- Time To EVOLVE
- Posts
- What 7 years in China taught her about selling on TikTok
What 7 years in China taught her about selling on TikTok
And why most European brands are still trying to sell sashimi with a butter knife.
EVOLVE Commerce Club
July 06, 2025
Welcome to This Week’s dispatch
In this week’s edition:
The week ahead
What 7 years in China taught her about selling on Tiktok
Community Round Up
Sponsored by
Braze is a customer engagement platform used by the world’s most loved brands from global retailers to fast-growing disruptors to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with their audiences. What makes Braze unique is its ability to combine real-time data, cross-channel messaging, and human creativity to deliver truly personalized experiences at scale. We believe commerce is evolving toward connection, not just conversion.
Braze shares this vision. Their technology empowers brands to engage customers with authenticity and intelligence values that mirror the ethos of our community.
Now onto this week’s newsletter
🗓️ The Week Ahead
Building Revenue Engines in B2B Tech Across Markets Paulo Felix | Paulo Felix Client & Services Director @ FCamara Europe What we will explore 🔹FCamara Expansion 🔹Channel Partners & Enterprise Sales in international markets? 🔹Sales Process 🔹 Growing across markets: When: 09/07 - 3 pm CET |
What 7 years in China taught her about selling on Tiktok?
Imagine learning to cook in a pressure kitchen
You’re in a country where commerce moves fast. New platforms are launched, tested, iterated weekly. Creators don’t wait for strategy decks. They just start. Some fail. Others crack a formula. And when they do, they go all in.
That’s the environment Carmen Muley worked in for 7 years in China.
She went there to study. Ended up modeling. Started livestreaming before “live commerce” was a thing. And watched a $500B+ market evolve from the inside out.
Then life brought her back to Spain.
But she didn’t return with a suitcase. She returned with a mindset most European companies didn’t understand.
In China, they try first and refine later.
In Europe, we want everything perfect before we begin.
That quote stuck with me.
Because it explains what makes live commerce so difficult to implement here.
It’s not just about tech. Or budget. Or even talent.
It’s about how Europeans tend to approach risk. And how we think about storytelling in real time.
Selling live is more like improv theatre than a brand campaign
You need a hook. You need rhythm. You need trust.
Carmen told us how most brands get it wrong:
They go live with no plan. No audience. No offer.
Then wonder why they didn’t convert.”
In China, livestreams are structured like entertainment formats.
Real people. Real urgency. Offers you won’t get later.
In Spain, it’s often the founder or the shop assistant who goes live. Not an influencer. That human connection drives sales.
“After conversation comes conversion.”
Another line from Carmen I won’t forget.
The numbers? They back it up.
🛍️ TikTok Shop is expected to generate €500 million in Spain this year.
📲 Spain has 19 million users and is growing faster than the UK.
💸 Live shopping conversion rates reach 30–50%, compared to 1–2% for typical e-commerce.
And yet most brands are still hesitant.
They're concerned about brand perception.
About how they'll look if the lighting isn't perfect.
Or if the script isn’t polished.
But the audience isn’t looking for polish.
They're looking for presence.
Carmen’s story reminded me:
What matters isn’t just the platform.
It’s your willingness to experiment before the strategy is obvious.
And that mindset is what we are building at EVOLVE
a global peer group for senior professionals who want to grow beyond borders.
We’re present in 43+ markets, offering curated matchmaking, expert-led sessions, and intimate in-person gatherings with very cool people like Carmen, and others.
It’s where founders, executives, and advisors stay sharp, find partners, and open doors without the noise of traditional networks.
Not a job board. Not a vendor playground.
A space for strategic minds to compound long-term value.
If you're curious where this is all headed join us.
Until next week,
Carlos
Founder – EVOLVE Commerce Club
Evolve for Senior Commerce Professionals
What We’re Watching
🌍 Future of Work & Global Careers
1. AI could replace half of all white‑collar jobs,” warns Ford CEO
At the Aspen Ideas Festival, Ford CEO Jim Farley issued a stark warning: AI could replace up to 50% of white-collar workers. He emphasized the need for societal planning to support displaced talent, as automation accelerates in administrative and billing roles
Source: News.com.au
2. Microsoft cuts 9,000 roles amid AI push
Microsoft announced its third major layoff round this year—4% of its global workforce (~9,000 jobs)—as it pivots more aggressively towards AI-driven operations. Cuts are focused in sales and marketing, with further changes expected at Xbox
Source: India Times
3. Graduate hiring drops 33% in the UK
Indeed data reveals a 33% decline in entry-level job postings for recent UK graduates compared to last year. Automation in recruitment and AI execution of junior tasks is “eclipsing young talent,”
Source: The Guardian
Commerce & International Partnerships
1. EU–India deepen trilateral cooperation
In June, the EU and India entered a new development phase, launching a bilateral development cooperation dialogue with a global impact focus—but a broader trilateral framework taking shape .
2. EU rolls out International Digital Strategy
The EU unveiled an International Digital Strategy to deepen cybersecurity, AI governance, and digital-trade partnerships with Latin America, Asia, and Africa—signaling stronger global tech alignment .
Source: Telefonica
In Partnership with
Airmeet stands out by designing for connection in a sea of platforms chasing leads. It’s used by companies like Walmart, Accenture, and the University of Toronto, yet it works just as well for emerging communities like ours. We’ve trusted and partnered with Airmeet to run 60+ expert sessions. It’s reliable, intuitive, and built for human interaction, not just metrics.
If you host events where relationships matter more than registrations, Airmeet is worth a closer look
Some of our club members currently lead or have led world leading commerce organizations
Community Round Up
Evolve Expert Sessions
Expert Session #68 - Carmen Muley
Carmen Muley discusses the evolution and future of live commerce, particularly in the context of TikTok and social media platforms. She shares her journey from modelling to becoming a key player in live commerce, emphasising the importance of strategy, cultural differences in business practices, and the role of creators in driving sales. Carmen highlights the unique aspects of the Chinese live commerce model and how it contrasts with European approaches. The discussion also covers the TikTok Shop ecosystem, the challenges brands face in collaborating with creators, and the potential for high conversion rates in live shopping. Finally, Carmen shares insights on future trends in live commerce, including the integration of AI.
VOICES Podcast
#034 - “Democratizing Wealth in the MENA Region”
Mark Chahwan, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Sarwa, the Middle East’s leading investment platform, shares his inspiring journey from strategy consulting in Canada to building Sarwa from the ground up. Sarwa is a platform that’s transforming how people in the region invest in stocks, ETFs, and crypto.
Featured Member - Gustavo Valle
This week, we’re spotlighting a sharp perspective from EVOLVE member & EVOLVE Co-founder - Gustavo Valle.
The Pipeline Isn’t Broken. The Approach Is.
Everyone’s talking about weak pipelines.
“People just don’t want to buy anymore.”
But when’s the last time someone bought from you without knowing who you were?
The truth: people buy from people they trust.
Gustavo recently reminded us of something simple but powerful.
The pipeline follows the relationships. Not the other way around.
We’ve seen it inside EVOLVE:
The best opportunities don’t come from cold outreach.
They come from showing up—consistently.
Helping without pitching.
Sharing what’s actually working.
This is the new GTM motion.
It doesn’t look like sales.
It looks like conversations.
👀 Have something worth sharing?
If you’re exploring the future of commerce, procurement, AI or just have a sharp perspective grounded in real experience—we’d like to hear from you.
Our members include senior advisors, operators, and decision-makers across 43+ markets. They come to EVOLVE not for noise, but for signal.
If you want your ideas to reach the right people, reply to this newsletter or message us directly.
We’ll guide you from there.
From the Community
Events from our partners
Forum Ecommerce Brasil
Forum E-commerce Brasil is the largest digital commerce event in LATAM over 30,000 participants across three intense days.
It brings together the entire ecosystem: brands, retailers, tech players, and investors from across Brazil and the region.
This year, EVOLVE will be there.
We’re hosting a private dinner for 40 world-class founders, investors, and senior professionals shaping the future of commerce.
We have limited sponsorship opportunities available for the dinner.
Want to be part of it?
Let’s talk
Check our program
Time to Evolve
We now have an official map of our meetups for 2025:
London.
Berlin.
Copenhagen
Madrid.
São Paulo.
Cairo.
Bucharest.
Dubai.
Riyadh.
Each one is an invitation to step outside the silo and into real conversations with senior operators shaping the future of commerce.
If you're interested in partnering with EVOLVE, sharing your events, activating our community, or co-creating something with purpose
Click below to explore how we collaborate.
No noise. Just alignment.
Keep the conversation going in our WhatsApp group and Exclusive Mighty Networks community, that’s where real connections happen.
Make sure to follow our newsletter, where we highlight what’s shaping our club. In the coming months, we’ll be announcing new partnerships, events, meetups, and the opportunities our members are creating together.
