PRESS PLAY
Ranked in the top 1% of ALL podcasts, the Proof to Product podcast is your trusted resource for sustainable business growth - especially if you make and sell physical products! Join Katie Hunt, each week as she shares strategies & solutions to enhance your sales & marketing so that you're building a business that supports your best life. If you've ever asked yourself can I make money selling physical products? Am I ready to sell my products wholesale to stores like Target, Anthropologie, Nordstrom or Barnes & Noble? When should I consider hiring a sales team or sales reps? Can I really turn my...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Katie Hunt makes wholesale growth legible through detailed conversations about buyers, trade shows, sales follow-up, and the operating choices behind retail orders.
Proof to Product turns wholesale growth into a series of concrete operating decisions. Katie Hunt uses founder interviews, buyer conversations, and trade-show-floor compilations to examine how physical products reach stores, with attention to pitching, merchandising, follow-up,…
Four years of booth visits, no order: Katie Hunt gives your impatient sales brain a longer clock.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Faire works best as part of a broader wholesale strategy, not as the strategy itself.
Katie frames Faire as a useful wholesale lever, but not a substitute for the rest of the sales stack. The strongest point is the practical one: brands get more out of the platform when they treat it as one part of a broader approach, using it alongside direct outreach, traffic…
A plainspoken wholesale growth story that stays close to process, outreach, and day-to-day pressure.
Carly Hussain's Parcel Island story keeps the process visible. It follows a gift and stationery business from 20 wholesale accounts to more than 120 stores, even while she was holding down a full-time job.
A practical look at pitching large retailers from a buyer's perspective.
This episode looks at how pitching large retailers differs from working with independents, using Sally Duguette of Anthropologie to ground the discussion in real buying timelines and the value of ready-to-ship inventory in key account pitches.
A founder story about composure, timing, and showing up well under pressure.
Ashley Sutton's route from corporate marketing to founding Hustle & Hope gives the episode a clear business spine. Her work at Avon, Mattel, and Penguin Random House is part of the appeal, but the sharper point is how she talks about building a consumer brand and staying steady…
A focused wholesale growth story with concrete trade-show detail and a grounded burnout thread.
Kate Talcott's story is really about focus: Splatter and Bloom grew from zero stores to nearly 70 after the line got tighter and easier to explain.
A 400th-episode conversation about the podcast, Paper Camp, and how the business has evolved.
Proof to Product marks its 400th episode by handing the host seat to Brittany Lynn, who talks with Katie Hunt about the podcast, the real cost of keeping it going, and the business behind it.
A practical wholesale reality check for founders deciding whether Paper Camp fits their stage.
Paper Camp is presented as a fit check for creative entrepreneurs who make and sell physical goods, not as a broad enrollment pitch. Katie Hunt is clear about who belongs in the program, why some wholesale businesses stall after fairs or trade shows, and how small corrections in…
Wholesale pitches improve once pricing, readiness, and terms are aligned.
The episode makes a plain case that weak wholesale interest often comes from a deeper setup problem, not just a pitch that needs another rewrite.
Rob Walling on bootstrapped SaaS growth, plateaus, and exits — with founders who lived them.
Abbey Ashley's playbook for turning your job skills into a virtual assistant business.
Naval Ravikant on epistemology, startups, and crypto, from David Deutsch to Vitalik Buterin.
Alex Theuma interviews SaaS founders and investors on scaling to $10M-plus ARR.
Guy Raz traces founders' origin stories and fields live advice-line calls from entrepreneurs.
Alex Blumberg interviews guests like Megan Phelps-Roper and Shane McAnally about failure and reinvention.
Katie Hunt interviews four Paper Camp alumni and a buyer at the Shop Object trade show in NYC, discussing strategies for exhibiting, the importance of in-person connections, and how to choose the right shows for wholesale growth.
New York Now is buzzing.
Katie Hunt interviews Carley Hussain of Parcel Island, who grew her wholesale accounts from 20 to 120 while working full-time.
Katie Hunt answers frequently asked questions about Paper Camp, her wholesale coaching program, covering its hybrid format, suitability for various product brands, investment return timeline, and ethical considerations for enrollment.
In this 400th episode special, Brittany Lynn interviews host Katie Hunt about the origins of the Proof to Product podcast, behind-the-scenes costs, and Katie's journey as an entrepreneur balancing business and family.
Katie Hunt shares a clip from her LABs coaching community, addressing economic fears and offering practical strategies for product-based businesses.
Kate Talcott shares how she niched down from selling various products to focusing on watercolor kits, growing from 0 to over 70 wholesale stores.
Katie Hunt debunks the myth that poor wholesale pitches are the main barrier to sales, revealing that issues like pricing, terms, and discounting often undermine efforts.
Katie Hunt answers a listener's question about whether to pitch products after opening a FAIR shop, explaining that proactive outreach is essential because FAIR is just one tool in a broader wholesale strategy.
Katie Hunt discusses how product-based businesses can use abandoned cart email automations to recapture lost sales, addressing common concerns and sharing statistics and strategies for both wholesale and direct-to-consumer contexts.
This episode features a discussion with shopkeepers Victoria Venturi and Katie Wilson on best practices for wholesale pitching, including tips on email strategies, sample sending, and follow-up etiquette.
Katie Hunt interviews Sally Duguette, a buyer at Anthropologie, who shares insights on pitching to large retailers, including 12-month lead times for exclusive products and practical tips for cold outreach.
Katie Hunt interviews Karen Sawyer Meehan of Pier 6 Press about overcoming discomfort with in-person sales, ethical selling practices, and finding one's artistic voice.
Katie Hunt discusses five common mistakes in wholesale catalogs, such as missing page numbers, contact info, pricing details, over-styling like lookbooks, and incomplete terms, offering quick fixes to improve sales conversions for product sellers.
Ashley Sutton, founder of Hustle & Hope, shares her journey from corporate marketing to innovating greeting cards with digital guides.
Katie Hunt introduces a re-aired clip about core business foundations for product brands, emphasizing timeless strategies for growth.
The host shares an excerpt from a coaching call where two alums discuss their experiences exhibiting at wholesale trade shows.
Katie Hunt introduces a re-aired clip about core business foundations for product-based brands, emphasizing timeless strategies for growth.
Katie Hunt discusses strategies for exhibiting at craft shows and retail markets with show organizer Lib and exhibitor Jessie.
Content strategist Kyla Uli shares how product brands can use organic video content on TikTok and Instagram to increase visibility and convert viewers into customers.
The host announces a holiday break and encourages listeners to explore the podcast archive for actionable business growth advice.
This episode features coaches answering common questions about selling wholesale, including struggles, product line refinement, and missed opportunities for brands.
Katie Hunt interviews Biff Alm about product development strategy and insights from the Las Vegas gift show for physical product makers.
Brigitte Swanson discusses how her business thrived after leaving social media, focusing on email newsletters and wholesale outreach.
Katie Hunt discusses the importance of authenticity in business, featuring a coffee chat on staying true to brand identity and using personal interests, with a sponsor segment for Kodai Collective.