Introducing Ron Johnson: Our New Exclusive Keynote Speaker

We’re beyond excited to welcome Ron Johnson to the BigSpeak exclusive roster. When you think “disruptive retail,” you think Apple Stores. When you think “design meets mass retail,” you think Target’s signature collaborations. When you think culture built on empathy, you’ll be surprised at how often Ron Johnson’s philosophy is the engine.

From Concept to Empire: The Apple Store Story

Ron didn’t arrive in retail — he built it, from scratch. When Apple decided to do physical stores, they had no blueprint. Yet under his leadership, Apple Stores became the fastest retail concept ever to reach $1 billion in annual sales. His story is part courage, part bold intuition, part relentless customer obsession.

Innovation Through Intuition

In his headline presentation, Shop Different —The Untold Story and Timeless Lessons Behind Apple’s Most Unlikely Success, Ron argues that the most transformative ideas are born when we trust our imagination more than consensus. His stories include early “wild” experiments inside Apple, the leap to build experience-centric stores, and how he led teams to believe in the impossible. He combines strategic discipline with narrative impact.

Why Culture is the New Advantage

Ron also presents on Leading with Love: How a Culture Built on Kindness Creates Unbeatable Performance, flipping the script on leadership. In an era of AI, automation, and data overload, he posits: the only sustainable differentiator is how we make people feel. When employees feel valued, connected, and inspired, they naturally deliver better experiences. Ron models culture as the performance engine — not a “nice to have” afterthought.

Lessons That Stay Long After the Conference

• How to humanize innovation instead of making it cold and disconnected
• Why emotional insight—seeing customers and teams as humans, not stats—drives real change
• How to build a legacy, not just incremental improvement

If you’re planning your next conference, want a keynote with gravitas, or need a voice to challenge and inspire your leadership team, Ron Johnson delivers in stories, substance, and impact.

Book Ron Johnson Today –> https://www.bigspeak.com/speakers/ron-johnson/