I've Been In eCommerce Long Enough To Know Who(m?) To Ask
I've Been In eCommerce Long Enough To Know Who(m?) To Ask
Podcast Description
Each week, I'm sitting down with the most interesting people in eCommerce - founders, investors, marketers, and agency leaders who are actually doing the work. We're skipping past the highlight reels and getting into the real stories that shaped their success.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Explores themes of entrepreneurship, marketing strategies, and technology in commerce with episode highlights including candid talks on navigating AI in business operations, mastering cross-channel marketing, and innovative customer engagement tactics, such as using Klaviyo's APIs for better communication.
Each week, I’m sitting down with the most interesting people in eCommerce – founders, investors, marketers, and agency leaders who are actually doing the work. We’re skipping past the highlight reels and getting into the real stories that shaped their success.
In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Jimmy Sansone and Conrad Sansone, co-owners of The Normal Brand, to unpack how a personal product need turned into a real omnichannel apparel business built the old-school way: action first, learn fast, and stay obsessive about contribution margin.
They break down:
• Growing up as two of ten kids and why a “team mindset” shaped how they lead
• The early days shipping orders from a basement and learning the hard parts (tech packs, MOQs, wholesale) the messy way
• Why they went omnichannel by necessity: wholesale first, retail later, ecommerce always• How they think about stores: human experience, brand immersion, and the details you can’t replicate online
• The lens they use to vet new tech: incrementality, contribution margin, and partners who speak their language• What they’re focused on now: first-to-second purchase velocity, flow optimization, and creative that moves across Meta, PDPs, and CRM
• Why they’re bullish on “software-enabled agencies” that blend outcomes, tooling, and real operator supportThis one is packed with founder honesty, tactical lessons, and a refreshingly grounded view on scaling without chasing hype.
👥 Meet the guestsJimmy Sansone: Co-Owner at The Normal BrandConrad Sansone: Co-Owner at The Normal Brand
🎙 Hosted byAaron Schwartz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Orita.ai
🎧 Chapters
[00:00] Meet The Normal Brand: Brothers, Builders, Operators
[02:00] Raised Entrepreneurial: 10 Kids, One Team Mentality
[05:33] Basement-to-Brand: The Messy Mistakes That Made Them Better
[10:44] How Two Brothers Split Leadership Without Stepping On Toes
[12:38] Omnichannel on Purpose: Retail + Wholesale + DTC, Done Right
[20:44] Wholesale as a Growth Engine: Retailers as Partners, Not Channels
[22:11] Why They Send Less Email and Make More Money
[26:42] From First Buy to Repeat: The 60-Day Retention Playbook
[36:00] What They’re Building Next: New Product, Bigger Bets, Same Discipline
🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast, where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing, by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.
🚀 Get your free email audit from Orita, turn segments into superpowers: https://orita.ai
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