Roytel
Montero
My career
in four phases.
From reporting on culture to creating branded content to directing editorial strategy for a cross-border ecommerce tool, each phase has one through line.
Culture Reporter
Forbes · Paper Magazine
Profiling the artists, designers, and entrepreneurs shaping the edges of culture, before they were mainstream.
Branded Storyteller
The Coveteur · PAPER Magazine · Derek Lam 10 Crosby · ATM by Anthony Thomas Melillo
Advertorials, brand copywriting, and editorial content for luxury and contemporary labels, translating brand identity into stories people actually wanted to read.
Content Designer
Y Media Labs
Building UX content strategy for Twitter, State Farm, Albertsons, and L'Oréal. Narrative-driven, research-backed, designed for results.
Editorial Director
Swap Commerce
Leading thought leadership content on global trade, ecommerce, and the policy shifts reshaping how brands sell across borders.
Making complex
ideas move.
At Swap Commerce, I translate the fast-moving world of global ecommerce: tariffs, regulations, cross-border logistics, into content that helps brands make smarter decisions. Research-led. Strategically framed. Built to convert.
5 Ecommerce Growth Strategies for the Age of Tariffs
Survey data from 100 ecommerce executives on how brands are navigating steep new tariff regimes, shifting supply chains, and the end of the de minimis era. Five strategies that are actually working right now.
Read Report ↗ Swap Commerce · 2025AI is the Future of Ecommerce: 6 Ways It's Powering Smarter Retail in 2025
What does AI actually look like inside a modern ecommerce operation? Survey of 100 ecommerce executives reveals six areas where AI is moving from buzzword to infrastructure, and which brands are pulling ahead.
Read Report ↗ Swap Commerce · 20252025 Guide to U.S. Sales Tax
A practical guide to one of the most fragmented tax systems on earth: 13,000+ jurisdictions, economic nexus laws triggered by growth alone, and the real cost of getting it wrong. Built for international brands scaling into the U.S.
Read Report ↗ Swap Commerce · 2025The Global Trade Playbook
A strategic field guide for ecommerce brands operating across borders: tariff exposure, GPSR compliance, de minimis changes, and seven proven strategies for protecting margins while expanding internationally.
Read Report ↗ Swap Commerce · 2025Christmas in July: A 5-Step Ecommerce Playbook
A seasonal strategy guide for ecommerce brands preparing their biggest commercial push of the year. Five steps to plan inventory, sharpen messaging, and build the kind of campaign momentum that converts well before the holiday rush.
Read Report ↗When narrative
becomes product.
At Y Media Labs, I applied a journalist's instincts to digital product, building content strategy and UX copy for platforms used by millions. Empathy-driven research. Culture-informed design.
Reporting from
the cutting edge.
Forbes
Q&A with Nadia Lee Cohen
How the British filmmaker re-imagined America through her lens.
↗Forbes
Raul Lopez & Luar
How the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist built a brand on the cutting edge.
↗Forbes
Dustin Pittman's Pop Archive
The photographer who built a historical record you've never seen.
↗Forbes
Love Watts & Digital Curation
The digital curator making contemporary art accessible to the masses.
↗Forbes
World of Wonder
How a small production company built its own world and a devoted global audience.
↗Forbes
Haptic Technology & Beats by Dre
The CEO developing technology that goes beyond sound. Technology you can feel.
↗Paper Magazine
Barragán at NYFW
Covering the designer turning New York Fashion Week inside out.
↗Paper Magazine
Cartier
On the house's enduring power and cultural resonance.
↗Paper Magazine
Marc Jacobs
The shoppable editorial pushing commerce into culture.
Content with
a point of view.
From original content franchises for Swap Commerce to editorial campaign concepts for Derek Lam 10 Crosby — this is what it looks like when brand strategy, cultural instinct, and copywriting work together.
Content Franchise · Swap Commerce · 2025
Top of the Flock
A recurring editorial franchise using unexpected cultural hooks to reinforce brand identity — reframing the pigeon as an unlikely but enduring fashion icon, threading JW Anderson's viral pigeon clutch through the broader language of metropolitan style.
View Post ↗Editorial Interview · Derek Lam 10 Crosby · Spring 2024
10x10: Robin “Fleurotica” Rose
I co-conceptualized 10x10, an editorial interview series using handwritten questionnaires to profile the dynamic women in the DL10C world.
View Interview ↗Editorial Interview · Derek Lam 10 Crosby · Pre-Fall 2024
10x10: Glorietta Reantaso
For Pre-Fall 2024, inspired by movement, I profiled dancer and artist Glorietta Reantaso — exploring how physicality and creative identity intersect with the season's editorial vision.
View Interview ↗