Wes Dudey spent his career designing customer journeys. Then a massive heart attack — six cardiac arrests, 55 shocks, a 1% survival odds — followed by kidney failure, put him inside a journey he didn't design.

In this first episode of CX Gurus, host Jess talks with Wes about what he learned as a patient that he never fully understood as a CX executive: what customer effort actually costs someone living it, not just measuring it.

This episode also marks Jess's own first public conversation about her kidney disease journey — making this less an interview and more two practitioners comparing notes from the other side of the counter.

Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@cxguruspodcast

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

In this episode of Contact Center Journeys, Fred Stacey sits down with John Coulter, SVP of Sales at Five Star Call Centers, to talk about developing future leaders in today's remote world — and how mentorship, networking, and staying connected keep our industry growing strong.

Timestamps / Chapters:

00:00 – Developing leaders in a remote world

02:30 – John's journey through the contact center space

08:10 – The challenges and opportunities of remote culture

14:00 – The importance of mentorship and finding your network

20:15 – Fred's key takeaways and closing thoughts

Hosted by: Fred Stacey

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Is customer service just a stepping stone, or can it be a meaningful, long-term career?

In this episode, Fred Stacey sits down with Nate Brown, Head of Education & Enablement at Metric Sherpa and co-founder of CX Accelerator, for an honest conversation about careers in customer experience, mentorship, leadership, and why CX still matters more than ever.

Nate shares his journey from frontline customer service roles to becoming one of the most respected voices in the CX community. Together, they unpack what makes customer experience a true competitive differentiator in a world where products can be copied, but loyalty cannot.

In this episode, we cover:

Contact Center Journeys exists to inspire the next generation of CX and contact center professionals by sharing real stories from people who built their careers in this space. There are no sales pitches, just honest conversations and lessons learned.

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

He walked into a random job fair with no plan, and walked out with a career that took him from answering phones to running contact centers across the globe, without a college degree.

In this episode of Contact Center Journeys, host Fred Stacey talks with Tyler Orrell about the unlikely path, the hard lessons along the way, and what keeps him up at night as AI reshapes the global contact center industry.

Tyler's story is exactly why this show exists: the contact center isn't a dead-end job — it's one of the best places to build a career.

Tyler Orrell — Konnect Media Solutions: www.konnectmediasolutions.com

Host Fred Stacey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredstaceyaincx/

About Contact Center Journeys

Contact Center Journeys shares the real stories of the people who built their careers in CX and contact centers — to inspire the next generation coming up. No pitches, no selling. Just the journeys. Hosted by Fred Stacey.

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Is AI transforming the contact center, or is the industry focused on the wrong things?

In this full episode of the Contact Center Journeys Podcast, Fred Stacey sits down with Bill Staikos, CEO & Managing Partner at Be Customer Led, to break down the real future of customer experience, AI, and the workforce.

Bill shares powerful insights on:

This is one of the most grounded, forward-looking CX conversations you'll hear this year.

About the Speakers

Fred Stacey — Host of Contact Center Journeys & CEO at Cloud Tech Gurus. A veteran CX and contact center expert focused on elevating the next generation of leaders.

Bill Staikos — CEO & Managing Partner at Be Customer Led. CX/EX leader with 20+ years across financial services, consulting, and enterprise transformation.

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Gina Gibson — CEO of Think Forward and host of The Tech Matchmaker podcast — has led digital transformations for organizations ranging from 50 to 45,000 agents. In this episode she shares her journey from agent to CEO and her vendor-agnostic playbook for future-proofing the contact center.

In this episode:

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Justin Robbins is a thought leader in customer experience with a human-centric approach to workplace engagement and over two decades in CX operations and leadership. He joins Fred to unpack why disengagement happens at work — and the practical moves leaders can make to restore trust and motivation.

In this episode:

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Laura K. Zegar is founder of Quantum CX, a customer service and customer experience consulting practice specializing in contact center transformation. Formerly VP of contact center and CX oversight at Bank of America and an Accenture management consultant, Laura got her start in 1999 in Equifax's check-authorization department — and 27 years later she's helping contact centers maximize AI and automation ROI.

In this episode:

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Episode Notes: Lorne Wood, founder and managing director of Better Call Center QA, brings over 30 years in contact center quality assurance and BPO. His career began on an evening-shift suicide crisis line — and the lessons he learned there about helping people over the phone have shaped a no-nonsense approach to fixing what technology alone can't.

In this episode:

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com

Cynthia Carrese is Founder and Managing Director of C2 Strategic Partners, a customer success and leadership strategist who turns contact and sales centers into places where performance and fun go hand in hand. With a career spanning Fortune 500 powerhouses and fast-moving startups, she scales operations, boosts KPIs, and builds cultures that inspire.

In this episode:

Produced by the Cloud Tech Gurus Team. Subscribe for more insights from industry leaders. Visit www.cloudtechgurus.com