Last holiday season, shoppers spent over $1 trillion, and the brands that cashed in weren't the ones with the biggest ad budgets. They were the ones who owned their audience. Your social followers can disappear with an algorithm change, but your email and SMS list is yours, and it's the most profitable channel most product brands ignore.

In Part 2 of our monthly Holiday-Ready E-Commerce series, I sit down with e-commerce expert Nora Arzoumanian (20+ years in e-commerce) to build your email and SMS plan for Black Friday, from the automations that make money on autopilot to the exact campaign calendar that wins Q4.

Here's what you'll learn:

– Why email is a goldmine and social traffic is just borrowed

– When SMS is worth it (and how to use it without burning your list)

– Abandoned cart done right: the 3 to 4 email sequence that recovers the sale

– How to build your list now with pop-ups and lead gen, before the rush

– How to plan your Black Friday email calendar and how often to send

🛠️ Tools mentioned:

Shopify (affiliate):  Start free, build for $1/month, earn up to $13,000 in credits as you sell: https://shopify.pxf.io/rectified

Metricool: Schedule all your content in one place. Use code RECTIFIED for a 30-day free trial of any tier: https://i.mtr.cool/RSBQOY

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

🎧 New to Nora? Watch her first episode here: https://youtu.be/ZgzgOkBwfjY?si=AsHFHkAJ48sZosAT

New episodes in this series drop monthly through December. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Chapters

00:00 Email Matters More

03:14 Abandoned Cart Basics

10:12 Build Your List Now

12:57 Clean Up Unengaged

15:02 Subscriber Value Math

17:35 Core Email Automations

24:33 Holiday Campaign Planning

30:53 Email Frequency Strategy

34:28 SMS During Black Friday

44:23 Deliverability And List Health

48:21 Convert Followers To Email

Reese De Luca ran ads for three months. They brought in one order. He hasn't spent money on ads since, and today about 75% of his sales come from standing behind a table and talking to people.

In this episode, Reese breaks down how he built Skincare for Weirdos from a single pimple patch into a full four-step routine without investors, loans, or an ad budget. We talk about why he almost named the brand Patchy and what changed his mind, how being called a weirdo growing up became the most valuable asset he owns, why his pimple patches aren't even in his top five sellers anymore and why that was the plan, the discipline of making every product earn its place on the table, how he built a booth people stop at instead of scroll past, and the 25 years of fashion and design experience that let him skip the $20,000 branding agency invoice.

If your product is good but your brand could belong to anyone, this one is for you.

🎯 FREE LIVE WORKSHOP – August 20: I'm walking you through the 3R Strategy, the exact framework I use with private clients to break through growth plateaus. Live on Zoom, kept small, completely free. Save your spot: https://learn.rectified.co/break-through-your-growth-plateau

Skincare for Weirdos on the web: https://skincareforweirdos.com/Skincare for Weirdos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skincareforweirdosSkincare for Weirdos on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skincareforweirdos

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters: 

02:46 Origin of the Weirdoverse

08:32 Product Development Process

15:30 Pop-Ups as Growth Engine

18:40 Shopify POS and Email Flows

23:38 Social Content Mix

29:39 Wholesale Growth Plan

33:38 Advice for Founders

36:08 Funding Without Debt

Last holiday season, shoppers spent over $1 trillion, and most small businesses lost their share before the season even started. 

In Part 1 of our monthly Holiday-Ready E-Commerce series, I sit down with e-commerce expert Nora Arzoumanian (20+ years scaling product brands) to break down exactly how to turn your website into a machine that converts before the Q4 rush hits. 

If you're a product business, this is the foundation everything else is built on; fix this first, before you spend a dollar on ads.

🛠️ Tools mentioned:

Shopify (affiliate):  Start free, build for $1/month, earn up to $13,000 in credits as you sell: https://shopify.pxf.io/rectified 

Metricool: Schedule all your content in one place. Use code RECTIFIED for a 30-day free trial of any tier: https://i.mtr.cool/RSBQOY

Find me here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian L

inkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

🎧 New to Nora? Watch her first episode here: https://youtu.be/ZgzgOkBwfjY?si=AsHFHkAJ48sZosAT

New episodes in this series drop monthly through December. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Chapters

01:24 Series Kickoff With Nora

04:32 Conversion Rate Benchmarks

07:50 Analytics And Funnel Drops

14:00 Product Page Trust Builders

19:07 Checkout Friction Fixes

25:25 Homepage Placement Strategy

28:41 Holiday Conversion Mindset

36:24 SEO GEO Priorities

41:45 Map Customer Journey

44:09 Post Purchase Delight

46:12 Three Holiday Priorities

Every big grocery chain told Emma Lukian no. Every co-packer in Quebec told her no. Even the Dragons on Dans l'œil du dragon told her she'd never find one. Six years later, Good Big Nice kimchi is in almost 800 stores across Quebec, including Metro, IGA and Super C.

In this episode, Emma breaks down exactly what was blocking her from big retail for four years and how she finally cracked it. We talk about the real cost of getting on a big banner shelf (including the $7,000 per SKU listing fee nobody warns you about), why she had to stop looking for a co-packer and start looking for a partner, what happened when a four-month warehouse strike wiped out one of her biggest sales channels, and the moment she realized she'd been tracking revenue while having no idea how much money she was actually making per jar.

If your product is selling but you can't seem to break into bigger retail, this one is for you.

🎯 FREE LIVE WORKSHOP – August 20: I'm walking you through the 3R Strategy, the exact framework I use with private clients to break through growth plateaus. Live on Zoom, kept small, completely free. Save your spot:

Good Big Nice on the web: https://www.goodbignice.com/Good Big Nice on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodbignice/

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:52 First Store Breakthrough

09:30 Funding the Scale Up

15:42 Kebwich Collab Challenge

20:06 Budgeting for Big Retail

23:17 Metro Strike Supply Shock

28:12 New Flavor Pikliz Launch

33:58 Marketing Needs a Strategy

How do you spend $1.4 million on a product that isn't even on the market yet, and still have customers paying in full a year before it ships?

In this episode, I sit down with George Korkejian, co-founder and COO of Rozvelt, the Montreal brand behind the Vektr, a premium breath-filtration wearable for hunting, wildlife photography, and soon defense. George spent a decade on the other side of the table, investing in startups through a VC fund and running an accelerator, before finally taking his own advice and building a company himself.

We get into what $1.4M actually buys before a hardware product ever hits the market, how they validated a product nobody knew they needed, why they called every single pre-order customer to ask why they bought, and the full story behind their Dans l'oeil du dragon deal, including why they skipped the bunker and countered a dragon with a royalty deal on the spot.

FREE LIVE WORKSHOP — August 20: I'm walking you through the 3R Strategy, the exact framework I use with my private clients to help product brands break through their growth plateau. 90 minutes, live on Zoom, kept small so you can ask your questions. Save your spot: [insert link]

Rozvelt’s Website: https://www.rozvelt.com/

Rozvelt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rozveltofficial/

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters: 

02:39 Scent Control Outdoors

07:37 Origin Story Hunting

14:53 Why Hardware Costs

21:28 Premium Pricing Logic

25:35 Dragon Show Journey

31:22 After Airing Growth

35:00 Grit And Burnout

39:09 Taking Chances Finale

The energy drink aisle is one of the most saturated categories in retail — dominated by billion-dollar brands with decades of shelf space locked up. So how do you launch a new brand into that and actually win?

In this episode, I sit down with Jean-Olivier Campion, co-founder of Mana, a yerba mate energy brand that broke into IGA, Sobeys, Metro, Avril, and Lufa Farms across Quebec, Ontario, and BC — built by a five-person, no-office team with zero background in the beverage industry.

We get into how a bootstrapped team went from zero to 100+ retail accounts in eight weeks, what it actually takes to pitch a major grocery chain, why they walked away from paid ads after realizing they needed an 11x return just to break even, and how they navigate one of the toughest parts of retail: fighting for (and keeping) shelf space.

⚡️Struggling to figure out where your business is leaking growth? Take my free 3R Framework Diagnostic. In 10 minutes, you'll discover if you need to Revamp, Reshape, or Reach ➡️ https://learn.rectified.co/brand-diagnostic

⚡️Join the Scale Partner Community, a FREE space where founders connect, exchange ideas, and support each other ➡️ community.rectified.co/scalepartner

Mana’s Website: https://en.manayerbamate.com/

Mana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manayerbamate/

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters: 

00:00 Launching In Saturation

02:17 David Versus Goliath

09:14 Taste Test And Branding

17:53 Shelf Space Battles

22:03 Quebec Energy Drink Ban

24:31 Rapid Fire Questions

29:19 Signature Cocktail Recipe

35:19 Remote Work Loneliness

41:08 Final Wrap Up

What do the most successful product brand founders all have in common? After hosting 100 episodes of The Rectified Podcast, I started noticing the same patterns showing up over and over again, no matter the product, no matter the industry.

In this special solo episode, I'm breaking down the 5 biggest lessons my guests taught me about building and scaling a product brand. From the moment that changes everything (your first real customer) to the hard truth about resilience that most founders don't want to hear.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why your first customer who isn't family or a friend matters more than you think

• The one thing every founder who scaled had around them

• Why starting before you're ready is not reckless — it's the only way

• How your personal story becomes your biggest competitive advantage

• Why resilience without a plan will still kill your business

⚡️Struggling to figure out where your business is leaking growth? Take my free 3R Framework Diagnostic. In 10 minutes, you'll discover if you need to Revamp, Reshape, or Reach ➡️ https://learn.rectified.co/brand-diagnostic

⚡️Join the Rectified Founders Community, a FREE space where founders connect, exchange ideas, and support each other ➡️ community.rectified.co/scalepartner

Find me here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters:

0:00 — Intro: 100 Episodes Later

3:30 — Your First Real Customer Changes Everything

9:00 — You Can't Do This Alone

15:00 — Start Before You're Ready

21:00 — Your Personal Story IS Your Brand

27:00 — Resilience Without a Plan Will Still Kill Your Business

33:00 — Recap & What's Next

Allan Glenfield spotted a gap that every Canadian meat lover knows: the best snack brands don't ship here. So he built one, starting with one SKU, no operations background, and a "worst case I eat a lot of meat sticks" attitude.

In this episode, we get into how he validated the idea before spending a dollar on production, why he's actively turning down retail offers, the hidden cost that almost derailed the business, and how he's positioning Chuck as the family-friendly alternative in a category dominated by gas station brands.

If you're building a physical product brand, this one's worth your time.

Topics covered:

• How to validate a physical product before manufacturing

• D2C vs. retail — and why the wrong choice can kill your cash flow

• Amazon's dirty secret for new brands

• Family-friendly vs. fitness positioning: did it hurt or help?

• Working capital traps no one talks about

⚡️Struggling to figure out where your business is leaking growth? Take my free 3R Framework Diagnostic. In 10 minutes, you'll discover if you need to Revamp, Reshape, or Reach ➡️ https://learn.rectified.co/brand-diagnostic

⚡️Join the Scale Partner Community, a FREE space where founders connect, exchange ideas, and support each other ➡️ community.rectified.co/scalepartner

Chuck’s Website: https://eatchuck.com/Chuck on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatchuck/

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:22 Why Make Chuck

03:26 Validating Demand Fast

07:01 Launching D2C and Amazon

09:19 Retail Expansion Caution

10:22 Hidden Costs and Cash Flow

12:01 Marketing Shift and Positioning

17:25 Social Channels and Content

19:28 Email and Retention Plans

20:19 Rapid Fire Founder QandA

He built one of Canada's fastest-growing mattress brands, scaled to $15M during the pandemic, and just went through an acquisition. 

In this episode, Jeremiah Curvers, founder of Polysleep, breaks down exactly how he did it, from guerrilla marketing tactics in Montreal to a full retail strategy, and what every product founder needs to understand about brand trust before spending a dollar on ads.

This one is a masterclass.

⚡️Struggling to figure out where your business is leaking growth? Take my free 3R Framework Diagnostic. In 10 minutes, you'll discover if you need to Revamp, Reshape, or Reach ➡️ https://learn.rectified.co/brand-diagnostic

⚡️Join the Scale Partner Community, a FREE space where founders connect, exchange ideas, and support each other ➡️ community.rectified.co/scalepartner

Polysleep’s Website: https://polysleep.ca/

Polysleep on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poly_sleep/

Jeremiah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiahcurvers/

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters:

01:28 Injury Sparks Idea

05:25 Branding and Virality

09:00 Pandemic to Exit

13:05 Exit Mindset Shift

17:43 Life After Acquisition

25:11 Marketing Today

31:45 Omnichannel Storytelling

35:01 Email Life Moments

38:13 Founder Trust Playbook

41:55 Rapid Fire Takeaways

What does it actually take to get a Dragon to invest in your product? Georges Karam has spent 7 seasons on Dans l'oeil du dragon (the Quebec version of Dragon's Den) and is one of the sharks on Shark Tank Lebanon's first season. He's seen hundreds of pitches — and turned most of them down.

In this episode, Georges breaks down what makes him lean in or check out, the #1 mistake founders make in their pitch, why your first impression matters more than your financials, the difference between red ocean and blue ocean strategy for product brands, and why resilience without a financial plan will still kill your business.

Georges also gets real about arrogance, staying grounded after success, and why there's no shortcut to building a solid foundation.

Whether you're preparing to pitch investors or just trying to scale your product business past a plateau, this one's for you.

⚡️Struggling to figure out where your business is leaking growth? Take my free 3R Framework Diagnostic. In 10 minutes, you'll discover if you need to Revamp, Reshape, or Reach ➡️ https://learn.rectified.co/brand-diagnostic

⚡️Join the Scale Partner Community, a FREE space where founders connect, exchange ideas, and support each other ➡️ community.rectified.co/scalepartner

Georges’ Website: https://georgeskaram.ca/

Georges on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgeskaram.one/

Get Georges’ Book: https://amzn.to/4uWFKBc

Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandydedeian/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sandydedeian

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandydedeian/

Chapters:

0:00 — Intro

1:12 — From Lebanon to Montreal

10:42 — Success without arrogance

19:24 — Are entrepreneurs born or made?

27:00 — What a Dragon looks for in a pitch

34:30 — Advice for product founders