growth agency focused on profit through hyper-scaling. Elumynt has been featured in Inc. Magazine as an Inc. 5000 Winner and Best Workplace Winner. William has helped acquire 13 companies, including one that sold to GoDaddy. He’s also published over 200 articles on the topic of e-commerce in Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Shopify, and more.

Scaling an e-commerce brand from $10 to $100 million requires forward-thinking strategies and adaptability. Many companies rely too heavily on what worked during earlier growth stages, underinvest in systems, and fail to evolve leadership. In a rapidly shifting market flooded with noise, how can brands future-proof their strategy and leverage AI without losing their human touch?

As an AI chatbot developed by xAI, Grok outlines a detailed 12-month growth playbook rooted in strategic diversification, operational upgrades, and smarter hiring. Grok emphasizes the importance of accurate attribution when expanding marketing channels, leveraging AI for hyper-personalized customer journeys, and setting strict performance benchmarks to know when to pivot or cut tactics. However, AI is not a silver bullet; if a brand lacks a compelling product or clear value proposition, no algorithm can compensate. AI should act as a strategic enhancer rather than a crutch.

In today’s exclusive episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris interviews Grok, created by xAI, about using AI to scale e-commerce brands. Grok shares what an AI-first brand will look like in 2030, whether AI can become truly conscious, and the ethical concerns about its rapid development.

Caitlin Choate is the Global Head of Marketing at Boatsetter, a peer-to-peer boat rental platform. With nearly 15 years of experience building disruptive brands, she has led marketing efforts at companies like TOMS, Google’s Nest, Airbnb, and Yumi. Caitlin’s work has been recognized by Cannes Lions and the Webby Awards for innovation and storytelling.

Marketing isn’t just transactional; it requires building emotional resonance with customers through memorable experiences with a brand. It’s easy to sell a product, but how do you sell a lifestyle, a sense of identity, or even a community? How can companies balance bold creativity with performance and data-driven ROI?

Brand builder and creative marketer Caitlin Choate believes that connecting with customers emotionally begins by designing marketing that mirrors real-life human experiences. She recommends leveraging user-generated visuals, generating stories that emphasize emotional connection over product specs, and integrating creative, data, and performance teams. Caitlin also highlights the value of running measurable, high-reward experiments to foster brand growth and category domination.

In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris converses with Caitlin Choate, Global Head of Marketing at Boatsetter, about turning product transactions into lifestyle-driven brand movements. Caitlin discusses brand versus performance alignment, using PR and influencers as a storytelling medium, and why cultivating serendipity can catalyze unexpected career opportunities.