CartStars

CartStars is the most exclusive friendwork for eCommerce’s top 5%—a curated space where leaders build, learn, and scale together.

What Makes CartStars Different
- Invitation-only—membership is earned through participation, not fees.
- Peer-driven—no sales pitches, just trusted advice from industry leaders.
- Curated vendor ecosystem—only partners recommended by members.
- Beyond digital—private platform, local meetups, and executive retreats.

Why It Matters
Great businesses aren’t built alone. CartStars brings together the brightest minds in retail and eCommerce—leaders who are shaping the future and willing to share what they know.

Know a CartStars member? Ask them for an invite.

Founder & CEO

Diversity Plug

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Founder

Inveterate, Inc

 Director Of Partnerships

Gladly

Trusted by hundreds of companies including Crate & Barrel, Ralph Lauren, and Warby Parker, Gladly is the people-centric CX platform that puts customers and agents at the center of every conversation to kickstart and nurture more natural relationships, driving long-term brand loyalty, revenue, and support efficiency.

Based in San Francisco, Gladly was founded in 2014 and is privately backed by industry leaders including Greylock, GGV Capital, NEA, Glynn Capital, FutureFund, and JetBlue Ventures.

Manager, Strategic Partner Program

dotdigital

The dotdigital platform is an omnichannel marketing solution for B2C, B2B, and NFP marketers in the Americas. Import data, build segments and triggers and create relevant marketing campaigns that engage your customers on their favorite channels. Don’t limit yourself to email marketing; personalize your marketing messages across SMS, push notifications, live chat, and social ads.

Speed and ease of use are at the core of what we do, so our omnichannel marketing features can help you reach your goals faster. If you want to increase marketing ROI, boost sales revenue, drive more qualified leads, or boost donor growth – dotdigital is the single-sign-on platform you need.

Sr. Enterprise Account Executive

SAG-AFTRA

Actress

Demandforce

The Demandforce software-as-a-service application is used by thousands of customers to grow revenue, keep clients coming back, and manage operations more effectively. Demandforce connects Demandforce clients to over 100 million consumers via email communications, text messaging, and online services. Demandforce has achieved 26 quarters of over 80% year-over-year quarterly growth and is led by a management team with over a decade of experience developing and delivering web-based applications that drive real, tangible business value. As of February 2016, Demandforce is proud to now be a part of the Internet Brands family.

Senior Account Executive

Yelp

Account Executive

Lion Management Group, Inc.

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

Two years ago, I had a lightbulb moment.

As a newly minted Director of Partnerships, I gathered seven experienced colleagues to get their honest feedback on a tech solution I was evaluating. No agendas. No sales pitches. Just real advice from people who understood my KPIs.

Their insights saved me $40,000 and a year of frustration.

That’s when it hit me:
 In an industry with 8,000+ tech tools and 4x as many agencies, leaders don’t need more noise. They need trusted, agenda-free connections.

That’s why I built CartStars.

CartStars is the exclusive friendwork for eCommerce’s top 5%—a curated, high-trust space where senior brand, retail, and eCommerce leaders ($10M+ revenue) connect with peers to share insights, solve challenges, and build real relationships.

What makes CartStars different?
✅ Invitation-only—membership is earned through contribution.
✅ No sales pitches—just real, peer-driven conversations.
✅ A curated partner ecosystem—only solutions recommended by members.
✅ Digital + in-person—our platform and executive events create real impact.
✅ Your friendwork in your pocket—get answers instantly from trusted peers.

We believe the best executives don’t scale alone. They grow by building relationships with other smart, kind, and engaged leaders—without wasted time, bad deals, or endless sales cycles.

CartStars is invite-only. If you know a member, ask them to invite you.

🔗 Learn more at CartStars.com

Debbie Kemunto Pearce

We’re finally out.


For almost three years, CartStars felt like one long sprint inside a burning building.
 
Build the thing.
Fix the thing.
Hope it holds long enough to build the next thing.

Chaotic. Ridiculous…Beautiful.
The kind of pace only founders understand.

But somewhere along the way, the rhythm changed.

For the first time, we’re ahead.
Preparing with intention.
Planning next year… in the year before it. (Who am I? 🤣)

I used to watch our members plan Black Friday in February and think,
What is this life? Teach me your peaceful ways!

But the truth is, this feels right.

Because when the fires quiet down, you finally see the things that matter.

The people you want to build with.
The standards you refuse to lower.
The future you can shape on purpose, not by accident.

And that’s where this next decision came from.
Depth over breadth.
Two partners per category.
Chosen by the CartStars, not by us.
Chosen because the humans behind the work are good to work with.

That’s our North Star for 2026.
 
What’s yours?

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #partnerships #growth #thoughtleadership

Founder, CartStars | Building the room where top retail and eCommerce minds grow together.

No one owes you anything.


Not their time.
Not their trust.
Not their belief in what you’re building.

I learned that early.

Maybe that’s why the last three years have meant so much to me.

Because the only reason CartStars works,
is that the best service providers in this industry decided to give us something they didn’t have to:
Their partnership.
Their excellence.
And their reputation… long before we had one of our own.

Every partner who has ever worked with us was recommended by our members.
Which means before they ever worked with CartStars, they worked with you.
They earned your trust first.
We simply inherited it.
And I don’t take that lightly.

So today I just want to say thank you.

To every team that showed up for our members, solved real problems, and made this ecosystem better.

So here’s to the partners who have been part of this journey,
past, present, and now officially, 2026.

85SIXTY, AB Tasty, Absolute Web, adMixt, AthenaHQ, Bark-Ai, BTR Media, CommerceNext, Flexport, Friendbuy, Instant, Intelligems, Keynes Digital, Kimonix, Klaviyo, KODIF, LettrLabs, Loop, Loop Subscriptions, ShipHero, Nishe, Nostra, Oceans Talent, Opensend, OrderProtection.com, Passport, Poplar/ Share Local Media, Power Digital Marketing, Redo, Retention.com, Rise.ai, Rivo, SARAL - The Influencer OS, SiteVibes, Skio, Stay AI, Stord, & the rest in the comments!

We see you.
We appreciate you.
And CartStars is better because of you.

If you’re reading this and you’ve worked with any of them,
tag them below.
They deserve it.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #trust #partnerships

You can’t buy this.


“So what’s the difference between a sponsorship and a partnership at CartStars?”

I get why they ask.

From the outside, the difference looks cosmetic.
A nicer word.
A softer label.

But I’ve never liked soft labels.

A sponsorship is transactional.
You pay. You get visibility. Your logo shows up somewhere it wasn’t yesterday.
Fair enough.

But a partnership is different.
A partnership is work.
An agreement to grow together.

Our partners show up for our members.
We show up for their teams.
Both sides bring something the other can’t.

That is why we are so strict about who becomes a partner here.
You are not buying a list.
You are entering an ecosystem.

If you are here only to take, you will hate it.
If you are here to give, you will feel at home.

Because you don’t get anywhere good by taking without giving.
Not in this industry. Not in this community.

And for CartStars, “partner” is not a nicer word for sponsor.
It’s a promise.

You bring your best work.
We bring our best people.

And when both sides grow from that,
It doesn’t need to be defined. It's felt.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #partnership #thoughtleadership #growth

Speed over space. 


If something didn’t click quickly,
I assumed it was wrong.
Or I was.

So I’d look at people who welcomed a slow start and feel almost envious.
They got time.
Time to build processes.
Time to make mistakes without an audience.
Time to breathe before they had to prove anything.

But CartStars never gave me that.
It felt like a long, quiet hallway.
No hockey stick.
No “we blew up overnight” story to tell on a podcast.

At first, I thought that meant we were behind.
But now, the view from the climb feels different. 

Like The Pillars of the Earth.
Ken Follett spent ten years on that book.
ten years tracing every stone,
every choice,
every consequence.

A world built slowly enough that the foundation actually holds.

It’s the kind of story you can’t speed through,
because it wasn’t written that way.

CartStars unfolded the same way.
Carved into place, not rushed into existence.

That’s why I’m grateful we did not get everything we wanted quickly.

You can engineer speed.
But you can’t fake depth.
And depth is what we’re here for.
So I plan to take my time.

Because overnight success is a fallacy.

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #growth #journey #thoughtleadership

We've heard the whispers. 


"CartStars has too many rules." 
"Other platforms get 6X the sponsorship."

But here's what we keep hearing: "Other rooms don't feel the same."

Because vendors can't pay to be in the room. 
They have to be recommended by members who've used them. 

And they don't make astronomical investments, which means there's air.

Not pressure and pitches.

This year, Allison Gagnon from Tibi sat next to the Videowise team at Torrisi.
No topic. Just dinner.

Twenty-seven live shopping episodes later: $2 million in sales.

Everyone wins. 
Leaders discover what works from peers. 
Vendors doing great work grow. 

And we get to keep building the room.

Receipts in comments :)

#CartStars #retail #ecommerce

Can we fight about it?


When Justin texts you with:
“Hey… what about a boxing match for charity?”

You know something that sounds unhinged,
is about to make perfect sense.

Raising $1,000,000 for charity, 
across clean water, emergency medical care, and cancer research.
That kind of purpose has a way of settling everything into place.

So here we are.
Eight exhibition matches.
Sixteen brave (or slightly unhinged) eCommerce leaders.
Five hundred people in the audience.

All of us trying to do something that looks a little impossible.
And therefore all the more worth it.

I’m part of the donations and boxers team alongside
Anas Hoque at Klaviyo and Bradley Johnston at Opensend.

And yes…
I may or may not be stepping into the ring myself.
You’ll have to show up to find out.

Huge thanks to the incredible group making this real:
Justin Silver (our fearless Chair),
Ben Walter, Emmanuel Kamau, Alexander Lazoff,
Jess Cervellon, Bryce Alsten, Lauren Sawyer ☀️,
Ian Korer, Grace Nicklas,
Bill Murphy, and Josh Garellek!

See you in Vegas on March 24th at The Space.
Let’s make this count. 🥊


#retail #ecommerce #charity #fightforcharity #shoptalk #shoptalk2026

I said yes.


To new ideas.
New experiments.
A few questionable decisions I’m still pretending were strategic.

Eventually, the team started saying I was “subscribing” to everything.
And honestly… fair.
My credit card has been through character development this year. 😬

But when our members started nominating their picks for the 2026 CartStars partnerships in the subscription category,
something unusual happened.
No noise.
No debate.
No fourteen-way tie.
(If you’ve been in eCom long enough, you know that alone is a miracle.)

So if you lean in closely,
I’ll tell you what I’m subscribing to next year:
Skio and Loop Subscriptions!

Chosen by members who don’t just plug into a stack.
They stay in it. 
With skin in the game.
And receipts in their dashboards.

So…yes, I’ve said yes to a lot this year.
But this is the subscription I’d sign twice!
Everything else can stay on free trial 😏


#CartStars #retail #ecommerce #partnerships #subscription

HSTL Productions

Marketing strategist and creative leader specializing in luxury, lifestyle and contemporary goods, developing comprehensive strategies and directing visual campaigns that drive measurable growth across digital and social platforms.

+ Led go-to-market strategies and product launches for luxury apparel and accessories brands, implementing full-funnel marketing campaigns across digital and social media
+ Directed creative teams in developing cohesive visual narratives through photo and video production, unifying brand presence across all digital and social platforms
+ Established distinctive brand identities and marketing frameworks enhancing market positioning and audience engagement

Marketing and Creative Strategist

Cartstars

CartStars is a think tank that's home to the world's most recognized leaders in marketing, media, eCommerce and retail, who collaborate with peers to foster collective growth through shared knowledge and insights.

Founding Member

WOC Retail Alliance®

Women of Color Retail Alliance (WOCRA) is an organization focused on career development, economic empowerment, and closing the gap to gender parity for women in retail leadership.

Council Member

GSTQ

Recruited to oversee and grow brand presence and accelerated growth through creative, brand positioning, integrated digital + social media campaigns.  This resulted in triple-digit increases in revenue, traffic, and engagement.

+ Spearheaded rebranding and multi-channel marketing campaigns, driving triple percentage YoY ecommerce revenue growth through integrated events, PR, and paid media initiatives
+ Led experiential marketing at New York Fashion Week and Rockefeller Center Holiday Pop Up, achieving 70% growth in direct traffic.
+ Developed GTM strategy and elevated cross-functional team performance across Social Media, Ecommerce, Paid Media and Creative departments through strategic leadership

Vice President (Digital and Brand) Marketing and PR

Hanky Panky

Led brand marketing strategy for celebrity-favorite intimates label, implementing innovative marketing strategies that delivered growth through data-driven storytelling and omnichannel initiatives across retail, digital, and wholesale channels.

+Achieved increase in brand favorability through strategic rebranding, GTM development, and streamlined management of creative, social media, and PR teams
+ Drove triple YoY growth in direct traffic through launch of first experiential activation, orchestrating and negotiation of talent, media, influencer, and press campaigns
+ Launched first retail store through key partnerships, PR, social media and events.

Director Global Marketing 

Adweek

Selected for Adweek's Executive Mentorship Program, collaborating with top-tier C-Suite mentors and fellow industry leaders. Networking to build and navigate the evolving landscape of global brand marketing.

2022 Executive Mentor Program - Mentee 

Perry Ellis International

Led portfolio of Perry Ellis International brands, launching brand extensions, creative, licensees and cultivated sports partnerships, encompassing 26 brands- Perry Ellis, Original Penguin by Munsingwear, Laundry by Shelli Segal, Gotcha, Rafaella and many more managing $1.1B in annual sales 

+ Developed full-funnel marketing and creative programs for all brands including 11+ brand extensions, working closely major wholesalers, Big Box/Clubs, and DTC.
+ Recognized as Finalist by The Fragrance Foundation for creative and production of Perry Ellis America men's fragrance campaign
+ Led award-winning multi-brand, multi-million partnership with Bleacher Report, with strategic media planning and talent collaborations with NBA and MLS star athletes

Director Global Marketing and Licensing

BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP

Managed business growth and brand expansion through strategic marketing initiatives across multiple licensee categories globally. 

+Aligned cross-functional teams and stakeholders in integrated media planning, events and press across domestic and international markets.
+Managed licensees in collaboration with internal teams and the Azria family to ensure seamless execution and market success.

Marketing Manager, Licensing 

Lovemarks Inc

Managed marketing along with aligning design, production + sales teams in developing product and target market opportunities for wholesalers.

Brand Manager

Nickelodeon

Coordinated and handled booking for events and shoots with talent while maintaining relations and communicating daily between talent, publicists, agents and production.

Talent Coordinator

Managed day to day online ad campaigns from launch to post recap, serving as liaison between agencies and clients with thorough knowledge of digital media planning and marketing.

Digital Ad Sales Coordinator

Creative brand storyteller and strategic marketer with a passion for purpose-driven campaigns that move people and markets. I don’t just sell—I connect, build, shape, and amplify voices that matter.

Aly Lee is an innovative brand strategist, marketing and creative executive, obsessed with juxtaposition, and font pairings- admittedly favorite font is Roboto Mono. Expert in elevating & scaling brands, hindsight to see past our noses, leading teams through strategic positioning, cohesive storytelling, impactful creative and meticulous design sensibility.  

Tracked success driving growth & brand equity across companies that run the gamut - from startups to multimillion-dollar conglomerates while cultivating collaborative team culture.

taplio

The Battle

Debbie Kemunto Pearce

Alexandra (Aly) Lee

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The Battle

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Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Debbie Kemunto Pearce's LinkedIn Performance

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