What does it take to turn a creative idea into a globally stocked Irish brand? In this episode of The Retail Tea Break, Melissa chats with Kim Whyte about the journey behind Pawpear and the lessons learned along the way.

From her early design career in London to building a business inspired by Irish culture, language and landscape. Kim shares the realities of entrepreneurship, the value of community and why authenticity matters more than following trends. The conversation also explores how meaningful customer relationships can shape a brand’s growth, why thoughtful retail experiences still matter and how creative collaborations can bring heritage stories to life in a modern way.

Kim also reflects on working with iconic Irish institutions including the Guinness Storehouse and the Book of Kells Experience at Trinity College Dublin, sharing insights into balancing creativity with commercial growth while staying true to the heart of the brand.

• Growing Pawpear to 90+ retailers worldwide
• The importance of mentorship
• Supporting Irish manufacturers and suppliers
• Customer communication and emotional brand connection
• Collaborating with Guinness Storehouse and Trinity College Dublin
• Experiential retail and creative storytelling
• Scaling a business while protecting brand identity

Visit Pawpear www.pawpear.ie

This episode of the Retail Tea Break podcast is brought to you by SCAYLE, the enterprise commerce platform empowering B2C brands and retailers to easily create outstanding customer experiences with a seamless and flexible feature set that can be extended through APIs. Trusted by brands like Levi Strauss®️, Harrods, Manchester United and Deichmann, SCAYLE enables businesses to accelerate innovation and drive real growth.

AI fashion photo shoots at scale: Visit Tayla.ai

Built for retailers, by retailers: Visit: www.scayle.com

In the latest episode of The Retail Tea Break, Caroline Orange-Northy, UK and Ireland Managing Director at Pinterest explores how the platform has evolved from a source of inspiration into a powerful retail and shopping destination.

The conversation dives into why Pinterest operates differently from traditional social media platforms, focusing on purchase intent rather than the attention economy and why that matters for retailers trying to connect with today’s consumer. You’ll hear insights into Pinterest’s “taste graph,” visual search, and how retailers can use trend data more commercially to better understand customer behaviour and improve discovery.

The episode also explores Pinterest Predicts 2026 wedding trends, including emerging colour palettes, non-traditional venues and the growing demand for personalisation. Grab your cuppa and a notebook.

Topics covered include:

• Why Pinterest users behave differently from users on other platforms

• The shift from inspiration to full-funnel shopping

• What the “taste graph” means for retailers

• How visual search is changing product discovery

• Why Pinterest trends last longer than trends on other platforms

• 2026 wedding and lifestyle trend predictions

• How retailers can use Pinterest data to improve marketing and merchandising strategies

Visit Pinterest today: https://business.pinterest.com/en-gb/

Pinterest Wedding Trends Report: https://newsroom.pinterest.com/

This episode of the Retail Tea Break podcast is brought to you by SCAYLE, the enterprise commerce platform empowering B2C brands and retailers to easily create outstanding customer experiences with a seamless and flexible feature set that can be extended through APIs. Trusted by brands like Levi Strauss®️, Harrods, Manchester United and Deichmann, SCAYLE enables businesses to accelerate innovation and drive real growth.

AI fashion photo shoots at scale: Visit Tayla.ai

Built for retailers, by retailers: Visit: www.scayle.com

What happens when AI becomes the storefront?

In this episode of The Retail Tea Break, I’m joined by Tarek Müller, Co-Founder and MD of About You and SCAYLE, for a fascinating conversation on the future of commerce.

From SCAYLE’s expansion into the US market and its recent Levi Strauss & Co. partnership, to the growing role of AI and Large Language Models in retail discovery, Tarek shares why the industry is entering another major shift in consumer behaviour. We also explore how AI is changing operational efficiency, personalisation and even fashion photography through TAYLA, a platform already transforming digital content production at scale.

If you want to understand where retail is heading next, this episode is essential listening.

Key Topics

• Why LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini are becoming major traffic sources for retailers
• How brands need to rethink visibility and discovery in an AI first world
• The significance of SCAYLE’s partnership with Levi’s and expansion into the US
• Why retailers relying solely on product catalogues risk becoming commoditised
• How ABOUT YOU is using AI to reduce content production costs while improving conversion, introducing TAYLA
• Tarek’s predictions for the future of e-commerce, AI transactions, and social commerce

For more information:

AI fashion photo shoots at scale: Visit Tayla.ai

Built for retailers, by retailers: Visit: www.scayle.com

This episode of the Retail Tea Break podcast is brought to you by SCAYLE, the enterprise commerce platform empowering B2C brands and retailers to easily create outstanding customer experiences with a seamless and flexible feature set that can be extended through APIs. Trusted by brands like Levi Strauss®️, Harrods, Manchester United and Deichmann, SCAYLE enables businesses to accelerate innovation and drive real growth.