According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, productivity across retail has not increased in nearly 30 years. In our digital marketplace, more data than ever is being acquired through multiple platforms emerging to keep up with unpredictable consumer behavior. This data-driven environment is only getting more complex by the minute.

For field and corporate teams in retail, data has evolved from being the go-to source of insight to a digital nightmare that’s bogging down the industry. On any given day, managers are expected to compile and analyze nearly 100 reports to find top priorities for their stores that have a multitude of needs. This is on top of performing daily tasks to keep stores afloat while remaining customer focused. Corporate planning and forecasting are complex processes that require a centralized data source for a streamlined, holistic understanding of the business.

On any given day, managers are expected to compile and analyze nearly 100 reports to find top priorities for their stores that have a multitude of needs. This is on top of performing daily tasks to keep stores afloat while remaining customer focused.

Retailers need tools that increase productivity by eliminating scattered data, improving collaborations across departments, and automating complex decision making. But first, let’s take a deeper look into what’s broken.

What’s Really Up with Productivity in Retail?

Data management in retail is outdated. Some businesses in retail are crippled by continuing to use complex spreadsheets to organize and manage data. This system worked 30 years ago when the exchange of information could take days or even weeks. Now data is monitored in real time and there’s no way even the most sophisticated spreadsheets can keep up.

Another concern is the disconnect between departments within mid-size to conglomerate retail businesses. Finance uses its own set of data to make decisions in planning that can affect multiple departments at once. When things change, as they often do in the planning process, it’s critical that every affected department should have live access to this information so they can pivot.

Lastly, many retailers aren’t using aggregated data to peak potential. Field leaders in retail are not properly trained in translating available data into actionable priorities. Inventory piles up in back rooms due to inefficient tracking. Continuity is affected when store employee turnover increases when managers are disengaged. As problem after problem arises, stores lose their appeal and are soon eligible for the chopping block—the inevitable closure.

Connecting Data, People, & Planning

According to Pierre Chambe, consolidation and reporting director for Sephora, the French beauty retailer’s internal planning process used to be disconnected. They were using Excel spreadsheets that ultimately were integrated into legacy spreadsheets. Visibility in planning across the company was low and it made forecasting increasingly difficult. Sephora’s finance department decided to centralize their data by using connected planning provided by Anaplan.

Anaplan, a cloud-based connected planning software, was designed to help businesses make better decisions, manage risk and uncertainty, and improve overall productivity. The goal is to provide a unified view of an organization’s data and make it easily accessible to decision-makers at all levels of the organization. Sephora’s finance department was able to use the tool to consolidate their spreadsheet data in the platform during their biggest challenge, planning for new store openings across the U.S.

“We used all the Excel spreadsheets spread across the organization to model into the Anaplan platform to have more visibility and to be able to simulate, play with assumptions, and be able to speed up our forecasting process,” explains Chambe. Anaplan provided a single source of analysis for all data, enabling Sephora to make better decisions and respond quickly to changing conditions. It also eliminated tedious, manual processes that created a more efficient and collaborative planning process.

Artificial Intelligence for Decision Making

Field leaders juggle multiple tasks in a variety of areas. Inventory management, team management, marketing—it’s amazing how they manage to keep their heads on straight. But that’s the problem, they shouldn’t have to do it alone.

With nearly 1,000 stores opening yearly, Dollar General is one the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. But with scale comes obstacles that seem to affect district managers who oversee 20 stores on average. Dollar General’s SVP of Corporate Store Operations, Zak Brining, was looking to bring consistency in productivity across the district level of over 19,000 stores without dumping another complicated report onto their district managers’ plates. Quorso filled that gap.

Quorso is an AI-powered platform that provides real-time recommendations to store managers on how to optimize their store operations and improve customer experience. Quorso also uses machine learning to analyze customer data and predict future sales trends, helping retail leadership make more informed decisions about product placement and promotions.

“Investing in District Managers and other Field Leaders is critical to Dollar General’s success. Quorso is unique in the marketplace. It combines best-in-class analytics to identify personal priorities for each manager, with an intuitive workflow that guides them to take the right actions in seconds,” says Brining. Simplifying the day-to-day responsibilities of retail field leaders has not only increased productivity but overall sales as well.

Digital Tools

Technology is not a silver bullet, but it helps retailers leapfrog over antiquated systems and processes. To remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment, retailers have to prioritize the data they have available. Critical thinking, a human analytical tool, is key to determining the “why” of the data being collected. Asking high-gain questions that reveal the problems and solutions is the first step to finding a collaborative tech partner to make sense of data and analytics. Looking forward, boosting productivity comes down to one major truth: Excel spreadsheets are out while connected planning and AI-backed decision making are in.

I recently discussed the sustainability issues in fashion that are plaguing the industry in The Zero Waste Revolution. Priorities to shift thinking and operations include adopting circular business models and decelerating overall production. Now my focus is on one of the most impactful solutions—implementing new technology in each stage of the fashion supply chain. From using AI for accurate forecasting to managing returns, there are tech solutions available to fashion retailers to make achieving zero waste more attainable.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe stated that the apparel industry accounted for 10 percent of global carbon emissions and 20 percent of global water waste. Additionally, most clothing that’s mass-produced utilizes manufactured textiles like polyester, nylon, and acrylic that have introduced microplastics into water systems.

Building A Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain

Business consulting giant Accenture shows that there are five critical areas in the supply chain that directly impact sustainability efforts. They are planning & design, materials sourcing, production, distribution, and retail merchandising. Larger brands tend to have more involvement with each stage of the supply chain while smaller brands are at the mercy of full-service manufacturers. Still, there are tech solutions that can help any brand no matter the size.

Planning & Design

Planning and design begin with innovation or forecasting. The innovation stage is creating a design based on an idea and, in best cases, is something that’s never been done before. Since creative control is with the designer it can be difficult for the innovator to create an item that will resonate with a mainstream consumer base. This is where forecasting comes into play.

A great forecaster gathers data from sources from fashion shows, fashion influencers, and credible forecasting agencies, but the main problems with fashion forecasting is that it cannot keep up with the rapidly changing trends and inevitable human error. Harvard Business School professors, Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman, estimate that presale forecasting errors range between 50 and 100 percent. Significant forecasting errors translate into either too little production or, in the case of fast fashion, mass production of clothing that doesn’t sell.

Paris-based forecasting tech company, Heuritech, creates more accurate forecasting models using artificial intelligence (AI) for brands like Jimmy Choo, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, and more. According to their website, their technology analyzes real life images shared on social media and translates them into meaningful insights.“Heuritech empowers fashion brands to forecast demand and trends more accurately, produce more sustainably, and achieve unprecedented competitive advantage.”

Better data produces more accurate results and nearly eliminates the chance of human error. AI can also be used to enhance the planning and design stage through sustainability forecasting to more accurately assess future environmental impact.

Materials Sourcing

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe stated that the apparel industry accounted for 10 percent of global carbon emissions and 20 percent of global water waste. Additionally, most clothing that’s mass produced utilizes manufactured textiles like polyester, nylon, and acrylic that have introduced microplastics into water systems. The long-term effects are still relatively unknown.

In 2017, a Reverse Resources white paper estimated that one-quarter of fashion manufacturers’ purchased materials are wasted every year — but this report came with a disclaimer that the number of wasted materials is grossly underreported.

Seattle-based circular textiles manufacturer, Evrnu, is using new technology to produce textiles from recycled materials. It’s known as NuCycl. The tech has been used in a partnership between Adidas and Stella McCartney to create the Infinite Hoodie that’s 100 percent recyclable. Enrnu’s goal—to create engineered fibers with extraordinary performance and environmental advantages, made from discarded clothing. “The technology uses repolymerization to convert the original fiber molecules into new high performing renewable fibers. Even the toughest type of textile waste – 100% post-consumer – can be turned into new materials with NuCycl.”Infusing tech into the textile and materials sourcing process can set the stage for more brands to start their product lifecycle with sustainability as a priority. 

Production

In the early stages of production, samples are created by pairing the designs with the raw materials. The sample process involves creating a mockup of the final design and revising until the desired design is achieved. This means up to 20 samples can be produced for just one item. While some brands have sample sales to offload any unused samples, most are discarded. But this can be avoided during the planning and design stage by using accurate forecasting.

An alternative is 3D virtual modeling. Daniel Grieder, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger, committed to using 3D virtual modeling to create, develop and sell samples starting with the Spring 2022 collection. In 2021 PVH, the brand’s parent company, beta launched a platform called STITCH to scale 3D design capabilities that would include not only samples, but digital showrooms as well. Manufacturing companies like the TAL Group currently use the digital sampling technology in its clothing factories across Asia. And according to the CEO, Roger Lee, the results could be phenomenal. “If our clients alone all switched to this new technology, we would see savings of over 300,000 yards a year,” states Roger Lee.

Alvanon, an apparel product development consultancy, was an early pioneer of 3D modeling. The virtual Alvaform is a solution that helps retail brands cut costs and improve accuracy during the apparel production process. This is a goal that CEO Janice Wang refuses to take lightly. In a 2021 statement Wang voices the brand’s commitment to reducing waste. “To move the industry towards sustainability calls for abandoning our old ways of doing things and replacing all the efficient processes that digitalization can deliver. Alvanon can contribute to this in various ways, most of all by helping the industry streamline inventory.”

Distribution

When it comes to distribution, global concern for the environment is already forcing fashion brands to deliver their product sustainably. In the United States, electric vehicle requirements are being rolled out across the transportation industry. It’s part of the global 30×30 campaign where over 112 countries have pledged to enact policies that would offer protection for 30 percent of the environment by 2030.

Aside from transportation logistics, the distribution process is also being revamped to include proper traceability for products. The European Commission is currently looking into legally requiring brands to use digital product passports (DPP) to improve transparency. A DPP works like a QR code or RFIDs to display detailed information on products to include sourced materials. Fashion brands like Chloé and Net-A-Porter have already tapped into this technology to inform their consumers and to effectively track the success of their sustainability efforts across the supply chain.

Retail Merchandising

Retail merchandising is arguably the most important part of the supply chain since it deals directly with customers. It’s already widely reported that consumers are demanding clothing that has the least impact on the environment. Most of the work will fall on retailers to make sure they are building sustainable supply chains, but customer satisfaction can make or break their efforts.

At the beginning of 2022, CNBC reported that apparel has an average return rate of 12.2 percent. Now, that may not seem monumental but that contributes to the yearly 4.7 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions caused by customer returns.

Statista estimates that the reason for 38 percent of returned clothing in 2021 was due to improper fit followed by ill-suited items at 15 percent. This number could be higher when you factor in that 30 percent of global fashion retail purchases are made online where customers have to guesstimate on size and suitability. This reality, along with deep fake technology, inspired the founders of DeepGears to create a virtual try-on plugin for online retailers.

The plugin works by allowing customers to create a virtual avatar based on their real-world body type. Clothing inventory from the retailer is then coded to fit the customer’s virtual model helping them to visualize how the garment will realistically fit. The tech is also versatile enough to be used across the customer journey. Italian fashion brand Liu Jo used the technology to boost user engagement via email through the animation of their denim collection.

With so many companies offering free returns, the cost is eventually reflected in the not so free impact on the environment. According to Dalpane and 180 Degrees Consulting, up to 2 kilograms of CO2 can be saved for each avoided return. “Even as little as a 5% reduction in returns, if achieved at scale, can make a huge difference to carbon emissions and I believe that is something well in DeepGears‘ reach,” says Pietro Dalpane, Co-Founder.

Another aspect of retail merchandising is customer experience, and London based Dressipi is equipping retailers with advanced personalization solutions that will increase customer satisfaction. The “personalization experts” at Dressipi are hyper focused on using AI to assist with digital personal styling for every customer. The technology shows customers how their garment can be styled in a variety of ways to increase wear longevity and reduce overall returns.

Zero Waste Begins at Ground Zero

From the ideation of new trends to the first customer interaction, achieving a more sustainable future in fashion starts with the implementation of innovative tech from the beginning. As clothing moves through the supply chain, it should be clear at each stage that environmental impact is being prioritized.

With so much technology being within reach of most fashion retailers, there should be little to no excuse as to why fashion waste isn’t significantly decreased by 2030. The resources have been made available and it’s up to retailers to make the decision to enter and nurture a circular ecosystem.

Before the mid-1700s, new clothing wasn’t easy to come by. Garments were worn for years, enduring the repair process on more than a few occasions and, in most cases, outliving the original owners. Fashion wasn’t a powerful influencer because in those times longevity was key due to the long production process and costs required to create just one piece. One style tended to stick around for decades, rather than a season, and the fate of each piece ended with purpose. Repurpose. Dresses became quilts. Jackets became coverlets. Blouses became curtains. And everyone wore hand-me-downs.

Fashion has come a long way since the pre-Industrial Revolution era, picking up a few bad habits along the way. The increased demand for clothing has spiraled out of control and predecessors couldn’t have predicted that clothing would become one of the biggest threats to our world. Quantity has surpassed quality by more than a few light years and now we are left to solve yet another issue—fashion waste.

There have been countless studies reporting that customers want to support brands that share their ethics and ethos. This reaches far beyond just making a statement to become more sustainable. Making minor adjustments to the supply chain or making massive donations are not viable solutions for reducing waste.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2018, 17 million tons of new textiles were generated with only 2.5 million tons being recycled. In the same year, 11 million tons of textiles ended up in landfills.

With so much clothing going to waste, is there anything fashion retailers can do to help the situation without sacrificing profits?

Fashion Waste Begets Circular Business Models …but That’s Not the Whole Story

Circular business models are increasing in popularity. But what is it exactly and how does it apply to the fast-fashion market? Can retailers who are in too deep with the non-circular model still make the switch?

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, “Circular business models serve to reduce the extraction and use of natural resources and the generation of industrial and consumer wastes.” So, circular business models are focused on minimizing waste and pollution; reusing materials and products; and nurturing and allowing the environment to thrive.

There are B2B companies that can help like SuperCircle that handles the heavy circular lifting for retailers. They recover, recycle, and reuse textiles from consumers on behalf of the retailer to make the support of a circular business easier. Other companies like Patagonia and The North Face have internal circular programs that have been, for the most part, successful.

On the surface, options like SuperCircle seem like the perfect solution…and to some extent those support services can be a good solution but not the best solution. Where things get complicated is eliminating the root problem—decreasing mass production of clothes that get discarded. In order to achieve the end goals of a circular economy, production must be managed. If it’s not, recycling, and reusing clothes becomes more of a burden than it’s worth.

Decreasing Production Is a Painful Truth

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, more than $500 billion in clothing is lost to landfills every year. This number is expected to rise because clothing production is estimated to reach 160 million tons by 2050.

As of 2021, Berkshire Hathaway’s Business Wire predicted that the fast-fashion market is expected to reach $99 billion worldwide. Fast-fashion corporations are potentially contributing to the multi-billion-dollar problem of landfills. Overproduction of merchandise that becomes waste is a plague of fast fashion. Other flashpoint issues that the fast-fashion industry faces, such as copyright infringement, have less impact, whereas excess inventory directly affects the vast majority of the world. If a retailer is truly committed to becoming sustainable, they must have an actionable plan to decrease inventory production over time.

The financial model also needs to shift from revenue that is solely driven by selling too much disposable merchandise. Other forms of fast-fashion revenue include licensing deals but these do not amass the same amount of revenue as production of too much stuff. Granted, fast fashion was birthed from the idea that consumers demand more trendy clothing drops at cheaper prices. Unfortunately, consumers are complicit in an unsustainable contract with fast fashion, demanding more and more, and fast fashion is only too eager to comply. But times are changing, whether it’s guilt, peer pressure or a legitimate sense of responsibility, young consumers have changed their tune. It’s a well-known fact that consumers, especially Gen Z, are now becoming more aware and educated on the fact that fast fashion is helping to destroy the planet. Next-gens are more critical of big brands and are spending their dollars with companies that are committed to fighting climate change. A report from the Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company showed that 26 percent of millennial consumers and 31 percent of Gen Z consumers are willing to pay more for products that have the least negative impacts on the environment. By taking this in consideration, retailers can still have the best of both worlds—increasing profits that aren’t riddled with the guilt of environmental catastrophe. Yes, but although next-gens say sustainability is important, they are still insatiable for the new, often at the expense of the environment, as evidenced by the ongoing growth of Shein and H&M.

Greenwashing?

Shein’s website states “We harness our fully integrated digital supply chain to limit excess inventory, reducing the possibility of production waste. In addition, we attempt to sell unsold or returned inventory at wholesale pricing before donating it to populations in need.”

Ok, it acknowledges the role the brand plays in environmental waste … but their solution isn’t backed by effective action. Sheng Lu, a global textile and apparel professor at the University of Delaware, reports that Shein adds an estimated 6,000 new styles to their website daily. That is an estimated 1.3 million new styles per year sold at record low prices.

Others like Zara and H&M echo similar sustainability missions that tout using “recycled materials” or being more transparent about their practices, but do not specifically mention a commitment to reducing overall production.

Fast-fashion retailers can and should be held accountable as co-partners in the downward eco-spiral of consumerism. They have skeletons in their closets, including deep discounts to offload unsold merchandise, an excess of low-quality throwaway clothes, and encouraging consumers to fill their closets with cheap, unworn clothes that find their way to landfills in countries like Ghana.

Retailers Changing the Game

Many retailers have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon to mitigate their fast-fashion profiles. They tout the use of “environmentally friendly” materials or brag about reducing their “carbon footprint.” But if we’re being honest, for many this is just a marketing ploy to exploit the shift in the consumer zeitgeist.

Most major retailers take the easy way out by spending more money to create new eco-friendly textiles or donating unused clothing, both practices that give the appearance of a circular business model. But these actions are far from a real solution and fail to build the basic foundation of a circular model.

As widely reported, Patagonia is one of few global retailers who has always questioned traditional consumerism. Its approach has stood the test of time, and with sales exceeding one billion dollars per year, it’s hard to believe that a brand that can encourage their consumers to “buy less” of its product still thrives. This was the basis of their most successful campaign “Buy Less, Demand More,” which invited customers to buy only what was necessary and repair their garments to help the brand keep production in check.

In a similar campaign, Levi’s launched the “Buy Better, Wear Longer” campaign that highlights how their quality items are made to be “worn for generations, not seasons.” The brand is dedicated to encouraging consumers to wear their items for as long as possible to reduce waste. Levi’s is also committed to saving water. Their proprietary techniques have saved over 4 billion liters of water and recycled more than 10 billion gallons of water.

Zero waste, circular fashion brands like For Days encourage consumers to return their worn-out clothes to be recycled into yarn. Niche luxury brand Stòffa, a maker of classic luxury menswear, has a made-to-order business model that only creates garments after customers place the order and pay – a brilliant way to manage inventory.

Other brands like Vetta are homing in on helping customers “create mini capsule wardrobes” that can be “mixed and matched to create a month’s worth of outfits.” To create their garments, the Los Angeles-based brand uses organic cotton and Tencel, a textile harvested from wood pulp.

It Takes a Village

There have been countless studies reporting that customers want to support brands that share their ethics and ethos. This reaches far beyond just making a statement to become more sustainable. Making minor adjustments to the supply chain or making massive donations are not viable solutions for reducing waste.

To achieve the goal of zero waste, retailers must become more dedicated to adopting circular business models while simultaneously reducing orders of mass production. Rethinking profits also comes into play. Instead of reducing success to just a dollar sign, retailers can reimagine profits to reflect their progress on giving their customers exactly what they desire and by making positive impacts on the environment the new standard of success. Retailers hold the responsibility for pioneering this new era of zero waste in fashion, and customers need to cling to their stated values for saving the planet.

This year is such a bittersweet moment for the legendary Serena Williams. In a cover story for Vogue magazine, she announced that she would be stepping away from her first love, tennis, after this year’s U.S. Open Tournament. The game of tennis has opened an innumerable number of doors for the 40-year-old superstar — with the most notable being fashion and a major cultural influencer. Williams decided to announce her exit in the most famous fashion magazine in the world, and that alone speaks volumes about who she is and her impact. Plus, she recently walked the Vogue runway in Balenciaga. And, she was honored by Adweek as a Brand Visionary, described as “a multitalented trailblazer who has transcended surface-level stardom and made their mark on the world in a meaningful way.”

So, how far does her legacy go and what exactly has she done for the culture, fashion, and society as a whole?

Serena’s Impact Begins with Representation

Serena, and her older sister Venus, stepped onto the scene as two tennis prodigies. It wasn’t until Serena’s 1999 Grand Slam win against Martina Hingis that we all realized who she was and what that moment meant.

Serena’s legacy has permeated everything from fashion to fine arts and there’s proof everywhere. She partnered with big name brands like Gatorade, Audemars Piguet, JP Morgan, Aston Martin, and so many more. Additionally, she’s been mentioned in countless songs and even appeared in blockbuster films. Her personal brand stands for greatness.

She was a young Black teen with beads and braids who had just won against one of the top-ranked female tennis players in the world. Williams didn’t look like anyone else she played with and that alone propelled her to stardom. She dominated the sport and became a major inspiration for the young Black girls at home who were often criticized for wearing braids and beads. It was a win not just for Serena but for young Black girls across the nation.

Moving into her later years, Serena faced backlash about her body. She was an athlete with a physique that many were not accustomed to, and some noisy critics made their grievances known to the world. Critics painted Serena as “masculine” in comparison to her competitors, which sent a biased message to all of those who looked up to her.

Williams used these criticisms to overcome stereotypes and what could be termed senseless racism. Rising above the fray, she fueled her passion for fashion. In addition to her long-standing partnership with Nike, she launched S by Serena, an apparel brand that celebrated body positivity for all women. Axios reports that “Williams understood the power of image, and her wardrobe was as carefully honed and considered a part of her long game as any serve or forehand, according to Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times’s fashion critic. It began when she and her sister Venus took to the court in their beads and braids, and continued through denim and studs, snakeskin and mesh, and a black catsuit at the 2018 French Open. She smashed barriers of race, age and background and she smashed the old dress codes of tennis,” adds Friedman.

It’s safe to say we’ve never seen a more versatile athlete in this half of the century. She’s the only athlete to dominate and win titles consistently for over 25 years. There is no comparison. And as stated, she transcends the arenas and stands for the values and goals young women of all backgrounds can aspire to.

And she may not be out of the tennis picture yet. The  23-time Grand Slam winner, said in she will likely be “evolving away” from tennis after this year’s U.S. Open, but stopped short of saying she would retire. When asked if she would consider coming back to the sport, she said, “I don’t think so, but you never know.”

Her Legacy Raises the Bar

Serena’s legacy has permeated everything from fashion to fine arts and there’s proof everywhere. She partnered with big name brands like Gatorade, Audemars Piguet, JP Morgan, Aston Martin, and so many more. Additionally, she’s been mentioned in countless songs and even appeared in blockbuster films. Her personal brand stands for greatness. The Spring 2021 Footsteps to Follow campaign for Stuart Weitzman perfectly encapsulated what Serena’s legacy represents,

“The campaign reflects the multi-faceted aspects of womanhood in the modern landscape — a delicate balance of family, parenting, career and community, as well as a feat of confidence and inner strength — all of which are embodied by the mother, superstar athlete, philanthropist and entrepreneur,” states Stuart Weitzman.

With the future in mind, her next move is to build Serena Ventures which raised $111 million to invest in minority owned businesses, which may be her most significant, long-lasting legacy. The firm currently manages over 60 angel investments with the most distinguished being Tonal, Masterclass, and Daily Harvest, and Noom.

What Retailers Can Learn from Serena Williams

As a walking, talking, living brand, Serena has executed her marketing messaging without fluff and gimmicks. She owns who she is and doesn’t compromise that for anyone or any collaboration. Her approach can be summed up into three words—longevity, dominance, and diversity. Any retailer should hope to celebrate role models like Serena and the North Star she follows. She embodies the combination of body positivity, personal style, and authenticity.

Showing up without bias and celebrating inclusivity. This is the recipe for success that can be applied across many retail industries. Dick’s is moving in the right direction and Nike pretty much remains the gold standard for positive role modeling, but more brands are catching wind of the formula.

Walmart and Levi Strauss & Co. have organically balanced their diversity numbers across the board. These companies have created programs, like the Walmart Foundation, into their corporate ecosystem that create more diverse opportunities for more people. That’s something consumers are motivated to support long term.

What She Stands For

Serena Williams began with tennis and over time her story has evolved into one of the greatest living legacies of all time. Williams represents the past, present, and future blueprint for all who aspire to contribute to something much bigger than themselves. Fans and retailers alike can learn and apply her strategy to not only gain influence but to radically change the world we live in today.