The Orita Podcast

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Marko Bon, President & Co-Founder of Domaine, for a wide-ranging conversation about what it takes to build modern commerce experiences at enterprise depth, without losing speed, clarity, or common sense. Marko spent nearly two decades on the brand side before launching a Shopify agency in 2018 with a simple but powerful thesis...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Sara Pereda, Global Head of Partnerships at Rivo, for a candid conversation about what great partnerships look like when budgets are tighter, expectations are higher, and “good vibes” alone don’t move revenue. Sara’s background is anything but typical: entertainment, nonprofit, finance, HR, agency, SaaS. But that unusual path made...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Jimmy Sansone and Conrad Sansone, co-owners of The Normal Brand, to unpack how a personal product need turned into a real omnichannel apparel business built the old-school way: action first, learn fast, and stay obsessive about contribution margin. They break down: • Growing up as two of ten kids and why a “team mindset” shaped ho...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with John Surdakowski, Founder & CEO of Avex, to talk about what happens after a brand “wins” acquisition, then realizes the site, stack, and customer journey aren’t built to sustain the next stage. John built Avex into one of the most trusted Shopify agencies for mid-market and enterprise brands, and he has a rare ability to cut t...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Daniel Höhnke, General Manager of EMEA at Andzen, for a candid conversation about what it really takes to scale ecommerce across borders. From launching one of Germany’s earliest online furniture experiments to leading CRM strategy across global brands, Daniel shares what he’s learned moving from merchant to agency life and why in...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Drew Marconi, Co-Founder & CEO of Intelligems, to talk about the most under-discussed lever in ecommerce: how you price, promote, and merchandise profit on purpose, not by vibes. Drew built dynamic pricing systems in ride share, then brought that same experimentation mindset to Shopify brands. The result: a platform (and a phi...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Zach Scheimer, Senior Retention Marketing Manager at Criquet Shirts, for a masterclass in modern retention, where data meets brand, and CRM is more than just sending emails. Zach’s path to retention isn’t typical. From NFL mascot to stand-up comic to deeply technical email architect, he brings a rare blend of analytics, humor, and...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz talks to Itamar Zur, Co-Founder & CEO of Veho, to unpack why delivery isn’t just logistics: it’s brand, loyalty, and growth hiding in plain sight. Ita didn’t set out to build a logistics company. He set out to fix broken customer experiences. From bad doorstep deliveries to stolen packages, Veho was born from a simple obsession: make the pos...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Alex Yancher, Co-Founder & CEO of Passport, to go deep on the part of ecommerce most people underestimate until it breaks: international expansion. Alex has seen it all...investment banking during the financial crisis, early Facebook, building and selling companies, and then spending the last decade living in the messy reality...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Shaan Arora, Co-Founder & CEO of Alia, to unpack how a scrappy team of college friends turned a simple idea, making ecommerce popups work better, into one of the fastest-growing tools in the Shopify ecosystem. Shaan shares why “ownership” has been his north star since day one, how the founding team built trust (and staying pow...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Max Starkman, Founder of DTConnect and Beanstalk co-founder, to talk about the commerce ecosystem from a perspective very few people have: agency roots, brand-side operator experience, and now a front-row seat to the best founders and executives in the space. Max shares how he (reluctantly) found his way back into commerce, what h...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Lolita Petrossov, Founder & CEO of Evestar, to unpack her rare journey from co-founding a high-profile private jet-share startup to building one of ecommerce’s most respected full-service agencies. Lolita shares how her experience scaling JetSmarter shaped her perspective on growth, marketing, and leadership and why she chose...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Alex Schinasi (Co-Founder of Hulken) and Lee Rotenberg (CRO of Hulken) for a wide-ranging conversation on building, pivoting, and scaling across both venture-backed SaaS and a wildly successful consumer brand. From startup war stories in the NFX days to turning an “accidental business” into a $50M+ brand with a seven-person team,...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Tetsuro Miyatake, CEO of Off Topic, one of Japan’s top tech podcasts, and investor at Harizury, for a global view of what’s next in commerce, content, and consumer tech. Together, they unpack: • Why Japan’s retail landscape may hold the key to DTC’s future and why most U.S. brands fail to break in • The "attention + trust&quo...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz brings together two of the sharpest retention minds in e-commerce, Gabrielle Pitman (Client Strategy Director, eBusinessPros) and Josh Behr (Founder, A&B Interactive), for a no-nonsense deep dive on email, SMS, and what really drives profitable lifecycle marketing in 2025 and beyond. They unpack: • Inbox reality check, how Gmail/Yahoo change...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Amanda Vogt Peer (Chief Digital Officer at V’s Barbershop) and Jamie Schreter (Founder & Agency Director at DigitalJAS) break down how a 65-location, franchise barbershop brand is turning a nostalgic in-chair experience into a modern, omnichannel growth engine, without losing its soul. They discuss • Classic chair, modern stack: How V’s uses Shopify, Klavi...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Ed Hallen, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Klaviyo, to talk about Ed's incredible journey from bootstrapping Klaviyo in the early days to powering some of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce companies today. Ed shares rare, inside-the-room insights on scaling, strategy, and customer obsession. Together, they dive i...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Kate MacCabe and Alexis Hurewitz of Flywheel Strategy for a behind-the-scenes look at how real customer-centric brands operationalize marketing, make AI useful (not scary), and actually get things done. From billion-dollar fashion houses to fast-growing DTC brands, Kate and Alexis break down what separates teams that ship great wo...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Nikki Tooman, co-founder of Sticky Digital and one of the most respected operators in retention marketing, for a candid, tactical masterclass on what it really takes to build a high-performing lifecycle engine in 2025. From RFM models to subscription strategy to messaging discipline, Nikki breaks down why most brands over-message,...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz goes international with Jason Anderson (COO, Andzen) and David Visser (CEO, Zyber) for an honest look at what it really takes to run a high-performing agency in 2025, from the APAC POV where budgets are tighter, brands move faster, and the bar for strategy is way higher. They break down: • The real reason APAC brands outpace the U.S. on innovati...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Jake Cohen, 10-year Klaviyo veteran, Partner at Vinyl.vc, and co-founder of Privy, for a wide-ranging conversation on what really drives durable revenue, great products, and fundable companies in 2025. From pop-ups to a billion dollars in BFCM revenue in a single day, Jake unpacks the patterns he’s seen across thousands of brands...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Rachel Jacobs “the e-commerce agency whisperer” and founder, of Ecommerce Agency Growth & Ecommerce Partnerships, for a brutally honest look at what it really takes to build, scale, and sell an e-commerce agency. From retainers and operations to M&A and partnerships, Rachel pulls back the curtain on how the best agencies r...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Zac Cherin (Partner at Simplistic, Founder at Hiro) and Max Sturtevant (Founder at WellCopy) to dissect what the best retention agencies are really doing and what most brands are still getting wrong. They break down: • Pop-up psychology, mystery discounts, and why most forms kill conversions• Offer-first thinking, and how creative...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, AJ Patel (SVP of Growth) and Shelly Nghiem (Director of E-commerce) from U Beauty peel back the curtain on how a luxury skincare brand scales sustainably without chasing trends, over-discounting, or bloating the tech stack. They discuss: • Luxury in the age of Amazon. Why U Beauty embraces omni-channel while protecting its premium identity • Subscriptions that...

In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz talks to Lucas Ballasy, CEO of Barrel, a digital partner helping omnichannel CPG brands build meaningful, connected experiences across every channel. From shaping enterprise CPG ecosystems to elevating fast-growing consumer brands, Lucas brings a rare mix of design roots, human-first leadership, and real-world operator wisdom. They discuss: • AI...