A former Wall Street Executive, Melissa Gonzalez is the founder of The Lion’Esque Group, a firm of pop up shop experts who have produced more than 100 retail experiences in New York City, Los Angeles, and the Hamptons. Some of her clients include major brands such as COTY/Marc Jacobs, Carbon38, Leesa, Raden, M.Gemi, Puma, Penguin Random House and Thrive Global. Melissa is also the author of the book, The Pop-Up Paraforigm: How Brands Can Build Human Connections in a Digital Age, where she reflects on her work. In 2015 she was awarded Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints. And, in 2014, her work was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement, and was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences. She has also been awarded the Wall Street Journal’s Donor of the Day, one of the top 20 Most Inspiring People in New York City, and one of the Top 100 Young CEO’s by Our Time’s White House Initiative.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Amy Poehler
Robin Roberts
Dropbox founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi
Basecamp founders Jason Fried, Carlos Segura, and Ernest Kim
When business started difficulties overcame:
“A difficulty I had was finding the right direction and not going in twenty different ways … you get seduced by different avenues that seem exciting or seem like they have the growth but really forcing myself to hone in on where our strength was was a big challenge for me and probably took a little longer than I would have hoped now looking back . And also really trusting that I could understand what my strengths are and understanding that the only way that it could be even stronger is figuring out where I need to kind of surround myself with other strengths and being confident in that.”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Everybody’s Got Something Paperback Book by Robin Roberts, Veronica ChambersAlso mentioned
Kelly Hoey’s book Build Your Dream Network – Podcast interview coming soon!
Favourite Quote:
“It’s how you treat people and how you make them feel that you are remembered by not what you accomplish. And if you keep that in mind then you will accomplish things”
Recommended Online Resources:
Linkedin – a business and employment-oriented social networking service
Basecamp – Trusted by millions, Basecamp is the leading web based project management and collaboration tool To dos, files, messages, schedules, and milestones
Dropbox – simplifies the way you create, share and collaborate Bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and keep your files safe
Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“Be consistent but be patient because success doesn’t happen overnight no matter what people say. It’s a journey, it’s a relay, it’s not a sprint. You know and even if you seek growth really fast always take a moment to sit back and to make sure the way you continue to grow supports the foundation of why you got there in the first place and you are just really taking the time to be strategic and true to the goals of the business at its essence”…[Listen for More]
More About Melissa Gonzalez:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
Damond Jiniya “Questions create the only light that can permeate a formidable truth.”
Other Quotes From the Chat with Melissa Gonzalez:
- “building your network is one of the most important things that you could do as an entrepreneur because in the beginning it is all about who you know and how you can help each other, not what you can take, but how you can help each other and what you can learn from each other. And from that I created my first advisory board and it was really helpful for me to learn a lot about what I needed to learn about finance and marketing, and also networking and curating. So I think that is one of the key areas that people may underestimate”
- “don’t get scared of the numbers because they matter”
- “take the time to build the business model”
- “you have to always start with a really strong idea and really strong foundation”
- “when you are growing a business you can either be a hunter or you can be a gatherer. And I think just having the patience and the confidence in what you bring to the table and being a hunter and going after those big fish or those and aligning yourself with the right type of clients that help bring your company to where you want it to be versus worrying and saying yes to whatever comes in through the door”
- “the better educated we are in understanding how our environment continues to change in retail the better we are as consultants”
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