Meet Jenna Flateman Posner, Chief Digital Officer for Snipes, a global sneaker and streetwear retailer with over 680 stores across Europe and America. Jenna shares with us her unique perspectives on competition and partnerships with the technology vendors lucky enough to sit across the table from her, and talks about winning strategies she brings from being an elite professional athlete to the retail world and beyond.
Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext and presented by CommX.
Meet Jenna Flateman Posner, Chief Digital Officer for Snipes, a global sneaker and streetwear retailer with over 680 stores across Europe and America. Jenna shares with us her unique perspectives on competition and partnerships with the technology vendors lucky enough to sit across the table from her, and talks about winning strategies she brings from being an elite professional athlete to the retail world and beyond.
About Jenna
A strategic thinker and Retail Tech expert with proven sales and strategy background. Entrepreneurial in practice, able to identify inefficiencies quickly and implement processes enabling scalability and cross-departmental collaboration. Best leveraged when associated with revenue and positioned to lead.
ABOUT US:
Scott Silverman
An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.
Veronika Sonsev
Veronika Sonsev is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. She also leads the retail practice for Chameleon Collective and is a contributor for Forbes on how to grow retail and ecommerce in the age of Amazon. Having spent the last 10+ years working with some of the largest retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, Veronika has intimate knowledge of the challenges facing retail and ecommerce today. She is also an advocate for women in business and founded the global non-profit mBolden, which is now part of SheRunsit.
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 00:05
Welcome to the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with CommerceNext,and presented by CommX.
Michael LeBlanc 00:09
Meet Jenna Flateman Posner, Chief Digital Officer for Snipes, a global sneaker and streetwear retailer with over 680 stores across Europe and America. Jenna shares with us her unique perspective on competition and partnerships. With the technology vendors lucky enough to sit across the table from her and talk about the winning strategy she brings from being an elite professional athlete to the retail world and beyond.
Scott Silverman 00:37
Welcome to Conversations with CommerceNext. Today we are excited to have Jenna Flateman Posner with us. Jenna is the Chief Digital Officer at Snipes. She joined there in 2019. She has a really interesting background, including being a professional athlete. And we'll hear a little bit more about that in a moment. And I'm joined today as usual by my podcasting co-host, Michael LeBlanc. How are you today, Michael?
Michael LeBlanc 01:05
I'm fabulous. Jenna, where are we finding you today? Where's your office?
Jenna Flateman Posner 01:09
I'm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Scott Silverman 01:11
So, why don't we start Jenna. Like if you could introduce Snipes, and your role there. I know. There's some European ties. There's been a few companies that have been acquired and just like to help everybody understand you know who you are, and the company on a high level.
Jenna Flateman Posner 01:29
Snipes is a global sneaker and streetwear retailer akin to a Finish Line or a Footlocker We were founded in Germany in 1998, our founder is still the CEO today. It was always his dream to come to the US. And he was able to accomplish that in early 2019, by way of acquisition. Before the acquisition, we had roughly 250 locations in Europe, and a number of thriving digital practices. So, in early 2019, the Dykeman Group, which is our parent company, acquired KicksUSA, which was a local 64 location, regional street wear chain here in Philadelphia. About six months after that, we acquired Mr. Alan's out of Detroit, which was a 28-location chain. And since then, we have acquired Jimmy Jazz, which was a 167-location chain based out of New York, which kind of, shoehorns from the Midwest, down into Texas. And about five days after that acquisition, we acquired Expressions, which was another 30-location chain in New England, kind of rooted in Boston. So, seemingly overnight, you know, we've gone from 64 locations here in the US to over 300. And we are working as hard as we can to surpass our European counterparts.
Scott Silverman 02:46
So, one of my favorite pairs of Pumas I got from Snipes. I get lots of compliments on them, (crossover talk) they have all these cool colors. And I believe it was intentional that they're like, they're two different shoes that I wear them at the same time.
Jenna Flateman Posner 03:04
Nice,
Scott Silverman 03;05
Anyway, I was at a recent conference where you were speaking, you were a panelist, and my ears perked up, because you said that you came from the solution provider side, and you struck, described yourself as a spy, which I thought was a, an interesting way of putting it, but it's a, it's a fairly unique background. Sometimes we see people go back and forth, but you seem to have a pretty strong career on the solution provider side, and you know, moved over to the retailer side. So, you know, can you talk about, like, what made you decide to do that? Was that in the plans all along, did it find you? Did you find it? Like how did that happen?
Jenna Flateman Posner 03:45
Yeah, it definitely found me, it definitely was not in the plans all along, although I was always very curious. You know, I think as retail tech vendors, product developers, implementation specialists, salespeople, you know, I think we are always looking through the lens that's a little self-serving, right. We're always trying to find the gap in the market that our solution can solve for, and that gap is always the most painful and always the one that needs to be prioritized first. And so, you know, I think we kind of have blinders on as, as retail tech sales folks. And we sometimes lack the empathy that would really serve us well, if we understood how the other half really lives.
Jenna Flateman Posner 04:15
And so when I was on the, on the retail tech side, I was working for Radius Eight which has since been acquired by Pfizer. And I was pitching my now boss. You know, we ended up connecting after, after, after that connection with each other and I realized halfway through this meeting, that she was interviewing me for a role. You know, when the offer was made, I really immediately my reaction was no this isn't for me and I'm an entrepreneur, I'm, I want that, you know, that big payout in the end, I want to be a part of a big exit and, you know, I want to do that that was something that always really excited me and incentivize me about building something really big that could change the world and have a big financial impact.
Jenna Flateman Posner 05:11
And so, my first gut reaction was No, I don't want to do that. I'm enjoying where I'm at. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of the success that I had in the retail tech vendor side was really related to this relationship I've been fostering with Salesforce, whether it was integrations or sharing partners, or referring each other business, and one of the near term needs for this new role was to actually drive a Salesforce implementation.
Jenna Flateman Posner 05:18
And so I thought, Oh, wow, man, you know, this could be really interesting. You know, maybe I can get on the other side, I can, I can see what it's like, I can see what buying tech is really like for a retailer, I can see what the budgeting season that we all try to work around really means, I can see what selling something in across disciplines in the organization or buying something that requires you know, and you're looking at omni-channel that requires store buy in like, how hard is that job, really? And what are some of the skills that I could bring back to the other side to say, hey, guys, this is how it's really done. So, when I refer to myself as a spy, you know, I kind of, I came over here in the beginning, like, I am such a tech entrepreneur, I am so invested in this innovation in this, this retail tech industry. I'm gonna come over here, and I'm going to check it out for a little bit. And then I'm gonna run back over and tell everybody how it's done. But it's kind of growing on me. I really like it over here. So, I'm not sure how quickly I'll be. I'll be going back. But yeah, who knows?
Michael LeBlanc 06:29
Well, let's, let's continue the discussion thread along the vendor, retailer, buyer idea. You do a lot of posts on LinkedIn, when you're thanking the suppliers. Is this, is this a form of kinder capitalism? Or is this a way that you form relationships? You've formed relationships with your vendors that are, you know, one plus one equals three, I always used to when I had,
Jenna Flateman Posner 06:42
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 06:43
You know, when I sat in your chair, I'm like, Listen, I'm looking for partners, not mercenaries. So, if you're here to make a quick buck and leave, maybe you should probably go talk to somebody else. But how do you approach that kind of relationship, an ongoing relationship? And then inevitably, yeah, there could be some pretty tough discussions. So, chalk the field first to us a little bit, share a bit of your, your experience and how you approach it.
Jenna Flateman Posner 07:09
Yeah, so I think in general, with any of these relationships, partnership is key. And so when I look at how I want to engage with my tech vendors, first and foremost, I have so much respect for good technology, right? I'm a technologist. So, if I come in, and I implement technology, and it is just thriving, I want to spread the good word, I want everyone to know, I want all my peers in the retail space, when they're buying fraud, they need to buy (inaudible) or when they're looking at ADA compliance, they have got to look at UsableNet, when there, right. It's, it's just, I feel like it's my duty, that if I have something that is so tested, and I've got so much context, because of my partnership background, that I am happy to bring these technology providers to market. But selfishly, I also know that that's a currency for them.
Jenna Flateman Posner 07:34
And so in my ability to communicate those wins to be a part of those implementations that generate those wins, and then communicate out to the world of the wins that we're having, and ultimately impact our business. Frankly, it gives me more negotiating leverage. So, very often in the contract phase, if, if I've got a good gut feeling about the efficacy of a technology that I'm about to implement, you know, with the caveat of success, you know, I'll often offer myself to communicate what's going on to the industry through our negotiations.
Jenna Flateman Posner 07:53
And, you know, the one plus one equals three comments is exactly right. I present myself as an advocate, and an evangelist. And ultimately, in return, not only do I get, you know, economies that help my business grow and make it more affordable and productive and profitable for me, but I also get the attention that I need to be successful, because they know if we're successful,
Michael LeBlanc 08:08
Yeah.
Jenna Flateman Posner 08:09
The world is going to know about it. So, you know, that equation for me has been just fantastic. It's also given me an opportunity to just be more strategic, impact product roadmaps and uncladded advisory boards and keep that technologist in me fed as I continue to work through product development and innovation in the retail world at a much larger scale. Now that I'm touching, maybe 15 to 20 pieces of technology, versus maybe the one I was representing on the other side.
Michael LeBlanc 09:19
If you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure and hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss another great episode. We'll be right back with Jenna Flateman Posner, Chief Digital Officer for Snipes, right after this message.
Michael LeBlanc 09:37
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Michael LeBlanc 09:45
So, on the one hand, what you're describing is a technology vendor's dream and an informed executive who's willing to partner. On the other hand, I imagine you're also pretty,
Jenna Flateman Posner 09:55
I am a nightmare.
Michael LeBlanc 09:57
(Crossover talk) you've been in their chair, you could probably, you could probably sniff out some vaporware stuff pretty quick. Talk about that a little bit. I mean I had, I had a Chief Digital Officer tell me that one of the first things when, when she took over the job, she asked all the vendors to re-pitch her. And they wound up finding out all these things that the technology did that they didn't even know, it did or forgot or didn't implement it. You know, what's your, what's your approach to that? I mean, inevitably there's sometimes difficult conversations and, and just, just spend another minute on that, that side of the conversation.
Jenna Flateman Posner 10:53
Yeah, I think that, you know, to your latter point, you know, I think, I think the technologists tried to strip and streamline their sales process into what you need, they want to be the thing that is going to solve your immediate need. And so oftentimes, they will say, you know, this will be a point solution for this issue, for this challenge. And for them, it's a land and expand opportunity, if I can just get in, if I can just get on paper, if I can get, you know, into this code base, then we can bring the rest of the product set to market. And I think they really do under, undersell themselves in many cases.
Jenna Flateman Posner 11:16
On the flip side, some go in and try to be all things to all people, and that's overwhelming and inefficient as well. So, I do think that they've got to balance that from a sales perspective to make sure that they're tailoring their approach to you, but not short (inaudible) themselves by, by not representing the full power of their platform or, or even talking through long term vision or visibility or roadmap as it relates to the, to the retailer.
Jenna Flateman Posner 11:29
So yeah, definitely. from a, from a nightmare perspective, I'll say, you know, listen, when there's contract negotiations, and it's the end of the quarter, or it's the end of the year, you know, I you know, there's, it's no coincidence, that coincidence that almost every contract I write ends at the end of the year, or at the end of January, in the case of Salesforce. So, you know, I, I know the way that that works, I know the value of forecastable revenue versus, you know, one-time fees, and I definitely have the benefit of being able to work and leverage those angles. As I communicate and engage with these, with these reps on a, on a contract basis. I'm also not afraid to hold them accountable to what they've sold me. So, I think from my position as CDO here for the US market, I definitely spent a little time in the weeds. I'm fine-tooth combing in my P&L, nothing's really getting across that shouldn't. But there are some scenarios where vendors really need to be held accountable. And I think what's so great about the relationship is that because we have that, that underpinning of partnership, it's, it's meant with respect, right? I'm not just this annoying complaining client that is never satisfied. If I'm satisfied, you're going to know about it, and I'm going to appreciate you. If I'm not you're going to know it. And hopefully, (crossover talk),
Michael LeBlanc 12:42
You're going to hear about it as well.
Jenna Flateman Posner 12:46
Yeah, I would say I get a lot of feedback that I give very honest, non-abrasive feedback. I'm not afraid to share how we're feeling or how I think we're doing or if my expectations aren't being met.
Michael LeBlanc 13:21
I view that as a gift on the vendor side, because sometimes the vendors don't get told, you know, reality or the truth. I've had vendors say that to me in the past. So, thank you for telling us, nobody ever says that to us. And (crossover talk),
Jenna Flateman Posner 13:33
I sit down with vendors that lose. And I tell them why they lost. So, I will sit down and say this is where you went wrong. I mean, I again, I really, I really empathize with these, these reps and these vendors because you know, I sat there for over a decade. So,
Michael LeBlanc 13:46
It feels to me as I listen to knowing what I know, after coaching and managing an elite, elite sports team, soccer team with my daughter is on. You're bringing some of those skills about understanding how to lose communication, coaching, it feels like you're transferring some of those skills directly. Is that, talk about the skills you learned? And now you are a rugby player? (Inaudible). Do I have that right? You were a professional rugby player.
Jenna Flateman Posner 13:48
I was a rugby player for a very long time. I did play for the US team. And the women's Premier League here in the US. I was also a seven time all American sprinter, DIII National Champion. I have been an athlete since I was, you know, on skates at age 2. It's just always kind of been a part of me but,
Michael LeBlanc 14:31
You know how to win, and you know how to win, and you know how to lose. That's that second part I find is very trans-, it's, not everybody knows how to do both those things. And that feels like a very transferable skill to business. Would you, would you agree?
Jenna Flateman Posner 14:45
Yeah, I mean, I still hate losing but yes, absolutely. And not only do you know how to lose it, you know how to really evaluate your loss right and identify why you lost and what to do next time right you watch tape back as an athlete for a reason. You want to see the good and you want to see the bad. So, you can be really retro and look at how you've progressed and determine how you would do it differently the next time. So, that's absolutely a practice. You know, we reflect and retro constantly on our implementations, on our contract negotiations. Yeah, it's pretty constant, which is definitely a result of practices that I've built from being an athlete. From my experience, specifically with rugby. I learned something that I don't know if it's unique to me, if it's unique to the sport, I don't know if it's unique to be an athlete, I'm not sure. But what I'll say is that my skill, right, I had a skill, and we all come to the table with something we're really good at. I was incredibly fast. And so for a very long time, I could catch the ball and I could just, I could just run, right. And so for a long time playing rugby, it was get, ball, run, and
Michael LeBlanc 15:02
Right.
Jenna Flateman Posner 15;03
Getting that ball and running and winning, right and learning and winning, it gave me the opportunity to be exposed to the gameplay, to the field, to how the game has actually managed, to how you engage and integrate and communicate with your teammates on the field, right? I have this, this skill that got me on the field, which earned me the right to the time I needed to really learn the game. And what my speed gave me was this, this resilience and fearlessness that gave me just enough time to learn it, that I could continue to develop with the trajectory of my athletic career.
Jenna Flateman Posner 15:40
And it's not so different from, from being in my seat right now. I was a Chief Growth Officer on the vendor side, I've never been a retailer, I didn't know the first thing about retail, I was a consumer. And I sold tech to solve retail challenges. You know, when I was offered this position. Again, my gut reaction was no, but what I said to my now boss was I don't, I don't, I'm a technologist, I'm, I'm not a retailer, I wouldn't even know where to begin. You know, and I've said this before, and I will continue to say it the rest of my retail life, her response to me there was so epic. She looked at me and she said, you know, we don't need legacy retail thinking, we have plenty of that to go around. I need pace, I need innovation, you know, and I need you to really consider this. And so I believe that it was that same fearlessness and resilience that I took to the field with my pace that I took into a role that really I had no business taking on. And so, when I came in, I was you know, VP of Digital, I had this very small digital practice. And I had no idea. I mean, I had hoped that it would be 10X Over the next three years, but I had no idea that it would go crazy the way it has. And it's given me an opportunity to grow my own role in my, my, my career. And so now I've had just enough time moving at that wild pace, to catch up and get my retail education and continue to expand with the business. So, it's been great.
Scott Silverman 18:07
I mean, you have such an interesting background, you have this entrepreneurial mindset, you are an entrepreneur, you have the athletic background, you know, entrepreneurs, I think are always looking at problems in a different way or trying to find a non-conventional way to solve a problem. You know, one of the things we'd like to talk about in this podcast is career advice. And I'm interested to hear, do you feel like it's your set of experiences that have been the best career advice for you? Do you have mentors? Is there some career advice that you got along the way that was really helpful? You know, what do you think about that? Or is it more instinct for you?
Jenna Flateman Posner 18:51
So, it's a like three-part answer? Yes, of course. I have mentors. Absolutely. The core group of mentors I lean on today, ironically, or not so ironically, are former prospects I had in my retail tech life. Former folks that I've either sold to or tried to sell to the Rick Almeida’s at Puma, the John Hazens’ at Boot Barn. You know, the Mike Relics’ of Paxon you know, these are folks that I've engaged with over, over a decade and sold tech to and ideated with and partied with and had dinners with and all good fun things that I can lean into now to sanity check my decisions or you know, get their blink on what's coming, right. So, that is brilliant for me.
Jenna Flateman Posner 19:15
I would say a really unbelievable mentor for me, and this is probably the luckiest thing I've ever fallen into is my current boss. My COO, Brigitte Cooperman has been around the block. She ran operations at Urban Fossil worldwide. She's been at I mean, just so many major retailers over the course of her career and I have the lucky benefit of having her in my, my back pocket. She's here to support me through this entire process, which has been wild. From a career advice perspective, you know, it is very interesting.
Jenna Flateman Posner 19:44
And there was an old boy rugby player. And every year back in my New York days, I think I might have been selling print ads for the New York Press at the time, I would step up every year for one of our biggest tournaments of the year. And I would sell into this New York Sevens Rugby, I don't know, guide. And I would go and sell ads that would benefit the club. And so, he was working for like A.G Edwards, or some financial institution at the time. And I was just chatting his ear off. And I was pitching him on like buying this ad and putting it in this publication. And he stopped me, and he cut me off. And he just simply said to me, you know, Jenna, the best sales reps know how to listen. And I was like, Oh, shit. Okay, I'm going to just sit down and sit back for a minute. And it's funny, it's, it's such, it's such funny advice, but I, you know, I get revved up, and I get excited. And I get ideas. And I'm always, you know, willing to share almost to a shameless point. And I often hear him in my head, and he's since passed away. But I often hear him in my head, you know, like, Jenna just stop, you gotta listen, I would say that's, that's a big one for me. As nascent as that concept may sound,
Scott Silverman 21:28
That's great. And I mean, it sounds like such an amazing relationship you have with Brigitte, and in just a unique way that you guys came together. And then she came and wanted to bring you into the retail side, from where you were. That's, that's a great story. So, shifting from your career advice that you received? What do you think about this current generation of marketing and digital leaders? What, you know, attributes or skills do you think are important for someone that is young in their career? And what advice do you have to folks, maybe in the first, you know, 10 years of their digital career or, or just overall professional career, as you kind of have, you know, been in a few different, you know, you've sat in a few different seats in your career?
Jenna Flateman Posner 22:25
Yeah, absolutely. What I've been able to do in this is, I always want to have a long-term goal and vision for what's next. But I've got to make sure I'm not married to it, right. Because if you're married to this, and you're trying to force yourself down a specific path, you could be missing the doors that are opening up all around you, if I get a request for, you know, a call or a touch base, you know, it's very rare that I'm going to decline, I'm going to decline having a conversation, right, you kind of always want to be learning, and opening yourself up to, to what's next. I mean, this, these closed mindsets about, this is my path. This is what I want. This is what success means. And I never would have ended up here, if I would have operated that way. Even getting into digital at the time was relatively new. I mean, I'm kind of aging myself. But, you know, I was working for Getty Images, and I was serving an agency licensing imagery for, for global use. And that agency offered me a role to pick me up and have me come to the agency side, you know, I could have said, no, I'm going to be at Getty for the rest of my life. I want to grow here; I want to be here. This is what success means for me. But I took a risk. And I think in the early days, take risks, like just go check it out. There's always going to be something next, you just got to keep yourself open. And, and for me, the doors open, and you just have to walk through them.
Scott Silverman 23:43
So, switching gears again, one of the topics that we've been asking in these interviews is one where I think there, nobody, there is no right answer. I don't think anybody knows what the right answer is. If you do that, it'll be a first, this whole thing on remote work and the new labor force. And like, there's so, such a, it’s such a nuanced, complex question because it affects people's lives. But there's all this opportunity for additional collaboration, kind of, what are your thoughts on this remote work versus hybrid or something else? And, or maybe you do have a really strong opinion on that it should be a certain way.
Jenna Flateman Posner 24:29
I mean, I can tell you what I think it should be right now. I can't say that that's the way it should be forever. You know, we've had the benefit through the pandemic of, of testing and learning through all of it. So, we have fully remote time where our offices and our physical stores were closed, right where we were forced to work remotely 100%. We've had the opportunity to come back at our own leisure and at Snipes we're actually a hybrid model where we're in two days a week and we're home three days a week, with the open indoor, you know, if you want to be in you can but, you know, we're required to be in two days a week. And I think it's been fantastic for us.
Jenna Flateman Posner 25:03
Personally, I love the balance. I have three kids at home and a wife. So, being home and being able to let the guy come and set up the play set on the lawn while I finish off my day, like that's really convenient for me. But also, being in the office and getting dirty two days a week has been really wonderful as well. I think it's really made us prioritize, prioritize our physical time together, and acknowledge that the type of work we're going to do physically is going to be different from the kind of work that we do remotely. And both are really valuable. My day starts at seven when I'm home, and they end at seven, one at home. And so, the business is getting much more productivity out of me and my team when we're remote.
Jenna Flateman Posner 25:30
But the work that we're doing when we're physically together is much more strategic. And we've also made some, some time for creating physical time together outside of work. You know, I hosted my leadership team for dinner this past week, which was really fun. Or we have more funds now to go and do fun events, like go to the top golfer around the corner and hit some balls. But my perspective now is I really like it, I think that hybrid is great. And we're doing it very well. I also don't think that we should limit our access to talent based on requiring them to be here either.
Jenna Flateman Posner 26:36
So, there are two channels within my organization, Customer Service and Dev, that do have the option to be fully remote, and many of them take us up on that. So, it kind of started out as a pilot, and we've kind of just extended the pilot. But it's been working really well. I do think there are some disciplines that if you've got the right monitoring in place, and the ability to actually track productivity like cases closed or bugs squashed, then, you know, you've, you've got a much more foolproof way of managing productivity and measuring the business. So, for us, it's kind of a, it's a mishmash.
Michael LeBlanc 26:54
Well, that's a great articulation, as good as any we've heard. It is fascinating to listen to your perspectives about both productivity, but at the same time being very purposeful when you're together to get something acco-, that's the number one complaint I hear from employees that I don't know why I'm in the office, nobody's here. We're not doing anything. So, that's, that's great insight. So, let's, let's wrap it up. Let's bring it home with one last question on the podcast, we like to ask about the future. So, turn your minds, let's turn our minds to 2027, five years from today. How do you envision your role or the role of Chief Digital Officers in retail organizations? If you cast your mind forward, are there things that make you think that, you know, this role would be subsumed within the organization? Alternatively, that CDOs would be more leadership and general management or, you know, will it be a more data focused or, or even more bra-, going the other way, a little more broader application (inaudible) you know, really integration, of the business? What do you think about that, as you look forward to a few years?
Jenna Flateman Posner 27:58
It's a really great question. I'll start by saying, in my role, I run an entire P&L, top to bottom, right. So, I am a business within a business, everything from DC cost to shipping supplies all the way down to the last marketing dollar. And so, for all intents and purposes, you know, I'm running a business. What's interesting about that is the growth of this business, and our ability to make change from an innovation and from a tech implementation perspective, from a staff (inaudible) perspective, has proven to be tremendous. And I think that as retailers start, gosh, it's so hard to talk about, right? Because I mean, it's, it's retail, I'm in retail, but, but the legacy retail thinking that I mentioned earlier is slower, it's methodical, it's less risky, it's more streamlined. There are more cogs, there are more wheels, and there's less agile, you know, agile change. And I think what's going to happen is that the businesses that are willing to shift and change and move and pick up the pace. Those are the ones that are going to win this race. I mean, at the end of the day, the faster we logistically move, the faster our path to cash and the faster our business is churning and growing. So, I do believe that the CDO role is, it's training my (inaudible) muscles, right? I think that as businesses become really more centralized around digital and see the impact that digital has to manage and leverage this disparate data set that is ultimately going to fuel our marketing fire. The more dependent and the more interested companies are going to be in leveraging those CDOs as leaders of the entire business.
Michael LeBlanc 28:04
Well, Jenna, it's been a fantastic conversation, very insightful and, and a great dialogue about both the current state and, and the future. We could spend a lot more time understanding the ins and outs of the sneaker business. But we're, we're at time. We had a great discussion around some really insightful things. So, thanks so much for joining us on the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast. On behalf of myself and Scott, we really appreciate you taking the time out of a no doubt, very busy day one of your days in the office to chit and chat with us and wish you, wish you and your team continued success and a great rest of your day.
Jenna Flateman Posner 30:26
Thanks so much. This was great.
Michael LeBlanc 30:28
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, retail, vendors, Snipes, role, retailer, career, sold, technology, tech, Jenna, podcast, acquired, digital, conversations, eCommerce, skills, feels, days, opportunity