Melissa Hesse doesn't have a degree in art, but somehow, she made it her career. She started at Z Gallerie back in 1993 as a part-time sales associate while going to college. Melissa then spent the next 14 years there, holding almost every position possible, but she always found the…
Ready to Zen? Let's go! ZenGenius specializes in providing Visual Merchandising, Creative Direction, and Special Events support to retail brands, businesses, and organizations of all types. Going on 25 years, ZenGenius has been a proud part of the creative and retail design communities across the globe. Michelle and the team…
Myles Marks is the Chief Creative and Merchandising Officer at DM Merchandising. He attended Georgetown University and then toiled in the LA world for a bit afterwards. Myles has been innovating products within the consumer goods space for the past 25 years. Myles spent the last 25 years traversing the…
Robin Kramer is a brand marketing maven, natural business nurturer, master of relationships, and a sales expert who has an impressive history with leaders in the retail industry who have built their brands on innovative merchandising and strong service cultures. Among these brands is Williams-Sonoma, Inc., where she utilized her…
Do you ever wonder who makes those chalkboard signs at Trader Joe's? Well, that's how Benjamin Soto got started—drawing Trader Joe's signs by day and designing band merch at night for Fearless Records. In 1998, Ben was recruited by Paul Frank to help kick off the massive millennial pop-culture brand…
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Susan Esayian has been working in the gift industry professionally for 26 years in a variety of roles. She’s done it all, from merchandising Kitchen-Aid mixers to buying fine tableware. She even carried a four-poster bed up a mountainside for a catalog photoshoot... and…
Whether you're a chef or a retailer, self-care can be a difficult concept to grasp at times amid the endless 16 hour work days that are at times your reality. Michelle and Chef Amber sit down to talk about how they've learned to care for themselves while still being bad*sses…
Today on The Retail Whore, Michelle and Monica connect and share who business owners can make the most of social media to grow their business. Monica Little left her corporate job to pursue her own dreams and built a multiple 6-figure organic skincare small business. She created Etsy Algorithm Secrets…
On today's episode, Michelle get's personal and shares with you what's been going on with her lately — from her weight loss journey, to her main hustle, to the loss of her beloved Peanut, this episode is a major catch up with Michelle. MC Design Collaboration Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcdesigncollaboration/?hl=en MC Design…
This week we welcome Hilary Meehan, Co-Founder / CEO Mirthos. She believes in creative living, making life the perfect juicy delight of your wildest dreams & inspiring more people to enjoy this glorious mess called life (*there's a card for that!) She’s developed a line of enthusiastic & encouraging greeting…
This week’s guest is Mary Liz Curtin, owner of Leon & Lulu, Detroit’s own award-winning, 15,000 square foot, lifestyle store – which was originally a roller rink! Mary Liz is passionate about independent retail. Her knowledge of all aspects of the gift, craft and home industries gives her a unique…
This week’s guest Alyssa Benner has been in retail for 16-17 years. She has worked in boutique shops and corporate owned retail & has always moved up quickly in those jobs due to not only loving what she did but hard work. She is a creative person by nature so…
Marcie Pantzer is the founder of Dear Annabelle, a luxury paper goods brand that brings a whimsical wink to the classic art of correspondence. The brand was born from Marcie’s personal love of letter writing, starting when she went away to sleep away camp as a girl. Her passion for…
On this week’s episode, Michelle Sherrier, welcomes listeners to her latest hustle, MC Design Academy! MC Design Academy is designed to be a space where Michelle will share her expertise with you, where you'll get to learn all about visual merchandising, design, display, retail, and everything in between. Take a…
Michelle delves into her time during the current show season, and gives you her tips and tricks to keep in mind for your next show!
This week’s guest is Sarah Schwartz, magazine editor, writer, podcaster and consultant. She first started covering stationery as a market editor for the trade publication Gifts & Decorative Accessories in 1997, and in 2008, she became founding editor of Stationery Trends (https://stationerytrends.com/), an award-winning trade quarterly magazine devoted to all…
Located in Los Angeles, California, Chez Gagné letterpress was Founded in 2014 by Alex Gagné. As a creative outlet from her job as a marketing director for an IT company, Alex started taking night classes to learn the art of letterpress printing. After finding success designing and printing wedding invitations…
This week’s guest, Kathy Shaw is the Manager of Seaside Gallery and Goods and the Pelican Courtyard. Seaside has 15 small businesses working collectively and the Pelican Courtyard has 8 small businesses each in their own suite. Seaside Gallery and Goods is located in the heart of Newport Beach's famed…
Kaylin is the founder & CEO of JIGGY, a new jigsaw puzzle brand on a mission to modernize and elevate the humble jigsaw, and support female artists around the world. She turned her hobby into a company and has been featured on Shark Tank, Oprah's Favorite Things and won over…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…