Erin Fletter is a serial entrepreneur, five-time cookbook author, and 30-year veteran of the food and hospitality world who turned a simple idea at her Denver kitchen table into Sticky Fingers Cooking®—a plant-forward children’s cooking school and social enterprise that has taught more than 200,000 kids the joy of cooking. In this conversation with host Federico Ramallo, Erin shares how a single after-school class inspired a national “cooking school without walls” that meets kids where they are: in schools, camps, and community centers.

Erin explains how Sticky Fingers classes do far more than teach recipes. Each week, kids cook a new dish from around the world while learning about food history, world history, culture, and “scrumptious science” concepts like emulsions, yeast, and baking chemistry. She and Federico talk about embracing kitchen messes, how kids are more likely to eat what they cook themselves, and the quiet heroism of parents who cook foods they don’t even like just to delight their children. Federico’s stories about his son and Erin’s stories about her Argentinian and Californian roots highlight how cooking becomes a bridge between generations and cultures.

A key theme is why Sticky Fingers is “plant-forward” rather than labeled vegetarian. Erin describes growing up with hippie vegetarian parents, the safety and practicality of avoiding raw meat in classrooms, and the goal of gently helping families eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—while still encouraging them to adapt recipes with meat at home if they choose.

The episode then dives into the business and technology behind the brand. Erin recalls how, back in 2011–2012, there was no suitable software to handle registration, payments, and allergy notes, forcing her and her father into late-night spreadsheets. That pain led to The Dash®, a proprietary Ruby on Rails platform that now runs about 85% of operations: rosters, payments, allergies, logistics, timecards, KPIs, and curriculum.

Erin explains how Sticky Fingers “accidentally” became both a tech company and a franchise with purpose. After organically expanding to multiple states, she dug into sobering statistics about women and minority business owners and realized franchising could offer a de-risked path to ownership. Today, Sticky Fingers has around 20 territories in 10 states, with many women and minority franchisees using the playbook and platform refined over 14 years so they can focus on what matters most: human connection, local schools, and kids discovering the world through food.

About Erin Fletter:

- https://www.stickyfingerscookingfranchise.com/

- https://stickyfingerscooking.com/

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to Sticky Fingers Cooking

01:08 The Joy of Cooking with Kids

05:15 The Importance of Food History in Cooking Education

10:36 Plant-Forward Cooking Philosophy

17:13 Franchise Model and Empowering Women

21:28 The Role of Technology in Scaling Education

30:03 Building a Purpose-Driven Tech Company

Paola Marulanda joins the PreVetted Podcast to share how she went from seeing real estate as a “necessary evil” to becoming one of South Florida’s top luxury brokers and founder of Luxury Homes Connect.

Paola grew up watching her mother rebuild their family through real estate after her grandparents’ development business. Though she initially aimed for law or banking with firms like J.P. Morgan, she realized those paths would demand a lifestyle that clashed with her desire for freedom and family time. Real estate, by contrast, offered flexibility and no income ceiling.

She began her career in 2008, right in the middle of the financial crisis. Because she wasn’t under financial pressure, she could focus on serving people in distress—connecting them with lawyers, CPAs, and advisors, helping them exit bad situations or seize rare buying opportunities. Starting in a crisis taught her resilience and made later, healthier markets feel easier.

Paola describes how she built her “machine”: years of weekends working instead of partying, heavy investment in marketing, coaching, and market education. That foundation now lets her scale through a team and design a business that supports her personal goals—like having two babies in two years while still running a high-end practice. She rides market cycles intentionally: going all-in when demand surges and unapologetically stepping back for family when things slow.

The conversation explores Miami’s transformation from car-dependent city to increasingly walkable, mixed-use, high-end neighborhoods that attract global wealth, especially from New York and California. As a relocation expert across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East, Paola says most international families share one core concern: “Will I like my community and neighbors?” Her team supports them far beyond the purchase—schools, doctors, legal and financial advisors, staff, builders, even urgent favors—making real estate an intimate, trust-based relationship.

Paola also explains why she treats condos and single-family homes very differently. Condos, with identical units, construction waves, and rising HOA costs, behave like volatile stocks; one distressed sale can drag values down. Single-family homes, by contrast, are unique assets with steadier appreciation. Her advice: if you might sell a condo soon, don’t wait; and for houses, “marry the home, date the rate”—you can refinance later, but great properties are limited.

About Paola Marulanda:

- https://www.instagram.com/paolamarulanda_miami/

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to Paola Marulanda

05:22 Balancing Family and Work

09:45 2008 Market Crisis Experience

12:22 Founding Luxury Homes Connect

16:50 Relocation and Zoning in Miami

23:05 Migration Trends and Market Dynamics

29:13 Relocating migrants

34:10 Condos vs. Single Family Homes

John Weiss, founder of Human Design, joins Federico for a conversation on building brands that move people—not just markets—in an increasingly synthetic, AI-driven world.

He shares the origin of Human Design, founded in 2013 to solve human problems through strategy, design, and storytelling. Over the years, the agency has helped nonprofits, startups, and major brands like Nike, Land O’Lakes, and Twitter uncover clarity, purpose, and emotional resonance.

Key themes explored in the episode:

- Human Design’s core values: creating work people want, feel, and value

- The difference between good design and human design

- Why great design solves both stated and unstated human needs

- Case studies, including IFAW’s Endangered Species Act campaign and Land O’Lakes’ farmer-focused brand transformation

- How timeless creative environments allow space for thinking, boredom, and originality

- Why critique—how leaders respond to creative work—shapes culture more than any slogan

- John’s biggest leadership lesson: vision + patience is greater than speed + decisiveness

- Why young designers should see themselves as holistic designers, not just UX or graphic specialists

- The importance of working the problem before creating solutions

- How AI and vibe coding help prototype quickly but risk collapsing essential design thinking

- Why core skills and clear vision matter even more in the AI era

John closes with optimism: The opportunity is to use new tools while staying rooted in what makes us human.

About John Weiss:

- https://humandesign.com/

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnweiss/

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to Human Design and Its Mission

02:40 The Values Behind Human Design

04:34 Switching to Human Design

09:16 Navigating the Digital Age: Being Human

11:21 The Difference Between Good and Human Design

14:02 Projects That Create Social Impact

18:12 Creating Originality in Creative Environments

19:30 Fostering Creativity and Safety in Teams

25:07 The Importance of Patience in Leadership

30:12 Holistic Design Thinking for Young Designers

34:25 Navigating Speed in Design and Technology

45:52 Embracing the AI Era in Design