Social Currency with Sammi Cohen

Chili's now goes through 65 million pounds of mozzarella a year, up from just 12 million four years ago. The reason traces back to a single TikTok video of a cheese pull that quietly turned a decade-old menu item into one of the biggest comeback stories in restaurant history.

Today, Sammi breaks down exactly how Chili's pulled off what one analyst called the best turnaround in restaurant history. She digs into the operational fixes nobody saw coming, from a shrimp-counting ritual that wasted hours of labor every day to a salt shaker redesign that cut seasoning time by more than 80 percent. She also traces how CEO Kevin Hochman, who came from Procter & Gamble and Yum Brands, rebuilt the kitchen experience from the inside out while his marketing team leaned into the viral moment instead of manufacturing one.

Then, Sammi unpacks the marketing engine behind the comeback, including the Triple Dipper's rise from a forgotten combo platter to 16 percent of total sales, the launch of Nashville Hot Mozzarella, and nostalgia plays like the Boyz II Men jingle and the Margarita of the Month program. Finally, she reveals the number buried in Chili's most recent earnings report that complicates the celebratory headlines, and what it means for the road ahead, including the struggles at sister brand Maggiano's Little Italy.

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Here's What Sammi Covers Today:

00:00 Chili's Mozzarella Explosion

01:30 Sammi's Intro to the Story

01:40 How Far Chili's Had Fallen

02:20 Kevin Hochman Takes Over

02:50 "Marketing Brings Them In, Ops Brings Them Back"

03:13 The Listening Tour That Started It All

03:29 The Shrimp-Counting Fix

03:54 The Ordering Glitch Costing 15 Plates a Night

04:15 The iPad and Wi-Fi Overhaul

04:33 The Salt Shaker Fix

04:53 Cutting the Menu and Adding Staff

05:13 Reformulating the Food

05:41 The Viral Cheese Pull Video

06:17 The Triple Dipper's Sales Surge

06:57 The Launch of Nashville Hot Mozzarella

07:30 Nostalgia Marketing: Boyz II Men and Margarita of the Month

08:05 The Three for Me Deal and "Value Theater"

08:24 The Numbers Behind the Comeback

09:11 Rolling Out the Retro Redesign

09:19 The Number That Complicates the Story

09:36 Why Traffic Is Actually Down

10:00 Maggiano's Little Italy Struggles

10:24 What's Next for Chili's

11:27 How to Show Social Currency Some Love
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Last year, $100 billion in housing payments flowed through Bilt's platform, and one in four apartment buildings in the US now runs on its system. So how did a rewards card for rent turn into one of the biggest players in AI-powered commerce?

This week, Sammi welcomes back Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain to unpack how the company has evolved from a direct-to-consumer card product into a full ecosystem connecting apartment buildings, local merchants and now AI agents. Ankur explains why the card now represents a small fraction of the business, how Bilt responded when a portion of customers started gaming the rewards system, and why listening to customer feedback in real time reshaped the recent Card 2.0 rollout.

Then, Ankur breaks down Bilt's viral Rent Day celebrity collaborations with stars like Madonna and A$AP Rocky, the strategy behind its unbranded scripted series "Roomies," and why the company is investing in original entertainment instead of traditional advertising. Later, he makes the case for why Bilt, Google and Anthropic are the only companies positioned to power agentic commerce in the physical world, and how its new Neighborhood Concierge tool can plan your night out, book your workout classes and even pay your restaurant bill automatically.

Plus, Ankur shares how Bilt builds trust with landlords and merchants by making them co-owners in the business, what he thinks is next for AI hardware in the home, and the productivity system that's changed how he works.

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Here's What Sammi Covers with Ankur: 00:00 Ankur Jain's Social Currency 03:38 A Full-Circle Moment at Bilt's New NYC Headquarters 04:19 Where Bilt Started and the Affordability Problem 06:17 How the Bilt Card Became Just 11% of the Business 07:29 Building Housing's First Unified Platform 08:54 The Hotel Experience Analogy 11:36 Card 2.0 and the Trade-Offs of Cutting Off Bad Actors 13:46 Listening to Customer Feedback in Real Time 17:00 Inside the Rent Day Celebrity Collabs 19:41 Stories From Madonna and A$AP Rocky 22:07 The Martha Stewart vs. Ryan Reynolds Moment 22:25 Why "Roomies" Was Launched Without Bilt's Branding 25:16 Building Community Through Bilt's Comedy Series 25:56 Neighborhood Concierge and the Agentic AI Future 27:23 Why Even the Big AI Models Aren't Integrated Locally 29:23 How Consumer AI Behavior Is Shifting 31:31 Why Bilt Belongs in the Same Sentence as Google and Anthropic 34:03 Building the Pipes for Both Sides of the Ecosystem 35:15 What Wins Over Landlords and Local Merchants 37:00 The Seamless Checkout Experience at The Corner Store 40:26 The Disney and Amazon Comparison 42:37 How Small Businesses Compete Like the Big Guys 44:26 Lightning Round 45:30 Ankur's AI-Powered Productivity System 46:44 Social Currency Corner: Could Bilt Enter AI Hardware? 48:50 Listener Question: Building Credibility as an Outsider

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They launched a year apart with nearly identical pitches: shop online without the guilt. Everlane sold radical transparency about factory costs and markups. Reformation sold sustainable, vintage-inspired style with a wink. Both became the "ethical option" for a generation of shoppers, both took private equity money within months of each other in 2019 and 2020, and both saw their founders step back from day-to-day operations around the same time. Then their paths split.

Today, Sammi breaks down how a public reckoning over workplace culture nearly sank Reformation in 2020, and why it recovered anyway. Meanwhile, Everlane's unraveling was quieter: leadership turnover, stagnant product, mounting debt and a liquidation loan that eventually led to Shein acquiring a majority stake in a deal that wiped out shareholders.

Sammi also digs into Reformation's July 2026 IPO on the NYSE, including a $92 million loan taken out just before filing that funded a dividend to existing investors, and what that means for the public investors buying in now. Plus, why the brand whose entire pitch was "know your factory" ended up owned by one of the biggest names in fast fashion, and what Everlane founder Michael Preysman is doing next.

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Here's What Sammi Covers Today:

00:00 Two Brands, One Ethical Fashion Pitch

02:26 Partner Message: Bilt 02:28 Everlane's Radical Transparency Origin Story

03:59 Reformation's Vintage, Style-First Beginnings

04:38 Style First vs. Story First 04:15 The Private Equity Fork in the Road

05:20 Reformation's 2020 Cultural Reckoning 06:41 The Founder's Exit and the Aftermath

07:56 Everlane's Quiet Decline 08:29 Layoffs, Debt and Fading Relevance

08:44 Partner Message: Shopify 09:05 Shein Acquires Everlane

09:48 Reformation's Path to an IPO

10:16 The $92 Million Dividend Before Going Public

11:52 Reformation Debuts on the NYSE 12:16 What Really Keeps a Mission-Driven Brand Alive 12:38 Michael Preysman's New Brand, "Still Radical"

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About two million couples get married in the U.S. every year… and despite economic pressure, they continue to spend an average of $34,000 on the big day. So, why has the wedding industry remained so resilient?

This week, Sammi sits down with The Knot CEO Raina Moskowitz to unpack the business of saying “I do.” Raina shares what it was like leaving Etsy to replace The Knot’s longtime founder, how weddings have changed in the last decade, and how Gen Z is reshaping the industry.

Then, Raina breaks down the economics of the modern wedding, from the growing divide between elaborate celebrations and intimate ceremonies to why guest count remains the biggest driver of cost. Later, Raina addresses the New Yorker story that questioned The Knot’s business practices and explains how customer criticism influenced the company’s product roadmap, including its new “Close the Loop” feature designed to reduce ghosting between couples and wedding professionals.

Plus, she shares how The Knot is integrating with ChatGPT, what AI could take off couples’ plates during the planning process and why trusted data may become even more important as wedding searches increasingly begin inside AI platforms. Finally, Raina weighs in on wedding trends, the influence of celebrity weddings and how she knew she was ready to stop being the strong number two and take the CEO seat.

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Here’s What Sammi Covers with Raina:

00:00 Raina Moskowitz’s Social Currency

02:03 Partner Message: Shopify

02:58 Raina’s Career Story

05:37 Scaling Etsy During the Pandemic

07:08 Leaving Etsy to Become CEO of The Knot

10:03 Is There a “Right Time” To Take the Leap?

11:47 Replacing a Longtime Founder

13:45 How Weddings Have Changed

16:08 Traditions Couples Are Ditching and Keeping

18:10 Partner Message: Bilt

21:36 Wedding Planning

25:39 How the K-Shaped Economy is Reshaping Weddings

32:30 The Push for Greater Vendor Pricing Transparency

35:55 The Social Media Effect37:55 The “Fake Brides” Story

40:04 The “Close the Loop” Feature and Reducing Vendor Ghosting

45:13 How WeddingPro Helps Small Businesses Grow

48:08 The Knot’s ChatGPT Integration and the Future of AI Planning

51:47 Lightning Round

53:06 Social Currency Corner

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When Kory Marchisotto joined e.l.f. Beauty, the company had less than 10% brand awareness and roughly $200 million in revenue. Today, e.l.f.’s brands generate approximately $1.8 billion in global consumption—and have become some of the most culturally relevant names in beauty.

In this episode, Kory joins Sammi from the Cannes Lions Festival to explain how she brought the rigor of luxury brand-building to an affordable beauty company designed for the “happy many” rather than the “happy few.” She shares why every major decision at e.l.f. begins with its community, how the company turns comments and cultural signals into campaigns, and the story behind the e.l.f. language that helped create the brand’s cult following.

Kory also takes Sammi inside e.l.f.’s billion-dollar acquisition of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, including the business metrics and shared values that made the partnership stand out. She explains why e.l.f. publicly addressed its first global price increase, how the company maintains premium quality and strict safety standards at accessible prices, and why it continues to enter unexpected spaces like Twitch, Roblox, gaming, sports, and the Super Bowl.

Plus, Kory reveals how her team created a Jennifer Coolidge Super Bowl campaign in less than three weeks, the framework she uses when a marketing campaign doesn’t land, and why e.l.f. has granted $250 million in stock to employees outside the C-suite. Toward the end, she opens up about the deeply personal ambition inspired by her father and shares the simple three-step system e.l.f. uses to move from an idea to execution.

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Read more about e.l.f. x Rhode, e.l.f. x Twitch, the Super Bowl ad, and So Many Dicks

Here’s What Sammi Covers with Kory:

00:00 Kory Marchisotto’s Social Currency

02:27 What Cannes Taught Kory About Great Creative Work

04:44 How e.l.f. Grew From $200 Million to $1.8 Billion

06:36 Bringing Luxury Brand-Building to Affordable Beauty

09:48 Serving the “Happy Many,” Not the “Happy Few”

10:56 Why Every e.l.f. Idea Starts With the Community

12:53 Finding the Answers Between the Comments

16:44 What Kory Initially Thought of the Name e.l.f.

17:30 How e.l.f. Created Its Own Language

20:18 The F-Bomb That Inspired an e.l.f. Bomb

22:22 Does Hair Still Fit Into Eyes, Lips, Face?

24:29 Inside e.l.f.’s Billion-Dollar Acquisition of Rhode

25:47 Why Rhode’s Growth Was So Rare

27:00 The Dinner That Sealed the Partnership

28:31 Why e.l.f. Publicly Announced Its Price Increase

31:00 How e.l.f. Delivers Prestige Quality Under $10

31:43 What “Clean Beauty” Actually Means at e.l.f.

32:48 Why e.l.f. Entered Twitch and Roblox

33:30 The Brand Ethos Behind Every Marketing Decision

35:36 Creating a Safe Space for Women in Gaming

38:03 Making a Super Bowl Ad in Three Weeks

40:11 Building the Muscle to Move at e.l.f. Speed

41:40 The Cultural Insight Behind an 11-Day Campaign

43:17 What to Do When a Marketing Campaign Misses

44:24 Kory’s Three-Part Crisis Framework

47:25 Why Every e.l.f. Employee Receives Stock

48:00 Operating Like a Startup at a $2 Billion Company

50:48 The Personal Story Behind Kory’s Ambition

53:46 The Accomplishments She Wishes Her Father Could See

54:30 Lightning Round

54:54 The Beauty Trend Kory Would Retire Tomorrow

55:23 Kory’s Favorite e.l.f. Collaboration

57:00 Vision, Alignment, Execution58:19 How Young Is Too Young for Beauty Products?

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