Recent Episodes

This week we are so grateful to welcome Kelly Bloodgood, owner of Well + Good Health Studio. After dealing with mysterious symptoms most of her life, Kelly was finally diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease and Epstein-Barr in 2016, after decades of misdiagnoses. It was through her frustration with the healthcare system that she set upon my wellness journey to heal myself: mind, body and spirit. Kelly opened up WELL+GOOD Health Studio in 2019 to help others regain and maintain their health and well...

The two founders of Jackalope Arts, Melissa Kohout and Sara Diederich, met through their time spent working with an international arts organization, creating regular art centered events in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. They shared the passion to create a "community meets artisan event" focused on the experience of meeting the maker and bringing the local community together in this. With that vision, they joined together on this new venture, launching the Jackalope: Indie Artis...

We are always impressed with our guests who have built a successful side hustle and Robin Molan is no exception! A lawyer since 1995 practicing in high conflict family litigation and child welfare and overwhelmed with the heaviness of the profession. Robin decided in 2003 to start selling jewelry. She started with a total of $1500 which back then meant she could buy 3-4 lines. Robin went to showrooms in NYC and had no idea what things like net 30 or open to buy or Xfactory meant. What she did...

This is our episode #4 in our ‘Life After Anthro’ series. Guest Elaine Strawbridge is a passionate creative and leader with a 20+ year career in retail. Growing up in the greater Chicagoland area, she was immersed in sports and her emerging love for the arts. At Columbia College, Elaine earned a Liberal Arts Degree with focus on sculpture – working primarily with metal & wood. After graduation, she learned to weld and continued to dig deeper into her passion for working with mixed materials. ...

This week’s guest is actually Michelle’s first guest who is an actual MC Design Collaboration client. Andrea Leslie is not only a savvy human resources professional and entrepreneur with diverse experience including technology (start-ups to Fortune 500), retail, and food/hospitality but also the owner of Maison A, her side hustle located in Morgan Hill, California. Michelle and Andrea will not only discuss her HR philosophy but also finding balance with client calls in different time zones while...

Three passions: impeccable design, sensuous aromatics and self-care. Having enjoyed a successful career as a brand strategist, My McCarthy created Gavin Luxe as a way to reconnect with herself and unapologetically enjoy the indulgences that made her happy to be alive. Gavin Luxe is My's way of aligning three passions: impeccable design, sensuous aromatics, and self-care. The GL experience is backed by her commitment to normalize luxury and help women meet their own needs without feeling like ...

Mindi Miller is, in no particular order, a mother, a sister, a mentor to at-risk teens, a TV producer, a wife, and an ex-wife. She is grateful to have a family that loves her and mostly ignores one in-law who doesn't. Over the decades, Mindi has pivoted from a lifetime in retail sales - selling products to the mall-goers, to a wholesale representative - selling products to the retailers, to a TV producer - making shows interrupted by companies selling products to the masses. Mindi has overcom...

This week's guest is Barbara Mooney, owner of Daisy’s Mercantile, a boutique filled with necessities, frivolities, and embellishments for everyday life, located in Alameda, California. Barbara has always used her creative gifts in her business endeavors, first as a caterer and event planner, then a baker, and now a shopkeeper. When she was bit by the entrepreneur bug, it allowed her love of numbers and behind-the-scenes action to work hand in hand with her talents to create what Daisy’s has beco...

This weeks guest, Christine Street Gregg owner of Chocolate & Steel, is our 3rd interview in our ‘Life After Anthro’ series. Christine Street is the Founder and Designer of Chocolate and Steel, a jewelry line on a mission to empower women through genuine expressions of acceptance, love and strength with sustainability and giving back woven throughout. Christine has been in the fashion design industry for 24 years – starting out in apparel design, to merchandising, to jewelry fabrication and desi...

For those of you who have asked “Exactly what does Michelle do?” This is the episode that is a deep dive into exactly what Michelle does for each client and the role she plays in each of their businesses. She’ll go into detail about Stephen Young, retailers and gift show setups. Informative, inspiring and educational! Show links MC Design Collaboration Instagram: @mcdesigncollaboration Bristol Farms Instagram: @bristolfarms Stephen Young Instagram: @stephenyoungshowroom Peking Handicraft I...

From press in Martha Stewart Living to Marie Claire to being sold in Urban Outfitters to Neiman Marcus, Soul Addict, a farm-first & woman-owned organic Hemp CBD Company continues to inspire us in part 2 of our 2 part interview with owner, Laura White. Get comfy as she & Michelle discuss how her business spiked during the 2020 pandemic and the inspiration & journey behind converting a 1950's motorcycle garage into their first brick and mortar retail store. OUR WEBSITE - https://www.theretailwhor...

This week’s guest is Laura White, founder and CEO of Soul Addict, a conscious CBD line & majority women-owned hemp farm she runs with her business partner, Maxwell Gaudin. She launched Soul Addict in her ‘soul city’ of New Orleans after using CBD & cannabis to help empower her struggle with anxiety and depression since her early teen years. Shortly after, Laura made the decision to pack up her things in her favorite place and make the move back to her hometown in the rolling hills of Western Nor...

This week’s interview is with Chris Willard from The Great Gift & Paper Co. Chris began her career as a registered nurse where medicine was her first love. At that time, as crazy as it sounds, there weren’t a lot of nursing opportunities fresh out of nursing school so rather than working in the hospital unit of a local prison, she took a job with Johnson & Johnson as a sales rep. After working as a sales rep for a very long time, one day she decided to open up a retail boutique and the rest is h...

This week’s interview is the second in our series ‘Life After Anthro’. My former intern, Samantha Davis, is now a successful entrepreneur within the birth industry, and has spent the last four years, along with her husband, building and connecting with local industry leaders to help improve the quality of postpartum care to new mothers within the Southern California area. She has continued to develop their team of experts to accommodate the ever-growing demand for placenta encapsulation as a uni...

From an 18-year-old stock girl at Nordstrom’s to creating Urban Girl Accessories in 1994, Annie Lents Glen chats with Michelle on how she manages to run a 10 location, 5 concept retail business in the San Diego, California area, with the support of her talented team while at the same time, being a mom to her 2 boys, Jack & Cooper. Her positive attitude and daily gratitude sets the tone for the messaging behind her brand – Put on Your Positive Pants. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/urbangirl...

Everyone loves a good comeback story, and today's guest, Effie Tanji from Bodewell Living, is making it her mission to share how she’s doing it her way: fierce, fearless, and free. After co-founding and operating a small, slow fashion jewelry business for a few years, Effie decided to launch a luxury candle brand in March of 2018. It was a fast and furious trajectory from zero to explosive. Effie & Michelle discuss how she got her start, selling candles out of the back of her SUV, her commitment...

Today’s guests are sisters and design creatives, Susie & Heidi Bauer, owners of Rock Scissor Paper. Rock Scissor Paper has created products imbued with their signature sense of color and optimism that stay true to their joyful outlook in life. Join us as they discuss building their brand, how they can insert a dose of happiness into every product they sell, and how they believe ice cream is truly the best medicine for anything! Additional links: Heidi's essay in Medium with mention of thei...

This episode is part one of our 'Life After Anthropologie' multi-episode series. Today’s episode is a trip down memory lane for Michelle and Jess who worked together at Anthropologie. Jessica is the co-host of The Rants & Raves Podcast. Fasten your seatbelt for lots of laughs and great stories from their time working together. INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/therantsandravespodcast/ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/therantsandravespodcast/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/raves_the

Today’s guests are Kingfisher Road boutique founder, Kelly Epstein and her daughter Laura. Kingfisher Road boutique was established in 2004. Kelly began selling at fundraisers and private events. What began as a fun side business, quickly became something that needed its own dedicated space – not at her home! Michelle & the Kingfisher ladies discuss business growth, working with a family member, and how Kingfisher continued to thrive during the pandemic & political upheaval. GUEST SOCIALS:...

The Retail Whore Podcast creator, Michelle Sherrier is our Episode 1 guest, also known as The Solocast! Michelle gives listeners a deep dive into her retail journey, the good, the bad, and the lessons learned along the way. From as a 14-year-old girl from Manhattan Beach working in her first retail store, to modeling in Japan, back to the retail world working for giants such as Fred Segal & Anthropologie and ultimately branching off and building her own visual merchandising company, MC Design Co...

What is The Retail Whore Podcast? Stories and Lessons from a life in retail. This podcast is about retail. The good, the bad and the ugly. Not just my stories, I will be interviewing my favorite retailers, wholesalers, creatives and hustlers who will be sharing their stories and experiences in retail. My hope is that you join me every week to hear something new and something different & hopefully you take something away.