Podcast Interviews - Knack Leadership, Chad Mellen and Keith Bristol

Chad and Keith love to share behind-the-scenes info and advice on running a startup.  A lot of Knackpackers are business professionals, and Chad, Keith and the Knack team enjoy sharing business learnings and advice.  (For example, check out our post on logistics and hiring!)

In 2020, Chad and Keith have been interviewed on a few podcasts to share the Knack story. Below we’ve shared2 of the recent podcast interviews, in the hopes that you'll be both entertained and get a few great takeaways.  These interviews do a great job of sharing what makes Knack different, actionable advice for other entrepreneurs, and, well, providing a bit of entertainment for your workday!

Rhode Island startup founder Chad Mellen interview on podcast

Interested in interviewing 2 bag startup founders, who live on opposite sides of the country?  Send us an email!

Podcast #1:  Story of a Brand with Ramon Vela

In the first part of this episode, Keith and Chad discuss The Infamous Airport Story - how a trip to Costa Rica sparked the idea for the Knack Pack.  Chad and Keith also discuss how COVID-19 impacted Knack, and the various uses of a Knack Pack as a bag for professionals who find themselves working from home, the office, and while traveling – due to a move to partially or fully remote companies.

There’s two parts to the podcast, so be sure to queue up both!

Listen on Apple or Player FM.

Podcast interview with Knack Bags Founders on Story of a Brand

Podcast #2:  Baby Got Backstory

Earlier this summer, Chad and Keith were interviewed by Marc Gutman for the “Baby Got Backstory,” a podcast that interviews brands about, well, their backstory.

In this episode, Chad and Keith do a deep dive, sharing their background and how they’ve utilized their decades of experience in the bag industry to create Knack.  As always, Keith and Chad are very honest about the challenges of running a bag startup.  In the podcast, Chad shares one of the more scary moments of entrepreneurship, saying: “To me, the biggest moment was when I had to write that first purchase order. And I had to write that first purchase order before we had any kind of financing in place. So basically, I was buying a bunch of bags.”

Chad and Keith also share the #1 question each Knack team member asks, before writing anything for Knack – from emails to product descriptions to social media posts.  Shares Chad, “One of the things that Keith and I said from the very beginning... it’s been a guiding principle of our brand and our business, we don’t do anything if we wouldn’t have done it for a friend. And what do I mean by that? If we’re thinking about sending out or doing a marketing program or doing a product, the first question we asked ourselves is, would we send this to a friend? Would we give this to a friend, would a friend find this a value? And, you know, I like to think that all of us at Knack put everything we do through that lens.”

If you love branding and consider yourself to be a “Bag Nerd,” then this is the podcast for you!

Listen on Apple or on the Baby Got Backstory website.

Keith Bristol in podcast interview about leading Knack Bags - CDO

Do you have questions for Chad & Keith?

Do you have questions for Chad or Keith?  Let us know in the comments, and we'll schedule a Facebook Live to discuss them!

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