It’s holiday shopping prime time, which means for many retailers and brands, this is business prime time too. (There’s a reason the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday.) To give perspective to what’s going on out there and what we might expect, there is no one better than Marni Shapiro, the outspoken, in-the-trenches retail analyst behind The Retail Tracker. In this episode, Marni breaks down how the current macroeconomic environment is impacting American consumers (picture: a lot more shoppers standing in the aisles doing math), while sharing her belief that the American consumer has a way of making Christmas happen.
From cautionary tales to unexpected bright spots, this is a fresh, fascinating conversation on the holiday retail season and more.

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Terence Kawaja has mapped (literally) the chaos of media and marketing tech for decades. As many in the industry know he is somehow part investment banker, part prognosticator and part comedic showman (his musical parodies about Cannes and more are rather iconic). In this episode, Marisa and Steven get Terry’s take and where it’s all actually going from here. If the business of brands was once a combination of “real estate and religion” what is it now becoming? You might be surprised where this banker nets out, but here’s a hint: how about tech as the ultimate megaphone for… creativity? Join us!

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Here’s a question: if you were invited to a dinner party, at an anonymous stranger’s house, where you also didn’t know who else would be there but you believed it was going to be interesting… would you go? Behavioral scientist Jon Levy sought to answer that question for himself by starting the legendary Influencers dinner parties back in 2010. Now, 400 dinners and about 4,000 affirmative RSVPs later (including at different points Steven and Marisa), Nobel Laureates to self-made CEOs to professional athletes have made burritos together, and Jon has become a master at decoding connection (essential for humans, and especially for marketers). In his new book,Team Intelligence, Jon is taking those insights to teams and leadership (hint: being a leader is a lot like being a host). And note there is through line of trust running through all of the above (at a time when trust in leadership is in short supply). Trust US when we say this is a great conversation that will make you think differently about - genuine - influence.

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