Tessa Burg sits down with Irina Kulikova, Global Business Leader at Estée Lauder, to explore what it truly means to be customer-centric in 2026. With over two decades of experience spanning strategic consulting and beauty industry leadership, Irina reveals how AI is transforming every aspect of retail—from product formulation to consumer insights to creative asset production. The conversation goes deep into the evolution of beauty retail, examining how Gen Z’s use of ChatGPT in-store is changing purchasing decisions, why pharma channels are emerging as unexpected beauty destinations, and how brands must optimize content for AI-driven discovery. Irina shares practical insights on leveraging both “big data” and “small data” observations, the critical importance of Net Promoter Score feedback loops, and why pricing fairness will define brand success in the coming year.
When Thomas Jensen took over as CEO of Alarity Therapeutics in December 2023, he faced a choice. He could manage the status quo or he could fix what was fundamentally broken. He chose to fix it. In our latest Success Beneath the Surface episode, Thomas shares how he eliminated all Series A and Series B preferred shares by May 2024—less than six months later. But the financial turnaround is only part of the story.
The real story is about why he’s doing this work at all.
Celebrating 30 years of making a difference, Binky Patrol founder Susan Finch shares five strategic initiatives designed to expand volunteer recruitment and engagement for small nonprofits. From Greek life partnerships to senior community programs, these practical approaches offer actionable blueprints for organizations looking to grow their impact. She explores the untapped potential of senior communities where residents maintain crafting skills and desperately need purpose and community connection. Whether you run a nonprofit or want to understand volunteer mobilization strategies, this episode delivers concrete ideas you can implement immediately.
On this episode of the Market Dominance Guys, Corey and Chris agree on the importance of building trust before anything else can happen. They are joined by Transformational Coach Jennifer Standish, Henry Wojdyla, Founder and Principal at RealSource Group, Matt McCorkle, Manager of Branch Operations at Kaiser Compressors, and hosts Ty Crandall on the Business Credit and Finance Show, Jeff Lerner from Ep 150 of Millionaire Secrets, and David Dulaney on the Sales Development Podcast. The full episodes to the ones included here are listed below:
- EP91: Borrowing from the Best
- EP109: Being There for Your Customers
- EP123: Hire Yourself a Grandma
- The Business Credit and Financing Show
- Sales Development Podcast https://www.spreaker.com/user/9196584/episode-164-done
- MILLIONAIRE SECRET #150 Unlock Your Potential with Jeff Lerner
Susan Finch and Lany Sullivan dig into something nobody wants to talk about but everybody needs to hear. A client’s new bookkeeper asked a simple question about canceling a former employee’s card. The owner said they already had the card. Turns out the physical card was in a desk drawer, but the numbers were saved in the employee’s personal Amazon account for 18 months. Lany brings her banking background to this conversation – branch operations, mortgage processing, risk management, the whole deal. She’s seen what happens when businesses don’t have proper controls in place. She’s also seen the theft, the fraud, and the embezzlement that follows. They walk through why your bookkeeper just paying the bill isn’t oversight. Why the “put it on your personal card and expense it” model doesn’t work anymore. Why most employees probably don’t need company cards at all. And what to do instead – purchasing processes, approval limits, the works.
This week, Justin Zimmerman, Sales and Business Development, Work Right NW, joins the Granite List.Live to share his insight on Work Right NW’s total worker health approach. As a leader in industrial sports medicine, Work Right NW provides the industrial athlete with proactive care to reduce injuries, improve employee health, and foster a culture of safety.
In this episode of What’s Your Edge? Host Laura Patterson and her guest, Ed Trevis, President and CEO of Corvalent, focusing on a foundational driver of sustainable growth: innovation. Research from McKinsey suggests that companies that prioritize innovation generate significantly higher growth than their peers. In one study, “innovation leaders” achieved 2.4 times higher total shareholder returns than laggards over a 10-year period, underscoring that innovation is not a “nice to have,” but a core driver of long-term value.
We hope you enjoy this playlist of our favorite episodes of the week.
