Relay and Mike Michalowicz Launch "Becoming Self Made": A Podcast Revealing the Unfiltered Stories of Small Businesses Turned Big Successes

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Relay¹ ("Relay Financial Technologies, Inc.")—the small business banking and money management platform enabling peak profitability—announced the launch of "Becoming Self Made", a Relay video podcast hosted by Mike Michalowicz, creator and author of Profit First. Produced by Pod People, "Becoming Self Made" is a bold, video interview series that unearths the raw, unfiltered stories of small business owners who grew into some of today's biggest successes.

The series dives deep for a first-hand account of the personal and vulnerable moments that shaped the journeys of self-made entrepreneurs who started their businesses small, and built something extraordinary. From early struggles like navigating 7-figure debt to breakthrough victories like filling stadiums with fans, these are stories of resilience, grit, and transformation. This season, Michalowicz sits down with six powerhouse business owners, from globally-known business titans to best-selling authors who've built their small businesses from nothing to 9-figure revenue. Guests include:

• Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. Serial entrepreneur, investor and author, Brian is the founder and CEO of O2E Brands, the banner company for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, and Shack Shine, with franchise locations in every major metro in North America and Australia.
• Emily and Jesse Cole, Co-Owners, The Savannah Bananas. Emily and Jesse created the Savannah Bananas—the viral sensation known as the Greatest Show in Sports—with the goal of making baseball fun and bringing families together. Today, they have over 11M TikTok followers.
• Donald Miller, Founder and CEO, StoryBrand. Donald Miller the CEO of StoryBrand, Business Made Simple, and Coach Builder. He is the author of ten books including Building a StoryBrand 2.0, Marketing Made Simple, and How to Grow Your Small Business.
• Amy Porterfield, Entrepreneur, Marketing Strategist, and Online Course Expert. A former 9-to-5er, Amy swapped the corporate grind for an online business that's generated $120 million and helped over 100k students cut through the noise and build strong businesses.
• Yoseph West, Co-Founder and CEO, Relay Financial. Yoseph co-founded Relay, an online banking and money management platform that puts small businesses in control of their cash flow. Previously, he led marketing at Hubdoc, acquired by Xero. He also co-founded Vuru, acquired by Wave Accounting.
• Lauren Makler, Co-Founder and CEO, Cofertility. Lauren created Cofertility, a human-first fertility ecosystem, to rewrite the egg freezing and donation experience. As an early Uber employee, she also founded Uber Health to enable better healthcare outcomes through patient transportation and healthcare delivery.

"The second Relay told me about 'Becoming Self Made', I knew we were onto something special," said Michalowicz. "Entrepreneurs don't need another polished success story, we need the real stuff. The setbacks. The screwups. The grit. That's what this show is about. These conversations are raw, real, and exactly what I wish I'd heard when I was building my first business. I'm proud to partner with Relay to tell these stories."

"From day one we knew Mike was the only person who could host 'Becoming Self Made'. Our mission at Relay is to help small businesses grow and to see their communities thrive, and Mike shares that goal. As the official banking platform for Profit First, we're excited to build on our partnership through storytelling that puts Main Street in the spotlight," said Bethany Cantor, Director of Brand at Relay. "It's been an amazing ride creating emotion-driven and eye-opening content for self made small business owners that's delivered in a snackable format to fit into their busy lives."

Season 1 of "Becoming Self Made" premieres Tuesday, November 4th. Episodes drop Tuesday from Nov. 4th through December 16th.

About Relay:

Relay is an online banking platform that puts business owners in complete control of their cash flow. By helping them clearly understand what they're earning, spending, and saving, Relay empowers entrepreneurs to make 360 financial decisions about their business and reach peak profitability.

Disclaimer: Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.

For more information, please visit www.relayfi.com

About Pod People:
Pod People is an award-winning podcast production powerhouse specializing in best-in-class podcast and social storytelling. Since 2017, Pod People has been producing top-tier branded and fiction podcasts for clients like Netflix, People, Spotify, HBO, CNN, SoFi, Lattice and more. To date, Pod People's work has over 50M streams and hundreds of award nominations.

¹Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.

SOURCE Relay Financial Inc.