The Retail Whisperer

Dallas Market Center is the most complete wholesale trade resource in the world. Products include home, gift, lighting, apparel & accessories, and more. We are so excited to have Cole Daugherty, SVP, Exhibitor Marketing for the Dallas Market Center as this week’s guest. 

Some of the topics Michelle & Cole discuss but not limited to are what’s new & different at this years upcoming Dallas Market June show, Gift for Life, which was founded in 1992 by a small group of gift industry professionals responding to the tragic loss of friends and colleagues as a result of AIDS, partnering with World Central Kitchen, the work/life balance challenge and a great book recommendation for retailers called Made to Stick on how to make ideas stick.

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This week’s guest, Yunnie Morena Kim, Digital Food Content Creator Restaurateur for KimChiAvocado is a lover of food (making it, eating it, sharing it), daughter of Korean immigrants, a wife and mother of two sons, who grew up in Southern California and literally married the boy next door. At a young age, she realized the impact that delicious, home-cooked food has. Growing up with two immigrant parents, she watched her mom and dad work hard every day and yet always came home to make a beautiful meal for them to share as a family.

Her first career was in fashion, and she owned and operated several stores within the iconic Fred Segal Santa Monica. Later her husband and her took over her parents’ 40-year-old restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier, The Albright. They currently own and operate The EST 1977 Group, a boutique restaurant group which specializes in revitalizing legacy businesses and curated food concepts.

 Take a listen to this week’s episode as Michelle & Yunnie discuss her journey and the celebration of how food connects people, brings family together, and creates community.

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This week’s guest is Ellen Nguyen, founder/creator of the UnitedOther— a spiritual goods company based in Los Angeles. Coming to America from Vietnam with very little money, Ellen was taught to be self made and to create financial security for myself. After making it to the top of the corporate ladder in the beauty industry at some of the most recognized brands in the world, she realized she wasn’t fulfilled. Through learning from wise teachers, working with loving healers, and dedicating to a daily practice of meditation this has allowed her to heal old wounds, rewrite outdated stories, and to gain clarity on my higher purpose. 

The first step she took was to start a sacred incense and ritual goods company called UnitedOther in 2017. The inspiration came from her own personal need for trusted spiritual products for meditation & intention rituals. UnitedOther aspires to bridge the widening divide between sacred rituals and the modern world by honoring the primary and natural technologies of our ancestors – the cave painters, the stargazers and the spiritual healers.

Take a listen as Michelle and Ellen discuss spiritual journeys, past life, crystals & growth within UnitedOther.

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In honor of May being National Pet Foster Care Month, this week’s guest is Gwenn Vallone, CEO of Pug Nation Rescue of Los Angeles, a non-profit dedicated to the rescue, care and placement of abandoned, neglected, unwanted and abused pugs.

Gwenn grew up loving dogs and wanting to help those in need. Years ago she would sign up to go out to shelters to do anything she could to help.  She ended up coming across pugs and fell in love with their gregarious, snorting personalities right away.  She ended up volunteering with a pug rescue in Southern California and after 5 or so years the organization started falling apart.  Gwenn rallied many of the volunteers and ended up forming a board of seven and creating a brand new rescue, Pug Nation Rescue of Los Angeles.  As Pug Nation grew it became apparent that she could no longer run her own business and Pug Nation at the same time so she decided to sell her direct mail company and run the rescue full time.  Definitely the best decision she ever made and we are so grateful to have Gwenn on our podcast this week.

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This week’s episode is part of our Life After Z Gallerie series. Michelle worked closely with both Fabian & Melissa during her time at Z Gallerie.

Fabian was born and raised in LA, is a self-taught creative leader and a bona fide retail nerd.  With more than 25 years of multi-unit management experience in the retail home furnishings industry, he still feels as if he is in the beginning stages of his career. Currently, he is a Gift Merchandiser & Buyer for A.C. Vroman's Inc., one of the oldest independent bookstores in the country, 128 years old.  A.C. Vroman's operates 2 bookstores in the Pasadena area and also owns Book Soup in West Hollywood, CA, another independent bookstore founded in 1975.  In addition to working at A.C. Vromans, he is also the Founder of Onederkam.com, which is a small eCommerce gift and home accessories store. His side hustle!! He has also worked at IKEA North America at the following markets - San Francisco, Connecticut, Philadelphia, and for IKEA A.B. in Malmö, Sweden as Communications & Interior Design Manager for 10.5 years.  Prior to IKEA, he has worked as District Visual Manager for Z Gallerie covering a variety of markets in the US - So. California, Midwest, East Coast, and Northwest Merchandiser of the Year while working there.

Melissa Hesse is a Southern California native raised in the San Gabriel Valley, a mom to two amazing young men, and has been happily married to her husband of 25 years, Bill.

She doesn’t have a degree in art but somehow has made it her career. She started at Z Gallerie back in 1993 as a part time sales associate while going to college. She spent the next 14 years there, holding almost every position possible there but always found the art department my home. After 6 years in the stores, she moved into the corporate office and spent the next 8 years in the art department as the Merchandise Planner and Assistant Buyer. She would help select the artwork for, at that time 70+ stores. She went on buying trips, worked with publishers and wholesale framers on new merchandise for the stores. FUN was the best way she would describe it. She grew up at Z Gallerie, met lifelong friends (Michelle and Fabian included!), got married, had kids, bought their first house. After 14 years she made the leap to Third and Wall Art Group which was a vendor we purchased posters from. She has been with Third and Wall for almost 15 years and was recently promoted to Creative Director.

Michelle, Fabian & Melissa recant their different roles, funny stories, challenges & growth within Z Gallerie and how that paved the way to their current careers. Check out the episode on YouTube and get a glimpse of Melissa’s Chris Hemsworth photo blanket her kids gifted to her!

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This week’s episode is brought to you by Fine Lines Company, a west coast wholesale rep agency with showrooms in LA, Las Vegas and Seattle. Fine Lines represents over 50 fabulous gift, fashion + home lines.

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When Missy lost everything in the 2008 recession, she almost lost all hope. She was broke, had 3 kids, and had just moved again. One day, her youngest was running through the kitchen and playfully yanked on the dish towel she had just hung up to dry on the oven, and it of course fell to the floor, which meant more laundry. She thought to herself  "If I can't control anything else in my life, I'm going to control this F*&%ing towel!"

Remembering that Grandma used to make a hand towel that had a button to keep it on the oven door, she asked herself "why don't they make dish towels I can actually use everyday that stay put?" And, Voila!, the Hang Tight Towel® was born.  

She began selling them at local farmers' markets and then eventually started selling them on Etsy, always having people return for more!  Then in 2014, after a customer requested she make a towel with "red" fabric on it only to complain that it was the wrong "red" when she returned to buy it, Missy decided to take all of the red towels and print funny sayings on them with the F%*K word. She was worried that she might kill her business by doing this. It was a risk, but it made her chuckle every time to make one of these new kinds of towels and she had to see if anyone else felt as she did. She put these new towels out for sale at the next event and they SOLD OUT!  So, she began printing more funny sayings with her twisted sense of humor on the towels and the business really started to grow.

Twisted Wares now makes all kinds of products including cocktail napkins, stickers, cosmetic bags, along with kitchen and bathroom textiles, and they all will make you chuckle. Plus, we're a stickler for quality and function.  We like to say "We put the FUN in FUNCTIONAL"!

 So, as losing everything has taught Missy, all you can do is laugh and not take yourself too seriously.  We hope that our products are a reminder of that, whether you buy our products for yourself or give them as gifts, we want to make you smile.

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This week’s guest is Allison Carter. Allison is a Seattle mom of two and believes that every occasion, big or small, deserves to be celebrated. As the founder and CEO of Allison Carter Celebrates, she helps make busy moms’ lives easier and a hell of a lot more fun, especially when it comes to celebrating special occasions and holidays. Her monthly subscription box, Memories in Moments: Unwrapped, brings the celebration straight to your door with holiday-themed crafts and activities planned, prepped and done for you.

Allison shares, with Michelle, her expertise with other female-owned businesses, how she helps them scale and gain massive visibility and credibility through simple PR strategies. Allison and her business have been featured in Oprah Magazine, Forbes, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart, Buzzfeed, Real Simple, and more! She's currently planning her first in-person event, Ultimate Product Party, which is all for product-based businesses looking to scale and sell more products! She's Bravo obsessed and never turns down a girl’s night with scratch margs.

If you are interested in attending the @ultimateproductparty 2-day conference, use PROMO CODE RETAILWHOREUPP at checkout for $50 off your ticket.

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This week's guest is CEO & founder of Swanky D's, Nadiyah Gulley. Established in 2016, Swanky D’s is a company dedicated to mentoring and coaching businesses on how to creatively succeed in a competitive industry through visual merchandising. Her foundation is humbly built upon vintage clothing and fashion styling  but has since transitioned to visual consulting for small businesses, brands, and boutiques. 

Michelle & Nadiyah discuss how she provides quality merchandising services to small business boutiques and fashion brands while creating an avenue where small businesses can be merchandised to compete with mainstream retail companies.

After listening to this episode, you will see why we feel Nadiyah epitomizes the definition of a hustler and gets our vote for Hustler of the Week! 

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This week’s guest is Nathan Waldon, Founder of Everything for Nathan & Co. After a bazillion plus years of product development for the big guys, nothing ever scratched his retail itch like opening his own eponymous shops. He doesn’t really know how to describe the satisfaction he gets, but he can tell you it's true and beyond satisfying. His advice to young entrepreneurs is to do it, but do it smartly. In April they celebrate 16 years of sweetness - OR is that sweet sixteen?  We were so thrilled to interview Nathan and we are sure you will feel the same once you listen to this episode!

In the words of Nathan...Whichever way of saying it - being a retail whore is ok. Be proud. But, be smart. There's nothing like retailing through a pandemic (or a financial collapse in 2008) to give you some wits about your business. Be grateful for tough times. Learn. Savor. Make a plan.

This week’s episode is brought to you by Fine Lines Company, a west coast wholesale rep agency with showrooms in LA, Las Vegas and Seattle. Fine Lines represents over 50 fabulous gift, fashion + home lines.

Our Links: https://linktr.ee/theretailwhorepodcast

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This week’s guest is Kurt Beeken, Owner & President of Retail Dimensions (RDi). Kurt is a veteran of the retail and technology industry having worked in retail technology since 1985. He has written and implemented inventory management/POS systems for retailers as well as participated on retailer’s behalf to help them select the best system for their needs.

Michelle & Kurt discuss how the combination of brick & mortar + e-commerce experience allows Kurt & the RDi team to bring a unique perspective to retailers on how to leverage their technology & data to meet business needs & differentiate from competitors. For those looking to expand their website with e-commerce , manage inventory effectively & create a positive online shopping experience for customers, this is the episode for you!

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