Honest Ecommerce

Robert Patton is the Founder and CEO of SHEATH, a premium men's underwear brand he conceived while serving as a U.S. Army Sergeant in the scorching heat of the Iraqi desert. After two combat deployments, Robert left the military with a mission: to create performance-driven underwear built around a patented dual pouch system that delivers unmatched comfort and support for active men.

What started as a bootstrap idea fueled by a $5,000 insurance check and a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013 has grown into a globally recognized brand selling to customers in over 120 countries. SHEATH is the first ever Official Underwear Partner of the UFC — a milestone Robert built without taking on outside investors.

A daily meditator, lifelong student of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and relentless entrepreneur, Robert's story is a testament to grit, reinvention, and the power of solving a real problem the world didn't know it had.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
00:00 Introduction
01:02 What an elite underwear makes
01:56 The Iraq deployment origin story
04:20 Building the first underwear prototype
07:32 Sponsor: Klaviyo
09:47 Early prototypes and finding a manufacturer
15:12 Launching the first Kickstarter campaign
17:06 Sponsor: Intelligems 
18:33 A botched production and near giving up
21:03 The second Kickstarter and revenue growth
22:58 Using AI to speed up product design
24:12 Sponsor: eFulfillment Service 
25:58 Finding customers beyond Kickstarter
26:57 The comedian throw stunt
28:18 Sponsoring comedians and podcast hosts
30:43 Famous names and loyal ad partners
35:04 Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
38:14 Where to buy underwear for legends

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Men's pouch underwear sheathunderwear.com/ 
Follow Robert Patton linkedin.com/in/robert-patton-b675273b    
Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest
Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect     

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Lndn Gray Co-Founder Tyler Straub is a creative director, photographer, and entrepreneur with more than 13 years of experience building and scaling high-growth brands across the creative, technology, and consumer sectors.
Before launching Lndn Gray in 2023, Tyler held leadership roles at high-growth companies including Blade, Bird, and Gametime, where he became known for cross-functional operations paired with strong creative and brand vision. With a background spanning a breadth of industries and roles- including premium lifestyle brands, aviation, live events, celebrity/influencer partnerships, and more- Tyler gained an understanding of brand building, creative partnerships, and rapid scaling with early-stage consumer product ventures and founder-led businesses.
As Co-Founder of Lndn Gray, Tyler oversees business development, operations, partnerships, creative direction, and artist curation. Under his leadership, the platform has become known for championing independent and emerging artists worldwide, with a focus on originality, cultural relevance, and accessible contemporary art.
Tyler was based in Los Angeles for over a decade and will be spending the next year travelling and working across the globe.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Intro
[00:40] Sponsor: Electric Eye
[00:53] Finding niche business ideas in art markets
[05:40] Balancing life and business boundaries
[08:10] Building transparency with business partners 
[13:59] Sponsor: Klaviyo
[15:57] Dividing new business duties with founders
[18:44] Callouts
[18:54] Balancing art product quality and pricing
[22:45] Expanding markets with product tests
[27:27] Sponsor: Intelligems
[28:53] Owning up to your customer service gaps
[33:47] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
[34:57] Reinvesting revenue back into creative ads
[38:18] Hiring expert leaders to scale your brand
[40:58] Leading and empowering team members
[00:00] Overcoming industry misconceptions
Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Art for the bold and fearless lndngray.com/
Follow Tyler Straub linkedin.com/in/tyler-straub
Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
Migrate and grow more klaviyo.com/honest
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/
Lower scale cost today eFulfillmentService.com/honest   
If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Yash Chavan is the founder and CEO of SARAL and SATHI. SARAL has helped 200+ DTC brands including Grüns, Spacegoods, and Slumberkins generate over $59M in influencer-driven revenue. 

SATHI is his team's newest product: a Shopify-only affiliate platform built around two breakthroughs: cookieless tracking and multi-touch attribution. 

Yash is running every SATHI demo personally for a limited time exclusively for Honest Ecommerce listeners. Book your slot by visiting mysathi.io/demo and let them know we sent you.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

[00:00] Intro

[02:31] Stumbling Into a New Ecommerce Venture

[05:34] Sunsetting a Brand to Focus on a New One

[07:05] Learning User Needs Through Manual Work

[08:54] Matching The Products to Customer Needs 

[10:30] Paying for Actual Sales Instead of Ad Clicks 

[13:03] Callouts

[13:10] Doing The Actual Work To See Business Results

[16:10] Prioritizing Active Partners Over Volume 

[19:30] Setting Margins for Marketing Expenses

[21:37] Targeting Smaller Partners For Better Deals

Resources:

Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube

Marketing Platform for Affiliate Brands mysathi.io

Influencer Marketing Platform getsaral.com/

Follow Yash Chavan linkedin.com/in/yctheman

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Jordan Nathan is the Founder and CEO of Caraway, the disruptive, non-toxic and thoughtfully-designed home brand known for its colorful ceramic cookware. Prior to launching Caraway, Jordan was instrumental in the rebranding of Vremi (owned by Aterian, NASDAQ-ATER), where he successfully launched over 200 kitchen products in 18 months that sold into over 1 million homes, and was promoted to CEO of Vremi. 

Jordan’s unique experience in the home goods industry as well as his commitment to non-toxic, design-forward, color-rich products allow Caraway to set the standard for quality cookware and design. As a data-driven entrepreneur, Jordan is passionate about letting social-listening drive new product innovations for the brand to expand beyond the kitchen. 

Jordan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colby College in Consumer Psychology and was awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

[00:00] Intro

[01:30] Learning concrete business operations on the job

[04:10] Navigating the challenges of corporate ownership

[06:54] Callouts

[07:04] Transitioning from employee to solo founder

[08:30] Reframing rejection to strategic referrals

[11:28] Sponsor: Klaviyo

[13:34] Recruiting top-tier talent to an early-stage idea

[16:42] Targeting alternative lifestyle niches for growth

[18:48] Sponsor: Intelligems

[20:17] Expanding into new digital sales channels

[22:26] Prioritizing customer convenience for store platforms

[23:57] Sponsor: eFulfillment

[24:55] Building business momentum around retail cycles

[25:49] Designing Ecommerce for lasting profitability

Resources:

Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube

Ceramic non-stick cookware carawayhome.com/

Follow Jordan Nathan linkedin.com/in/jordannathanprofile

Migrate and grow more klaviyo.com/honest

Book a demo today at intelligems.io/

Lower your shipping cost today efulfillmentservice.com/honest/

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Katrina is a growth leader with over a decade of experience in DTC marketing, specializing in new customer acquisition, paid media, and creative strategy. 

She currently serves as Director of Growth Marketing at Timeline, where she’s helped scale the brand across both nutrition and skincare to nearly nine figures.

She’s known for building high-performing acquisition engines by combining data, creative testing, and conversion optimization to drive efficient, scalable growth.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

[00:00] Intro

[01:35] Growing into a marketing leadership role

[03:03] Balancing acquisition and lifetime value 

[04:56] Defining the North Star for your business

[05:56] Sponsor: Migrate

[07:53] Diagnosing disconnects in customer journey

[01:27] Sponsor: Intelligems

[13:53] Structuring landing pages to tell a story

[18:22] Sponsor: Electric Eye

[19:32] Eliminating buyer confusion to drive sales

[22:40] Moving past shotgun marketing tactics

[27:18] Callouts

[27:28] Diversifying your marketing channels

[30:47] Viewing the holistic customer journey

Resources:

Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube

#1 Doctor Recommended Urolithin A timeline.com/

Follow Katrina Adams linkedin.com/in/katrinamarieadams

Migrate and grow more klaviyo.com/honest

Book a demo today at intelligems.io/

Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!