A SEAT at THE TABLE: Conversations with Today's Top Industry Leaders

The retail landscape has becoming increasingly challenging with more brands struggling not only with top line growth but also with bottom line performance.

The easy excuse is blame the economy.  Tariffs have shaken up the entire supply chain- from sourcing through to retail pricing.

And yet some retailers are outperforming the market.   

Why?

To learn more about what’s standing in the way of retailer performance, I ...

Activewear continues to be a a top performing apparel category with consumers worldwide having a seemingly insatiable appetite for both the look and the comfort aspect that defines sports garments.

After such a long successful run, how will activewear maintain its lead position in a highly competitive industry.  And amongst consumers who are constantly presented with ‘the next big thing’?

I reached out to my long time colle...

In an increasingly competitive retail landscape, more brands are looking for new markets with high growth potential.

That’s put the GCC (Gulf Cooperative Council) region on more brands’ radar.  

The region includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, nations that have strong spending power and continue to invest in retail development.

In this episode of A Seat at The ...

What happens when an apparel guy decides to found a tech company?

A game-changing concept that can drive retail sales - and build customer engagement, that’s what can happen.

And it is exactly what one smart entrepreneur did.

Meet Jeff Gray, Founder and CEO of RoboArt Labs, a pioneering AI-powered platform that is transforming how retailers engage with their customers. He is also a co-owner of Creative Ap...

After being off the sourcing radar for almost a decade, suddenly everyone is starting to talk about Pakistan.

The combination of brands looking to diversify sourcing - and the benefits of having a the entire supply chain from fiber to finished garment in country - is putting a shine on Pakistan and boosting it up the sourcing tier list.

But Pakistan is more than simply another one of the countries where brands use...

Do people still have employment opportunities in a world increasingly focused on AI?  

And if so, where? And what competitive advantage do they have?

Turns out, there are still big opportunities for people in the workplace.  

The key is to understand what value humans can offer that technology can’t.  And how smart companies will see the strategic advantage of balancing people with AI.

To find ou...

What if you could find a system that maximized luck and generated outsized returns? 

A method based on decision science that led you to make better choices - in both your business and personal life.

That’s exactly what Daniel Kang did.  He learned how to use asymmetric bets to win scholarships that paid for his education, as well as to raise millions of dollars to fund his startup.  

He then used this pri...

2025 has gotten off to what might generously be described as an ‘uncertain start’.

The one thing people want right now is clarity.  Or at least some idea of what might be the next impact on supply chains.

One of the most consistent issues facing sourcing directors and supply chain managers has been logistics.

After years of unprecedented disruptions, logistics could be the one blessing in an increasingly ...

Almost everyone in a senior leadership position these days feels the pressure of a business environment that has become increasingly uncertain. 

At the same time, the pressure to drive both growth and profitability has never been more intense.

The pain is being felt  by large-scale organizations, as well as start ups as the market becomes much less forgiving that it was even a year or two ago.

Today we a...

Many brands are starting to wonder if China might no longer be the hot market for luxury brands that it used to be.

After years of disappointing sales growth, some brands are turning their attention away from China and towards markets which they think might be the next big thing.

While the China market has certainly faced challenges, the are still huge opportunities there - for brands that know how to read the mar...

Fast fashion has always been competitive but in recent years its become a speed-driven race to the bottom.

No matter how low prices are today, some new player will enter the market - with even lower prices - and more styles!

In the midst of this chaos, UK supermarkets have carved out a solid business selling budget priced fashion.  Yes, fashion.  Not basics.  Not the standard socks and underwear you’d expect to fi...

Typically older generations complain that young people don’t work as hard as they did when they were that age.  However that narrative does seem to carry some truth these days.

Suddenly it seems that Gen Z and even younger Millennials are disengaged with the working world.  

From ‘Quiet Quitting’ to seemingly lacking ambition, what’s happened to the energy and enthusiasm that younger workers used to have?

In a fast paced, complex business environment decision making has become increasingly difficult.

We want to make good decisions.  We’re told we need to make faster decisions.  But often we end up in ‘analysis paralysis’.

Caught between analyzing endless data, including inputs from a vast range of participants, and often trying to please too many masters.   It’s no wonder fewer decisions get made.  And when they do...

When people talk about PTSD we usually think of returning military veterans or survivors of catastrophic events.

Yet many other people suffer from stress-related issues that are not unlike PTSD.  

Terry Earthwind Nichols, is a bestselling author and father of  Repetitive Behavior Cellular Regression, a methodology that helps people decrease anxiety, fear, procrastination, self sabotage and overall stress

In this podcast, he talks abou...

Everyone wants to build a brand.  But few people actually know how.

For most, a brand is a logo and a vague mission statement - and little more.

And you can really blame them.  Creating a unique brand identity - and articulating it so that others (ideally customers) understand what you stand for - is a lot bigger undertaking than it seems.

I'm Jane Singer, and welcome back to A Seat at the Table.

AI has become one of the most talked about technologies. A lot of the hype makes AI seem like a magic wand that can do anything or an evil demon that will leave massive numbers of people without jobs. 

While it's unlikely, at least for now, that these extreme cases are true, there is little doubt that AI is a technology we need to understand. 

For most companies, the challenge is identifying what are practica...

The apparel industry is being forced to re-imagine itself in the face of pressure to meet new green standards.

Suddenly, what we thought was sustainable turns out to be merely a ‘good try’ - but not enough.

While apparel needs to now recycle, be circular, reduce carbon emissions and lower water usage, it also has to appeal to consumers - who want clothing that is eye catching, comfortable, high quality and persona...

Retail sales continue to outperform expectations - in both the US and in key European markets.  Yet analysts are still waiting for that slowdown that was supposed to be driven first by inflation - and then by higher interest rates.

Yet, consumers are proving resilient - but for how long?

Long term a lot is likely to come down to the retailers themselves.

Those with the right products - and the right reta...

It seems we live an age of documentation.   There are increasing levels of regulations around everything - and the supporting documentation around those regulations keeps getting more complex. 

Paper work that used to be handled by one or two people now requires a department with a hierarchy of staff - just to understand the regulations - let alone do all of the necessary documentation.

This is becoming a serious...