Daniel Tejada:
Hello guys, this is Daniel Tejada with the Straight Up Visionary podcast. Today, I have my guest, Korie Minkus, with me. We’re super duper excited to have Korie on. She’s an advocate for entrepreneurs and a growth expert for businesses.
She’s the CEO and founder of Rock Your Product, which is the number one global product business advisory and growth training company. She’s a 30-year Fortune 500 consumer products thought leader, a global brand strategist, an international speaker, and a number one best-selling author.
She’s provided clarity and results. She’s been featured in USA Today, Success Magazine, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast, and on CNBC. Minkus has generated billions of dollars in revenue, launched hundreds of products, and scaled brands globally.
So, we’re super pumped to have her on.
Daniel:
Hey Korie, what’s going on today?
Korie Minkus:
Thank you, Daniel. It’s an honor to be here, so thanks for having me.
Daniel:
Yeah, really looking forward to our conversation today. I’d like to start, Korie, with just telling us a little bit about yourself, what you do, and all the voodoo that you do there.
Korie:
Cool, I love it. Thanks. Well, I am on this incredible journey now of 30-plus years helping consumer product brands launch and scale their products globally. That’s been my journey for many years.
I started in corporate, was there for 25 years, and left about six years ago. I was on a destination of growth—I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was something to take all the talent I’d learned in 25 years in the traditional corporate environment, helping brands launch and scale to over a billion dollars, and really understand how to break that down to help entrepreneurs create the same opportunity.
Entrepreneurs, meaning smaller business owners—those that are pre-revenue up to about $50 million in revenue a year—because entrepreneurship is an amazingly complex and beautiful journey. It’s a journey of self-discovery and growth.
We know that in launching products to market, there is a sequence of events, best practices that can be applied. The idea is that many of these things aren’t shared openly with businesses.
My goal was to create a platform where more businesses could access the information they need to move through their growth smoothly, successfully, and as financially meaningful as possible.
That’s what I do today. Rock Your Product is my company. I’ve been doing it for six years. It started as a group training program where I spoke internationally and worked with large groups.
Over the last couple of years, due to COVID, I scaled into a very customized private practice, which I personally love. I realized after working in corporate for so many years that getting into the grind with someone’s business is very exciting and meaningful.
We can create better impact and outcomes than in large group settings. We get into the tailored needs of the business owner we’re working with. That’s what I do today. I love it.
Daniel:
And I know we’ve seen the value firsthand with some of our clients. Being able to get down and dirty with actual input versus those large group settings really makes an impact.
You move above the high-level, what I call the “fluffy stuff,” which is important, but if you attend enough seminars, you get a lot of that high-level overview. The more important part is problem-solving—addressing the actual situations that businesses are running through.
Korie:
Absolutely, I see the value there.
Daniel:
Let’s break this back a little bit. You mentioned you started on the corporate side. Did you have experience starting with smaller businesses, or did you go straight into larger brands? I’m curious how you moved into this entrepreneurial realm.
Korie:
Great question. One of the meaningful things in corporate—despite starting in larger companies—was finding opportunities where I could be very vertically exposed. That way, I could learn how corporations run from all aspects of the business.
Successful companies can’t just be successful in one area; there are many verticals within a business that support growth. I believe one of the reasons I can do what I do today is because I’ve spent so much time understanding how each discipline works together and supports growth.
A little bit of both, Daniel. The first company I worked for did about $50 million a year in revenue. From there, I worked with one of the largest Fortune 500 companies.
I always made sure that throughout my career, I worked with companies under a billion dollars—closer to half a billion to three-quarters of a billion. That size allowed me to be in the boardroom making big decisions, understanding brand strategy, and getting into the finicky details—like sitting in the CFO’s office, understanding decisions around banking, capital raises, repositioning brands to be more equitable for business.
There were many aspects of the business I was able to learn. So, I’ve worked on some brands that people wouldn’t know, but I’ve also worked on Fortune 500 or top 100 brands that we all know and love.
Daniel:
That’s awesome. I think one huge piece is getting exposure to many facets of these businesses, especially for what you’re doing now in an advisory role. It’s a big advantage, and not everyone gets that opportunity.
The bigger the company, the more specialized the roles become, sometimes creating silos. It’s harder to push that learning early in your career.
Korie:
Thanks. I’ve been fortunate enough to have that exposure, though it can be chaotic at times.
Daniel:
What finally made you go out on your own? You were very successful on the corporate side, working with big brands. What made you take that plunge?
Korie:
Great question. Why leave a comfortable corporate job? Honestly, I was at a point where I’m a consummate learner. I wanted more access to information—I didn’t know how to get it.
At some point, I felt tapped out of what I’d learned. I don’t want to sound like I knew everything, but the repetitiveness of the experience was playing a role.
Once you gain domain expertise, there’s always more to learn. Having an open mind is crucial. I knew I probably knew 99% of what exists on Amazon ads today, but there’s always more.
I was seeking to learn more. I was planning to go back and get my Executive MBA. I applied to top business schools here in Chicago, and it would have cost about $250,000. I had two teenagers at the time, was working full-time, and was married. It just didn’t seem feasible.
Why did I want to do it? I wanted intellectual stimulation and to be introduced to new concepts—whether practical or theoretical. I wanted vertical exposure in a different light than corporate.
I’d grown up in corporate learning for 25 years but never got my MBA. Business fascinates me—the decisions, the intricate frameworks, the daily choices. I thought it would give me a richer understanding.
While considering this, I was invited to speak around the world on large stages, sometimes with celebrities, in rooms with hundreds or thousands of people. It was a chance to impact on a different level.
After some reflection, I thought, “I have nothing to lose.” It was the opposite of what I’d planned, but I realized I could use my talent in a new way.
That started around 2017. I fell in love with it. It was a blast—meeting entrepreneurs eager to learn and take on new challenges. I traveled to 32 countries a year, which was exciting but also demanding.
The most complicated part was quickly changing outfits and remembering what I wore last time in each city. But it was so rewarding.
Meeting entrepreneurs who are highly intelligent and ready to grow was invigorating. The average age of entrepreneurs is around 45, meaning many have gone through corporate training or education. But there are many things they don’t know—either because they grew up in silent roles or launched service or product businesses without that acumen.
Daniel:
Exactly.
Korie:
That was a breath of fresh air. I did that for about three and a half years before COVID shut us down. We couldn’t travel anymore.
I literally flew home the day the US shut down—was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, then Orlando for our last event. I remember sitting in first class, bumped up unexpectedly, and everyone around was asking what was going on. I said I’d just come from Singapore two weeks prior, and everything was fine. Then everything shut down.
It shifted everything online, which was a good pivot.
That’s what led me to my current role. I identified the extreme need—especially for business owners doing between pre-revenue and about $50 million in revenue.
I’ve impacted hundreds of clients over the last few years, and it’s rewarding to see their growth and success. That’s why I do this every day.