What Just Happened

Velia Carboni has been CTO of SharkNinja for two years. In that time she has overhauled the company's core infrastructure, built a data foundation that puts analytical power directly in business users' hands, and launched early LLM partnerships with pi...

alesforce is under pressure. The commerce landscape is shifting fast, agentic channels are rewriting how products get discovered and purchased, and platforms that don't adapt risk being left behind. Nitin Mangtani, SVP & GM of Salesforce Commerce Cloud...

If your brand is sitting around waiting to just launch another product, you are already behind. With Toy executives running fashion companies like Richard Dickson, I wanted to sit with Teresa Stack Pearson who is a fashion executive who moved to the CM...

What Just Happened | Justin Honaman, Global Head of Retail, Restaurants & Consumer Goods at AWS For retailers looking to get more of an understanding of Agentic Commerce, this discussion lays it out. AWS is quickly announcing new products and if you ar...

What Just Happened | Episode Recap Christine Russo sits down with Lisa Pisano, Chief Revenue Officer at Knitwell Group, and Heather Gruccio, EVP/Chief Merchandising Officer at Ann Taylor, to talk about what a nearly two-decade partnership with nonprofi...

What Just Happened | Episode Recap Christine Russo sits down with Juan Hernandez Campos, COO of Happy Returns, a UPS company, to dig into one of retail's most expensive and underappreciated problems: returns. The numbers alone are staggering, and Herna...

What Just Happened | Episode Recap Christine Russo sits down with Sonal Gandhi, Chief Content Officer at The Lead, ahead of The Lead Summit this May. Gandhi gives a candid look at how she builds content for one of retail's most respected industry event...

What Just Happened: Recorded at Shoptalk Spring 2026 In this episode of What Just Happened, recorded live at Shoptalk, host Christine Russo sits down with Himanshu Jain, Co-Founder and Head of Product at CommerceIQ. As retail becomes increasingly algor...

Why You Need to Listen: Klarna’s Evolution with Milton Pappas In this episode of What Just Happened, creator Christine Russo sits down with Milton Pappas of Klarna to pull back the curtain on how a "buy now, pay later" pioneer evolved into a global fin...

In this episode of What Just Happened, creator Christine Russo sits down with Paul Toms, the Chief Marketing Officer of Wayfair, to dissect the home retailer’s remarkable return to growth. After a challenging period, Wayfair posted a staggering $12.5 b...

Christine Russo sits down with James Hughes, Retail CTO at Verizon Business, for an onsite conversation recorded at NRF 2026, unpacking how AI, network infrastructure, and immersive technologies are actually reshaping retail operations and in-store exp...

What Just Happened went to NRF 2026 in New York City. Christine Russo sat down live at the RELEX booth with Greg Wilson, VP of Field Strategy at RELEX Solutions, to unpack how AI in retail is finally moving from experimentation to real world deployment...

What Just Happened headed to CES 2026 in Las Vegas. and Christine Russo sat down live on-site with Nathalie Gaveau, Chief Client Officer at Publicis Sapient, to talk about what it really means to move from AI curiosity to AI deployment. Publicis Sapien...

AX. Agentic Experience. This is the phrase I am taking into 2026, and it is where I open my final show of the year. Christine Russo sat down with Jonathan Arena, CEO of New Generation AI and trykeppler.ai. Jonathan explains the breakdown of what happen...

Michaela Wessels CEO and Co-Founder of Style Arcade joined Christine Russo to break down what is arguably one of the most persistent and costly gaps in fashion retail: the inability to forecast at the depth the industry actually needs. Wessels explaine...

Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, continues to explore brand marketing strategies that work in a retail everywhere world. Russo selected her guest Jenny Coates to discuss the non linear shape of the customer journey and how marke...

Christine Russo sits with Anja Sadock of TrusTrace. Anja traced the company’s origins back to an activist effort in India, where the founders witnessed firsthand the environmental toll of textile manufacturing on local farmland. That grassroots motivat...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sits down with Kelsey Ayres, Director of Product Management at Amazon for Buy with Prime and Multi-Channel Fulfillment. Together they explore how Amazon is solving logistics issues and expanding the benefits...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sits down with Jonathan Siboni, founder and CEO of Luxury Insight, often described as the “Bloomberg for luxury.” Together they explore the crossroads facing global luxury brands—ranging from shifting Chines...

Christine Russo, Chief Content Officer of What Just Happened, sits with Dave Anderson, Vice President of Product Marketing at ContentSquare. In this episode, Russo and Anderson explore the balance between automation and empathy in retail’s digital tran...

Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, sits with Ethan Chernofsky of Placer.ai. Placer.ai was built with privacy at its core. From its 2018 launch, the company avoided collecting personally identifiable information (PII), instead focu...

On this episode of What Just Happened, host Christine Russo sits down with retail veteran Matt Marcotte to unpack leadership, culture, and the very human side of running iconic brands. Russo keeps the conversation lively and sharp, cutting through corp...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened sits with Sean Tucker, brand marketing expert, for a thoughtful conversation on what it truly takes to build enduring brands in today’s volatile media and cultural environment. Russo presses Tucker on his exp...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sits Astrid Wendlandt, founder and editor of Miss Tweed, the independent luxury and fashion media brand. Wendlandt shares her motivation for launching Miss Tweed in 2020: to offer rigorous, independent inves...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sat with Michael Della Penna, Chief Strategy Officer at InMarket, to unpack the evolution of consumer behavior and what it means for modern marketers. Della Penna described how consumer intent has shifted fr...

On this episode of What Just Happened, the host and creator Christine Russo welcomes Melissa Minkow, Global Director of Retail Strategy at CI&T, to explore the intersection of consumer behavior, retail technology, and economic pressure. Minkow shares h...

In this episode of What Just Happened, Christine Russo interviews Rich Taylor, a China-based international trade executive, for an in-depth discussion on the real-time implications of tariffs, U.S.–China trade relations, and the complexities of the Fir...

Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, interviews Tim Ringel, CEO of Meet the People, a full-funnel advertising agency collective challenging the traditional holding company model. Ringel explains that Meet the People was built to eli...

Christine Russo sits down to interview Regina Ye, CEO and co-founder of Topsort, on What Just Happened: Regina Ye discussed how Topsort was founded by three engineers to democratize big tech ad infrastructure for retailers and brands. She drew from her...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sat down with James Denman, a brand strategy and marketing leader for luxury and fashion brands. Russo and Denman explored how brand marketing is evolving, emphasizing modern strategies that break rigid trad...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sits down with Mike Jacobs to discuss key shifts in marketing strategy and brand authenticity in today’s evolving landscape. In addition to these talking points, Russo offers a hard look and counterpoint ana...

Christine Russo, creator of What Just Happened, sits with Matt Merrilees, CEO of Global-e, to explore how cross-border ecommerce is being reshaped by rising tariffs, regulatory shifts, and the demand for profitable international expansion. Merrilees ou...

Christine Russo, creator of What Just Happened, sits down with Shawn Nelson, CEO of Lovesac, to discuss his leadership philosophy, recent strategic hires, and the evolving dynamics of brand identity in retail. Shawn Nelson's Philosophy Toward Business:...

Christine Russo, creator of What Just Happened, sits with Tanger CEO Steve Yalof. In this wide-ranging conversation, Russo and Yalof discuss Tanger’s accelerated back-to-school timeline, the company’s expansion into full-price, and the critical role of...

In this conversation, Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, sits with Katie Thomas from the Kearney Consumer Institute. Thomas enlightens a spin on current-day perspectives suggesting that businesses can shift away from rigid, catego...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, sits down with Toby Espinosa, Vice President of DoorDash Ads, to discuss the company’s evolution and its growing role in retail media. Espinosa, who has been with DoorDash for a decade, shares how the compan...

Christine Russo, host of the What Just Happened podcast, sits down with Peter Pernot-Day Head of Strategic and Corporate Affairs for North America and Europe for a wide-ranging discussion.Pernot-Day shares that Shein’s “secret sauce” lies in its abilit...

In this episode of What Just Happened, Christine Russo interviews Sucharita Kodali, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, to unpack the ever-evolving dynamics of digital transformation in retail. Kodali shares her perspective on how retailers...

Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, sits down with Evan Armstrong of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to discuss the organization's role in shaping retail policy. Evan explains that RILA represents the country’s large...

Christine Russo, Host of What Just Happened, sits down with Hugh Forrest, President and Chief Programming Officer of South by Southwest, to explore how SXSW is the ultimate gathering for creatives and also serves as a melting pot for innovators across ...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, has Tim Fehr from Happy Returns as her guest. Tim discusses the company's rapid growth and how its partnership with UPS has accelerated automation in the returns process. He explains how Happy Returns succes...

Christine Russo, host of What Just Happened, leads a thought-provoking conversation with Dax Dasilva, CEO of Lightspeed, about the evolution of point-of-sale (POS) systems into comprehensive business solutions. Russo sets the stage by emphasizing how a...

Join Russo, host of What Just Happened, as she delvesdeeply into the concept of newness in her conversation with Helen LambertKennedy, founder of Lambert Associates and The Style Pulse. The interview examines the role of newness driving business,depart...

Christine Russo, the host and creator of What Just Happened, hosted Michael Zakkour and Brandon Rael for the retail industry year-end recap. The discussion highlighted many key initiatives and strategies like the evolution of video commerce, which has ...

Christine Russo, host and creator of What Just Happened, engages in an insightful conversation with Mariana Sotinas, President of Hanro USA. The discussion explores the strategic considerations behind Hanro's distribution channels, their focus on quali...

Christine Russo, the host and creator of What Just Happened, recently welcomed Brian Wright, Director of VolShop at the University of Tennessee, to discuss his approach to campus retail leadership. With a sprawling operation across 14 locations, VolSho...

Christine Russo, founder and creator of What Just Happened, sits with Dr. Mark Grether, SVP and GM of PayPal Ads - a pivotal moment in PayPal's venture into advertising. Dr. Grether reflects on the rapid progress since joining PayPal six months ago, la...

Suze Dowling, co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Pattern Brands, discussing her company's unique approach to direct-to-consumer (D2C) business and sustainable growth. Pattern operates a portfolio of seven home goods brands under a unified model t...

The podcast "What Just Happened" features an engaging conversation with Nancy Mair, an expert in the off-price retail industry. Mair emphasizes that the success of off-price retail stems from delivering top brands and surprising deals, creating a uniqu...

The podcast features an interview with Charlie Youakim, CEO of Sezzle, discussing the company's journey in the competitive "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) space. Charlie highlights the strategic milestones of Sezzle, including its recent listing on NASDAQ ...