Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy

Send us Fan Mail Being ready for the next opportunity does not guarantee you get it. Steve learned that the hard way - outperformed for a role he thought was already his, by someone who simply showed up to win that day. That is the first of three things retail leaders need to hear right now. The second: 30,000 people at Oracle got a 6am email that changed everything. AI is not just a tech story. I...

Send us Fan Mail I wasn't planning on recording this morning. Good thing he did. This unscripted episode covers three things retail leaders are sitting with right now:  how to outlast the doubt when you're building something others have already tried to talk you out of  what specific problem your leadership solves and so you actually know the answer the difference between being known and...

Send us Fan Mail Part II is about the moment most leaders mishandle. After a conference, leaders return energized. New ideas. New language. New urgency.  And almost immediately, they start pushing initiatives into an organization that hasn’t changed its capacity, priorities, or decision rules. In this episode, I break down why post-conference optimism hides execution friction , and why execution i...

Send us Fan Mail Part III is about the mistake that kills most conference ideas. Leaders come back with insights, slides, notes, and energy. They share the information. They post about it. They talk about it.  And then nothing changes. In this episode, I break down why ideas don’t fail because they’re bad , they fail because no one owns them. Conferences create inspiration. Organizations require o...

Send us Fan Mail The Discipline to Say No (The Decision That Determines Everything) This is the decision most leaders avoid. After the conferences. After the ideas. After the pressure to “look at everything.”  Part IV is about the one move that determines whether all of this turns into leverage or just more noise. In this episode, I break down why conferences expand possibility, but leadership req...

Send us Fan Mail After NRF: Decide the Real Problem (Part 1 of 4) Most conferences don’t fail because the ideas are bad. They fail because leaders come back with volume instead of judgment. NRF expands what feels possible. Leadership is deciding what actually matters. In Part 1 of this four-part series, Steve Worthy focuses on the first and most important post-conference decision: deciding the rea...

Send us Fan Mail There were years when things looked fine from the outside, but they weren’t fine. Professionally, I was doing the work. Personally, I was carrying more than I should have. I had a coach, a tighter inner circle, and the right intentions, but I still found myself drifting. New ideas kept pulling at me. New opportunities kept showing up. And I didn’t have a reliable way to decide wha...

Send us Fan Mail If you’re a founder trying to sell into retail, this episode may save you months of missteps. If you’re a retail leader evaluating new technology, it’ll reflect what you often wish vendors understood. In this conversation with Ang Nayyar from StrutFit , we get into the realities of how retailers think, decide, and evaluate solutions — far beyond what’s visible from the outside. Th...

Send us Fan Mail What Happens When You’ve Outgrown Your Role? In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Holm from Helzberg Diamonds , and we get right into the real tension many retail leaders feel but rarely talk about — the moment you know you’re ready for more, even if you haven’t said it out loud yet. Ryan’s journey from Dunkin’ Donuts to leading innovation in a Berkshire Hathaway company is fille...

Send us Fan Mail Retail is not complicated. It is hard work.  This episode gets us back to the basics that keep a store alive: profit, time, and turns. I sit down with Maximilian Anderson, founder of SKUMAX, to talk about seeing your true cost of goods, why every item should pay rent, and how to make better decisions with the data you already own.  If you lead stores, this is a clean reset on what...

Send us Fan Mail Conference fatigue is real. The solution isn’t bigger booths. It’s better design. In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , Jamie Hancock — founder of Buying Time and Commerce Futures — breaks down how to build events that create real learning and real pipeline without turning the room into a pitch fest. We cover: Designing your event like a sales motion: ICP, perso...

Send us Fan Mail Retail technology often gets lost in hype. But what does it actually mean for leaders on the ground? In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , I sit down with Ricardo Belmar , Producer and Host of The Retail Razor Podcast Network . We cover: Why “perfect test stores” can hide scalability failures The difference between replacing tasks and replacing people with tech...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , I sit down with Lucas Piccinin , founder of NetConV, a platform designed to bring real-time expiration date transparency to grocery eCommerce. We explore how grocers can turn a persistent operational headache into a competitive differentiator by: Integrating seamlessly with existing ERP systems Using algorithms to dynamicall...

Send us Fan Mail Everyone’s talking about AI, but few retail leaders are asking the deeper question: Is your company truly AI-ready—or just overwhelmed with data? In this episode, I sit down with, Abhijit Patharkar , the co-founder of Nexlytix to unpack the unspoken barriers to effective AI in retail: siloed systems, misaligned storytelling, broken decision-making, and the myth that more dashboard...

Send us Fan Mail What if your customer feedback system could make you a better leader —not just improve your metrics? In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , we’re joined by Eric Sangerma, Head of Growth at Simplesat—the customer feedback platform trusted by brands around the world. Simplesat helps retail leaders capture, interpret, and act on customer sentiment in real time. But...

Send us Fan Mail Some stores just stop you. You walk in, and for a moment—maybe longer—you forget you're in a place built to sell. You're in something more. A feeling. A point of view. A brand that knows who it is. This episode is a love letter to those stores—and the people who know how to spot them. Steve sits down with two of his favorite retail minds (and friends), Jack Stratton and...

Send us Fan Mail Many retail leaders operate with a limited perspective, often assuming that their market’s approach is the gold standard. But in a world where consumer behaviors, technology, and retail strategies vary dramatically by region, leaders who fail to think globally risk falling behind.  The challenge isn’t just understanding different markets—it’s learning how to apply global insights...

Send us Fan Mail AI is transforming retail at an unprecedented pace, and in this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy, we explore what leaders need to know now.  From sneaker culture to digital transformation, Jenna Flatman Posner shares how her background as an elite athlete shaped her approach to leadership, strategy, and innovation.  We break down AI’s real impact in retail—cutting th...

Send us Fan Mail When Retail Stops Growing You, What’s Next? No one tells you what happens when you outgrow your company. You hit every metric, you do everything right, and yet the growth stops. Your company still expects results, but they’re not developing you. They’re not stretching you. And if you’re being honest, you’re starting to feel it. The hard truth? Most senior leaders won’t admit when...

Send us Fan Mail Retail leaders talk about innovation, but are they solving the right problems? Too often, companies chase the latest trends—AI, automation, new products—without stepping back to ask: What actually drives transformation? In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , we sit down with Matt Mueller, innovation strategist and author of The Mindful Innovator , to discuss his...

Send us Fan Mail Retail is more complicated than it needs to be, and in this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy , we cut through the noise with Walter Holbrook, a seasoned retail executive with over 60 years of experience—from stockroom to boardroom.  Walter shares the hard truths about leadership, execution, and why common sense is missing in today’s retail landscape. He challenges le...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, titled "HQ vs. Store: Bridging the Divide," we finish our two-part series - Everything Works at HQ! What can HQ learn from stores? Why is developing a common language between HQ and stores crucial for successful communication and relationship-building? What strategies can stores implement to better listen and execute the corporate strategy delive...

Send us Fan Mail US vs THEM!  This battle in retail has been in existence since Retail began.  US - Stores vs THEM - Home Office.  Why can’t they see eye to eye?  What has hindered these two teams from establishing a mutually beneficial and successful relationship? This two-part series - Everything Works at HQ.  Part one titled “What HQ can learn from Stores”, is a candid exploration of the oft-ov...

Send us Fan Mail Pick up your book: The Retail Leader's Roadmap! HERE! What's up, my friend? You're in for a real treat with this episode featuring Brian. We're going deep into the nitty gritty details of his proven blueprint for accelerating your career growth as a retail leader. Right off the bat, Brian opens up about the profound influence his father had on instilling that i...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Kimberly Lee Minor, a dynamic force in retail leadership with over 25 years of industry experience. She's held pivotal roles in renowned organizations like Footlocker Global, London Fog, and Bath & Body Works. Currently serving as CEO of Bumbershoot, LLC, Kimberly's expertise lies in providing cultural and market insights for inclusive, equitable, and diverse re...