#8: Personal Loss and Tragedy: Rebuilding Life After Losing Everything In Palisades Fire
His family lost their home, memories, and peace — in minutes. What came next would define his legacy. Rich Raddon, co-founder and co-CEO of ZEFR, opens up about losing everything in a wildfire — and what it taught him about rebuilding, resilience, and leading with heart.
From sleeping in his office to supporting a 200-person team while navigating grief, Rich shares how tragedy transformed his leadership — and how ZEFR became a category leader in brand safety, working with billions of impressions across YouTube, TikTok, and Meta.
We go deep on faith, therapy, family, purpose, and the mindset it takes to turn pain into clarity — and companies into movements.
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Timestamps:
0:00 – The fire that changed everything
3:00 – Evacuation, loss, and finding only ashes
6:30 – Journals, photos, heirlooms: what was lost
10:00 – Strangers, neighbors, and unexpected grace
13:00 – The role of therapy and grief processing
17:00 – Leading a startup while homeless
21:00 – How pain forged a new leadership style
26:00 – Rebuilding life in San Clemente
30:00 – ZEFR’s rise in the brand safety space
34:00 – YouTube, Meta, TikTok: managing billions of impressions
38:00 – The emotional weight of impact
42:00 – Rich’s personal framework for optimism and faith
45:00 – What he hopes his kids will remember
Episode Partners:
Notion
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Google Cloud
Accelerate your AI startup with Google for Startups Cloud Program: https://partners.startupgrind.com/partner/google-cloud/
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