The Voice of Retail Retail Veteran Vicki Bradley on Retail Leaders and Leaders of the Future
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.
We’re starting off the year with an amazing, veteran retailer turned executive coach - Vicki Bradley is my special guest on this first episode of 2022!
With a storied retail career in sales and operations roles from the Northern Group to the President of The Bombay Furniture Company and then at Hr2 by Holt Renfrew, plus a stint on the board of directors at RCC, Vicki now turns her talents to executive coaching.
From senior C-level executives to junior managers just starting out, through her coaching practice and Women in Leadership Empowered online community, Vicki is sending the elevator back down to help retail leaders and leaders of the future discover their full potential
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Vicki Bradley
Founder and President of the Synergistic Leadership Group and Founder and CEO of WIL Empowered, is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Energy Leadership Index Assessment Master Practitioner (ELI-MP), Certified in Conversational Intelligence (CIQ).
She is a seasoned Executive with 25+ years’ experience in leading high performing teams in the retail industry across North America. She has held progressive roles with iconic retailers including President of the Bombay Furniture Company in Canada while simultaneously leading the store organization as VP Sales and Operations for Bombay US, SVP of Sales and Operations with Marks and Spencers, VP of Sales and Operations with luxury retailer Holt Renfrew (Hr2), and held progressive roles within the Woolworth Organization across North America. Vicki sat on the Board of Directors for the Retail Council of Canada, Party Packagers, and OSI tile.
Her passion is with supporting and stretching individuals beyond what they believe themselves capable of and creating environments that are co-creative for learning. Her key strengths include identifying top talent, team development, strategic thinking, and financial acumen.
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 and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
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.