Doug Melville interviews seven-time Grammy winner and founder of the Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativit in France. The discussion is about implementing AI for creativity and problem-solving. Will.i.am shares his history in the tech space over the past 20 year and his pivot from music into hardware, recounting early work with music executive and entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine, building of an AI watch with contextual voice capabilities, and being an early investor in companies like Tesla, Twitter, Lovable, Anthropic, and others. He explains his platform, FYI.ai, and its value proposition as a secure, collaborative messenger for large files and IP protection. Will.i.am argues it’s too early to fear AI and compares it to a life “cheat code” people should learn.

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Doug Melville sits down with the owner/operator of Destination Smokehouse Nick Yepremian, in an exclusive interview. His Southern California restaurant was where “Tendernism” was born. But after the success of generating hundreds of millions of views on social, Walter ‘Unc’ Johnson and Nick separated. Nick explains how “Tendernism” originated, discusses the trademark controversy, the equity conversation, the Keith Lee visit, and looks to clear up and address misconceptions about Walter’s role, while outlining plans to refocus locally and expand to other cities.

Destination Smokehouse in Murrieta, California

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Doug Melville hosts Sarah Davis and Ben Hemminger, founder and co-founder of Fashionphile, now CEO and COO of the largest ultra-luxury handbag and accessory retailer in the U.S. They trace their roots from selling on eBay in 1999 and bootstrapping the business, including a strategic early base in Beverly Hills to build trust and credibility through authentication guides and strong feedback. They discuss partnering after an earlier startup, leaving stable career paths, and finding product-market fit in luxury resale. Fashionphile has grown to hundreds of millions in revenue, 400+ employees, 14 locations and major flagships in San Diego, LA, and New York, plus London and Tokyo offices. They cover supply-vs-demand dynamics, the “pay her fast and fair” seller strategy, brand relationships, pricing trends, and evolving authentication tools and anti-fraud efforts, and close with advice to start quickly and obsess over customers.

Fashionphile.com

Fashionphile on Instagram

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