What Just Happened

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 Chinese consumer behaviors and the rise of resale to the pressure of generational leadership changes at industry giants like LVMH, Kering, and Chanel. Siboni explains how data can serve as ...

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 transformation. Anderson emphasizes that AI should not be the outcome, but a tool to enhance personalization and reduce customer frustration. Drawing from ContentSquare’s benchmark report,...

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 focusing on anonymized, aggregate data. This approach aligned with GDPR and CCPA regulations, allowing Placer to demonstrate that location intelligence can be both privacy-centric and comm...

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 corporate jargon with her signature edge:

• Employees as customers: Russo seizes on Marcotte’s idea of treating staff as your first customer and if brands skip over the people who deliver...

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 experience at Nike, Converse, and On, asking how a brand can remain authentic while also adapting to new consumer behaviors and shifting expectations. Tucker shares his perspective on wh...

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 investigative journalism in a fashion and luxury industry too often shaped by corporate advertising. Drawing on her decades-long career at Reuters, the Financial Times, and The New York Tim...

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 from pandemic-driven convenience shopping to today’s fragmented, value-seeking behaviors driven by inflation and economic uncertainty. Consumers are more willing than ever to switch stor...

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 her unique lens on retail, combining front-line experience with corporate strategy and research, including her work on CI&T’s proprietary Connected Retail Report, which surveys...

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 First Sale rule. From the outset, Russo sets a sharp and informed tone. Her questions reveal a deep understanding of the trade landscape and effectively push Taylor to clarify common...

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 eliminate inefficiencies caused by siloed incentives in traditional ad conglomerates. Instead, his model gives agency leaders equity and aligns them around shared success and client resu...

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 own experience as a CPG brand frustrated by ad platforms like Amazon and Meta. Topsort aims to provide scalable, privacy-conscious, product-based ad solutions for retailers.

She emphas...

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 traditional models.

Denman pointed to the need for brands to modernize their marketing approaches through a multi-channel, consistent strategy rather than relying heavily on outdated campa...

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 analysis of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Possible presentation, blending sharp critique with balanced insight.

Talking points:

The Shift from Quantity to Quality and the Need for Authenticity:

Russo ...

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 outlines how Global-e helps brands navigate the complexities of global commerce while maintaining customer experience and profitability.

Key Discussion Points:

• Tariffs and Profitabili...

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: Nelson emphasizes a "Designed for Life" approach, focusing on sustainability, adaptability, and long-term customer relationships. He believes in creating products th...

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 experience in modern retail. Yalof shares that community is a major contributor in all of their strategies. They discuss how knowing the customer, having a digital-physical service, ...

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, category-based views of shoppers and age-based demographics; and instead focus on the full psychological and lifestyle context of consumers. She explains that uncertainty, lingering from th...

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 company expanded from a local restaurant delivery startup into a global, multi-category logistics platform serving 30 countries. Initially created to help small businesses grow through deli...

Christine Russo, host of the What Just Happenedpodcast, 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 ability to match supply precisely with demand—something made possible by their demand-driven model and relentless focus on the consumer. He explains that Shein isstructurally aligned to oper...