Yuri Cataldo’s journey is proof that innovation favors the adaptable.

Trained at Juilliard and Yale Drama School, Yuri began his career designing for Broadway and film. When the 2008 financial crisis disrupted the arts, he pivoted — teaching, waiting tables, and launching a bottled water startup from rural Indiana.

Through storytelling-driven marketing and early digital testing, the brand landed in Whole Foods, earned international recognition, and gained national exposure before regulatory barriers forced its closure.

Rather than retreat, Yuri leaned into entrepreneurship education, ran a nearly $1M crowdfunding campaign, and ultimately joined Autodesk. Today, he operates inside Autodesk Research, analyzing AI competitors and helping teams distinguish real innovation from marketing noise.

This episode explores resilience, creativity, marketing ownership, and the legal realities founders often overlook.

🎧 Listen now — and discover more at lawwithmiller.com.

Entrepreneurship rarely starts with a perfectly crafted business plan — and Luis Derechin’s journey proves it.

In this episode of Inventive Journey, Devin Miller sits down with Luis to unpack more than 40 years of real-world entrepreneurship, beginning with a childhood hustle selling Mexican candy across borders and evolving into multimillion-dollar businesses, venture-backed tech, and global workforce strategy.

Luis was born in Mexico and raised in Southern California, moving fluidly between cultures at an early age. That cross-border exposure shaped his instinct for spotting opportunity. His first business ended in the principal’s office, but the lesson stuck: when there’s demand, someone will fill it — and smart entrepreneurs pay attention early.

As a young adult, Luis partnered with his father to build an import-export company, sourcing housewares from Europe and Asia and distributing them throughout Mexico. The business grew rapidly, only to be nearly wiped out during Mexico’s devastating economic crisis in the mid-1990s. Instead of walking away, Luis rebuilt — launching a direct sales organization that scaled even larger and taught him the realities of incentives, logistics, and leadership at scale.

In the early 2000s, Luis caught what many entrepreneurs recognize as “the tech bug.” He helped build what became Mexico’s first startup to raise U.S. venture capital, eventually relocating to the United States and serving in executive leadership through years of intense growth and, ultimately, acquisition. The experience exposed him to the pressures of venture funding, global teams, and the operational discipline required to survive in fast-moving tech environments.

Today, Luis focuses on nearshoring and offshoring strategy, helping companies avoid the costly mistakes he’s seen — and made — when building teams across borders. He’s also the author of a book detailing where companies go wrong and how founders can approach global expansion with clarity instead of shortcuts.

This episode isn’t about overnight success or startup hype. It’s about durability, reinvention, and understanding that entrepreneurship is a long game shaped by economic cycles, culture, and execution.

If you’re building, scaling, or expanding internationally — or recovering from setbacks — Luis Derechin’s story offers grounded, hard-earned insight you can apply immediately.

To learn more about protecting your ideas, brands, and innovations as you grow, visit lawwithmiller.com.

🎙️ Listen now and discover what four decades of entrepreneurship really teaches.

Every entrepreneur has a moment that changes everything — and for Trapper Roderick, that moment happened on a rooftop in high school, sheeting a house while his dad was out of town. That early taste of responsibility sparked a lifelong love of building… even if his path took a surprising detour along the way.

In this episode, Trapper walks through his remarkable journey:
👉 learning construction from his father and grandfather,
👉 diving into college entrepreneurship,
👉 running a global custom suit business,
👉 returning to construction during COVID, and
👉 building a respected luxury contracting brand.

The suit business came from a single frustrating moment — when no tailor would make what he wanted. So he created it himself, sourcing manufacturing overseas, designing bold marketing campaigns, and working with athletes and executives nationwide. It grew fast, gained media attention, and made him a recognizable name in custom fashion.

But even with all the success, he knew construction was home.

During the pandemic, while the world paused, Trapper pivoted back. He sold his suit company and launched Roderick Builders, starting with remodels, then modular work, and eventually high-end custom homes and spec projects. His family legacy in the industry, paired with modern systems and social media presence, fueled rapid growth.

What sets Trapper apart is his passion for elevating the entire construction field. Through the Contractors Coalition, he works with other builders to share contracts, improve pricing models, and raise industry standards. He’s also educating clients — helping them understand the real cost, value, and trust required to build a truly custom home.

His reflections on burnout, financial discipline, and the emotional weight contractors carry offer powerful insight. And his forward-looking vision — expanding into more spec homes, attracting aligned investors, and shaping better industry practices — shows a leader committed to long-term impact.

If you’re an entrepreneur navigating a pivot or building something new, this episode will remind you:
The right path isn’t always the first one. But it’s the one that keeps calling you back.

Dive in and hear Trapper’s full journey — it’s a story of clarity, courage, and building a life aligned with real passion.