Dump the Drawer: NineFive Partners

Andrew Safnauer has spent thirty years building businesses in industries that have nothing to do with each other - and, he'd argue, everything to do with each other. Radio production. Hip hop. Apparel. Exotic vehicle wholesale. A youth sports franchise. A swimwear brand he co-founded and sold after eleven years. Five companies founded, multiple exits, and a working knowledge of what it feels like to make the call when nobody else is coming to make it for you.He is the founder of NineFive Partners, a Charlotte-area advisory practice where he serves as additional bandwidth for CEOs and founders - the outside voice on go-to-market strategy, leadership communication, and the decisions that have been sitting too long. Before that, he spent two decades running Longtrain Productions, a creative audio studio serving national brands including Bank of America, Bojangles, and iHeartMedia. His voice-over work earned an Emmy, along with Telly and Addy awards.Safnauer sits on the advisory board of Dilly, an AI-native employment platform, and advises the University of Tampa's Lowth Entrepreneurship Center. He holds a Certificate in Private Company Governance from the Private Directors Association and previously served on the board of the Foundation for Fort Mill Schools. He is a graduate of Ohio University and Seth Godin's altMBA.Dump the Drawer is his first book.He lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina, with his wife, Beth. He'd rather drive than fly, usually has a classic car in some stage of disassembly, and still uses the framing hammer he found at the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee when he was a kid.