My purpose
& story

Inspired by my Dad

My journey to this work came early in life.

I learned about humanity in business by watching my dad in his Buster Brown shoe store in Des Plaines, Illinois. He “shoed” a generation of children and their children’s children. And when he retired, a line of people 3 blocks long stood to say goodbye to him.

My purpose is to help YOU find YOUR Three Blocks Long.

To help you build the behaviors and experiences that define you, fuse people to you, and establish how the world will remember you.

My Story:
35 Years Guiding Business Transformations

I’ve dedicated my entire 35-year career to improving lives. That’s why now, my purpose is guiding leaders around the world – so they can bravely guide their organizations to become the best versions of themselves. We build businesses that begin by understanding that there’s always a human at the end of our decisions – uniting people and elevating them to memory makers.

I had a dad who gave me the bedrock of this foundation. Then I had the great fortune to find my first home at Lands’ End working directly for founder Gary Comer. After that, my thirst for this work just grew stronger…so I kept on taking on new roles and new challenges.

ALL of this work is about the underbelly of the organization. All of it is about leadership. All of it is about uniting people toward a common mission – then building a company to put people in a place to be successful. This is the path I’ve taken …to be able to help you advance the path you are on now.

Hover for the full story

I am born.
I look like a turtle.
Childhood
The 3rd of 7 kids and oldest girl, but the scrawniest of them all.
I learn about humanity in business by watching my dad...
All of us kids learned about human kindness by watching this man’s careful guiding hand with moms and kids.
...in his Buster Brown Shoe Store in Des Plaines, IL.
We all had to stock shoes, learn to accurately make change, and wear a VERY HOT wool Buster Brown costume in the Chicago summer sun.
Entered college…looking like a 12-year-old.
I knew I wanted to do something with customers, making people happy, and clothes…
In 1983, an ad in the Chicago Tribune brought me to Lands' End
I joined Lands' End to train 2,500 call center reps on clothes and service.
And the gift of my career
By 1985, Founder Gary Comer entrusted me as Leader of the Lands’ End Customer Experience to be the “Conscience” of the Company uniting the C-Suite and organization during massive growth.
That would define how I came to help you.
As the leader of the Lands' End Customer Experience, we established foundational services and experiences, propelling Lands’ End to an aggressive 10—year period of growth from a $100 million private company to an over $1 billion public company.
1992 Path to Pioneering the Chief Customer Officer Role
The experience and lessons of Lands’ End about how to grow human and financial prosperity in business put me on a path across multiple industries, each with a newly defined role. This was my education for pioneering the Chief Customer Officer role, my writing and my coaching with C-Suite leaders around the globe.
1992 Big hair and big shoulder pads for a big job
I was brought in to Mazda to help them translate the magic we had made at Lands’ End with their brand experience.
Building Mazda’s Customer Experience
As leader for Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction, my team led the development of their first relational customer database
1995 Recruited by Coldwell Banker Corporation…
As Sr. Vice President and Leader of Franchise Loyalty for Coldwell Banker, I honed the skill to unite siloed operations to deliver customer experiences and outcomes to drive business profitability. We earned 98% renewal rates with franchisees and drove double-digit business growth.
to modernize customer experience leadership.
This was also the apex of technology’s disruption to the Real Estate industry. We built the first website for buying and selling homes- integrating the MLS; leading Brokers to embrace the internet as a means of elevating the home buying and selling experience. 
1997 Recruited by Allstate Corporation
I was the first leader of Allstate Customer Experience. Here, I scaled the CCO role across a 50,000-person organization, uniting the C-Suite and operation in agent compensation, the customer journey and established the foundation for the strategic shifts that occurred in Allstate’s experience delivery.
To transform insurance to a customer-driven business
I advanced the skills for uniting the C-Suite and elevating customers as assets. This is where the “Power Core” concept began to take root, as I sought to understand why traction was and was not possible, based on the skills of the leadership and natural core competencies of the organization.
1999 Recruited by Microsoft Corporation
My final corporate stop was to join Microsoft as General Manager, Worldwide Customer and Partner Loyalty. This was deliberate because I knew to be relevant, I needed "technology"​ and I needed to determine how to unite one of the worlds'​ most complex businesses and business models.
To begin to embed “experience” into the customer and partner business model.
The work here contributed to many of the key facets that I coach leaders on, such as determining how not to "boil the ocean,"​ finding early adapters of leaders by country and uniting the multiple silos there to prove out a concept, and breaking the work into bite size pieces to "earn the right"​ to continue the work.
2002 Began Keynoting and Coaching Leaders Around the World
I initially called myself the “Customer Crusader” and nabbed our son’s toy shield for this picture. Despite the outfit, nearly every major brand around the world has connected with me in this work since then. List of keynote clients
2006 Chief Customer Officer is Published
This book is the roadmap I wish I had when working through all of my corporate experiences in customer experience leadership.
It was my gift to Customer Experience Leaders around the globe.
It was the first book to decode and enable leaders to embrace this end-to-end work in transforming businesses and culture. Translated into ten languages, it was the first book to establish a path for leading an organization to organic customer growth.
2009 I Love You More than My Dog is Published
I wrote this book to give people an understanding of “beloved company” behavior and provide them with a culture blueprint for actions and leadership that yield both financial and human prosperity – for customers, employees and business. It is the beacon for people to follow – as a companion to my CCO books – which give them the actions to unite their company.
2011 Cofounder, Customer Experience Professionals’ Association
I cofounded the CXPA to support leaders and practitioners with the challenges that they face daily in uniting organizations, securing engagement and commitment and changing the purpose of a business from going to get a sale, to earning the right to growth, by improving customers'​ lives.
2015 Chief Customer Officer 2.0 is Published
In 2015, I rewrote the first Chief Customer Officer book in its entirety, sharing my 5-competency model that leaders around the world have used to achieve success in their culture and experience transformation. It is cited as the first book leaders buy to achieve success in this role.
2016 Chief Customer Officer Human Duct Tape Podcast Show Begins
The Chief Customer Officer Human Duct Tape Show was borne from a gap I observed in sharing real-world experiences and information about the paths people take to these C-Suite business transformation roles. Now listed as the best CX podcast by many publications, and with a very large global following…it is an honor to continue to support this leadership community.
2018 Would You Do That to Your Mother is published
As customer experience has gained popularity, I have seen too much focus on the mechanics of this work – rather than the meaning of it. This book supports leaders in focusing on how to build a company built on admirable acts that earn customer and employee growth and prosperity. It is a complete toolkit for transformation.
My Commitment to You
My focus is on helping you to achieve your goals. Through coaching over 20,000 leaders and giving over 2,000 keynotes… I remain steadfastly in your corner, and at your service.

I help companies and people become the best version of themselves. It would be my privilege to help you on that journey. Find out how I can help you…

There’s not a customer rock that I haven’t pushed up the hill and have harnessed that understanding to help you take years off your learning curve. I’ve heard I’m called the “godmother” of customer experience. I’ll take it, humbly.

Here’s How I Help…

Clarity for how you improve lives, and your leadership behaviors and actions are what will fuse people to you. They will define how you will be remembered…How you earn admiration…and how you grow. In a marketplace that values congruence of heart (what you know is right) and habit (how you act)…the memory of how you help others achieve their goals, and who you are as people becomes the greatest currency of your brand. Let’s find yours.

How will you be remembered?

Learn More