Recent Episodes

This week’s guest is Breegan Jane, an Los Angeles-based designer, author, philanthropist and mom to two boys. She showcases her expertise on HGTV , NBC , Hallmark Channel , Discovery , Food Network and more. You may recognize her from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Dream Home. She is a leading voice in design industry conversations. She also advocates for women and children in Kenya as a partner with international non-profit organization Mekuno Project . Breegan champions community and share...

This week’s episode is all about Michelle’s show process - pre & post, how this year’s show is different for her, & why she prefers to experience the show with someone by her side. Grab a pen & pad and take notes – this one is chock full of valuable #retailtips! This episode sponsored by Opentobuy.co , they create RETAIL ROCK STARS and make inventory finance easy.

While growing up in Chicago and being influenced by the nature of all things city living and traveling the world for inspiration, Mashallah Ghouleh exploded onto the styling scene at a young age and has never looked back. Drawing from her international travels and experiences with her roster of clientele, she launched MASHALLAH in 2011 to create the versatile, beautifully crafted staples women's wardrobes were missing. As both a designer and collector of all things beautiful, her natural creativ...

We are so excited to welcome back one of our first podcast guests from back in 2021, Annie Glenn of Urban Girl Accessories . Her positivity and ability to find the silver lining in challenging situations is truly inspiring. With 11 stores & concepts, on this episode, Annie discusses how she deals with everything from loss prevention to customer service to the changes she has seen post-COVID. This week’s episode is sponsored by Sales Producers Inc . a progressive business to business company repr...

They were two healthy, young women when both of their lives changed in the blink of an eye. In 2015, Christina suddenly became very ill. After many misdiagnoses and long hospital stays, she was finally diagnosed with a multi-systemic disease in 2017. Refusing to live a life of pills and wheelchairs, she spent the following years studying natural remedies to help heal, alleviate symptoms and pull toxins from her body. Through her research and studying her Masters in Sustainability at Harvard, she...

This week’s guest is Trudi Bartow, Director of Sales & Marketing at the Unemployed Philosophers Guild . Trudi joined the gift world via the preeminent art book publisher Harry N. Abrams and created unique opportunities for sales at gift retailers like Neiman Marcus , Crate & Barrel , Barneys and Sur La Table , including custom designer editions and exclusive bundles. After 15 years working with various publishers, she joined the fantastic team at the Unemployed Philosophers Guild as their Direct...

Erik & Courtney Legenhausen opened Lotus Jewelry Studio in 2007. Their vision was to create a line of handmade products that would reflect the latest trends, while upholding the quality that was fostered by their background as fine jewelers. They also had a dream of providing an avenue for other artists to come and earn a living under Lotus’ roof. Over the past 10 years, they turned their basement business into a thriving company that provides their unique pieces to thousands of retailers, both ...

Raised in Carmel, in a family of retailers - it's in Wish Walnut Creek owner Sasha Varni’s blood! Sasha worked for her mom's candle store growing up and during college. Lived in Italy for a short time after college, then moved to San Francisco, working for Sephora corporate, and then bareMinerals corporate doing marketing and producing their video content and commercials. She then moved to Walnut Creek the week before having her first baby (10.5 years ago!). Coupled with the commute and maternit...

This week we welcome Bob Negen, co-founder of WhizBang! Retail Training . Bob is a retail expert, author, speaker, and business coach who motivates and trains independent retailers to improve and grow their businesses with actionable tactics and strategies. His proven systems and techniques consistently deliver measurable results in over 40 retail industries. On this episode, Michelle & Bob discuss how he speaks to business owners in their own language using real-world retail experiences and hum...

This week we welcome Valerie (Val to her friends!) Wright, Brand Development & Sales Manager for Pixie Mood , a consciously leather-less, Canadian, female-led company. Val has learned to use her Psychology degree, within the retail space, to really understand what people need and how to get into the mind & heart of what people want in the world of fashion. Val has always found it effortlessly organic when visualizing trends. Curating fashion themes and stories is her love language. Listen up as ...

We are so excited to have Sean Jimenez, president of Socksmith back as a guest. A former retailer, now turned wholesaler, Sean has been in the industry for over 25 years. He now runs a great, multi-million-dollar novelty sock and design company based in Santa Cruz, California. Take a listen as these two industry veterans Michelle catch up and talk about all things retail. This episode sponsored by Opentobuy.co , they create RETAIL ROCK STARS and make inventory finance easy! Website Instagram Fac...

Julie McCallum is the retail group editorial director and co-owner of Great American Media Services . She has been covering the specialty retail industry for more than 20 years. As a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, Julie is passionate about reporting and telling the stories of makers and independent retailers – creating content that will inspire, inform and help them succeed in their businesses. She also serves on the board of directors for Gift for Life , the gift ...

Meet Andrew & Chelsea Evans, co-founders & owners of Roaming Travelers. Launched in 2020, Roaming Travelers offers locals & tourists a curated boutique clothing shopping experience. It has grown to operate two retail locations in Joshua Tree & 29 Palms. Through hosting events & pop-ups featuring local or emerging designers and vendors, they have been able to provide a sustainable & eco-friendly shopping experience. Michelle, Andrew & Chelsea discuss the future of retail, what that looks like and...

In 2022, Energy Muse is *the* crystal authority. But when co-founders Heather Askinosie and Timmi Jandro first started Energy Muse over 20 years ago, it was with just one necklace. Heather, who had been traveling the world in the name of spiritual research for some time, had turned her Manhattan Beach home into a makeshift energy lab where she could test ancient holistic philosophies. She began tinkering with a formula to create the energy of wealth. By combining the crystal energy of Jade, anci...

Erin Sarpa is the Creative Director at StationeryHQ.com , a wholesale Print On Demand company that specializes in custom stationery and gifts, serving creative small businesses. Erin opened a design agency at 23 years old, worked for all the big dogs in Silicon Valley and won awards while creating an all-women team. She joined StationeryHQ.com a few years ago with goals to grow a community as well as the company. Erin freaking loves creative people and entrepreneurs and is passionate about suppo...

This week is a solocast with Michelle informing listeners on what exactly a merchandiser does & how they can help your retail business. From storytelling to creating add-on sales to reinventing merchandise, these are some topics that Michelle will cover in this episode. This week’s 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.

Allison Carter and Catherine Hildner were two strangers who connected at a conference, turned into business besties, and a few years later saw a gap in the product based business space and decided to take action to fill it. In addition to the two businesses they run individually, Allison and Cat are the founders and hosts of Ultimate Product Party (UPP for short!). UPP is a 2-day creative conference that serves product based businesses. Allison and Cat create a unique experience and space for th...

Hailing from North Dakota where her nearest shopping opportunity was over 300 miles away, Ashley Alderson longed for a place online to find and shop the boutiques she loved all over the country, together in one place. “There must be a place for shoppers like me who love boutiques to find them all — and a place, boutique owners, themselves, can connect to find resources & grow,” Ashley thought. Ashley’s background in business, marketing, and economic development fueled the desire to simply make l...

We have received so many inquiries online and in-person on how to start a podcast. Sharing is caring and we here at Team Retail Whore Podcast, also known a Host, Michelle Sherrier, Editor Katherine Khaloo and Digital Marketing Manager, Elisa Anthony talk about the inception of The Retail Whore Podcast and what we have learned along the way, the good AND the not so good (lost recordings!), tips (create a podcast about something you are an expert in & passionate about!) and the resources we recomm...

This week we welcome Crystal Vilkaitis, founder of Crystal Media , a social media advertising and digital marketing agency she started in 2012. For more than 15 years, Crystal Vilkaitis has been helping retailers boost sales and drive more traffic through social media and marketing. Most recently she launched Crystal Uncorked , a podcast that features inspiring guests and interesting business conversations, over a glass of wine. She started the show to share open and honest conversations about h...

This month’s bonus episode is a show – Las Vegas Market & NY Now – recap. Michelle covers it all from showroom set-ups, the stress of being away from her family for an extended period, outfit changes & getting into buyer mode, being part of a podcast panel, participating in an Instagram takeover at NY Now and having an opportunity to meet some of our listeners and podcasts guests in person. Truly an inspiring trip!

This week we welcome retail icon, Iris Fuller, as a guest this week. After 20 glorious years of business, Iris Fuller’s glorious store, Fillamento, closed permanently in 2001. Fillamento opened in April 1981 and led the Fillmore District neighborhood renaissance in the San Francisco area as a successful commercial district. Take a listen as Iris talks the early days of Fillamento, taking on samples & consignment and how that evolved into curating the brand & how far-reaching her mentoring influe...

February is often known for being a month dedicated to and all about love. This week we are excited to welcome award winning designer Kimberley Evans, creator of the out the box brands such as Pop Up Weddings by Lovely Weddings and the I Do Box , an inclusive wedding subscription box. Michelle had the pleasure of meeting Kimberley at last year’s Ultimate Product Party event and was so impressed with her presentation and what her products represent, she knew she had to have her as a guest. Kimber...

This week we are thrilled to introduce to you Jane Park of Tokki , a company on a mission to ignite joy through gifting. They combine thoughtful technology with beautiful, reusable designs to make every gift unforgettable. Michelle & Jane, a consumer tech entrepreneur, delve into family, her father’s incredible story as a young immigrant from Korea, to her building the online first beauty brand Julep, and to ultimately creating Tokki with her friend & tech genius Taylor Hoit. This week’s episode...