<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Colby Swann]]></title><description><![CDATA[Fractional COO for retail & consumer brands
I accelerate revenue, improve margins, build scalable operating systems, and modernize digital engines for]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:57:23 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.bigswann.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Why Leaders Get Stuck]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Growing Priority List, Weak Accountability, and the Discipline Required to Get Important Work Done Most leaders do not get stuck because they do not know what needs to be done. They get stuck because the list keeps growing. Every business has one: the running list of nagging problems, delayed decisions, unfinished initiatives, and aging priorities that everyone agrees matter, yet somehow never seem to get fully completed. Some items linger for weeks. Others sit for months. Eventually,...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/why-leaders-get-stuck</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69d939ac75afb0779a6f8cb2</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:11:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_8ca91353e96e493c9379bde6336cbef2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lessons from Riley: Say What We Mean]]></title><description><![CDATA[This week, my eight-year-old granddaughter gave me a better lesson on communication than many boardrooms, PowerPoint decks, and leadership seminars ever have. Riley Swann, our resident green thumb She had been working in an outdoor garden with my son and her brothers, and she proudly sent us a picture of a green bean plant she had started growing. She was excited, as she should have been. Something she planted had come to life. My wife responded the way many of us would. She said, “Wow,...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/lessons-from-riley-say-what-we-mean</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69bc0aa9f8e8082073c52a0b</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:59:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_69d6d2d5a32a473bbfd0be3725fb3312~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[80% Ship-From-Store: Omnichannel Win… or Strategic Ceiling?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dick’s Sporting Goods received recent praise at the 2026 NRF Big Show for this outcome: roughly 80% of its e-commerce orders are being fulfilled from stores  (up from around 70% a few years back). On the surface, that sounds like the modern retail playbook working exactly as intended. Stores become mini fulfillment hubs. Packages ship from the closest node. Customers get faster delivery. The business gets better inventory productivity. Everybody wins. But here’s the thing: a fulfillment mix...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/80-ship-from-store-omnichannel-win-or-strategic-ceiling</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6973c2feb5920f4029e92148</guid><pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:57:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_47b99b22bd4f4153a15ad6bde6191d16~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_666,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Do More With Less: Gideon’s Innovation Playbook (Judges 7)]]></title><description><![CDATA[RSS.com Most businesses don’t need more effort. They need a better approach. When resources are tight, the default move is predictable: add hours, add headcount, add complexity. But challengers don’t win by doing more. They win by rethinking the problem—creating surprise, keeping execution simple, and using smarter tactics that a larger competitor doesn’t see coming. Judges 7 (Gideon vs. the Midianites) is one of the best “do more with less” case studies you’ll find anywhere. If you missed...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/do-more-with-less-gideon-s-innovation-playbook-judges-7</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695e9fbfce09b1c26612b076</guid><pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:11:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_cee761670ca544e58647bb0b8c816879~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_961,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lessons from Dad ]]></title><description><![CDATA[2025 was a rough year for my family. In the first half of the year, my father—now 82—was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I think we suspected it for a while, but hearing it out loud, confirmed, still hit hard. The disease also set off a tough chain of events: poor communication about how he felt led to a serious infection that turned into sepsis in May, and later he fell and broke his hip. He fought through two rounds of rehab and recovered. We’re lucky to still have him. It also...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/lessons-from-dad</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695810b62cf40d5f8b847bae</guid><pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2026 18:45:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_90dd48264f784ad3a6db7007337c074c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Experiential Retail Still Wins: A Photo Tour of The Christmas Place (Pigeon Forge, TN)]]></title><description><![CDATA[My wife and I visited The Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee  in early November, and it reminded me of something I learned firsthand during seven years as CMO and COO at Old Time Pottery : Experiential retail isn’t going anywhere—especially in home décor. This post is intentionally simple. No deep product review. No price commentary. Just a gallery-style look at the different Christmas themes  this store merchandised—and a few takeaways on why this kind of shopping remains magnetic....]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/experiential-retail-still-wins-a-photo-tour-of-the-christmas-place-pigeon-forge-tn</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6949749fd4fba6e402a4600c</guid><pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:48:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_cfccb4dde21b4754a159d62f1a1c04ed~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gideon, the Reluctant Leader: How Ordinary People Become Extraordinary]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most leadership doesn’t happen in big, dramatic moments. It happens in the normal grind—routine meetings, unglamorous projects, messy handoffs, and work that needs doing… but nobody’s excited to own. That’s why the Gideon story (Judges 6–7) works so well as a leadership case study, even if you’re reading it purely as literature and human behavior. It shows a simple pattern: how ordinary, capable people get developed into leaders—step by step—through opportunity, support, and real ownership....]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/gideon-the-reluctant-leader-how-ordinary-people-become-extraordinary</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69432cfda79f8c9ba2ad4422</guid><pubDate>Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:25:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_cee761670ca544e58647bb0b8c816879~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_961,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tariffs Don’t Miss Earnings – Operating Models Do]]></title><description><![CDATA[AutoZone  just delivered another tough headline: revenue up, earnings down, and a sixth straight miss versus Wall Street EPS expectations. For the latest quarter, net sales grew about 8% to roughly $4.6 billion, comparable sales rose mid-single digits, but EPS landed just over $31 per share – below consensus – as gross margin and operating profit both declined ( latest earnings release ). Management is rightly calling out tariffs and a large non-cash LIFO charge as key culprits, with gross...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/tariffs-don-t-miss-earnings-operating-models-do</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6939be7e122b31d338b7b5f7</guid><pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:03:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_7bd01faabea54ee5ac0d540fbba2f3d6~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_799,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stop Marketing Like Your Audience Is White: A Practical Guide for Inclusion Marketing]]></title><description><![CDATA[It’s not every day you get to read and review a book written by a friend and former colleague. But in this case, I get that privilege. Avery McDougle—someone I’ve had the joy of working alongside—has written a sharp, timely book titled Stop Marketing Like Your Audience Is White . I’ll be honest: as a white man of a certain age, and as someone who’s spent 25-plus years in marketing, the title alone grabbed me by the collar. We marketers are fantastic at crafting a linguistic soup of buzzwords,...]]></description><link>https://www.bigswann.com/post/stop-marketing-like-your-audience-is-white-a-practical-guide-for-inclusion-marketing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6930b4fd4a313d7af55f0757</guid><pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 22:16:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/28ba17_5ab7886acf884d0ea3becb448da9dfdb~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Colby Swann</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>