Picture this: Chicago. Christmas week. Wind doing its best to remove your face. Your kids are lobbying hard for an Uber like it’s a humanitarian need. And somewhere in the background, an algorithm is quietly asking: How much will she pay before she gives up and starts walking?

In this episode, Jaime and Cindy unpack the not-so-magic trick behind personalized pricing and dynamic pricing: why the same item can cost one person $19.99 and another person $24.99, why your airline ticket seems to “sense commitment,” and why “Richistan premium” is… not entirely a joke.

We start with a simple question from Pamela and Kelsey (shout-out to the Michael’s aisle of confusion): Why is the online price different from the in-store price for the exact same item? From there, we follow the breadcrumbs through surge pricing, cart-abandonment discounts, subscription “please don’t leave us” offers, and the not-at-all-cozy possibility of platforms optimizing not only what riders will pay, but what workers will accept.

We also go global for a minute: how the EU’s GDPR approach differs from the U.S. patchwork, why disclosure laws are starting to show up, and what “trust as an economic asset” actually means when screenshots travel faster than your PR team.

In this episode, you’ll walk away with:

* How to spot when pricing is being shaped around you (and what to do about it)

* What leaders should consider before deploying pricing strategies that rely on customers not noticing

* Why discounts feel like rewards, price hikes feel like betrayal, and how that difference can make or break loyalty

Drop your own “wait, WHAT?” pricing stories in the comments. And if you’re headed to Chicago in December, may your gloves be warm and your fares be reasonable.

Until next time: keep your spreadsheets handy and your coffee strong.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Nothing says holiday spirit like spending money, or getting elbowed by a grandma over a discounted air fryer.

In this episode of Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?, Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak dig into why some stores looked bare before Thanksgiving while others seemed overstocked, and how leadership decisions made months ago are shaping your holiday shopping experience right now.

Our guest, Dr. Honey Zimmerman, supply chain expert and friend of the show, explains how retailers placed bets back in spring amid tariff chatter and economic uncertainty, why many cut SKUs to streamline, and what that means for prices, selection, and shipping speeds in December. We also talk about the K-shaped economy, small-business strain, and why Cyber Monday keeps eating Black Friday’s lunch.

What we cover:

* Why you saw fewer choices on shelves: the rise of SKU rationalization to manage risk and costs

* Big-box vs. small business: inventory levels diverge, with small retailers carrying roughly 20% less than last year

* The calendar reality: holiday inventory decisions are made 6–8 months in advance, often before policy and price changes are clear

* Consumer behavior shifts: sales up ~7% with fewer items per cart; more deliberate spending and easy substitutions

* Online wins again: Cyber Monday outpacing Black Friday by about 22%

* Slower ETAs: longer lead times and stockouts even for “Prime” buyers

* Data over drama: how leaders use PPI vs. CPI, transportation volumes, and NRF data to navigate uncertainty

* Omnichannel tradeoffs: why something isn’t in-store but is online (and why that’s on purpose)

* Better decisions next season: write down your assumptions so you can actually learn from what happened

Who should listen:

* Retail and supply chain leaders wrestling with demand planning and inventory bets

* Small business owners planning Q4 in a lean environment

* Shoppers curious about why prices and choices feel…weird

* Anyone who loves a good “what were they thinking?” decision breakdown

Guest

Dr. Honey Zimmerman is a supply chain practitioner-turned-professor with deep expertise in procurement, manufacturing, and logistics. She’s here to translate the data behind the holiday frenzy into clear, practical insight.

Stat snapshots we unpack:

* Black Friday: sales up about 7% year over year, but with fewer units per transaction

* Cyber Monday: roughly 22% higher sales than Black Friday

* Producer Price Index running hotter than Consumer Price Index, squeezing margins upstream

* Small business inventories down around 20% vs. last year

Bottom line:

If the shelves look sparse, it might be strategic minimalism. not a crisis. Prices feel odd because inflation’s in its abstract art phase. And yes, the supply chain folks are doing their best…please don’t yell at them.

Listen in, subscribe, and send us the head-scratching decisions you want us to unpack next. Until then, keep your spreadsheets handy and your coffee strong.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Is AI genuinely the next industrial revolution, or are we watching another dot-com-style J curve flatten in real time?

From NVIDIA’s outsized role in the market to why most companies still can’t point to productivity gains, Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak dig into the numbers, the psychology, and the leadership practices that actually move AI from pilot to payoff.

We compare today’s AI moment to two past bubbles, the dot-com era’s “Napster moment” and the 2008 housing slowdown, to explain why flattening, not falling, often breaks a boom. And we ask the tough question every CFO is already thinking: who’s going to foot the $5 trillion AI infrastructure bill if enterprise adoption plateaus?

What you’ll hear:

* The market vs. the office: Why consumer enthusiasm (hello, ChatGPT) isn’t the same as enterprise deployment

* The data reality check: Adoption stats from recent surveys and why the curve may be stalling

* The money math: $5T in expected AI spend and the annual revenue required to make it pencil out

* Productivity or pipe dream: What it would actually take for AI to deliver broad 5–10% productivity gains

* Lessons from past bubbles: How “flattening” broke the dot-com and housing booms, and what that signals for AI

* Leadership playbook: Practical steps to turn AI from novelty to value (create time to experiment, share use cases, lead by example, reward progress)

* Strategy for incumbents: Why most companies should expect evolution, not revolution, while still carving out a focused lane for real product/service disruption

Who should listen:

* Executives and investors trying to read the AI tea leaves

* Operators and team leads under pressure to “do AI” and show results

* Anyone curious about what’s signal vs. noise in the AI economy

Hot Take:

Is AI a bubble or a revolution?

Yes. It can be both, and your results will depend less on GPUs and more on leaders who know how to turn experimentation into measurable outcomes.

Listen now: Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?, hosted by Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak. Keep your spreadsheets handy and your coffee strong.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

The K-Shaped Economy:

Why Some People Are Flying First Class While Others Are Just Trying to Afford Groceries

In this episode of Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?, finance expert Dr. Jaime Peters and leadership expert Dr. Cindy Goodwin-Sak dig into the emerging reality of a K-shaped economy—a world where some consumers are spending freely on luxury travel, concerts, and high-end goods while others are pulling back hard on essentials like food, gas, and housing.

Using real-world examples—from Bon Jovi ticket prices to the shifting airline cabin configurations and the ripple effects of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour—Jaime and Cindy break down:

What a K-shaped economy actually is

Why consumer spending is splitting so sharply

How inflation and interest rates are affecting different income groups

What leaders and business owners should consider when pricing, hiring, and managing demand

How companies like Walmart and major airlines are responding in real time

If you’re trying to make sense of conflicting economic signals—or you’re leading a business in the middle of them—this episode gives you a practical, grounded way to think about what’s happening and how to navigate it.

Hosts: Dr. Jaime Peters (Finance) & Dr. Cindy Goodwin-Sak (Leadership)Podcast: Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

When we heard that Kimberly-Clark wants to buy Kenvue, we had the same reaction you probably did: Wait, who’s Kenvue? And then, Seriously, What Could They be Thinking?

The $48.7 Billion Question

At first glance, this looks like a match made in your linen closet: diapers meet Tylenol, tissues meet lotion. But once you dig in, the deal starts to feel like déjà vu from the Family Dollar–Dollar Tree acquisition: two struggling retailers trying to “synergize” their way out of stagnation.

Kimberly-Clark is chasing growth in a low-growth world (fewer babies, less toilet paper). Kenvue is still shaking off its talcum powder lawsuits and PR fallout from a certain politician claiming Tylenol causes autism. (It doesn’t, for the record.)

The result? Kimberly-Clark’s stock promptly dropped nearly 20% the day of the announcement.

What’s Really Behind the Deal

Both companies face pressure from shareholders to “do something.” In this case, something means paying a 40% premium for a company with legal baggage, and claiming $2 billion in cost synergies to make the math work.

As Jaime points out:

“If you’re counting synergies you can’t measure, you’re doing fan fiction with spreadsheets.”

And Cindy adds:

“Building a culture where people feel safe to challenge bad ideas might be the most valuable synergy of all.”

The real question isn’t whether the brands fit. it’s whether the cultures do. Kimberly-Clark runs as a centralized machine. Kenvue thrives on autonomy. We’ve seen how that mismatch plays out before, and it usually ends with layoffs, brand dilution, and dashed expectations.

Leadership Lessons Hiding in Plain Sight

Every merger is a test of leadership nerve and cultural honesty.

* Are executives willing to say, “This doesn’t make sense”?

* Do employees feel safe raising red flags?

* Can leaders resist the urge to justify decisions with made-up math?

As we unpack in this episode, hope is not a strategy — and synergy is not a synonym for success.

Our Takeaway

Two desperate companies don’t make one strong one.If this deal works, it’ll be because the leaders create clarity, protect what’s working, and build a culture brave enough to say “no” before saying “merge.”

Otherwise? This might go down as the most expensive Band-Aid in corporate history.

🎧 Listen now! Here on Substack, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. And don’t forget to subscribe to Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?

Never miss the next questionable corporate decision.Keep your spreadsheets handy and your coffee strong. ☕

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

This week on Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?, Jaime Peters (finance brain with a dry wit) and Cindy Goodwin-Sak (leadership expert and recovering overachiever) take on the myth that just won’t die: work–life balance.

Is it even real, or just a 1990s self-help fantasy with a corporate logo slapped on top? We trace where the concept came from, why flexibility didn’t fix it, and how the real model looks more like a pendulum than a scale.

Along the way, we dig into:

* Why Americans work 200–300 more hours a year than most Western countries

* What burnout is really costing companies (hint: it shows up on the P&L)

* Why managers set the tone for team health—often without realizing it

* How to replace “balance” with something more human: sprint, rest, repeat

You’ll also get our best real-world tips for protecting your time, scheduling “life” like a meeting, and redefining success so it doesn’t cost your sanity (or your weekends).

If you’ve ever been praised for being “dedicated” when you were actually just exhausted, this one’s for you.

🎙️ Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?

Real business. Real data. Real humans trying to get it right.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Ever wonder why interest rates seem to dominate the headlines, or how public firings have become an American pastime?

Last week, we went LIVE to unpack all the drama after the Fed’s latest two-day meeting: from their anticipated rate cut (was it a big deal?) to the chaos and uncertainty swirling around public leadership… and firing.

We broke down:

* The Fed’s surprise (and not-so-surprising) rate cut – what the Dot Plot really reveals about what’s next.

* Why businesses and leaders are more confused than ever about borrowing, investing, and surviving the AI economy.

* The political and legal circus around firing at the top levels (like Lisa Cook’s legal battle to keep her Fed Governor seat), and

* What it means for YOU: from the boardroom to the break room, can anyone really say whatever they want online anymore without risking their job?

With everything from economics to free speech, reputational risk, and why “watch what you post” is truer than ever, this episode is full of insights (and a few laughs).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Ever wonder what happens when leaders say that one sentence they instantly regret—while the whole world is watching?

In sports, mistakes get instant replays.

In business, they get Twitter… and hashtags you definitely don’t want trending.

On today’s episode, Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak dig deep into those excruciating “Oh Sh*t” moments, when a single comment, tweet, or private jet ride becomes the next viral headline.

* Can a leader recover when trust is shaken?

* What’s the fallout when an apology falls flat or never comes at all?

We break down iconic blunders from names like Satya Nadella, Alan Mulally, Elon Musk, and Tony Hayward, and look at how some leaders bounce back while others lose it all.

Plus, we share a few of our own “wish-I-could-take-that-back” moments (spoiler: Angry Birds and accidental texts included!).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* Why instant apologies (and real action) matter more than spin

* How “oh sh*t” moments test a leader’s credibility and what separates a comeback from a crash-and-burn

* Why everyone from Wall Street to Main Street will always bet on resilience over perfection

If you’ve ever cringed at a CEO meltdown, accidentally texted “I love you” to a colleague, or hoped your latest faux pas would quietly disappear…this episode is for you.

Keep your spreadsheet handy and your coffee strong! ☕️

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Ever wondered what happens when you give 100 million kids a digital playground—and the adults can barely keep up?

Meet Roblox: a global gaming phenomenon, a billion-dollar company, and a lightning rod for controversies on safety, accountability, monetization, and child labor. This week on Seriously, What Could They Be Thinking?, co-hosts Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak dive deep into the wild world of Roblox; from its explosive growth and evolving business model to recent lawsuits, child safety scandals, and the big ethical questions facing its leadership.

* Is Roblox empowering young creators, or is it exploiting them?

* Can any platform truly keep kids safe?

* Where does the responsibility fall—on the company, the parents, or someone else?

* And why are grown-ups (including us!) struggling to keep up with the digital world our kids live in?

From digital currencies and gaming addiction to YouTube exposés and RICO lawsuits, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about the real risks (and real profits) behind this billion-dollar kids’ empire. If you’ve got a kid on Roblox, or you’re just fascinated (or overwhelmed) by today’s online playgrounds, this is the episode for you.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com

Imagine this: You’re Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. The President’s threatening tariffs that could send iPhone prices skyrocketing. Investors are sweating bullets. Samsung’s popping champagne. Do you freak out? Not Tim. He plays chess while everyone else is still learning checkers.

This week, Jaime Peters and Cindy Goodwin-Sak break down *five strategic moves* from Tim Cook’s playbook that scored wins for Apple in the middle of a political and economic whirlwind. We’re talking big lessons in negotiation, influence, and leadership…moves so smooth, even the most seasoned Fortune 500 execs could take notes.

We dig into:

* How to reframe a pitch to make your rival the villain (sorry, Samsung)

* Why *the best wins* in negotiation are the ones you quietly hand to the other side

* When to go public – and when to disappear behind closed doors

* The ROI of “buying time” and playing the long game

* How real influence is built in quiet moments, long before the storm hits

Whether you’re closing deals in a boardroom or just want your boss to say “yes” more often, this episode is packed with real tactics you can steal today. Listen now, and remember: keep your spreadsheets handy and your coffee strong.

#leadership #negotiation #Apple #podcast #timcook #businessstrategy

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatcouldtheybethinking.substack.com