BRAVE COMMERCE

In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Amy Luke Busker, Chief Commercial Officer at Mizkan America, about what it takes to drive growth in today’s increasingly complex commerce landscape.

Amy shares how expanding the commercial function beyond sales and marketing is reshaping how organizations operate, and why growth requires alignment across teams. She discusses silos, shared KPIs, and how teams move from fragmented ways of working to a more unified approach. She also explores how leaders can navigate rapid change—from shifting consumer behavior to more algorithm-driven discovery—while bringing entire organizations along for the journey.

Key takeaways

• Commercial growth is a team sport; success comes from aligning sales, marketing, R&D, and supply chain, not operating in silos.
• Shared KPIs matter, but impact comes from changing how teams work, not just how performance is measured.
• Breaking silos starts with shared priorities, structured planning, and bringing the full organization along.

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Zena Arnold, Chief Marketing Officer at Sephora U.S., about how one of the world’s most influential beauty retailers stays at the center of culture in an industry that moves at lightning speed.

Zena shares how Sephora discerns which trends represent fleeting moments versus real behavioral shifts, why beauty discovery has become continuous in the age of creators and social feeds, and how the company balances digital personalization with high-impact in-person experiences like SEPHORiA. She also discusses how Sephora approaches AI—from powering skin scans and product discovery to enabling more relevant personalization—while remaining thoughtful about how new technology enhances, rather than dilutes, the client experience.

Key takeaways

• Not every trend deserves a brand response; successful marketers build systems to filter signal from noise.
• Beauty discovery is now continuous, requiring brands to show up consistently across creators, culture, and community.
• The strongest brand partnerships come from clear identity and products that fill a true consumer white space.

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter sit down with Dipesh Patel, Senior Director, Digital Transformation & Ecommerce, Global OTC at Teva Pharmaceuticals, to discuss what it takes to drive transformation in a category where trust, accuracy, and regulation shape the pace of change. Dipesh shares how his background in mathematics and early experience in retail influence his approach to problem-solving, ambiguity, and digital transformation.

They also explore Dipesh’s move from Unilever to Teva, including the difference between operating in a mature consumer goods environment versus building capabilities in OTC. The conversation also dives into AI’s role in content creation, why speed alone isn’t enough in healthcare, and how brands can use stronger systems and guardrails to scale content while maintaining control.

Key takeaways

• AI can scale content production, but strong guardrails and human oversight remain essential.
• In healthcare and OTC, brands must balance digital speed with trust and regulatory rigor.
• Building digital capabilities from scratch requires a different mindset than optimizing mature systems.

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter sit down with Brian Gelb, Senior Vice President of Wine and Concierge at Total Wine & More, to unpack how a retailer is gaining share while the broader alcohol market faces headwinds. Brian shares how his military background shaped an “intent-based leadership” approach that pushes decision-making down, builds ownership, and requires teams to arrive with a recommendation, not just an issue.

They also discuss what often breaks down between suppliers and retail partners, why bringing real customer insights to the table changes the quality of joint business planning conversations, and how Total Wine stays focused on service, selection, and sharp pricing, while expanding into non-alcoholic, THC-infused, and emerging functional beverage segments.

Key takeaways

• Intent-based leadership drives accountability by empowering teams to own decisions and defend their reasoning.
• Retailer–supplier alignment improves when both sides start with customer insights and shared strategy.
• Share growth in a challenging market comes from disciplined focus on experience, assortment, and price.

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Toby Espinosa, VP of Ads at DoorDash. Toby shares how DoorDash built one of the fastest-growing retail media networks, and why the next phase of growth depends on making performance comparable across platforms, partners, and budgets.

They unpack the tension between local trade dollars and national media budgets, how CPG organizations split ownership between sales and marketing, and what it takes to unlock both. Toby also explores how AI can accelerate integrations, lower the cost of connecting data, and raise the bar for targeting and outcomes across commerce media.

Key takeaways

• National media budgets scale when incrementality is clear and performance is standardized.
• The biggest growth unlock comes from aligning trade and media dollars around shared outcomes.
• Consistent, comparable reporting builds trust and drives long-term investment.

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Michael Reda, Vice President of Omnichannel Marketing at The Marzetti Company, about driving growth in categories like refrigerated dressings and frozen bread. He shares how Marzetti approaches discovery in a digitally influenced world and how the brand reinforces storytelling with retail media and partnerships like Instacart to support basket building.

They also discuss Marzetti’s post-2020 eCommerce acceleration, including the foundational work behind scaling digital commerce, from improving content and search to strengthening ratings, reviews, and agency partnerships. Michael reflects on innovation, founder stories, and the career move he considers his bravest: stepping off the traditional brand path to build a digital role early on.

Key Takeaways

• Not being a “host food” requires a different approach to discovery and relevance
• Digitally influenced sales require proactive storytelling before the store
• Retail media and brand partnerships can drive basket-building impact
• E-commerce growth begins with strong content, search, and ratings fundamentals

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter sit down with Kate Hamill, VP of North America Enterprise Sales at Pinterest, to unpack how the platform is evolving from an inspiration engine into a more measurable driver of commerce outcomes. Kate shares how Pinterest is compressing the funnel between discovery and conversion, and how brands can think differently about visual-first experiences across the shopping journey.

The conversation also dives into why social search is capturing more search budgets, how Pinterest’s AI powers proactive discovery, and why modern measurement approaches—including MMM, MTA, and incrementality—matter more than last-click attribution as consumers shop across weeks and devices. From CPG to emerging non-endemic categories, Kate explains how brands can reach consumers earlier in the journey and better understand their impact on growth.

Key Takeaways

• Social search plays a critical role in demand creation, not just demand capture
• Visual search helps brands engage consumers before preferences are fully formed
• Incrementality and triangulated measurement are essential to understanding impact
• AI-powered discovery experiences support both inspiration and performance

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In this special episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, hosts Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter unpack M&A from the inside, drawing upon their experience navigating acquisitions firsthand.

Rachel announces MikMak’s acquisition by SPINS, sharing how it came together, why it was the right partner at the right moment, and her priorities for the first 90 - 180 days, from change management and customer communication to accelerating product innovation. She also reflects on the human side of the acquisition and what it means to support teams through uncertainty and transition.

They also share standout clips from the BRAVE COMMERCE community—featuring Stuart Heflin (Quest Nutrition), Dan O’Leary (Hostess), and Esi Seng (Tate’s Bake Shop)—highlighting what makes acquisitions successful from a brand operator’s perspective—protecting what works, honoring culture, and maintaining a challenger mindset during change.

Key Takeaways

• Why integration and change management, not the deal itself, define acquisition success
• How to evaluate the right partner for customers, employees, and investors
• What founders and leaders can do now if M&A is a long-term goal
• How to preserve culture and momentum while continuing to deliver for customers

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, hosts Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter sit down with John Ferris, President, Consumer at Bausch + Lomb, to discuss how modern consumer behavior is rewriting the rules for legacy brands. John shares how his team is tackling a core challenge in eye health: consumers value vision deeply, but often don’t take action until something is wrong, creating a massive opportunity for education-led growth.

John also breaks down what it means to market in a world where discovery is increasingly shaped by social platforms and AI tools. He explains how Bausch + Lomb is partnering with eye care professionals who show up as credible “influencers,” and why improving the quality and structure of brand content matters more than ever as chatbots become a go-to source. The episode closes with a look at how the pharmacy channel is evolving, and how “hidden” in-store friction can quietly shift demand online in an instant.

Key Takeaways

• Education is a growth lever when consumers delay action until a problem appears
• Credibility still wins—but only if you make it easy to understand and easy to trust
• Optimize content for the new discovery layer (AI + social), not just traditional search
• Reduce friction everywhere, because shoppers will reroute the moment it gets inconvenient

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In this episode of BRAVE COMMERCE, hosts Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter speak with Marco Brucato, Head of eCommerce Europe - DTC Transformation at Beko Europe.

Marco shares how he’s scaled digital commerce across diverse European markets by applying a “freedom within a frame” mindset, centralizing strategy, governance, and KPIs while empowering local teams to adapt for cultural nuance and shopper expectations.

He breaks down what it takes to make transformation stick inside large organizations, from securing leadership buy-in to making the cost of inaction tangible. Marco also explains why selling the problem matters more than selling the solution, how a test-small-scale-fast approach helps prove value, and why omnichannel should be a core operating principle — not a buzzword.

Key takeaways

• Scale with structure: Centralize principles and governance while enabling local execution
• Create urgency: Make the cost of inaction clear to unlock leadership buy-in
• Prove value fast: Test ideas in small ways, then scale what works

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