DTC POD: The Art of Modern Retail: Kellen Roland on Strategy, AI, and Mentorship

This week, our guest is Kellen Roland, former VP of Sales at Herschel, leading the US sales strategy and successfully launching Herschel products in major retailers like Apple, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters.

He is now the Founder & CEO of KRMC, a consulting agency that focuses on translating cultural insights into growth through collaborations, strategy, analysis, design, and coaching.

Join us as we talk about the power of a clear vision, the practical benefits of AI in DTC, the importance of mentorships, traits of Highly Successful People, and more!

3 Big Lessons from Kellen

Lesson #1: Mental Models for DTC Strategy

Kellen excels in both execution and strategy, with a deep understanding of the bottom line. 

Here are actionable lessons every DTC operator can apply from his approach:

The Power of a Clear Vision

Jamie and Lyndon Cormac, the founders of Herschel, were extremely clear on what they wanted to do.

They identified a moment in time when people needed accessories. People wanted to express themselves, whether it was their headphones or socks; they were looking for a way to show authenticity.

It’s often said that while designing something expensive can be challenging, it's incredibly hard to design something affordable, beautiful, and functional, and while having an amazing team always helps, having a clear vision, especially when the task is this difficult, is crucial to developing and executing at the highest level. This was a key factor in Herschel's remarkable success.

You're always trying to get to the end consumers.

As brand builders and operators, your primary task is to effectively engage with your audience. Whether through social media, retail, or wholesale channels, you must tailor your approach to fit each platform.

For instance, on social media—be it Instagram, TikTok, or podcasts—you need to adapt your strategies to resonate with the unique dynamics and audience preferences of each platform.

Ultimately, the customer just wants to buy wherever they are—walking down the street, on their phone, or their laptop.

Learning and being curious about trends, where the attention is at, and how to execute them is a skill we all should prioritize.

Our job is to meet them where they are and make the buying process as seamless as possible.

Change is the only thing guaranteed, embrace it.

When customer tastes change, a brand must decide how to respond. 

• Should they adapt to these new preferences? 

• Remain loyal to their core consumers? 

• Or reinvent themselves to set a new trend? 

In a world where everyone seeks uniqueness, but often follows the same trends, brands must stay agile and curious to adapt.

Consider this: five or ten years ago, if someone had predicted a social media platform surpassing Instagram in attention and growth, most would have laughed. Yet, TikTok emerged and did just that.

We can't predict the next big platform in 2025, but we do know change is inevitable.

Staying curious and adaptable is key to navigating these shifts.

Lesson #2: Practical Benefits of AI in DTC

AI has a force multiplier. It turns one person into ten people, and ten people into 100 people.

It's like rocket fuel. Specifically how it can help with customer service.

The majority of people who hit up customer service are looking for:

• Tracking Number

• General Information.

What used to be maybe ten to 15 people and reduced it down to like three people. 

Does that mean that it's about having fewer people on your payroll? No.

Here’s a better idea:

Let's take those three people and because they're no longer doing the administrative side of customer service, let's up-level our customer service. 

Let's have those three people engaging with our top customers, calling our customers, really getting in there, and understanding how we can be the best product for this consumer group.

And if you can use AI to build a better and stronger email relationship with your customers, you are very, very intelligent.

Lesson #3: The Value of Mentorship

Kellen believes that we all need more mentors, more people that we can call. 

It's also kind of tough right now, because if you go online if you go on LinkedIn, if you go on social media, there's a lot of copy and paste culture.

"Do these three things and you’ll be successful". But real success isn’t that simple and entrepreneurs might feel like they’re failing when they see others succeeding easily.

Mentors help you push through doubts and stick with your unique ideas, even when they don’t make sense at first. Having a mentor means having someone to support and guide you through tough times.

Kellen said: 

"I truly believe that without people mentoring me and being there for me, my life could have turned out very differently. I’m incredibly grateful for the life I have. I’ll keep working hard and adding value to others."

DTC Job Positions!

Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Muse

• Description: Develop and execute lifecycle marketing strategies to enhance customer engagement and retention.

• Responsibilities: Lead email marketing, customer segmentation, and automation for optimized engagement and retention.

• Benefits: Dynamic environment, personal growth opportunities, and an inclusive, diverse workplace.

Manager, Sales Operations, America at Corsair

• Description: Lead sales operations and customer support to evolve the customer experience to a world-class level.

• Responsibilities: Manage sales operations, order fulfillment, and customer support for optimized revenue and satisfaction.

• Benefits: Competitive salary, dynamic environment, and opportunities for leadership and growth.

Finance Manager at Lomi

• Description: Oversee financial operations, optimize processes, and drive continuous improvement in a sustainability-focused company.

• Responsibilities: Manage key financial areas, optimize month-end close, ensure compliance, and support new product launches.

• Benefits: Competitive salary, dynamic environment, meaningful contribution to sustainability.

That wraps up this week’s newsletter!

As always, reply any time with thoughts, questions, reactions, or ideas for future issues. And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn to unlock new episodes of DTC Pod each week!