Powerhouse Retail Insights with Liza Amlani: Industry Developments, Consumer Voices, and the Power of Innovation

Welcome to our latest podcast episode where we're thrilled to present Liza Amlani, a powerhouse in the retail industry, who brings with her a wealth of experience from working with big-league brands such as Nike, Holt Renfrew, Ralph Lauren, and Accenture. Now leading her own organization, The Retail Strategy Group, Liza brings her sharp insights and retail acumen to our conversation. We kick off with a deep dive into Liza's journey, peppered with personal anecdotes of her London upbringing, which sowed the seeds of her retail passion.
 
Unpacking Liza's experiences, we venture into a candid discussion around a failed private label program she was part of, which underlined the importance of the consumer voice. This narrative unfurls into a thought-provoking discussion about the need for brands to form meaningful connections in an ever-saturated retail market. Stay tuned as Liza elaborates on the vital role of consumer insights in the product creation process, and how these insights can lead to products that truly resonate with customers.

Finally, we touch base on the dynamic landscape of the retail industry, where Liza stresses the necessity of assortment planning, and staying responsive to shifts in trends and buying behavior. She also highlights her belief in the need for innovation in retail processes and the potential of AI and machine learning to revolutionize retail. Listen in to Liza's perspective on the exciting developments in material innovation, and the potential of breaking down silos within the retail industry. Don't miss out on this enlightening chat, brimming with actionable insights for everyone in the retail industry.

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Connect with Liza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizaamlani/

Learn more about Retail Strategy Group: https://www.retailstrategygroup.com/

RetailWire is the retail industry's premier source for news, analysis, and discussion. With a focus on the latest trends, technology, and consumer behavior, RetailWire provides a platform for industry experts and thought leaders to share their insights and perspectives. Whether you're a retailer, supplier, or service provider, RetailWire is your go-to destination for staying informed and ahead of the curve.

Be sure to leave us a comment and let us know what you think. You might even hear your comment read on the next episode!

To learn more, or to join our Daily Discussions, visit RetailWire.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the retail wire podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:04

Hey everyone, what's going on? It's Brian back again with another exciting episode here on the retail wire podcast. I've got a great guest with me in the studio today and I can't wait for you to meet her. She has done some incredible things within the retail industry, specifically within fashion, and my guess is, if you've been around fashion stuff at all, you've probably come into contact with her or you have at least dealt with some of her products, some of the things that she's worked on over the years, and you may not even know it. So I will go ahead and tell you just a little bit about her before I just kind of let her talk about herself for a while.

Speaker 2: 0:42

But this person has previously been with Holt Renfrew, she's been with Ralph Lauren, club Monaco, nike, accenture and more. She is on the advisory board for Talk Desk, as well as the advisory board for Women of Color Retail Alliance or WACRA, if you're familiar with that, and now she owns and leads her own organization, the retail strategy group, and, of course, has been a Brain Trust member with us here since around 2020. So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show. Ms Lisa Amlani. How are you?

Speaker 3: 1:19

I'm fantastic, Brian. I love that recap was perfect. You just summed up 25 years of my life in about three seconds.

Speaker 2: 1:28

Man that's that's. It's such a long journey for you and I love you know. Obviously we see some huge names that you've dealt with and worked with and worked alongside man that's. That's got to feel pretty good, right, kind of kind of recognizing and taking a moment to look back.

Speaker 3: 1:49

It does, but I think more. The thing that makes me more most excited is all the brands that I'm working with today, and you know what's going to come of the future really.

Speaker 2: 2:01

Absolutely so. Tell us just a little bit about before we jump into your professional career and everything. Tell us a little bit about who is Lisa Amlani. What's what's family life look like for you. Where do you live at? What do you do? What's what's some of your fun things that you like to do when you're not doing? All this awesome retail work.

Speaker 3: 2:19

Well, I guess you could say that I'm I'm very worldly. I have lived and moved about, I think, 28 times. My family is originally from Uganda, so I'm East African, and they moved to the UK in the 70s. There was, if you know, much about what was going on in Africa at the time, and still today there was Idi Amin happened, and so a lot of people had to move out of, out of the country, and my parents were one of them. So I was born in the UK, so I'm British, and now I live in Canada. I'm just outside Toronto, coolest place ever and maybe relocating to New York soon. So that's exciting. So I'm pretty much everywhere, global Citizen, as they call me.

Speaker 2: 3:11

Very nice. Well, that's that's exciting. So that's a really cool story that I think you know. I mean, obviously it's got struggles and everything that that none of us would necessarily hope on anybody. But at the same point, to see just the challenges and everything and and to know, wow, I just think I can't wait to hear more of your story. I'll say that, but we won't jump into that right up front. So so you said you might be relocating to New York. Now I've never actually been up to Canada at all, so I might have to come visit you before you move.

Speaker 3: 3:48

You absolutely should. Canada is fantastic. I mean, it's huge, right. Every part of the country is different. So I'd say, come visit me first, because Toronto is the best, because I have to say that.

Speaker 3: 4:01

But we're. It's beautiful here. I mean I just I was just in Calgary a few days ago, stunning, surrounded by mountains, and then, of course, the West Coast, the East Coast, I mean we have it all. So definitely take your time and come to visit. For sure, there's a lot to see here and a lot of great retail. Of course, I mean we have some great brands. I mean I'm wearing every day, I wear a Ritzia, this one of my favorites Lululemon but no, we have some really great retails from great fashion, even some great department stores. Shocking me, they do still exist.

Speaker 2: 4:37

You know, that's that's where I think America has potentially lost some steam, and you know, here we've. I feel like retail stores have kind of maybe started to drop a little bit, but yeah, you're right, they are alive and well in other parts of the world that we tend to forget about as as Americans, right.

Speaker 3: 4:58

So yeah, and I mean, don't get me wrong, we all have our troubles, right. I mean this is you asked me a bit about. You know my background and myself I've always been in retail and I've always loved it. I mean, I trained first to be a designer, so I understand product really, really well, and then I moved into buying and now the business side of fashion and, of course, being a profit performance expert that I am today, I will tell you that there is a lot of improvement that that needs to be done across the retail industry across the globe. So you know, I think I have my work cut out for me, that's for sure.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Yeah, well now. So now, what first sparked your interest in retail? Was that your parents, or was that something else, that an experience that you had? Were they involved in retail at any point, or or where did that come for you?

Speaker 3: 5:49

Yeah, I don't think any of my family was in retail, I mean my dad's. He comes from engineering. My mom has had this entrepreneurial mindset for sure. So she, you know she hustles, so I think that's where I get that from for sure. But no one in my family was really in retail or fashion. I think growing up in in London, to me that was the center of the fashion world, not alone the world you know, just being exposed to. You know fashion weeks and just the retail in London is just, it's incredible and it's always evolving. One of my first roles out of school, out of university, was actually going back to London and I worked at Herod's, which was, you know, one of the places that my mom used to take me as as a young child. So for me, I think fashion has always been in in my life, because just being in London and growing up there, I think that's kind of where it all started.

Speaker 2: 6:48

Yeah, what do you see as one of the biggest differentiators between, say, us and London or or maybe another third market somewhere? What? What do you see some of the biggest factors as differentiators in fashion, say, just in those areas?

Speaker 3: 7:06

Well, I'd say, being, you know, in Europe. I think just in terms of fashion, I'd say Europe is a little bit. They're willing to take more risks, let's say from a fashion perspective, as well as incorporating new ideas, technologies, testing, a lot more openness, let's say in Europe, uk, europe, even Asia. But what I will say about the US is that there's just so many retailers here, there's so much opportunity, and I think that is why you'll see a lot of the bigger conferences in the US. I think that there's just a lot of opportunity, a lot of opportunity for change, a lot of opportunity to test new technologies, et cetera, but new processes as well, because there is so much retail. I think it's just the size really.

Speaker 2: 8:01

Yeah, that's really cool. So it's funny because we tend to think I know, I tend to think I'm not going to say we, I'm going to say I tend to think that a lot of things remain very similar around the world, and I think in a lot of categories they do. But then you have these really cool differential factors that play specifically around the retail and around fashion and everything, and so I think, if I'm understanding correctly, yeah, it sounds like they're a lot more edgy on what's possible versus when you come here. Then it's like where the possibility comes to actuality in the sales side probably a little heavier here. Is that kind of on track?

Speaker 3: 8:49

Yeah, I would say that I mean just from a size perspective. Even when I worked for Ralph Lauren, we were a small percentage of the business globally. So if you just think of the sheer vastness of the US compared to the rest of the world, I would say that retail is really. This is almost headquarters for retail. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:14

It's really cool, so okay. So take us back to kind of you mentioned. Fashions are always been part of your life. It's always been kind of involved for you. What was your first role in, say, in fashion retail that you're just like, hey, this could really mean something, this could really be something cool.

Speaker 3: 9:33

Well, I mean, I hate to say it, but I was definitely working illegally when I was like 13 years old in a store. So yeah, don't judge, I loved fashion.

Speaker 2: 9:47

I mean, it was driving me for 13.

Speaker 3: 9:49

Okay, Okay, so same same, same right. But what I'll say is, even during school I made a lot of clothes. I was really immersed within the art program, the fashion programs within my high school. So I just I always knew that I needed to be in the industry, just because of my love for apparel and just like sense of style, like there was just so much creativity and you could really show who you were without talking in a way right. So it was. It's a form of expression and a form of art, and I think that's where the love really started. And I didn't know that it could be a career. I was like, okay, I can either work in a store or not, until I started to really look into programs and I actually got into fashion design and then midway I switched over to fashion marketing because I'm like, well, I feel like this is where the money is. So I need to kind of build that career path. But I never intended to be a buyer. That was something that was once I did my work, study, I was like I'm never doing this. And then, of course, I have like a 20 year career in buying.

Speaker 3: 11:05

I just love product. But more importantly, I just love, I love the interaction with the consumer when they find delightful product, product that works. I mean, when we got on the call, you were talking about your hat and I just loved the way that you not only describe the hat but there's like the fit and the functionality of what you're wearing was so important to you because it was innovative, it was different and it really spoke to why that hat was perfect for you. So that's what when my love really comes from. I think it's just the interaction with the customer and Understanding what they want and then translating that into a product assortment, whether that's design or planning or merchandising. So I don't know.

Speaker 3: 11:51

I just think it's just in my DNA.

Speaker 2: 11:54

Yeah, it's absolutely important to have that. You know there's function, then there's form and and and having something. You know it's funny because I get excited about silly things like a hat, but at the same point it's not a silly thing because one it started out with someone else's dream, right, and so if I were to say it's just a silly hat, well then that's saying it's just a silly dream, but in reality fin lay hats I'll just give them a shout out there because they're they're really fun, they're really a great brand and you know so they've. They've been somebody that I've been been continuously impressed with the quality. I've seen them and you know it's.

Speaker 2: 12:33

It's funny because another comment I made to you before we started recording was you know, if you see someone else out, you know in the wild, wearing a fin lay hat, then you kind of you look at each other and there's this recognition that like, oh, you're part of the club, like you get it, and so I would imagine that's probably similar to to what ladies go through whenever you see someone with a similar brand handbag or something like that. Because, like, oh, we identify very well here because we like the same things and so you know a lot of core values, a lot of the core behaviors that they do Is something that you personally identify with, and so you find yourself creating this kind of the sub niche you know of of culture, just by knowing that the other person is wearing a fin lay hat or carrying a certain bag or whatever else, and so you know, I think that's, it's really cool to see that and I love, I Love your passion behind that. I think of a friend of mine, kristen, who she's actually In design for fashion and stuff and she's here at Walmart. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but whatever, but she's, you know, she's got that same passion that you have for finding what people love, what people are proud of, what people what excites them, you know, and so I think that's that's fascinating. I love that.

Speaker 2: 14:00

So whenever we come back to so like thinking through some of your early years, you know you obviously you jumped right in. Was there kind of a pet project for you? Maybe that was a quick win? Or or, to counter that, was there something that you're like, oh, this is totally gonna make it, I'm going to crush it with this. And it turned out to be maybe not as successful as you wanted or the opposite of that, and you're just like, well, I'm just doing my job, and it turned out to be a massive hit.

Speaker 3: 14:28

Well, I mean I have many of these stories, One that I actually talked about at a conference a Few weeks ago. I was speaking in front of about 200 people and trying it. You know, just show that you really will learn from your mistakes. So one of the things that happened to me was I was working with a Retailer and I developed a private label program of loungewear because it was like the biggest thing during the time. Loungewear was the thing to have and our competitors were doing similar types of loungewear. So I'm like, okay, we need to create this. So it was a private label program and it completely bombed. And the reason it bombed is because this is not what our customer wanted to buy from us. And this is a lesson that I take to you know, some of the market leaders and Projects that I work on today how important it is to really listen to the voice of the consumer, and I cannot tell you enough how many brands and retailers just don't. And you know we have many examples of failed retailers.

Speaker 3: 15:39

I mean I talk about Bed, Bath and Beyond a lot, and it's because I think you know they really lost sight of who their customer was and what their customer actually wanted from them. So that's a that's a story that I do like to tell because I think it's important you know To incorporate that voice of the consumer and and customer feedback and insights Throughout your product creation process, and this is something that I preach. I'm sure you've heard me talk about this and I can tell you from experience that when you don't, you are more likely to fail.

Speaker 2: 16:17

Yeah, it's, it's so important because I think you know, I think of I kind of relate that to marketing and the previous.

Speaker 2: 16:24

The previous approach to marketing was hey, I've got this cool widget, you need to buy it, and here's why.

Speaker 2: 16:30

Now you have this saturated market where you got 10,000 places to buy that one widget and that one widget can be knocked off a dozen, you know you can 50,000 different ways, you know. So that's where it's like instead of saying you know, hey, I have a hat, you need a hat, well, it's showing here's not only the function of it, but also letting us see who the people are who run the organization and go yeah, I really, I really believe in them, I like them, and so you know that that that gets that customer buy-in right, that gets that consumer Embracing the brand and really coming alongside you. So I think you know To relay that back to your point of just going ask the clients, ask the customers, the consumers, what they need, what they want, and then just find that way to fill that gap right exactly, and I think one of the things that you know I work on with some of the brands and retailers that are on my roster is Just working on consumer insights and where to incorporate them.

Speaker 3: 17:37

So you know, I kind of list four things. The first one is during product creation. So during the product creation process Whether you're incorporating insights through technology or walking the shop floor During the product creation process is critical. During assortment planning because, as we know, customers are evolving every day they're moving and many brands and retailers haven't adjusted their hierarchy of stores, so they're still sending the same product to the same store, but the customers aren't there anymore.

Speaker 3: 18:13

And then in season in season is very important, especially if we are looking to react to customer Shifts in trends and buying behavior. In season we have to be able to speak to those customers, understand why they're not buying something and fill that gap or Be reactive closer to the time of sale. And then, of course, post sale right post sale will Inform the next season. Most, most merchants are working at three seasons at a time. We have so much overlap because we take so long to get to market, so we're too far away from when the customer actually is going to buy the product. I you know I could talk about this all day, so I'm not going to, but I will tell you that consumer insights are are critical, incorporating market feedback and closing the feedback loop whether it's through returns or call centers, or even just through abandoned carts.

Speaker 3: 19:12

I think that there's always an opportunity to capture customer feedback. It's what do you do with that? That is really where the process needs to be innovated.

Speaker 2: 19:23

Yeah, because it doesn't matter if you've got all the systems set up in the world to collect the data, but then you're not actually interpreting it, then you might as well not even have the data You're just setting up a future for success, not yourself.

Speaker 3: 19:39

Yes.

Speaker 2: 19:41

Well and so okay. So thinking about that you mentioned. One thing that's always been fascinating to me too is thinking forward momentum on the next season or the next three seasons, like you're saying. So it's not fashion related, but to talk retail in future seasons. One thing I've noticed is independence day is over now, so I'm sure we'll see Christmas trees popping up in big boxes everywhere very soon. But, realistically, how important is it for them? We can joke about it coming to market really fast, but then how important are those first few days for retailers, or even weeks, I guess, I jokingly said, after Independence Day? But being realistic, halloween ends and Christmas comes out. So what do those sales numbers look like, or what does the trend look like? I should say not even numbers, but just what does the trend look like? Why is it so vital to work as far ahead as you do?

Speaker 3: 20:48

Well, I think there's a few questions in there, so let's go with when, merchants, retailers, when we're planning for the year, we have promotional events that we're planning for, we have calendar events like back to school, halloween, boxing Day, as we call it in Canada, we have Black Friday, we have Christmas and then, of course, you start all over again. So many retailers and especially if you're apparel or footwear, it takes quite a long time to get from concept, design, product development and then to market and in the stores. It takes about a year, and the reason it takes so long is because I mean number one we've been working the same way for a really long time. You have these big process-filled calendars with key alignment moments that all these teams are working towards, but the fact is that a lot of these processes haven't changed and because they haven't changed, we're either taking the same time to go to market or longer. Post-covid, in fact, because of the supply chain disruption, there was a lot of padding that was happening within the process steps from going from concept to market. So in fact, it was taking a lot longer, and when we're given more time, we're going to take that time to either create more product or have more meetings or more decisions being made, but in reality, we actually need to get faster to market, because if we are so far away from when the consumer is going to actually purchase something, we may lose sight of either a trend or products that the customers actually want.

Speaker 3: 22:39

And COVID is a great example of where we are buying a year ahead. We're buying formal wear, we're buying all the things that we're used to buying, but what the customer wanted was fleece and they wanted athleisure. Right, because they're at home. So nobody could have predicted that. But if we were closer to market, we could have reacted a lot sooner versus cancelling orders and factories going out of business because retailers were cancelling orders. This is the reality that we're just too far, and what we do know is that FAST is possible because Sheehan is very, very, very successful Zara in the text group. They're able to go from concept to market within 30 days, so we know that it's possible. The fact is that organizations, retailers, brands it's very difficult to change the way we're working because we are used to working the same way and in many cases, it's not only the process that needs to be innovated and changed, but people need to be educated that, in fact, if we get faster to market, you're actually going to have more time and space for innovation.

Speaker 2: 23:59

Yeah, well, and that's yeah, exactly. I think it's seeing opportunities to recognize this is where it has been, this is the way it has been, but only because you know that was necessary at the moment. But it's not the way it has to be right. And so, you know, I think back of there's so many places and so many processes that continue to just be the same way because that's just always the way we've done it. But then, like you said, kind of similar to inflation happening. You know, once prices go up, we know rarely do they go back down at least to the pre-inflation rates right, you know there's always going to be growth in there, there's always going to be expansion in numbers. So, you know, I think, the opportunity to see that, but you know it is vital.

Speaker 2: 24:48

But I think, like, when you have a process, especially something that was thrown completely out of alignment from previous years, like we saw over the last three years, then you know you added in additional padding, you added in additional time or maybe, you know, found different resources that weren't as efficient, but you, you know you could count on them 100%, you know.

Speaker 2: 25:13

And so at least they were reliable, even if they weren't able to provide the same volume. But now, once you're moving past, you know all the world events. Well then, suddenly you need to find, you need to find a way, and I would imagine tell me if I'm wrong on this I would imagine that you're seeing the need to increase the volume that you can order either increase the volume from that smaller brand that you are able to source from reliably, or you need to look at going back to the other larger supplier, and so that would probably put you up against a wall a little bit in a decision, because you don't want to shortchange someone else's business right while you're resuming your own business back to full speed ahead. But you've got to make your right decisions for what is good for your brand and your company, and so it's a fine line, I would imagine. Is that safe to say?

Speaker 3: 26:14

I'd say yes and no I.

Speaker 2: 26:16

Okay.

Speaker 3: 26:18

Buying too far ahead and buying too deep in your quantities is not necessarily the right answer. Okay, understanding what your customer wants at a specific time so right product, right place at right time is critical here, and where that comes from is consumer insights, is your historical sales. Of course they are going to play into this, using data and predictive analytics to make smarter decisions for when to bring in product and at what point. Because what we don't need to do is front load, because we can actually stagger deliveries. That's where we need to spend a little bit more time, because if we stagger deliveries, then we can understand better if the consumer is reacting to something in a positive way, and then you can backfill or you can change course. So this is where shifting to consumer trends and behavior closer to the time of market is so important.

Speaker 3: 27:17

The other thing I would add is many design-led brands and multi-brand retailers are still working with the same type of calendars when it relates to fashion. So what I'm talking about is spring, summer, fall, holiday, and they're building assortments within the constraints of these seasons. What we need to start to do, especially with products that can live past your traditional season, is create a seasonless bucket of product and seasonless could be the black t-shirt that you're wearing today. It could be the blouse I'm wearing today because it transcends the constraints of a specific season, which would mean you would have reduced markdowns, but you can buy into more raw material knowing that you're going to sell this product continuously, season after season. So rethinking the way we look at the buckets of seasonality is key in planning for the future and being more reactive to when consumers want product and what they actually want.

Speaker 2: 28:33

Okay, okay, no, that makes sense. Thank you so much for explaining that to me, because you know, I mean obviously I'm not in the fashion side, so you know that's that's like. There are so many different layers that I think people don't realize come into play exactly what you're saying. So you've got to find that right placement at the right time. So, ah, so good, so good. I could, I could ask you more and more questions, but I know we've got to keep moving on time here. So let's shift into, I guess, current where we're at right now in the state of retail fashion. What are you excited about in fashion right now? What's, what's something that's coming to market Like? Is it a technology? Is it a supply? Is it? You know, different designers coming available? What's, what's got you going right now?

Speaker 3: 29:24

I think what excites me the most right now is the development in material innovation. So textiles, trims, color development all of these innovations are going to help not only from a sustainability metric, but are also going to help us have longevity within the materials that we buy into, so it's better for the climate. I think that just the fact that we develop so much product year after year I think this is where we really need to start questioning retailers and brands practices, so that just that innovation around textiles and what's happening within the space of circularity that is, I think, the most exciting thing right now. I love the fact that there's a retailer, a design led brand and retailer out of Canada called Mountain Equipment Co-op or a mountain equipment company, mec, and I love that. They are looking into their practices and processes around product creation and they're very transparent about it and the consumer really has a front row seat into how they're going to be more sustainable and ethical in their practices and product creation. That truly excites me.

Speaker 3: 30:51

I love the Patagonia story. I love everything that Patagonia is doing right now. I do think there can be some improvement in terms of product creation and waste around development of materials as well as product. So this is the space that I think that there is the most opportunity. I think that AI plays a generative AI, ai, predictive analytics, machine learning All of these technologies play a significant role in identifying what the customer wants. We just need to start seeing more brands and retailers take advantage and leverage these tools. That's what I want to see. That excites me to no end.

Speaker 2: 31:34

Absolutely no. It's funny you mentioned that because I was going to ask do you see any applications for generative AI? And what you were saying? That nailed it, because obviously it's a hot button topic right now. Right, everybody's talking about AI and machine learning and everything that's going into new developments today, and so it's really exciting to see all the different applications that it can have throughout every element of retail. It's not just about sales or marketing, but even the development of materials, like you're saying. That can be huge.

Speaker 3: 32:08

So yeah, and I think once retailers and brands really start breaking down those silos across cross functional teams and areas within retail, we can really learn from marketing. Merchants can learn from product creators and sourcing partners. I think, at a deeper level, and even when you look at your supply chain partners, there's so much opportunity to learn from these different teams if we start breaking down those silos within retail, which we know exist and everyone is trying to break them down. But we need to really innovate those processes in order to really see the benefits of technology and tools that we have today, because we can start using them across different areas of retail, like generative AI, from product descriptions to what customers are looking for and feeding that into and fueling product design and product creation from a fit and sizing perspective. I mean, the opportunities are endless.

Speaker 2: 33:11

Yeah, well, and it's funny, yeah, because even just yesterday I was talking to somebody and, spoiler alert, it's the episode right before this one airs, so go back and listen to that one. But he actually talks about this product development and this person created I guess I think it was this guy's daughter created a shoe, could not find the running shoe that she wanted on the market, wanted design, function, everything, and she was able to go out and they were able to figure out a way to fully go from concept like design, idea, everything all the way through to having a fully functional visual and kind of description and everything that they could take to a designer and they could start pitching to brands and shopping that around. And so it was incredible to hear this. They did the whole thing in like two hours, and so I think there's so much room in the fashion industry exactly what you're saying to be able to expedite some processes, to reduce some wasted time or materials, and I just think that's so fascinating. I think that's really cool to see and I'm excited to see where it goes too, on the heels of everything today.

Speaker 2: 34:31

So this is one way I love to wrap up and is the one question that obviously you've experienced a lot of stuff along your career journey and you've seen things change. You've seen things come and go. But thinking of your own learnings, of who you started as and where you're at now, then is there one piece of advice that you would give yourself looking back over all your experience, is there something that kind of stands out to you as a life lesson learned? Or it can be serious, it can be fun, whatever you'd like it to be. But what would you go back and say to yourself if you could travel back and just tap yourself on the shoulder and say, hey, you're just getting going, but what is that?

Speaker 3: 35:23

Well, being a woman of color and being part of the women of color retail lines, I think what I've really learned is that I'm not alone, and I think that is what I would tell my younger self is to just keep going because I'm not alone and that there are others like me. I think it's very common to feel isolated when you look a certain way and your leadership team across retail on a global scale, there aren't very many women of color in those leadership roles, so I would say that having that sense of belonging really would, I think would speak volumes. That's what I would say. I know I went really serious there.

Speaker 2: 36:16

No, that's really good.

Speaker 3: 36:18

But I think it's important to show, especially the younger generation coming into this industry, that there are people like us and that's one of the reasons, honestly, that I joined Retail Wire and that I really wanted to join Retail Wire, because I didn't see anyone that looked like me or who came from my background, from a merchant perspective, and I feel like there are more like us. But if we see people like, representation absolutely matters.

Speaker 2: 36:51

Yeah, well, I mean to somewhat to relate, that is, I'm a big, I love comic books and stuff like that. I love Marvel Universe, everything. So I love what they've done with trying to expand that and really just show everybody has the superpowers. That's. The cool part is that there's a lot more. I think of Spider-Man across the Spiderverse just recently released in theaters a month or so ago and just thinking how cool, how empowering that is to see, like, oh look, that guy looks just like me or that girl looks just like me, or hear those stories and go.

Speaker 2: 37:31

I think of people, women of color, who have been in the industry for years. You've really pioneered a lot. You've kind of held down the fort while everybody else was. You stayed in the trenches with everybody and now, like you said, you're starting to see more women of color represented, and so I think that's really cool to see coming about. Just because there's aspirations, there's different goals and different opportunities today for really all of us that would never have been before, and so I think that's really you know, it's not too deep. I think it's really really great and I love being able to talk about it. I watched you speak a little bit over at Shop Talk whenever we were there in Vegas and so being able to see that and just knowing that there's real conversations happening and it's really moving the needle for everybody, so that's good.

Speaker 3: 38:32

Yeah, yeah. And I think, if we look at it from a business standpoint which I always do is that if our customers are diverse, then our retail leaders should also be diverse, because then they'll actually understand what that consumer is looking for. Like it makes business sense, right.

Speaker 2: 38:51

Yeah, absolutely. It can help in so many different areas of the journey that I think on a surface level you probably don't realize just how intricate and deeply woven in that is. But then, the more you go, the more you can actually relate to your customers. You're going to relate to each other better. So, belisa, thank you so much for jumping in with me today. I really really appreciate you taking the time. I know you got a bounce because you got you're a mover and a shaker right. You keep things going, so I don't think the grass ever grows under your feet. But thank you so much. I've really appreciated your insights, just being able to get to know you a little bit better and share you with our audience here.

Speaker 3: 39:37

Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun. Thank you, and you're right, I do have to fly. We have to sit, you're always getting on a jet somewhere.

Speaker 2: 39:49

So last question is if people want to connect with you, to further this conversation a little bit no more about you, is LinkedIn the best way, or is there a different website or a way that they should reach out to you? What's convenient for you?

Speaker 3: 40:04

LinkedIn is definitely very easy. All my contact details are on LinkedIn. You can also find me at retailstrategygroupcom or follow and subscribe to my newsletter called themerchantlifecom. We talk a lot about process improvement, helping to optimize gross margins and, of course, increasing profitability, and a few stories about my 22 years of merchandising and buying.

Speaker 2: 40:34

So good, so good. Well, I will make sure and put links to all of that in our description notes down here below. So feel free to follow along, and if this is your very first time listening to the Retail Wire Podcast, I would just encourage you to hit that subscribe button, turn on your notifications so you don't miss another great episode, because, like you heard, we've got incredible people here on our Brain Trust, just like Lisa. We've got a lot more stories that are coming out. We've got several stories that have already been published, so be sure and go back to listen to other episodes. If you want to see what Lisa or I look like, you can go over to our YouTube channel at Retail Wire and you can actually check that out. You can see us, get to know us a little bit better, but we love having you. So thanks again, lisa, and have a wonderful time doing whatever your next adventure is here. I'm not sure where you're off to, but have fun and I'm sure you will arrive very fashionably and in great taste.

Speaker 3: 41:32

So Thanks, Brian.

Speaker 2: 41:36

All right, we'll see you next time here on the Retail Wire Podcast. Thanks for tuning in to the Retail Wire Podcast you.