Sparks Journal

Matt Kaness has quietly helped shape the modern playbook for purpose-driven retail — where creativity and commercial discipline amplify each other.At URBN (Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters), he helped triple revenue and grow e-commerce from ~10% to ~40% of the business.As CEO of ModCloth, he defined the mission “ModCloth is pioneering inclusive fashion,” a clarity that galvanised its community and ultimately led to Walmart’s acquisition.Later, at GoodwillFinds, he reimagined “donation” as a customer-centric circular marketplace, driving ~2 billion organic visits with no ad spend.In this episode of The Sparks Journal, Matt reveals how to scale purpose and profit in parallel — aligning founder DNA, brand “why,” and performance culture to build brands that endure.Key takeaways:• Distil founder “magic” into strategic advantage• Turn brand purpose into a moat and growth engine• Apply the “brand bank account” test to every decision• Build omnichannel CX that immerses the customerFollow and subscribe for more stories on building brands with heart and rigour — at the intersection of creative vision, cultural impact, and commercial outperformance.

From $40,000 and a garage to a global fragrance phenomenon — Raquel Bouris, founder of Who Is Elijah, has built one of Australia’s fastest-growing beauty brands by doing things differently.In this candid, empowering, and hilarious conversation, Raquel opens up about the creative chaos, the brand strategy, and the personal evolution behind her rise. We dive deep into how she hacked the attention economy with radical authenticity, “no-rules” storytelling, and a founder-led brand that’s as emotionally resonant as it is commercially powerful.In This EpisodeFrom garage start-up to $20M cult brandTurning personal brand × business brand into a growth flywheelAuthentic UGC, unpaid celebrity fans, and organic viralityWhy “community > vanity” is the ultimate growth strategyThe art and commerce crossover that built longevityRaquel’s story is a blueprint for the modern founder: fearless, transparent, emotionally intelligent — and entirely her own.If this episode moves you, follow and rate the show. It’s the simplest way to support these long-form, on-location conversations with world-class creators and founders.#WhoIsElijah #RaquelBouris #TheSparksJournal #BrandBuilding #FounderStory #Entrepreneurship #AttentionEconomy #WomenInBusiness

Building one global cult brand is rare.Doing it twice - Mambo and Deus Ex Machina - is almost unheard of.In this inspiring conversation, Dare Jennings reveals the playbook behind both:lead with art and humour that challenge the mainstream, fuse the unrestrained creativity of subcultures - “surf, motorcycles, music… it’s all the same juice” - and build worlds where rebellion feels playful, not intimidating.From Mambo’s cheeky satire to Deus’s Temples of Enthusiasm, Dare shows how to balance art and commerce, turn brand into tribe, and build a legacy brand with soul - rebellious, inclusive, and built to last.

Jon Rose has lived a life that reads like myth: a pro surfing prodigy at 17, then the founder of Waves For Water, a guerrilla-style humanitarian organisation that’s delivered clean water to millions in disaster and conflict zones.To the world, he was fearless — the man who ran toward hurricanes, earthquakes, and war.But beneath that outward courage was a lifelong drive born not from purpose alone, but from unhealed childhood trauma — a voice Jon came to call “the Drill Sergeant.”In this raw and deeply human conversation, Jon opens up about:• Mistaking post-traumatic drive for purpose — and how it finally caught up with him.• The cost of living in permanent overdrive, even in service to others.• How psychedelic-assisted therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) helped him meet, integrate, and transform the part of himself that once ran the show.• Why healing the helper may be the most radical act of courage there is.This is a story of high performance, trauma, and transcendence — a roadmap for turning outward purpose into inner peace.Because, as Jon puts it: “The real win isn’t the halo — it’s wholeness.”

From film to farm, Matilda Brown shares how she found a deeper creative purpose, one rooted in the soil beneath her feet. This is a story about the power of the pivot: regenerative agriculture, saying no to gatekeepers, and growing a mission-led meals brand while raising a family.We explore when to persist versus when to pivot — “sometimes you must let go of one dream for the next to appear” — and how fear can become a compass: “if I feel fear, I walk toward it.” Matilda opens up about The Good Farm Shop, from cow-share to ready meals, and the lessons behind mobile abattoirs, animal welfare, and compostable packaging.At its heart, this is a conversation about non-negotiable values, the creative reinvention of purpose, and the beautiful, messy, and profoundly empowering joy of building a business — and a life — with your partner and family.