Laura Joukovski, TechStyle Fashion Group President talks working with celebrities like Kate Hudson and Rihanna, Canadian supermodel/influencer Coco Rocha, and Manolo Almagro from Q Division talks retail tech, all live from NRF in New York

Welcome to the third in a series of special NRF Big Show episodes of The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

First up in this episode recorded live backstage in New York City at the NRF Big Show TechStyle Fashion Group President, Global Fashion Brands Laura Joukovski is my guest.  Reflecting on her work overseeing JustFab, ShoeDazzle & FabKids and working with celebrities like Kate Hudson and Rihanna, we talk about the nature of celebrity based brands, working with global influencer, and the hard work that makes them a success, how to develop and retail leading edge fashion, subscription business models, and solving the attribution riddle.

Speaking of influencers, Canadian global influencer and supermodel (regarded as the world’s first digital supermodel!)/entrepreneur Coco Rocha joins me for a quick but super interesting interview right after her understanding influencer marketing panel at NRF and shares insights into her tradecraft

Last but certainly not least, Manolo Almagro from Q Division and co-host of the most excellent podcast Q’s Tech Talks is back on the podcast as my guest from the media room.   We talk retail tech, starting with the CES show and why retailers need to be there, then explore the trends on the show floor at NRF and beyond.

But first, let’s listen into my conversation live from NRF with Laura from Just Fab/TechStyle

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Thanks to Laura, Coco and Manolo  for being my guests on this episode.  Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week for the week of February 3rd, 2020

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 great 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.