High Stakes Growth

Ramon Vela is the host of The Story of a Brand podcast, where he’s interviewed 1,000+ brand founders and operators across the consumer and ecommerce landscape. We break down 5 of the most important brand-building lessons he’s learned from those conversations.


Expect to hear about:

– The Power of Saying No: Why Chomps focused on one channel to build operational strength before scaling.

– Building for Generations: How Hammitt’s long-term thinking turns durability into trust and repeat customers.

– Surviving the Avalanche: How the Kuli Kuli founder's near-death experience shaped her ability to stay calm under pressure.

– Planning for Downside: Why modeling worst-case scenarios helps brands survive unexpected drops.

– Hiring Failed Founders: The surprising upside of hiring operators who’ve already learned hard lessons the hard way.


Find Ramon on:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonvela/ 

What is High Stakes Growth?

High Stakes Growth® takes you inside the boldest decisions behind today’s most exciting consumer brands. We bring you candid conversations with the founders and CMOs who built them—unpacking the high-stakes moments, tough calls, and game-changing strategies that made these brands what they are today. No fluff. No surface-level insights. Just real stories from the leaders who made it happen. Hosted by Forest Bronzan and Leah Lloyd, they bring a combined four decades of consumer brand expertise to these conversations.