)
Melissa Gonzalez
Principal at MG2 & Founder of The Lionesque Group, an MG2 Studio
Melissa Gonzalez
Principal at MG2 & Founder of The Lionesque Group, an MG2 Studio
Biography
Award winning retail strategist Melissa Gonzalez is a principal at the global design and architecture firm MG2 and founded MG2 Advisory. Drawing from her success as a Wall Street executive and a seasoned entrepreneur who has worked side-by-side with some of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer companies, she advises brands and retailers on how to leverage forward-thinking consumer insights with innovative strategy from concept through implementation and has advanced the industry through her work in experiential design.
Continually pushing the boundaries of experiential retail, she has pioneered the integration of physical environments and cutting-edge technologies, helping companies including established brands such as Nordstrom and Victoria's Secret, and digital-first natives such as Good American and Kizik.
Gonzalez authored the Pop-up Paradigm: How Brands Build Human Connections in a Digital Age, heralding a wave of pop-ups for luxury and specialty, long-lease and weekend drops. New York Business Journal named her one of “10 New York Executives to Watch in 2023,” Path to Purchase Institute included her among their 2023 Women of Excellence Winners, and Women's Wear Daily (WWD) called her one of "25 Most Influential Women Leaders of 2022.”
A sought-after speaker, Gonzalez has presented at SXSW, Shoptalk, Shoptalk Europe, Future Forward, World Retail Congress, NRF’s Retail’s Big Show, Retail Innovation Conference and Expo, and Vogue Business Summit. In 2024 she was the keynote speaker for the 21st Annual Retail Congress in Peru. Because of her broad scope and deep expertise, she is frequently tapped to be the moderator for prestigious brand panels or one-on-one conversations, such as her conversation with Birdies CEO Bianca Gates for the Women in Retail Leadership Circle.
Gonzalez is also the creator and host of the podcast Retail Refined, which explores the future of retail and in-store technology. She has interviewed some of the most prominent leaders in retail, including the CEO of Toys R Us, the Chief Digital Officer of Ikea, and the Chief Supply Chain Officer at American Eagle. Her first-to-market research is published in quarterly consumer reports that are anticipated by retail leaders and offer insights into a variety of markets such as footwear, beauty, and outdoor gear among others.
Gonzalez served as a resource for The World’s Best Shops, Courier Media’s latest tome, which celebrates modern retail in all its forms. She has been quoted in WWD, Business of Fashion, Retail Brew, Glossy, VMSD, Chain Store Age, Retail TouchPoints, Forbes, Frame, and The New York Times.
Gonzalez sees it as her responsibility to grow the next generation of industry leaders and invests time and effort to teach her staff and celebrate their successes. Many of the designers under her tutelage have gone on to win retail industry awards including VMSD’s Designer Dozen and Retail TouchPoints’ 40 Under 40 Awards.
Gonzalez and her team have produced more than 200 brick-and-mortar experiences in cities across the United States, dedicated to creating immersive brand moments in a way that drives ROI and helps clients convey compelling stories. Gonzalez has not only advanced the industry through her client work, but also by sharing best practices with colleagues, contributing to industry publications and conferences, and growing the next generation of retail leaders.
Speaker Videos
Forecasting the Future of Physical Retail | Simeon Siegel, Melissa Gonzalez, Lee Peterson
Pushing the Boundaries of Experiential Retail
Is Generative AI the Next Frontier in Store Development & Design? | Melissa Gonzalez at RetailSpaces
Speech Topics
Building Human Connections in a Digital World
Learn how an omni-experience approach to brick-and-mortar retail helps brands unlock “super consumers” by bridging their online platforms to the physical world.
Via a dive into best-in-class examples of multi-channel brands and retailers strategically meshing digital commerce and brick-and-mortar retail, your audience will learn:
- How to integrate the digital landscape within physical environments
- What the metaverse means for the future of consumer experiences
- How Generation Z is influencing retail of tomorrow
- Key insights around the evolution of consumers that inform the types of environments that brands should create and key metrics that illustrate the true impact of physical retail
Optimizing the Consumer Buying Experience
Learn how a customer centric approach to brick-and-mortar retail helps brands unlock “super consumers” by seamlessly bridging their online business to the physical world.
Via a dive into best-in-class examples of multi-channel retailers strategically meshing e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail, your audience will learn:
How to integrate the digital landscape with physical improvements.
A look at our consumers today and how they affect your market and industry.
Key behaviors of today’s consumers that inform the types of environments that brands should create and key metrics that illustrate the true impact of physical retail.
Transforming the Possibilities of Design & Consumer Experiences
How digitization and Artificial Intelligence will push the human mind to reimagine the possibilities of store design and consumer experiences through helping ideate breathtaking design and drive "always learning environments.
In this keynote, we will explore:
- The changing landscape of the store.
- The uses cases of AI and building human connection.
- Pushing the boundaries of Store Design with Generative AI.
- Why we most evolve as an industry.
Thriving as a Woman
As the owner of multiple business as well as working and thriving on Wall Street, in a male dominated industry, Melissa understands the strength in takes to be a leader, an award-winning business owner and a woman all at the same time. In this keynote, she shares her experiences, her challenges and her triumphs.
In this keynote she shares:
- How to maintain an exceptional work-life balance
- Why failing is not your enemy
- Understanding the nuances of timing and using them to your benefit
The Future of Retail
With technology advancing and reshaping today’s consumers at the speed of light, keynote speaker Melissa will lead you into the future and examine the forward-thinking trends that will impact the world of retail tomorrow. Customers want brands and retailers to know them better than they know themselves, regardless of how quickly they are evolving.
In this session, your team will learn how to leverage the key trends of today to answer the questions of tomorrow, including:
- How to create fans, not just consumers of your brand and the benefits of doing so
- Balancing automation vs. humanization of retail
- Rethinking the in-store format
- Why flexible,agile store design is critical to success
- What personalization and AI mean to the in-store experience
Entrepreneurial Leaders: Unlocking the Entrepreneurial Spirit with in Yourself & Your Team
From a trading desk to leading the industry’s shift to pop-up retail, learn how speaker Melissa leverages her skill set in business and finance to transition to a more creative endeavor. As your keynote speaker, Melissa will walk you through the twists and turns of her career and how her experiences along the way constantly informed her decisions and path to success.
Topics covered in this session include:
- Why “failing” along the way is sometimes the most critical path to success, and how to learn and iterate at a quicker pace
- Building a team that builds you and your company, the appropriate time for growth and the time to leap!
- How to determine the right path to scale your business by understanding what you need
)
)
)
)