OUR FOUNDER
Melissa Gonzalez

CEO of The Lion’esque Group and Principal at MG2, Author of The Pop Up Paradigm: How Brands Can Build Human Connections in a Digital Age, Chief Pop-Up Architect of 22 City Link: a Smart-City development, IBM Futurist, & Regular Contributor to ABC Radio #RetailwithMelissa

Continually pushing the boundaries of experiential retail, Melissa Gonzalez is an award-winning innovator, seasoned visionary, and brand storyteller. She is the CEO of The Lion’esque Group: an MG2 company pioneering the integration of physical environments and cutting-edge technologies to help companies such as Purple, Nordstrom, and Burrow foster foundational consumer engagement and evolve their offering.

A passionate mentor and strategist, Melissa works hand-in-hand with clients to understand their greatest aspirations. She leads creative teams to deliver authentic solutions from concept to completion, helping clients achieve their ultimate vision. In 2019 she was honored with multiple ‘Women In Design’ awards and was recognized as one of LinkedIn and design:retail’s ‘Top 10 Retail Design Influencers of the Year’. When she’s not recording podcasts or dreaming of innovative pop-up spaces, Melissa can be found seeking inspiration in unexpected places (like skydiving 10,000 feet above ground).

In The News

Melissa is a regular contributor on ABC radio and a frequent go-to-source on retail trends for major media publications across the globe. Below are some of her latest contributions and commentary around retail strategy and what’s next in physical retail.

Melissa’s Awards

Speaking Engagements

Melissa Gonzalez is an exceptional speaker drawing on her experience as a successful entrepreneur. Speaking on topics such as the future of retail strategy and living in a phygital world, she presents the latest trends impacting the future and thought-provoking ideas on how to integrate the digital landscape with physical improvements. She is looking at today’s consumers and how they affect the market. In her keynotes, you can learn how to unlock “super consumers” by integrating your online business in the physical world. Melissa Gonzalez shares with your audience tools to enhance their customers’ experience with your brand. Her previous engagements include:

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The Pop-up Paradigm

The Pop-up Paradigm

In a world where the relationship between brands and consumers is becoming more and more transactional, how can businesses build real, human connections with their customers?

Melissa Gonzalez, the retail strategist responsible for dozens of successful pop-ups from companies like Marc Jacobs, Ariana Rockefeller and J.Hilburn, has the answer. In her groundbreaking book, she explains how companies can use temporary retail to generate customer loyalty, understand new markets, test innovative concepts, and much more. Whether you’re a business with an online presence considering a move into physical retail, or an established retail brand looking to reimagine brick-and-mortar environments, The Pop-Up Paradigm will teach you:

  • The 7 most important ways that your brand can benefit from a pop-up
  • Why educating and empowering your customer is often the best type of marketing
  • Where retail is going via the exploration of the retail tech landscape including: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things case studies
  • How to make sure you’re ahead of the curve
  • The most important things to consider when launching a pop-up
  • The Pop-Up Paradigm is the definitive guide to the important new role that pop-ups are playing in retail, and the perfect companion when deciding whether or not they make sense for your business.
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