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The Nordy Pod — Business
The Nordy Pod

Hi, I’m Pete Nordstrom, and I’m the host of The Nordy Pod, a new podcast coming to you from the 6th floor of Nordstrom corporate headquarters in Seattle, Washington. In addition to hosting this podcast, I also happen to be the president of Nordstrom. And along with my brother Erik, CEO, and my cousin Jamie, President of Stores, we’re the fourth-generation stewards of this business started by my great grandfather in 1901.

My Nordstrom journey began when I was 12 years old with my first job working in the stockroom. And along the way, I’ve met so many incredible people, from iconic artists and CEOs to cultural and community leaders and fashion entrepreneurs—as well as many of our thousands of employees and millions of customers.

One thing I’ve found helpful in running a company and hosting a podcast is the importance of having a strong sense of curiosity. Over the years, I’ve found myself in some very interesting conversations with people I greatly admire. These cumulative experiences have really enriched my life, and with The Nordy Pod, I’m excited to have the opportunity to share both professional and personal experiences with you.

So join me on a journey as I take you deep into a business that also happens to be a public company. You’ll go behind the scenes with me and hear firsthand exactly what I do in my day job, warts and all, in the hopes of making a human connection with every episode.

Copyright: © 2022

Latest Episodes:

Ep 41. Nick Brown & Natalie Massenet, Founders of Imaginary Ventures Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

Through their investment firm, Imaginary Ventures, Nick Brown and Natalie Massenet have proven time and again the importance of their role in the consumer ecosystem. They understand better than most how difficult it can be to start a business from scratch, so they use their knowledge and resources to prop up promising young startups and get them moving in the right direction. And the status they've achieved as respected and influential stewards of growing businesses is well deserved. In her early career Natalie honed her skills predicting consumer trends as a journalist for Women’s Wear Daily, eventually founding the massively successful high-fashion e-commerce platform NET-A-PORTER. Nick built his portfolio through a few really wise bets on some exciting up-and-coming brands like Warby Parker and Reformation, quickly garnering a reputation as the go-to-guy for fledgling founders. As self-described "generalist investors" Nick and Natalie's interest in potential partners is governed less by a specific genre—like fashion or beauty—and more by the character traits of the business leaders themselves, stating that founders need to have a well-balanced and open-minded approach to growing their business if they ever hope to be successful. There's a lot of really great insight here about the world of investment and retail in general, especially if you're an early-stage founder looking to make your mark. Thanks for tuning in to episode 41. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 40. The Anniversary Sale Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

For this episode we’re taking a special in-depth look at our biggest fashion event of the year, the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. Join me as I sit down with my brother Erik and cousin Jamie as we look back on its unique history and reminisce over our favorite Anniversary Sale memories. We’re also going to take a trip over to our store in Bellevue to catch a glimpse of their Early Access opening day. We’ll talk with store manager Laura Best and a few other employees about what you can expect when you walk into the Anniversary Sale as a customer. We’ll even chat with a few long-time customers who’ve made shopping the sale a yearly tradition. And to round it all out we’ll hear from our chief marketing officer, Deniz Anders, all about the fresh new ways and persisting old ways we rev up excitement for the big sale. It’s a one-of-a-kind event that inspires a lot of joy in employees and customers alike and creates endless opportunities for us to follow through on our mission to make customers feel good and look their best. So, sit back and enjoy this deep dive into the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Thanks for tuning in to episode 40. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 39. Doug Baldwin, Former NFL Wide Receiver for the Seattle Seahawks Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

On the surface you may think this episode is just another excuse for me to selfishly bring another famous athlete into my office to talk sports, and I guess that's part of it, but Doug Baldwin is so much more than just a successful football player. His incredible determination that would eventually win him a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 was a hard-fought character trait forged through a lifetime of proving his worth to everyone around him. By his own admission it wasn't until long into his professional career, signing multi-million dollar contracts, that he thought, "Oh, maybe I do add value to this team." And though I was certainly aware of Doug Baldwin from his impressive football accolades, he ultimately sparked my interest as a potential guest on The Nordy Pod because of the amazing things he's been doing for the community of Seattle post football. Let me tell you, for someone who's been notoriously described by NFL commentators as angry, he sure seems like a really good guy. In our conversation we discuss Doug's early childhood struggle for validation, his reasons for retiring from the NFL and his motivation for building better communities wherever he goes. I am super grateful that Doug agreed to come in and share his story, and even if you know nothing about sports, this conversation is sure to inspire you in ways you did not expect. Thanks for tuning in to episode 39. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 38. Anastasia Soare, Founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

Recently I was invited to attend the Women's Wear Daily Beauty CEO Summit and had the great pleasure of speaking on stage with the Queen of Eyebrows, founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, Anastasia Soare. Now, I don't personally know a whole lot about styling eyebrows, but what I do find super fascinating about Anastasia is her uncompromising entrepreneurial spirit. She found an untapped niche in the field that she loves and has built a whole cosmetics industry empire that competitors cannot ignore. You'll hear all about that startup journey and her incredible success along the way, garnering respect from the likes of Oprah Winfrey and becoming a go-to stylist for big name celebrities like Cindy Crawford and Jennifer Lopez. Anastasia's breakthrough techniques and products have radically changed the industry, and we here at Nordstrom are super grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with her in this ground-breaking movement. After my conversation with Anastasia, join me for a special trip down to the beauty department at our flagship store in Seattle to get a little taste of the kinds of services we provide, and the people you might meet. And because I'm a little less familiar with the subject matter, I've invited our divisional merchandise manager for beauty, Debra Redmond, to be our guide. Debra's experience and leadership has been a huge asset to our team, and she really understands the nuances of helping customers through a department that can honestly be a bit daunting. So, follow along with us to learn more about how we're working to make your experience as a customer as efficient and satisfying as possible. Thanks for tuning in to episode 38. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 37. Anna Wintour & Will Welch, Global Editorial Directors for Vogue & GQ Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

You guys are in for a treat because our guests for today are truly some of the most authoritative thought-leaders shaping the landscape of modern fashion. And, as you'll hear, everything tangential to it. As heads of Vogue and GQ, two of the world's leading fashion and lifestyle magazines, Anna Wintour and Will Welch are essentially gatekeepers at the intersection of art, fashion, culture, sports, business and everything in between. Anna, quite literally a legend in the business, is famous for championing exciting new designers and ushering new trends to the forefront of public attention. And Will, an incredibly talented writer and editor, has deservedly risen through the ranks of GQ, reinventing their image and business practices on a global scale. In our conversation we discuss the radical evolution of the fashion industry from highbrow to accessible, the incredibly fast-paced nature of digital trends and what Anna and Will believe makes a great fashion house leader. I’ve been lucky enough to know Anna and Will personally and have immense respect for both of them and their influence on our industry. I know you're going to enjoy hearing the insights of these amazing tastemakers. So, let's get into it! Thanks for tuning in to episode 37. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 36. Caspar Coppetti, Cofounder of On, Plus Our Top Salespeople Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

Join me on stage at the Footwear News CEO Summit as I sit down with three of our very best stylists, Jesse James Barnholdt, Gregory Clark and Jeffrey Ola. We do our best to make it abundantly clear to our employees that their success at Nordstrom is in their hands. We give them the leeway to use their best judgment in running their business, and let me tell you, these three men have taken that freedom and run with it. Each of them has raised the bar for what's possible on the sales floor and done it in their own unique and personal way, adding credibility to our reputation and building immensely successful careers for themselves. We are super proud of the heights that they've reached and want to lift them up as examples to the rest of our company. Before that, listen in on my conversation with the cofounder of On, Caspar Coppetti. The story of this brand is particularly interesting because it's so authentically rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit. Innocently enough, Caspar and cofounder Olivier Bernhard only started making shoes to fulfill their own personal running needs. And being based in the relatively small market of Switzerland, they had no idea that it would evolve into the global phenomenon that it is today. But what they did know was that if they could only get runners to try on their shoes, the business would take care of itself—which it did. Professional runners wearing On running shoes began breaking records and speaking out about the incredible benefits they felt, including examples of runners with previous injuries getting back up to speed faster than ever before. But despite On's amazing growth and success, money has never been what drives them. Their motivation remains the same as it was in the beginning. Caspar talks about running as an incredibly emotional experience, with each different environment and circumstance inspiring a new type of product. That's what makes this brand so unique, and why I'm excited to share his story with you today. Thanks for tuning in to episode 36. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 35. Creating a Culture of Service - Part 2 May 22, 2023

Show notes

For this episode we’re turning inward to discover more about how we work to sustain a legacy of great service at Nordstrom. You’ll hear directly from Nordstrom customers Paige Siemers and daughter Anna as they share their unique experience shopping in our store. You’ll hear Nordstrom board member Jim Donald discuss how his incredibly successful career, holding leadership positions at big brands like Walmart and Publix, or as CEO of Starbucks, Albertsons, and Extended Stay America, has all been led and informed by a healthy attitude toward service. Then to cap it all off we’ll learn about how the ideas and principles surrounding great service get passed along from store to store through our Senior Vice President for the Rack division, Carl Jenkins. So lean in and listen as we wade deep in the waters of Nordstrom’s efforts to create a culture of service. Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 34. Creating a Culture of Service - Part 1 May 08, 2023

Show notes

For this episode, we're introducing part one of a two-part series all about creating a culture of service. Now, this theme sits close to home for everyone here at Nordstrom, because it's really the defining trait we focus on to create differentiation, and frankly, a reason for being. And it's nice that we have this reputation and a legacy of great service, but our whole battle is remaining relevant and continuously raising the bar. In that regard, I'm super excited to share with you a conversation I had with a remarkably successful restaurateur, and author of the book Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara. I first learned of Will through his TED talk, titled The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality. And if you haven't seen it, you need to go check it out as soon as this episode is over. It’s great. Will lays out his own unique philosophy on customer service that goes far beyond the boundaries of his specific industry and speaks directly to our human nature. Will was the previous owner of one of New York City’s top-rated restaurants Eleven Madison Park, which has consistently held a three-star Michelin rating since 2012, and in 2017 was named the number one restaurant in the world. But when describing what his real job is, Will explains that the food, the service and the design of a restaurant are all just ingredients in the recipe of human connection. He proposes that he's not actually in the business of serving dinner. He's in the business of serving memories. Will elevates the purpose of the dining table to a sacred place in which two people grow closer together in relationship with one another, and it's the job of the entire restaurant staff to curate an environment in which that can happen. So much of Will's philosophy resonates strongly with my own, and echoes in the practices that we encourage here at Nordstrom. So, I thought Will would make a perfect guest to help characterize the essential pillars of creating a culture of service. Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 33. Last Chance Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

In this episode we’re taking a special in-depth look at a segment of our business that most people don’t even know about. We call it Last Chance, and it’s exactly what the name implies. At the very end of the life cycle of our merchandise there exist two stores, one in Phoenix, Arizona and one in the suburbs of Chicago, that serve as our last chance to sell any and all unsold merchandise. They are unlike any Nordstrom store you’ve ever been to. So, to help explain Last Chance we’re going to talk with a repeat Nordy Pod guest, Greg Pender, who is our Senior Manager in charge of profit recovery throughout The Rack and Last Chance stores. Greg is going to take us on a little trip over to our Last Chance location in Phoenix to meet some of the employees that work there, as well as a few customers that frequent the store nearly every single day. You’ll also hear from Marge Arnold, our Last Chance Store Manager in the Chicago area. So, settle in as we take you all the way to the very end of the Nordstrom merchandise ecosystem, to the Last Chance. Thanks for tuning in to episode 33. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

Ep 32. Joel McHale, Actor, Author, Comedian, and TV Host Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

You know, I usually record these conversations from my fancy podcast studio/office in downtown Seattle, but this time I actually called our guest, Joel McHale, from my home on Mercer Island—a fitting venue for our conversation because Joel also happens to hail from this very same Seattle suburb. Now, as many of you probably know, Joel has gone on to have a very successful acting career in Hollywood. He’s largely known for his sarcastic pop culture commentary on The Soup or his snarky self-centered character Jeff Winger in the critically acclaimed series Community. But long before his face ever broadcast through the glowing pixels of your television screen, Joel had a childhood that wasn’t too far removed from my own. We both played sports through high school and college and happened to know a lot of the same people. Joel, like me, even went to the University of Washington. Now that may be where the similarities end, but while his college experience was tainted by the unorthodox hazing rituals of the rowing team and a questionable sense of brotherhood at the Theta Chi fraternity, Joel always knew that his real family waited for him on stage. Since the seventh grade he loved the theater and looked for every opportunity to meet with like-minded adolescent thespians who inspired and challenged each other creatively. Determined to make a career out of this passion, Joel completed a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Washington and figured that the best place to test out his merits was the entertainment mecca, Los Angeles. And while it took him a few years to get going, Joel is a hustler. Saying yes to everything offered, he’s shown up in television shows and movies in nearly every genre. From bit parts in blockbuster films like Spider Man or starring in the dark romantic comedy Happily, to sitcoms like Will & Grace and the sci-fi phenomenon The X-Files. But despite the breadth of his impressive IMDb page, Joel still worries that each job is bound to be his last. Well Joel, from all of us on the outside, I think you can relax. It seems like you’re doing alright. After my conversation with Joel, you'll hear my chat with a relatively new country music artist by the name of Austin Burke. But it’s not actually Austin’s music that brings him to The Nordy Pod. He’s here as a customer to share a story which took place at our Rack store in Scottsdale, Arizona. The experience moved him so much that he pulled out his phone and started recording as it was happening. He then posted the video for his nearly one million followers on social media. It got shared around enough that we eventually caught wind and loved the story so much that we called him up, and the Nordstrom employees who made Austin’s visit so memorable. Thanks for tuning in to episode 32. We hope you enjoy it! Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to nordypodcast@nordstrom.com to be a part of the conversation!

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