Gettin Chai Podcast

Lani Levy

Join Lani Levy as she sits down with founders and experts who are making a meaningful impact in their communities. Through insightful conversations, she explores their journeys, innovations, and what’s led them to live out their authentic power. Discover the strategies and stories that are driving change and inspiring others to build a better tomorrow.

  1. Aja and Alexa of Duet on Building an Events Company and Making High-Pressure Days Look Effortless

    APR 2

    Aja and Alexa of Duet on Building an Events Company and Making High-Pressure Days Look Effortless

    Aja and Alexa are the co-founders of Duet, an event planning company. We talk about how they each came up in different corners of the hospitality and corporate events world before ending up at the same company and eventually deciding to build something together. They get into what it was like starting the business at 23 and 26 with no real credibility yet, why they put their heads down and had no work-life balance in the early years, and how that foundation is what made everything after it possible. We also get into how they stay calm on event days when things go sideways, why over communicating with clients is the most underrated part of the job, and what it means to be only as good as your last event. 00:00 — Intro 04:25 — How Lani Knows Both of Them and How They Found Each Other 06:08 — Aja's Path From a Gym at 17 to Corporate Events 07:05 — How Aja and Alexa Met at Platters and What They Saw in Each Other 17:34 — How They Started Working Together and What They Thought It Would Be 20:38 — We're Only as Good as Our Last Event 22:02 — The School Carnival Story and What It Feels Like to Trust Your Planner 25:32 — What Each Partner Brings and Why It Works 30:00 — Managing a Team and Setting Expectations on Event Days 33:53 — Overcommunicate Everything or It Becomes Disaster 34:14 — Toronto Venues: Hot or Not 40:05 — Smash or Pass: Wedding and Event Trends 51:12 — Dream Venues Around the World

    51 min
  2. Dani Kagan: Building From Scratch, Staying Curious, and Knowing When to Walk Away

    MAR 19

    Dani Kagan: Building From Scratch, Staying Curious, and Knowing When to Walk Away

    Dani Kagan is the co-founder of Mave & Chez, a luxury ergonomic slipper brand designed for women. We talk about how the brand started from a real health problem she experienced during pregnancy, how she figured out manufacturing and product development with no background in either, and what it took to get from prototype to a Kickstarter that sold out in 12 hours. We also get into building in public, why she thinks founders need to be the face of their brand, the realities of ethical sourcing and manufacturing costs, and why staying curious has kept her going more than any end goal ever could. Follow Lani: IG - @gettin_chai YouTube - @gettinchaipodcast Follow Dani: IG - @maveandchez Website - maveandchez.com 00:00 — Intro 04:18 — Why Collaboration Always Wins and the Story Behind the Name Maeve & Shea 07:13 — The Health Problem That Started It All and How She Built the Product 11:09 — Trusting Her Gut, Finding the Right Partner, and Getting Through the Hard Days 14:13 — Launching on Kickstarter, Selling Out in 12 Hours, and Why She Didn't Wait Until It Was Perfect 20:36 — Building in Public, Ethical Sourcing, and the Realities of Manufacturing 27:56 — Conscious Consuming, Profit for Purpose, and Why Founders Are the Brand Now 33:09 — Getting Comfortable Asking for Things and Sitting in Discomfort to Grow

    38 min
  3. Erin Kleinberg: Building a Business, Pivoting, and Trusting Your Instincts

    MAR 5

    Erin Kleinberg: Building a Business, Pivoting, and Trusting Your Instincts

    Erin Kleinberg joined me to talk about what it takes to really build a brand  — the pivots along the way, trusting your instincts, staying creative, and having the confidence to ask for what you want.She shares what it really looks like to navigate change while continuing to build on your own terms.A thoughtful conversation about resilience, creativity, and evolving as a founder. 00:00 – Intro01:05 – Having a fire in the belly from a young age 02:03 – Starting a clothing line with no business background 06:42 – Selling to major retailers and landing celebrity placements 09:19 – Co-founding a media brand and going inside people's homes 11:34 – Raising funds, landing a famous investor and moving on 13:40 – Pivoting back to clothing and starting a creative agency 16:44 – Landing their first major beauty client through a cold email 18:07 – What a creative agency actually does 19:50 – Losing a grandmother and starting a beauty brand in her honor 21:47 – Building the brand and launching the first products in 2022 24:40 – The thinking behind the product names 31:21 – What makes a candle clean and why it matters 35:09 – Rapid fire round 42:33 – Having a parent as a business partner from day one 46:05 – Why trusting your team and delegating is everything

    47 min
  4. Safe Sex, Rebranded: Yasemin Emory Of Jems Redefines The Condom Aisle

    FEB 19

    Safe Sex, Rebranded: Yasemin Emory Of Jems Redefines The Condom Aisle

    Yasemin Emory and Whitney Geller are changing the condom landscape. In this episode, we talk about Jems and what it really takes to modernize protection while keeping the brand intentional and aligned. From navigating stigma to building trust in a sensitive space, this conversation gets into strategy, messaging, and how a small team can shift a big narrative. FOLLOW GETTIN CHAI Instagram: gettin_chai TikTok: gettin_chai YouTube: gettinchaipodcast FOLLOW JEMS Instagram: jemsforall Website: jemsforall.com 00:00 – Intro 03:33 – Walking into the condom aisle and seeing a massive problem 05:30 – The communication and design gap no one had fixed yet 07:05 – STIs are at an all-time high and why that matters 08:11 – Tackling stigma alongside selling a product 10:46 – How they built the brand and what Gen Z actually told them 13:07 – Campus ambassadors, condom fairies and free marketing 17:24 – Managing inventory and scaling to hundreds of new doors 19:43 – Fifteen years as business partners and what makes it work 22:32 – Riding the highs and weathering the storms together 23:55 – Sex education, young kids and a gap no one is filling 29:11 – What Gems is doing to fill the education gap 32:36 – Why condoms beat eye cream as a business idea 35:00 – What it feels like to be gritty, in it and loving it

    38 min
  5. Where Systems Meet Humanity: Alison Albright on Care Work in High-Pressure Systems

    FEB 5

    Where Systems Meet Humanity: Alison Albright on Care Work in High-Pressure Systems

    This week on Gettin Chai, I’m joined by Alison Albright, who works in victim services on the front lines of crisis and care.We talk about what the work actually requires — making decisions under pressure, building trust in minutes, and carrying responsibility most people never see. 00:00 – Intro 02:04 – What Is Victim Services Toronto? 03:15 – The Range of Cases & Specialized Programs 07:00 – How the System Works: From Charges to Court 09:43 – The Year of Waiting & Its Impact on Young People 11:34 – What Testifying in Court Actually Looks Like 15:26 – "Court Was Worse Than the Abuse" 16:25 – The Gap in Post-Court Therapy & Support 20:24 – No Specialized Program Exists Anywhere 22:34 – Finding a Leader Who Got It & Building Something New 28:33 – Fundraising the Gap: Creating the Rise Event 31:49 – Community Support, Celebrity Involvement & Sponsors 36:28 – Being Part of the Solution & Why Talking About It Matters

    38 min
  6. Science, Not Guesswork: Samantha Diamond on Modern Fertility Care

    JAN 22

    Science, Not Guesswork: Samantha Diamond on Modern Fertility Care

    Samantha Diamond joins me to talk about building Bird&Be from personal frustration, lived experience, and science. We get into PCOS, pregnancy loss, why so much of fertility care still feels stuck in the past, and how empowering people with better data can change everything about how they move through the journey. 00:00 – Intro 04:16 – What Is Bird & Bee and How Did It Start? 05:38 – A PCOS Diagnosis While Dating a Fertility Doctor 07:02 – Blending Western Medicine & Naturopathic Care 08:50 – Spotting a Gap in the Market for Reproductive Health 12:10 – What Was Actually on the Shelf Before Bird & Bee1 4:35 – Building Credibility Through Education First 16:39 – The Product Range: Tests & Supplements 17:03 – Reaching People in Reproductive Care Deserts 18:13 – Male Fertility Is a Feminist Issue 20:45 – The Number One Reason People Seek IVF in Canada 22:01 – How the At-Home Tests Actually Work 27:12 – Why You Need to Start Prenatals Before You Start Trying 28:26 – The New Three-in-One Collagen Product 32:40 – Breaking Down Perimenopause & What It Actually Means 37:43 – Why You Need to Be Lifting Heavy Weights 39:36 – How Sam Fills Her Cup: Workouts, Walking & Coaching 44:00 – Closing Thoughts & Why This Conversation Matters

    45 min
  7. Turn the Music Up, Tune the Noise Out: Inside Ariel Swan’s Method and Mindset

    JAN 8

    Turn the Music Up, Tune the Noise Out: Inside Ariel Swan’s Method and Mindset

    Ariel Swan joins me to talk about the evolution of her teaching, how Jaybird’s method came together, and the role music plays in shaping movement and focus. We get into alignment, energy, and what shifts when you stop overthinking and start moving with more intention. It’s reflective, honest, and grounded in real experience. 00:00 – Intro 05:26 – Feeling over fixing and why emotions need to move through the body 07:58 – How Jaybird came to be and the philosophy behind it 09:49 – Why the room is dark and what removing sight actually does 13:07 – No judgment, no mirrors and why that changes everything 17:04 – The dance party, why it exists and the evolution of every person in the room 20:17 – Rest, nervous system regulation and why pushing harder isn't always the answer 23:03 – Meditation, the pause and why distraction is actually the point 28:14 – Unconscious habits, awareness and being kind to yourself about it 31:04 – What it takes to become a Jaybird instructor 35:42 – Strength versus mobility and what actually matters as you age 40:15 – Instructor chat, favorites and what makes each class different 44:30 – What it means to a founder to hear how it landed

    46 min
  8. The Quiet Power Move: How Haley Bogaert Built Something That Lasts

    2025-12-25

    The Quiet Power Move: How Haley Bogaert Built Something That Lasts

    Haley Bogaert didn’t build her brand by chasing trends; she built it by showing up, learning in real time, and doing things her own way. We dive into early hustle, hard lessons, and why slow-and-steady growth often feels better than constantly pushing for the next big thing. Haley shares what it’s really like to build over time, protect her energy, and grow something that aligns with who she is now. 00:00 – Intro 02:21 – Discovering a passion for beauty at 15 03:24 – Losing two family members six months apart 04:49 – Starting a business from a home apartment 06:10 – How word spread and the business took off 08:31 – Three locations, ten years, no outside funding 11:05 – Learning to raise capital and bring in advisors 12:44 – Trying facials and why it didn't work 14:04 – Expanding into smaller cities across Canada 16:07 – How the brand and marketing evolved over time 17:21 – Building culture and keeping staff turnover low 19:43 – Dating as a driven entrepreneur in Toronto 26:25 – Dealing with a year-long autoimmune diagnosis 29:29 – Losing an entire Instagram account overnight 32:22 – Getting over the fear of social media 35:51 – Why staying connected to clients still matters 40:06 – What's in the bag 43:37 – Top five product picks from the store

    45 min
See All (18)

4.7
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

Join Lani Levy as she sits down with founders and experts who are making a meaningful impact in their communities. Through insightful conversations, she explores their journeys, innovations, and what’s led them to live out their authentic power. Discover the strategies and stories that are driving change and inspiring others to build a better tomorrow.

Information

  • Creator
    Lani Levy
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lani Levy
  • Show Website
    Gettin Chai Podcast

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