The product is rarely the product. Your customer experience is.

This week, I'm talking with Stephen Yalof, CEO of Tanger, about why the businesses winning today aren't selling things.

They're creating places people want to belong.

Because nobody drives across town for a transaction.

They drive across town for how something makes them feel.

For event pros, leaders, and anyone responsible for creating memorable experiences: if you're thinking about customer loyalty, community, and what keeps people coming back, this episode lands.

Inside this episode:

✅ Why retail's future looks more like hospitality than shopping

✅ What Stephen learned by watching how customers used Tanger during the pandemic

✅ How empty storefronts became opportunities for reinvention

✅ Why sports stadiums, concerts, and events hold lessons for every business

✅ The customer phone call that sparked an entirely new business line at J.Crew

✅ How risk, timing, and luck work together in leadership

✅ Stephen's simple "rule of notes" for building a successful career

🎤 Explore Stephen Yalof's keynote speaker profile on our website.

📞 If your audience needs a message on customer experience, community-building, leadership, and creating destinations people want to return to, Stephen delivers. Schedule a time here and let's talk.

📩 Or send your audience + event theme and I'll tell you if he's the right fit: info@thekeynotecurators.com

#customerexperience #community #shopping #leadership #innovation #brandexperience #eventprofs #keynotespeakers #deliveringimpact