Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX.
It could be argued that Sarah Gallagher has the most distinguished career in fashion ecommerce. She currently sits on the boards of Abercrombie & Fitch and La-Z-Boy. As an operator, she began her career as a merchant, moved to the Victoria's Secret catalog business and then launched and led the digital businesses of iconic fashion brands Banana Republic and Ralph Lauren. In this episode, Sarah shares her career story, leadership lessons, the art and science of fashion ecommerce and thoughts on the future of digital in retail.
About Sarah
Sarah currently sits on the board of Abercrombie and Fitch Co. and La-zy Boy, and serves as an Executive Advisor of FitforCommerce (retail consultants focused on helping retailers for ecommerce). Ms. Gallagher previously served as Executive Chairperson of the Rebecca Taylor woman’s fashion brand, where she was interim chief executive officer with responsibility for the wholesale, stores and e-commerce businesses. Ms. Gallagher served as President of Ralph Lauren North America e-Commerce and as President of Ralph Lauren Media LLC, Polo.com, where she led all aspects of Ralph Lauren’s e-Commerce business for 12 years to a position of industry leadership and collaborated on its expansion into European markets. Prior to her tenure with the Ralph Lauren organization, Ms. Gallagher served as Senior Vice President, Banana Republic Direct, and Senior Vice President, Gap Direct, divisions of Gap, Inc., where she was directly responsible for the launch of the Banana Republic catalog, website, and all aspects of its e-Commerce business. Prior to joining Gap, Inc., Ms. Gallagher served as Vice President, Apparel, Jewelry and Accessories for Avon Products, Inc.; Vice President and General Merchandise Manager, Intimate Apparel and then Executive Vice President, Merchandising of Victoria’s Secret Catalogue; and in various roles with Lord & Taylor.
About Veronika
Veronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit.
About Scott
An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.
About Michael
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
About Us
Jennifer Marlo
Head of Content, CommerceNext
Jennifer Marlo drives industry-leading programming at CommerceNext, drawing on experience from Ascendant Network and iMedia Connection, where she spearheaded content strategies to inspire retail, brand and agency marketing leaders. Guided by the belief that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” Jennifer uses in-person and digital platforms to educate and foster industry collaboration.
Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
