Away

Nikki Malodonado leads Retail & CX Education at Away, focusing on retail learning, customer experience and team development. She has worked across Apple, Canada Goose, Casper and Parachute Home, specializing in coaching, leadership development, onboarding and building retail teams in digital and physical channels.

My professional journey has taken a few unexpected turns. I started my career in the music industry, working across marketing and public relations. After moving to New York City, I took a part-time role at Apple retail while building my career, and that experience completely changed how I viewed customer experience.

Before Apple, I never viewed retail as a career path. I saw it as selling products, but I quickly learned that great retail experiences are much more than transactions. It is about understanding customers, connecting product features to their needs and creating moments that can genuinely impact someone’s experience.

I spent six years at Apple, and that is where I began my learning and development career. Through Apple’s trainer and mentor programs, I started learning about coaching, feedback, personal development, onboarding and developing others. I also gained a deeper understanding of product knowledge and how training can influence the way teams engage with customers.

I often describe my time at Apple as my L&D university because it gave me the foundation for everything I have done since then.

After Apple, I took those experiences into other directto-consumer brands. At Canada Goose, I helped support the company’s move from a wholesale-focused business into retail. I worked on building product knowledge programs, onboarding processes and management training from the ground up.

Later, at Casper, I expanded my focus into customer experience. That role helped me understand how customer journeys change across different channels, from in-store experiences to online chat, phone interactions and other digital touchpoints. The goal was to create a consistent and thoughtful experience regardless of how customers engaged with the brand.

At Parachute Home, I continued expanding my work in learning and development by supporting teams across the organization, including executives, senior leaders, retail teams and customer experience groups. That experience showed me how development programs can influence individual growth and business performance.

Today at Away, my focus is bringing together everything I have learned about training, coaching, leadership development and customer experience to help retail teams create stronger connections with customers.

Developing Retail Talent

Over the years, I have seen a major change in how companies think about retail learning and development. Earlier in my career, training was often focused on processes, product knowledge and basic onboarding. There was less attention given to long-term career development and leadership growth.

AI is not meant to replace people. It should support them by improving efficiency and allowing teams to focus on creating meaningful human connections.

One major shift is organizations recognizing that strong retail teams need more than operational knowledge. Employees who are great sellers do not automatically become great managers without the right support and development.

Retail employees are the face of the brand. They influence customer relationships every day, yet they have often been one of the most overlooked groups when it comes to professional development.

I believe organizations that consistently invest in talent development are better positioned to adapt and grow. Developing people is not only an HR initiative. It is a competitive advantage that directly influences customer experience and long-term business performance. As e-commerce continues to make shopping easier, brands need to create reasons for customers to return to physical stores. That starts with developing people, building stronger leaders and creating opportunities for employees to grow.

Balancing AI and Coaching

AI is becoming an important part of learning and development, but many tools are still at an early stage. They create value through documentation, tracking progress and ongoing support. However, coaching is built on human connection. The most meaningful conversations happen when people feel comfortable being open, sharing challenges and receiving guidance from someone they trust.

AI should support coaching, not replace the conversation itself. Trust, vulnerability and meaningful development still depend on genuine human interaction.

I do not see AI replacing that relationship. Instead, I see it as a tool that can strengthen the coaching process.

The strongest model is combining human coaching with AI support. Human coaches can focus on important conversations, milestones and deeper development, while AI can support the work between those moments through reminders, notes, suggestions and accountability.

At Away, we have explored building customized coaching resources internally using generative AI tools. We have used tools such as Claude and Gemini to create coaching frameworks, progress trackers and resources based on our own development models. The goal is to use AI as a resource that supports coaching, not as the coach itself. The calculator did not replace the mathematician, and AI is not meant to replace people either. It is a resource that helps people become more effective.

Creating Better Experiences

The same principle applies to customer experience. Retail has always been about balancing efficiency with human connection. E-commerce has grown because it provides convenience and speed. However, as digital experiences become more common, customers continue to value genuine interactions and personalized experiences.

The biggest lesson from retail is that humans want humans. Customers value convenience, but they also value authentic interactions and meaningful connections. The opportunity is using technology to remove repetitive tasks while allowing employees to focus on relationship-building. Areas such as clienteling, customer support, repairs and warranty processes can benefit from technology that improves efficiency without removing the human element. The same applies internally. AI can help leaders spend less time on administrative tasks, such as documentation and note-taking, allowing them to be more present during coaching conversations.

Technology should create more opportunities for people to connect, not reduce those connections.

Preparing for What Comes Next

My biggest advice for organizations exploring AI is to start with pilots. Many companies move quickly because they are excited about new technology, but it is important to understand whether a tool truly solves a business need.

Organizations should resist adopting AI simply because it is new. Pilot solutions, gather feedback from employees and confirm that the technology genuinely solves a business problem before investing at scale.

Testing solutions and building confidence among teams are critical before scaling AI across an organization. The goal is ensuring teams trust the technology and see value in how it supports their work.

The future of retail learning will depend on balancing technology with human development. AI will continue to evolve, but successful organizations will still be built around trust, communication and strong leadership.