The Retail Whore · 2026-05-27 · 1h 7m
Do you ever wonder who makes those chalkboard signs at Trader Joe's? Well, that's how Benjamin Soto got started - drawing Trader Joe's signs by day and designing band merch at night for Fearless Records. In 1998, Ben was recruited by Paul Frank to help kick off the massive millennial pop-culture brand Paul Frank Industries. Ben managed the brand creative for about 10 years, which meant involvement with character designs, the tee and fleece program, pajama prints, photoshoots, trade show booths, retail spaces, collaborations/licensed products. They even let him voice Julius the Monkey on the pilot show of Yo-Gabba-Gabba. In 2008, Disney Animation called and gave Ben the job of helping to create and Art Direct a cartoon based on Evel Knievel's daredevil culture. The Emmy nominated show Kick Buttowski had 52 episodes and aired between 2010-2012. Ben eventually left Disney to partner up with some other entrepreneurs to start the next creative adventure: C-Preme. They had captured "lightning in a bottle" with their 3-D youth bicycle helmet brand, Raskullz. Within three years, they had sold over 3 million helmets and countless other outdoor products.
EP 243: REPLAY: BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER WITH TRUDI BARTOW64 / 100EP 242: THE PROBLEM WITH BUYING EVERYTHING YOU LOVEEP 241: THE BEST ADVICE FOR NEW RETAILERSEP 240: CREATING STORES THAT SELL WITH KATE KAUFFMANEP 239: FROM BROADWAY TO BUYING BEHAVIOR WITH AMY MEADOWS