SkyPostal

Christie Rugh is a commercial growth strategist specializing in cross-border e-commerce, marketplace expansion and strategic partnerships. She helps businesses strengthen go-to-market strategies, scale sales, optimize CRM and lifecycle marketing, and expand into new markets through hands-on leadership and execution.

BUILDING TRUST ACROSS BORDERS 

I have spent more than 20 years in retail and e-commerce, from buying televisions at Circuit City to running the Sears marketplace, building a 10-country marketplace at Aeropost, and now leading sales and marketing at SkyPostal. The clearest lesson about trust across markets is that customers judge you on what happens after they buy.

At Aeropost, Barbados was underperforming against Trinidad, a market with similar shoppers buying similar products. The data showed people abandoning checkout. When we talked to people on the ground, we learned customs rarely get charged the full duty, so paying it up front felt like being overcharged. Barbados needed to switch to collecting duties after clearance, so customers paid exactly what customs charged.

Trust with partners works the same way. As a TV buyer, I never pushed vendors to the floor on price. If we both made money, they brought me the next deal first. Some of those relationships are still going 20 years later. 

PROVE THE MODEL SMALL

The Aeropost logistics network reached 32 countries, but every marketplace launch needed its own IT work. I scored each country on GMV potential, regulatory environment, infrastructure and competitive position, and then weighed that against the effort to launch. That set our order for the 10 markets.

My rule is to prove the model with the smallest footprint. I didn't hire anyone for the first few months. After that, I added people only as the business needed them, each with a clear reason and an expected return.

I also learned to question my own assumptions. Sellers had always asked me why we couldn't be more like Amazon, so I started by copying Amazon's taxonomy. It was far too big for us, and our integration partner told us so. Three of us spent three straight days rebuilding it. After that, I checked every remaining piece of the build for what we actually needed.

WHAT SELLERS SHOULD WATCH IN LATIN AMERICA

Landed cost is the conversion lever. Shoppers in Latin America and the Caribbean want to know the full price, duties included, before they buy. How duties are handled can matter as much as the product price.

Customs clearance is a hidden cost. I have seen sellers compare shipping quotes while one in five of their packages were stopped at the border, which means writing off the product, the shipping and the duties. A partner that clears reliably can be worth more than the lowest rate.

"Learn the whole journey,notjust your piece of it. My bestcommercial decisions came from understanding customs, fulfillment and checkout, not only campaigns."

U.S. brands still carry real pull. Buying from the States often feels like a special purchase. Sellers who truly localize language, currency and duty details, rather than just translating, will earn that business.

LEAD THE PERSON, NOT THE ROLE 

My CliftonStrengths lead with Arranger and Individualization, and that matches how I lead. At Aeropost, I grew my team from just me to 26 people across nine countries, and every one of them needed something different One hire, an SEO specialist in India, joined when we had no SEO at all, across two businesses and three languages. She was overwhelmed. Instead of deciding I had made the wrong hire, I spent 15 minutes with her every day—the start of my day and the end of hers. Within two months, she was running on her own.

I also flattened a team that had been very vertical. Anyone could come to me, and I wanted them to go to each other. Each day, I shared data showing someone how their work moved the numbers. Several people have followed me from Circuit City to Sears to Aeropost, and that means more to me than any title.

BE WILLING TO START OVER 

My career has gone from stores to online to marketplace to startup to logistics. Each move meant learning a new business, and that has been the most valuable part.

Learn the whole journey, not just your piece of it. My best commercial decisions came from understanding customs, fulfillment and checkout, not only campaigns.

Treat relationships as a career asset. Be honest when something isn't working, make sure both sides win, and stay in touch long after the deal closes.

Use AI every day, but challenge it. It makes you faster and smarter, but it still gets things wrong, and your experience is what catches that.

Finally, own your mistakes out loud. Every market I have entered has taught me something. The people who grow fastest learn from mistakes and keep going.