The Retail Whisperer

In this episode, Michelle opens up about the emotional journey behind rebranding The Retail Whore Podcast to The Retail Whisperer. She takes us back to her days owning three stores at Fred Segal, the devastating experience of losing everything, and the lessons that shaped her career in retail.

From overcoming failure and letting go of past shame to finally embracing her experience and accomplishments, Michelle shares why this new chapter is about more than just changing a podcast name. It's about growth, confidence, and owning who she's become.

What's Inside:

• The story behind the podcast rebrand and why Michelle decided it was time for a change.
• Lessons from owning and losing three retail stores and rebuilding a career in the industry.
• Letting go of past failures, embracing personal growth, and finding the confidence to own your success.

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Matt Triest is an entrepreneur, retailer, and small business owner with more than 15 years of experience in retail and e-commerce. He is the owner of Be Charmed, an independent gift shop in Medfield, Massachusetts, where he has spent almost a decade creating a unique shopping experience.

Throughout his entrepreneurial career, Matt has owned and operated businesses across several industries, including a toy store, a pet store, and an online and wholesale clothing and jewelry business. He also successfully later sold his toy store. Matt is passionate about small business, retail, merchandising, customer experience, e-commerce, and finding new opportunities to grow and bring ideas to life.

In this episode, Michelle sits down with Matt to explore his journey from opening his first toy store at just 16 years old to building multiple retail businesses and growing Be Charmed. Matt shares his experiences with buying, merchandising, inventory management, and customer service, along with the lessons he's learned about taking risks, adapting to change, and finding new opportunities in retail.

What's Inside:

• How Matt started his first retail business at 16 and turned his passion into a career.
• The challenges and lessons of building multiple businesses, managing inventory, and selling his toy store.
• How Matt continues to grow Be Charmed through thoughtful merchandising, customer experience, and new retail opportunities.

Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Be Charmed Website

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For more than 22 years, Barbara Mooney has been building Daisy’s Mercantile in Alameda, California, into a retail experience rooted in creativity, storytelling, and discovery. Now, her daughter Jillian is bringing her own perspective to the family business after growing up in the store, attending trade shows from a young age, and eventually stepping into a full-time role alongside her mom.

Together, Barbara and Jillian approach Daisy’s almost like a magazine, transforming the store through immersive seasonal themes while keeping its familiar personality intact. From thoughtfully planned buying and merchandising to elaborate handmade displays, classes, community events, and holiday installations, every detail is designed to tell a larger story and give customers a reason to keep exploring.

In this episode, Michelle catches up with Barbara and Jillian to dive into the creativity and strategy behind Daisy’s Mercantile. They share how their mother-daughter partnership has evolved, how they turn big creative ideas into organized buying and merchandising plans, and what goes into producing their unforgettable seasonal installations.

Barbara and Jillian also take us behind the scenes of their holiday process, including their Christmas on the Silver Screen concept, where different areas of the store were inspired by classic Christmas movies. They discuss creating clear gift niches within larger themes, giving their team visual tools to understand each concept, planning months ahead, and why they’re willing to close the store for several days to create a true reveal for their customers.

From balancing vision and execution to finding inspiration outside the four walls of the store, this conversation is packed with ideas for retailers who want to make shopping feel more personal, immersive, and memorable.

What's Inside:

• Turning seasonal merchandising into storytelling: How Barbara and Jillian develop themes, displays, gift niches, and buying plans that make the entire store feel connected.
• The strategy behind unforgettable holiday retail: From planning months in advance and hand-making props to closing the store for installation and creating that magical reveal for customers.
• Growing a family business together: How Barbara and Jillian balance different ideas, divide responsibilities, learn from each other, and evolve Daisy’s for its next generation.

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Owner/Interior Designer Christina Van Blake is a prominent designer serving the Maine and NH Seacoast area for over 22 years. Christina truly enjoys her work, her clients and design of all kinds. Her enthusiasm for the art of this business ensures each client fully understands the options and choices, why they work, and how they reflect their personal taste with the end result being a carefully curated space that feels uniquely personal and beautifully functional. Christina graduated with a BFA in Design from Savannah College of Art & Design and currently holds 3 separate degrees in Advertising, Graphic & Interior Design.

Her specialties in color, pattern and texture come from 3 generations of designing women. Christina has received numerous awards and accolades for her art and design work as well as her charitable contribution through ‘Design it Forward’; a non-profit effort to bring interior design services to anyone willing to do 3 charitable acts in return. She has been featured in various media outlets as well as a guest speaker and teacher locally, nationally and internationally.

In this episode, Michelle sits down with Christina to talk about the journey behind her two businesses, HOME and house & HOME, and how she created two distinct experiences for two very different types of customers. Christina shares how house & HOME grew into a 9,000-square-foot retail destination filled with furniture, housewares, gifts, and carefully curated displays, while HOME remains focused on full-service interior design and custom furniture.

What's Inside:

• Building two distinct businesses and creating the right experience for interior design clients versus retail shoppers
• Curating, buying & merchandising with intention, from market finds to creating displays around a lifestyle and a story
• Turning customer service into customer loyalty through personal connection, memorable events, and experiences that keep shoppers coming back

Instagram for HOME
Instagram for House & HOME
Home Designer Website

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In this episode, Michelle and Susan are back for another Shelf Talk, catching up after a busy show season and diving into Susan’s experience setting up at New York Now and exploring Shoppe Object. They talk about what worked, what they’d do differently, clever booth and merchandising ideas, and the trends catching their attention right now, from bold saturated color and Western influences to creative displays and artist-driven products.  

They also share the Instagram accounts and stores they can’t stop looking at right now and, more importantly, why they’re obsessed. Michelle shares her love for lovefeste, especially its incredible displays and product mix; shop.with.caroline for her fun high-low approach to fashion; and shopboothhouse for its unforgettable store installations.  

Susan brings goodandwellsupplyco into the conversation for its colorful, abundant mix of fun and usable gifts, along with thelocavorenyc and its simple but incredibly effective local-first retail messaging. 

And yes, there’s also a little peek at some changes happening with the podcast. Michelle opens up about why, after five years and 100,000 downloads, she feels it’s time for the show’s name to evolve while keeping the heart and personality of the podcast the same. 

What's Inside:

• Susan’s New York Now + Shoppe Object recap and the booth, merchandising, and display lessons she’s bringing home. 
• The retail trends catching their eye, including saturated color, Western influences, creative temporary displays, and more artist-driven product. 
• Their current Instagram + store obsessions, including lovefeste, shop.with.caroline, shopboothhouse, thelocavorenyc, and goodandwellsupplyco, plus exactly what makes each one worth following.

Instagram - lovefeste
Instagram - shop.with.caroline
Instagram - shopboothhouse
Instagram - goodandwellsupplyco
Instagram -  thelocavorenyc

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In this episode, I’m joined by visual merchandiser Allison Levy to talk about her career in retail, specialty outdoor apparel, fixture design, and visual merchandising. Allison shares how she finds inspiration in unexpected places, including dumpster-dived treasures, and how her love of gardening connects to the way she approaches merchandising and design. We also talk about her experience training sales reps and store employees and what she’s learned about creating spaces that feel interesting, intentional, and alive.

What’s Inside

•  Finding creative inspiration in unexpected places and turning everyday objects into merchandising elements 
•  How Allison’s experience in retail, apparel, fixture design, and training shaped her approach to visual merchandising 
•  Why designing a retail space and designing a garden have more in common than you might think

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In this episode, I’m back with Part 2 of my August solo, diving deeper into the merchandising decisions that can completely change how your store looks and sells. I’m talking about choosing and placing fixtures, using vintage and secondhand pieces without making your store feel cluttered, and why every prop in your display should have a purpose.  

I also get into one of my favorite parts of merchandising: storytelling. I share how I think about the person behind a display, the environment she lives in, and even sight, sound, and scent when creating a concept. Plus, I break down my 30, 60, 90-day approach to slow-moving inventory and when it’s finally time to mark it down and move on.  

What’s Inside:

•  How to choose and place fixtures without overwhelming your store 
•  Why storytelling and intentional props make stronger displays 
•  My 30, 60, 90-day strategy for dealing with slow-moving inventory

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In this episode, I’m back home after a long show season and sitting down for another solo Q&A, answering real questions submitted by retailers. I’m digging into everything from mixing high- and moderate-priced apparel and deciding when Christmas should hit the sales floor to handling those last one or two products that just won’t sell.  

I also share my approach to must-have product categories, creating displays that tell a story and encourage add-on sales, fall merchandising, and building better product flow throughout your store. It’s a practical look at the merchandising decisions I make every day and the strategies retailers can use as we head into the holiday season.   

What’s Inside:

•  How I merchandise products to create stronger displays and add-on sales 
•  When to start rolling out holiday merchandise—and why earlier can work in your favor 
•  How I handle inventory, product flow, and those last one or two items on the floor

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Sara Stein is a seasoned brand builder and product developer with a career spanning Hollywood, fashion, and consumer products.

Starting at Writers & Artists Agency and Simpson-Bruckheimer Films, she transitioned to fashion PR, founding S Public Relations in 2001. Best known for launching Los Angeles Fashion Week, she represented over 60 brands, including Universal Consumer Products, Superga, and Erica Courtney Jewelry. She produced live events featuring The Beach Boys and Runway Shows.

In 2012, Sara launched Sisters of Los Angeles, a vibrant gift brand sold in upscale outlets across the U.S., Canada, and Japan, including Nordstrom, The Fontainebleau Hotel, LAX, The Broad Museum, Hallmark, and Ritz-Carlton. Her brand was featured on THE TODAY SHOW, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The LA Times, Sunset Mag and more. She managed operations, product design, and strategic partnerships before selling the company in 2018.

In this episode, Sara shares her journey from Hollywood and fashion PR to building her own consumer brand. We talk about her experience launching Los Angeles Fashion Week, developing Sisters of Los Angeles, growing the brand into major retailers and destinations, and what she learned along the way as a brand builder and entrepreneur.

What's Inside:

•  Sara's journey from Hollywood and fashion PR to entrepreneurship 
•  Building and growing Sisters of Los Angeles into a widely distributed gift brand 
•  Product development, partnerships, and the experience of eventually selling her company

Instagram
Facebook
Swags to Riches Website

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In this episode, Michelle sits down with wardrobe stylist and small business advocate Leslie Firkins to talk about the connection between personal style, confidence, and the retail experience. Leslie shares how her early work in photography led her into wardrobe styling, how she helps people feel more comfortable taking fashion risks, and what she is seeing in apparel and accessories right now. They also dive into how independent retailers can introduce apparel into their stores, create meaningful events, and use fashion to build stronger connections with their communities.  

What's Inside:

•  How personal style can build confidence and encourage you to take more fashion risks. 
•  Easy ways for gift and specialty retailers to introduce apparel and accessories into their stores. 
•  How fashion shows, pop-ups, and in-store events can bring people together and build a stronger retail community. 

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Facebook

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