Landing a retail meeting is only half the battle. The real challenge is knowing what buyers actually care about once you're in the room.

In this episode, Adam sits down with Tia Ellis, founder of Wildflower Insights and former retail broker, to unpack what separates successful retail pitches from the ones that never turn into purchase orders. Drawing from years of helping brands generate more than $200 million in retail sales, Tia shares practical advice for founders who want to build retailer relationships, pitch with confidence, and avoid costly mistakes.

Whether you're preparing for your first buyer meeting or rethinking your retail strategy, this conversation offers actionable guidance you can apply right away.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why selling to retail buyers is different from selling to consumers
• The biggest mistakes founders make during buyer meetings
• How to build relationships with buyers before asking for shelf space
• When brokers make sense—and when founders should do it themselves
• Creating messaging that attracts buyers instead of chasing them
• Preparing for retail meetings with confidence and clarity

Guest Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiaellis/
• Website: https://wildflowerinsight.com

Learn more:
See how Avidity can improve your shelf impact at aviditycreative.com.

Adam's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfeller/

Wild Monkey Bar wasn't created in a boardroom. It started after a climbing trip in Rocky Mountain National Park when founders John and Brooke Campbell realized the snacks they packed simply weren't good enough.

In this episode, John shares the deeply personal story behind building Wild Monkey Bar, from leaving corporate life behind to hand-making every bar in Boulder while growing the business one relationship at a time.

For founders and emerging CPG brands, this conversation is a reminder that sustainable growth often comes from patience, discipline, and saying no to opportunities that aren't the right fit.

In this episode, we discuss:

• John's journey from commercial real estate to entrepreneurship
• How a backcountry climbing trip inspired Wild Monkey Bar
• Building a premium snack brand with limited resources
• Why they turned down early retail opportunities—including Whole Foods
• Lessons on branding, customer acquisition, and long-term thinking
• The importance of building a business alongside your partner

Guest Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-campbell-97579467/
• Website: https://wildmonkeybar.com

Learn more:

See how Avidity can improve your shelf impact at https://aviditycreative.com.

Keya Wingfield never planned to start a snack company. A pastry chef by trade, she found herself pivoting during the pandemic when customers couldn't stop asking for one unexpected item: her Bombay spice potato chips. That simple side offering became Keya's Snacks, a brand introducing authentic Indian flavors to mainstream grocery shelves across the country.

In this episode of Shelf Talkers, Adam sits down with Keya to talk about building a CPG brand without a traditional CPG background, scaling from handmade production to thousands of retail stores, and why authenticity, not watered-down global flavors, is at the heart of everything her company creates.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How a pandemic pivot unexpectedly launched Keya's Snacks
• Why authentic flavor can become a competitive advantage
• Lessons from scaling from 12 stores to more than 2,000
• Building a memorable brand through intentional packaging and positioning
• The operational realities of growing a young CPG company
• Advice for founders navigating uncertainty and rapid growth

Guest Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keya-wingfield/
• Website: https://keyassnacks.com

Learn More

See how Avidity helps emerging CPG brands create packaging that earns attention at shelf and drives sales.

https://aviditycreative.com