Episode 88 of “The Trusted Advisor” features a discussion between retail strategists Carl Boutet and Michael LeBlanc conducted live on stage during the RSPA Canadian Community Networking Event April 11 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Boutet is a Montreal-based business strategist and executive advisor with over 25 years of operational, marketing, merchandising, and retail executive experience. He has worked across retailer environments from the very large, such as 10 years with Costco Wholesale, to working as a strategy consultant for a group of 800 independent retailers across Canada. In May 2022, he published The Great Acceleration: The Race to Retail Resilience.

LeBlanc, based in Toronto, serves as President of Maven Media and acts as a Senior Advisor to the Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada. He brings over 25 years of brand, retail, marketing, and e-commerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives, and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. LeBlanc is also an RSPA Advisory Board member, a position he was appointed to in 2022.

Boutet and LeBlanc have both been named Top Retail Influencers by RETHINK Retail.

“The Trusted Advisor,” powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA), is an award-winning content series designed specifically for retail IT VARs and software developers. Our goal is to educate you on the topics of leadership, management, hiring, sales, and other small business best practices. For more insights, visit the RSPA blog at www.GoRSPA.org.

Watch Episode 88 now:

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Jim Roddy is the President and CEO of the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA). He has been active in the retail IT channel since 1998, including 11 years as the President of Business Solutions Magazine, six years as an RSPA board member, one term as RSPA Chairman of the Board, and several years as a business coach for VARs, ISVs, and MSPs. Jim has been recognized as one of the world’s Top Retail Influencers by RETHINK Retail, a Leading CannaTech Influencer by The CannaTech Group, and is regularly requested to speak at industry conferences on SMB best practices. He is author of two books – The Walk-On Method To Career & Business Success and Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer – and is host of the award-winning RSPA Trusted Advisor podcast. For more information, contact JRoddy@GoRSPA.org.