Scaling Restricted Products With AppLovin: Lessons From cbdMD With Wade Brown
Release Date: 09/12/2025
How SpiritHoods Generated $50M Using SEO-Driven Product Development With Latif Hamilton
Minds of Ecommerce
Latif Hamilton is the Founder and CEO of SpiritHoods, a leading fashion brand known for its festival-inspired faux fur products. Under his leadership, SpiritHoods has generated over $50 million in revenue and achieved top-three search rankings across major product categories by strategically aligning product development with SEO. A creative entrepreneur at heart and fractional CMO, Latif specializes in bridging operations and design to drive exponential growth. He is also the Founder of The Growth Operative, a consultancy focused on brand growth and business development. In this episode…...
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SMS Marketing Secrets: How Ecommerce Brands Increase Sales and Customer Loyalty With Heather Roach
Minds of Ecommerce
Heather Roach is the Director of Marketing at Original Footwear Company, a leading manufacturer of tactical footwear for military personnel, first responders, and outdoor enthusiasts. In her role, Heather has worked to evolve the company’s approach to SMS from a basic, automated setup to a more hands-on, test-driven strategy centered on personalization and audience segmentation. Her approach emphasizes balancing promotional messaging with meaningful, human communication to strengthen customer relationships and drive performance. In this episode… SMS marketing has often been treated as an...
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The Modern Affiliate Strategy Driving ASTR the Label’s Ecommerce Growth With Jessica Kalichman
Minds of Ecommerce
Jessica Kalichman is the Marketing Director at ASTR the Label, a Los Angeles–based fashion brand known for its contemporary, trend-driven designs. She brings over 12 years of experience in brand development and digital marketing, having previously driven high-impact campaigns in the toy and entertainment industries. Known for blending pop culture insights with data-driven marketing, Jessica has led the creation of over 160 commercials and digital campaigns, helping brands achieve global visibility through innovative storytelling and strategic partnerships. In this episode… Your biggest...
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How Fire Department Coffee Built a Mission-Driven Ecommerce Brand With Luke Schneider
Minds of Ecommerce
Luke Schneider is the Founder and CEO of Fire Department Coffee, a veteran-owned coffee company he launched in 2016 in Rockford, Illinois. A US Navy veteran and former firefighter-paramedic, Luke built the brand to combine his passion for high-quality coffee with a mission to support firefighters and first responders. Under his leadership, the company has grown from a small roasting operation into a nationally distributed brand. Luke also founded the Fire Department Coffee Charitable Foundation, which provides aid and resources to sick or injured firefighters and first responders. In this...
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The 3 Big Affiliate Marketing Mistakes Ecommerce Brands Make (And How to Fix Them) With Greg Rollet
Minds of Ecommerce
Greg Rollett is the Head of Growth at Grommet, a product discovery platform that helps makers, inventors, and ecommerce brands showcase new and unique products to millions of shoppers. As an Emmy Award-winning producer, Greg has helped Grommet launch over 2,000 products in the past two years to a customer base of more than 2.5 million shoppers. Beyond his role in driving Grommet’s growth, he focuses on helping ecommerce brands with actionable strategies, particularly in partnership and affiliate marketing. In this episode… Affiliate marketing is often treated like a side project by...
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The Growth Strategy That Took Blinds.com from Startup to Billion-Dollar Exit With Jay Steinfeld
Minds of Ecommerce
Jay Steinfeld is the Founder and former CEO of Blinds.com, the world’s largest online retailer of window coverings, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2014. Under his leadership, Blinds.com grew from a bootstrapped startup in his home to a billion-dollar enterprise, earning a reputation for innovation in ecommerce and technology-driven growth. Jay is also a Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Lead from the Core: The 4 Principles for Profit and Prosperity and the Entrepreneur in Residence at Rice University’s Graduate School of Business, where he shares business insights. ...
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How To Scale DTC, Amazon, and Retail Simultaneously With Chad Massura
Minds of Ecommerce
Chad Massure is the Founder and CEO of Rosy Soil, a company creating peat-free, carbon-negative potting soils designed to nurture both plants and the planet. He grew up gardening with his grandmother, a background that sparked his passion for sustainable horticulture and inspired him to reimagine what soil could be. Before founding Rosy Soil in 2022, he worked in the impact and food space, helping build ventures focused on sustainable food access and social good. Since then, Chad has guided the brand from a small startup to a rapidly scaling company while maintaining a strong commitment to...
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Scaling With Micro-Influencers: Lessons From Goorin’s Ambassador Strategy With Nicky Cutler
Minds of Ecommerce
Nicky Cutler is the B2B Marketing Manager at Goorin Bros., a premium hat and apparel company known for its cult-favorite line of trucker hats featuring embroidered animal patches. A seasoned marketer, Nicky led Goorin’s to over $1 million in affiliate revenue in two years by building and scaling Goorin’s ambassador and influencer programs. He previously worked across sales and retail leadership at Goorin and also launched his fashion brand earlier in his career. Blending brand building, community storytelling, and retail insight, he’s become known for driving culture-first marketing...
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Inside Saalt’s Playbook for High-Converting TikTok LIVE Sessions With Cherie Hoeger
Minds of Ecommerce
Cherie Hoeger is the Co-Founder and CEO of Saalt, a woman-owned period care brand known for its sustainable, reusable cups, discs, and leakproof underwear. With expertise in leveraging education-driven customer engagement and innovative sales channels, Cherie has led the company to become the #1 period care brand on TikTok Shop. Before Saalt, she worked as a technical writer for over a decade and launched multiple ecommerce ventures. As a social entrepreneur, she has steered Saalt’s mission to donate tens of thousands of cups and underwear globally to fight period poverty. In this...
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Scaling Brand Loyalty Through Social Impact: Lessons From Barefoot Wine With Michael Houlihan
Minds of Ecommerce
Michael Houlihan was the Co‑founder, President, and CEO of Barefoot Wine, an iconic brand that he and his partner Bonnie Harvey launched in a laundry room in 1986 with no money and no knowledge of the wine industry, and built one of the top wine brands in the US and in 28 countries. It was eventually acquired by E. & J. Gallo. A renowned writer, speaker, and consultant, Michael co-authored the New York Times best-selling book The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. He currently divides his time between mentoring entrepreneurs and working on...
info_outlineWade Brown is the Vice President of Marketing at cbdMD, a publicly traded company known for its CBD and cannabis product lines. He is a seasoned executive with expertise across ecommerce, B2B and B2C channels, digital advertising, and strategic partnerships. Wade has led marketing for restricted product categories, including CBD, THC beverages, firearms, and tactical gear, with leadership roles at SupplyKick, Inc Authority, NatureWise, among others. At cbdMD, he drives customer acquisition and creative ad strategies, spearheading the launch of the Herbal Oasis infused beverage line and securing distribution with major retailers like Total Wine.
In this episode…
When the usual ad channels become crowded, expensive, or off-limits, many brands can get stuck with limited growth options. For companies in restricted categories, the challenge is even greater: How do you reach high-quality customers while staying compliant and profitable? Could a lesser-known platform like AppLovin be the untapped opportunity these brands need?
According to Wade Brown, a seasoned marketing leader with deep expertise in restricted product categories, AppLovin has become one of the most reliable top-of-funnel acquisition channels. He highlights that the platform delivers trackable, high-quality traffic, often outperforming Meta and TikTok. The key, Wade explains, is repurposing proven creatives like UGC videos while also testing interactive HTML ads that offer richer engagement. By treating AppLovin as a funnel starter rather than expecting immediate conversions, brands can nurture audiences more effectively and expand reach into new markets. This strategic approach helps restricted brands capture authentic traffic and build sustainable campaigns.
In this episode of the Minds of Ecommerce, Raphael Paulin-Daigle interviews Wade Brown, VP of Marketing at cbdMD, about how AppLovin helps restricted brands scale customer acquisition. Wade discusses the advantages of HTML ads, how to repurpose winning creatives, and the importance of patience in testing. He also shares insights into funnel measurement, traffic quality, and common mistakes marketers make when evaluating new platforms.