🎙️ What if building a billion dollar brand came with a billion dollar bill?

Eric Skae knows the cost of growth because he’s paid it, multiple times.

From building Arizona Iced Tea's first distribution map to scaling Rao’s during a shareholder battle, and now turning Carbone into the next great CPG empire, Eric has lived through the beauty and brutality of entrepreneurship.

This isn’t a story about unicorn valuations. It’s about resilience. About watching everything collapse, then starting again. About the friends who disappear when the money runs dry, and the walks that bring clarity back.

If you’ve ever sacrificed too much for success, this episode is your reminder: you can build something great without losing yourself in the process.

🎩 Summary

Eric walks us through his Bronx beginnings, a career built brick by brick in beverage and CPG, and what it really takes to turn brands around. He shares the high of scaling Arizona, the heartbreak of losing New Leaf, and the hustle of rebuilding post 2008 with nothing but grit, yoga, and a 3 million dollar loss he didn’t have to lose.

We go deep into what most founders hide: identity collapse, co signed debt, and the moment you find yourself coaching others while quietly falling apart. But Eric’s not just a survivor. He’s a strategist, scaling Carbone into a 100 million dollar retail powerhouse, one jar at a time.

This episode is a masterclass in grounded ambition. How to scale without selling your soul.

🎩 Hats Covered

• 🎩 1: The Soul
• 🎩 2: The Athlete
• 🎩 3: The Servant
• 🎩 4: The Entrepreneur
• 🎩 5: The Investor
• 🎩 7: The Seeker

💡 Key Takeaways

• 🎩 1: Success doesn’t always look like peace. Sometimes it looks like panic in the parking lot.
• 🎩 2: Discipline beats motivation. Walk. Lift. Breathe. Repeat.
• 🎩 3: Find the friends who call after the storm, not just in the sun.
• 🎩 4: Scaling too fast without systems is the most expensive tuition you’ll ever pay.
• 🎩 5: If you don’t have cash reserves, your brand might not make it through the next curve.
• 🎩 7: When you stop pretending, you start becoming.

👤 Guest Bio

Eric Skae is a CPG veteran and brand turnaround artist. He helped put Arizona Iced Tea on the map, scaled Rao’s Homemade to over 100 million dollars, and is now CEO of Carbone Fine Foods, one of the fastest growing premium sauce brands in America. Known for his gritty honesty and growth discipline, Eric brings decades of battle tested wisdom to every shelf he touches.

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:02:00 – Growing up with 7 siblings in a 1200 square foot house
• 00:11:00 – First job: caddying at age 11 and loving the hustle
• 00:20:00 – From elevator operator to real estate flipper to water distributor
• 00:28:00 – How Arizona Iced Tea changed everything
• 00:36:00 – The growth addiction and the brand graveyard it left behind
• 00:44:00 – 2008: Losing 3 million dollars, the brand, and almost his house
• 00:50:00 – Yoga, walks, and rebuilding Bricktown
• 00:58:00 – Rao’s: A turnaround wrapped in a shareholder war
• 01:06:00 – Scaling Carbone to 100 million dollars and hand stripping basil at scale
• 01:15:00 – Trade spend discipline, tariff pressure, and why price hikes aren’t always the move
• 01:22:00 – Who Eric had to stop being, and who he’s becoming

✅ Actionables

• Audit your growth: Are you scaling beyond your systems?
• Know your WIIFM: Every stakeholder asks what’s in it for me. Answer it early.
• Track your dilution: When your equity no longer matches your energy, reassess.
• Find your calm: Walk, stretch, unplug. Make space to think clearly.
• Call someone who stood by you when things went sideways.

🔥 Quotes

“CPG is the simplest, hardest business in the world.”
“People don’t leave because they’re bad. They leave because growth breaks them.”
“I had to teach a mortgage broker how to refinance my house.”
“Some days I listen to Eminem on repeat just to remind myself I’m still in the fight.”
“You’re either working your plan or someone else’s.”

🔗 Links

• Carbone Fine Food – Restaurant quality sauces at scale
• Eric Skae on LinkedIn

🎩 Subscribe, share, and remember: the sauce is only as strong as the shelf it sits on, and the soul that built it.