CEO at CartStars | Cultivating an Empathetic & Resilient Community for eCommerce Leaders

Your team got smaller this year. Your decisions didn’t.

You need to know what actually worked at a company like yours before you commit. You don’t need another vendor pitch or another analyst report. You need the real answer from someone who already made the call.

That room is called CartStars. I started it with six people at a dinner table because I was tired of expensive decisions made on bad information.

Estèe Lauder, Steve Madden, Bombas, and MERIT Beauty are in it. So is the person who just solved the exact problem sitting on your desk right now.

It’s not a network. It’s the room you check before you commit.

If you’re making a high-stakes decision right now, your peers already made it.

Start at cartstars.com

Debbie Kemunto Pearce

Three versions of the truth.


Shopify says one thing, Amazon says another, and your ad platform says something else.

But Krishna P. asks one question first:
Who's accountable for what's actually true?

At Oracle, he watched companies pay millions for the answer.
Then, bootstrapped Saras Analytics with his cousins to bring it to brands who couldn't.

Today, it's 180 people. Working with brands like HexClad, Ridge, Athletic Greens, and KFC.

His take on being the calmest person in a messy data room?
Know that your tool isn't the problem.
It's that no one owns the question.

That's what Visionaries is.

Krishna Poda, Co-Founder & CEO, Saras Analytics.
February 24th in Palm Springs. He's in the room.

Who owns the question at your company?

Debbie Pearce

It’s a living room, not a ballroom.


No badge lanyard. No sad buffet chicken. No one on a stage pretending they figured it all out.

While you’re on the conference floor right now, there’s a Michelin-trained chef in a kitchen cooking for a group of executives who are just talking. Actually talking.

Breaking down how they think, not the version they’d give on a panel.

There’s also a photographer in that room whose work made me save his number for ten years. I waited for a moment worthy of him. Today was it.

This room doesn’t exist tomorrow.

Visionaries Day is happening right now, and there’s still a way in.

You can find it here: https://lnkd.in/gzRuHHqK

Steve has receipts.


He doubled revenue at NYDJ.
He 3X’d Kut from the Kloth in half the time with a quarter of the staff.
You ask him how things are going and the answer sounds like an earnings call.
He doesn’t do vague. He does results.

We had a conversation in the room once about identity resolution and whether it crosses a line. Steve didn’t miss a beat. “I’m head of growth, not ethics.”
I laughed. But that level of clarity is why he keeps winning.

This is someone who was building fan communities 23 years ago on Myspace. He was doing it before anyone had a word for it. He just understood something most brands still haven’t figured out: your customer has to believe they’re the only one in the room.

He’s funny. He’s real.

Everybody knows Steve. But do you know his best dad joke? Drop it in the comments. 🤣

"I don't expect to learn anything."


Esteban Restrepo said that from a hot tub. With three people present at the end of Day 1 in Palm Springs. Just one of those conversations that happens when nobody's trying to have one.

He wasn't being cynical. He was being honest. 
He's been at this long enough.... where you stop expecting someone to hand you a trick that changes your business overnight. 

But then he kept going.

"What I loved about today is that it was real. I watched someone actually share something that works for them. And it was a contrast to the big stages where it becomes performative."

And honestly? That hit me.
Because most people in this industry already know the difference. The stage version and the real one. They've been in both rooms. They know which one they walked out of and actually used something from.

They just don't have a place where the second version exists.....till now.

When's the last time you were in a room where you got what you really needed?

Most people listen to the women they admire.


Not enough people watch them.

Listening gets you inspired for a day. Watching changes how you move.

These 10 lessons didn't come from a stage. 
They came from paying close attention to what the women around me actually do when nobody's clapping, when the easier choice is right there, when stopping would be completely reasonable.

At the end of the day, it's the people in your life that make the life you live. 

If you're a woman in my life, I'm grateful for you. 

I'm learning from you, I'm inspired by you.

You flew home, and nobody said thank you.


You sat in someone's session, visited a partner at their booth, gave someone 10 minutes of real conversation, and flew home. Back to the inbox.

I think about that more than I should.

Colleen Waters did all of that at a conference. She won an all-inclusive vacation.
And for the first time in I don't know how long, she stopped. 
She came back and posted about how the pause gave her something the grind had been taking. 

I read it and thought, OK, so this is the room. The one where someone shows up, and it doesn't go unnoticed. This is where CartStars did something right.

I've been building this thing for three years, and Colleen explained it better in one post than I have in 300.

Showing up looks different every time. 
This time at Visionaries, it's about who you bring with you. Because every room like this started with someone saying, "you need to be here" to someone else.

Visionaries is next week. See you in Palm Springs, February 24-25


When's the last time you showed up for someone and nobody said a thing?

Never go back.


New company, new industry, new title. Because that's what gets the "excited to announce."
Nobody writes the post about going back.

Niva Singer, MBA keeps going back.

First hire at Native. Built the ops, the website, the emails with a team under ten. Then P&G bought it for $100 million.

She left. Then she walked back in.
Not for the title. Because there was always space for optimizations.
Worth a $580K annual revenue lift.
She tested the placement of one feature on the homepage. Build-Your-Pack, one test.
That's what going back looks like when you're paying attention.

Then she went back to the same category. MUD\WTR, now Auri Nutrition. Second mushroom wellness brand. Same lane but deeper.

Some people chase what's next. She goes back to what matters.

She brought that energy to fondue night at The Matterhorn in San Francisco.
Grateful to Klaviyo and Loop Subscriptions for making the night possible!

You make 100 decisions a week. You can't explain how you make one?


That's not a criticism. That's most of us.
We asked a small group of senior leaders to do something most people never take the time to do.

Write down the things they see before anyone else does. Their frameworks.

And I've been reading these Visionary questionnaires over the last few weeks.
We haven't even hit record yet, and it's already changing how I think.

Tomorrow:
Two chairs, a living room in Palm Springs, sixteen peers, a full camera crew.
No spectators. Real questions, real pressure.

I'm equal parts excited and terrified!

Visionaries, Feb 24-25.

Link in comments if this is the kind of room you want to be in.

Shopline US

Head of Partnerships

Tech Job Placement

Started a non profit focusing on helping low income and underserved populations get alternative training and placement into tech jobs. Centered on non-technical roles such as Customer Success, Partnerships, Biz Dev and Sales.

President

Retention.com

Senior Partner Manager

Dynamic Yield

-Revived and revised Channel Partnership program including program structure, focus targets and partner types
-Managed and owned all technology partnerships in the NA/APAC region (ecomm platform, CMS, CDP, ESP, etc.)
-Managed and owned all Agency partnerships in the NA/APAC region
-Achieved 100% of target in 2021 as an IC

Channel Director

Overdose.

-Prospected, pitched and closed a book of business in the PST region
-Managed P&L for the business unit
-Established new processes for the LA Office within Overdose Global
-Managed Clients spanning Strategy, Paid Marketing, Project Management, SEO and Email 
-Exceeded sales targets ahead of schedule for 2020/2021 YTD
-Contributed to training and Client Success guidelines
-Developed Scoping Process for Site Builds
-Supported Partnerships and Marketing team vetting new technology partners and networking
-Created inter-department collaboration workflows to streamline services and client facing interaction

Commercial Director

Loop

-Built entire partnership program from scratch including the
strategy, incentives and requirements
-Led the Official Shopify Plus Certified App Status process to
completion. Achieved one of two Returns solutions approved by
Shopify Plus.
-Identified key list of target partners segmented by Technology,
Agency and Logistics
-Signed official partnerships with top tier Partners leveraging
personal network including: Klarna, Yotpo, RubyHas,
PitneyBowes, Celigo, Gorgias, Omnisend, MuiteSix, Zehner
Group and others
-Brought on 30 partners in less than one quarter
-Increased partner referrals from 0 to 20 a month in Q1
-Created Strategic Vision for integrations to increase presence
and promote connectivity with common tech stacks
-Prospected, out-bounded, and contributed to building a pipeline
of clients totaling $300k ARR during a worldwide crisis
-Closed one of the largest contracts in Loop's history and a key
logo steal from direct competitor

Sales Executive

Common Thread Collective

-Built technology partner network with top tier solutions (Dynamic Yield, Klarna, Shopify Plus, Nosto, FullStory and more)
-Obtained Official Shopify Plus Partner status within 2 months
-Created and implemented cross departmental processes and workflows to increase collaboration and efficiency (AGILE, Resource Management)
-Created product offerings for business unit including: Shopify Plus builds and support, Email Services, Web Design Services, CRO/Personalization
-Created Service packages, pricing, sales and marketing collateral
-Prospected, pitched and supported Business Development and Sales teams 
-Account Management and Client relationship owner
-Forecasting, Revenue Modeling, Business Planning

Ecommerce Director

Corra

Director, Optimization & Personalization

-Revamped entire Optimization and Personalization Services program in less than 6 months
-Developed and established cross department processes and workflows
-Completely turned the program around and increased revenue by 300% in less than 6 months
-Created service packages, pricing, sales and marketing collateral 
-Closed largest client contracts in department's history 
-Built a robust pipeline of prospects leveraging partners, marketing and sales teams from scratch
-Manage diverse portfolio of clients across multiple verticals in client facing roles
-Helping to establish Corra as a thought leader in the Personalization space via Blog Articles, Panel appearance and speaking engagements
-Proficient in Magento and Shopify Plus platforms
-Expert in Dynamic Yield, Monetate, VWO, Adobe Target and other similar platforms

Acting Director, Personalization and Strategy

-Creating ecommerce optimization strategies for a wide variety of client websites spanning multiple industries and products.
-High end client management focused on Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle vertical
-Interpretation of website analytics data to generate A/B/MVT test ideas to increase/improve key performance metrics.
-Create unique Personalization and Segmentation strategy based on visitor data and site behavior per client. 
-Utilizing Custom CRM Dataset targeting to create highly personal website experiences.
-Product data tagging strategy development. 
-On site merchandising strategy including product recommendations, new vs returning customer product recommendations, customer journeys, personalized product logic.   
-Continual campaign execution and results analysis.
-Support the team with strategic direction for high end clients. 
-Analytics deep dive to generate custom client roadmaps.
-Key platforms include Google Analytics, Monetate, Dynamic Yield, VWO, Optimizely, JIRA
-Creating Process and Communication with Directors of all other departments internally
-Manage Sales Pipelines and Opportunities
-Managing Client Portfolio 
-Establishing Market Partnership Strategy

Sr. Digital Experience Strategist

-Creating ecommerce optimization strategies for a wide variety of client websites spanning multiple industries and products.
-Interpretation of website analytics data to generate A/B/MVT test ideas to increase/improve key performance metrics.
-Created unique Personalization and Segmentation strategy based on visitor behavior per client. 
-Utilizing Custom CRM Dataset targeting to create highly personal website experiences.
-Data tagging strategy and development. 
-On site merchandising strategy. 
-Campaign execution and results analysis.
-Key platforms include Google Analytics, Monetate, Optimizely, JIRA

Digital Experience Strategist

iolo technologies, LLC

-Develop and maintain the product release schedule for all products
-Update and publish company roadmap
-Drive and manage cross-functional/departmental teams to hit all milestones and dates
-Manage projects in JIRA
-Maximize marketing campaigns with Partners
-Monitor and manage each Partner's marketing efforts 
-Identify and launch new programs and optimize to the partner's customer base and lifecycle
-Engage in all facets of campaigns: including initial planning, implementation, completion monitoring, optimization, analysis and reporting.
-Account Management with Fortune 500 companies
-Data analysis using internal reports and Google Analytics
-Forecasting and revenue modeling, ROI analysis
-Managing sales cycle: Prospecting new partners, creating presentations, proposals and contract terms.

Corporate Programs Manager / Partner Marketing Manager

Newegg.com

Responsibilities:
-Liason between Intel account representatives and all departments within Newegg 
-Created/managed/executed a large number of marketing activities online within different Intel related categories 
-Sales data analysis 
-Market data analysis using NPD 
-Generate new ideas for campaigns and marketing activities 
-Product Assortment and forecasting in a cyclical business model
-Built strong relationships with vendors to secure exclusive inventory 
-Product feedback to OEMs to improve products in line with market trends
-Inventory planning and management
-Creating budgets and achieving top and bottom line goals
-Manage projects across multiple departments (Marketing, IT, QA) from end to end

Accomplishments: 
-Original and unique online marketing campaigns for Intel based products
-Intel and Newegg co-branding at major events (PAX, Comic Con, Blizzcon) 
-Executive producer credit for a commercial style video 
-Helped create and manage $1M marketing campaign spanning Q2'13 
-Roadmap forecasting 
-Providing insight to OEMs about products and market trends that came to market 
-Creation of derivative products specific to Newegg's customer base or to fill gaps in product line assortments
-Responsible for over 20% growth YoY in Ultrabooks category for 2013
-Turning a profit in a slim margin category while increasing total revenue per month

Product Manager/Intel Account Manager

Oversee sales and strategy of major computer components and finished goods
categories in a B2B ecommerce segment. 

-Sales and margin tracking
-B2B product portfolio mix, promotions management
-Product planning and execution 
-Creating promotional and educational campaigns aimed at conversion for B2B customers
-Building relationships with manufacturers and vendors
-Multiple category management including (CPU, HDD, MB, VGA, SSD, NAS, Networking)
-Inventory Management

Product Manager

Progressive minded sales professional with a strong management background. 15+ years of experience in management positions varying from retail environments to the corporate level. 

Creative, resourceful and dedicated with the ability to build rapport very quickly and cultivate long sales cycles. I've worked with some of the highest end clientele in the world and am more than comfortable speaking with, presenting to and handling c-level clients and above. 

Online marketing and product development experience, helping to drive brand initiatives to move products. 

Particularly fascinated in revolutionary start up companies that push the boundaries of what we can accomplish with technology in a connected and fast paced world.

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Debbie Kemunto Pearce

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The Battle

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