Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

I first met the impressive Linda Maslechko in her dual role of owning an award-winning retail apparel brand was a disruptor in its niche and serving the Canadian retail community on RCC's Board of Directors.   

Fast forward a few years, and her retail brand is no more. Still, the lessons learned from starting, growing and ultimately winding up her retail business are the cornerstone of Linda's new calling - business reinvention.

In a compelling interview, she takes us through her professional history and the process she now uses to merge experience and reinvention frameworks to help retailers and other businesses get ready for what comes next.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Linda

Linda Maslechko founded and scaled an award-winning retail apparel brand that was a disruptor in its niche. She has a sharp business acumen honed from years of experience as an entrepreneur, from driving growth to euphoric highs to developing the resiliency needed to manage the lows. She has taken that skillset to build a business coaching practice that has helped dozens of entrepreneurial businesses launch, pivot, reinvent and thrive. 

In the past year, Linda studied under Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva to become a Certified Reinvention Practitioner (one of only 200 in the world) and is a Chief Reinvention Officer for Reinvention Canada. Running a successful business amidst constant change can be overwhelming. Using the Reinvention Method, Linda helps companies learn new tools to create clarity amid uncertainty, turn disruption into an opportunity, and develop a reinvention mindset that will become their competitive advantage. These are the skills EVERY business needs to know.

Linda is also a passionate retail consultant, combining strategy with a “thing” for inventory and cash flow management to power growth and realize the possibilities. She is proud to be an Affiliate of Management One, serving clients in Canada and the US. 

Linda is a frequent guest speaker at Canadian universities and business forums, an active alumnus, speaker, and GROW by EO Business Accelerator Coach with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and has been a featured speaker on The Reinvention Show, Easy Reinvention Lab, and the Reinvention Canada Summit. 

You can connect with Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-maslechko-crp-24288a15/ or through the Reinvention Canada website: www.reinventioncanada.ca

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

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.