Profits on Purpose

Nate Littlewood
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Business

Welcome to the Profits on Purpose Podcast! New episodes weekly.

  1. 4d ago

    Founder Turned Down Amazon Over 100 Times. Her Margins Will Tell You Why | dip | Kate Assaraf

    How Does Your Brand Stack Up? Download our FREE eCommerce Hidden Profit Audit Template here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/hidden-profit-audit-free-template Kate Assaraf built dip into a brand sold in 400 to 500 independent stores without spending a cent on advertising, and she's said no to Amazon more than a hundred times. She started with $40,000 and still owns 100% of the business. In this episode, Kate sits down with Nate to explain the thinking behind a go-to-market strategy that runs counter to almost everything other consumer brands do. She shares why selling through zero-waste stores, salons and surf shops protects both her retailers and her margins, and why putting dip on Amazon would undercut the relationships her whole business is built on. The conversation digs into the financial side too. When her contract manufacturer went bankrupt, Kate took the risk of building her own factory, which removed the distributor and co-manufacturer markups and gave her room to hold prices steady while others raised theirs. She talks through working capital, tiny MOQs, and why her inventory system is really just her team keeping an eye on the shelves. There's also a great section on what she does instead of paid ads: taking her top store owners on retreats to Morocco, the Dominican Republic, the Catskills and Tennessee, treating the people who actually sell her product as her most valuable marketing channel. To date she's redirected over $5 million into local economies through her independent retailers. Kate and Nate also get into greenwashing and why synthetic isn't automatically worse than natural, her grateful dead-stock packaging idea, why she'll never take on an investor or a business partner, and what's behind her decision to finally start advertising for the first time, mostly to drive customers into the independent stores she cares about. Find dip at https://www.dipalready.com and use the store locator to find a stockist near you. Connect with Kate on LinkedIn, and follow dip on Instagram and TikTok at @dipalready. I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    44 min

  2. May 27

    Getting Into Whole Foods Won't Save Your Beverage Brand. Here's What Will. | Kirra Iced Tea | Jerrod Clancy

    How Does Your Brand Stack Up? Download our FREE eCommerce Hidden Profit Audit Template here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/free-p... Jerrod Clancy built Kirra Iced Tea without venture capital, without grocery shelf space, and without a marketing budget — and turned a profit doing it. Instead of following the conventional CPG playbook, Jerrod went all in on food service, placing Kirra in restaurants, fast casual cafes, and food service accounts where the brand now does eight to ten times the velocity of a comparable Whole Foods placement, across just 240 doors. In this episode, Nate and Jerrod break down the real unit economics of food service versus retail, why so many beverage brands are losing money on every sale and don't know it, how Jerrod raised over a million dollars from angels and friends without loving the process, and what it actually takes to bounce back after watching hundreds of thousands of dollars of inventory get bulldozed into landfill. If you're a CPG founder wondering whether the conventional playbook is really worth it, this episode will make you think twice. I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn:   / nathanlittlewood  Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsle... Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG...Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of gen...

    38 min

  3. May 13

    Your Pricing Strategy Is Costing You More Than Your Ads | IntelliGems | Andrew Marconi

    How Does Your Brand Stack Up? Download our FREE eCommerce Hidden Profit Audit Template here:https://www.futurereadycfo.com/hidden-profit-audit-free-template Most eCommerce founders set a price once and never touch it again. Meanwhile, they're running thousands of ad tests, tweaking landing pages, and obsessing over conversion rate — without ever questioning whether their price is actually right.In this episode, Nate sits down with Drew Marconi, co-founder of IntelliGems, who spent years building dynamic pricing systems at McKinsey and Via before bringing that same analytical rigour to eCommerce. Drew breaks down why pricing is so emotionally sticky for founders, what cost-plus pricing gets wrong, how to think about profit per visitor as your north star metric, and where most brands should start when it comes to A/B testing their offers,prices, and shipping thresholds.If you've been running your store on gut feel and haven't touched your prices in years, this conversation will change how you think about it. Connect with Drew:Website: intelligems.ioLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmarconi Resources:• Use code CFO10 for a discount on IntelliGems• Free eCommerce Hidden Profit Audit Template: futurereadycfo.com/hidden-profit-audit-free-template I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    44 min

  4. May 6

    SE01E43 E-Commerce Inventory Financing Is Structurally Broken | Elephant Herd Capital | Ben Tregoe

    Most e-commerce founders accept a painful reality: the money needed to fund inventory has to be repaid long before that inventory generates a dollar of revenue. Ben Tregoe, Managing Partner of Elephant Herd Capital, argues this isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s structurally broken, and it’s the root cause of the debt spirals and cash crunches that derail otherwise healthy brands. In this episode, Ben breaks down the full menu of inventory financing options available to seven-figure founders, explains why even “cheap” capital can be catastrophically expensive if it’s not sufficient, and walks through how a cycle-matched financing approach could fundamentally change the working capital picture for brands at the $5–25M range. If you’ve ever felt like your lender is making your cash flow problem worse, not better, this one is required listening. Ben's Contact Details:Email: ben@elephantherdcapital.comWebsite: https://www.elephantherdcapital.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamintregoe/X (Twitter): @bentregoe I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    43 min

  5. Apr 29

    SE01E42 Building a Sustainable Shoe Brand from Italy's Finest Materials | Fundae | Holly Garrard

    Holly Garrard spent nearly 25 years in media and podcasting before deciding to stop telling other brands' stories and build one of her own. The result is Fundae — a purpose-driven footwear brand built on plant-based materials, manufactured in Italy, and designed to prove that sustainable fashion and high style can coexist. In this episode, Holly gets into the financial realities of building with conviction: absorbing a 20–30% cost premium on materials, navigating unethical vendors, funding the business while supplementing income from consulting, and holding the line on values that every Italian supplier tried to talk her out of. It's an honest conversation about the cost of doing things the right way — and why she believes it's worth it. Holly's Social Handles:Instagram: @fundaesolesTikTok: @fundaesolesFacebook: @fundaesolesPinterest: @fundaesolesYouTube: @hollydayfundae9611 I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    35 min

  6. Apr 22

    SE01E41 Mission First, Impact Later | Lucille Health | Jess Haghani

    What does it actually look like to build a business where the mission isn't layered on top of the product — it's the entire reason the product exists? Jess Haghani is the Founder and CEO of Lucille Health, a better-for-you nutrition brand built specifically for aging adults, a category that has received almost no meaningful innovation in decades. In this episode, Jess walks us through her journey from private equity at KKR to founding Lucille, why she chose simplicity over complexity in her business structure, and how she thinks about the real tension between mission and margin. She shares the pricing math that helped her get comfortable with a premium product, why repeat purchase rate is her north star metric right now, and the hard-won insight that you have to earn the right to make an impact through every small decision you get right. If you're building a purpose-led business and wondering whether profitability and mission are really compatible — this one is for you. Connect with Jess:  🌐 Website: https://lucillehealth.com  📧 Email: jess@lucillehealth.com  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucillehealth  🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lucillehealth  👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Lucille/61581040694863  💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lucillehealth I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    38 min

  7. Apr 15

    SE01E40 The Inventory Gap Why Your Books Don't Match Your Warehouse (And What To Do About It) | Fiskal | Pierre Goldie

    If your inventory lives in one place and your financials live somewhere else, you already know the gap in between is where bad decisions get made. In this episode, Nate sits down with Pierre Goldie, Co-Founder and CGO of Fiskal, to talk about what it actually looks like to close that gap.Pierre breaks down when founders outgrow spreadsheets, how to evaluate and choose an inventory management system, and why the implementation partner you choose often matters more than the software itself. They also get into the real cost of getting it wrong — messy books, corrupted data, and the painful reality of not being able to close your books because your IMS and your accounting software are both broken. If you've been running your product business on gut feel and a spreadsheet, this one's for you. Connect with Pierre: Pierre Goldie | Co-Founder & CGO, Fiskal 🌐 fiskalfinance.com 🔗 linkedin.com/in/pierregoldie 📱 I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    38 min

  8. Apr 8

    SE01E39 From a Thousand Stores to National Scale | Byte'm Brownies | Jack Davis and Jacob Tubis

    Jack Davis and Jacob Tubis, co-founders of Byte'm Brownie Bites, have spent the past year doing something most emerging CPG brands avoid: going bodega to bodega, store to store, building nearly a thousand retail doors in New York City — fully bootstrapped. In this episode, they get candid about the real financial realities of scaling a physical food brand, from the cash drain of retail promotions to the supplier nightmares that cost them thousands of dollars with zero accountability. They also dig into the decision to hire fractional financial support early, why simplifying operations beats chasing "200 IQ plays," and what they'd tell their younger selves about partner communication before things go sideways. With Expo West behind them and a national launch ahead, Jack and Jacob are at an inflection point — and they're refreshingly honest about what it actually takes to get there. Website: https://www.bytemfood.com Company LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/byte-m-brownie-bites Jack Davis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-davis-38ab9315a/ Jacob TubisLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-tubis-a8b847155/ Social Handles:Instagram: @bytembrowniesTikTok: @bytembrownies Jacob personal: @bytemjk Jack personal: @bytemjack I hope you enjoyed this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXIApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087 #profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinkingWelcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.

    36 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Profits on Purpose Podcast! New episodes weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    Nate Littlewood
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Nate Littlewood

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