SPEAKER_02 0:23

It's a combination of art and science. And so, you know, there is a process to follow. There is a best in class way of doing, you know, of

Art And Science Of CS

SPEAKER_02 0:31

securing the renewal, for example. Um, that said, we don't need to take the soul and the person out of it, especially in the customer success world.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Once again, welcome to the Digital Customer Experience Podcast with me, Alex Turkovich. So glad you could join us here today and every week as we explore

Welcome And Show Mission

SPEAKER_00 0:48

how digital can help enhance the customer and employee experience. My goal is to share what my guests and I have learned over the years so that you can get the insights that you need to evolve your own digital programs. If you'd like more info, need to get in touch, or sign up for the weekly companion newsletter that has additional articles and resources in it, go to digitalcustomer success.com. For now, let's get started. Hello, welcome back to the Digital CX Podcast, the show where we talk about all things digital in CX. My name is Alex Turkovich, and you're listening to episode 101 of the show. I have an awesome guest lined up for you today in Stephanie Blair, who is the founder of Know and Flourish and is a fantastic CS executive leadership coach. As the name would denote, or as the title would denote, we uh we do talk a lot about career-related things and uh you know, really how to supercharge your you know career growth. Uh so it was a great conversation around that. But we also get into, of course, artificial intelligence and CS and utilizing those things, kind of the digital evolution of customer success, um, and even you know what it's uh what it's like breaking into CS from you know other areas of of the business. So I think you'll you'll super enjoy that conversation. Um before we get into that though, I do have a couple of housekeeping items for you. First off, um, if you're listening to this kind of quote unquote live in February,

Housekeeping And Events

SPEAKER_00 2:15

later this month, uh, I think it's the 24th and 25th of February 2026, I'll be co-chairing the CS Summit in Austin, Texas. It's uh the event put on by the Customer Success Collective around the country. And later in February is the Austin event. I'm co-chairing it with Keishla Caesar Jones. Uh, if you're in the Austin area or uh you feel like coming to Austin for an awesome uh CS event, I would highly encourage you to um go check that out now. Um, it's gonna be two days of a bunch of really smart people talking about a bunch of really great things in CS. So I've you know I've seen the speaker list. You can go check it out on the website as well, which is linked down in the description. But there's some really great topics there. So I'd highly encourage you guys to check that out. Um, second item uh for our housekeeping is the Digital CX masterclass. This is a course I have been working on for quite a while. Those of you who heard me talk about it kind of late last year are probably like, hey, where when's this thing coming? And the answer to that is relatively soon. I've been working feverishly on the content. This is going to be basically a six to eight week masterclass slash boot camp meant for uh you know established uh digital CX leaders or those who want to get into digital CX, um, and and really is aimed to give you kind of a jump start on everything that I've learned over the past couple of decades, kind of condensed into eight eight weeks. So it's it's it's meant to fast track you into uh you know a uh a mature and well-educated digital CX leader. Uh in that masterclass, we get through, of course, you know, what is digital CX and and you know, those kinds of things, the the foundational elements of it. But also, you know, what do your typical org charts look like for digital CX? Um what kind of technology is involved, how to integrate artificial intelligence into the whole thing, um, how to look for vendors, how to write an RFP, how to structure the program, how to communicate to your executive leadership team about the the program. It's it's really meant to be kind of an end-to-end build your digital CX um motion. And you know, at the end of that six to eight weeks, hopefully you'll walk away with basically a full plan for what you want to do in your own business. So highly encourage you guys to check that out. I do have a wait list that's live on the website if you want the latest on uh when it launches, and maybe you can be part of the first cohort of students. Uh, that wait list is going to be at digitalcustomer success.com forward slash masterclass. Uh, you can check that out there. So without further delay, here's my conversation with Stephanie Blair. I hope you enjoy it because I sure did. Hi, Stephanie. Hi, Alex.

Masterclass For Digital CX

SPEAKER_00 5:00

We're saying hi a

Meet Guest Stephanie Blair

SPEAKER_00 5:01

lot because we just said hi and now we're saying hi again on the podcast. But that's how it goes. A little behind the scenes. Welcome to the show. I'm really happy to have you. And uh, we started talking about this like a hot minute ago. So um glad we're finally doing it.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Same here. Good to be here.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

We obviously have quite a few mutuals, and we have one mutual in particular that's kind of key to this story. But do you want to um talk a little bit about what you do and and who you are and um you know, especially Know and Flourish? I want to know a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Founder and CEO of Know and Flourish. It's a professional growth advisory. So be it through coaching, training, or advisory services,

Stephanie’s Path And CS Roots

SPEAKER_02 5:40

we help companies at critical growth inflections and the leaders that run them. My background started in hybrid sales roles back in the day of digital transformation and advertising. Um, but then I quickly found my footing for nearly a decade in customer success lanes, both as an individual contributor and as a VP of customer success, ultimately at a firm called eMarketer, where I ran about two-thirds of the accounts and the team that supported them. So a lot to bring to the table. CS is my favorite part of the sales go to market final. Yes, the equation often overlooked, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Totally. Yeah. And, you know, it's it's dumb because that's where all your renewals happen.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

So Yeah, we'll we'll get into that, I'm sure. Um but I do, you know, I only coach leaders who are responsible for growth. So that could be a founder, but that oftentimes is someone responsible for that go-to-market engine. And increasingly I am working with CCOs or VPs of customer success, which as we know mean different things at different companies, which we'll get into. Um, but I'm eager to dive in, especially to bring a career-oriented approach to this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Totally. Yeah. One of the one of the things that um I think this show has evolved into a little bit over the years is is um you know, really getting out of the strategic and a little bit more in the tactical and and also like really very much focused on the individual contributor as much as the leader. So that's why I think our conversation is going to be cool because that's a big part of what you focus on, is not just like how to do this stuff, but the career building aspect of it, which is super cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah. Um do you want to talk about how we know each other?

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Well, um, we we share a mutual connection as you discussed. And actually, two. A couple of your yeah, one of your former guests um happens to be um connected in my family circle, but my our more immediate connection is my husband, Matt Carinante. Yeah. Um that's my married name.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Who I've affectionately called Carante for the last 30 years of my life.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

And and that reason is why I kept Blair as my professional name because nobody can spell Carinante.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

No. Or saying it. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, your your your husband and I went to college together, to music school together. Uh it's fun times, good times.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

And uh musicians, you keep your passion, but you found another path.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

That's right. Yeah, exactly. We had we had kind of a backup plan, but we didn't know what that backup plan was until the backup plan needed was needed.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Um this talks about the power of relationships, though. How far back is that, right? We don't want to date you, but it's been a couple decades.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Yeah. It's been more than a couple of decades, let's put it that way. But uh yeah, it's just so cool to have um, you know, those kind of connections come in. And I think that kind of speaks to the customer success community too, just because you know, I think it takes a certain kind of person to operate successfully in customer success. And, you know, those people tend to find each other, which is cool.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, there's a real power of relationships, that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Yeah, yeah, there definitely is. Well, look, I you know, I know obviously this is the you know, the digital CX show. We talk a lot about digital strategies and automation and of course artificial intelligence. And I don't know that we're gonna spend much time on that

Relationships And CS Culture

SPEAKER_00 9:20

specifically today, just because I think A, it's been well explored, but B, you know, I think with with you on the show, it's a really good opportunity to spend some time talking about you know, people carving a niche out for themselves within an organization and enabling, you know, their own growth and having you know good conversations with their leadership team and and also for leaders, you know, how you take some of the strategies we talk about on the show and and you know use them for your own kind of career growth and career pathing and things like that. And and and from our conversation, it's very obvious that you're super passionate about those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

For sure. And I think partly it was what I lived through. I I joined a company at a critical growth moment in account management, and we were sitting back, you know, receiving Fortune 500 companies contracts

Today’s Focus: Careers Over Tools

SPEAKER_02 10:15

for seats for a SaaS research uh product. And uh there was another gal on the team and I, and we thought, hey, we could be doing so much more with these companies. How can we bring a hunter or proactive expansive lens to this company at this moment? And we really defined the enterprise path. Um, and so you know, each step of the way, I was pitching new roles as the business grew, just really trying to meet the moment they were in. Um and I think a lot of people are surprised that you can grow a career that way.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

You can do that.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Yeah, right company, right time, sure. But um, you know, I always tell people think about your impact and and match the moment that you're in and take things on beyond the scope on paper, right? Um, experimentation is key too.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Well, there's a mind there's a mindset element of it because I think there's a lot of people who up kind of operate under the mindset of, well, this is what they're paying me for. This is the job description. Okay. That's one way to do it, you know?

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Well, in this competitive landscape, I I would advise you to think expansively beyond that and have some fun. I mean, listen, there is a point of burnout, um, especially among women or or those in these sorts of CS seats where you you do, you're good at what you do, you take on more and more, and then ultimately you have too much on your plate and nothing really to speak of in terms of direct correlation or results. And so we're not we're not suggesting that. Um to strategically, you know, bolt on a new way of doing things, um, you know, pilot something that can then be scaled to the rest of your group. These are all great opportunities to think as a leader if you're in an IC seat uh without being mandated to do that.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

There's there the this is kind of where the digital thing intersects a little bit because um there's this really amazing proliferation um of tools and um technology that enable kind of anybody to do amazing things with technology almost without operations permission or whatever. Like you can just go build stuff, which is cool. Um, a case in point is um one of the CSMs on my team,

Create Opportunity Beyond The Job Spec

SPEAKER_00 12:33

you know, has had been using this kind of spreadsheet renewal calculator situation, and she took that and um you know, vibe coded a web app for it. And um how amazing. That is it's such a cool thing because it didn't take a lot of time to do. It wasn't like a massive distraction from her day job. It's a tool that you know provides massive value, but then to your point, like it it also kind of allowed her to put her name on it. And I think that's the kind of stuff that we're talking about. Like you, you know, you do your gig, but then you keep your eyes open for those opportunities where you can like do something about a problem, whether it be a custom GPT or a vibe coded app or a you know, some kind of thing that doesn't need a whole lot of resources and maybe isn't even dependent on data security and all that kind of stuff that we always run into, but like things that you can just pick up and do.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Yeah, that's certainly a mindset thing, and good on her for just seeing an opportunity, seizing it, and um, but it speaks to your leadership, it speaks to your culture, right? And I think more companies need to find ways to allow experimentation safely and encourage that because the great great ideas can come from many different pockets of the business.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

In in in our kind of initial conversation, we talked kind of at length about what it's like to or or what's involved in in creating those kinds of identities for yourself. And I think that's something that you spend a lot of time coaching, um coaching your your clients on and and you know, whether it be leaders or ICs, I think it's similar concepts. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Certainly. Well, it it starts with self-awareness and again moving beyond that job description. But I always encourage people to say, you know, ask themselves, what do you do better than 99% of other people? Because a job is a job and anybody could slot in and do it, but but what's that what's that extra something that you're bringing to the table? Even if it's the soft stuff, the the curiosity, the you know, the willingness to try and fail and try again. Um, it's a combination of not just what you can do technically, strategically, but how you do it and really owning that as part of your identity. I think people in you know corporate roles or with certain titles sometimes neglect to recognize that they can bring some of their unique self to that to that party.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

I agree. Have you ever read this book called Um Orbiting a Giant Hairball? Do you know about this book? I I Oh, I told we talked about it, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02 16:45

We talked about it. It's sitting right here.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Did you read it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

Don't quiz on it.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

It's such a good cut.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

No, I won't quiz

Safe Experimentation And Culture

SPEAKER_00 16:52

you on it. Um it's it's one of those things that I bring up with uh quite a few people when we when this kind of topic comes up because it's basically you know, a uh I suppose you could call it a memoir, but it's about this person who worked in Hallmark Corporate and uh created a name for himself just by you know doing things that needed to be done and creating an identity around that. And I think um, you know, so so much of what gets lost in the shuffle when you're in the nine to five grind, in the W-2 grind, is that sense of self. You know, you you kind of maybe conform to the culture or you conform to like the standard way of doing things. And I think I think that's kind of a dangerous place to be because you get complacent and you get kind of cozy and it it doesn't leave a lot of room for your own personality, your own interests to come into play. Because I think if you're you know, if you're really working on your career and climbing career ladder, I think a big part of what a lot of people overlook is interjecting their own interests and passions into the whole thing. I I'm sure you've had a lot of direct experience with that, but but uh do you agree that that's often overlooked?

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Yeah, you know, I wear two hats on this topic because I'm a big believer in, you know, sales, customer success. It's

Building A Distinct Professional Identity

SPEAKER_02 18:25

a combination of art and science. And so, you know, there is a process to follow. There is a best in class way of doing, you know, of securing the renewal, for example. Um, that said, we don't need to take the soul and the person out of it, especially in the customer success world. Um, I remember coaching this fantastic leader. She was a mid-market CS leader who really was shining in her one um company. That company got acquired, she looked for a new opportunity. And after about a year in that new seat, she just said, I gotta get out of CS. I hate it, it's soul crushing. Um, and we did an assessment that I tend to use that's a strength-based assessment. And creativity was one of her top two out of nine uh attributes. And she identify we identified it's not that you don't want to be in CS, it's that your culture is so rigid, it is so um oriented towards process and operational flow, which you know there's a place for, but it just, you know, they they lost out on her talent because there was no room for personality experimentation or her own, you know, instinct really. It was just sort of robotic. Um, so you know, from a C-suite perspective, you want, you know, order and and you want to know that the bar is being met, but at the same time, people are people, and um we don't want to stifle those great ideas.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah, because you're just gonna create a revolving door, you know, that way. Like if you if, you know, it in in essence. I mean, it takes us, it takes a certain kind of person to have longevity in those kinds of situations where it's just kind of stifling and rinse and repeat over again. Yeah, exactly. I think us as human nature don't necessarily gravitate towards that.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

That said, I'm sure there's people listening to this show right now that are like, yeah, I just want the same thing every day and just go home and everybody everybody's wired differently, but but even then there's an opportunity to, you know, inform product or um you know to make the handoff between your org and the new business side of things smoother, right? There's there's always a chance to expand and and stretch what you do and bring your expertise a little to the left, a little to the right of your lane. Um, and that's actually how you know I coach a lot of people who want to evolve their work. Um, you know, maybe in their CS org, it is more

Process Without Losing The Human

SPEAKER_02 20:47

about service and less about expansion, but they want to get um, you know, they want to build their skills out and evolve in that direction. Well, how do you do that? Um, you know, a new company might not necessarily take a risk on you if you have zero experience there. So how do you expand your lane in a in a sense to take take on some of those responsibilities, even if it's not, you know, directly in your job spec?

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Totally. Well, and that's where CS is actually really well positioned for um career growth in essence, because I think I think some folks are under the impression that it's like, well, you're a CSM or you're manager of CSMs and or maybe operations. But in reality, you have so many connections into sales, into product, into operations, into you know, wherever it may be that you know, the fostering that kind of collaboration, cross-functional collaboration doesn't just help the renewal, it doesn't just help CS flourish, but it helps you from a career perspective to maybe explore things. Um if you want to become a product manager, I'm sure there's shadowing opportunities you know available in your CS gig to go do that.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah, or you can, you know, be the person who facilitates that introduction for the project team, the product team rather, um, and and you know, just be that glue. Um so I think there's a huge amount of opportunity both within your current company, but then also, you know, to expand what CS can mean at other firms. Um I'm actually curious about what you're seeing as the trend now. Um, like you said, there's the CSM traditional track, but to me, CS, the broader bucket, can can come in so many different shapes and sizes. So, you know, what are you observing from the design standpoint of the function?

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Um that's a great question. Um I think there's a big proliferation of people who are much more focused on the operations side and digital

Avoiding Rigidity And Burnout

SPEAKER_00 22:50

element of customer success and incorporating technology into that human human flow. Um there are, you know, I belong to a couple of communities that are very digital focused, and the the the number of roles I'm seeing kind of posted in those communities, specifically focused on AI, automations, um, you know, digital program management. The digital program manager has been a role that has just exploded in the last four or five, six years. Maybe not six. Super exciting. The thing that's evolved on the leadership perspective the most, in my opinion, is the thought process behind digital. Because even a few years ago, digital meant okay, we have some junior CSMs who are our digital CSMs and they manage the smallest accounts, kind of like a BDR um notion. And I think that. That's starting that has already shifted a bit to this model where you know you have these program managers who are managing essentially the digital customer experience product, so to speak. So it's kind of like you know, this product management type situation where you know they're analyzing that exp that experience, building automations around it, you know, installing artificial intelligence, large language models to help facilitate the customer experience and and really almost you know managing that digital relationship while at the same time

Expanding Your Lane Strategically

SPEAKER_00 24:31

and really almost 50-50, building the the digital infrastructure that helps the humans have more human conversations, which I think is the coolest thing ever, because you know it it used to be, and in a lot of organizations still is where your customer success managers are ripping their hair out because between all the meetings, they don't have time to prep for the meetings and create the decks and get all the data together. And we've all been there, right? So like the I think a huge feather in the cap of a really mature digital organization is that they're pouring as much resources into preparing their humans for value add conversations as they are into the actual customer digital motion.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

So interesting. I I love I love this moment, and I think you know, with with this proliferate proliferation of tools, it humans need to be at the center. It was like when programmatic first came out. You can't just automate everything, you're always going to need that human component. And you know, I I I saw something yesterday on LinkedIn. It was like the a prediction for 2026, and they said uh one of the top roles that you can anticipate is head of in real life, you know, and it's just like whatever that means to your organization, but but finding that intersection between digital enablement and and the human experience, I think, is my way of thinking.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

I'm so happy that the conversation is starting to shift away from AI is gonna take my job. Because I mean, you know, unless you're like a data analyst crunching numbers all day, it might. But like if you are a customer success manager owning renewals, you know, and relating to maintaining a human-to-human relationship,

Digital CS Roles And AI Shift

SPEAKER_00 26:19

you're not going anywhere. If anything, your job's hopefully getting easier, and hopefully your leadership team is aligned around easier doesn't necessarily mean you can cover more accounts, right? Um it's an evolution. And I think that you know, we're starting to also see this kind of um saturation point of artificial intelligence because everything has AI now, you know. Um and people are kind of getting a little weary and over it to where maybe we've overroted rotated a little bit and we can, you know, come back to Earth a little bit and say, yeah, these are great tools. Let's use them and carry on.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

Yeah. Bit of a reset. Hit the reset button a bit. Um, which which evolves us into, I think, a topic I wanted to bring up, which is when people are trying to rethink their careers. I know that was a topic that we discussed. You know, I think there's um a misconception that if you're going to pivot, you know, let's say out of marketing and into CS, that you totally have to restart. Um, or even if you're at, you know, one sort of CS motion and you want to expand and go elsewhere and it looks a little different or more multifaceted, let's say, um, you know, we don't have to throw out what we've done before, but it is, you know, the candidate is responsible for creating that narrative and helping the business understand what is transferable and and what is the potential impact that they can have. So I work with a lot of people who are like, I don't know if I can, you know, carry the sales bag anymore. And, you know, those people over there, they seem like they're having a lot of fun on the CS side, but they don't quite know how to make the leap. And I'm here to say like the water's just fine, but you have to help people understand how to think about you because you don't fit squarely in a box. And as we know, in this like recruiter-led world, um, that's what they they want to see. So you really have to be bold and um, you know, control that narrative.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

I mean, it's so saturated, you know, the especially in CS, the the market is so saturated with amazing, amazing talent. Um, you know, that it it it can be I don't to your point, I don't think it's impossible. And in fact, your strengths sometimes are the things

Program Managers As CX Product Owners

SPEAKER_00 28:42

that you learn outside of customer success management. Um I think that you know there's a lot to be said for a really tenured CSM who knows how to foster a relationship and those kinds of things, right? But I think it just depends on what your goals are. Like if your goals are hardcore product adoption and you know, you really want to drive usage of your product and things like that, you may want to pull a marketer in to help, you know, kind of have that marketing-y feel to your communications and whatnot. If if your goal is hardcore um, you know, expansion and upsell motions as part of renewals and those kinds of things, yeah. Somebody with a strong sales background knows how to have those conversations, you know. There's a different formula for every business, obviously. You know, I think it depends on what your goals are.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Yeah, I love that. And and just as a candidate, being clear on extracting what those goals are, right? Because a lot of times the paper version of the spec doesn't fully capture the moment of the business and the impact that you can have. So you've got a two-way interview street, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Oh, totally. And you know, the thing I've learned, I think, over the last couple of decades is like the interview uh okay, great. Let's check some boxes, let's make sure kind of you're a human and you can. Yeah. But I think where it's obvious you have a really good hiring manager is the person who can kind of tease out what that experience is gonna look like when that person is in seat without like adding layers and layers and time to the interview process. Like, you know, those really effective, practical kind of interviews that that give you an insight into what a customer experience will experience with that person. Have you have you kind of seen some cool practical or interview type things that have uh have in your mind been really effective?

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Yeah, I mean, there's two ends of this spectrum. There's still the traditional 30, 60, 90 day, you know, um process, and how how would you think? But I think increasingly they're taking a true customer problem or a true business problem and wanting to understand how people think, especially at the leadership level, um, more at the IC level, um, there are definitely some interesting tools to see how they, you know, show up on camera,

Human-Centered Automation

SPEAKER_02 31:17

think, articulate themselves as a part of the process, because at the end of the day, a CSM is one of those first um, you know, it's like the face of the company. And so we want to make sure they're the company's well represented and um that there's diversity and all these good things. Um so I I still think most interview processes are broken um or have room for improvement, let's say, maybe in a kinder fashion. But um, you know, we're we're we're trending, especially if if some real dialogue can happen. I'm always encouraging people, if I'm coaching them on interview strategy, you know, you know, to ask the follow-up question. It's like, well, why are you asking so much about churn? You know, what's what's really going on here? Um, and and extract more detail than what you would get in a typical volley back and forth question-answer, question-answer. Um, and psychologically, it also makes it, you know, I think a little more enjoyable for the person interviewing. We've all been in interviewing seats where our schedule slammed, you know, dozens of meetings a week, and now you've got to interview for five head open heads, and it's hard. And so the more you can make it um, you know, take the alleviate the burden from the interviewer, I think the more success you'll have and you'll stand out from the crowd.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Yeah. I think for me, one of the one of the um one of the most effective tools in the interview process has always been the peer panel interview. Because if you're structuring it well and you're, you know, giving specific panelists like an angle and and and whatnot, I think what you get out of those are like really good, candid conversations where also the team feels bought in on the decision and um you know, and and you get to see what that person is kind of gonna be like with the team.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

Right. And I think especially for CX roles, like we're you're going to have multiple stakeholders. You know, you need to understand who is who's in each seat, what do they want to understand, what what are what are their unique pain points. Um,

Resetting AI Hype

SPEAKER_02 33:25

I think you have to though as a business prep or you know, as the CRO or whoever is in charge of the the the org, you need to make sure people know what role they are playing on the on that panel. Um and and and also please, please, please, let's bring back the thank you note. I I I can't tell you how many you were in a customer interviewing for a customer facing role, and there's no 20, you know, it shouldn't even be 24-hour follow-up. There should be something thoughtful, drawing from the actual conversation. I don't know where we lost this, but um please, 2026, let's bring it back.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

You know, no matter how deeper I get into the digital realm, whether it's customer success, whether it's interviewing, whether it's just being a human, the deeper I get into it, the closer I get to the handwritten note. It's a bizarre thing, and I love it because, you know, there is there is something like really tangible and um meaningful about somebody taking the

Career Pivots And Transferable Skills

SPEAKER_00 34:27

time. And sure, an email is fine too, but like there's something tangible about somebody taking five minutes, especially in today's world, about just writing a thank you note or writing something, you know, that it means something.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Yeah, and you don't even have to have good handwriting. My friends joke that I'm the person who gives them a card for every occasion, but I have horrible handwriting. So please chicken scratch. Take your time with it. Uh it's more of the, you know, the the sentiment of it.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

It's the intent. I, you know, I don't, you know, I don't remember what you wrote, but the I remember that you wrote me. One of the things that I always want to ask my guests though, kind of as I round out conversations, is first and foremost, I would love to know what's in your content diet and what kind of things are you paying attention to to keep yourself abreast of the industry or leadership or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Sure. Well, first and foremost, I practice what I preach and I really try to stay engaged with my network. So, you know, depending on the month and how many, you know, trips or you know, keynotes or engagements I'm working on, um, you know, the number might dial up or down, but I'm always trying to connect one-to-one coffee meetings, virtual Zoom meetings, um, and just you know, stay in touch with people who I admire who have a different vantage point on the ecosystem than me. Um, and I'm constantly, you know, admiring them. Um, there are a couple podcasts for those in seats such as this audience. Um, it's a little broader, but I love the Revenue Leadership Podcast, which is um, I'm sure you're familiar with the Kyle Norton. Um, that's for really anyone in revenue, so not exclusive to CX, but really great stuff on there. I'm part of the pavilion community. I've been a member now for several years, and I just find, you know, an immense amount of you know insight and inspiration there. Um, and increasingly, I'm thinking from a growth standpoint, I think a lot about what CEOs are thinking about and C-suite podcasts, uh, C-suite strategies with Stacey Sussman, a podcast. Um, this another one in my rotation. Um, you know, we have to also have some fun, a little bit of true crime here and there. Yeah, and um, yeah, definitely an avid reader. So um, if you're not familiar with Blinkist, it's a great way to get the short, you know, the short answer, the you know, the quick view on something before determining if it's worth your time.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

I get I I almost get FOMO with Blinkist. Like I I um I was an avid Blinker. Is that a is that a thing? Um for a while. And then, you know, I actually read a few of the books that I got that that I went through on Blinkist, and I was like, man,

Hiring For Outcomes And Fit

SPEAKER_00 37:15

you know, I like it's great, but if I highly encourage like anyone who is actively using Blinkist, if something resonates with you, go actually read the book because it's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

There's just so much out there and new stuff coming all the time. So it's a great way to stay on top of things. Yeah, and then you see yourself wanting to highlight or something, you know, go go and support those authors for sure. Yeah, uh big library fan here too.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Yeah, oh totally, yeah, absolutely. Um, I love that you're paying attention to things that are kind of maybe outside of CS, like a lot of what a lot of people bring to that list are like you know, CS podcasts and all that kind of stuff. And while that's amazing, I think um, you know, you need to be in touch with what the C suite needs. You need to be in touch with, you know, revenue and best practices there and how to really drive that kind of stuff. And I think that transcends, you know, into whatever, uh whatever you're doing. Um, sure.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

I mean the the C-suite stuff is what connects you to the business objectives, which is always gonna make your case that much stronger. Um, and then in terms of the rest of the GDM funnel, you know, machine, um, it just helps you

Practical Interviews And Panels

SPEAKER_02 38:30

be a better peer and and sort of bridge those gaps um internally or at your next company.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Take your blinders off.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

For sure. Yeah. So find your niche, but also, you know, be open.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Yeah. So listen, where can people find you, engage with you? LinkedIn, obviously, but um, you know, you've you've got good stuff going with knowing flourish. So um where can people engage?

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Sure. Um, I'm very active on LinkedIn. I also have a substack called Grow and Flourish. Um once or twice a month. I'm posting on practical career things, leadership tips, and growth strategies. I also have a fun music Monday podcast post where I will um you know share something that will motivate your week. So if you're into music like Alex and I are, have have have a look.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

Yeah, and Carante. Um awesome talking to you. Thank you for taking the time. It I really appreciate it. And I'm so glad that um, you know, we connected the way that we did. Super cool.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Thank you, Alex. So good to be here.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Thank you for joining me for this episode of the Digital CX Podcast. If you like what we're doing, uh consider leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. If you're watching on YouTube, leave a comment down below. It really helps us to grow and provide value to a broader audience and get more information about the show and some of the other things that we're doing at digitalcustomersuccess.com. I'm Alex Turgovic. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you next week.