Hi JD, I'm looking forward to chatting with you!

I've always been interested in consumer and retail. In college, I studied politics and it struck me how multifaceted human decision-making is. My first internship was at the UN in Geneva! When I started my career at McKinsey, I gravitated toward consumer and retail clients because I liked to have an end customer who I could really identify with. It was interesting work but I wanted to dive deeper into brand operations.

I joined Pandora Jewelry in strategy. This is not the world's sexiest brand, but we have a super-loyal customer and my role was figuring out how to keep growth strong as we entered new categories and geographies. As a mall-based retailer, there were significant headwinds. I learned not to underestimate the power of relationships. While growth was largely coming from online, there's something magical about facilitating a great interaction with a store associate. Building tech-enabled solutions that keep that personalization intact is where we saw our biggest wins, and that's where I became focused.

It was during my MBA at Wharton that I started kicking around the idea for Keaton. I saw many of my female colleagues spending time thinking about how to dress for recruiting engagements and realized that the question of professional dressing is much more straightforward for men than women. I saw a need for a modern workday uniform designed for early-career women. I was really focused on my customer and building for her. I developed the Perfect Pant after speaking with 300 women about their workwear needs. We did a soft launch via eCommerce during my second year of MBA and were building toward a full launch, but then COVID happened. The timing was pretty bad! But, in many ways the pandemic is making this industry more interesting than ever. I started writing about trends I was seeing in the industry and found it very rewarding--it was a way to make sense of what was happening with my startup, and to think through my next steps. That's how Curious Commerce was born.

If there's one thread that connects these experiences, it's an interest in how we think and make decisions. Consumption and brand preferences are so reflective of broader trends politically, socially, and culturally. It's cool to work in a space where all these factors come together!

Melina Flabiano

In redards to "how does a brand speak wide and narrow at the same time, or should they even attempt that", brands have always struggled with this tension. I think the early DTC brands were focused on appealing to a large, more uniform audience. Any wealthy-ish urban millennial was a target customer for brands like Casper. We're seeing a new era of brands focused on specific niches. My friend Aja wrote about how branding is becoming more "human" and just plain weird as a reflection of this shift. I also recently wrote about how DTC brands are remixing "house of brands" structures to launch several more niche brands under the same corporate umbrella. This lets them access the best of both worlds--authentic-feeling communities, but with the resources of a larger brand.

And to answer "how leading teams can keep that top-tier personalization with the increasing shift to digital interactions", If anything, I think the magic of a truly personalized interaction is more important now than ever. Take fashion apparel for example. Contemporary and designer brands command pretty steep prices. In the store, in addition to my purchase, I can enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne, get styling tips from associates, and browse with my friends--it's a fun experience. Online, we're expected to pay the same price as in-store, but these components are largely missing. The convenience is obviously great, but shoppers now see this as tablestakes.

Most well-known DTC brands have gorgeous websites and do a great job with storytelling, but I think there's a lot of opportunity to build experience. It's been neat to see how brands responded to COVID by offering livestream events, virtual styling sessions, and tried out social shopping. One brand that's been doing a great job with this is Otherland (candles).

One reason I'm so excited about resale--companies like The RealReal and Depop--is that they build the feeling of a treasure hunt into the experience. Inventory turns over everyday, so there is a sense of urgency. I know I'll find something new every time I shop. In contrast, traditional department stores moved online and basically shifted their assortment into a completely sterile catalog format. It's not inspiring to see pages and pages of blue t-shirts. Whether it's manually curating a selection (serving an editorial function) or finding solutions to make searching and filtering products more seamless, I'm excited about how brands can leverage their assortment to build a great experience.

Melina Flabiano

I have heard of Popshop and look forward to seeing what they do next! Especially in light of the pandemic, I think a lot of brands big and small will be eager to partner with them. I'm also curious whether Instagram and Facebook will meaningfully move into commerce. With the launch of Shops, that is clearly the goal. It's too early to say whether brands are really driving transactions directly through IG, but it's definitely something I'm following.

Let's see, a valuable experience or lesson that made all the struggles and problem-solving worth it...My experience launching Keaton was not successful (at least for now). As a bootstrapped founder, launching a fashion brand was going to be an uphill battle no matter what. Then, the pandemic hit, which turned my category--professional attire for women--on its head. That said, I don't regret my first foray into entrepreneurship. The lessons really come in two areas: tactical business lessons that will enable me to build better next time, and learnings about my personal growth.

On the latter front, I learned to trust in my ability to figure things out. In my early career, I would practice a skill, master it, and then feel confident that I could do it repeatedly. As a founder, I had to trust that I could deliver (e.g. build a great product) before ever having done it before. I realized that asking questions, working hard, and being obsessed with your customer will get you pretty far. I developed much more confidence to put myself out there.

In terms of business lessons, I wrote about four levers that can help a DTC brand scale. I also like the book Traction for a clear framework on GTM strategy and developing an experimental approach to finding product-market fit. When I think about what excites me for my next chapter, it's less about WHAT people buy, and more about HOW people buy. There are thousands of cool apparel brands in existence and it's hard to know what products are right for us. We only see the ones spending lots of VC dollars on social media ads (or alternatively, the really strong brands succeeding with word-of-mouth). We as consumers have an appetite for discovering something new. I'm really interested in how the future of discovery will look. .

Melina Flabiano

In terms of brands I'm loving, there's too many to choose from! I stay on top of new launches through Thingtesting's emails. Two "treat myself" brands I've enjoyed during quarantine are Ghia (a new non-alcoholic apertif) and Behave (low-sugar candies). Both have gorgeous online experiences that are really best-in-class. And I'm very intrigued by arfa's new brand, State Of, which is tackling menopause with a comprehensive set of products.

Thanks for this great conversation! If you enjoyed following along, please check out Curious Commerce. I write biweekly about consumer and retail topics like this, and have some exciting stuff in the pipeline. Lots on the future of brand discovery, including some interviews with amazing founders.

Melina Flabiano