The Retail Pilot is a series of interviews conducted by Ken Pilot with “Leaders and Legends” of the Retail industry. Ken will focus the conversation on his guests’ career journeys and their greatest career accomplishments and disappointments; gather insight into their leadership styles; learn who inspired them as they progressed through their careers; identify brands they admire; discover challenges they have faced; and talk about where they think Retail is headed and how they are leveraging technology to get there. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Episodes
Bracken Darrell CEO, the VF Corp and his brand adventures North
3 Nov 2026 · 48 min
Three years ago, Bracken Darrell walked into VF Corp with a problem most incoming CEOs would run from: a $10B+ apparel holding company with declining revenue, shrinking gross margins, too much debt, and a portfolio of iconic brands (The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Dickies, Supreme) that had lost…
Jan Rogers Kniffen on the Q4 2026 Retail Forecast, Agentic AI & Who Wins This Holiday Season
20 Oct 2026 · 58 min
Jan Rogers Kniffen has been calling the retail recession for four years. It still hasn’t happened. “This is the recession that’s been six months off for the last four years,” he tells Ken. “It’s been the longest coming recession that I’ve seen since the recession.” The CEO of J. Rogers Kniffen…
Nitin Mangtani, EVP & GM of Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Inside the Future of Unified Commerce
15 Sept 2026 · 1 h 02
Nitin Mangtani has pivoted a company more than once. He built PredictSpring in a garage in 2013 as a white label mobile app platform, watched it work with brands like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, then made the hardest call of his career: kill the model that was working and rebuild the company as…
Shea Jensen, President of Urban Outfitters North America: Inside the Brand's Comeback
18 Aug 2026 · 50 min
When Shea Jensen took over as President of Urban Outfitters North America in February 2024, the brand was posting double-digit comp declines. Eighteen months later, it's posting double-digit comp gains. "It's much more fun to go backwards in time when you're serving customers than forwards in…
Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData: Inside Retail's Winners, Losers & the Back Half of 2026
4 Aug 2026 · 1 h 04
There's a common assumption in retail right now that the top of the market is the only thing growing. Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail and one of the industry's most-followed analysts, doesn't buy it. "Every broad income group has contributed to the increase in retail sales,"…
Vuori Founder Joe Kudla: From Garage Startup to $5Billion+ Activewear Brand
21 Jul 2026 · 58 min
When Joe Kudla launched Vuori out of a Southern California garage in 2013, he was betting against his own track record. He'd already tried the apparel business twice and failed both times. He had a comfortable life, a thriving financial consulting firm he'd built to hundreds of employees, real…
James Reinhart, Co-Founder & CEO of Thredup: Building the Future of Resale
7 Jul 2026 · 56 min
When James Reinhart walked into a Cambridge consignment store with a bag of business school clothes in 2008 – a J.Crew cashmere sweater, a Brooks Brothers coat – and was told they had no resale value, he didn't accept the answer. "I can't believe this cashmere sweater is worth zero," Reinhart…
Denise Incandela, EVP of Walmart Fashion: How Walmart Became a True Fashion Destination
23 Jun 2026 · 47 min
Walmart just named Denise Incandela a Sam Walton Entrepreneur of the Year — one of the highest honors inside the company, and one rarely given to merchants. It's a fitting recognition for the EVP of Fashion leading one of the largest fashion transformations in American retail. In this episode of…
Tanya Golesic, CEO of Mackage: From Canadian down to a Global Luxury Brand
2 Jun 2026 · 55 min
When Tanya Golesic took the helm of Mackage in July 2021, she inherited a Canadian brand with extraordinary product and almost no story. "The minute you put the product on, you wouldn't want to take the product off," Golesic tells Ken. "But it was lacking a brand story. It was lacking…
Pete Nordstrom: From public to private, Nordstrom’s gains momentum.
19 May 2026 · 46 min
In this episode of The Retail Pilot, Ken sits down with Pete Nordstrom – Co-CEO of the 125-year-old fashion retailer – to unpack the eight-year journey to go private, the strategic partnership with Liverpool that made it possible, and what's actually changed since May 2025. They explore why the…
Retail Legend Mickey Drexler: From Building Gap & Old Navy to Running Alex Mill Like a Startup
6 May 2026 · 1 h 10
Retail icon Mickey Drexler doesn't do retirement. At 80, the man who built Gap into a $14 billion empire, founded Old Navy, and revitalized J.Crew is running Alex Mill like a scrappy startup, and loving it. "I love what I do more now," Drexler says. "I don't have someone breathing down my neck."…
Rhone CEO Nate Checketts on Mind & Body Wellness: How Mental Fitness Built a $100M Performance Brand
14 Apr 2026 · 58 min
Most performance apparel brands tell you they're building a lifestyle. Nate Checketts actually means it. As CEO and co-founder of Rhone, he's built a company where mental fitness isn't marketing—it's the foundation. "We say internally that we are a wellness company that just happens to sell…
Guggenheim Analyst Simeon Siegel: Why Revenue Matters More Than Hype in Retail + 2026 Stock Picks
13 Mar 2026 · 55 min
Retail earnings season just wrapped, and the headlines are telling one story while the data tells another. Consumer sentiment is dismal. Tariffs are squeezing margins. Geopolitical uncertainty looms. Yet average retail revenues grew 7-9% in Q4, and consumers keep spending. How do you reconcile…
The Department Store Crisis: Terry Lundgren & Jan Rogers Kniffen on Saks Global Bankruptcy and What The Future Holds for Department Stores
24 Feb 2026 · 59 min
The department store industry just witnessed one of its most dramatic collapses. When Saks Global filed for bankruptcy in early 2026, it marked the end of an ambitious—but fatally flawed—attempt to merge two luxury retail icons. For Terry Lundgren, former Chairman and CEO of Macy's, and Jan Rogers…
Lizanne Kindler Leading A $6 Billion Fashion Empire, The KnitWell Group
10 Feb 2026 · 43 min
What does it take to lead eight iconic fashion brands generating over $6 billion in revenue? Lizanne Kindler's journey began at age 11 in a Washington D.C. department store, where her aunt—then president of the Garfinckles chain—gave her a glimpse into the magic of retail. "I remember feeling the…
Breaking the Salon Ceiling: How Madison Reed Redefined Hair Color with Amy Errett
27 Jan 2026 · 51 min
Amy Errett didn’t just enter the hair‑color category — she rewired it. In a space dominated by legacy brands, fragmented salons, and decades of “the way it’s always been done,” she built Madison Reed into a high‑growth, tech‑powered beauty company with hundreds of millions in revenue and a…
Why Retail Is Holding Up Better Than Expected with Matt Shay
16 Dec 2025 · 33 min
NRF President and CEO Matt Shay joins The Retail Pilot to break down what is really happening inside retail as the holiday season reaches its peak. From consumer resilience and record setting holiday sales forecasts to tariffs supply chain challenges and pricing pressures this conversation offers…
A Legacy of Style and Innovation with Gene Pressman
12 Dec 2025 · 54 min
In this episode of The Retail Pilot , we sit down with Gene Pressman, a third-generation leader behind the iconic Barneys New York, to unpack how a single store became a cultural force. From redefining American fashion to championing emerging designers, Gene shares the behind-the-scenes decisions,…
The Evolution of Coach: Lew Frankfort on Culture, Consumers, and Creative Leadership
25 Nov 2025 · 52 min
In this episode, Ken Pilot speaks with Lew Frankfort, CEO of Coach, who helped guide the company from a $6 million leather goods business to a global brand generating more than $5 billion in annual sales. Over 35 years, Frankfort helped define Coach’s culture, expand its product vision, grow…
Inside Tecovas: The $300 Million Brand Redefining Western Retail
13 Nov 2025 · 49 min
In this episode of The Retail Pilot , I sit down with David Lafitte, CEO of Tecovas, the Austin-based Western footwear and apparel brand reshaping what it means to build a premium lifestyle business. From radical hospitality to strategic wholesale expansion, David shares how the company has scaled…