Meet Jeanel Alvarado | Shopping & Retail Expert

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeanel Alvarado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeanel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I was always passionate about the fashion industry, but particularly about the business side of things. I had started as a blogging about marketing and merchandising news and trends, and giving some insight into the strategy behind it. I even started consulting small boutiques on marketing strategies and by my last year of University had a team of 5 completing projects for a retail technology company. During my first year of University, I started learning more about marketing strategies and commercial real estate and how both brand perception and location played a role in position retailers and brands for success in luxury and beauty. Since, I have continued to expand the business, we are now a recognized top 10 media publication in the retail industry in North America.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets our publication apart from others is that we cover independent brands to big box retailers, we are interested in the entire retail ecosystem. I truly believe that the most innovate companies are a combination of both legacy brands and emerging brands. I find other publications, only cover stories that are pushed onto them by PR companies, or Sponsored content such as webinars on POS software, that just made also of retail publications boring. We focus on what’s new, trending, popular, and all in real-time. We look at what retailers are doing on social media, and what brands they are bringing into their stores, and what celebrity collaborations they are working on. We always want to be at the forefront, and pride ourselves on being the first to cover the next up comers and also keeping our audience well informed on what major players – in the prestige, consumer and global retail markets are up to.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I were to take someone out in LA, a few places come to mind to take them, we most certainly would have to visit Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive for all the luxury stores as well as Glendale The Americana at Brand for my retail fix during the weekend. Most certainly do breakfast at the InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, and get a full view of the city. It’s a beautiful view, and also the continental breakfast there is outstanding. Next, It would be to check out the Getty Museum, another gorgeous view of the area and by far one of my favourite places to visit. I rarely have enough time to see everything, and could have some lunch and a snack there too while relaxing in the garden. For Dinner, most definitely head to Downtown LA and check out any of the rooftop patios, there are so many options to chose from, and easily check out other venues. Next day, would go to one of my fav chicken and waffle spots, Poppy + Rose and then head over to Venice Beach / Santa Monica for the day, for dinner if we want to stay on the beach, check out their Water Grill for Squid Ink Pasta or Lobster Rolls. If we are ready to leave the beach, for dinner most definitely head over to Mastro’s Ocean Club (be warned! you must make reservations in advance, it maybe sold out! – sometimes you can get luck with some seats at the bar if you didn’t make reservations, you can eat drinks and food) Next would be to head over to Laguna Beach in the morning for yo can see all the mansions on the hills while you drive in and stay over there at least two nights, one night simply is not enough. You can get a great place right on the beach and the sound of crashing waves on the cliff rocks, are so soothing. We would order in from a local restaurant, and eat our meal relaxing with wine facing the ocean.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Light Is the New Black by Rebecca Campbell is a book I stumbled upon one day at the book store. I read it when I was still in University and for some reason after reading the book, I felt more confident to continue to express my thoughts and opinions into the world. The book talks about the importance of not dimming your light, and that light attracts more light. In a time where I was still in University and had at times the feeling of imposture syndrome, as others writing providing commentary on retail strategies were already working at big firms, or had masters degrees, the book helped me in many ways, continue to put out my voice and opinions regardless of what my current resume may look like (I was still a student!). Now, looking back, I’m happy I did, I build the business from the ground up and now during the building time, I was able to gain the credentials to match.

Website: https://www.retailboss.co

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Image Credits
Credit: Jeanel Alvarado