I help high achievers break corporate dependence and build beautiful Portfolio Careers for freedom, family and finances.

I help high achieving professionals BREAK corporate dependence and build Self-Directed Lives.
I believe that to transform our circumstances, we have to BREAK what's not working, on purpose. And do it smartly.

My Career Design Lab is where your golden handcuffs and unfulfilling career go to die, and where we reimagine work aligned with who you want to be, who you want to serve and what legacy you want to leave.

Like you:
I know what it's like to be burned out, unfulfilled and secretly DYING for new opportunities. 
I know what it's like to seek my identity and self worth from a job only to realize the mirage.
I know what it's like to sacrifice my health and family for "achievement."

The difference is I did something about it.

In 2018, work wasn't working for me, so I broke it and methodically designed a new life with intention.
I used my job as an investor in my future. I figured out my advantages and then built a side business that I took to full time corporate exit, then scaled to over $1m in revenue.

I built an entire process to help me figure out my re-invented career and now I use that to help other corporate pros smartly build futures that are Self-Directed, intentional and successful - that is my purpose.

Previous, my career spanned:

Financial Futures and Derivatives Trading
3 Startups
Freelance Consulting
Corporate Innovation

I infuse major lessons from these unique experiences to help you craft a dynamic, portfolio career that is adaptable, intentional, purpose driven and never dependent on the whims of corporate structures.

Michael Gardon

Bringing People, Ideas, and Tech Together | Strategic Partnerships | Innovation | Startup Advisor

Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of working at the intersection of retail and technology, leading high growth startups, navigating digital transformations and driving measurable outcomes for retailers, and staying close to the pulse of the grocery industry.

With over 20 years of experience in sales, revenue growth, management and innovation across fintech, SaaS, e-commerce, and retail tech, I have experience ranging from leading, scaling, investing, and advising early stage startups (VC backed and bootstrapped) to working on Wall St, and starting a handful of companies. I've held the titles of founder, VP of Sales, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Business Officer, Enterprise Sales Account Executive, Executive Director, Founder, and Board Member and always try and keep the first day as an intern curiosity and mindset. 

Beyond the boardroom, my journey has been deeply personal. Serving as a primary caregiver for my mother for seven years instilled in me invaluable lessons about patience, empathy, and the human side of business. These experiences have stuck with me more than any business case study or job could have and shaped my approach to leadership, service, and innovation, reminding me that at the heart of technology are the people it serves. 

I am always open to connect with like-minded professionals and explore opportunities that challenge the status quo, bring innovative solutions to market, and drive meaningful change. In my free time I enjoy running (my run streak of a mile or more a day has recently surpassed 1100 days in a row), adventure travel, collecting passport stamps, web 3, AI, investing in startups, and volunteering.

Joseph Dahari

The Retail Tech Reality Check: 11 Truths from a Decade in the Trenches

Working at Fetch, GrocerKey, Upshop and now Birdzi, Inc., I've been fortunate to learn and see grocery and retail tech through multiple lenses. 

Below are 11 observations from 10 years of being in the industry.

1. Word of mouth > your pitch deck. A single phone call with a trusted peer carries more weight than a hundred fancy slides.  Working products that deliver on promises is your best marketing. 

2. Some retailers want to lead and be innovative, others prefer to (fast) follow, and others will resist change at all costs. Learn who is who and don't force change, accommodate styles. 

3. Retailers struggle with fragmented systems and messy data. If your product requires clean, integrated data to work, you're asking them to solve a different problem first.

4. Most retailers operate in silos, even the ones who deny it. It's everyone's job to work to get the right people in the room and breakdown silos.  

5. Multi-threading to understand the different stakeholders and interests is a must. A group call does not = multi-threading.  Cross-functional buy in and identifying and overcoming "pocket vetos" (silent objectors) is what helps deals move forward. 

6. Many companies over index to presentations. It's the behind the scenes work between the meetings that moves deals along (see #5 above).

7. Retailers are overwhelmed with buzzwords and empty promises. Your competitors are using the same buzzwords even if their products aren't live yet.  The buzzwords have lost their meaning.

8. Your "favorite" retailer's inbox is getting flooded with dozens of pitches a week. If you're solely relying on cold email in 2026, you're a step behind.

9. Retailers buy on their timelines, not yours. Deeply understand how the organization works, how budgets are set, and how decisions are made. Does the fiscal year start in May? Is there a Q4 budget freeze?  What else needs to get done first? 

10. Change fatigue is real. Many retailers have been burned by 2-3 "transformative" initiatives in the past 5 years where the cumulative lift doesn't pencil. They're not just skeptical, many are exhausted by the idea of change despite their excitement about AI.

11. Roadmaps are busier than the 405 in rush hour traffic. Why you? Why now? If you can't convincing answer both, you're likely not getting prioritized this year or next. 

In retail tech, you're not selling software. You're asking someone to bet their next performance review and next quarters of work on your solution.

Curious, what's not on the list but should be? 

#grocery #retail #retailtech #sales #supermarkets #AI

AI & Retail Tech | VP @ Birdzi | Strategic Growth Executive | Startup Advisor | Board Member

Over the past 2–3 years, I’ve been in constant conversations about AI with thoughtful leaders across retail, tech, and beyond.

Very few people doubt its impact.

But a fog has settled in around what it actually means for organizations.

Yes, employees need to be upskilled.
 Yes, teams need fluency in data, analytics, prompting, and building systems that can work alongside AI agents.

But the harder questions are:
 • Where do we start?
 • How fast do we move?
 • Who owns it?
 • What does “AI-ready” actually look like inside an operating model?

I believe we’re living through one of the most significant technology inflection points of the last 50 years — on par with the internet and mobile — and potentially even more disruptive given the infrastructure already in place.

The opportunity isn’t just better tools.

It’s workforce transformation.

For those thinking seriously about skill development in the age of AI, below are a few resources shared by Darin Eich, Ph.D., that are worth the time (links in the comments):

*World Economic Forum — Future of Jobs Report 2025
*McKinsey & Company Global Institute — Skill Shift
*PwC — Workforce of the Future
 *IBM — The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap
 Deloitte — Future of Work

Curious how others are approaching this inside their organizations.

Where are you seeing real progress vs. experimentation?  Who are the thought-leaders you are following? 

#AI #FutureOfWork #RetailLeadership #DigitalTransformation #WorkforceDevelopment #RetailTech #Innovation

The most dangerous assumption in grocery right now?

That tools built for yesterday’s shopper are enough for tomorrow’s competition.

Trip fragmentation is accelerating.

Shoppers: 
• Split spend across banners
• Comparison shop digitally and buy more and more center store items online
• Desire personalization that knows them  

The retailers who lead in the AI era won’t be the ones experimenting the most.

They’ll be the ones who already built the foundation: 
• Unified customer intelligence
• Real-time activation
• Measurement tied to individual shopper value

AI doesn’t fix fragmented data.

It amplifies whatever foundation you already have.

The window to build and clean that foundation before the race fully heats up is narrowing.

Worth re-evaluating what your stack actually enables… and where it quietly constrains you.

#Grocery #RetailTech #AI #Data #Birdzi Birdzi, Inc. #Supermarkets

There’s a big difference between buying software and leading digital transformation.

Buying software is usually straightforward.

A vendor shows up with a solution, a demo, and a projected ROI to solve your isolated department level problem.

Transformation is different.

It starts with the business:

How do we grow sales? Protect margin? Use our data better? Make life easier for our teams? Create more value for customers?  Integrate AI into our business? 

In that context, the question isn’t:

“Is this good software?”

It’s:

“Does this help us reach our goals faster and in a way that actually pays off and aligns with our north star?”

Software fits into budgets.

Transformation shapes where the budget goes.

The best partners don’t just sell a product.

They try to understand the business first and only move forward if it truly helps.

That’s a very different conversation.

#AI #EnterpriseSaaS #RetailTech #DigitalTransformation #Supermarkets #Grocery #Sales #Software

Two grocery stores. 1.5 miles apart. 🛒

Same suburb. Completely different approaches.

I shopped both last week.

One wins on meats, fresh fish, prepared meals, wine, the things you pick up when you're hosting or treating yourself.

The other pulls you in with low produce prices and a huge organic selection

The result isn't that one is beating the other.

Families are just splitting their shopping between the banners. 

Grab your weekly fruits, vegetables, and pantry staples at the more affordable health forward store. 

Then head to the other store for salmon, a cheese board, and dinner party food.

Both stores get some of your money. 

Neither gets all of it.

And here's the missed opportunity — it's not about which store has better branding. 

It's about who actually uses their customer data more effectively.

Both have basic loyalty programs and apps. 

Both are sending the same weekly circular and offers to everyone.

Boxes checked, right? ✅️

Here's what could change....

You buy organic produce and kombucha every week. Another shopper just like you also buys nuts and protein bars. 

So you get a coupon for them and next trip, they end up in your cart. Your basket grows 10%. Not because of a big sale. 

Because the store was paying attention.

The store that figures this out first won't win by being cheaper. 

They'll win by knowing their customers better than the competition does.

#grocery #retail #loyalty #AI #personalization #Wisconsin #supermarkets #shoppermarketing  #birdzi #grocerytech #retailtech

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