In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Debbie Kemunto Pearce, Founder at CartStars. Debbie spent years selling software she had never actually used, then built an invitation-only network where vendors can't buy their way in.

• How one honest conversation with peers during a software purchase exposed her blind spot and sparked the idea for CartStars

• Why members called the first dinners "first dates," and what that taught Debbie about trust

• The strict rules that keep CartStars honest: brand leaders contribute or leave, and vendors only enter by recommendation

• Why operators across CartStars have shifted from vendor ROI claims to retention, contribution margin, and incremental lift

• The traits Debbie sees in the most effective operators: constant learning, no ego, and caring you can't fake

• Why building is meant to be hard, and how giving your team "the bones" means letting them fail

👥 Meet the guest

Debbie Kemunto Pearce, Founder at CartStars

👥 Meet the guest

Aaron Schwartz, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Orita.ai

🎧 Chapters

[00:00:00] A Dollar, No Jacket: Debbie's Origin Story

[00:02:40] Not the Expert: Aaron's Founder Advantage

[00:06:29] Street Canvassing Taught Her to Love No

[00:12:09] Mutual Growth: Why Partnerships Felt Like Home

[00:14:05] The Software Purchase That Sparked CartStars

[00:17:17] Dinners vs Platforms: Trust Takes Time

[00:20:37] Executives, Introverts, and the Contribution Rule

[00:23:46] Retention, Margin, and the Incrementality Shift

[00:30:10] Golden Cart Awards: Making Great Operators Visible

[00:33:00] Too Many Rules? Why Trust Needs Guardrails

[00:36:21] You Can't Fake Caring: Traits of Top Operators

[00:41:57] Lean Team, Big Reach: Building Is Meant to Be Hard

[00:49:11] Aaron on Sharing Problems and Letting Go

[00:53:18] Give Your Team the Bones, Then Let Them Fail

🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast, where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing, by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.

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