One Hundred Percent with Marcus Lemonis

Everyone loves a ballsy business move and Marcus is no exception. This week’s guests Erik and Muhammad had high paying jobs at a successful consulting firm, but they decided to bet it all on a business they believed in. They identified a product that hadn’t evolved in looks or technology in almost 50 years and saw a chance to essentially create a new generation of window air conditioners. Marcus has recruited fellow risk-taker Byron Allen, who turned a childhood raised by a single teenaged mom into becoming a global media mogul. He and Marcus counsel the two on keeping clients happy and playing the long game. Marcus is so impressed with July AC he makes them a $2.5 million offer.

Heidi Hertel was just trying to be a good mom, but when her children were told they needed glasses and she realized the lack of styles and sizes available...she jumped into action. Recruiting a digital designer from Pixar and teaching herself all about 3D printing, she created a new digital way to create custom, perfectly fitted glasses. Alongside style icon and TV personality Carson Kressley, Marcus and Heidi discuss new ways of expanding Fitz Frames’ approach to technology and cutting-edge design. Carson even agrees to get in on the designing process, determined to make the kids with glasses the coolest.

If you live anywhere near the DC area you’ve probably stood in line for a veggie based Chaia Taco. With over 3 million tacos sold, owners Bettina and Suzanne have squashed the idea that vegetables don’t belong in a taco attracting even die hard meat lovers to their two restaurants. Marcus sees a business that could explode with the right franchising strategy so he invites Grammy award nominee and Nashville native John Rich to share his restaurant expertise as well as a tacos jingle he comes up with on the fly.

As Marcus likes to say, entrepreneurship is about more than money. It can also solve problems and change the world, like his guest Ryan Frankel is doing. On a sunny morning in 2015, Ryan had bicycled into an intersection in Manhattan just as a driver ran a red light while looking at his phone. Ryan was in the hospital for weeks, and he started to wonder what he could do to stop this from happening again, and his app was born. This App Saves Lives partners with top companies to offer free rewards to safe drivers. Marcus loves the concept and welcomes celebrity host Dr. Oz to help Ryan understand even further how our phone addictions put us in danger and how the app can create custom rewards for each user.

Actress and influencer Cara Santana was living the dream. Her self-named fashion line was selling at Kohl’s stores across the nation and businessmen like Marcus had noticed the brand. But then Covid hit and a little pandemic clause in her contract left herself and her design partner at an impasse. Because Marcus believes that the ability to pivot in life and in business is one of the keys to success, he invited his friend, fashion mega-mogul Nicole Miller, on to share her ups and downs. She has weathered design trends, recessions, and even 9/11, and has some unbelievable stories to share about never giving up.

Marcus’s mother was a huge influence on his life and success, so when he learned about amazing new tech designed to keep our older loved ones safe, he had to hear more. Creator Jean Anne’s supermodel mother flat out refused to don a device that marked her as elderly, so Jean created a monitoring device disguised as jewelry. Marcus invites American supermodel and mogul Kathy Ireland onto the pod, who not only shares advice with Jean Anne but she dishes about her friendship with business tycoon Warren Buffet.

Word was spreading in Marcus’s hometown of Miami about brothers Brendan and Sebastian who were barely old enough to tie their own shoes when they started their business, selling splashy socks to help others.  Today they are bringing in over half a million dollars a year with half being donated to charities. Marcus invites pro skater, star of Ridiculousness, and businessman Rob Dyrdek on to test the boys on their business acumen and remind them that while age might be nothing but a number, the value of your product is something worth paying attention to.

As an outdoor lover and CEO of Camping World, Marcus was immediately drawn to Parks Project, what’s called a Mission-Based Business. Founders Sevag and Keith had a goal to start a business that would support them but also support America’s National Parks. By selling mod graphic tees and other hip outdoor themed merch, they’ve donated millions to support National Parks. Marcus sees their potential but honestly tells them their lackluster sales pitch “sucks.” Enter Marcus’s friend, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, who brings her journalism skills to tailor the guys’ sales pitch into a love story that speaks to America’s love for our precious park lands.

Head injuries seemed to follow entrepreneur Jessie Garcia like a bad habit, earning her the nickname “Tozuda”, or “hard head” in Spanish. Playing through a head injury during a rugby match left her with post-concussive symptoms that lasted months. That’s why she created a helmet-attaching device that signals when the wearer has been hit hard enough to be checked for a concussion. Marcus saw the game-changing potential of her invention and called up Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed to help Jessie understand how she can break barriers in the boardroom and get organizations interested in her product.

90% of Americans are hooked on the same drug – caffeine! That’s why two-time Olympic athlete Nick Symmonds spent years downing trendy energy drinks that ultimately left his stomach feeling over-carbonated and uncomfortable. Looking for a burst of energy without the side effects, he teamed up with his coach to create an energy gum as a bite-size solution to his problem. Marcus taps in celebrity personal trainer and fellow entrepreneur Jillian Michaels to help give Nick the advice he needs to grow his business’ success to Olympic proportions.

Marcus saw Kat Hantas as a woman with a mission. She wanted to switch from wine to blanco tequila for health and weight loss, but everything on store shelves was just too harsh for her. She set out to make a smooth, feminine, fruit-infused tequila for herself, but her bootleg operation turned into a thriving business called 21 Seeds. With fans like Jessica Alba, Naomi Watts, and Katie Couric, the tequila is a hit with the girls. But the temperature gets a little caliente when Marcus teams up with Real Housewife Caroline Manzo and Netflix exec Patty McCord to challenge Kat on why she’s letting an entire gender of consumers slip through her fingers.

The loss of Marcus’s beloved cocker spaniel led him to seek out the entrepreneurs behind The Farmer's Dog. Jonathan and Brett aren’t farmers but they realized farm dogs are mostly fed scraps of human food...real food, and those dogs are thriving. In people food, we obsess over preservatives and GMOs, so why are so many of us willing to feed our pups brown processed mystery balls?  Many people, including the hilarious actress Kristen Bell, aren’t willing to settle and were thrilled to discover this home-cooked fresh pet food.  Kristen joins Marcus and The Farmer's Dog on the pod. Together this team of pet lovers forms a plan to save a beloved animal shelter that was forced to close its doggie doors during Covid.    Support us by supporting our sponsors! Check out another great podcast, Teamistry by Atlassian, available here: https://link.chtbl.com/teamistry?sid=podcast.100percent

Five year old Gabby Goodwin was OVER it! Every day she left for school with her hair adorably braided in barrettes. When she got home, the barrettes were gone and so was her patience. Now at 14, she’s got a patented barrette and a black hair care empire. Marcus had to meet this business prodigy so he invited the incomparable Gayle King on the podcast. Gayle is so blown away by this young entrepreneur making it in an adult world, she asks to invest some of her own money!    Support us by supporting our sponsors! Check out another great podcast, Teamistry by Atlassian, available here: https://link.chtbl.com/teamistry?sid=podcast.100percent

Marcus loves a good comeback story and this is it. Jamie was a 26 year old body-builder and a talented cook but he was spiraling from family issues and a career that had flatlined.  So he gave himself one year to be a success or be gone. Fast forward to today and Jamie’s company Eat Clean Bro is doing 17 million dollars in sales, delivering perfectly clean and balanced meals to front doors across America. But this podcast isn’t called 50%. Marcus sees the potential in Jamie to double those numbers and invites basketball legend and entrepreneur Charles Barkley on. The talk gets pretty personal about family, loss, and letting go to move forward.     Support us by supporting our sponsors! Check out another great podcast, Teamistry by Atlassian, available here: https://link.chtbl.com/teamistry?sid=podcast.100percent

Aneela Adoni had been suffering in shame for over 20 years from a mental disorder that affects over 20 million people. She was ripping out her hair and she wasn’t able to turn it off. Aneela and her husband banded together to make a device that could help combat compulsive repetitive behavior and a business was formed. Marcus sits down with Aneela to understand her story, her business and goals. He also invites the perfect guest to join the conversation. Although Howie Mandel has been open about his mental health struggles for years, there was a time when he too was desperate to hide his condition  Support us by supporting our sponsors! Check out another great podcast, Teamistry by Atlassian, available here: https://link.chtbl.com/teamistry?sid=podcast.100percent

One Hundred Percent with Marcus Lemonis is a little bit of a masterclass, a cocktail party and a Sunday drive all wrapped up into 30 minutes with an audience invited to listen in.Marcus values family, community, character and ethics and helps small business owners who need his guidance and investment. His process is very personal and provides valuable insight through his ability to identify both problems and solutions. For years he has transformed the trajectory of businesses and the lives of its founders. Listeners will get to enjoy fun and unfiltered conversations centered around mentoring entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs that Marcus invites onto the show are creating products or services that will impact the world for the better.In each episode, listeners will meet the most exciting generation of business owners, including Charles Barkley, Kathy Ireland, Al Roker and Nicole Miller, and all the innovative ventures coming to and disrupting the market. Marcus talks to CEOs, entrepreneurs, inventors and all kinds of new leaders in the only way he knows how, it gets personal. They also talk about something successful people rarely reveal, what they need to take their success to the next level. Marcus and the guest explore that question in an effort to solve that puzzle.