In this episode of the What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Shai Stern — entrepreneur, investor, and advisor — to talk about building multiple companies from scratch, what separates great employees from mediocre ones, and what 30 years in business actually teaches you about people, sales, and showing up.

Shai Stern didn't come from money. He grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, dropped out of YU, got married young, and needed parnassah fast. What followed was four companies built with his partner Seth Farman — starting with a conversation over vintage seltzer on Pesach — that spanned SEC filings, business formations, background checks, and payment processing. He sold them all. And then started again.

Along the way, Shai learned things no business school teaches: how to close your first client when your father's chavrusa thinks you're a fool, how to handle a valued employee who gets poached, why firing people is one of the hardest things he's never gotten good at, and what makes someone like Michelle — his chief of staff for 13-plus years — genuinely irreplaceable.

He's also brutally honest about what he got wrong. Waiting too long to let people go. Trusting people who weren't honest. Letting ambition outrun organizational discipline. This episode is one of the most real, wisdom-packed conversations we've had on this podcast — and it applies whether you're a W-2 employee trying to level up or a founder building something from nothing.

If you're trying to figure out what it actually takes to grow in your career or your business, this one is for you.

◼️ How Shai went from a W-2 employee to building four companies with one partner and zero partnership agreements◼️ The Pesach conversation over vintage seltzer that launched Vintage Filings◼️ What his father taught him about learning before work — and why it stuck for 30 years◼️ The first client rejection that drove him harder than any yes ever could◼️ How he expanded a business to all 50 states in under 60 days using Chabad◼️ What makes Michelle McClosky the best hire he ever made — and what made his worst hire so painful◼️ How COVID nearly destroyed V-Check Global and what saved it◼️ The right way to ask for a raise, handle rejection, and set yourself up for a yes◼️ What separates salespeople who crush it from those who plateau◼️ Why fear has no place in sales — and how to actually get it out of your system.

Chapters:

0:00 Teaneck to Teaneck: Shai's Background, Family & Early Influences7:58 The Pesach Handshake: How Vintage Filings Was Born Over Seltzer15:02 Getting the First Client: Rejection, Persistence & Humble Confidence23:03 Selling Vintage Filings, Building V-Corp & Expanding to All 50 States With Chabad28:30 V-Check Global, COVID & What Happens When Your Business Falls Off a Cliff40:17 Best Hire, Worst Hire & What Loyalty Actually Looks Like in Business55:14 How to Ask for a Raise, Handle Rejection & Make Yourself More Valuable1:09:08 Sales Without Fear: What 30 Years Taught Shai About Relationships & Parnassah

Connect with Shai Stern

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaistern1 Phone: 917-579-3107 Email: stern@gotavi.co Website: gotavi.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

💡 In This Episode, We Cover:⏱️ Chapters🔗 Connect with Shai Stern🔗 Connect with the Host — Tuli KrausBlackbird Recruiting

In this episode of the What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Aaron Zutler, sales veteran, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Pop Insanity, to talk about learning to sell from the ground up, cracking the big box retail code, and how a popcorn machine that couldn’t be returned ended up becoming a nationwide brand.

Aaron Zutler spent years in the trenches selling small electronics, keyboards, webcams, and peripherals, into some of the toughest buyers in retail: Best Buy, Walmart, and Target-level accounts who eat vendors for breakfast. He learned how to negotiate, how to read a room, and how to get a “yes” from people whose entire job is to say “no.”

Then, almost by accident, he got introduced to a keyboard player making insane popcorn in his kitchen. That introduction, and one non-refundable popcorn machine, led to Pop Insanity, a gourmet kosher popcorn brand that landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things list, got featured on Good Morning America, and eventually earned a starring role on Marcus Lemonis’ show The Fixer.

In this conversation, Aaron breaks down what it actually took, sleeping on a blow-up mattress in Muncie, borrowing money while making two weddings, building a brand with no marketing budget, and staying calm when the website crashed in the middle of Q4 holiday season.

He also gets real about partnerships, hiring, what separates employees who rise from those who stay stuck, and why customer service matters just as much as the product.

If you’re an employee trying to level up, a founder figuring out how to build something from scratch, or someone quietly wondering if your skills could one day work for you, this episode is exactly what you need.

💡 In This Episode, We Cover:

◼️ How Aaron stumbled into sales and why he says it’s the most valuable skill you can have ◼️ The insider breakdown of selling into big box retail (open to buy, end caps, markdown money and more) ◼️ The non-refundable popcorn machine that accidentally started a business ◼️ What the early days of Pop Insanity actually looked like, blow-up mattresses and all ◼️ How Oprah’s team found them at a gift show in Atlanta and what happened next ◼️ Getting on Good Morning America and landing Marcus Lemonis’ The Fixer ◼️ How COVID shifted their entire business model in their favor ◼️ The three things Aaron says you absolutely need in a business partner ◼️ What separates employees who grow fast from those who stay stuck ◼️ Why honesty, initiative, and mavatar (flexibility) matter more than any resume

⏱️ Chapters:

0:00 From Office Work to Closeouts: How Aaron Accidentally Got Into Sales7:45 The Art of Selling: Aggression, Etiquette & What Actually Works21:26 The Popcorn Machine That Started It All: The Origin Story of Pop Insanity29:10 Sleeping in Muncie: Building Pop Insanity From Zero39:41 Oprah’s Favorite Things: Getting Discovered at a Gift Show in Atlanta47:24 The Fixer & The Website Crash Heard Round the Warehouse52:17 COVID, Hiring & What It Actually Takes to Grow Inside a Company

🔗 Connect with Aaron ZutlerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-zutler

🔗 Connect with the Host - Tuli KrausInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

United Refuah

United Refuah offers an affordable alternative to traditional health insurance through a health share program, with a monthly cost of just $500. For the first 10 listeners, use code Blackbird to get the third month free.

https://unitedrefuahhs.org/

Blackbird Recruiting

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

If you’re serious about scaling with the right team, visit blackbirdrecruiting.com to learn more.

In this episode of the What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Dr. Jonathan Donath — chiropractor, entrepreneur, and founder of Daily Giving — to talk about building a successful practice from scratch, starting a nonprofit with zero experience, and why giving tzedakah every single day might be the greatest business decision you ever make.

Dr. Jonathan Donath runs a thriving chiropractic practice in White Plains, New York, where he specializes in severe neck and back conditions, helping patients avoid surgery through hands-on, drug-free treatment. But outside the office, he's the president and CEO of Daily Giving — a non-profit that has distributed over $29 million to more than 100 Jewish organizations worldwide, funded entirely by people giving just $1 a day.

What started as an epiphany in a shul parking lot after watching a YouTube video about a near-death experience turned into a global platform with 24,000 givers across 51 countries — distributing over $24,000 every single day to orphans, widows, cancer patients, poverty relief, kiruv, Torah, and more.

In this conversation, Dr. Donath opens up about what it's really like to run two full-time operations simultaneously, the business mistakes he made early on, why he almost gave up in the first few months of Daily Giving, and the mindset shift around maaser that he wishes someone had told him at 21.

If you're interested in entrepreneurship, nonprofit building, chiropractic as a career, the power of giving, or simply building something that actually matters — this episode will leave you inspired, challenged, and probably ready to sign up for something.

💡 In This Episode, We Cover:

◼️ How Dr. Donath chose chiropractic over traditional medicine—and built a practice from zero

◼️ The real salary numbers behind owning vs. working in chiropractic

◼️ Why going out-of-network was the best decision he ever made

◼️ The near-death experience video that sparked the idea for Daily Giving

◼️ How he grew from 100 signups to 24,000 givers across 51 countries

◼️ The operational reality of running an $8.8M/year nonprofit with a small team

◼️ Why every dollar donated goes directly to tzedakah—with overhead funded separately

◼️ The maaser habit he wishes he’d started at age 21

◼️ How he hires, the personality tests he uses, and why warmth can’t be trained

◼️ The mindset of “failure is not an option”—and what it actually costs you to believe it

⏱️ Chapters:

0:00 From Minneapolis to White Plains — The Road to Chiropractic10:13 Building the Business — Overhead, Patients & the Golden Handcuff Trap26:51 The Near-Death Experience Video That Changed Everything36:29 What Daily Giving Actually Is — How $1/Day Moves Millions49:42 From 100 Signups to 24,000 Givers Across 51 Countries1:04:27 Hiring, Personality Tests & Building Teams That Work1:08:07 Maaser, Mindset & the Cheat Code to a Better Life

🔗 Connect with Dr. Jonathan DonathInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdonath/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjonathandonath/

🔗 Connect with the Host - Tuli KrausInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

United Refuah

United Refuah offers an affordable alternative to traditional health insurance through a health share program, with a monthly cost of just $500. For the first 10 listeners, use code Blackbird to get the third month free.

https://unitedrefuahhs.org/

Blackbird Recruiting

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

If you’re serious about scaling with the right team, visit blackbirdrecruiting.com to learn more.