Julie Bornstein

A stroll through San Diego led me to Geppetto's, where a life-sized puppet and friendly staff turned me into an unexpected customer. 🌟This IS the magic of independent retail. 🌟 With consumer spending down, small businesses need innovative strategies beyond discounting to thrive without sacrificing profitability. Curious about how #indieretailers are navigating these challenges? Check out my latest article in Total Retail. #Retail #SmallBusiness #CustomerExperience #Innovation #IndependentRetail #SMB #boutiqueowner #retailer #fashion

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It's uncommon to see innovation in a product that has been chugging along at the same level for decades. But Mark Adams, Keeri Tramm, Holden Page, and Bo Frize are building something special with our RealTrends Verified business. For those that don't know about RealTrends Verified, it's the one real estate rankings program that uses double-verified data (from the agent and their brokerage). Steve Murray and Tracey Velt had been operating the rankings for decades before we acquired the business. Ever since we acquired the business, we've noticed that our ranking pages have pretty impressive SEO juice. Try searching for "best real estate agents" or "best real estate agents in Texas", and you'll see a RealTrends page pretty high your results. This year, we're going to start leveraging this SEO juice with an expansion of RealTrends Verified into city pages. Now people will be able to search for "best real estate agents in Dallas", and find top agents in their city. We'll drill down even further into neighborhoods and zip codes in the coming years. If you're a brokerage or team leader, or a top agent in your city, please check out our new city pages! https://lnkd.in/eTGVHsaN

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Podcast alert 🎤 I met Matt Mueller during an interview with RETHINK Retail a few months ago and we discussed the importance of balancing brand equity growth with performance, specifically for heritage brands like Hanky Panky In this podcast, we dug deeper into it and the importance for many brands, and even more in intimates, to focus on how we make our customers feel. Products, experiences, brand mission, sustainability, and any marketing campaign should reflect this focus. For women, it is not only about how you show up to the world but how you feel each and everyday! ✨ #podcast #brandequity #loyalty #celebrateyourheritage #values

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Here's my 2024 LinkedIn Rewind, by Coauthor.studio: 2024: Transforming Retail Tech, One Innovative Team at a Time! 🚀 This year taught me that true leadership isn't about managing brands—it's about creating ecosystems where incredible teams can reimagine what's possible in retail and technology. At TechStyleOS and Fabletics, we didn't just scale- we redefined how global retail brands can innovate, collaborate, and drive meaningful change. From advancing tech initiatives to expanding our global footprint, our teams proved that the most powerful work happens when diverse talents come together with a shared vision. A few moments that captured our journey: • Women in Data Event at Fabletics HQ: Proving that technology innovation happens everywhere, not just in traditional tech spaces. "There are so many opportunities to build cutting-edge tech beyond the walls of traditional tech companies!" https://lnkd.in/gDnrBFWM - Podcasts to share our vision: Be an Early Adopter https://lnkd.in/gwCUSK7F • E-commerce Team Expansion: Strategic talent acquisition that's reshaping digital retail https://lnkd.in/gtmP_dsk Highlights from 2024: • Drove global operations across TechStyle's multi-brand portfolio • Advanced innovation initiatives at Fabletics • Expanded board impact at Isagenix, bringing fresh perspectives to strategic leadership Looking ahead to 2025: We're doubling down on innovation that matters. Not just technology, but technology that creates real opportunities for teams, customers, and industries. To my incredible teams who make the impossible look effortless – your creativity and commitment continue to inspire me every single day! #LinkedInRewind #2024Wrapped #RetailInnovation -- Get your 2024 LinkedIn Rewind! Go to coauthor.studio

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When Steve 🍵 O'Dell founded Tenzo in 2016, he had (in his words) “zero financial know-how.” 🤷🏼‍♂️ Fast-forward to today and Tenzo has become an omnichannel sensation, sold in thousands of stores and cafés across the U.S. So, how’d he achieve such monumental growth with no financial background? Here are Steve’s 5 insider tips on how he leveraged strategic finance to turn Tenzo into a household name: 1️⃣ Start by understanding the largest line items on your P&L, including net revenue, cost of goods sold, and marketing spend. 2️⃣ Get your hands dirty and take ownership of the brand’s financials rather than passing the responsibility to a firm or a CFO. 3️⃣ Focus on small daily wins. It will lead to significant changes over time. 4️⃣ Assess whether your brand truly needs to raise capital. If yes, know precisely how that fundraising will be used and how it will impact your financials. 5️⃣ Use Drivepoint to centralize your financial and operational data, forecast long-term finances accurately, and uncover hidden growth opportunities. Get Tenzo’s full playbook here: https://lnkd.in/g9CJEC58

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Launching a CPG brand is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone. The Intro team has asked me to help them beta their new subscription feature, so I’m offering 5 exclusive 1:1 mentorship slots for founders looking to build, scale, and exit successfully. Though I’ve had three exits, I’ve also made every mistake, so you don’t have to. Here’s what we can cover together: ✔️ Creating a unique, standout brand. ✔️ Product development, manufacturing & packaging design. ✔️ Boring but important stuff like insurance. ✔️ Securing retail and distribution deals. ✔️ Brand promise and positioning. ✔️ Preparation for acquisition or exit. Also beta testing this along with fellow CPG Experts Tara Hannaford (Former VP at Casamigos, acquired for $1B), Ben Acott (Former CMO of Feastables), Mitchell Krupp (CPG Investor and Board Member at Liquid Death & Saint James Tea), Marty Bell (Founder of Vacation® & Poolsuite), and Ashvin Melwani (Founder of Obvi). Comment “interested” 👇 to secure your spot: intro.co/mattmatros 📸 me launching a CPG brand. And the Laker Girls.

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Bravo to Julie Crabill and the team at Fathom.org for this eye-opening, nuanced take on #AI's impact on American society. The research indicates not just the business and productivity impacts of AI we like to talk about, but also impacts on public policy, bipartisan viewpoints, and the growing lack of trust in the tech companies who are on the forefront of AI development. A great read and something for me to keep in mind as I work with organizations grappling with AI. Marie Gill, Gina Jeneroux, MBA FLPI, Mark Wayman, Allie K. Miller ORG AI Download the report from the Fathom site. https://fathom.org/

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Here's an exciting press release from Jeff's Brands (JFBR)! The JFBR team is amazing to me: this is a company of 12 employees from near PwC Israel that stays incredibly focused on bringing innovative technological solutions to customers via Amazon. I only Zoomed with them for 30 minutes, but I shared my positive energy & made clear what American customers, investors, & patients want. The deals that they have signed over the past few months have ratified my decision to invest heavily in this small yet fierce company. Here's an overview of some of the deals they have signed + expected In-Line revenue growth in 2025 (https://lnkd.in/emvMneqr) : * Drone Safety Systems - drones have been a HOT TOPIC for all of my New Jersey & New York neighbors over the past few months. 😄 * AI-Driven and Bitcoin-enabled Pesticide control which deepened operations and launched to Amazon France and deepened operations into China 💚 * Photovoltaic Technology (solar panels) - much like my investments in SUNation Energy (SUNE), American Battery Technology Company (ABAT), Aqua Metals, Inc. (AQMS), and Dragonfly Energy Corporation (DFLI): customers WANT clean energy. Solar energy is beautiful: unlike filthy fossil fuels being burned, once a solar system is installed it naturally flights inflation. Much like driving a Lucid Motors or Tesla, it is guiltfree. You save money & avoid paying gas utilities more of your cash. * Missing from this is their deal to begin distributing Chemotherapy Robots that will streamline operations at overburdened Oncology (Cancer) Hospitals here in the US. Doctors, nurses, and patients & their families are overburdened. Robots like these will help families fight cancer. ♋ * I also reached out to the deliverz.ai (formerly Seamless Vision) CEO directly to share some thoughts offline. We need to ensure these robots can interact with humans - even using basic AI. This is key - it doesn't have to be cutting edge OpenAI/ChatGPT, but it has to work well and NOT hallucinate. 🙃 This should be easy to do given their limited operations - we can incorporate "Knock Knock" or Dad Jokes very easily if it senses patient frustration. These robots could help isolated patients who are receiving intensely radioactive therapeutics to fight things like Pediatric Neuroblastoma, Glioblastoma, et cetera. I am most concerned for isolated children... no older than my own kids. I won't have as much freedom to post on LinkedIn soon if I rejoin the corporate world on a full-time basis. But I am really proud of the JFBR, SUNE, Purple Biotech (PPBT), and other companies & teams that I invest in. Patients, their families, and customers are waiting! Let's get off LinkedIn Life and get back to work! Cheers, ~Jeff Conroy Global HC Analytics LLC Press Release: https://lnkd.in/emvMneqr

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Let’s be real. A truthful discussion about why big luxury marketplaces tanked, beyond what’s already been said Many of my colleagues at THE LIST came from luxury marketplaces that crashed last year. Here's my summary of many discussions we’ve had with them to gain learnings: 1. Org structures that didn’t support innovation → churn 2. Overspending to force unnatural growth 3. Raising too much capital too soon 4. Going public too early 5. Losing focus from core mission 6. Ventures outside core competencies, e.g. beauty, brick & mortar On points 5 and 6 we have actually faced similar issues but on a much smaller scale. AI was our core value prop at the beginning, but there was investor pressure to pursue social shopping. Most social shopping ventures have failed. Because the global market is now hyper focused on AI, we can finally expand on our original vision. I’m curious. What do you think is being left out of the narrative around the luxury marketplace implosion?

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We just supported our 4th Sprouts Innovation Set. Here’s what we’ve learned so far: You can definitely game the game here. Retail media is a great way to earn a permanent spot on the Sprouts shelf. There are a couple of options that work nicely. (Both are through Instacart.) Here are the most important tips: 1. Don’t wait to see how it goes, go HAM from day 1. -> Some of the smaller stores will pull you after only 3 weeks. -> The clock is ticking faster than you think. 2. Set up products on IX-One ASAP. -> You won’t show up on Instacart or Sprouts.com without them. -> Whether using retail media or not, you will need these channels. 3. Press hard on competitor search terms. -> If you’re in the innovation set, you’re probably already outside of the box. -> Target brands with similar customer demographics. 4. Leverage electronic coupons and BOGO’s. -> Figure out how many units you need to drive first. -> Leverage coupons and BOGO’s if you need to hit your goals. 5. Make sure you ask Instacart for free spend early. -> You need all the extra horsepower you can muster. -> $300 is a gimme. Do t leave it in the table. Sprouts is a powerful channel. This system works to keep it. Just don’t half-step it. ——— 🔹 We increase velocity in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Sam's, COSTCO, and lots of other cool retailers. 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. #cpg #cpggrowth #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #omnichannel #retail #amazonagency #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #instacart

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The NY Times just ripped me off. Ok, ok. That’s not entirely true. Actually, it’s not even remotely true. But seriously, did I not post about this last week? Retail *vacancies* are at a two-decade low. In other words, retail spaces are full. How can that be if there’s a retail Apocalypse? What’s taking up all of the retail space? 1. Entertainment and Retailtainment: -Pickleball Courts -Cannibis stores (Good heads up Robert Cogan.) -Ax Throwing -Topgolf 2. Ethnic stores, particularly serving: -Middle Eastern -Hispanics -Asians 3. Hot Retail Chains: -Nordstrom Rack -Harbor Freight -Dollar General -Ulta Beauty -7-Eleven -Walmart -Target -Aldi Yes, times are challenging. But there’s still a lot of buying. It just looks different. So if you don’t want to be in a retail apocalypse. Maybe play into the retail that’s growing. ——— 🔹Driving retail velocity in Kroger, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Costco, Walmart, Sprouts, and More 🔹DM me or book an appointment for help! #ecommerce #retailmedia #retailvelocity #retail #cpggrowth #instacart #cpg #tradespend #shoppermarketing

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new episode alert: Magnite $MGNI CEO Michael Barrett breaks down the future of independent ad tech. we talk competing with Google, why The Trade Desk won, and what actually works in M&A. Plus some great insights on leading turnarounds: https://lnkd.in/eAKc84Qi

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If anyone is in North County San Diego, on Thursday May 2nd, we will be hosting a tech entrepreneur and investor meet up at 5:30pm. We’ll have a couple speakers, one of which is a fin-tech start-up raising a round, followed up by a presentation on the state of the stock & crypto market. We host these events quarterly and usually get a lot of founders and investors to attend. If anyone is interested, please message me and I can send you the details. LaunchPad San Diego #startups #startupincubator #entrepreneur #investing #crypto #meetup

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I just wrapped up a panel with the Marketing Leadership affinity group within the How Women Invest community with my hero Auntie Nancy Hayes, aka the Yoda of board membership, angel investing, and general badassery. We talked about different ways to serve on boards, a role in which experienced Marketers seem to be often underrepresented. Why? If I had to guess, I'd say: 1 - Most heads of marketing are women 2 - marketing is undervalued, especially under sales/revenue experience 3—Compound the first two with the messages you tell yourself about your own worthiness, and suddenly, you're a great marketer for everyone else but yourself. ___________ For those who are interested in getting closer or into the board room, there are so many ways to start/get experience: 1—Board Observer (one of my current board roles)—you represent the investor but have no votes. It is unpaid, but/and hugely essential to act as a bridge of visibility and communication between the fund you've invested with and the company in which the fund has invested. My role brings value to both sides with much less bias than the other VC board seats. 2—Corporate board director—There is much governance but not much influence on the product, as the company usually has big enough teams for that. There is a lot of hiring/firing CEOs (read: drama), which can still be fun, especially for those fresh-popcorn-in-my-bag swag kinda folks (both grossly generalizing and way understating this role's fiduciary importance, but you get the idea). 3—Independent board director—this is another of my favorite places to sit. It is much like the Board observer role but with voting rights and equity (although not always, as these terms are negotiated and influenced by the shareholding board seats). You are NOT representing a VC fund (typically), but you might have subject matter expertise in the product or are a generalist boss gal like myself and bring a sense of neutrality and balance to the board. 4—Advisor. Advisors are similar to IBD in terms of influence and type of advice but are not part of the board or its meetings. This role is usually paid in some combination of equity and cash. It's another of my faves. (Are you seeing the trend here?) We have not even touched non-profit boards (where I got my start and am currently sitting on my sixth), but we will save it for next time as it's a whole 'nother Oprah. If you want to learn more, How Women Lead is hosting its 5th annual #getonboard week, starting October 21. Hybrid virtual and in-person. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/diizwv8j #womeninleadership #boardofdirectors #howwomenlead #governance #boarddiversity #corporategovernance #boardservice #businessleadership #leadership Julie Candelon Susan Greenwood Schroeder Mikayla Ludwig

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Can big do small? Walmart tried this over two decades ago with Neighborhood Markets in suburban markets. There is still one on the west side of Phoenix unless it has closed in the last year or so. “Whole Foods is crafting a growth strategy around daily shoppers planning to open more smaller-scale Daily Shop stores in dense urban neighborhoods and win over consumers who don’t regularly visit one of the Amazon.com -owned chain’s traditional stores. Whole Foods’ Daily Shops are the latest effort by grocery sellers, including Walmart, Sprouts Farmers Market, Publix, and others, to squeeze supermarket operations into smaller spaces that cater to “fill-in” shoppers. Some supermarket chains have struggled to operate smaller locations due to slim profit margins and the smaller operations’ sometimes-challenging logistics.” I shop at my local Scottsdale Sprouts Farmers Market like this daily. Since the store is small for a grocery outlet, it works on a daily shopping frequency. I have noticed a Sprouts C-Store-like outlet over a regional office on a commercial shopping street. Still, it looks more convenient for their employees and surrounding retail and office workers. #grocery #retail #margins #consumer #logistics #operations #sprouts #wholefoods #walmart #amazon

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Traditional advice given to founders as they scale is “hire good people and give them room to do their jobs”. That is disastrous advice. Everyone is talking about it and it’s true: every leader and founder needs to operate in Founder-mode. Brian Chesky recently spoke of this and it’s great nomenclature on how businesses should be run. For years, founders and leaders have been told to hire great people and leave them to run the business. A ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ mentality. The reality is, that doesn’t work. Every single founder and leader NEEDS to be in the details. Founders and leaders have unique insights, an understanding of the business, and an outsized level of care toward the business. They are the superpower of a business; pulling up too high out of weeds removes that superpower. I think this expands beyond just founders but applies to all leaders. Leaders can act in Founder-mode. If you’re a leader or a founder, stay in the details. Have high trust with who you hire, but don’t work at such a high level you leave it to everyone else to run all the details of the business.

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It was great to be back on #NYSEFloorTalk with Judy Khan Shaw to discuss Impel’s vision for the automotive industry, and how our recent acquisition of Outsell brings us closer than ever to making that a reality. As Impel’s universal AI platform expands to every channel and touchpoint of the customer lifecycle, the opportunities to drive greater value for consumers, auto retailers, and OEMs alike are immense. We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.

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Thrive is a silent killer of a channel. But driving velocity can be tricky. At least until yesterday. Thrive and Instacart have teamed up to provide Thrive Carrot Ads. Now you can drive velocity with a surgeon's scalpal. Oh, and if you're approaching Thrive's Innovation Program. This is your chance to secure a permanent spot on their digital shelf. If you're interested, feel free to DM me or book a call. (No, I cannot get you 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 Thrive. But I can help you stay there.) ——— 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. 🔹 We increase velocity in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Sam's, COSTCO, and lots of other cool retailers. #cpg #cpggrowth #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #omnichannel #retail #amazonagency #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #instacart #thrive #thrivemarket #carrotads

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