I\u2019ve interviewed entrepreneurs who built apps, entrepreneurs who built rockets, and entrepreneurs who built breakfast cereals. I have never interviewed anyone who built an empire out of the phrase \u201cWhat do you wipe your butt with?\u201d Until now.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question Sam Nebel is never shy to ask complete strangers. Nebel is co-CEO of goodwipes<\/a>, the flushable wipes brand he co-founded with Charlie Siciak 13 years ago after the two bonded over baby wipes in a fraternity bathroom at Florida State University. Since then, goodwipes has become a name-brand player in a wipes category that\u2019s now worth billions, landing shelf space at Walmart, Target, Kroger and beyond. This summer, the brand launched Peaches & Cream Olipop mashup<\/a> and, even more unexpectedly, announced a limited-edition collab with Liquid Death inspired by its sCREAM Soda flavor. As Sam described it to me: \u201cThe Liquid Death collaboration represents the expansiveness and depth of goodwipes \u2014 it reveals the range we can take goodwipes creatively with our lean team\u2019s capability and output,\u201d adding, \u201cIt\u2019s all about having fun and getting shit done, and making people feel good!\u201d<\/p>\n Photo credit: goodwipes | Liquid Death<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever wondered how far persistence, a sense of humor and a genuinely better product can take you, Sam\u2019s story is a masterclass. Here\u2019s our conversation, lightly edited for clarity.<\/p>\n Dan Bova: Maybe we could just start from the beginning. How did you and your co-founder decide to do this?<\/strong> So when did you decide you could actually make money from this?<\/strong> Your brand leans into humor, but there\u2019s clearly a line you don\u2019t cross. How do you find that sweet spot?<\/strong> Tell me about the growth. What did the early days look like, and how did you get from there to here?<\/strong> You\u2019ve built something people don\u2019t just buy once \u2014 they rebuy it constantly. That seems like a huge advantage.<\/strong> Were there moments where you thought, \u201cThis is a lot harder than I expected\u201d?<\/strong> If you could go back and give yourself advice as you were just getting started, what would you say?<\/strong> Where\u2019s the best place for people to get a feel for what goodwipes is all about?<\/strong> I\u2019ve interviewed entrepreneurs who built apps, entrepreneurs who built rockets, and entrepreneurs who built breakfast cereals. I have never interviewed anyone who built an empire out of the phrase \u201cWhat do you wipe your butt with?\u201d Until now.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a question Sam Nebel is never shy to ask complete strangers. Nebel is co-CEO of goodwipes<\/a>, the flushable wipes brand he co-founded with Charlie Siciak 13 years ago after the two bonded over baby wipes in a fraternity bathroom at Florida State University. Since then, goodwipes has become a name-brand player in a wipes category that\u2019s now worth billions, landing shelf space at Walmart, Target, Kroger and beyond. This summer, the brand launched Peaches & Cream Olipop mashup<\/a> and, even more unexpectedly, announced a limited-edition collab with Liquid Death inspired by its sCREAM Soda flavor. As Sam described it to me: \u201cThe Liquid Death collaboration represents the expansiveness and depth of goodwipes \u2014 it reveals the range we can take goodwipes creatively with our lean team\u2019s capability and output,\u201d adding, \u201cIt\u2019s all about having fun and getting shit done, and making people feel good!\u201d<\/p>\n Photo credit: goodwipes | Liquid Death<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Sam Nebel: <\/strong>The story is really a lifelong journey for both of us. We converged in college at Florida State University, maybe 19 years ago. We were freshmen, two weeks into freshman year, and we had each grown up as baby wipe users \u2014 habitual, exclusive baby wipe users. We could never wipe our butts with toilet paper. We met in the upstairs bathroom of a fraternity house and bonded over the fact that we were the two baby wipe guys and started sharing with all our new friends. They said, \u201cYou guys are absolutely ridiculous and crazy.\u201d Within 30 days, we had gotten all of them using wipes. We became the wipe dealers at Florida State \u2014 baby wipes in Ziploc bags at tailgates, football games, parties, all of it.<\/p>\n
It was a couple of years after college. We looked at each other and said, let\u2019s address some of the pain points we saw. Charlie has sensitive skin, very ingredient-conscious. I have what I like to call ravenous IBS. We wanted to create a brand that addressed these challenges \u2014 a product that was better, actually flushable, more premium than what we saw in the market. We wanted it to be relatable, something our peers, millennials, would feel comfortable buying at a Publix or Target or Walmart, because that didn\u2019t exist yet.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t want to be crass \u2014 we want to be an elevated version of this that\u2019s still relatable. It\u2019s a fine line you have to balance. We like the acronym PEACH: playful, empathetic, approachable, cheeky and honest. Playful really covers all of those \u2014 it\u2019s a way of saying we\u2019re going to tell you this product does the job better than toilet paper, but we\u2019re not going to do it in a gross way that turns you off.<\/p>\n
The growth happened slowly but surely. We\u2019ve been doing this for coming up on 13 years \u2014 July 17th was our anniversary. We went to market not having a clue, just passionate about what we were doing, iterating our way. Charlie and I are sales guys, so we went to as many trade shows as humanly possible. We got into Amazon, but it\u2019s really been the past six or seven years that we pushed further into the marketplace and brick-and-mortar. We told the same story to the same retailers year after year: more people are going to start using these, we\u2019re going to be pioneers of this category, and people are going to rebuy this product. It took years of repetition with Target, Walmart and Kroger. Regional retailers started taking us in, we demonstrated success quickly, and that snowballed into where we are today.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so critical. I think it\u2019s something entrepreneurs don\u2019t think about enough: what are the use occasions? How often are they going to use this product? How many packs do I want in a particular SKU? And how do we educate consumers \u2014 not just on the retail shelf, but outside the retailers \u2014 on why they need this product and how to use it. That\u2019s been very near and dear to us.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the emotional, physical, energetic dauntingness of fundraising, or getting rejected by a retailer. We pitched Kroger in 2016. They basically said yes in the room and we were supposed to hear back in 60 days. It took 120, and then they said, \u201cActually, we\u2019re not going to bring you in.\u201d We couldn\u2019t get in touch with the buyer for three years. It took six total years from that first \u201cyes\u201d until we actually got into Kroger. It was countless episodes like that \u2014 with fundraising, with retailers, with product launches \u2014 especially in the early years when the business isn\u2019t making a lot of money, so you\u2019re not as attractive to other people, and you\u2019re financially stressed too. But we just believed so much in what we were doing. Small break after small break started to take over with momentum over the hardships. That perseverance is how we categorize ourselves.<\/p>\n
I could have a laundry list. Number one: really hone in on your consumer and make the brand match what they actually want in their house \u2014 something they\u2019re proud to share. Understand intimately the supply chain and all the complicated pieces that go into making a product like this \u2014 it\u2019s exponentially more arduous on the back end than it feels for the consumer. And I\u2019d tell myself: this is going to take a lot longer than you think, so get a second job right now and don\u2019t live off credit card debt for three years.<\/p>\n
Go to Instagram<\/a> and type in G-O-O-D-W-I-P-E-S. You\u2019ll feel the presence of the brand and want to be part of the movement. Whether you\u2019re on the toilet wiping with a goodwipe or watching our content, we want to make you feel good. We want to hit you from both ends.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/goodwipes_liquid-death_buttler-2.png?w=1024\")
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