Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene – Wild Business Growth Podcast #157: Vending Machine Virtuoso, Flat Out and PopCom

Find a pain point. Solve that pain point. Start a business. That’s the model of this week’s Wild Business Growth Podcast guest, Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene. Dawn is the Founder of Flat Out of Heels and PopCom. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

• Episode Summary & Player
• Show Notes
• Wild Business Growth Podcast Summary

Episode 157: Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene – Vending Machine Virtuoso, Flat Out and PopCom

Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene, the Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Flat Out of Heels and PopCom, joins the show to share her journey from having sore feet from wearing heels to building multimillion-dollar businesses around smart vending machines for flats. Hear how to build your community to fuel your business, raise money through crowdfunding, build out your team, keep solving problems, and Dawn’s experience on The Breakfast Club. This episode covers everything from foot pain to machine learning. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• How long did it take from idea to prototypes
• What’s driven Dawn’s growth besides her network
• How much testing and learning was there with the product samples
• What’s a marketing strategy that was very helpful
• How did Dawn build out her teams
• Has the “Susans” ad changed how Dawn views Zillow
• How do you become successful at crowdfunding
• What is something that surprised Dawn about Techstars

Connect with Dawn on social media and Medium.

Enjoy the shoooooow! Check out the show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

• Intro & Flat Out of Heels
  • [0:32] Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool
  • [0:42] Heinz 157
  • [0:45] Connect with Dawn on social media and Medium
  • [2:08] Flat Out of Heels, PopCom
  • [2:25] O-H! I-O!
  • [2:27] IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)
  • [3:05] When did Dawn realize sore feet was a pain point to start a business around
  • [3:28] Oh my, Max
  • [4:11] Entrepreneur
  • [4:24] South Beach
  • [4:40] Oprah “Aha” Moment
  • [5:39] How long did it take from idea to prototypes
  • [5:56] Product, Distribution
  • [6:05] Alibaba
  • [6:17] Craigslist
  • [6:47] Website
  • [6:51] How much testing and learning was there with the product samples
  • [7:08] MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
  • [7:11] Lean Startup Methodology
  • [7:28] Facebook
  • [8:17] What were friends and families’ reaction to Dawn’s product idea
  • [8:32] A foot-twister
• The PopCom Story
  • [9:06] Technology (Tech)
  • [9:12] LinkedIn
  • [9:26] IT (Information Technology), Marketing
  • [10:29] Credit Cards
  • [10:35] Emails
  • [10:54] Investors
  • [11:52] Retailer
  • [12:01] CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
  • [12:15] Customer
  • [12:28] What did the research look like for Dawn
  • [12:57] Shopify
  • [13:06] Google Analytics, Conversion Rate, Repeat Customer
  • [14:12] Facial Recognition, Machine Learning
  • [14:43] Great definitions, Max
  • [14:57] How did Dawn build out her teams
  • [15:44] Techstars
  • [16:03] Human Resources (HR)
  • [17:18] STO (Secure Token Offering)
  • [17:38] How do you become successful at crowdfunding
  • [18:19] Patent
  • [18:37] How do you build your community
  • [18:40] Network
  • [18:54] Automated Retail
  • [19:06] Meetup
  • [19:25] Email List
  • [20:25] What’s driven Dawn’s growth besides her network
  • [20:43] What’s a marketing strategy that was very helpful
  • [20:44] Facebook Ads
  • [21:18] MSNBC, CNBC
  • [21:28] Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc.
  • [21:40] Dawn on The Breakfast Club
  • [22:01] YouTube, TikTok
  • [22:19] How was Dawn’s experience on The Breakfast Club
  • [22:53] Journalism
  • [23:13] IPO (Initial Public Offering)
  • [23:58] Content
  • [24:21] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool

• Wild Business Shoutout of the Week
  • [25:35] Creative Marketing
  • [25:37] “Susans” by Zillow
  • [27:05] How many Susans were there
  • [27:39] Podcast, Word of Mouth
  • [27:48] Has the ad changed how Dawn views Zillow
  • [28:15] Shoutout Susan

• Rapid-Fire Q&A
  • [28:28] OSU (The Ohio State University)
  • [28:39] BW3 (Buffalo Wild Wings), Honey Garlic
  • [28:49] What is a quirk Dawn has
  • [29:46] What is something that surprised her about Techstars
  • [30:18] Cap Table (Capitalization Table), Startup, Term Sheets
  • [30:46] Equity
  • [30:52] How does Dawn keep solving problems
  • [31:04] Product-Market Fit
  • [31:44] Wow
  • [31:46] How has Dawn’s Journalism degree worked in her favor
  • [32:23] Dawn’s revamped media page
  • [32:32] I’m crying!
  • [32:52] And dying laughing
  • [33:03] Connect with Dawn on social media and Medium
  • [33:41] What are Dawn’s Final Thoughts
  • [33:54] One more time for good Buckeye measure
  • [34:17] Follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about the podcast
  • [34:28] Check out the Wild Business Growth Podcast on GoodPods, where you can see what your favorite people are listening to
  • [34:30] Connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn at @MaxBranstetter
  • [34:33] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
  • Theme music: Freestyle Percussion Magik – “Jungle Tribe” – provided by Jamendo

What is the Wild Business Growth Podcast?

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur or innovator joins the Wild Business Growth Podcast to share the crazy creative and unusual ways they grew their business, and provides tips for you to do it, too. Hear the woman who became the voice of Siri, the man who’s reinventing the sandcastle, how GaryVee’s partners are turning the wine world upside down, and more wild stories. Hosted by Max Branstetter (that’s me), Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting.

How do you start a podcast?

Interested in starting a professional-sounding podcast for your brand, but don’t want to deal with the time commitment? I’ve got you covered. Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool.

Thanks for listening to Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene on the Wild Business Growth Podcast. To hear more Wild stories like this one every Wednesday morning, follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about it. Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…and Bring on the Bongos!!