Honest Ecommerce

Charles Brun is a French entrepreneur who co-founded the eyewear brand IZIPIZI in Paris in 2010 alongside his longtime friends Xavier Aguera and Quentin Couturier. The three founders saw that the standard reading glasses sold at drugstores lacked style, and they set out to prove that readers could be something people actually wanted to wear. That instinct paid off. Today, IZIPIZI is known for colorful, affordable, design-driven glasses made for everyday life.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Intro
[01:12] Glasses for every moment in life
[01:42] An idea born from their moms' ugly readers
[02:59] From incubator to the real launch in 2012
[04:05] Landing Colette as the first wholesale yes
[05:16] Klaviyo
[07:25] How the first yes opens every other door
[08:14] Building a partnership between three friends
[10:10] The Friday wheel that decides who speaks first
[11:06] Intelligems
[12:32] When ecommerce entered the picture
[13:45] Why wholesale alone wasn't enough
[14:19] Wholesale partner pushback on selling online
[15:15] COVID pushed online sales to 95%
[16:30] eFulfillment Service
[17:45] Expanding from Paris into the US
[18:28] Why the US is more different than it seems
[19:25] Buying back the US distributor
[20:05] Hiring an American team to win the US
[20:48] What Shoptalk Europe brands ask about the US
[21:55] Why IZIPIZI launched on Amazon in the US
[22:26] Amazon as a necessary evil for brands
[23:19] Making the .com work in the States
[23:41] Moving from Magento to Shopify
[24:05] Virtual try-on for the first pair
[24:50] Unifying customers across every channel
[25:24] A customer is a customer, wherever they buy
[26:05] Affordable glasses as an impulse buy
[26:46] Becoming B Corp certified
[27:50] Why the IZIPIZI name sticks
[28:43] Where to find IZIPIZI
[30:12] Final thoughts
Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Fashion and design glasses for adult and children izipizi.com 
Follow Charles Brun linkedin.com/in/cbrun/ 
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
Lower scale costs today efulfillmentservice.com/honest 
If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Ben Lord, Founder and CEO of Softlimit, has been in and around the music industry for over 30 years and in ecommerce for the last sixteen. A touring drummer (Falling Forward / Elliott / Sharon Van Etten / Mascott / Bird of Youth / Phantom Family Halo / Kilowatthours), he's also released records through independent labels (Initial, Revelation, Temporary Residence Ltd., Jagjaguwar), and worked in Atlantic Records' New Media Division during the launch of the first digital music store.
He later led campaigns at Bond Strategy and Influence across entertainment verticals before spending the last decade building Softlimit, a Shopify Premier Partner Agency helping brands like Sacred Bones, Temporary Residence Ltd., Polyvinyl, Moon Juice, Misen, and The Perfect Jean grow their ecommerce revenue.
Music still sits at the center of his life, and he works closely with label heads, agents, and artists.
In This Conversation We Discuss:This conversation draws on Softlimit's January 2026 whitepaper, "Built-In Demand, Broken Infrastructure: The Music Industry's Revenue Gap," co-authored by Ben Lord and Martina England, which explores how independent labels can close the gap between fan demand and captured revenue by adopting DTC ecommerce practices.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:17] Helping the music industry master D2C
[01:54] From touring drummer to agency founder
[02:53] Why agencies walk away from music clients
[04:03] Why label stores are glorified merch shops
[05:59] When clients show up with the prescription
[06:56] Conversion and AOV wins for music clients
[07:24] Fixing broken filters and legacy platforms
[09:23] The cost of selling through third parties
[10:33] Why music isn't like other big catalogs
[11:51] How labels lift conversion rate and AOV
[12:31] Cross-sells built on product relationships
[13:55] Label-curated "you'll like this too" picks
[14:55] The Shopify tech stack behind the wins
[15:33] Cleaning up messy product data
[15:50] Migrating legacy CMS data and using Rebuy
[17:14] Why indie labels hesitate on email and SMS
[18:51] Turning fan data into more tour sales
[20:48] Fan clubs and new streaming rules
[21:28] The indie music industry is growing up
[22:32] First steps to think like a D2C brand
[23:39] Capturing first-party data at live shows
[24:21] Your fans are your customers
[25:10] Final thoughts
Resources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Take the stress out of commerce https://www.softlimit.com/ 
Follow Ben Lord https://www.linkedin.com/in/benlord/ 
If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Neema Frazier is the Director of Logistics and a founding team member at Brandon Blackwood NY, where she leads global logistics, fulfillment, and supply chain operations for the recognized luxury fashion brand.
Born and raised in New York City, Neema brings a unique blend of operational expertise, strategic thinking, and the discipline developed through years of professional dance training.

Her passion for building scalable systems and driving operational excellence has supported Brandon Blackwood NY's rapid growth while delivering an exceptional customer experience.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[00:43] Meet Neema Frazier
[01:31] The products behind Brandon Blackwood, New York
[03:05] How Neema met Brandon and joined the brand
[05:46] Scaling from 10 orders a day to 500
[06:29] Intelligems
[08:13] Learning fashion operations in real time
[10:26] Building middleware for pre-order management
[11:17] Could anyone learn to do this?
[13:16] Klaviyo
[15:40] Auditing a hypergrowth brand's operations
[15:49] The people, process, and data framework
[19:37] Flowium
[20:46] Why brands overcomplicate the pack-out
[22:45] Keep processes simple, repeatable, trainable
[22:56] Luxury brands overinvesting in experience
[25:32] When to move from in-house to a 3PL
[28:02] Where to find Neema
[29:32] Final thoughts

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Designer bags and accessories brandonblackwood.com/ 
Follow Neema Frazier linkedin.com/in/neema-frazier-13b34948 
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Book a free lifecycle diagnosis call flowium.com/

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

As COO of The Snooki Shop, Gina Cecala oversees the moving parts that customers may never see but that ultimately determine whether a brand can successfully grow. Her responsibilities span staffing, inventory, fulfillment, customer experience, expansion strategy, and daily operations across The Snooki Shop's various locations.

During her tenure, the company has increased overall sales by more than 50%, grown to approximately 27 employees, and expanded beyond its New Jersey roots into new markets. The business now serves between 35,000 and 60,000 customers each month, while 47% of customers participate in its loyalty program and 20% return to make another purchase.

One of Gina's most consequential contributions was helping lead the company's transition to Shopify. The move created a unified inventory and fulfillment system across every location, giving the business the operational structure it needed to grow without losing control of the customer experience. Since that transition, ecommerce sales have increased by approximately 50%.

Gina's work also challenges the assumption that a celebrity-backed company can survive on name recognition alone. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi remains actively involved in merchandising and product selection, while Gina oversees the execution required to turn that creative vision into a sustainable business. It is a lean, hands-on leadership structure where growth depends on close collaboration and an understanding of what the customer actually wants.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:03] How Gina became COO of The Snooki Shop
[02:51] Growing her role and building trust
[05:02] Klaviyo
[07:11] Consolidating e-commerce onto Shopify
[08:41] Navigating unsolicited help and opportunists
[09:47] Intelligems
[11:43] Becoming a Shopify expert
[12:40] Learning e-commerce without formal training
[13:38] Delegating without losing quality control
[15:37] eFulfillment Service
[16:57] Expanding from one store to four
[19:55] Would she make the same choices again
[21:31] Why decisiveness beats analysis paralysis
[22:44] Building a brand beyond Snooki's fame
[25:52] Handling backlash and separating brand from celebrity
[27:05] Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
[27:57] Final thoughts

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
From trendy casual to chic thesnookishop.com/ 
Follow Gina Cecala linkedin.com/in/gina-cecala-2a6781186/ 
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Lower scale costs today efulfillmentservice.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Samuel Rieder is Co-Founder at dear digital, an Odoo Gold partner and Shopify Premier partner. He loves thinking about technology and building things–whether that's companies, brands, websites, or ERP systems–and has co-founded several businesses over the years. Today, he spends his time at dear digital helping teams grow with the right tools and tech.

What drives Sam is working with motivated people who are fun to build things with, that's where the magic happens. When he's not deep in systems or strategy, you'll find him outside exploring and enjoying nature.

Jaap Vergote is the Founder of UpsellPlus (2022, NYC), where he helps grow revenue for Shopify brands. Before founding UpsellPlus, Jaap was Head of Sales at Viabill (2019, NYC), Co-Founder of Campo (2017, NYC & upstate NY), and worked in sales at Showpad, a B2B sales enablement platform (2015, SF).

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:37] Jaap's path into the Shopify ecosystem
[02:25] Sam's ecommerce roots and Shopify Plus
[05:07] Navigating Europe's payment complexity
[06:45] Internationalizing UpsellPlus
[08:15] POS pricing challenges in Europe
[10:34] Why in-person events build trust
[11:37] How community keeps partners on Shopify
[13:50] Talking roadmap directly with product teams
[15:41] Shopify's partner feedback loop
[16:11] Know, like, trust before you buy
[18:56] Go together to go far
[19:21] What brought them to DotDev
[20:44] Expanding into POS, SMS, and Sidekick
[23:09] UpsellPlus's growth strategy pitch
[24:01] Final thoughts

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Help brands grow and gain efficiency deardigital.com/ 
Follow Sam Rieder linkedin.com/in/samuel-rieder-shopify-expert/
Help merchants make every order worth more upsellplus.com/blog-post/upsellplus-is-built-for-shopify 
Follow Jaap Vergote linkedin.com/in/jaapvergote/ 

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!