Jeanne Anderson, SVP Saatchi Art and Kate Delhagen, Strategic Advisor and Investor talk shop, moving luxury online, investing in people and the path forward for online retail in the COVID era

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, and with the support of Astound Commerce.

"Modern commerce is complex and leaders need to look beyond web and marketing tech to understand the complete customer experience. The Astound Commerce Maturity Assessment lets you self-evaluate the state of your business against modern commerce demands. Visit astoundcommerce.commaturity "

On this episode we’re off to L.A. to meet Jeanne Anderson, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Saatchi Art.  With decades of global eCommerce experience including back in the beginning of the .com boom in the late ‘90s with eToys, Jeanne and I talk shop, what makes a luxury online site thrive and all about this this global marketplace for art that democratizes the art buying experience and puts money back into the hands of the artist.

Next, I’m in Portland catching up with a long time friend and colleague Kate Delhagen, Strategic Advisor & Consultant, Board Director and Founder of Oregon Sports Angels.   From the late ‘90s as a pioneering Forrester analyst to over a decade as a senior executive with Nike and developing the digital / omnichannel business for thousands of their account partners worldwide and now a venture capitalist, we talk about the current state of eCommerce and the tradecraft of investing in the right people, business ideas and companies.

But first, lets check in with Jeanne from Saatchi art

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Thanks to Jeanee and Kate for being my guests and for Astound Commerce for their support of this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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.