Why I Started What I Expected, Part 2: How I Rate Brands & Products

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1, Kristie and I talked about how I went from starting See Jane Work to nearly losing everything during the financial crisis, moving into corporate America, becoming a CMO and CEO, and eventually deciding at 52 to take another leap of faith. In Part 2, we get into why I started What I Expected. After decades spent developing products and brands, working with major retailers, sitting inside marketing organizations, and watching people make buying decisions, I see shopping very differently than I did when I started. And maybe more importantly, I think differently about expectations. In this episode, we talk about: what marketing should actually do—and why I don’t believe its job is to convince you to buy something you don’t need the disconnect that can happen between product, marketing and sales teams explicit expectations versus the expectations created by price, positioning, environment and brand reputation why an expensive product isn’t automatically a better one why customer service and what happens after something goes wrong are part of the product experience how MISS / MEET / EXCEED evolved, and why a MISS doesn’t necessarily mean something is a bad product why I created the Goldilocks Guides for categories where there isn’t one universal “best” why I care so much about quality over quantity, and have since long before I had the budget to support the preference what happens when a brand you trust gets acquired or starts changing why I continue to follow products and brands even after I review them what it actually takes to earn an EXCEED from me and why reducing decision fatigue has become such a big goal for me at What I Expected We also talk about something bigger than shopping. By your 50s, you’ve lived long enough to know that life rarely turns out exactly the way you expected. You’ve also learned that there is a lot you cannot control. But you can be more intentional about some things—particularly how you spend your time and how you spend your money. That’s really what What I Expected is about. I’m not here to tell you what you should buy or convince you that you need more stuff. I want to help you understand what you’re getting, what questions to ask, what the brand actually promised, and whether the reality lives up to it. Hopefully that means fewer bad purchases, a little less decision fatigue, and more confidence walking into everything from a skincare aisle to a jewelry store to a Rolex boutique. Because you have more important things to do. What I Expected is about knowing what to expect before you buy it, try it, book it, or live through it. Some conversations are about the things we choose. Others are about the things we never expected to face. More reviews, guides & recommendations: WhatIExpected.co Shopping Links: Shop My or Amazon. Have a topic you want me to unpack? Send it my way.