Human-Centered Retail with guest Rishad Tobaccowala, author of Restoring the Soul of Business

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

- Maya Angelou

We're moving on to the 2nd of the "8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail": Human-Centered, where we open the aperture on concepts of customer-centricity and explore why they might be limited. We consider the criticality of empathy and right-brained thinking when it comes to unlocking the why behind the buy and how we can create brands stories that spread.

We are also joined by famed business strategist Rishad Tobaccowala, who shares insights from his bestselling book Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data and a 30 year career advising clients on change, innovation and growth. We explore how companies like Costco and Starbucks balance math and meaning to deliver remarkable results, as well as what it takes to consistently create fresh, insightful connections as part of an innovation agenda.

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Rishad Tobaccowala is an advisor, author, educator and speaker with four decades of experience focused on change, innovation and re-invention. He is the former Chief Growth Officer at the Publicis Groupe. His new book is Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data. Learn more about Rishad on his website, LinkedIn and Twitter. "The Great Reinvention" is one of several articles of his that are definitely worth your time.

Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption was recently named the best retail book of all time by BookAuthority. It's available in hardcover, audiobook or as a ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.

Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.

Join us at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York June 23rd and 24th with this exclusive discount code for 10% off general admission tickets and FREE retail tickets: Your code is "REMARKABLE" . See you in the Big Apple!

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.