Past SPEAKERS

GROW Speakers have been there, done that. During main stage talks, panels & interactive workshops, you’ll hear from senior executives & operators from:

Cartoon blue microphone with a happy face and arms raised in excitement.

Michelle Carrara

Vice President of Growth and Analytics, Boll & Branch

RETENTION PANEL: Turning First-Time Buyers into Lifelong Customers

Acquiring a customer is the beginning, not the win. The brands growing most efficiently today are the ones converting first purchases into second, third, and tenth — through better onboarding, smarter lifecycle programs, and loyalty mechanics that actually change behavior. This panel explores what retention looks like in practice: how to identify high-LTV customers early, what keeps people coming back, and where most brands are leaving money on the table after the first sale.

Samuel Sternberg

Chief Growth Officer, Jomashop

Rethinking Reach: Media Mix and Customer Realignment

The channels that drove growth three years ago aren't the channels driving it today. Paid social costs have risen, search behavior is shifting with AI, and brands are being forced to rethink where and how they reach customers — and which customers are actually worth reaching. This panel examines how leading brands are rebalancing their media mix in real time: where budgets are moving, how customer segmentation is evolving, and what a sustainable acquisition strategy looks like when the old playbook no longer applies.

Derek Sellhausen

Sr. Manager, Relationship Marketing, Athletic Brewing Company

Customer Intelligence in 2026: Faster, Sharper, and Built for Real Time

Surveys and focus groups can't keep up with today's shopper. AI is giving retailers a faster, sharper way to generate insights — from simulating consumer behaviors with synthetic data to analyzing live sentiment at scale. In this workshop, you'll learn how brands across beauty, fashion, and homeware are using these tools to uncover what customers really want, test ideas before launch, and pivot campaigns in real time. Expect concrete examples of wins, failures, and practical playbooks for turning insight into action before your competitors do.

Mike Potter

Co-founder & CEO, Rewind

CRO PANEL: Moving at the Speed of AI

AI has collapsed the time it takes to generate hypotheses, build variants, and analyze results — but faster testing isn't the same as better testing. This panel brings together conversion leaders who are navigating what it actually means to run a rigorous CRO program when the pace of experimentation has fundamentally changed: which decisions still require human judgment, where AI is creating noise as much as signal, and how to build a testing culture that scales without losing discipline.

Todd Gilchrist

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Welcome to GROW NY 2026 - Everything about how we grow brands is changing — fast. AI is buying on behalf of customers, discovery is shifting away from search, and profitability is harder than ever to protect. This morning, we’re diving straight into what’s real: how leading brands are adapting, where they’re winning, and what you need to do now to stay ahead.

Rachel McGovern

VP, Sales, Vibe.co

Turning Klaviyo Segments into Streaming TV Performance | Vibe.co x Klaviyo

CPMs keep climbing and everyone's retargeting the same 3% of shoppers. More performance marketers are turning to streaming TV for real growth. Vibe.co and Klaviyo work together in the same stack. This session gets into exactly how. A Klaviyo growth expert grills Vibe.co's Rachel McGovern and Shinesty's Head of Growth, Danny Hershey, on how Shinesty synced segments like cart abandoners, VIPs, and lapsed customers straight into premium CTV inventory. No managed service, no black-box reporting, no minimums. Campaigns launch in 24 hours, on channels people actually watch. Get the real play-by-play: what they synced, what converted, what's next.

Axel Folz

VP, Growth, Bespoke Post

Rethinking Reach: Media Mix and Customer Realignment

The channels that drove growth three years ago aren't the channels driving it today. Paid social costs have risen, search behavior is shifting with AI, and brands are being forced to rethink where and how they reach customers — and which customers are actually worth reaching. This panel examines how leading brands are rebalancing their media mix in real time: where budgets are moving, how customer segmentation is evolving, and what a sustainable acquisition strategy looks like when the old playbook no longer applies.

Mark Lozada

Sr. Account Executive, Shipfusion

Peak Performance Prep Session

Do you get nervous when you think about peak season? Do you have horror stories from BFCMs past? You're not alone. The goal for every Q4 is: Marketing loud. Ops quiet. Thankfully, there's still time to stress test your plans for BFCM. In this interactive session, we'll talk about peak season success stories, 'watch outs', and lessons learned to help you breeze through peak with confidence.

Ali Donaldson

Staff Reporter, Inc. Magazine

RETENTION PANEL: Turning First-Time Buyers into Lifelong Customers

Acquiring a customer is the beginning, not the win. The brands growing most efficiently today are the ones converting first purchases into second, third, and tenth — through better onboarding, smarter lifecycle programs, and loyalty mechanics that actually change behavior. This panel explores what retention looks like in practice: how to identify high-LTV customers early, what keeps people coming back, and where most brands are leaving money on the table after the first sale.

Leighton Powell

Sr. Account Executive, Shipfusion

Peak Performance Prep Session

Do you get nervous when you think about peak season? Do you have horror stories from BFCMs past? You're not alone. The goal for every Q4 is: Marketing loud. Ops quiet. Thankfully, there's still time to stress test your plans for BFCM. In this interactive session, we'll talk about peak season success stories, 'watch outs', and lessons learned to help you breeze through peak with confidence.