Retail & consumer operating models
Organizations are not failing to adopt AI. They are failing to adapt how they operate.
Forth & Forward helps retail and consumer leaders redesign how work moves through people, decisions, systems, and technology.
No pitch deck. No procurement loop. Thirty minutes to find out whether this is the right work.
Maria Carlton
Founder & Principal Advisor
The operator behind the practice
Two decades inside
UNDER ARMOUR·MACY'S·JOS. A. BANK·FASHION ACCENTS
The problem
Most leadership teams do not have a vision problem.
They know where the business needs to go. The harder part is what happens next: how the vision becomes work, who decides what, and what the organization is actually willing to stop doing.
01
Strategy is clear. The work is not.
02
AI reveals operating problems. It rarely fixes them.
03
Execution starts depending on individual heroics.
Operating by Design
Every organization already has an operating system. The question is whether it is running by design, or by default.
Not the technology stack. The human one. How decisions get made, how information moves, how priorities compete, and what people do when the playbook no longer has the answer.
Six moves. In most engagements the problem is not where the leadership team expected it to be.
Three ways in
Where leaders usually start
Advisory
Thinking partnership for a leader
A senior operator in the room with you while you work a decision that has no clean answer. Standing cadence, full context, no deck theatre.
Design
Rebuilding the operating model
Diagnose where work loses velocity, then redesign decision rights, operating rhythm, and cross-functional handoffs so the strategy has a path to move through.
Activation
Putting the model into practice
Get the new model into the hands of the directors and managers who run the work day to day. Workshops, working sessions, and a cohort format.
Workshops from $15,000
Fit
Who this is for
Mid-market retail, consumer, and adjacent companies where the strategy is set and execution is where it slows down. Being honest about fit early saves everyone a quarter.
A fit when
- +There is a named CEO, COO, or transformation lead who owns the outcome
- +The strategy is set and execution is where it is slowing down
- +AI or new technology is on the table and readiness is the real question
- +Leadership will make tradeoffs explicit, including what stops
Not a fit when
- -The work is really an AI or software tool selection
- -No single executive sponsor owns the change
- -The organization is below roughly $100M in revenue
- -What is wanted is a deck rather than a redesign
In their words
A rare combination of deep, global, cross-functional practitioner experience with a sharp, modern perspective on technology and operational excellence.
Kimberly Morgan CEO, The Fashion Tech Exec and COO, Retail Women in Tech
One of the strongest go-to-market experts I have worked with. A rare end-to-end mastery, combining deep process rigor with strong functional credibility.
Alexej Garcia Senior Director Commercial Strategy, On Running
A fantastic partner on projects and consistently inclusive, engaged, and focused on delivering results. Her leadership style inspires trust.
Heather A. Brand & Marketing Leader
She consistently led with clarity, accountability, and empathy, building trust while delivering results.
Heather Long Co-Owner, EPS Events
Perspectives
Essays on how work actually moves.
Start here
Tell me where the work is slowing down.
Thirty minutes. You describe what is happening. I tell you honestly whether this is the right work, and whether I am the right person for it.
Book a 30-minute fit call