The Keri Croft Show

Hosted by Keri Croft

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Episodes

212

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The Keri Croft Show is a podcast for people building something BADASS. A business. A dream. A life that actually feels like yours. Hosted by Keri Croft, this podcast explores the real stories behind the build, what it takes to start, and more importantly, the Mental Athleticism™ it takes to stay in it when the excitement fades and the work gets real. The Keri Croft Show features conversations with founders, creatives, musicians and people in the middle of building something meaningful, without the highlight reel. 🎙 New episodes drop every Thursday.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 10, 202641 min

Building a Business While Letting Go with Lindsay Fork

Send us Fan Mail Lindsay Fork pulled up to the studio fresh off dropping her oldest daughter at college… and within about 30 seconds, we were both trying not to cry. So naturally, we went there. We talk about the weird, beautiful heartbreak of watching your kids grow up, what happens to your identity when the role you’ve poured so much of yourself into starts changing, and why having a purpose that exists alongside motherhood matters more than we probably realize. Then we get into the other side of Lindsay’s life: building Luxe Redux into a 15-location bridal powerhouse with 150+ employees, learning how to actually operate like a CEO instead of touching every single thing herself, and the uncomfortable art of trusting your team enough to let go of the vine. We also cover sabbaticals, mom guilt, psychedelics, addiction and trauma, why taking time for yourself can somehow still feel selfish, bridal trends, teenage “vlogging,” Facebook moms coming for Lindsay in the comments, and possibly the greatest leadership tool ever invented: The No Drama Llama. This is one of those conversations that moves exactly like real life does—motherhood, business, identity, growth, ridiculousness, and everything in between. No polished talking points. No perfectly packaged lesson. Just two women chopping it up about where life has them right now. And honestly? Those are usually my favorite conversations. Keep moving, baby.

September 3, 202642 min

What Women’s Healthcare Is Missing | Amy & Jodi of Vibe Women's Health Collective

Send us Fan Mail Women’s health is having a moment—but there are still some pretty massive gaps in what actually happens when a woman walks into a doctor’s office and says, “Something doesn’t feel right.” Enter Amy and Jodi, the women behind Vibe Women’s Health Collective. Their story started nearly two decades ago after Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer at 44. Physically, she recovered. Emotionally? Totally different story. Then she met Jodi, a physician assistant who actually saw the part of her that wasn’t showing up on a scan or a lab result—and the two of them basically fell in love. Years later, that relationship became Vibe. We get into why medical care and mental health HAVE to talk to each other, the giant gap that exists after cancer treatment ends, health anxiety, menopause, perimenopause, HRT, sexual health, painful sex and why women deserve way more than a rushed 15-minute appointment. And because this is apparently where the conversation wanted to go, we also cover neck lifts, pickleball, husbands trying to understand menopause, whether men need their own support group and why women have got to stop apologizing for making money. This episode is funny, incredibly honest and also a pretty damn important conversation about what it looks like when women see a problem, stop waiting for someone else to fix it and build the thing themselves. Go check out Vibe Women’s Health Collective—and if you’re in Columbus, you’re going to want these women on your radar. Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And as always, keep moving, baby.

August 27, 202645 min

From Netflix’s Love Is Blind to Entrepreneurship with Bri McNees

Send us Fan Mail You can have the career, the independence, the confidence, the whole “I’ve got this” thing going for you… and still find yourself wondering what the hell you’re doing in dating, work, or life. That’s part of what I loved about this conversation with Bri McNees. Bri takes us behind the scenes of how a completely organic casting connection took her from corporate retail in Columbus, Ohio, to Love Is Blind — and why she’s built a life around being willing to say yes when the right door opens, even when it scares the shit out of her a little. And yes, we get into the stuff you actually want to know. Dating with the intention of finding a husband. What the Columbus dating scene is really like when you know what you want. Watching yourself back on reality television and realizing that, edit or not… yep, that’s still you. Bri also opens up about what really happened with Connor, why vague breakup explanations can send the internet into a full-blown spiral, and what their first major conflict taught her about whether a relationship can actually hold up when things get hard. But this conversation goes way beyond Love Is Blind. We talk about faith, anxiety, identity, becoming more comfortable with who you are, and that slightly terrifying adult realization that none of us — including our parents — actually have this whole life thing figured out. Then we get into Bri’s next chapter: leaving corporate America, content creation, and entrepreneurship. We talk TikTok, Instagram shopping, being selective about whose advice you take, Gary Vee, staying authentic while building a platform, and what it actually looks like to bet on yourself. And because apparently the episode needed one more character, we call Bri’s dad, G-Man, live on the show — and he casually drops some of the best advice of the entire conversation about rejection, naysayers, and the difference between talking about the dream and actually going after it. If you’re in a season of reinvention, starting over, dating differently, building something new, or standing in front of a door you’re a little scared to walk through, this one’s for you. Subscribe, send it to someone who needs a little push, and tell me: what’s the risk you know you’re ready to take next?

August 14, 202638 min

Little Legends Lemonade Ep 05: Why Better Treatments for Kids Can't Wait

Send us Fan Mail Your child has a fever, you get told it’s probably nothing, and then one morning everything changes. John and Renee join us to tell the story of their son Will’s diagnosis with stage four Wilms tumor, a rare pediatric kidney cancer, and the brutal speed at which normal life turns into ultrasounds, surgery, pathology reports, chemo, and radiation when the cancer has spread to the lungs. Hearing Renee describe that first hospital visit and John describe the phone call that snapped his world in half is the kind of honesty that stays with you. We also get real about what people don’t see after the words “cancer free.” Remission still comes with scans, anxiety before checkups, and long-term side effects that can follow pediatric cancer survivors for years, from organ monitoring to secondary cancer risk. John shares how he shut down emotionally to keep the family moving, and we talk about how different grief styles can collide inside a marriage while you’re also raising a newborn and trying to keep life functioning. Then we zoom out to the bigger fight: pediatric cancer research funding and why groups like Cancer Free Kids matter. We connect the dots between better funding and better, less toxic treatments for kids, and we invite you to show up for the Lemonade Stand fundraiser on August 2 (11 to 1 at Tupelo Honey on Lane Avenue) to help push that work forward. If this conversation moves you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more families find it when they need it most. Donate directly to the Little Legends Lemonade stand here: https://cfk.donordrive.com/campaigns/Little-Legends-Lemonade Follow Keri: Instagram: @keripcroft The Keri Croft Show: @thekericroftshow Website: kericroft.com ⚡️ If this episode hits something in you, please share it with a friend. ⚡️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. ⚡️ Leave a review if you’re feeling it. And until next time… Keep Moving, baby!

July 30, 202629 min

Little Legends Lemonade Ep 04: When a Mother's Instinct Changed Everything

Send us Fan Mail A kid goes from running everywhere to barely being able to walk, and the first answers don’t point to cancer at all. That is the gut punch at the center of our conversation with Kim and her son, Max, as they walk us through the real timeline from “maybe it’s a sports injury” to a leukemia diagnosis and two and a half years of treatment. If you’ve ever felt dismissed by “normal” tests while your instincts say something is wrong, you’ll hear exactly why persistence matters and how fast life can change for a family facing pediatric cancer. We get specific about what treatment looked like: intense pain, bone damage, spinal taps, anesthesia choices, and the brutal personality shifts that can come with steroids. Max shares the kid view with surprising wisdom, including how he handled fear and why recording a quick video after a procedure helped his future self stay calm. We also talk about school dynamics, what it feels like when someone says something cruel, and the small acts of protection and friendship that can make a hospital season less isolating. Then we turn that hard-earned perspective into action. We’re inviting you to Little Legends Lemonade at Tupelo Honey on Lane Avenue on August 2nd from 11 to 1 to raise money for Cancer Free Kids, because research funding is how we get more effective and gentler treatments for children with cancer. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people show up for families who need it. Donate directly to the Little Legends Lemonade stand here: https://cfk.donordrive.com/campaigns/Little-Legends-Lemonade Follow Keri: Instagram: @keripcroft The Keri Croft Show: @thekericroftshow Website: kericroft.com ⚡️ If this episode hits something in you, please share it with a friend. ⚡️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. ⚡️ Leave a review if you’re feeling it. And until next time… Keep Moving, baby!

July 29, 202650 min

Little Legends Lemonade Ep 03: How Small Donations Can Fuel Major Cancer Breakthroughs

Send us Fan Mail Pediatric cancer is a gut punch most people can’t look at for long, and that discomfort has a cost. We sit down with Dr Dean Lee, Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, to talk about why kids’ cancer research is still massively underfunded and why community-driven giving is not a feel-good extra. It’s often the only way the next breakthrough gets its first chance. We unpack the hard truth behind the pediatric cancer funding gap: fewer patients means fewer commercial incentives, and “trickle-down” solutions from adult oncology don’t always fit the diseases kids actually face. Dean explains why childhood cancer can be oddly invisible day to day, even though it remains a leading cause of death in children outside of accidents, and why foundations like Cancer Free Kids step in to fund the science that government grants won’t touch early on. Then we get into hope with specifics. Dean walks us through what’s changing in cancer immunotherapy and cellular therapy, including why CAR T cell therapy was a game-changer in leukemias and lymphomas and why solid tumors have been so much harder. We also talk about what pilot grants really do, how a $50,000 award can create the preliminary data needed for major funding, and a real example involving CRISPR and natural killer cell research that grew into a much bigger research platform. Join us for the third annual Little Legends Lemonade: 🍋 Sunday, August 2 🍋 11:00 AM–1:00 PM 🍋 Tupelo Honey on Lane Avenue 🍋 Goal: Raise $5,000 for CancerFreeKIDS Donate, host a satellite stand, stop by for lemonade, or simply help us spread the word. Every dollar helps put resources into the hands of brilliant people working to give kids their entire lives back. Donate directly to the Little Legends Lemonade stand here: https://cfk.donordrive.com/campaigns/Little-Legends-Lemonade Follow Keri: Instagram: @keripcroft The Keri Croft Show: @thekericroftshow Website: kericroft.com ⚡️ If this episode hits something in you, please share it with a friend. ⚡️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. ⚡️ Leave a review if you’re feeling it. And until next time… Keep Moving, baby!

July 28, 202624 min

Little Legends Lemonade Ep 02: Why Childhood Cancer Research Needs Us

Send us Fan Mail Only 8% of cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer and that single number explains a lot about why families still face limited options, harsher treatments, and too much uncertainty. I’m joined by Drew Dollmatsch, managing director for the Columbus market at CancerFree KIDS, to break down what that funding gap looks like on the ground and why the earliest stage of research is where progress either starts or stops. When a scientist has a smart idea but no proof of concept yet, traditional funding often won’t touch it. Cancer Free Kids exists to change that. We talk about how CancerFree KIDS supports research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and why investing in top pediatric oncology centers can ripple far beyond Ohio. Drew shares how their grants help lay the groundwork for advances in gene therapy and immunology, even when it’s hard to draw a neat line from one grant to one new treatment. The point is leverage: early funding turns “maybe” into “next,” moving promising ideas toward larger government or industry backing and, ultimately, better care for kids. Then we get practical with two ways to join the mission. Little Legends Lemonade hits Tupelo Honey on Lane Avenue August 2 from 11 to 1, with giveaways, big energy, and a goal to raise $5,000 in just two hours. And the 100 Mile Challenge in September for Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month invites anyone to raise $100 and complete 100 miles of any activity, tracked through an app that converts movement into mileage. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review if you want more conversations that turn community action into real medical progress. Donate directly to the Little Legends Lemonade stand here: https://cfk.donordrive.com/campaigns/Little-Legends-Lemonade Follow Keri: Instagram: @keripcroft The Keri Croft Show: @thekericroftshow Website: kericroft.com ⚡️ If this episode hits something in you, please share it with a friend. ⚡️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. ⚡️ Leave a review if you’re feeling it. And until next time… Keep Moving, baby!

July 26, 202626 min

Little Legends Lemonade Ep 01: How One Mom Sparked a Movement for Kids With Cancer

Send us Fan Mail It's that time of year again, ya'll. The Little Legends Lemonade stand is back and better than ever, baby! For the third year, The Keri Croft show & Little Legends Lemonade are teaming up to bring kids, families, local businesses, and our entire community together to raise money for a great cause. This year, it's CancerFreeKIDS and our goal is a big one: raise $5,000 in two hours to help fund the early-stage pediatric cancer research that can become tomorrow’s life-saving treatments. Leading up to the event, The Keri Croft Show is releasing a special five-part series exploring the impact CancerFreeKIDS is having on pediatric cancer research, how new treatments actually make their way from an idea in a lab to a child’s bedside, and why this work should matter to every single one of us. In this first episode, Keri sits down with Ellen Flannery, founder of CancerFreeKIDS, and Dr. Timothy Cripe, Chief of the Division of Hematology, Oncology & Blood and Marrow Transplant at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Ellen shares the deeply personal story that led her to create CancerFreeKIDS after her infant daughter’s cancer diagnosis. Dr. Cripe breaks down, in terms anyone can understand, why early-stage research is so critical, how groundbreaking ideas become real treatments, and what becomes possible when researchers receive the funding needed to take a chance on something new. Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related death for children in the United States, yet pediatric cancer research receives only a fraction of the funding it needs. This conversation explains the gap, the progress being made, and the very real role our community can play in moving that progress forward. 🍋 Join Us for Little Legends Lemonade Sunday, August 2 11:00 AM–1:00 PM Tupelo Honey on Lane Avenue | Columbus, Ohio Bring your family, grab a lemonade, enter to win giveaways from incredible local businesses, and help us raise $5,000 in two hours for CancerFreeKIDS. Can’t make it but still want to contribute? Donate directly to the Little Legends Lemonade stand here: https://cfk.donordrive.com/campaigns/Little-Legends-Lemonade Follow Keri: Instagram: @keripcroft The Keri Croft Show: @thekericroftshow Website: kericroft.com ⚡️ If this episode hits something in you, please share it with a friend. ⚡️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. ⚡️ Leave a review if you’re feeling it. And until next time… Keep Moving, baby!

July 2, 20261 hr 6 min

Donatos CEO Kevin King on Leading With Heart.

Send us Fan Mail Kevin King is the CEO of Donatos, but the first thing you should probably know about him is that he really loves his wife. Leslie has challenged him, sharpened him, expanded his taste in music, and spent more than three decades helping him become the person and leader he is today. So naturally, Keri calls her in the middle of the interview. What follows is a very human conversation about marriage, parenting, family, leadership, and running one of Columbus’s most recognizable brands. Kevin explains how he taught his daughter to handle a bully, why he wants his adult children to have relationships with him that do not depend on their mother, and what he has learned about staying calm enough to solve the actual problem. That same approach shapes the way he leads Donatos through changing customer expectations, third-party delivery, automation, and AI. Kevin is not interested in using technology to remove people from hospitality. He wants to use it to eliminate the work people hate so they can spend more time taking care of customers. This is a conversation about pizza, people, marriage, consistency, and why a good leader sometimes has to make sure everyone can see his heart.

June 25, 202643 min

Business, Motherhood, and Getting Your Pink Back with Meleka Jolliff, Founder of MMJ Events and Aiden & Grace.

Send us Fan Mail I sat down with Meleka Jolliff, one of the seven incredible women who helped bring our very first IRL experience to life. Meleka was not only a generous sponsor, but she and her team played such a huge role in making the entire space feel beautiful, thoughtful, and intentional. So before anything else, a massive thank you to this woman. As the founder of MMJ Events and Aiden & Grace, and co-owner of Skyflower, Meleka has built her businesses around the thing she does so naturally: making people feel cared for through the details. She has an incredible eye, a creative brain, and the kind of work ethic that quietly holds a lot together. In this episode, we talk about business, team culture, word-of-mouth growth, high-pressure event seasons, motherhood, marriage, and the honest reality of building a life that actually feels like yours. Meleka shares how she’s built a team that cares deeply, why the little details are often the thing people remember most, and what it means to keep going through the messy middle of entrepreneurship, family, and identity. We also get into starting over with a third baby later in life, the idea that “you’ll get your pink back,” and why women need people around them who actually understand the weight of what they’re carrying. This episode is full of wisdom from a woman who knows how to build beautiful things — in business, in motherhood, and in community. Subscribe on YouTube and follow along on Instagram for more conversations with badass women building businesses, families, and lives on their own terms.