Building Community & Transforming Careers: Vicki Cantrell

S1E2 Retail Transformers - Vicki Cantrell

[00:00:00] Preview

[00:00:01] Vicki Cantrell: I just wanted to say that no matter what you do in retail, like no other career, you can do anything you want.

[00:00:12] When you understand. Another human's problem in a way that you can understand it, you immediately, barriers come down. You have empathy, because you get it. And before that, you were making assumptions. And once you stop making assumptions and you understand challenges, the methodology for coming together, there's, there's a million more touch points just automatically.

[00:00:38] So many different environments, so many different cultures I've worked in around the world with multiple brands and multiple, with multiple regions, okay? You just can't forget that people are people, regardless of their culture, where they came from, who they are, they are still human beings with [00:01:00] concerns, worries, fears, loves, hates, et cetera.

[00:01:04] find your advocates in an organization, in an industry, anywhere, and help them be your evangelist, okay? And help and, and have them help you.

[00:01:17] All right, so here's a couple things that I learned, and this has served me really well, and I wish everybody understood it. It comes down to people.

[00:01:26] Show Intro

[00:01:34] Ricardo Belmar: Hello, and welcome to the second episode of the Retail Razor: Retail Transformers podcast. The latest podcast in the fast growing Retail Podcast Network.

[00:01:43] I'm Ricardo Belmar.

[00:01:45] Casey Golden: And I'm Casey Golden.

[00:01:47] Welcome Retail Razor fans to the show where we cut through the clutter and bring you the people driving real transformation in retail. The change makers, the innovators, and the disruptors, reshaping the industry [00:02:00] from the inside out.

[00:02:00] Ricardo Belmar: Yes, this is the podcast where we dive into candid conversations with the people reshaping the world of commerce. The crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, all the round pegs in the square holes, and the bold thinkers that see things differently. And drive the industry forward. If you're passionate about innovation, leadership, and the future of commerce, this is the podcast for you.

[00:02:22] Casey Golden: We're coming off a killer start to the series with April Sabral, last episode with her leadership and positive mindset approach that's transforming how retailers lead their business.

[00:02:35] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, a hundred percent. And what an amazing way to start the series. With so much positivity and mentorship. I think our retail Razor fans will find this is an incredible follow up to that with this episode's guest, Vicki Cantrell, currently the CEO and Co-founder of Vendors and Partnership and the VIP awards.

[00:02:52] But as we'll hear, she has an amazing history in retail that's earned her the nickname, the Fairy Godmother of Retail.

[00:02:58] Casey Golden: Honestly, [00:03:00] when we talk about retail transformers, Vicki is just the best example that 100% reflects everything the title, Retail Transformer stands for. She's a disruptor, a change maker, a mentor, a bold thinker and leader. She's been the COO at Tori Birch, CIO at Giorgio Armani, VP of IT at Gucci Group head of Franchise Relations and IT at Party City and led IT teams at brands like Today's Man.

[00:03:31] Ricardo Belmar: Not to mention many years at the National Retail Federation, NRF, as their SVP of Community and the Executive Director for shop.org during the very formative years of e-commerce. We're sure to get more details on that, on that experience, I'm sure.

[00:03:46] Casey Golden: So if we sum up what makes Vicki a retail transformer, it has to be her ability to build community, not just between brand and consumer, but also between brand and the [00:04:00]technology vendor side of the industry. Something that so many people in this industry often ignore.

[00:04:06] Ricardo Belmar: That's right. And speaking to someone who's always been on that tech side of the retail business, I know directly the kind of amazing impact Vicki has had in building those relationships and community and causing retailers to really view their tech supplier relationships in a completely new way.

[00:04:21] Casey Golden: Absolutely. Now, before we dive into our candid conversation with Vicki, let's take a quick moment to make one simple ask of our audience. Please consider giving us a five star rating and review. Drop a quick review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or good pods if you like the show. We really appreciate your support.

[00:04:43] Ricardo Belmar: That's right, and we would be completely remiss if we didn't drop a quick plug for the other shows in the Retail Razor Podcast Network. Hopefully you're already subscribed to our main show, the Retail Razor Show, but if not, don't worry. We'll forgive you. Just be sure when you're done listening to this show, and of course, hit that subscribe button, you [00:05:00] also go and subscribe to the Retail Razor Show. You will be so glad you did.

[00:05:03] Casey Golden: And then don't stop. Go check out Blades to Greatness Show for the best leadership skills and career tips you could ever ask for in retail. Straight from the best leaders in retail.

[00:05:14] Ricardo Belmar: And then go give data blades a listen or watch, where you'll get deep practical insights into customer experience tactics that you can use based on real world research at the point of sale. If you're a data junkie, of course, like Casey here, then you absolutely want to check out Data Blades. We really appreciate your support.

[00:05:31] Casey Golden: A hundred percent. So with that, I think we're ready to dive into our conversation with Vicki. Right.

[00:05:35] Ricardo Belmar: Yes, let's jump in and learn exactly why this episode's Retail Transformer. Vicki Cantrell is more than meets the eye.

[00:05:43] Casey Golden: I knew I made a mistake leaving that open for you.

[00:05:46] Ricardo Belmar: I told you I'd take on the challenge of getting it in every episode. Just wait until next time.

[00:05:50] Retail Transformer - Vicki Cantrell

[00:05:57] Ricardo Belmar: Welcome, Vicki to the Retail [00:06:00] Transformers podcast. I am so excited to have you on this new show. Honestly, if there is anyone in retail that deserves our label as a retail transformer driving change, disrupting the industry, it it has to be you.

[00:06:13] Casey Golden: And of course, you're no stranger to the Retail Razor having you on before, but those visits were really about Retail ROI, and our special event recap episodes for NRF and Shop Talk. So we've never really had a chance to sit down and talk to you about your journey in retail and all the incredible work that you do now.

[00:06:36] Vicki Cantrell: Well, I am absolutely thrilled to be here. I love this idea of the Transformers because look, retail transforms every day.

[00:06:46] Ricardo Belmar: That's right. Especially today. Right.

[00:06:49] Vicki Cantrell: Especially today. And so, I just love being a part of that, so I really appreciate you reaching out and having me on. I'm excited..

[00:06:57] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. Well, that is awesome to, to have you [00:07:00] here and although we kind of expect often on, on this show that our audience probably knows a few things or or two about who our guest is just by the nature of the show. But let's start just by having you give us a little bit about your background and how you started in retail.

[00:07:14] Vicki Cantrell: Oh my gosh. How I started in retail. Yeah. I actually started way, way, way, way back in a wrapping gifts in a gift shop.

[00:07:22] Ricardo Belmar: Wow.

[00:07:23] Vicki Cantrell: That was even before JCPenney, where, was one of those where Christmas help and turned into becoming a buyer. And then actually started me on the technology journey that I ended up in by working as a buyer for Penny's, if you can possibly imagine that.

[00:07:43] And this was in the old days when they were, this was before they were in Texas. Okay. When the buying office was in New York. And I worked in, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which was a large and important store for JC Penney. And I, I actually [00:08:00] got started on my technology career because we were putting in computer registers and, you know, uh, all right. And so I had an affinity for it and ended up being one of the ones that helped train 150 associates on the, you know, that because it was a big change and I thought, oh, this is kind of fun. And believe it or not, that is how I grew into technology and into technology roles in a CIO and started from implementing a computer point of sale.

[00:08:36] Ricardo Belmar: Well that so, so, wow. 'cause that, that, honestly, that was probably one of the first, big transformations just in retail. Right. Going to that kind of new point of sale technology. Right. Yeah. So you've really been there in every early transformation.

[00:08:51] Vicki Cantrell: I had to run a switchboard like nobody's business with the plug and all of that, and, and [00:09:00] also the old registers and the knuckle busters and all that. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I've, I've been around a while, but I am always transforming myself, so,

[00:09:12] Casey Golden: I love that, so much of the magic in retail being transformed are these operators that are typically behind the scenes. So I think that understanding how everybody kind of got in the business, I just find it in incredibly inspiring. Not just for myself, but I feel like as our audience gets more and more younger it doesn't always start at the top, you know, and I think it's important to know that any walk into, through the doors of retail can take you in a zillion different directions.

[00:09:48] Vicki Cantrell: Right, and, and let me just kind of talk about that for a minute, because if you think about my journey without going through the whole journey, because it's a long journey, obviously, but [00:10:00] here's what I can say about it, is that, I mean, literally, I started as Christmas help and I grew inside of Penny's, and I was a buyer, and then you know, and did other things while I was there and through my career, I mean, when you think that I actually became a CIO without growing up in the technology space of coding and, or computer science and or whatever, and I knew what I was doing, but think of the growth that it took between there and there. And I, when I worked for Today's Man, I was in IT and I, and I got to Today's Man in an IT role because I had helped implement warehousing systems, automated warehousing systems, and they needed that.

[00:10:50] And so they hired me and so I was in IT. But while I was there, I actually became a merchant and a planner and went over and worked in [00:11:00] merchandising and created open to buy for them and, and, and ending up helping them through Arthur

[00:11:08] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:09] Vicki Cantrell: Now I'm really dating myself, but I don't care anymore about dating myself.

[00:11:15] Casey Golden: Hey.

[00:11:18] Vicki Cantrell: So I was, I was always had, I would be in the business and then I would be in technology. And so there were really two types of CIOs. One that came up through the business and understood the technology, and one that came up through technology and understood the business. And so it's just that my life and being in luxury to the luxury brands, I was heavily involved in CRM and customer experience and all of that. Plus I was, I never, the way I say is I never had to stay in my lane in any place I worked, anything I've done, I've never had to stay [00:12:00] in the title lane and always had broad responsibility across the business. And when you're in technology, you understand all of the parts of the business.

[00:12:10] And when I was at Gucci and we ended up doing 10 acquisitions while I was there of other brands, that's what really gave me my operational chops. Okay. And understanding warehousing and distribution and supply chain and all of that, and all the different brands across all the different countries in the world.

[00:12:31] Ricardo Belmar: of integration.

[00:12:32] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah, a ton of integration.

[00:12:34] The Importance of Building Community in Retail

[00:12:34] Vicki Cantrell: So I just wanted to say that no matter what you do in retail, like no other career, you can do anything you want. And there is every position inside retail, there's attorneys and creatives, and there's technology, there's

[00:12:54] Ricardo Belmar: you're right. That's something that so many people don't normally think about people who aren't in this [00:13:00] industry don't normally expect or think that all of these things exist in a retail business.

[00:13:05] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah, yeah

[00:13:07] Casey Golden: I think that that's, I think it's important.

[00:13:09] You've been called the, the Fairy Godmother of Retail, that speaks to your incredible talent for bringing retailers and solution providers together to build these transparent and empathetic and, and lasting partnerships. I love that. But I have to ask, what is the story behind this magical nickname?

[00:13:31] Who crowned you with it, and what does it mean to you?

[00:13:35] Vicki Cantrell: I, I did not crown myself, but, but I so appreciate being crowned by it because it felt so, right. So we were at a VIP connect and we'll talk a little bit about what happens at a VIP Connect, but it's very much collaborative vendors and retailers going, doing a deep dive. And Kacey Sharrett was my [00:14:00] retail presenter that day.

[00:14:01] And in that particular, and, and when she was getting up and talking about something and she said, and Vicky, who's the fairy godmother of retail, and I let her go on and on, and man, it hit me like a lightning bolt because. It hit me like a lightning bill for a couple of reasons, because it felt right, because the other title that I have been given, not given as a title, but that people mention I never liked, which was, oh yeah, she knows everybody.

[00:14:33] She's the queen of retail. It's like, I, it, I, I, I, no, no, please don't call me that. There's a million queens of retail out there and I'm not it, please don't, don't do that. You know, and so it never, it's like, ugh. When she said that, I thought, I love to like just sprinkle very, and so, [00:15:00] so I have to, I have to thank Kacey for that but then it was many others that said, that you have, you own that, own that. Get that on, you know, put that, put that up. So, that's how it happened. I have to credit Kacey with it, but, you know, I've thought a little bit about it and okay. So what does a fairy godmother do? All right. The fairy godmother shows up when they're most needed.

[00:15:26] Okay. When somebody is having real difficulty or despair, okay. They, they can grant access to something that is unreachable. All right? Not grant access. I hope to be able to help people do something that right now feels unreachable. Transformation. Okay. You know, that fairy god trans godmother transformed Cinderella, okay?

[00:15:52] Uh,

[00:15:52] Ricardo Belmar: right.

[00:15:53] Vicki Cantrell: but then Cinderella had to like do something about that. Okay?

[00:15:57] Casey Golden: Still up.

[00:15:59] Vicki Cantrell: [00:16:00] It, right? It means that I get to empower people who have potential that they don't know they have. All right? So I love that. And and then it's really about disappearing. You know, let shining the light on those things and lift others into that spotlight.

[00:16:19] And so, I like to think that I guide with heart and strategy, so I happen to really appreciate the title, and I love it.

[00:16:29] Casey Golden: Awesome.

[00:16:29] Ricardo Belmar: Awesome. That's Awesome. That's awesome.

[00:16:31] Casey Golden: a great description.

[00:16:33] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, it, it absolutely fits, no doubt about that.

[00:16:36] Vendors in Partnership: Bridging the Gap

[00:16:36] Ricardo Belmar: I, I guess so I'm gonna take that and give you another question sort of related to that, because you have been a champion of this entire idea of vendors as true partners with retailers. And, and that's, i i, I don't wanna, I'm not gonna put words in your mouth because I'll let you talk about it, but I, I know that's part of what led to creating vendors in partnership and, and filling a need to really get that [00:17:00] I idea of vendors as partners out there and not being just suppliers. And we're of course familiar with your VIP awards. And we obviously want to hear more about that, but then, we also want our audience to learn more about what you're doing with VIP Connect. You mentioned it quickly earlier, and that's really a unique concept. I, I think, of how you're bringing this community together. And now that you're doing that work, I wanna just, we wanna understand, you know, what, what led you to that. You'll obviously tell us what the purpose and objective behind VIP Connect is and just what inspires you to keep doing that and alongside the VIP awards

[00:17:38] Vicki Cantrell: well, that's a lot of

[00:17:39] Ricardo Belmar: I know

[00:17:40] Vicki Cantrell: and, okay. So, let's see, how should I start? Why did I do this? It is, uh, first of all, as a practitioner for many, many, many years, a buyer of technology, a a seller of technology. Okay. Because I, I did, I've done that [00:18:00] too. Actually, I don't consider myself a seller of technology.

[00:18:03] I consider myself as a, transformation person who helps suppliers and or people who have something important to sell, to solve business problems rather than sell technology. But that's. That's a different story. Okay. But so I, as a practitioner, I was always partner oriented. Okay, look, when, when you've been at it as long as I have, and you have done, you have purchased countless solutions across multiple brands, you realize one thing, software is software, okay?

[00:18:41] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm.

[00:18:41] Vicki Cantrell: Software is always, everything's gonna go wrong. Some no, some things will go wrong. Not everything goes wrong.

[00:18:49] Ricardo Belmar: Hopefully not everything.

[00:18:50] Vicki Cantrell: wrong. Okay? And when it goes wrong, because that's not the part, it's either is or isn't? It will, who has your back?

[00:18:59] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. [00:19:00] Yeah.

[00:19:00] Vicki Cantrell: I have to connect with someone. And so I was always partner oriented as a practitioner and as a buyer.

[00:19:08] So it's just actually natural comes naturally for me. So. And, and working at NRF was a different way of seeing how retailers, I had communities that had vendors and retailers together in it, and I had communities that had retailers only in it. And so you understand that relationship. And anyway, when I left Aptos, I, I just, it's like what do I wanna do?

[00:19:34] And to me, everything changes in retail and everybody's got everything. We just keep going forward and we keep getting better and better and better. But what has not gotten better is the relationship between the vendors and retailers. It's still the haves and have nots. It's still that not good feeling.

[00:19:53] And I saw, and I've had the good fortune of working deeply inside a vendor, understanding [00:20:00] all of the mechanics from beginning to end, how they work. Okay. And also in a retailer. And when I see the power on both sides, I, and I understand the difference now that vendors are, and this is not a bad thing, vendors are a sales organization.

[00:20:21] Their structure is a sales organization, which is a very different set of mechanics than a retail organization. Yes. They both sell, yes, they both have customers, but the mechanics to it are completely different. The measurements along the way completely different. And we do sit back. It's like, how the hell do we do any business at all?

[00:20:43] I mean, really the processes are very different

[00:20:45] Casey Golden: I mean, it's hard not to get two salespeople to work together, let alone like two sales divisions and like cultures to have to work together. That's really, I don't see that as a recipe for success either.

[00:20:57] Vicki Cantrell: So I, it's just, when I [00:21:00] see that, and we'll talk about what it means to build a community and what the important pieces are, I have always believed and seen it. This is the truth. This is not just my opinion. When you understand. Another human's problem in a way that you can understand it, you immediately, barriers come down.

[00:21:22] You have empathy because you get it. And before that, you were making assumptions. And once you stop making assumptions and you understand challenges, the methodology for coming together, there's, there's a million more touch points just automatically. So the goal is understand each other. This is the whole goal.

[00:21:45] If you just shine a light on what really happens behind the scenes on both sides, honest to God, this problem would be solved. So it is something that we now really speak about as [00:22:00]investigative empathy. Okay. Everybody talks about empathy. It's critical. It's all I talk about. But investigative empathy is not just having somebody tell you, okay?

[00:22:11] Is really understanding what's behind that and why, and what is that driver. Because when you're investigating, you also can upset some things that should be upset. Okay? Okay. I understand now why you do it this way, but is that right?

[00:22:28] Ricardo Belmar: Right. Is it the right way?

[00:22:29] Vicki Cantrell: that be changed? Because here's what I would do. If you could change that, I would then come this far, okay.

[00:22:37] And help you. So, it's a deeper level of empathy. There's understanding, which then says, okay, if you change this, I can sign up to change this. And it, it's, it's really changing things. The other thing is, you know, we, we all know buzzwords, right? And what is becoming a buzzword As [00:23:00]much as it breaks my heart is partnership.

[00:23:02] And my whole thing is partnership and vendors in partnership. And I talk about the partnership awards, and there are best awards of the VIP awards and they're critically important, but I don't want that to just become a buzzword in people not to understand the importance of it

[00:23:19] Casey Golden: What it means.

[00:23:20] Vicki Cantrell: what it really means. So what we talk about now, instead of partnership is an expedition mindset.

[00:23:28] And what I mean by that is when you are on an expedition, okay, think about all of the amazing accomplishments that have happened in this world. The, the North Pole and space and the, all the exploration that's happened that has science and everything. You have always relied on someone else. Not any one person has made an a major contribution by themselves.

[00:23:55] Ricardo Belmar: Right.

[00:23:56] Vicki Cantrell: And so this expedition mindset [00:24:00] enables us to think of this, this way as sometimes you're the one that has to carry the other person, and sometimes you're the one that needs to be carried. And if we're, if we think of that as partnership, okay. Because you are carrying the load at different times, it's a much smarter way to think about it.

[00:24:22] And the other aspect of expeditions is you always leave something behind for the person that's coming after you.

[00:24:29] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm.

[00:24:30] Vicki Cantrell: And so that's how I like to think about it even more than partnership.

[00:24:34] Casey Golden: It's a nice way.

[00:24:35] Ricardo Belmar: That's a good way to put it. Yeah, it's more about the contribution you're making at that point with within, both within and external to the partnership.

[00:24:41] Right.

[00:24:42] Vicki Cantrell: Look, if.

[00:24:43] Casey Golden: that we have had this lack traditionally this lack of, I guess you can say that it's empathy, but it's this value of your, the brand, between technology and between the brand [00:25:00]coming from the brand and moving to technology. I haven't been on the brand side for 10 years, but when I say we, I mean me as the brand, I, and I still associate myself on their best interests and what it means to, for them and how to make it easier for them and still associate myself on that side because, and I haven't even been on that side for a very long time.

[00:25:23] And I think that there is this level of partnership that we need through these retail transformations. Where you can have deep relationships and have this, it's, we're going to be together for a while, years. And technology is going to change every 14 days. And you have to know, who am I going on this journey with?

[00:25:48] What, um, do they want me to win? And are we a if when things do hit the fan, are these the people that are going to, [00:26:00] carry some of the weight with me and help me through it and respond, 'cause that's not always the case. So I think that the way that you amplify it is so important to the industry to be able to move forward together and to build more of those bridges.

[00:26:16] Vicki Cantrell: So that's a two part process. Okay. It's one thing to understand and now that can lead me into talking about how this happened and VIP awards and IP Connect is. And let's, you know, put a pin in that. Okay, yeah, I understand it. And then what, okay. That is believe not the end. Okay.

[00:26:35] The VIP Awards and VIP Connect

[00:26:36] Vicki Cantrell: So, so anyway the VIP awards.

[00:26:39] I mean, some of it is just pragmatic when I think about the value that a solution provider can bring that they don't have enough ways to talk about it. Okay. There just were no solution provider awards in the industry. They're all retailer awards. Okay. And even though I wanted to talk about partnership and all of that, it's, [00:27:00] this was an important aspect for finding a way to highlight.

[00:27:04] And I always, I always say that I created the awards to be a carrot. Okay. At the end of a stick, which means that, so there's two types of awards, the solution part, I have the best whatever, payment, et cetera. But there's also the partnership category, which is more about how they do business rather than what they sell.

[00:27:24] Okay. Best kept secret retailers favorite, best longstanding partnership partner of the year. Those are recognitions for regardless of what you, your service is, whether it be consulting or you know, systems integrator or software or whatever. It's kind of how you do business and

[00:27:43] Ricardo Belmar: The relationship part.

[00:27:45] Vicki Cantrell: the relationship part.

[00:27:46] And so that was always to keep this, the DNA of what vendors in partnership is. Those are a category of words that are important. But, and we do have some retailer awards, but they are the retailer [00:28:00] awards that highlight partnership. Okay. So retail person of the year partner is that retailer person who embodies everything we're talking about.

[00:28:14] They treat their partners this way, this is how they do business. They tell their teams how to do business with vendors. They, they just have a different mindset. And I'm excited because we are probably going to be expanding awards for retailers. And I don't mean necessarily highlighting just retailers.

[00:28:39] They will come alongside with the retailer. how do I say this? That, that demonstrates the value of the partnership in the

[00:28:49] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. Okay.

[00:28:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:28:51] Vicki Cantrell: because I think that's really what we're trying to do. One that we are doing for sure that will be new this year. I'm actually really [00:29:00] excited about this.

[00:29:01] It's called the Bridge Builder Award, and it is, so those nominees will be either a retailer, a current retailer, or a current solution provider. And the reason it could be either is because this award is for a person who has in fact worked on both sides of the table. Okay.

[00:29:24] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. Oh, interesting.

[00:29:26] Vicki Cantrell: Who has been a retailer in seat, who has been a vendor in seat?

[00:29:30] So they could be at either one at this

[00:29:33] Ricardo Belmar: Right. Right.

[00:29:35] Vicki Cantrell: I'm one of those weirdos, although I will not be nominated. I, I'm not eligible for the award. But I think the more we highlight that, because by the way, that's happening a lot. Okay. So the nominations will be a pool of both retailers and vendor people, and we'll see who wins on the night. But I [00:30:00] want to keep finding a way to highlight this connectivity. So I'm excited about that.

[00:30:04] So, and by the way nominations open August 20th and the VIP awards this year are Friday night, January 9th, 2026. So more to come on that. But the awards. Started to build, started to build. People understand what it is now. It, it has traction. It's great. It's gonna continue, and I'm, I love everything about it.

[00:30:32] Every year we do it better. It's great. It's the most fun event of that season. I, I, I'm,

[00:30:41] Casey Golden: think it's wonderful.

[00:30:42] Ricardo Belmar: is

[00:30:42] Casey Golden: of my favorite events and I like the emphasis on bringing these two people into the same room for an evening,

[00:30:50] Vicki Cantrell: Right.

[00:30:51] Casey Golden: and it's not, it's not like a pay to play.

[00:30:55] Vicki Cantrell: It's a relationship event.

[00:30:57] Ricardo Belmar: It is. It really is. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:30:59] Vicki Cantrell: [00:31:00] Hundred percent across the board and everybody has so much fun.

[00:31:03] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah.

[00:31:05] Vicki Cantrell: it's wonderful. But a year or two ago I said I wanna get back to why I started vendors in partnership. Yes, the awards took up all my time. I'm a startup like anybody else, and it sucks you in as a founder and all that stuff.

[00:31:19] But I want to get back to why I created vendors in partnership, getting 'em equally at the table in the room, seek to understand, but then what do we do about it? Okay. And so the Connect events that I've done now, three of them have been okay. I'm biased. Magical. Okay. It's a small group. It's an equal number of vendors and retailers in the room, executive level, people in seat and understanding, you know, that have, have done this.

[00:31:52] And I say they're equal in the room and they are. And we do things like, I don't wanna go through the whole day, but just so [00:32:00] you have an, an understanding, there is a very deep dive presentation from a retailer that covers everything. How they make decisions, who they partner with internally, externally, what their decision processes, when they budget.

[00:32:16] Just all the things that a, a vendor should know. Okay? That is a mystery, uh, that should not be a

[00:32:24] Ricardo Belmar: It shouldn't be a mystery. Yeah.

[00:32:25] Vicki Cantrell: right?

[00:32:26] Casey Golden: about that.

[00:32:27] Vicki Cantrell: Right, and, and you know how, and then some deeper dives into here's what ROI means to us. Here's how we measure ROI, here's the five kinds of ROI, here's how our CFO thinks about it, our CEO, our c, just some really deep dive stuff.

[00:32:43] And then, and, okay, now, now we're ready to go shopping. Here's, here's what we do. Here's where we look. Here's who we call, here's how we make those decisions. Here's when price is important to us. Here's when just, you know, here's how I interact

[00:32:58] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:32:59] Vicki Cantrell: [00:33:00] okay? And then the vendor does the same thing. Okay, here's top of funnel.

[00:33:05] Here's what happens when you click on a website. Here's, here's how you're scored. Here's how we manage you through, here's what happens in the sales process. Here's how we form our targets. Here's what a deal desk is. Here's when our, your brand is important to us. All right? This again. There have been on both sides.

[00:33:24] So many aha moments you can't even imagine. Okay. Shock. Like even shock, like things you, everybody thinks the other person knew this and our shock that they didn't know this. This is the, you know, let's go back to empathy. This is the learning part. This is the understanding part, okay? And it's magical.

[00:33:49] It's super interactive. A million questions everybody, but one of the things I wanna stress about this is, I will find a way no matter how I can just keep beating this drum. [00:34:00] Everyone is equal in the room and they don't come in as equal vendors and equal retailers because I'm gonna stop using that too.

[00:34:06] Everyone in that room is in fact an industry expert. They come in as an industry expert. They have worked at multiple companies. They have possibly worked across the table like we talked about. They have long careers in retail. Not a single one is new to retail. Okay? They've seen it all. Every one of 'em has value as a retail expert.

[00:34:31] And they come in and the sharing that comes from that is amazing. Okay? So this is why, this is how it's starting to change. Now we're coming up with, here's the things that we can start to work on. What would you have to change? Here's the two things I could change if you do these things. Okay? And so we're starting to get some real education around some of the thornier problems that cause friction in [00:35:00] a relationship.

[00:35:01] Even as simple as everybody hates RFPs and there's a completely different way to calculate ROI on the vendor side as there is on retailer side. Okay. When you understand how a vendor looks at marketing and how a retailer looks at marketing, they could be more different. And, and everyone, this is one of my favorite like learnings from this was so a retailer sitting there thinking that the vendor has all the money in the world, buckets of money, okay?

[00:35:38] Big booth at the NRF or any, any trade show going out to dinner, flying anytime you need them to come and see you to do this, to do that. Whining and dining, et cetera. If you think about how a retailer measures a marketing budget and what they. What percentage it it is of the total and how they measure all the [00:36:00] different cha, all that stuff.

[00:36:01] Right? When you understand that a vendor literally overspends on marketing, okay. Like more than a hundred percent of the revenue, okay. Which is mind blowing. Alright?

[00:36:16] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah.

[00:36:17] Vicki Cantrell: And that to do this, okay, to, to appear this way, where the retailer thinks they have buckets of money and why are they holding my feet to the fire on price, okay?

[00:36:28] When they have all this money anyway. When you really understand that what they're showing to the outside world to cut through the damn noise, okay? Which is

[00:36:39] Casey Golden: Yeah.

[00:36:40] Vicki Cantrell: an unfair disadvantage, okay, is that they could literally be six months away from laying off six people at any given

[00:36:50] Ricardo Belmar: right.

[00:36:51] right.

[00:36:51] Vicki Cantrell: Okay.

[00:36:53] Breaking Down Barriers in Retail Collaboration

[00:36:53] Vicki Cantrell: Break down the barriers, understand each other's challenges, and then when you do figure out how to work better together.

[00:37:01] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:03] Casey Golden: I think that's great

[00:37:04] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. It is really am amazing when, when people on both sides, learn that things don't actually work. They think that does

[00:37:11] on the other side, that there are, are, that the expectations are not what you thought they were of, of how things actually work.

[00:37:17] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some big, thorny problems in the industry that I can't solve.

[00:37:25] Casey Golden: Yeah, no, for sure. I mean,

[00:37:27] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah.

[00:37:28] Casey Golden: but this is how we start, I think I'd like to see a lot more retail operators move to the tech side over the next like five, 10 years. I'd love to see more of that happen and that transition happen. And I think it will just continue to bring us all closer together.

[00:37:44] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:45] Ricardo Belmar: absolutely.

[00:37:46] Universal Lessons in Leadership and Customer Connection

[00:37:46] Casey Golden: So from Tori Birch to Party City, you've worked across luxury mass market and nonprofits like retail, ROI what's, what's one universal lesson about [00:38:00] leadership or customer connection that applies to any retail segment that you took take away from these experiences?

[00:38:08] Vicki Cantrell: one, huh? Okay. Just one. It has legs. Okay. It has a few

[00:38:14] Ricardo Belmar: Uh, huh.

[00:38:15] Casey Golden: Okay.

[00:38:16] Ricardo Belmar: Okay.

[00:38:16] Vicki Cantrell: I, but it all comes down to people. Okay.

[00:38:19] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:38:20] Vicki Cantrell: So many different environments, so many different cultures I've worked in around the world with multiple brands and multiple, with multiple regions, okay? You just can't forget that people are people, regardless of their culture, where they came from, who they are, they are still human beings with concerns, worries, fears, loves hates et cetera.

[00:38:46] Okay? And when you realize, 'cause you have all these, look, we're a judgy society in general, right? And when you realize that regardless of how someone shows up, all right? They are human [00:39:00] beings at the core with the same fears, worries, aspirations, goals, et cetera. It becomes so apparent that we're all the same.

[00:39:10] We are all the same. Okay? And so that's a key piece, especially as I've worked across so many cultures. Okay. That, that it's something that always strikes me.

[00:39:22] The Importance of Change Management in Retail

[00:39:22] Vicki Cantrell: When you think about a leadership skill, I would say what is applied across the board, I don't care where I've been, I don't care where I've been,

[00:39:30] Casey Golden: Yeah.

[00:39:31] Vicki Cantrell: management, the criticality of change management is 100% across the board the most important thing because you are always advocating to get people to do something. Change, leave, grow, shrink new systems, new products, new [00:40:00] relationships, and there's so much change in retail at every moment. I, I did a, a podcast a couple of weeks ago about AI specifically, and, and, and I don't wanna talk about the tariffs of the AI and the technology and all of that.

[00:40:17] Okay. I wanna talk about how do you bring your employees, how do you change, manage your employees through this? What do they say? What are they allowed to say? What are they not allowed to say? How, what does this mean to them, to their life, to their job? They might have to leave, they might have to.

[00:40:34] Casey Golden: I think that's a really good point.

[00:40:36] Vicki Cantrell: So critical. I was trying to change how every single council inside the NRF thought a, how they worked. I was trying to change each one of them, how they were. 'cause they all worked completely differently when I got, so I ended up having to change how they all worked, keeping the core of what they needed, but changing how they [00:41:00] did it.

[00:41:00] If you don't think this is a 24 7 thing in this industry, in every role, under every circumstance. And I think that we don't understand the criticality of it and give it as much attention as it needs because change management is constant. You have to keep at it every

[00:41:22] Casey Golden: seen this with the, the rise of technology and the amount of change in mindset and leadership adaption that's had to happen to embrace technology on the retail side. And now with ai, I, I'm, I'm like, that's the AI is like the easy part.

[00:41:45] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:41:46] Casey Golden: of the change leadership and the mindset and how these organizations are going to have to think.

[00:41:56] And plan together is going to be the [00:42:00] hardest part of AI adoption. Because it shifts the whole entire focus from the org

[00:42:06] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:42:07] Casey Golden: to the customer.

[00:42:08] Vicki Cantrell: yep. So think about the people and what you have to do to continually think about what they need or what you need or how to communicate. The, the, the absolute change management. The other thing that I think is critical from a leadership standpoint is, look, there's some people that are natural change agents and they will always suffer. Because people don't like change, and you're going to

[00:42:35] Ricardo Belmar: People wanna resist. Yeah.

[00:42:36] Vicki Cantrell: to someone at some point higher, lower, whatever it's gonna happen to you that somebody doesn't wanna hear about change. Change is super uncomfortable and it's really hard. So, one thing that I've always learned is that never try to be, make it, you can't change anything on your own.

[00:42:55] Find your advocates. Find your, find your advocates in [00:43:00] an organization, in an industry, anywhere, and help them be your evangelist, okay? And help and, and have them help you. You, nobody can do this alone. So that's the other thing I would say is, get, find your peeps.

[00:43:17] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, yeah. Well, and , you mentioned as an example there of how you looked at the different community groups within the NRF while you were there.

[00:43:24] Insights from Leading Shop.org and NRF Communities

[00:43:28] Ricardo Belmar: I want to dig a little deeper into that time when you were at NRF 'cause that, I guess that was, that was your, at least by title, right?

[00:43:31] That was your role, is building these communities and shaping 'em into what the industry needed. And then you were also leading shop.org at the time. So I'm, I'd really love to know, you know, what, what, what are the takeaways, if you were to, maybe instead of one, it's three, this time there were three things you took away for that time at NRF.

[00:43:48] I mean, that's a little easier. But what are the main things that you think really had an impact and that you take away from that experience, both from the communities and and shop org?

[00:43:57] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. Look, I've loved everything I've [00:44:00] done. I have been so incredibly fortunate and had amazing roles. This was another one. It was, I loved what I did there. And it's interesting because I went from full on retail, executive retail for years and years into a trade association. Okay. By the way, one I was completely familiar with.

[00:44:18] I was on the CIO council for ages, at many different retailers and got so much value. So like I understood it, okay? But you're literally going into a different career. In, in a sense. Okay.

[00:44:30] Ricardo Belmar: Right. Right.

[00:44:31] Vicki Cantrell: My role as executive director of shop.org and head of communities was in fact the community role of, of running those business groups.

[00:44:43] Okay. 'cause I came from the business and I was one of those, or many of those business groups. So that was my role. My role got much bigger while I was there. Not only did I run the communities, I was also responsible for all the show content, which made complete sense [00:45:00]because the people that I ran Okay.

[00:45:04] As a group or the ones that put on the content and know what we need to hear, that's, and I also ran the industry level side of the research. Okay. Not the consumer research, but the.

[00:45:15] Ricardo Belmar: Okay.

[00:45:16] Vicki Cantrell: these people do their jobs research? What does the CIO need? Research, what's the state of retailing online? Research, you know, with Forrester that we did for years.

[00:45:26] So I did content and I did communities, and I did research, and so it, it ended up kind of getting bigger and bigger. All right, so here's a couple things that I learned, and this has served me really well, and I wish everybody understood it. It comes down to people. Each of those communities were very, very different.

[00:45:48] And you wouldn't think that, all right, but when, and it really sheds a light on why and how vendors of retailers work together. Okay? Let's, let's kind of go through that for a minute. So, the CIO [00:46:00] council, all right, the CIOs, CIOs are the ones that have always made the decisions on technology in retail, all right?

[00:46:08] And so they have it, this, kind of hands-off mentality that we have in retail comes from that. "Please gift me the ability to talk to you retailer." Okay. You know that it comes from technologists and, and too many people clamoring at them. That kind of hands-off mentality. Okay. The, the loss prevention people are incredibly risk averse as they are supposed to be.

[00:46:41] All of these people are supposed to be the way they are. Okay. So what they need is very different than what a CIO needs. They're gonna be completely risk averse. So you have to think about that. The, the marketers, back in the old days, there were two types of marketers. One that came up through [00:47:00] advertising, one that came up through digital.

[00:47:02] Okay. You wanna talk about the different way of looking at the world? I.

[00:47:07] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah.

[00:47:08] Vicki Cantrell: Came from a DNA of, I'm not giving away my secrets. Okay.

[00:47:12] Ricardo Belmar: Right, right,

[00:47:13] Vicki Cantrell: So in a similar way to the CIO, I'm not gonna tell you this. I'm gonna only give you what you need to give me what I

[00:47:22] Ricardo Belmar: right,

[00:47:23] right,

[00:47:23] Vicki Cantrell: And the digital people are the most open because if you think about the beginning of the internet, this is a scenario where they had no budget.

[00:47:37] They were told to go figure out the internet. Who are they gonna rely on each other? The vendors and retailers creating this had to rely on each other. So they naturally have in their DNAA collaborative thing. Okay? So understanding all of that is, the lessons from it are that people desperately need peers and deserve peers that [00:48:00] completely understand their own challenges.

[00:48:03] The magic of what happens inside those rooms of just the CIO council, just the CMOs, just the digital is magic. It's therapy. It's, there's no competition because it doesn't matter what you're selling. You understand that I have the same problem that you just went through or did, or I'm not as far behind as I thought I was.

[00:48:26] It's magic. So you have to give people their own group to understand and it, it recognize individual needs and personalities. I consider, and when all is said and done, one of my crown and the other one is how people can work together. All right? This is when that started. Each council was separate. And I would watch, you remember when vendors started to be able to sell right to the marketer instead of the CIO.

[00:48:56] Ricardo Belmar: Right?

[00:48:57] Yep. Yep.

[00:48:58] Vicki Cantrell: And the whole industry went, oh [00:49:00] my God. The marketers.

[00:49:01] Ricardo Belmar: attack.

[00:49:04] Yeah.

[00:49:05] Vicki Cantrell: here I am running these different groups, okay? And I'm watching them go back to their homes and go into their silos. And I'm hearing each of their challenges. I sit in on every meeting, I understand their challenges. And so honestly, one, one of my biggest achievements was I did an event called the All Councils Forum,

[00:49:26] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:49:27] Vicki Cantrell: where I put them all in the room together for two days

[00:49:30] Ricardo Belmar: Wow.

[00:49:31] Vicki Cantrell: and they ended up understanding guess what?

[00:49:35] Ricardo Belmar: Each other

[00:49:36] Vicki Cantrell: challenge.

[00:49:37] Ricardo Belmar: yeah.

[00:49:37] Vicki Cantrell: And so really, I sound like a broken

[00:49:40] Casey Golden: It's very much like, it's like you're pain the ass and it's like you are frustrating.

[00:49:44] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. You're too slow. We,

[00:49:49] Vicki Cantrell: Why does this take so long? And then when, when, when somebody in digital understands why it takes so long, they're like,

[00:49:57] Ricardo Belmar: oh,

[00:49:58] Vicki Cantrell: so you're not,[00:50:00]

[00:50:00] Casey Golden: It's not magic

[00:50:01] Ricardo Belmar: You're not just here to say no all the time.

[00:50:05] Vicki Cantrell: you're, you're not just a,

[00:50:07] Ricardo Belmar: Uh huh.

[00:50:08] Casey Golden: Great.

[00:50:08] Vicki Cantrell: I won't swear. I won't swear.

[00:50:12] Casey Golden: A on a podcast yesterday, so we'll see how

[00:50:15] Vicki Cantrell: Okay.

[00:50:19] Casey Golden: that.

[00:50:20] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. So anyway, it was, it's part of the genesis of what I do. It's just, it's just, it's just more of the same. If I had to sum up my entire career in one thing, no matter what I've done, it's community builder.

[00:50:37] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. Yeah.

[00:50:38] Vicki Cantrell: Get people their own community, and that's a little one or a big one, or a one or a group one or a single one, whatever.

[00:50:47] Casey Golden: Yeah, talking about single ones much of what we talked about relates to mentorship in the sense that all of these learnings that you've shared, I'm sure anyone listening is thinking to themselves, if only someone had helped [00:51:00] me see that sooner, you know, everyone can really benefit from that mentorship and that community.

[00:51:08] The Role of Mentorship in Retail

[00:51:08] Casey Golden: What are your thoughts on mentorship in retail? More on that, like one-on-one. And how have you been involved in, in mentorship?

[00:51:18] Vicki Cantrell: I've done a lot of that 'cause I think it's absolutely critical, and we have a lot of, and I don't wanna just focus on women. Okay. But we have a lot of things in the industry that are just so mentorship oriented about making other people successful in some way. Like, you know, retail, women in tech and the women in retail.

[00:51:42] And, and just helping people get together, share their challenges, et cetera, becomes a sense of, of a mentorship in and of itself. Specifically for, for mentorship, I've done some very robust, specific [00:52:00] programs that I absolutely loved. There's a group in, in Atlanta here called Path Builders and they have different levels.

[00:52:07] And the one that I was involved is a year long program. Extremely robust companies send. There are people to it. Okay. It was mostly, it is focused on women. But there are many, you know, we talk about allyship. Many of the mentors are, are men also and women people. And the level that I was participating in as a volunteer mentor was something called Achieve A, which is women who are in senior roles with a p and l and a big staff and all of that.

[00:52:39] And they're in that right at that place where they're not quite ready or could be more ready or could gain additional skills to get to that CEO level. Okay. And so just participating for a few years in that program and seeing my mentors mentees, like. [00:53:00] Into those roles has been incredibly rewarding with a super great robust program behind it.

[00:53:07] So that was amazing. Like even my learnings, mentors always get as much out of mentoring as the mentee. Always, always, always, if not more. So I'm a huge fan. I I do it a lot. I try to have time for pe Anybody who needs to talk to me, I'll talk to them. My problem is, I don't know how to say no, which is creating a real problem in my schedule.

[00:53:36] But anyway I'm all for it. And I just, I think it's incredibly important because, you

[00:53:42] Casey Golden: the,

[00:53:44] Ricardo Belmar: yeah.

[00:53:45] Casey Golden: it's, it's very hard to ask. I think that was one of my, a, a big learning being a founder was asking for help.

[00:53:53] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah.

[00:53:54] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:53:54] Vicki Cantrell: You know what I would say about this too, because sometimes mentorship sounds daunting. Like who? I don't [00:54:00] wanna ask somebody or what. It sounds daunting. Don't think of it as a individual thing. Think about it in a much broader way. So I want to be mentored. I'm going to go hang with people who understand my challenges.

[00:54:12] Join a council. Okay. If you're an NRF member, join the council. That is for your role because you'll get so much outta that. It's mentorship or find ways, think of it in a broader term and don't let it be,

[00:54:27] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. I think sometimes a lot of people don't think of mentorship as coming from peers, in a

[00:54:33] sense, when you mention the councils, right? I'm just immediately thinking, there's so much you can, you learn from each other in those communities who are, because you realize people are having the same challenges you

[00:54:43] have, that you, you feel, you often fall into that trap, or you think that I must be the only one having this problem.

[00:54:49] How do I

[00:54:49] solve it? And you don't

[00:54:51] want to, you feel like you can't approach your peers because you're afraid they're gonna look at you and say, why are you even having that problem? And odds are they had the same problem [00:55:00] already.

[00:55:00] Casey Golden: Yeah, I mean, I think re retail, rethink retail was really a game changer for me, especially, like I didn't have it during my first startup. Or in the beginning of my career, I had a couple superheroes that just kept on, like lugging me over the walls,

[00:55:19] you know, and answering the phone when it rang no matter what, and I do like what I've had today in this mentorship and relationships, like being able to meet everyone. I would've never met, I would've never met you, Vicki, had it not been for like, rethink retail or even Ricardo. You know, like there's so many people in the industry that I just you think they're inaccessible.

[00:55:45] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm.

[00:55:45] Casey Golden: You don't know how to reach out to them. They're, everybody's so busy.

[00:55:50] Ricardo Belmar: right.

[00:55:51] Casey Golden: And, a lot of times you're not used to people wanting to help or meet. Everybody's got a gazillion things on their plate. And I think that's the one [00:56:00] thing is really rethink retail, kind of shined a light on. There's time and there's interest.

[00:56:08] Meet everyone and build a relationship and help. And I think that it really is one of those perspectives that changed because I didn't always have that previously. And so now I think, people at brands should know how amazing this is because they too are on an island that's like typically only their logo,

[00:56:29] Vicki Cantrell: Right.

[00:56:30] Ricardo Belmar: Right.

[00:56:30] Casey Golden: And being able to cross the street, like my dinner tables or are insane. I always say we can, we could start a company based off of everybody who's sitting at the table because it's like. Everybody has a job somewhere on one of the sides. I'm like, this dinner table could literally be a company in like two months.

[00:56:52] We could be to market.

[00:56:53] Vicki Cantrell: That is a hundred percent true. Every single one of my friends, I, I am just sitting here thinking about [00:57:00] what you're saying. Every single one of my friends is, is a mentor to me.

[00:57:03] Casey Golden: Yeah.

[00:57:04] Vicki Cantrell: Like, but the people that I have trusted through this whole process, who know what I'm about and have helped me, believe me, I am not done this alone.

[00:57:12] You know, the people that reach out on my behalf and do all of that they're all my mentors. And I love what you said about the dinner table. I have this one group of friends, it's like eight of us who like get together like, you know, three times a year. And it's not even about retail or business,

[00:57:29] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[00:57:30] Vicki Cantrell: Like, okay, when you're buying a car, one of 'em knows everything about cars and one of 'em knows, one's a builder and one's a like, and we, we always say that between the six or eight of us, we literally could solve every problem in the world.

[00:57:43] Casey Golden: Exactly.

[00:57:44] Ricardo Belmar: That's right.

[00:57:45] Casey Golden: Hundred percent. I see it. I mean, I, I, I, yeah, I think it's really nice, um, keeping those brand connections and then just, I've met so many people and I just think it's really important for any of our listeners and audience reach [00:58:00] out.

[00:58:01] And I think, you are worthy, you are experienced enough.

[00:58:06] Don't be intimidated. Just pick up, send the message, reach out, ask for introductions. Everybody I can be a testament to everybody is amazing and so incredibly welcoming.

[00:58:22] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. I agree.

[00:58:26] Opportunities and Pitfalls in AI for Retail

[00:58:26] Casey Golden: So being at that, like retail is at a crossroads with AI and humans, I think this is gonna be the topic of discussion for the rest of eternity well beyond our umbrella drinks sitting on an island at some point.

[00:58:41] Vicki Cantrell: Yes, yes.

[00:58:43] Casey Golden: Between personalization versus privacy efficiency versus human touch. As a retail leader, where do you see the biggest opportunities and pitfalls for vendors getting it right for retail? And I say that [00:59:00] because the past six months, I find that everyone in retail in a room and everyone in tech slash vc tech are having completely different conversations and they're. They're counterintuitive. They do not support each other. And I'm like, I'm building this because this is what we all agree on. And you're saying that this is like stupid, it doesn't matter 'cause everything's over here.

[00:59:30] I'm like, yeah, no, we got fax machines, bro.

[00:59:34] Vicki Cantrell: yeah,

[00:59:39] Ricardo Belmar: Fax machines and spreadsheets.

[00:59:41] the

[00:59:41] Vicki Cantrell: noise always moves way faster than the reality

[00:59:44] reality

[00:59:44] Ricardo Belmar: right. Yeah.

[00:59:46] Vicki Cantrell: right?

[00:59:47] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah,

[00:59:48] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. There's the challenge right

[00:59:50] Ricardo Belmar: right there.

[00:59:50] Vicki Cantrell: So we can end the podcast.

[00:59:52] Ricardo Belmar: That's right. Mic drop.

[00:59:55] Vicki Cantrell: Yeah. A fax machine, [01:00:00] bro.

[01:00:01] Casey Golden: Like, I'm still getting order, there's still orders popping in here.

[01:00:05] So I mean, what would you, what would be a recommendation to everybody listening on the tech side right now on how can they best support retail? Personally, my, my experience is like we are having two different conversations and I'm like, I thought we, we were friends again.

[01:00:24] And now we're not friends. We're become, we're, we're so far apart. But maybe your experience is, is very different. And being in that position where you are building those bridges in the middle, what is the conversation they should be having right now? Or what do you see the biggest opportunity vendors have to support retail for this AI transformation?

[01:00:43] Vicki Cantrell: You know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of pieces to that and, and some of it, when things are in such flux, go back to stop and take a minute and say, a what can I control? Okay. Instead of reacting to the [01:01:00] flux. And, and so what can you control? You can control that you still need to work together in the reality of today's situation.

[01:01:11] Okay. You know, one of the things that I have I'll, I'll give you an example. One of the things that I've done recently, as you know, is I, I, I'm working with Litmus Seven as a community officer because it's the same thing as what I do for VIP and, you know, helping their customers understand, they're part of the bigger community, et cetera.

[01:01:38] But why did I do this? Because I saw a real difference in how they work. Okay. And it's, it's something that it should be done with everybody. Okay? Meaning they are there. And when there's an... when they see an issue, okay, [01:02:00] or when an issue's brought to them or they see it, it's just dealt with with zero escalation.

[01:02:10] There's no, oh, this isn't in scope. Or I need to go back. I, let's have a discussion. I'll come back to you with a solution. It's very action oriented. I'm just using that as an example because we're in a, a moment of you have to kind of stop doing the thing way things we used to do. Okay.

[01:02:32] Ricardo Belmar: Mm-hmm.

[01:02:33] Vicki Cantrell: And by the way, how can you help yourself?

[01:02:36] One of the big questions that came out of Connect in March, the one we did in March, was how can vendors use AI

[01:02:44] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm.

[01:02:44] Vicki Cantrell: to market better to find their, their right fit, better to change, like how everybody thinks of retailers using ai, and vendors have to embed it. Wait a minute. We have, we have [01:03:00] a serious marketing problem that no longer works in the industry.

[01:03:04] Okay? We have a serious selection and noise problem that no longer works in the industry. How could we be using AI to solve these things? Instead of talking about, I embedded ai, I embedded ai,

[01:03:17] Ricardo Belmar: Hmm. ​

[01:03:23] Vicki Cantrell: know, so,

[01:03:25] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah.

[01:03:26] Vicki Cantrell: I'm, I'm not giving you a very concrete answer, but these are important aspects of know that the world is changing.

[01:03:35] Change the way that you're used to doing business that is more action oriented. Utilizing the tools that you can, in a way that helps yourself as much as somebody else, and just help and react and take away the barriers we, they're gonna get leapfrog if [01:04:00] the barriers still exist. And, and so it, you know, now there's tremendous opportunity here.

[01:04:07] Okay. Like, what do I think AI is going to help? Okay? Is, you know, we think about privacy concerns and stuff like that. It's, we're going so fast that it's going to be a way that it's gonna go from these silos of LLMs, okay? Already changing into a much more overarching neural across the board. Ai, okay? Like neural intelligence that is much more broad, which means by the way, that as those capabilities exist, each individual will be able to own their own data better.

[01:04:46] So there's so many awesome things that are coming, but by the way, that old retailer, that consumers still buying from us. In, it might, it might come at us from a very different path, [01:05:00]retailer. Okay? It's not through your website, it's not whatever, whatever. There's still, you still have a connection. You're still helping the world and helping people live their lives and all of that.

[01:05:11] Let's find a way, okay. To stop doing things the way we were doing them wherever we possibly can.

[01:05:19] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah. Well, that's a good way to put it. Good way to put it.

[01:05:22] Casey Golden: a really great way to kind of stick a pin in it.

[01:05:24] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[01:05:24] Casey Golden: Vicki, this been such an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for sitting down with us and, and sharing your experiences and your mentorship. I know I've learned a lot today. I know that our listeners and viewers have filled an entire notebook with discussion points.

[01:05:40] I have no doubt, that this will, this, this episode will hit the the rewind button on several occasions.

[01:05:48] Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, I think we definitely have a full understanding of what earned you the name of "The Fairy Godmother of Retail." I think there's no one more deserving of that title than you, Vicki.

[01:05:58] Casey Golden: Yeah,

[01:05:59] Ricardo Belmar: I have to thank [01:06:00] you so much for being here with us today.

[01:06:01] Vicki Cantrell: oh, I'm thrilled to be here and thanks for letting me go on and on. I wish you would cut me off sooner.

[01:06:08] Ricardo Belmar: We, we could go on for hours here. I

[01:06:10] Vicki Cantrell: We,

[01:06:10] Ricardo Belmar: there's so much to talk

[01:06:11] Vicki Cantrell: so it's hard to,

[01:06:12] Ricardo Belmar: That's so true.

[01:06:14] Vicki Cantrell: pithy talking points instead of going on and on, but you know it what it is. Sorry.

[01:06:21] Ricardo Belmar: No,

[01:06:22] Casey Golden: and I'd say that's a wrap.

[01:06:23] Ricardo Belmar: it is.

[01:06:24] Vicki Cantrell: Great. Thanks guys.

[01:06:25]

[01:06:25] Show Close

[01:06:32] Casey Golden: If you enjoyed our show, we have a simple ask. Please consider giving us a five star rating on review, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods. Remember to smash that subscribe button in your favorite podcast player and like, and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss a minute.

[01:06:49] I'm Casey Golden.

[01:06:50] Ricardo Belmar: Please follow us and share your feedback at Retail Razor on LinkedIn, Blue Sky, Threads and Instagram. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter to preview the best [01:07:00]highlights from each episode right in your email inbox. Visit our website at retailrazor.com for transcripts and more info about each episode and our guests.

[01:07:09] Retail Transformers is part of the Retail Razor Podcast Network.

[01:07:13] I'm Ricardo Belmar.

[01:07:15] Casey Golden: Thanks for joining us.

[01:07:16] Ricardo Belmar: Until next time, stay sharp, be bold, and transform retail.

[01:07:20] This is the Retail Razor: Retail Transformers.