Maxwell Cohen

Maxwell is Founder and CEO of PeelAways, the bedding industry’s first multilayered, disposable, waterproof fitted sheet designed for residential, institutional, and healthcare markets. 

PeelAways has secured partnerships with major retailers and distributors worldwide, including Walmart, Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond, BuybuyBaby, CVS, Walgreens, QVC and Zulily, along with the leading US Healthcare distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. 

Maxwell appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2015, for a special “millennial startup focused episode” and while he did not secure a deal, he was still able to venture capital financing.

His morning routine

I wake up relatively early every morning, with no alarm clock. My morning routine is stretching–no “real” routine is the routine that I believe I want. 

It all comes down to the health of the person. Aside from good health, the next worst thing you could lose is time.

I've learned turning on NPR and doing my morning stretches gets me into the mindset to start my day. It’s a little therapeutic and meditative at the same time and the coolest part about stretching is as simple as seeing improvement every day. 

Recognizing improvement in yourself first thing in the morning is very helpful in setting a productive mindset. It changes over time and of course you can understand if you don't do it for a few days you go backwards. It is pretty metaphorical to building a business and becoming a smarter, faster person.

On information consumption

One of my favorite apps is Quora. It’s a platform to share and gain knowledge, their algorithm really understands who you are and what questions you would ask. You get real life answers and perspectives from people who are incredibly educated; which is my favorite part: perspectives. 

You get to form your own perspective, you don't have to lean in any direction your family goes in. I think being a strong adult is knowing what you're talking about and knowing what you don't know.  If you ask me something and I’ve never thought about it and don’t have a good answer for it, you have to be able to admit that.

Curating international culture

PeelAways Sheets are sold internationally across 16 countries to a diverse customer base who think differently and have different needs. Although I traveled a lot while studying abroad, before starting my company, traveling as a businessman has been the impetus to a lot of my personal growth.

Each country has their own customs, idioms, vocab, hand gestures and boundaries of sincerity. As a CEO, I’ve had to learn these differences, navigate their nuances while finding common ground and getting people to believe in what I believe. The coolest part is, once you start developing that skill, you become a better leader.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur in the age of FOMO

This is a conversation about being a leader in entrepreneurship. FOMO is real, but FOMO is for the weak. I know it sounds terrible, but if you have a lot more FOMO than you do being proud of yourself and your execution there is something wrong with the picture. 

Do we all want to live life like we’re on spring break? Yes, but if you’re a strong CEO or an aspiring successful entrepreneur, there's no such thing as FOMO. As simple as, if I see you having too much fun right now, I got a feeling you're not excelling for the future of your life. So, doing things that will make me more proud of myself everyday eliminates any FOMO there really is.

There are many kinds of FOMO—FOMO of someone’s social life, work ethic, business, or success. Which is why you need everything in moderation.  You need to be able to do things that help you unwind and create balance, whatever that be for you—going to the beach, grabbing a beer with friends, or even dancing the night away.  

My goal between 23 and 29 wasn’t to be going out every weekend and having the most fun out of all my friends. I have this mindset so I could live my life like spring break in the near future, not when I’m 65. You won't see me at every single concert and at all the hotspots all the time because I don't feel the need to be anywhere, I mean do not get me wrong I do like a party... A lot of these things that you have FOMO with are going to repeat themselves. Good or bad, my hard work creates FOMO for others and hopefully inspires people to build something bigger than themselves.

The chip on his shoulder

What people admire about strong leaders is that they allow themselves to absorb, digest and understand a matter or situation at hand without immediately reacting. Being able to step back, take a deep breath and then take it from there is what differentiates a good leader from a not so good leader. 

There may be instances where maybe I interpreted something in a different way than it was supposed to be taken, and I don’t want to base my next conversation off something I didn’t fully understand. 

If you’re able to approach your work in this manner, your team will respect you and your initial reactions more. They’ll start trusting you more and more—this applies to personal life as well.

Being proud is contagious

When you have this incredible positive energy, that isn’t fake or fabricated–it's real, you have an overall more positive life.

It starts off with being proud of what you believe you can do, then it turns into being proud of your execution. This sentiment is contagious—it makes people around you proud and allows you to be proud of their execution as well. 

If there is anything that compromises this, something that is toxic or just lowers your self esteem, you have to get rid of these things fast, sooner rather than later. There should only be the positive momentum of being proud in what you're doing and who you’re becoming. 

There are small examples of being proud and also big examples of being proud. Small things like writing a really good email. There are also big examples of being proud besides making money–for example, looking at your failures with pride. You went out there, did everything you can do and worked hard but it just simply didn’t workout. That is also something to be proud of. If you could be proud of yourself, you’re already ahead of 98% of the world.