Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

With over a decade of success and a loyal fanbase in their pouch, this Canadian menswear staple brand is disrupting the North American men’s underwear space.

Today on The Voice of Retail we’re going to strip back the layers of Saxx Underwear’s retail strategy with their CEO Wendy Bennison. As a seasoned retail executive with senior leadership roles at Roots and Marks, plus industry leadership on the RCC Board of Directors, Wendy offers a wealth of insight on Saxx’s integrated channel network strategy and the retail industry at large.

Wendy speaks to Saxx’s consumer alignment priorities, navigating relationships with retailers and applying a larger context to COVID-19 consumer behaviour.

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Wendy Bennison is currently based in Vancouver, BC as the CEO of SAXX Underwear Co, a Global Wholesale and Direct to Consumer Brand on its way to becoming the #1 Premium Men’s Underwear brand in North America. Prior to that, across more than twenty-five years in the retail industry, she held multiple senior executive positions inside of great Canadian brands such as Roots Canada where she was President and Mark’s Work Wearhouse. She says the greatest reward of all for her has been the opportunity to build highly engaged organizations that succeed through significant periods of growth and change in an ever evolving industry.

Passionate about building highly engaged teams by providing a culture and strategic business platform from which people can grow through the rewarding and challenging experience of executing a winning plan, Wendy Bennison is currently having fun as CEO of technical men’s underwear brand SAXX, based in Vancouver, BC

Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  ,      The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext!  You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. 

Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google.  He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer.  If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.