#eCommerce The Cost of Caring: Nick Kaplan on Building, Breaking, and Believing Again. Next ont the Struggle Bus is Nick Kaplan - a friend. First minute we met, it was an easy friendship. Some leaders talk about empathy.
Nick Kaplan lives it, even when it hurts.
Nick is from real retail. He is steeped in it, gets excited by it. His great grandmother ran the legendary Lena Bryant. He knows his onions. He is generous with his wisdom, not so much his snacks. He loves to eat. Little known fact, the Brad Pitt character in Oceans Eleven had the nickname snacks because of Pitts prolific snack habits. Kaplan is no different and that is where his Brad Pitt overtures end.
In our conversation on The Struggle Bus, he didn’t posture or package. He peeled back the layers of what it means to lead when you’re tired, when you’re unsure, when you’ve already done this dance a hundred times and still want to make it count.
Then we spoke about the tension between head and heart, that impossible balance of being rational enough to steer the ship and emotional enough to care about the crew. He’s built and rebuilt brands, seen ideas fly and others fall flat, and still shows up with that same curiosity and conviction.
“You can’t lead without self-awareness. If you’re not grounded, you’re guessing and people can smell that.” “Experience doesn’t make you certain. It just makes you more comfortable with doubt.”
What I learned listening to him wasn’t about retail strategy or growth hacks. It was about composure the kind that’s earned through chaos. Nick’s version of leadership isn’t loud. It’s consistent. It’s kind. And it’s the sort that keeps businesses and people from burning out.
In a world obsessed with “scale,” he reminded me that steadiness is often the real differentiator.
I am grateful to our season 2 sponsors who have shown this faith on the journey and without their suppport this would not happen.
Thanks to Omnisend - our blood pact goes deeper than Black Friday. 37% of all BFCM revenuecomes from just 2% of sends. I know a rival who won’t admit that but will claim everything.
ParcelPlanet First time callers, long time listeners. Sick of the same ol’ sh*t? Call them. If you are not right for them, they might just say no and point you out the door. Turn that unboxing moment into something we rememder for the right reason. A secret best not kept. Logistics legends turning “out for delivery” into “delighted customer.”
Speaking of growth our other new sponsor Trustap have been doing this quietly for some time and have now found their voice. Trustap condenses your transaction tech stack into one platform, managing everything from fraud prevention to payments to support. By removing these headaches, Trustap frees your time and budget to scale faster.
More on all my sponsors over the weeks ahead.
Listen to the full epsiode here on Spotify:
https://lnkd.in/eJcNx9n2
