Ep 36: Women, Power & a Little Chaos: The Always Off Brand Crossover
SHeCOMMERCE - Cristina Marinucci & Jacqueline Dynowski
In this crossover episode of SheCommerce, hosts Christina and Jackie reflect on their journey launching a podcast focused on empowering wome
Key takeaways
- Authenticity in leadership resonates deeply with audiences and can transform how women show up in professional spaces.
- Despite the rise of AI in e-commerce, real-life human connections remain irreplaceable and highly valued.
Main topics
- Authentic leadership in e-commerce
- The role of AI in modern commerce
Notable quotes
"It's not just about your standard issue female leadership. How did you get here? What did you do kind of scenario? It's also, how are you? All of this success does not come without a cost."
"We were talking swag, you know, like we're... We were talking sequined denim jackets and both of them ganged up on me. I felt very, very sort of outdenimed."
Conclusion
Christina and Jackie reaffirm their mission: to create space for honest, human
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:08) Welcome back to SheCommerce, where real women and real talk collide in the CPG world. I'm Christina. Speaker 3 (0:15) And Speaker 4 (0:16) I'm Jackie. Speaker 3 (0:17) And today we have had the joy of running this joint podcast with our good friends, always our friend, Scott, Haley, and Summer. Check it out. Speaker 2 (0:32) Ladies and gentlemen, running to the stage, these two women are absolute pioneers, blazing a trail. Unbelievable. They came on the scene just a few months ago with the hit podcast, She Commerce. Ladies and gentlemen, to the stage, it's Jackie and Christina. Speaker 3 (0:51) Hi. What Speaker 4 (0:54) an Speaker 3 (0:54) intro. Wowzers. I love it. Speaker 4 (0:59) Love that. Welcome Speaker 2 (1:00) to the show. Welcome. Jackie, I reached out to you immediately upon the announcement that SheCommerce was coming to all of our lives. I'm like, we got to get you on the show. And now we finally did. Speaker 3 (1:14) You did. And Scotty, we were like, oh my God. We're like five minutes old and somebody wants to talk to us already. How exciting. We can't do it because we don't feel legit. You know that whole thing where you feel you need to walk a million miles before you're like... Imposter syndrome? What did you say? Imposter syndrome? Speaker 2 (1:38) Yeah, it's imposter syndrome. Yeah, I did have Speaker 3 (1:42) that. And then I spent like 10 minutes with Christina and it's all gone. Speaker 6 (1:47) to know, how did you two connect? So you all run an incredible e-commerce podcast called SheCommerce. How did this come to be? Speaker 3 (1:57) Oh, gosh. Well, I'll start, Christina. Both of us are really good friends with Peter Bond and Sri Rajagopal from the CPG guys, right? I mean, they're like the beasts of CPG. And Peter said to us, you need to go and do this course at Cornell, this program, this omnichannel program at Cornell. And I was like, well, hey, you know, A, New York, B, Cornell, C, yes. So we went and he goes, oh, I have this other friend. I have a feeling the two of you would get along well. And this other friend was Christina. And I'm like, oh, Peter, you're such an idiot. Of course, of course, I'll get along well. I get along well with everybody. I play nicely. And secretly thinking, don't try to get me friends. I can get my own. Oh, my God. Stop matchmaking me. This Speaker 4 (3:00) is Speaker 3 (3:00) why you Speaker 4 (3:01) need help, Jackie, because of that attitude. You see? I like her. And I Speaker 3 (3:07) met Christina and I mean, what are you going to do? It was instant love. Love at first sight. She's so Speaker 2 (3:14) beautiful. That Speaker 4 (3:15) was two years ago. It was just our anniversary. Speaker 3 (3:18) Yeah. Literally, chronologically two years ago, but in our souls, we knew each other forever. Speaker 4 (3:26) Forever. Speaker 3 (3:27) And Speaker 4 (3:27) then almost a year to the date, I was in London where Jackie lives and we met up. And we were actually recording like a congratulatory message, video message for the CBG guys and having a few glasses of Prosecco as we tend to do that. Speaker 2 (3:46) And Speaker 4 (3:46) just, you know, shooting the shit. Am I allowed to say that? Sorry. You can Speaker 2 (3:50) say anything you want here. Yours is a hoity-toity pod. We're doing whatever we want here. Speaker 6 (3:56) I heard them curse on their pod. We have. We have. Speaker 4 (3:59) We Speaker 6 (3:59) have. I Speaker 2 (4:01) didn't catch that. That was... Speaker 4 (4:03) We were doing that and we're like, hey, we're funny. Speaker 6 (4:07) And Speaker 4 (4:07) we're like talking about some like real stuff that people need to hear and have these conversations. And we're like, we could do this. So six months later, lots of planning, very intentional, you know, focus of what we want to be and how we want to do it. We launched our first episode mid-November 2025. And here we are, what, eight months later-ish? And just enjoying every minute. And the whole time between Speaker 3 (4:32) the Prosecco and the launching, we had Peter go to us, you guys have to do a podcast. You have to do it. You have to launch. And we're like, and he goes, A, you're smart. I'm like, yeah, obviously. He goes, but B, you're way hotter than we are. And we're like, yeah, also true. Speaker 4 (4:52) Also true. You know, Speaker 6 (4:54) I will say Peter Bond has a great, you know, Scott likes to say a great face for a podcast. Peter, I Speaker 2 (5:01) didn't say that. I was just about to sing you, you know, Peter had Speaker 6 (5:07) offered to like do a podcast with me and can, he's like, let's do one in can together. I'm like, yeah, let's go. And then I never heard a thing. So. Speaker 6 (5:19) He ghosted Speaker 4 (5:20) you. Show me the money. Maybe Speaker 2 (5:23) that was it. Maybe you needed some money. I don't Speaker 4 (5:26) know. That was Speaker 2 (5:29) a fail. I'm sad now for you. Speaking of can, they got to go to can. We Speaker 3 (5:34) did. It was... I cannot tell you how amazing it was. Speaker 4 (5:42) You can try to tell us. It was amazing. It was chaos. It was harsh, humid, French. We stayed at a very dodgy place. Almost very murdery, but we survived. It was great. The Speaker 3 (6:01) Bates Hotel from Saigon. Nice. It was Speaker 4 (6:06) amazing. Speaker 3 (6:09) I'm so glad we stayed there because we met some phenomenal Speaker 4 (6:12) people. on the shuttle that I hijacked for us because we stole Speaker 3 (6:17) cabs, which was amazing. We met Francisco who was from Avocados. From Mexico. From Mexico. He was hilarious. We met Jane Hansen, nine-time Emmy Award winner. I mean, insane. Speaker 4 (6:37) So many cool people. We did interviews on the, the shuttle was like where I was at. Like we made the shuttle our daily jam. That was like our spill the tea. All right. So Speaker 6 (6:46) let's hear some of this, the shuttle tea. What is some of the like the most insightful things you've learned either at Cannes or just doing the pod that you've heard from other people? I mean, you both have incredible e-commerce backgrounds. You've done it all. And there's so much changing in the industry. What are some like? hot topics that have been popping up that you're like, this is so insightful. This is what I want to be hearing more about. Speaker 3 (7:11) Look, the first thing that everybody talked about and that everybody was talking about in Cannes, and this is going to be no surprise to you, was AI. Everything had AI flavors to it. It was like, AI is like the salted caramel of the genre, right? It's just everywhere. But the Thing that people realized and were really, really happy about was was that physical, that personal in real life connection. There was so much. Yeah. You know, I don't know. For me, I felt that there was so much joy and so much so much happiness from people to actually see and speak to Speaker 4 (7:54) other people. I mean, the rosé didn't hurt, you know. I mean, it Speaker 6 (7:59) was Speaker 4 (7:59) a lot of rosé. It was easy to get the water. You couldn't get water, but you could get rosé. I love that. But, you know, I think broader than that, like, we've had such incredible fortune to speak to amazing women, leaders, men leaders, too. I would say the common thread for me, those episodes that stick out to me are the ones that we start talking about commerce and business and what's going on in the industry. And then we suddenly end up somewhere much more human. We talk about transformation. And then 15 minutes later, we're talking about confidence and motherhood and being underestimated and the politics of being a female boss. and what you know sometimes like what sacrifices that leadership story actually cost them like personally and I feel like Those are the things that stick with Jackie and I. And we like take something away from each episode. And it's also great because we had a full circle moment at Cannes that someone who knew this amazing woman we interviewed was there. And she's like, wait a minute. She's like, was so-and-so just on your podcast? She's like, she spoke to me and told me that it was the first time she was like so authentic and open up. And the next time she stepped out on a, she was. Speaker 4 (9:17) you know, the opener for a big conference. And she said she just approached it so much different, like authentically and just being her real self. And Jackie and I were like, oh my God, goosebumps. Like that's all we're here to do. And so, yeah, I think those are the moments that really stick out. Speaker 3 (9:37) It's not just about your standard issue female leadership. How did you get here? What did you do kind of scenario? It's also, how are you? All of this success does not come without a cost. Speaker 4 (9:54) How Speaker 3 (9:55) much did the cost cost you? And I don't think that's a conversation that people have with women. Speaker 6 (10:02) No, because let's be honest, the cost isn't the same for a man than it is for a woman. Speaker 5 (10:06) No, it's not. Speaker 2 (10:08) I agree a thousand percent. I have two daughters. I have, again, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm with y'all. Speaker 6 (10:15) Oh, you're definitely an advocate, Scott. There's, there's no doubt about it. I will give you, I will give you your flowers for that. Thank Speaker 2 (10:22) you. Thank you. Just yeah. Speaker 6 (10:24) All right. Well, digging into like some of the biggest topics and stories, are there any, like, you know, I know you're talking a little bit about the broader picture, but any specific guests of like that stood out to you that you were like, you know, if you're listening to this podcast right now, go listen to this one on our SheCommerce because it's going to really enlighten you. Is there any guests that really stand out for you? Speaker 4 (10:45) All of them. Yes. Speaker 4 (10:49) I mean, there's somebody that shared like their authentic, like leadership journeys and just were really raw, like from our very first guest, Lauren Gruenski at Chase. She was just, she talked about, you know, some of her personal struggles and, you know, where she's at now and how that she just never imagined it. So it's just like a feel good story. I feel like Elizabeth Donovan, Queen Elizabeth, hell, she's just. a powerhouse and hearing her talk about like, yeah, like how does she make those choices and balance it all? And, you know, how she's learned to say no and like set some of those boundaries and what made her happy, you know, 10 years ago is very different from what makes her feel fulfilled and happy now. And that's okay. Right. To evolve. Jackie, any stand? How about you? Oh, no, absolutely. The only, I Speaker 3 (11:39) adore the absolute ever-living soil that Elizabeth walks on, apart from the fact that she and Christina ganged up on me on sequined denim jackets. I mean, yay or nay? Nay Speaker 4 (11:52) for us, nay for Jackie. Come on. Okay. I think it depends. It depends on the situation. Speaker 3 (12:00) Yeah, there is a situation. Speaker 4 (12:01) We were talking swag, you know, like we're... We Speaker 3 (12:03) were talking swag and both of them ganged up on me and I felt very, very sort of outdenimed. But Elizabeth was and is just an incredible person. She's just so warm and so supportive and so inclusive and just her personality is just... uncontainable she's wonderful to listen to and speak to but most recently i have to say Speaker 4 (12:31) i Speaker 3 (12:32) i am crushing hard on this person her name is collect uh colette laxton and she is the ceo and founder co-founder of uh the inky list it's a skin car uh skin skin car skin care um they were just on your pod this was just the other day Speaker 4 (12:53) Yeah. Oh, Speaker 3 (12:54) my God. You can literally, I mean, if you see the video of it, you can literally see Christina and me, you know, kind of falling a little bit in love as the episode goes on because she was so unfeasibly authentic. She was so real. And the integrity this woman has. Oh, wow. Yes. And Speaker 4 (13:15) then I also, Alicia Spaulding, she was kind of. I mean, talk about the she commerce part. Like it was very much Speaker 5 (13:22) AI Speaker 4 (13:23) tech what's happening. She's like an AI guru. She built the first like AI and food science at a university. She's a professor there. And, but she also is a fractional CMO for a sexual wellness company. And she talked about, she knows a ton and really schooled us about. you know, the importance of sexual wellness and kind of breaking down those taboos about talking about these things. And yes, we talked about vibrators and all of it. So that was kind of, you know, straddling Speaker 5 (13:55) a couple of different things there. Speaker 4 (13:56) No pun Speaker 6 (13:57) intended. Speaker 4 (13:59) To be so Speaker 5 (13:59) new in the space and to have these amazing guests come on, we got to know, are you going to