What happens when one of the most chaotic moments in modern history inspires a business that transforms homes across America?

In this episode of the Growth Mavericks Podcast, Adam Callinan sits down with Sabrina Gardner, founder of Salt by Sabrina, to discuss how organizing her own home during the uncertainty of COVID sparked the idea for a custom home organization company that is rapidly disrupting the storage industry.

Sabrina shares the journey from launching a premium custom product during global supply chain chaos to moving manufacturing from China to the United States before tariffs reshaped the industry. She explains how relentless problem solving, operational discipline, and customer obsession have helped Salt by Sabrina achieve rapid growth while remaining profitable.

The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Sabrina discusses navigating two simultaneous cancer diagnoses while running a growing company and raising a family. She explains how hardship reshaped her priorities, strengthened her leadership, and ultimately made both her business and personal life stronger.

If you're building a business, leading a team, managing manufacturing, or simply trying to navigate life's unexpected challenges, this episode is filled with practical lessons on resilience, entrepreneurship, leadership, and creating opportunity through adversity.

Key Takeaways

How COVID inspired the creation of Salt by Sabrina.
Turning a personal frustration into a scalable business.
Building a premium custom manufacturing company.
Why moving manufacturing from China became one of the company's biggest advantages.
Growing a profitable ecommerce business without outside investment.
Building strong B2B partnerships with builders and designers.
Lessons from launching and failing on Amazon.
Why entrepreneurs must believe every problem has a solution.
Building a business while undergoing cancer treatment.
How hardship creates perspective, resilience, and stronger leadership.

Chapters

00:00 Building a business during COVID

01:45 The idea behind Salt by Sabrina

06:20 Manufacturing custom products

10:45 Launching the company

17:00 Growing through builders and designers

20:30 Scaling production

23:45 Entrepreneurship and family

26:10 Running a business through cancer

31:00 Leadership, perspective and resilience

37:00 Building a people-first company

39:30 Final thoughts

Explore

Salt by Sabrina
https://saltbysabrina.com

Growth Mavericks Podcast
https://www.growthmaverickspodcast.com

Pentane
https://www.pentane.com

Creators and Guests

Host

Adam Callinan

Adam Callinan is the founder of Pentane, a financial and advertising command center that empowers brands to drive predictable revenue and intentional profit. Previously, Adam co-founded BottleKeeper, a bootstrapped consumer brand that scaled to $8M in sales within three years – without employees – and was later acquired in 2021 as an eight-figure business with a team of four, marking Adam's second successful exit.

What is Growth Mavericks?

This podcast dives deep into the tactical moves that drive business success, as well as the mental and physical resilience required to sustain it.

Hosted by Adam Callinan, a seasoned entrepreneur with multiple exits, an avid outdoorsman, and an family man with crystal-clear priorities, each episode unpacks real-world challenges, actionable insights, and the mental and physical disciplines that fuel long-term personal and professional growth.

Whether you’re scaling a startup or refining your mindset, disrupting your default is how business and life strike a balance.