When Natalie Westlake left her nearly two-decade career at Lululemon—where she helped scale the company from 10 stores to more than 500—she could have chosen any path. She chose to join Bluboho, Canada’s leading sustainable fine jewelry brand, with a mission that went far deeper than opening stores. According to Natalie, she wanted Bluboho to “create wealth with women, for women."
What started as intimate kitchen parties has evolved into a six-store retail presence. For Bluboho, it’s not about rapid expansion or flashy marketing campaigns, but about building genuine human connections, one conversation at a time.
No stranger to scaling a retail presence, Natalie jumped right into expansion plans when she joined Bluboho in 2023. Her approach to launching retail locations takes advantage of her learnings from Lululemon to bring the ultimate shopping experience to Bluboho. Ahead, read Natalie’s best tips for building a strong retail presence through human connection.
Understanding your guest experience
Natalie’s first strategic move at Bluboho defied conventional executive wisdom. She spent her entire first year working as a store manager at the flagship location on Toronto’s Queen Street to better understand what customers and employees were experiencing.
“I wanted to get as close to the guest as I possibly could,” Natalie says. “I hired a team, I onboarded them, I recruited them, I trained them. I spent time in the store understanding the intentions behind every collection we make and how we bring it to life in an experience,” Natalie says.
Through a year of gathering information, she discovered all the ways jewelry retail operates on entirely different emotional frequencies than athletic wear. While Lululemon customers wanted quick tips about four-way stretch and sweat-wicking, jewelry customers were “coming in to mark something special in their lives,” Natalie points out. Before she could begin her work scaling, she had to intimately understand every touchpoint of the customer experience, which she gained from direct customer interactions.
Embracing the power of organic discovery
Bluboho’s retail strategy draws heavily from what Natalie calls the “organic discovery” model she witnessed during Lululemon’s early days. She first learned about the brand at a yoga class, struck by someone wearing an all-green outfit who recommended the then-small Canadian company.
“To keep a brand feeling small and organic and learning about it through a referral, through somebody you admire or respect, or somebody whose word means something to you—that always left a very lasting impression on me,” Natalie notes.
This philosophy shapes everything from store location decisions to community events. Bluboho hosts monthly full moon events featuring sound baths and journaling experiences, directly connecting its jewelry’s intentions to customers’ personal moments. Though these events started slowly, consistency builds community over time. “We started with like two or three people. There was nobody there. And for a while, I even doubted, Why are we doing this? But over time we built a massive community of people that relied on us,” Natalie says.
Becoming part of the neighborhood
When choosing the locations for your retail stores, Natalie advocates for deep community immersion rather than demographic reports. “Spend time in that neighborhood. Go for coffee, work there during the day, meet people, go into the shops,” she advises. The goal isn’t just finding foot traffic—it’s understanding the ecosystem your store will join. “What else is your guest looking for? What else would they shop for? Are there amenities close by that match your product?” Natalie shares.
Learning and pivoting quickly
One of the most practical frameworks Natalie adopted from Bluboho’s founder, Maggie Aurocco, comes from embracing imperfection as a learning tool. “She said, ‘Nat, I try to be, like, 85% accurate. If I can be 85% accurate, 15% is learning. Great. I’m gonna take the 15%. Move forward quickly,’ Natalie shares.
This philosophy proves particularly valuable in retail, where market conditions change rapidly and customer preferences evolve. Weekly marketing meetings at Bluboho focus entirely on analytics: what time of day works best for communication, which platforms drive revenue, what messaging resonates. When something isn’t working, the flat organizational structure allows immediate course correction without layers of approval.
Building customer loyalty in low-frequency categories
Unlike athletic wear, where customers purchase multiple items throughout the year, fine jewelry presents unique retention challenges. Natalie’s solution centers on radical personalization: “Make it as personal as possible. Know your name. Know what’s on your wish list. Know who your friends are, know what events you attend, so that every time I speak to you, I can draw back on any of those things,” Natalie says.
Genuinely caring and taking an interest in customers’ lives helps Natalie connect with them. “I’ve had conversations about people’s IVF journeys, receiving a new family member, the passing of somebody, or a divorce,” Natalie says. “When you center the other person and you’re really, really genuinely curious and that’s what you love to do—well, that’s authentic.” The strategy works because it transforms transactions into relationships. Brides who have extraordinary engagement ring experiences typically bring two or three friends into the brand, creating organic growth loops that no advertising can replicate.
Leveraging partnerships for authentic growth
Bluboho’s marketing strategy leans heavily on partnerships with other female founders and creators. This includes collaborations with Rising Women, Jillian Harris, Happy Pops, and more.
“All of those names … they’re all female founders as well. They own their own brand, and so bringing that to life through jewelry and in gold, it’s like alchemy—feels amazing for everybody,” Natalie says. Finding genuine partnerships rather than forced promotional content can create especially compelling content for customers.
Making decisions quickly
One of Bluboho’s competitive advantages in retail expansion comes from its flat organizational structure. The team can make decisions quickly and have authentic leadership accessibility throughout the company. Natalie maintains an open-door policy where even part-time store employees have her phone number and can request coffee meetings.
“I meet with every single person we are interviewing—every single one. Whether it’s a store role or it’s an office role. I wanna meet you. I wanna know who you are,” Natalie explains.
Every customer touch point matters, so this approach builds trust and empowers front-line employees to make customer-focused decisions without layers of bureaucracy. Store managers can feel equipped to act quickly and efficiently at their locations, which is crucial to deliver the most personal, memorable experience.
As Bluboho prepares for expansion beyond six stores, it’s building systems that preserve the intimate customer experience while enabling growth. This includes leveraging AI for strategic insights—from identifying jewelry trends for 2026 to checking community zoning issues before signing leases.
Natalie’s leadership is a great reminder that the most powerful marketing remains unchanged: Creating experiences so meaningful customers can’t help but share them with people they love. Catch her full interview on the Shopify Masters YouTube channel to learn all of the tools that make Bluboho’s retail domination possible.
