Why Are All These Famous Men Starting Alcohol Brands? | The Checkout Ep. 01

Why do so many famous men have alcohol brands?

Welcome back to The Checkout Podcast, where we break down the latest in eCommerce, brand building, and digital culture—with a little chaos along the way. In this episode, we get into:

💥 Why every famous guy has an alcohol brand (The Rock, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart—what’s the deal?)
💥 The rise of cannabis beverages and new mind-altering brands
💥 AI in eCommerce—will it replace human jobs or just make brands more efficient?
💥 The fraud problem nobody talks about: chargebacks, scams, and fake refunds
💥 Agency drama: When should agencies take credit for a brand's success?

📢 Featuring:
🚀 Zoe Kahn - CEO of The Inevitable Agency, early team member at Ghost & Chomps
👕 Bart Szaniewski - Co-founder of Dad Gang, eCommerce veteran
⚡ Nick Shackelford - Partner and Head of Retention at Brez and a serial entrepreneur
🎤 John Coyle - Typical white guy who talks a lot and thinks others MUST want to hear his opinions.

⚡ Subscribe for more eCommerce insights, brand breakdowns, and unfiltered takes!

📢 Follow us on social media:

Nick Shackelford
Twitter/X: https://x.com/iamshackelford
LinkedIn:   / nickshackelford  
Instagram:   / iamnickshackelford  

Zoe Kahn
Instagram:   / _zoekahn_  
LinkedIn:   / zoe-kahn-5b61aa129  
Twitter/X: https://x.com/_zoekahn_
YouTube: ‪@ZoeKahn‬

Bart Szaniewski
Instagram:   / theszef  
LinkedIn:   / bart-szaniewski-374b1141  
Twitter/X: https://x.com/TheSzef

John Coyle
YouTube: ‪@johnjhcoyle‬
Twitter/X: https://x.com/johnjhcoyle
Instagram:   / johnjhcoyle  
LinkedIn:   / john-coyle-1bb231120  


📩 Business inquiries: [email protected]

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to The Checkout Podcast 🎙️
02:15 - Meet the crew: Who’s on today’s episode?
05:45 - Why do all famous men have an alcohol brand?
10:20 - Alcohol, cannabis, and mind-altering brands: What’s next?
14:50 - The LTV advantage of vice brands vs. other categories
18:35 - Why female celebrities lean toward beauty & wellness brands
22:10 - The psychology behind celebrity brand loyalty
27:05 - Can non-celebrities still win in alcohol & beauty?
30:45 - The cannabis beverage boom & market opportunity
36:00 - eCommerce fraud: The problem nobody talks about
41:30 - Chargebacks, customer scams, and fraud prevention tools
45:15 - AI-powered agents in customer service: Game changer or overhyped?
50:55 - The future of AI in marketing & media buying
55:40 - The Vessi agency drama: When should agencies claim credit?
01:02:15 - Do agencies really help brands scale, or just take credit?
01:08:45 - AI’s impact on eCommerce jobs—will it replace humans?
01:15:30 - When AI starts making purchase decisions for consumers
01:21:55 - Could AI change how we buy everything online?
01:28:20 - Final thoughts & wrap-up