Retail Relates
'Retail Relates' is not just a podcast; it's a journey into the heart of retail and commerce. Our episodes traverse the path from traditional marketplaces to digital platforms, highlighting the successes, trials, and invaluable lessons learned along the way. We're conversing with those shaping the industry—from the front lines to behind the scenes, the creative minds to the global strategists - offering a diverse 360-degree perspective. We're revealing the relationships and personal narratives that make retail engaging and accessible. 'Retail Relates' is an invitation to explore the world's interconnectedness through the lens of retail, encouraging listeners to discover the personal journeys and stories of those who drive innovation and unite us across cultures and continents.
Retail Relates
Building Connections and Curiosity in Modern Retail: A Conversation with Dominick Miserandino
What if the future of retail isn't just about selling products but about building deep, meaningful connections? Join us as we welcome Dominick Miserandino, CEO of RetailWire, who opens up about his unique journey through digital media and modern retail. His career, shaped by pivotal experiences from Wall Street to the mentorship roles he embraced during the pandemic, is a testament to the power of treating people as individuals. Dominick shares how these experiences have influenced his leadership style and vision for the future of retail, offering invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of commerce.
We explore the transformative potential of a growth mindset and the essential role of human connection in the retail industry. Learn how leveraging the wisdom of mentors and peers can be a game-changer in personal and professional development. As Dominick highlights, retail is not just about transactions—it's an intricate web of relationships and deep understanding. We also examine the potential downsides of immense expertise in a single area, which can sometimes stifle innovation and limit exploration. The conversation encourages maintaining an open and diverse strategy to ensure resilience against future challenges.
In an engaging discussion on the balance of tech advancements and human interaction, Dominick shares anecdotes on prioritizing growth while nurturing customer relationships. We touch upon the impact of AI and the importance of empathy and support within teams. As the episode unfolds, Dominick's curiosity shines through, from his love for travel and food to storytelling and technology. Whether he's talking about ideal dinner guests or the essence of meaningful connections, Dominick paints a picture of a life driven by curiosity and connection, leaving listeners with much to ponder about the future of retail and beyond.
ABOUT DOMINICK:
Today's guest is Dominick Miserandino, CEO of RetailWire, the retail industry’s premier news publisher and online discussion forum. For over 21 years, RetailWire has served as a trusted and free resource for the industry, offering compelling content that goes beyond conventional headline reporting. Dominick leads the organization with a deep understanding of digital media and e-commerce, bringing decades of experience to his role.
Before joining RetailWire, Dominick founded one of the first online publications, TheCelebrityCafe.com, and grew Inquisitr.com from zero to 80 million visits monthly. He has held various leadership roles, including CMO for AdoramaPix, and has served as a CRO and CEO for multiple companies. Over his 30-year career, Dominick has turned around more than 100 e-commerce and digital businesses and advised over 200 startups on operational strategies. His expertise has been sought by major brands such as The Wall Street Journal, Morgan Stanley, NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Hearst Publications.
A frequent speaker at conferences and events, Dominick shares his insights on entrepreneurship, scaling digital businesses, and social media. He is also a mentor to over 100 startups and lectures on web businesses and analytics at institutions such as Hofstra University, Stony Brook, and NYU. Fluent in multiple languages, including Italian, Spanish, and French, Dominick has worked on international media projects and received numerous accolades, including a New York State Citation Award and Stony Brook University’s recognition for his charity work.
Dominick is also an accomplished musician, photographer, and author of two travel books. His wealth of experience in media, e-commerce, and leadership makes him an exceptional guest.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miserandino/
So today's guest, it is Dominic Miserandino. We'll be bringing him on in a few minutes. Dalfin, have you had the chance to meet him?
Gautham:We're connected on LinkedIn, but we have not had the opportunity to cross paths, so I look forward to this conversation.
Rich:I had the preliminary conversation with him when I reached out to see if he wanted to do the podcast. He's very engaging, very outgoing, interested to gain his perspective from a I don't know if I want to call him an outsider in it, but he's from an outer periphery of retail looking at it from the media perspective. So I'm looking forward to this one. It should be an interesting conversation.
Gautham:Yeah, me too. I look forward to this conversation and see what he thinks of retail and where it's heading.
Paula:Today's guest is Dominick Miserandino, CEO of RetailWire, the retail industry's premier news publisher and online discussion forum. For over 21 years, retailwire has served as a trusted resource for the industry, offering compelling content that goes beyond conventional headline reporting. Dominick leads the organization with a deep understanding of digital media and e-commerce, bringing decades of experience to his role. Before joining RetailWire, Dominick founded one of the first online publications, thecelebritycafecom, and grew Inquisitor. com from zero to 80 million visits monthly. That's not easy to do. He has held various leadership roles and has served as a CRO and CEO for multiple companies.
Paula:Over his 30-year career, dominic has turned around more than 100 e-commerce and digital businesses and advised over 200 startups on operational strategies. His expertise has been sought by major brands such as the Wall Street Journal, morgan Stanley, nasa, goldman Sachs and Hearst Publications. A frequent speaker at conferences and events, dominic shares his insights on entrepreneurship, scaling, digital businesses and social media. He's also a mentor to over 100 startups I don't know where you find the time for that and lectures on web businesses and analytics at institutions such as Hofstra University, stony Brook and NYU. Fluent in multiple languages, including Italian, spanish and French, dominic has worked on international media projects and received numerous accolades, including a New York State Citation Award and Stony Brook University's recognition for his charity work. Dominic is also an accomplished musician, photographer and author of two travel books. His wealth of experience in media, e-commerce and leadership makes him an overachiever and an exceptional guest. Dominic, welcome to Retail Relates. It really truly is a pleasure to have you.
Dominick:Oh, I'm thrilled to be here. I'm happy to talk to you guys. That's my primary goal here.
Paula:I want to learn more about your travel books, but that's not the purpose of this podcast.
Dominick:Oh, we can go down that road, we could.
Paula:Well, we will start. I will stay focused. We like to kick things off a little differently. Instead of asking you the mundane, boring questions, tell me about yourself, which we've heard your impressive background. I want to learn more about what made you you right. So what are your three most pivotal points in your career that led you to where you are today?
Dominick:Probably the first was my first boss on Wall Street. Ed taught me to treat people like people and that's kind of been a theme throughout I've done at the conferences I do a lot of lectures personal branding and connecting to that human within leadership with humanity and Ed was. I still talk to him constantly. We see him at holidays and that really was pivotal in teaching me that in the business world you do not have to be a cutthroat lunatic. You could just treat people like they are individuals and not just get to know Paula from the podcast but know Paula is Paula. And then the podcast is there and it kind of really does enhance those relationships. That was truly one of the biggest in terms of career wise.
Dominick:Number two probably is retail wire. I was on the media space and I was very proud of what we do on the media end and I'd have people walk up to me and say, oh my goodness, that's awesome, you're a blogger, what's your day job? And at the time I remember one of the times they said that I had 20 employees and I said that's cool, that's awesome, you're a blogger, what's your day job? And at the time I remember one of the times they said that I had 20 employees and I said that's cool. That's cool. No, this is my day job. Oh, what do you want to do when you grow up? Retailwire definitely connected those dots. So I have the same connections in terms of I have 30,000 followers on LinkedIn because they were hitting me from the media end. It's the same connections.
Dominick:Now, the third was actually the mentorship really got me through COVID in general. I signed up to mentor anyone. It was ridiculous. I've actually done mentorship in Spanish and Italian, but with my terrible accent. Yeah, I heard you say my name and I'm like I wish I could call myself correctly, as Paula does. But the mentoring of the startups was like crash course education, because you're hearing 100 plus companies say 100 plus problems. That was invaluable. That was truly invaluable. To hear everyone and hear the common threads through everyone's problems and eventually get to the point like, oh, what's your problem? All right, paul, you know here's the problem, here's the solution. I've heard it already kid, let me get another coffee. And that was really educational. So that was probably number three of the deep thoughts.
Paula:I'm not going to test you on your Spanish because I'm not. So to keep.
Dominick:So to speak, but my accent is very terrible. No, it's great, you speak like an Italian. Well, I can speak Italian, but my accent is also different because I speak with my sister's accent. Unfortunately, I speak with the accent of my mother-in-law and she's a Sicilian. So the true story is, I had a meeting recently enough in the retail industry and the woman said why do you sound like a gangster? And I was just like, first of all, I feel like that's a little like terrible, but we'll not get to that. I sound like my Sicilian mother-in-law when I speak Italian sometimes, which really confuses them. Sound like the godfather.
Paula:It sounds great.
Rich:I screwed up my Spanish that. I know it's somewhat, but when Claudio Del Vecchio bought Brooks Brothers, I tried to convert it to Italian. The good thing is I could understand every third word, so when he was having a conversation in Italian with other business leaders, I could follow along. I didn't bother to tell him.
Dominick:It took a while and actually the mentoring helped, because I mentor in Spanish now and I'm like wait, you're going to pay me to practice Spanish. What's the catch? I'll do it in a heartbeat. But the real trick I find is just, I always practice. If I'm in a restaurant and I hear over here Spanish, I'm practicing, I don't care. But I think you always have to practice and put yourself in that vulnerable space to really just try. Yeah, my accent's terrible, I don't want to say terrible. I mean, paul understood me, but I feel like I don't have. Cuando tú puedes decir mi nombre misuradino, I can't even say my own name as well as Paul has said my own name, and that eats at me at times.
Paula:It's those rolling R's. They get to you every time.
Dominick:That's why I married a speech therapist, but I still live to 20.
Paula:Gotta ask Dom, is this what you envisioned for your life, for your career life, when you set out? So what did you? What did little Dom want to be when he grew?
Dominick:up, there were two answers. When I was nine, I had the sheet I wanted to be the boss, so under that argument, having my own company was what I envisioned. But when I went to college I actually went for a social scientist to go into social work. I tangentially approached it. I've worked with nonprofits. I've always kept that in the back of my mind. If anybody in a nonprofit hears this, I always love helping nonprofits, but that was my goal at one point. But I do think people in general are multi-interests so you're always blending it.
Dominick:My favorite part of the job, even now, is when I can take a coaching slash, counselor-esque approach to leadership. At times when you could say, okay, here's the problem, but I'm missing something. I enjoy so much. When there's a moment in the team I could say prove me wrong, let's discuss this. As opposed and having a dialogue, I enjoy it. I'm truly looking forward to seeing this team, the retail wire, in person at NRF. We're all scheduled to be there and just seeing everyone in person really that human connection, it's a lot to make, yeah and who would have guessed when you studied social work that that would tie so well into retail?
Paula:because you really have to understand your consumer, like what makes them tick, what are they going through, like who is this person and how can they bring them value?
Dominick:That was truly the biggest lesson I learned from digital media. Everything in digital media is the number. We have 80 million visits and thereby 80 million, or speaking to data science, I would frequently speak to students who will look at numbers as numbers and I think in any business, the success is you have to look beyond that and say what are these 80 million? One of my favorite business moments was actually at Adorama Pix. One of the first weeks I told everybody print out the list of the top 100 customers and I called every single one literally. I would have moments which were ridiculous, like what is the issue? Just tell me this issue and I'll fix it. Oh, I'm really upset. I want a coupon for 18%. I'll give you 19%. Are you happy? Now? We'll figure it out. Or whatever it may be, and by solving that individual problems, it made the data come to life.
Paula:That's impressive Marrying the social aspect to the data, humanizing the data points.
Dominick:Absolutely, you have to do so.
Paula:What would you be doing if you weren't doing this right now in an alternate universe? What are you doing right now?
Dominick:I try actually I view the universe in general as like you have. I frequently say this. It might be a corny metaphor, but I've told people I mentor. Life to me is almost like a, a deletable series on netflix. You can only watch it right now and my daughter is 18. I have now to watch it. If I don't watch her the week she turned 18, that season is deleted forever. You get photos, you get a little recap on TikTok kind of recap.
Dominick:And I say that because for me I'm just trying to maximize as much as I can, go the full speed as far as I can. I almost enjoy it. I enjoy like me and my wife love doing road trips at the same time. I'll say go sleep honey, and I'll make seven business calls on the right way to Philadelphia or something. But it's not like it's not being to me work, it's just as much. I'm trying to watch as many episodes as I can at the same time. So I feel like you just always trying to fulfill that all, and so for me I'm blessed and lucky that seeing friends and traveling is a very big part of what I do.
Paula:Okay, I've got to tell you. So my mom, we grew up super poor, super, super poor and my mom always instilled in me you know we have nothing, but you have education and you have experiences and no one can take that away from you ever. And I just lived my life, like you said, like multiple universes, multiple moments, multiple episodes at a time being part of nonprofits, doing my day job, starting a business, being part of the community, having a baby. I'm like how many episodes can I have simultaneously?
Dominick:Absolutely. I mean, I grew up on Flappish Avenue, brooklyn. I in college, I think at my peak I had five jobs at the same time to pay for college. I wanted to be as much as I can independent. But it was also that wackiness of that experience I was giving piano lessons. I gave guitar lessons. I would type papers for money. I sold ads in the newspaper connected to media and I was giving piano lessons. I gave guitar lessons. I would type papers for money. I sold ads in the newspaper connected to media and I was an RA. Yeah, you have this episode. I always say, and if you can max it, I prefer that than sitting there staring at the walls absolutely.
Rich:I'd actually like to follow that up. I was going to save it for later, but if I'm hearing this and I'm starting off in my career I am hearing almost about an overachiever. It reminds me of when I read Richard Branson's biography and thought there is no way I could do half this stuff. How am I motivated by it? So I'll ask the question how have you dealt with setbacks and failure?
Dominick:Since I turned 52, was it a week and a half, two weeks ago I've literally had, without exaggeration, something ridiculously horrific happen every day. I'm laughing about it, I don't deal with it. Well, I said by accident to a good friend of mine all I do is stumble forward. I try not to stumble backwards, I just stumble forward as much as I can. But I also think there's a mislabel when we say like overachiever or not, because I feel like overachiever is to me that person who's always pushing towards working out, let's say, and pushing the heavier weight than they did the last time. I'm more conscious and I think that's just it.
Dominick:If you have it in front of you, I always tell people take whatever opportunities are out there. If someone has a question I do this often I'll be like hey, rich, I have a question, I just need to pick your brain on this for 30 minutes. I'd rather that than stew over it. So whenever I have that failure, I try to remind myself Cron, I need to call Rich this and I've done like. Last night I was having this one issue with conferences in general. I realize when you say this question, I probably called six people Not to vent to say I'm hitting this challenge. I'm hitting this failure. Where am I wrong on this? How can I solve this? What can I do to better or learn from this circumstance? And I always find it funny, just mentoring.
Dominick:People will say coaching. People will say asking a friend for advice, maybe within your world, wherever they may be Connecting with other humans to bring it full circle and saying what can I do? I just need to understand this better. We're surrounded by experts, we're surrounded by people and they're right there. I bet you a dollar. I mean, I think I realize Paul. I think this is the first time we met and I sent you a message in two months saying I'm dealing with XYZ. I just want to pick your brain for 15 minutes. It's not likely. Paul just met me. He's going no. So the way I try dealing with it is purely reaching out to those resources with it.
Rich:I love that answer and it's something that I try to coach my daughter on, so if she listens to this episode, I think it's great advice and we try to coach others on it. It took me a while to get to that point, so I'm going to pivot a little bit to the lesson. So you, many of us in retail, this was an accidental career. You've come into this after many years of experience in digital startups and online publications, and so you truly are for lack of a better description a newbie within the retail industry. So tell us, what are you finding fascinating? What are you finding challenging? What keeps you coming back?
Dominick:There's two parts to your question the newbies entering it, and I had this quick conversation this morning. I think we view, on the surface, retail as owning a fashion store and selling jeans. But retail is not that. Retail is business, it's transaction, it's commerce, it's almost the direct commerce to a consumer relationship, right, which is a lot, which is big, which is more than the initial surface. And I say that because when we have these newbie in retail experiences well, I guess I've been in retail.
Dominick:I was on the media side selling ads to the guy selling the jeans on the rack. Almost everyone at some point. If you're living in America, a capitalistic society, you are somewhat involved in retail. Now, the second answer, the newbie entering this all the answer is being conceptually aware of it. I don't know why. I think it's actually more of a linguistic issue. The word retail means, like we said, selling the jeans on the rack. But is that retail? Um, how have you been involved? Who do you know? Uh, but one of the things I do is I just constantly say I know nothing, I'm okay, no, knowing nothing, how can I learn immediately? Uh, one of the first things I did with RetailWire is I met with every senior statesman and we have conversations. Our conversation you, rich, is truly one of many I've had and you're just constantly adding to your knowledge database and just connecting the dots and connecting to your previous life experiences.
Dominick:Retail is relationships. Business is relationships. I think that products in and of themselves you can have the best product and if there's zero relationship, the product dies. If there's zero leadership, the company can die. Um, if there's zero uh leadership, the company can die. And I enjoy so much in this, in being see of retail wire, seeing all the people, uh, whether my own team, which I, they they don't know by now how much I adore them they I'll repeat it again um, because the people you're meeting, um, it's very different than other industries retails, relationships, that's it this may be a great answer.
Rich:No, I'm not asking it, but I'm. I'm, you know, I'm gonna go ahead and throw it out. Do you think that sometimes the extensive knowledge that some retailers may have actually 100? Yes, innovation?
Dominick:or moving forward. I'm not 90% and I say that because the frequent. If you ask me a different question which is going to answer this one was there any common thread of all the startups you've mentored and all these companies you mentor, yeah, the common thread becomes, especially in that startup early phase. We get in that rut of success. Maybe it's this podcast. Oh, my goodness, we're really good at this podcast. We know how this podcast operates on Spotify.
Dominick:And then you're not reinventing. At times it was. You're really doubling down on that. Success does beget success and I always advise this diversity there. So I find that deep encyclopedic knowledge will cause people times to double down on success, which is smart, it's instinct, it's the correct response.
Dominick:But not also take that step back and say but are there other avenues we should be exploring this time? Are other avenues we should be exploring this moment in time? And I frequently have had doubters for the moment, so to speak, saying why are you doing this on the side if that's not a revenue-generating activity? Paul is nodding in the key, you have that moment. Oh, that's not revenue-generating. And I'll say because it isn't revenue-generating now. But I have to make that prediction in case the thing that we're doubling down on with that encyclopedic knowledge possibly goes wrong. And you know, I live by the mantra of.
Dominick:My great-great-grandfather was a fisherman and I said he never went out to the ocean assuming there wouldn't be a wave. I guarantee you he knew the ocean would have waves, there would be a storm. He was up in Newfoundland, canada, where there was icebergs. I'm sure he never said, oh, my goodness, there's an iceberg, how could that happen? But why in business do we have this encyclopedic knowledge? We continue forward saying, whoa, something changed in the model, and you see evidence of that in retail Sears. There's so many stories where they become super good at it. Something happens in the universe and then there's a shock Fighting. That natural instinct is saying maybe we have to also be consciously aware of that. There's something else and we have to balance this all.
Rich:So I'll ask the question without expecting you to name names, because I don't want to put you in a position where you are calling out the retailers that right now you've got relationships with. But what you're talking about is approaching an ever-changing business with a sense of curiosity and not arrogance. In your conversations, in your interactions, are you seeing those retailers that have more of a stayed?
Dominick:this is the way we've done it and it's going to work versus those that are intentfully curious. Are you intentfully curious that my daughter's grammar school was a progressive school and very focused on teaching the kids a growth mindset? It probably taught me more than it might have taught the kids at that point. That's the biggest mistake. In fact, if you ask me a very different question, when it comes to growth mindset of the 100-plus companies e-commerce companies you've scaled Dominic. Is there any common thread?
Dominick:Yes, they get really good at one thing and they screw up everything else, and it's partially growth mindset, it's partially the reward, especially online, a singular success. You might have a really great TikTok account and then, magically, tiktok gets banned and then, or Vine or Instagram, you get really good at that thing and then that thing changes and, generally speaking, I've seen so many leaders go but wait, I was really good at that thing. What's wrong? Because that thing rewarded you. If you become the top influencer on Vine and you do not figure out something else, that's wonderful, but you're dead the next day. Now we're talking TikTok ban and everything else and that directly impacts and I'm just using the social media as an example yahoo to google, or map quest, or there's so many stories online of that thing that you could have been number one at die, and we come with that hubris of saying I know this thing, I'm gonna double down on it, and then it dies no, I was an investor in palm pilot and I bought it at 40, 20, 10, 5 250.
Dominick:I think my last purchase was at 41 cents yeah, and I love and that's a great example palm pilot's a great example. I was one of the first users of them too, and, uh, I loved my palm pilot. I thought it was genius, I thought it was well designed. It doesn't exist, so it wasn't even. To make it worse, it, you would argue the darwinism of business would have killed it. But it's not always that, it's just sometimes. And here's the iphone. It's better. Pop out should have been about some sense.
Rich:If you just isolated the product, maybe it should have existed to this day in some format thereof, maybe it should have, but it does and it's not, uh, isolated to no reason, so to speak well, maybe it's time for and I'm gonna date myself and I'm probably going to assume that you know the uh the player, the movie but maybe it's time for alec baldwin to change the abc from always be closing toious.
Dominick:Oh, I do know the reference, I do know the movie and I do think you're always curious, you're always growing, you're always learning. I could confidently say I've learned more, of course. I mean, I think everyone should learn more post-college than at college. Not that college is that foundation, but I think we do look at it as an endpoint. And then there's a high shock factor, thinking speaking to students. Now, you know, I entered this industry and I thought I knew everything. There's no way you're going to know everything. You have to encounter challenges. And then, by the way, what I usually, when I lecture with the students, I'll everything I'm telling you is accurate as of this moment in time, and when I leave the room it's not accurate anymore. I just want to be clear because it's true. And five minutes later and we're recording this podcast on day X and day Y, everything I've said has had to have a variant because of the nature of time, the nature of business, the nature of life. Things change.
Gautham:I want to ask something that's closer to my heart, which is on the domain of innovation. You talked about success begetting success, leading to failure. Right, and you come from an outsider into retail. What do you see as retail's innovation path moving forward, especially when it comes to dealing with the changing needs of the customers?
Dominick:You know, innovation, ai conversations, changing needs. I always think we get these innovation moments in tools which are very beneficial AI is such a good example, of course which are very beneficial. Ai is such a good example, of course, but I'm also I always laugh. My maternal grandfather was one of the head sales guys Abraham and Strauss, a predecessor to Macy's and those fundamentals connect to the customer still exist. I feel like and maybe this also illustrates it we get a tool, an innovation AI.
Dominick:I remember last year at NRF, I was losing my mind. Like what do you have? I have AI or unified data solution. Oh my God, unified data. I get you. That's amazing.
Dominick:You're the 33rd booth in this one aisle to tell me the same story, and I think, though, what essentially is retail is truly saying connecting with another human going. Do you like this? That's retail Like to with another human going. Do you like this? That retail like. To me, that's the core story is simply facilitating that product transaction to human, and I think, as long as we can keep that within a core, innovation will accelerate that. I've seen companies accelerate it, like use unified data to identify their customers better, connect with the customers in mass, and where they might go wrong is the hardware store. You're connecting in mass but then you're sending e-blasts that are so impersonal that everyone's not connected. At the core is do you want to buy this? Is it right for you? Because ultimately, if that core message to me is lost, you have an angry customer, you sold a terrible product and I think everything with innovation sometimes can, uh, drive the car too fast, not too fast.
Dominick:I'm very pro speed off the road, that is I love the answer um I hope you do, because I I improvised it completely no, and you're gonna improvise on this question too.
Gautham:Looking at your bio, you've worked with a lot of startups, right, and as a marketing professor, where my focus which I love this conversation is on the customer. Now, as you grow your customer base, so does customer heterogeneity right. Different customer, different needs and so forth, or a company in general. Maintain that balance between growth as well as staying true to each customer, and build that connection with the customer. To me, there seems to be a trade-off right, and data can play a role in building those bridges. But what are your thoughts? Because, ultimately, if there is no customer, if there is no need, there is no company.
Dominick:Okay. So the concern in the way is here's this new, exciting product. Can we do it? And I will say that product's amazing, it will change our lives, it will 100% benefit the business. But we cannot do it.
Dominick:And the paradox to me becomes we can't handle the bandwidth of what we got. So I kind of, when you say connect with the customer, I keep that relationship always forefront in the mind. And yes, in the past week I've been presented with concepts. My investor group called me with RetailWire and had some ideas and I was like yep, 100%, brilliant, absolutely love the idea, it is perfect. So we're going to implement it.
Dominick:No, and that's the toughest is you have to say this idea will change the world, it is going to save us, but our bandwidth is only X and it pains me to say I can't. But it's almost the same as if when the cardiologist says, hey, you got to do your 5K run, it's snowing out, I can't do it today. So sometimes, in that, describing your answer to me, once you're presented with that additional thing, if the team's bandwidth, your own bandwidth, cannot process it, it might be perfect, it might be the product of the century, it might be the technique of the century. But if you can't implement it with all other factors, keeping that relationship in mind, it sucks. You just can't implement it with all other factors, keeping that relationship in mind, it sucks, you just can't do it.
Gautham:I love the focus on constant contact with the customer, even if it's in the airport, and also the notion of prioritization. We have limited resources and you have to prioritize, and some things get under the wing.
Dominick:I want to interject because it's not even constant to the customer. It's constant to the person, whatever that person may be Like. Recently, on one of my team no one, third of my team got sick. I can't control that. I can't reach out. Their kids are sick, they're sick. We don't have the bandwidth. Those are the people I was calling in the airport. Are you OK? What do you need? How can I help you on this situation? The people in the whole system, whether it be the customer, your team, your clients, your enemies, your friends. You have to be aware of all that. Sorry to interject, but I just realized that point is just always the person, no, it's a great point.
Gautham:Retail I think you said this. Retail is a human business and we have to maintain a connection, irrespective of what your foresight is. Let me ask one last question now before I pass it back on, which is that you're now the CEO of RetailWire, right? What kind of trends do you see influencing retail? You also are on the Retail AI Council, so I'm not asking you to talk specifically about AI, but in general, what do you see are the trends that retail will confront in 2025 and moving forward?
Dominick:AI, everyone, of course, is talking about. You know, it's almost the AI answer. By the way, just so parallels when social media came out, I remember when Google came out, streaming came out oh my goodness, people like this out. Streaming came out oh my goodness, people like this. And then everyone doubled down to this. Streaming platforms we could list no one's heard of, or social media platforms no one's heard of. Election is not me getting political. It's that uncertainty. If we're discussing tariffs and we're discussing a global economy, unless we know, you know, I think that's going to be the story of the year. Maybe this and this plan works perfectly, maybe not. And whenever the universities and retails, business and all said and done, and whenever any business encounters uncertainty, we, like humans, love stability in general in general.
Rich:So let me double down on that point. In a forward trend of instability which you could argue, retail has been heading down that path for quite a while. We used to be able to predict 10 or 20 years ago, down to the day, how you would do, and and now it becomes much more challenging. How do you see the consumer changing and what do you think is critical for the retailer to be able to do?
Dominick:I think you can never discount the direct impact on the consumer of covid. We became a world of loaded in my trunk and I don't even want to talk to you anymore. I love the concept. Even last night I, at two in the morning, woke up and said oh, I forgot to take I need X, y and Z. And is at my doorstep at 6 am, four hours later. That's insane and the truth is I don't. Who needs a product within four hours? That's mind boggling. But I think that was, to me, one of the biggest societal shifts. The internet, covid A, the inability to transact digitally. And then the consumer with give it to me now from anywhere in the world. So, yeah, I think the consumer's perception is that give it to me now, anywhere in the world.
Rich:Nobody has predicted that the drones over the east coast or amazon or walmart delivering holiday packages. But how do retailers now adapt?
Dominick:well, and that leads to the thing you have, this consumer expectation. Give me it today. Maybe drones should deliver my candy bar for christ tonight, in four hours. But then you have an operational, human, cultural reality in running a business. You know, when it comes to predictions, I always laugh because I get that especially end of the year what are your predictions for 2025? What are your predictions for 2030? And now that we have five year increments coming up, I don't know.
Dominick:And I think I go back to that metaphor of the sailing on the boat. It would be to me. I always use that because my great-grandfather on the boat I can't imagine someone said how many icebergs will you see today? 12. I'll see 12. He doesn't know. He's sitting on the dock. But I think the question to me becomes yeah, there's icebergs In terms of retail. Who would have predicted AI, drones, election, covid? And this is the past four years. So why are we interpreting these events as if they are shocking moments? That's normal. Maybe it's normal to have a societal. It doesn't mean I enjoyed COVID, any deviations, but it's very tough because I think we want all stability and the reality is life is unstable.
Paula:Let's talk about the advice. All right, so this is one of my favorites, because I get to learn from some of the best. What's the best advice you've ever gotten?
Dominick:Don't worry, that was it, don't worry.
Paula:I thought for a second, I had you speechless there.
Dominick:We did because there's been moments. But don't worry, it's certainly it. I think um a friend of mine always says the line uh, these are simply events going on and they're not, um, emotionally impactful events, they're just events. If you're sailing on a boat and the boat hits a little rock in the river, it's not like the rock intended to hit you. The rock's a rock and I think, just remind of the. Not to worry. These events in the universe do happen and there might not be a causality or anything you can do about it. At times, it's a tough reminder and one of which you just strive to always get to.
Paula:You're absolutely right about shifting and change and dramatic change and stuff like that. Something that I love about change, even dramatic change, regardless of if I was for it or against it, like covid right, like but there's always opportunity regardless.
Dominick:It's like the phoenix rising up, yes, so it's, and you find that opportunity in my only. When you rise above that moment and have clarity, which is so much easier said than done, and I know any. The friend who gave me the advice will look at me like you never do that, dude. You get wrapped into your own mania, just stop.
Gautham:Don, let me ask a follow-up question. Not a follow-up question, but a question that I wanted to ask. When you started talking initially, you talked about lecturing on personal brands. When you started talking initially, you talked about lecturing on personal brands. As a faculty professor, I start every semester talking about brand you and how to build brand you. I think it's critical in a world where you have to stand out. What advice would you have to our audience on how to build brand you while being authentic to yourself? Any tips?
Dominick:You could definitely go to miserandinocom and watch some of the lectures I've given on this. They're wonderful YouTube streams under my speaking tab. But besides the shameless plug, I do enjoy very much when I speak about it. I'm always telling stories from my own life and we connect as people to stories and I think it's finding, when it comes to personal brand, painting that picture of who and what you are. I'm always looking and saying, well, what is this thing? But I think it's always painting that story, figuring out the story and then painting the picture to appropriately get to the story.
Rich:And in that maybe that's one of the discoveries is that oftentimes technology innovation is great AI, streaming, social media but often we get so wrapped up in the technology that we forget the story and we forget the humanity of the customer 100% and beyond the customer, the person.
Dominick:I have seen companies live and die based upon who the people are on the team you have to. It's the customers, the people. Why you know? Ultimately there's no. I was about to think. The only business that does not involve people is like Bitcoin mining, but even that involves people, because you have electricity affecting the global economy. There is nothing in a box we think there is when you trade stocks or something, but no, everything does, at the end of the day, does involve people. Maybe solar panels, I guess, like you sit passively on your roof and you get electricity. But ultimately there's a person in this equation somewhere, whether it be the customer, the client, the coworker. That's where it is. It's not the humanistic element of it, it's just the reality. Why are we on this planet Earth? We're not isolated to the universe.
Rich:All right. So here's where we're going to transition to the rapid fire round, the relatable rapid fire round, where we're going to test your agility, and I'm not going to pretend that you don't have AI working in the background to generate these answers, but I think we've developed enough trust for you that this is going to be you and you alone, All right. So my question you are an accomplished musician. I do want to know what instruments, but my rapid fire question is what is your favorite?
Dominick:walk on. I actually have never thought of that. I actually just normally, when I'm walking on a stage, I'm usually talking to the crowd, so I almost tune it out. To be honest, I know it sounds weird. I don't have like, I just enjoy talking to the crowd, so I almost tune it out. To be honest, I know it sounds weird, I don't have like, I just enjoy talking to everybody and I will put the headset on and literally address the crowd. I just was at ETL Canada. We did this and people seem to enjoy just having that five-minute conversation before we got into it all. So do you want an audible and you plan a walk-off song? I need to. It's one of those things I have to really contemplate now.
Rich:Yeah, see, on the stand. So with the hands up, no keyboard. No, I all right. So I have to ask what instruments do you play?
Dominick:piano and guitar, uh, but I actually studied, of all things, harpsichord because I went in college. I went to the piano auditions and there was three seats and 30 people sitting there and I was ready to play Billy Joel and Bruce Horn to be for the audition and they were like Tchaikovsky and I went I'm from Brooklyn, we don't got no Tchaikovsky and then down the hall was harpsichord and no kidding. I walked up, looked in the room and again Flapper Avenue, brooklyn. I said, okay, I'm going to need a little more information. What's a harpsichord? How does it work and how do I play it? I need to learn quickly and I had someone give me the concepts and I played Stairway to Heaven. I transcribed quickly for the harpsichord as all arpeggios flowing notes, and I studied harpsichord for four years because it was the one I knew I could get into as opposed to piano. Well, you realize that is very good. Harpsichord rendition of stairway to heaven. Yeah, it would be very surreal. Our way to heaven very nice, all right.
Paula:So if you could transport yourself anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Dominick:I love to travel and there's moments like I do say, oh, I really want, like I was thinking this morning I want to get coffee at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans and I would love. I go to Quebec City frequently and I'd love to have dinner in a nice French restaurant in Quebec City, which are all the sides of the French empire. Logistically it's, I guess, possible, but transporting would make life beautiful and I would love a Christmas. Oh my God, it's all food related. I want the Christmas burrito from Santa Fe. Those are probably my top three. I would jump between which would be completely illogical and not logistical, but I would transport.
Gautham:All right, so for music and food to transport to now the last question if you were having a dinner party, who are three people that you would invite to, living or dead?
Dominick:Oh, I just would invite my closest friends. That's easy, that was so easy. Yeah, I enjoy the most. Actually, my favorite ever was my 40th birthday. We rented a house on the North Fork, long Island, and we just had our two closest friends and the families and it was wonderful. It was just a weekend of everyone talking, making dinner. It was great. You know, we all cooked together. I didn't cook, that's beyond my abilities.
Rich:Dom, thank you very much for joining us today. This was fantastic.
Dominick:This was an amazingly wonderful conversation and nice meeting you, little buddy.
Gautham:But I am so glad I had you guys. You guys had me on. Well, that was definitely a very interesting conversation. You know you started off by saying it might be an out. You were interested in what an outsider's perspective was, and I think there were multiple points where you could see that, where the outsider's insight into retail was truly fascinating.
Rich:Yeah, it was. I mean, first of all, what an interesting person. I am going to have to see if I can find a rendition of Stairway to Heaven on the Harpsichord. I don't know that it exists. I might have to ask him to record it. He very effectively talked about how, in his media businesses, how he has always been part of the retail industry, just from a different perspective, and now being a little bit more closely aligned to it and engaging with all these different brand and retail leaders, how much he's learned and this is the word that comes up a lot is how curious he is, and you can just see him being naturally curious about everything. I'm trying to figure out what language he's going to learn next.
Gautham:Yeah, I will say like. I think for me that was the thing that stood out the most was how multifaceted he is, and his ability to switch between topics and bring stories into the conversation was really a lesson, I think, for our listeners, as a way to captivate audiences.
Rich:Macy's and the Harry Selfridges and the retail theater and the narrative and the storytelling that they created. There is some of that and I don't want to say it's missing, because there's obviously very successful retailers creating very good stories, but not to the extent that there was years ago and you can see him kind of capturing that or talking about that element.
Gautham:Retail is about storytelling, right. Ultimately, it's about making those movements that connect, and you do that with stories. Maybe it's in the physical store, maybe it's through actual storytelling, but everything boils down to that connection, and stories are the best way to make those connections, in my opinion.
Rich:Yeah, and I thought you know it was interesting because when we were asking about technology, you and I have said we're both fascinated by technology and the advances.
Rich:You know we want to dive in and talk about what the latest technology is and then at the end we'll say but it's about people. When you know he sits on the on the AI council and almost immediately went to, it really doesn't matter what the tool is. You've got to figure out what the story is, what the connection is, what the relationship is, and the tool is secondary. So he really just kind of jumped right to the point on that one. I will tell you what the most surprising answer to a question was. When you asked him who he would want to invite for dinner, I expected a laundry list of the most eclectic group of people and for him to say I just want to go home and have dinner with family and friends and spend the weekend and you could see where somebody with his energy and intellect and how engaging he is, that he would want to just unplug and do that. So but I will admit I was surprised by that answer.
Gautham:Yeah, I was too unplug and do that, so, but I will admit I was surprised by that answer. Yeah, I was too, but at the same time it gives us a peek into who he really is and insight into how he operates and what's important to him. It came out of left field. That was the highlight.
Rich:Yeah, and I think that's where asking some of the uh, the, the the less obvious questions can can be funds. Well, as always, it's good to see you. I know Paula had to, uh, had to jump off, but it was great to see Riker, as always.
Gautham:Yes, indeed, we should make him a member of our podcast team. You know, actually a lot a bigger audience for us.
Rich:It would actually, you know what. We could get them a smaller microphone I could try and find one on on Amazon and, and you know, maybe if, since we haven't been able to convince Paula to go into retail, we could start young with him, take him shopping, get him acclimated to it, start him off in the stock room.
Gautham:There you go. That's hope then.
Rich:All right, great to see you, as always. Thank you on behalf of all three of us and a final shout out to Dominic for joining us today and to all of you for joining us on Retail Relates.
