The Retail Whisperer

Matilda Kalaveshi's introduction to the international fashion industry started at an early age in Europe. After transitioning into the buying world when she joined Macys Corporate Inc, she completely fell in love with retail and the business side of the fashion world.

For the past 18 years, she has worked for numerous retailers in the southeast region and has held different positions such as fashion buyer, planner, senior buyer, fashion director and consultant. She currently runs her own retail consulting boutique, EMP Retail Consulting, where she helps brands and retailers build and grow profitable businesses. 

Take a listen as Michelle & Matilda discuss retail business strategies and how to efficiently optimize your business for maximum profit.

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Renee Dick, creator and founder of Fresh Life Marketing, is the girlfriend you never knew you needed in your business. Whether you're in the beginning stages of starting out, or even if you’re an established entrepreneur, her mission is to serve YOU. Renee created Fresh Life Marketing, an agency specializing in done for you content repurposing! This focuses on the content you’ve already created to give it FRESH LIFE in other aspects of your marketing. #worksmarternotharder

Renee is also co-host of the Dreams to Plans Podcast where she shares her experiences and connects with like minded entrepreneurs. With a passion for providing value and support for other business owners, it’s Renee’s mission to show you what’s possible, get you out of your own way, and be a resource for you at every stage of your business journey!

Grab a notepad and get ready to put your content repurposing plan into motion!

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With the holidays upon us, gratitude & giving back is the theme. This week’s guest is Crystalyn Aucoin, a jewelry designer from New Orleans, Louisiana and the mom of a football-loving boy named Winston. After a decade in the jewelry industry, selling top name brands such as David Yurman, Rolex, and Mikimoto at Aucoin Hart Jewelers she decided to create her own jewelry line based on a need she saw in the market for casual fine jewelry and a mission she felt was bigger than herself. Crystalyn Aucoin Jewelry launched in October of 2018.

A jewelry line was not always part of Crystalyn's vision however, a major life-altering event changed the course of her journey and her outlook forever.

In 2016, she became a widow when her 38-year-old husband Ryan passed away from cancer. His battle included an initial diagnosis of Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma NOS and later Acute Myeloid Leukemia. His life, his encouraging words, and his death ultimately opened her eyes to unapologetically living her purpose. She now navigates life with a heightened sense of gratitude and intention while encouraging others to do the same.

The mission behind Crystalyn Aucoin Jewelry is to empower women to get excited about life and celebrate it with meaningful jewelry.

In 2021, Crystalyn discovered her passion for speaking. She now speaks on a variety of topics including Designing a Life You Love, Designing a Business You Love, and Driving Sales through Connection.

In 2022, Crystalyn was a candidate for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Man and Woman of the year campaign where her and her team raised money in honor of her late-husband. She also allocates a percentage of sales and in-kind donations to local cancer-related non-profit organizations as well as finds peace in helping families who are experiencing the burden of cancer with her annual butterfly release celebrating Ryan’s birthday.

"Choosing to merge my love for jewelry and my passion to help others has been the catalyst for, not only my healing, but my growth."- Crystalyn Aucoin

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Sara Villari is the owner and creative director of Occasionette, an award-winning gift and card shop with four locations in the Philadelphia area. Occasionette ranked among the 100 fastest-growing businesses in the Philadelphia region in 2019 and 2020. Prior to opening the first Occasionette location in 2013, Sara was one of the first employees at Etsy.com, working as a community manager for the e-commerce site.

From pandemic store openings, private labels, creative merchandising, holiday decorating, inspiration and the Occasionette team, Michelle & Sara cover it all!

This episode is sponsored by Fine Lines, a west coast wholesale rep agency with showrooms in Las Vegas and Seattle representing over 50 fabulous gift, fashion + home lines.

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This week we are so excited to welcome guest Sara Stonecipher, Owner/CEO of howtorunaretailstore.com, helping entrepreneurs go from startup to success, no matter what part of the journey they're on.

In 2011, she started her own small business journey with $17K in savings, inspired by her mom’s retail consignment store, & opened her own store–MISRED Outfitter, a vintage store. Today MISRED is an all new clothing boutique, specializing in everyday clothing and handmade accessories, for women of all ages. The change in concept worked for them and now the company has doubled in size, has a thriving online presence, and is making over a million dollars a year in revenue.

By offering a selection of tools & support in the form of free online content, affordable eBooks, e-courses, checklists and private consulting, Sara is pulling back the curtain on industry secrets and discussing with Michelle how she got to where she is, retail trends, how to grow & thrive in your retail storefront and to never give up.

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Michael Schultz is the co-owner and creative eye of Cursive New York, which operates 2 stores in New York City.  Cursive is a tightly focused concept with the simple mission of cultivating joy. Michael, along with his husband, Douglas Duncan, have established Cursive as a strong and forward voice in the industry.  Cursive offers gift, stationery, home and lifestyle products and is constantly evolving. Cursive operated in New York City’s iconic Grand Central Terminal for 11 years and within ABC Carpet & Home for 15 years, until the Covid-19 pandemic upended those long runs. 

Making lemonade out of lemons, Schultz and Duncan doubled down on New York and opened 2 shops in New York’s West Village neighborhood, 4 blocks apart. One shop is true to the original Cursive vision, while Cursive Home is the brands extension into home goods. Says Schultz, “We began our career in the Meatpacking District 25 years ago.  It’s wonderful being back, so close in the West Village.  It’s the best place in New York!” I guess you can go home again.

Michelle & Michael discuss all things merchandising from large square footage, to dealing with high foot traffic locations (Grand Central Terminal!) to creating the individual look for your store & how important it is to not fall in love with your merchandise. After listening to this episode you will see why Cursive New York was chosen as one of the 10 BEST NEW SHOPS by The Shopkeepers

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If you know Michelle, you know the holidays are her favorite time of the year. The music, the lights, the smells...all of it! On this mini-episode, Michelle gives listeners a quick look into what her holiday setup schedule looks like and how she manages to keep it together through it all. 

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Abbey & Courtney are both co-founders and business besties of Duo Collective, a boutique organic marketing agency specializing in social media strategy, branding, SEO and coaching for small business owners and creative entrepreneurs. We are obsessed with finding ways to help you grow organically without needing to spend a dime on paid ads.

With 20+ years of combined marketing experience, Abbey & Court discuss with Michelle the different ways a small retail business can grow their business, elevate their brand and drive sales.

Click here for the Duo Collective workbook “7 Secrets to Increase Your Visibility on Google”. A must-have guide for any small business.

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This week, we are thrilled to welcome Amy Loewenberg, Senior Relations Manager for NY NOW, SF NOW & American Handcrafted. Amy considers herself to be a champion for people, for product and for paving new lanes for mutually beneficial and treasured relationships that celebrate the love for what we do and why we do it. This is her past, her present and her future.

Her passion for product grew exponentially when she returned to NYC and was purchasing for an iconic NYC paper and gift store known as Kate’s Paperie to a 130-location mini department store known as Blue Tulip to foster the first ever purchasing program for the non-profit Housing Works. She drank the Kool-Aid! Whether she was buying greeting cards and invitations, homewares, tabletop, or textiles, she was enamored with everything from paper to cement and the impact they made on her business.

It was a no brainer for her to move into her role for NY NOW, a market she has been attending for decades. Her high-level and firsthand experience helps her to not just be a resource for all who attend, but it allows her to highlight our remarkable community.

Michelle & Amy talk trade shows, challenges and exciting changes that will make for an even greater experience for attendees!

This week’s episode sponsored by Fines Lines Company, a west coast wholesale rep agency with showrooms in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle representing over 50 fabulous gift, fashion + home lines.

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This week’s guest is Melissa Kanarek, a couture upholsterer and seamstress by trade who lives in the SantaYnez Valley part of California, where she operates her Brass Tack brick & mortar.

Melissa’s work, along with the pieces she buys, is imbued with a strong sense of story. She believes who makes it and how it is made are equally important to the object itself. An admitted travel junkie (56 countries and counting), the globe is an unending, evergrowing moodboard for her endeavors.

Michelle & Melissa talk having fun with fashion, Melissa’s time, working in London, as a couture upholsterer & seamstress, her love of the process of ‘making’, curating her lines and how she envisioned the fixtures showing the curated lines, the importance, as a boutique owner, of being present in your store to meet people in your community, the creation of her Hat Bar and lastly how she finds inspiration.

She also works out of a barn on her ranch, Ranchy McRanch, a place she shares with her husband, dogs, goats, rescue horses, highland cows, pigs, and the happily revolving door of grown children, family members, and houseguests. The ranch was just featured in Domino Magazine and you can see more about the ranch, shop and Melissa this Fall in Santa Barbara Magazine.

We are so grateful that Melissa took time out of her busy schedule – which includes brushing her cows – to speak with us.

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