In this interview, I am joined with none other than Simon T. Bailey. Simon is a breakthrough strategist who goes beyond feel-good content and provides real-life deliverables that truly impacts lives. He has also authored 10 books, his latest being Be the Spark: Five Platinum Service Principles for Creating Customers for Life. Simon drops a bunch of gems for us in this interview so get ready to take some notes!

Patti Phillips, CEO of Women's Leaders in College Sports, chats with me about the need for diversity in leadership, and she shares the experience she's had while working in sports, an industry that's notoriously male-dominated, and the need for more age and ethnicity representations in leadership positions. Additionally, Patti talks about how her team, who relies heavily on in-person meetings and interactions, has been able to lift one another up during the pandemic.

It was a pleasure for me to interview Chelsie Rae Lee, the Chief Revenue Officer at SnackNation for the second time on my podcast. Though Chelsie Rae Lee is the company's CRO, she's also responsible for the sales team, customer experience, and customer success. Chelsie and I chat about how she's worked with her teams to shift business operations during the pandemic, while also being employee and customer-focused. She stresses the importance of communication with customers, the need to create new metrics in the COVID business model, and the value of transparency when it comes to employee experience during these uncertain times.

In today's conversation with Dr. Oleg Konovalov, who is a thought leader, keynote speaker, author, business educator, and consultant with over 25 years of experience operating businesses, we discuss some of the concepts in his latest book, Leaderology, which tie back to what I like to call, leadership bravery.

How do you build a new customer-focused initiative within an established public sector? Barbara C. Morton, who joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2016, was brought on board to be the organization's first-ever Deputy Chief Veterans Experience Officer and has been working diligently to bring a human-centered-design approach to her CX strategy. She shares how her vision in creating a veterans-focused experience has helped improve client relationships and satisfaction.

In today's conversation with Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur, author of 15 books, marketing expert, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist—we discuss some of the tactical ways that entrepreneurs and CEOs can navigate leadership during the uncertainties of the pandemic. This includes shifting business models, trying new things, and most importantly, simplifying processes for both your customers and employees.

"I see leadership as a deeply human endeavor," says Alain Hunkins, speaker, leader, and author of the new book, Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders. In today's episode with Alain Hunkins, we discuss some of the easy-to-understand and implement concepts in his book and how great leadership is really at the core of customer experience. We'll explore his three concepts of connection, communication, and collaboration, which work in tandem to cultivate a united view of the life of customers and employees.

In today's show, we're joined by the New York Times Bestselling author and guru, Seth Godin, who's written over 19 books. He's the founder of Akimbo, and author of the popular, marketing-oriented, Seth's Blog. Seth and I have a great conversation about leadership as he breaks down some of the "alphabets of humanity" from his book, V is for Vulnerable: Life Outside the Comfort Zone. We discuss how some of the principles from this book can be used to guide and grow an organization with humanity and purpose.

I think you'll find today's conversation with Dutta Satadip, the Global Head of Customer Success and Operations at Pinterest a valuable one, especially as the use of digital media will continue to increase due to the pandemic. Dutta takes us through the many ways in which he's been able to lead the customer-focused work at Pinterest. Though the company is primarily B2C, it also functions as a B2B, and Dutta shares how they enact data-driven behaviors to improve the platform so that it's more valuable for both customers and advertisers.

"It is no longer just about the product. It is all about the customer experience, the way we make customers feel when they use the product. That makes a huge difference," says Yamini Rangan, HubSpot's first Chief Customer Officer. In today's conversation, Yamini and I discuss the importance of storytelling and of unifying teams within an organization to work towards a common goal. She also shares some of the ways in which HubSpot has handled the disruption of COVID-19.