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After NRF: Decide the Real Problem (Part 1 of 4)

Most conferences don’t fail because the ideas are bad.
They fail because leaders come back with volume instead of judgment.

NRF expands what feels possible. Leadership is deciding what actually matters.

In Part 1 of this four-part series, Steve Worthy focuses on the first and most important post-conference decision: deciding the real problem you’re solving this year.

NRF pushes solutions. Vendors do their job well. The risk for leaders is acting before reality is clearly defined.

This episode explores:

• Why conference energy fades faster than leaders expect
• How “presenting problems” distract from the real work
• The hidden problem stack inside every organization
• Why structure, relationships, decision rights, capacity, and culture quietly block progress
• How solving the wrong layer creates motion without outcomes

This isn’t about doing more after NRF.
It’s about deciding better before momentum turns into noise.

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There were years when things looked fine from the outside, but they weren’t fine.

Professionally, I was doing the work. Personally, I was carrying more than I should have. I had a coach, a tighter inner circle, and the right intentions, but I still found myself drifting. New ideas kept pulling at me. New opportunities kept showing up. And I didn’t have a reliable way to decide what deserved my energy and what didn’t.

That’s when I started using a Word of the Year.

Not because I needed inspiration. I needed something stable. Something I could come back to when everything felt urgent and nothing felt anchored.

Over time, that one-word constraint became a way to frame my decisions, my behavior, and how I showed up as a leader. It helped me see where I was overextending, where I was hesitating, and where I was misaligned without realizing it.

In this episode, I share my word for 2026, Steadfast, and why it emerged after several years of intentionality, growth, and momentum. At this stage, staying the course, preparing deliberately, and building patiently matters more than acceleration.

I also walk through how I choose a word using a gap analysis, why most senior leaders resist the discipline this requires, and how pressure-testing the word with people who know you well makes all the difference.

This isn’t a tactic. It’s a way to lead with more consistency when the environment keeps changing.

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If you’re a founder trying to sell into retail, this episode may save you months of missteps. If you’re a retail leader evaluating new technology, it’ll reflect what you often wish vendors understood.

In this conversation with Ang Nayyar from StrutFit, we get into the realities of how retailers think, decide, and evaluate solutions — far beyond what’s visible from the outside.

This episode is especially for:

• Founders and product teams trying to land their first or fifth retail partner
• Retail innovation leaders who want tech partners that understand operations
• VCs and advisors evaluating retail-tech readiness
• Operators trying to understand why tech adoption stalls

Ang explains why retailers say no even when the idea is strong and why pilots die even when the results are good. His breakdown of the internal politics, operational constraints, and hidden decision drivers is one of the clearest you’ll hear.

You’ll learn:

• What retail executives look for before they trust a founder
• Why solving a real problem isn’t enough if the rollout creates friction
• How to avoid becoming “extra work” for stores
• The signals that show you’re ready for a scaled retail partnership
• Why timing and operational fit matter more than innovation
  
  

This episode will tighten your pitch, raise your bar for product readiness, and help you understand the mindset of the people you’re trying to win over.

If you want a more honest, grounded look inside retail decision-making, this conversation gives you exactly that.

Listen now. This episode will reshape how you approach retail.

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What Happens When You’ve Outgrown Your Role?

In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Holm from Helzberg Diamonds, and we get right into the real tension many retail leaders feel but rarely talk about — the moment you know you’re ready for more, even if you haven’t said it out loud yet.

Ryan’s journey from Dunkin’ Donuts to leading innovation in a Berkshire Hathaway company is filled with the kind of insights leaders need right now.

In this conversation we cover:

• How to know when the spark is fading
• Why targeted upskilling outperforms “learn everything” development
• The advantage of speaking both store and HQ fluently
• How to approach AI with a practical mindset
• How to evaluate whether you’re truly ready for the next step
  
  

This episode gives leaders a clearer view of where they stand today and what they may need to consider for tomorrow.

If you’re in a season of transition, this one will give you something real to think about.

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Retail is not complicated. It is hard work.

This episode gets us back to the basics that keep a store alive: profit, time, and turns. I sit down with Maximilian Anderson, founder of SKUMAX, to talk about seeing your true cost of goods, why every item should pay rent, and how to make better decisions with the data you already own.

If you lead stores, this is a clean reset on what to measure, what to move, and what to let go. Try the free trial in the show notes and see how long your inventory has really been sitting.

What you’ll learn:

• A simple way to see real profit in real time
• Why “time on shelf” is cash leaving the bucket
• When to promote, relocate, or remove a product
• How to build a daily rhythm around the right dashboard

Stay in business. Make more money. Start with the basics.

Visit SKUMAX: https://skumax.app/
14 Day Free Trial: https://app.skumax.io/sign_up
Connect with Maximillian Anderson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximilian-anderson-821525368/

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Conference fatigue is real. The solution isn’t bigger booths. It’s better design.

In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy, Jamie Hancock — founder of Buying Time and Commerce Futures — breaks down how to build events that create real learning and real pipeline without turning the room into a pitch fest.

We cover:

• Designing your event like a sales motion: ICP, personas, shared problems, clear outcomes
• Why putting customers and practitioners on stage beats vendor decks every time
• Workshop formats that produce value you can capture, anonymize, and share with your team
• The truth about side events around NRF and why many “big show” wins happen off the floor
• A simple rule that improves content quality: more women on stage
• Post-event “aftercare” that turns inspiration into action the following week

You’ll leave with a practical checklist for making your next event — hosted or attended — actually worth it.

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DOWNLOAD - The Campus 2025 Retail Leadership Development Report, HERE.

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SPONSORS:

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Retail technology often gets lost in hype. But what does it actually mean for leaders on the ground?

In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy, I sit down with Ricardo Belmar, Producer and Host of The Retail Razor Podcast Network.

We cover:

• Why “perfect test stores” can hide scalability failures
• The difference between replacing tasks and replacing people with tech
• AI’s real challenge: implementation and process readiness
• The skills leaders need to guide retail through the next five years

Ricardo’s perspective cuts through the clutter and gives leaders a clear, practical lens for technology, leadership, and the future of retail.

📍 Connect with Ricardo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbelmar/
🎧 Listen to Ricardo on Retail Razor - https://retailrazor.com

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In this episode of Retail Leadership with Steve Worthy, I sit down with Lucas Piccinin, founder of NetConV, a platform designed to bring real-time expiration date transparency to grocery eCommerce.

We explore how grocers can turn a persistent operational headache into a competitive differentiator by:

• Integrating seamlessly with existing ERP systems
• Using algorithms to dynamically price products based on freshness
• Overcoming cultural and operational resistance to digital transformation

Lucas also shares his founder journey—from selling groceries online to spending three years perfecting the tech—and why U.S. grocers who adopt now will have a decisive edge in the market.

Whether you’re leading operations, innovation, or eCommerce strategy, this episode will challenge how you think about inventory, pricing, and customer trust.

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DOWNLOAD - The Campus 2025 Retail Leadership Development Report, HERE.

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SPONSORS:

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Nexlytix

________________________

JOIN THE CAMPUS

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