While the title of this episode is a tad dramatic, the conversation does go pretty deep. Elizabeth Presher, the Owner of Hite Digital Dayton, is an experienced Entrepreneur helping other business owners grow their presence online. She has an advantage here because she knows the pressure that those business owners face. She is one, after all. The lessons she has learned, along with our host Michael, show you how steep the learning curve is when you get into business. Retail, and how consumers shop, is constantly evolving so staying ahead of the curve is important. Want to know more lessons from being an Entrepreneur? Have a listen.

Variables are the theme that run throughout the converation with Veena Giridhar, the CEO of salesBeat, an AI-driven platform that helps brands generate better efficiency with their inventory. When a customer gets "cheesed off," as Veena diplomatically puts it, how does that affect the consumer journey? The factors that alter that journey are numerous but let's simplify this; the consumer may not be back to that store, hurting your chance at buidling brand equity with them. The journey is now even more complicated with the mixture of in store and online purchasing. Let's get into it.

As we dig back into the ever-evolving world of retail in the Season 2 opener of The Longer Game, we're talking with Carter Jensen, the Sr. Manager of Global Commerce at GMI, aka General Mills, about how they're taking brands we all grew up with and loved into the future with us. How we engage with these brands has to change because, well, how we engage with each other is different. Listen in to find out what Carter eats for lunch these days and what's going on in CPG in 2022.

We gather at the end of Season 1 of The Longer Game to talk LIVE about the current state of Amazon, the largest ecommerce retailer in the US, and where the future of retail is headed. I've got the best and brightest minds with me to chat it out and answers questions.

Brands sometimes want a quick answer to growing and generating more revenue. Unlike Dollar General, most brands in retail take time to grow. James "Saywhatsales" Buckley explains why these misaligned expectations in retail lead to having a false sense of hope, which creates confusion, has you playing the chance game, and ultimately why "hope is not a strategy." The energy on Mr. Buckley is off the charts. He's got dope knowledge on sales, interacting with people, and is genuinely fun to be around. This episode rocks.

People buy with their emotions. They buy what they vibe with. If consumers aren't feeling it, don't expect revenue to grow. And what about revenue? How can connecting with a consumer on a raw level actually help you generate revenue? Are those two things related? Erik Kiker, Chief Messaging Officer at tolovethebrand.com, knows how to connect the two and never skip a beat. We go deep into the psyche of how brands are sometimes inadvertently turning consumers off because of the discouraging messages they're sending out. Messaging makes a difference. Find yours and grow your audience now.

Sourcing has become a much bigger issue for brands as the pandemic continues to close down China and back up the pipeline, as well as loading docks and ports across the world. So scaling might seem difficult at a time like this. Not only scaling but making new connections and finding new opportunities feels almost impossible. Ben & Oliver want you to rethink that. With Checkpoint International, they've templated the processes for sourcing and are leveraging the incredible quick postal system in China to their advantage. Listen in to hear how Oliver gets his food delivered to him during quarantine and why these guys are onto something when it comes to growing your brand.

Retail has drastically changed since the beginning of the pandemic, where eCommerce saw a huge influx of growth. This has forced brands to have to be agile in order to stick around. Brands can no longer sit on one channel and focus on dominating there alone. I speak this week with Destaney Wishon, CEO of BetterAMS, an advertising partner and service provider for brands on the Amazon marketplace, all about that change and how it's affected brand's decision making, even giving us a peak behind the curtains of what BetterAMS has done to remain relevant.

Amazon continues to take over ecommerce but not always at the expected rate people estimate. The changing landscape on Amazon, and retail in general, is causing brands to think more about their brand presence and what shelves, digital or traditional, on which they need to be. Join Elizabeth Greene of Junglr as we navigate through ads on Amazon, how that impacts a brand, and how brands are reacting to today's landscape.

Pop up shops have been relegated to the corner of the retail room for quite some time but that's how retail started in the first place people. Open air markets, bazaars, sugar dates, figs, and pistachios? Stephen Brooks schools us on how Pop Up shops are taking back their rightful place at the front of the retail room.