Mimir

Maddie Kelley
  • 5.0 (30)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Mimir exists to support early-stage founders. The early stage is the most critical, lonely, and underserved moment in a founder's journey, and almost nobody shows up for it. I do, because I'm living it too. Through Mimir the podcast, and The Well on Substack, I bring honest stories from fellow founders who are still operating in this messy middle. Not just the highlight reel, but the unfiltered reality, because no one should build alone.

  1. 1d ago

    We made it to episode 100

    It's been a long time coming. For 100 episodes I've sat across from founders and asked them how they built their businesses. For this one, it's just me, looking back at three years of doing this and asking the question I've been asked a million times: what was it all for? When I started Mimir in my San Francisco apartment three years ago, I had a sticky note on my desk that said in one year I'd have 100,000 followers on TikTok and Mimir would be paying my rent. Spoiler: none of that happened. What did happen is what this episode is about. There's also some big news. You'll have to listen to find out. If you've been here from the beginning, this one is for you. With every ounce of my being, thank you for letting me be part of your routines, your commutes, your spark of inspiration or motivation. You stuck with me through the times I was unsure, the formats that didn't quite work, the production gaps when life got in the way, the awkwardness. I see every single one of you, and I'm so appreciative. Dive into ⁠⁠The Well on Substack⁠⁠ Check out the new branding here.

    26 min

  2. May 26

    You can't pour from an empty cup with Ashley Presti, Founder of Blended Bond

    Ashley Presti never set out to build a company. But Blended Bond grew out of a problem she was actively living, blending two families under one roof. Unsurprisingly, her business succeeded for the same reasons her family did: she asked the hard questions, stayed intentional, leaned on the people around her, and let it happen on its own timeline instead of forcing it. The heart of this episode is twofold. One how solving a real personal problem with honesty becomes the engine (and the moat) of a business, and two, how the founder's growth tends to mirror their growth as a person. For all my fellow founders listening, this episode is very worth your time. You'll hear how a single word changed how people treated and paid for her product. You'll get the unglamorous timeline, including the moment she said she was done, and what pulled her back in. You'll get a great lesson in distribution. How she found her people in places most founders overlook, and her intentional product evolutions as the brand started to scale. But as I was listening back to the interview, the thread that kept pulling at me was about pacing. Ashley is proof that you can't rush timing, that you can't pour from an empty cup, and that being a solo founder doesn't mean carrying the whole thing alone. Ashley accomplished what so many aspiring entrepreneurs think is impossible. She started this business in her forties, with a full-time job, a blended family, without letting it eat the life around her. If you've ever told yourself the good ideas are already taken, or that it's too late, or that you have to have it all figured out before you begin, you need to listen to this episode. Connect with Ashley: LinkedIn Blended Bondinstagram.com/theblendedbond Use code MIMIR10 for 10% off any Blended Bond deck! If you want to support the podcast, please leave a review! If you're looking for more ways to contribute I would be deeply honored if you wanted to ⁠Buy me a matcha!⁠ Also, be sure dive into ⁠⁠The Well on Substack⁠⁠ and check out the ⁠playlist of what founders are listening to⁠. See you next time!

    50 min

  3. May 19

    An overnight success takes 9 years with Connie Lo, co-founder of Three Ships Beauty

    Today’s episode is a real pinch me moment. I was a Three Ships customer before I knew Connie Lo's name. I absolutely love their Jelly Drops for the most amazing glow and their soft serve lip balm before bed. I found Three Ships at Credo Beauty, one of my favorite places for truly clean products. As someone whose allergic to almost everything, finding products that are safe, let alone work is few and far between. So when my friend Amanda told me she had DM'd Connie on Substack and that Connie had not just responded, but written back with such warmth and kindness, I knew I had to shoot my shot. I sent the message, asked if she'd be willing to come on Mimir, and here we are! Ironically, the interview itself ended up being about shooting your shot. There's a story in here about 23-year-old Connie at the end of a beauty trade show, walking up to a woman with her name badge flipped around that nobody else was approaching. Halfway through the conversation, it was revealed that she was the buyer from Whole Foods. A year later, Three Ships was in half of California. The year after that, the whole country. That's the through line for the whole episode. The unsexy, slightly awkward, reality of how a brand actually gets built. If you are an early-stage founder, especially one in consumer or beauty, this is a rare operational masterclass. We talk about Three Ships’ 37% repeat rate, and what Connie attributes that to. We talk through a replicable product development process, and the realistic timeline for beauty products. Connie also shares the biggest mistakes founders make when they decide to start their companies. But outside of all the amazing wisdom Connie imparts, I’m really impressed by how she keeps her ego small, her identity bigger than the company, and her wins documented so she doesn't lose track of how far she's come. Connie is a huge inspiration to me and I am beyond excited to welcome her to the podcast. Connect with Connie: LinkedIn Susbtack Three Ships If you want to support the podcast, please leave a review! If you're looking for more ways to contribute I would be deeply honored if you wanted to Buy me a matcha! Also, be sure dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠ and check out the playlist of what founders are listening to

    54 min

  4. May 4

    What rapid, enviable growth actually costs with Colin McIntosh, founder of Sheets and Giggles

    Colin McIntosh started Sheets and Giggles in 2017 and scaled it to $1.4 million per month by 2020. Last November, after eight years of building through COVID, supply chain crises, and a 2025 tariff shock that killed his first acquisition deal three days after Liberation Day, he sold the company. I couldn’t wait to talk to Colin. I came with pen and paper in hand poised to document his meteoric rise. I had to know how he did it so I could replicate it. But in our conversation, he tells me why he wouldn't build it the same way again. Colin is incredibly honest about the cost of scaling at that speed and right now, he’s a founder in recovery mode. I loved being able to pick his brain on all the mistakes he made, lessons he learned, and triumphs along the way. We talk about what strategic category selection looks like in practice, the three barriers that block new businesses (capital, complexity, risk), and why personal domain expertise is the only durable advantage in an AI era where the tools are commodity. But what I can’t stop thinking about is his perspective on why entrepreneurs don’t get enough empathy and the structural challenges to starting a business in America today. It felt like we were both realizing at the same time that the best thing you can do as an early stage founder today is build a brand that’s like yourself. One that comes from a passion, a mission to help others that only you're equipped to serve. So if you’re an early stage founder who doesn’t want to hear the raw truth of building, then keep scrolling. But the real ones know, entrepreneurship isn’t always glamorous. Connect with Colin: SheetsGiggles.com - my first company that we talked about a lot, sustainable bedding SheetsResume.com - AI Resume Builder and Job Search Platform ColinDMcIntosh.com - where people can go to learn more about me Dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠! Buy me a matcha! playlist of what founders are listening to

    52 min

  5. Apr 27

    Allie Stark on becoming a relaxed founder who still gets what she wants

    I don’t know about you guys but 2026 for me is certainly earning it’s title as year of the fire horse. I truly feel like I’ve been riding a fire breathing horse bareback at full speed. I’m just here holding onto the mane for dear life and he’s burning down what use to be. If you feel the same way, then this episode is for you. Last week I sat down with Allie Stark and it ended up being one of the most useful, fun, and fulfilling conversations I’ve had in a good minute. Allie coaches ambitious women through big chapters of growth and change, and she put articulate language on the experience of change. The way of being that got you here isn't going to get you there, and the in-between, the part where the old self is leaving and the new one hasn't shown up yet, is messy in ways nobody really warns you about. For some of us, it’s dramatic, for others it’s not, but I think it’s universal for everyone, especially us founders. We cover a lot in this episode. The feminine economy, and what it looks like to build a business on generosity and reciprocity instead of grinding. The kind of leader who can actually change you. Why entrepreneurship is essentially identity work in disguise. And the single most concrete exercise to do during times of change. I did it over the weekend. But the part of this conversation that genuinely changed how I'm thinking about my life right now was when I told Allie my deepest fear: what if I work so hard but I don’t get what I want. She didn't hand me a pep talk. She asked the question back at me sideways: what if you could be more playful and still get what you want? I've been thinking about that in every single instance of my life since. For anyone who runs on hustle and worries it might not actually work, that question is the whole episode. For the early-stage founders listening, especially the women: we are in a wildly transformative cultural moment, and if the old way of doing things doesn't fit anymore, then this episode is exactly what you need. Allie hands you a softer way of asking the question, and a few real ways of meeting yourself in the middle. Mentioned by Allie: The Awakened BrainThe feminine economy - sistersConnect with Allie: Check out Noria: my learning & development platform for a new era of living & leading ASW  Connect with Maddie: Dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠! Buy me a matcha! playlist of what founders are listening to

    54 min

  6. Apr 13

    Danielle Brooks: From the margins to the main thing, on how she grew Honey Truck from one hive to luxury brand.

    Today I'm sitting down with Danielle Brooks, the founder of Honey Truck, a boutique honey brand. Danielle and I met through a podcast matching platform. In her pitch to me she told me that Honey Truck was built in the margins of her life. She didn't have the luxury of building fast, so she had to learn how to build intentionally. It felt like she was speaking directly to me. I mean she was, but more specifically, she was speaking to a circumstance I am all too familiar with. I too am building in the margins of my life, constantly hunting for the path through the trees that gets me out and into the horizon of the future I want. I learned a lot from Danielle, but the lesson that leapt out to me was how she didn't manufacture a differentiator. She paid close attention to what was already special about her product instead of searching the competition for where she fit in. She noticed her honeys looked different, tasted different, depending on where her bees lived. And she built her entire brand around that. As a marketer, that's what I'm always looking for. Not something engineered, and as founders that’s a lesson you need to pay attention to. We also get into the mechanics of building a product-based business, from wholesale pricing to the question I think every founder building in the margins needs to ask themselves: Do I have a business or do I have an expensive hobby? And Danielle shares a version of work-life balance that is the opposite of hustle culture. It's about doing the next right thing. Even when it's painfully slow, even when the gap between where you are and where you want to be feels impossible to close. Honestly, that's the version of entrepreneurship that I designed this podcast to tell. If your scrappy beginning has you wondering whether you're doing it right, this is exactly what you needed to hear today. Connect with Danielle: Website: www.honeytruck.com Social media: @honeytruckco Dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠! Buy my matcha this week!

    48 min

  7. Apr 8

    How Your Reformer grew from a COVID workaround to a global business with Emma Stallworthy

    If you’re a female founder then you’ll probably know this feeling all too well. You’re trying to launch a business but you’re also thinking about getting married, starting a family and it feels like the sand is slipping through the hourglass knowing that neither is going to stop and wait for you. I’m right there with you. I’m getting married next year and my fiance and I are talking about kids. But my business is in the earliest of early stages and I can’t help but feel regret, like I should’ve started this business earlier. I find myself rushing, trying to get as much built as possible before my whole life changes. Being a female founder, this is the reality. You don’t know how you’re going to manage both. Talking to Emma Stallworthy, founder of Your Reformer, was not only educational from a business perspective, for me, it was a sigh of relief. Emma launched Your Reformer right after her second baby. She didn’t say it was easy or glamorous. But she told me that passion will carry you through the hard seasons. The business didn’t pull her away from being a mom, it made her a better one. That was what I took from this episode. But we also get into the stuff that makes her business worth studying. The economics of a reformer rental that I’m shook no other fitness founder is replicating. Why she refuses to use the word pivot. How she mapped her entire product ecosystem around a single customer lifecycle so that Your Reformer could meet someone wherever they are in their Pilates journey and grow with them. And finally, what nobody tells you about all the costs of scaling globally. If you’re starting a fitness brand, navigating life changes as a founder, or curious about alternative approaches to fitness business models, then this episode is for you. Connect with Emma: Your Reformer Emma's LinkedIn Your Reformer Instagram Dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠! Buy me a matcha!

    52 min

  8. Mar 30

    Why your social media "strategy" isn't working with Emma Tessler, Founder of Ninety Five Media

    Most founders sit down to post on social media and go completely blank. But I have good news! You don’t actually have a content problem, you have a clarity problem. At my 9-5 creating content is easy because someone handed me the mission, I’ve learned the market well enough to know exactly what pain points we need to address and how our product solves them. The content writes itself. That infrastructure: mission, audience, pain points, outcomes, etc. is the part founders skip. They start posting because it feels like that’s what you’re supposed to do, and you are. But content without the foundation is not a strategy, so it’s no wonder you feel confused. That’s why I brought Emma Tessler on to the podcast. Emma Tessler is the founder of Ninety Five Media and has been in social media since 2015. She has worked with hundreds of brands and she does not pull punches. Every single piece of advice she gives in this episode is downstream of one question: does this actually serve your specific audience, or are you posting because it feels like progress? In our convo we cover what to do in the first 30 days of posting, what metrics you should be focusing on and spoiler alert, it’s not comments or follower count. What successful founder content looks like, and why paid options should always come last. There is also a moment where we talk about an important nuance that I need every early-stage founder to hear. Nobody cares about your values. Values are internal. Your mission is what converts because it names the problem you solve and the person you are solving it for. Make sure you stay through to the end because Emma shares her marketing growth blueprint built specifically for early-stage founders who want an expert-led strategy they can execute on their own. If you are ready to stop throwing spaghetti at the wall, this episode is for you. Connect with Emma: Get $500 off your Marketing Growth Blueprint - exclusively for MiMir Podcast listeners!**WebsiteInstagramEmma’s LinkedInNinety Five LinkedInThe Stop Scrolling, Start Scaling Podcast Looking for more from Mimir? Dive into ⁠The Well on Substack⁠! If you'd like to support this podcast, I would be deeply honored if you buy me a matcha!

    50 min
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About

Mimir exists to support early-stage founders. The early stage is the most critical, lonely, and underserved moment in a founder's journey, and almost nobody shows up for it. I do, because I'm living it too. Through Mimir the podcast, and The Well on Substack, I bring honest stories from fellow founders who are still operating in this messy middle. Not just the highlight reel, but the unfiltered reality, because no one should build alone.

Information

  • Creator
    Maddie Kelley
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    101
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Maddie Kelley
  • Show Website
    Mimir