Inspiring Women In CX

“There is actually a growing issue called presenteeism. It's when people are showing up at work, but they're either unwell, or they're burnt out, or they are just not able to do their best work. There was a recent survey which was conducted, it's a government survey. And it's shown that presenteeism…has cost UK businesses 25 billion pounds since 2018.”

In episode #805 of the Inspiring Women in CX podcast, Clare is joined by CEO and Founder Clare White for an insightful and energising conversation about building human-centred organisations through culture, leadership and employee empowerment.

Clare shares her “wiggly” career journey, from a passion project in horse racing to leading large teams and shaping CX at global brands like P&G, Microsoft and Disney. A defining moment came when she led a culture transformation at an organisation struggling with poor performance, unhappy clients, and disengaged employees. This experience sparked her passion for culture and employee experience, reinforcing the vital role of a healthy, supportive work environment and ultimately inspiring her to launch her own company to help others do the same.

She offers game-changing insights into creating workplaces where people thrive, highlighting the power of psychological safety, continuous feedback, and truly empowering employees. 

Together, both Clare’s—without the ‘I’—unpack the role of leadership in embedding company values and the real cost of neglecting employee wellbeing, particularly the rise of presenteeism. They also explore the often-overlooked link between customer-facing and back-office teams, revealing why CX success depends on the entire organisation working together—not just those on the frontline.

Tune in now to discover why, if your employees aren’t thriving, your customers won’t either—and what you can do about it.

“I think my piece of advice would be to take a real honest, hard look at…either yourself or your business. If you are communicating that you want to be a customer-centric company or organisation, then take a real honest hard look at, are we actually that?”

In episode #804 of the Inspiring Women in CX podcast, Clare is joined by CX Consultant Joanna Carr for a candid and insightful discussion on customer experience strategy, the pitfalls of “CX-washing”, and the reality of delivering on brand promises. 

Joanna shares her career journey, from beginning behind the tills in Tesco to shaping CX at retail giants including Estee Lauder, Selfridges and Rituals. She also reflects on the community's pivotal role in her transition to CX consulting, proving the power of connection and support.

Clare and Joanna unpack real-world CX failures, from frustrating self-service checkouts to rigid corporate policies that hinder customer satisfaction. They discuss the critical importance of aligning operating models with CX strategy and ensuring that technology is a tool to enhance, not replace human connection.

This conversation serves as a powerful reminder that creating a seamless customer experience isn’t by accident—it takes intention, investment, and a genuine commitment to turning brand promises into reality.

The episode wraps up with a compelling call to action: businesses must take an honest, reflective look at their customer-centricity and ensure they don't make promises they can't keep.

🎧 Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on building CX strategies that make a real impact and truly deliver for your customers!

“With all the will in the world, you cannot change the organisational strategy. It's not up to you to decide. Even if you are fortunate enough to be on the board, you are a contributor to a decision that other people will have a say on. So contribute effectively.”

In episode #802 of the Inspiring Women in CX podcast, Clare is joined by Founder and CEO Olga Potaptseva for a thought-provoking conversation on aligning customer-centricity with organisational strategy to drive impactful change.

Olga shares her expertise on uniting people, processes, and technology under a shared purpose, breaking down silos to empower teams and enhance the customer experience. Together, Clare and Olga delve into the human side of transformation—exploring how empathy can bridge departmental gaps and foster innovation and collaboration.

Reflecting on her own leadership journey, Olga opens up about embracing her strengths, nurturing potential in others, and evolving her approach to driving meaningful change.

Packed with practical insights and heartfelt reflections, this episode is a must-listen for leaders and teams striving to build purpose-driven, harmonious workplaces. Tune in to discover how to transform your approach  🎧

Does culture eat strategy when it comes to customer service transformation? 🤔

Joined by Leonie Williams, Co-Founder of Customer Service Solutions Group, in episode #708, we explore the role of culture in delivering excellent service and experiences. 🤝

Having worked for global hotel chains Hilton and Intercontinental before joining the Institute of Customer Service, Leonie states that “If you get the EX and the CX right, the business results follow.” 📈

But for businesses that don’t have this customer service culture already embedded throughout, is it really possible to drive this mindset shift? 🧠

And if so, how?

Emphasising the importance of the “tone from the top”, focusing on systems and processes to facilitate customer orientation (or whatever you want to call it), and questioning whether actually, culture change is too heavy a burden to bear, listen to the full episode now.

To join the world’s first online community for women in customer experience and technology, visit www.womenincx.community/membership and sign up today!

“It's true that one of the biggest fears is when you decide that you want to do things differently, you don't want to be in a system where you're stuck to two walls, especially when you become freelance and you say, from now on, I just depend on myself.”

In episode #607 of the Inspiring Women in CX podcast, Clare Muscutt talks to Sonia Etxebarria, Founder and Strategist at Akuyari, about…

👭 How she made her way into the Women in CX community and went on to found her own customer-centric design agency, Akuyari, collaborating with other members to do so

👩‍💼 Working in Telco and Logistics before making the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship and doing things her own way

💪 The importance of recognising the value that you bring and playing to your strengths to win in business

🗣️ Challenging the negative connotation around ‘selling’ and self-promotion, particularly as women

🎨 Her passion for service and experience design, the importance of research and discovery, and fashioning her own methodology

💬 Why it’s critical to conduct qualitative research to understand feelings and motivations and use quantitative research to validate findings

For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Gemma Colby, the Head of Customer Experience at YELL UK, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her route into CX, recognising only in retrospect that she’d been doing it all along, putting theory into practice as she ran a contact centre, her own experiences with great leaders and how these shaped her approach and, in her opinion, the key skills and capabilities necessary to be a successful CX leader driving changes and improvements that impact the business’s bottom line.

Listen in as Gemma talks about...

🔮 Being ‘predestined’ to work in CX, realising only in retrospect that she’d been doing it all along

😊 Starting out in operations and wielding her passion for people to make customers feel special

🙅‍♀️ Combatting her Imposter Syndrome and redefining what success “should” look like

🧠 Adopting a growth mindset and how creating a sense of “interconnectedness” is key to being a great (CX) leader

💬 The importance of trusting ourselves and recognising what “drives and drains us”

For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Naima Mwina Mwawasi, the Founder & Managing Director of Content CX Consulting, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her CX journey – from working on the frontline as an Inflight Manager at Emirates to founding her own CX consultancy – experiencing CX within different countries and cultures and how this sparked her desire to raise the bar in Kenya, being ‘derailed’ by love at a young age and dropping out of school before returning to complete not only her undergraduate but her Master’s degree too and dealing with disapproval as she challenged African society’s rigid gender roles.

Listen in as Naima talks about…

🛫 Her CX career journey, from working on the frontline at Emirates to founding Content CX Consulting

🗺️ How experiencing CX and service delivery within different countries and cultures sparked her desire to raise the bar in Kenya

💍 Being ‘derailed’ by love, consequently dropping out of school and getting married at 21

🙋 How – from humble beginnings and with her parents as her inspiration – she became a financially independent woman “slaying life” and following her dreams

📈 The current state of CX in Kenya and the impact of sudden economic growth, rising customer expectations and technological advancement

For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Thirza Schaap, the Founder of CX Unraveled, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about taking a leap of faith as she left her role in corporate and co-founded her own CX consultancy, talking with a psychologist about juggling motherhood and work – and what this looked like for her – the 7 factors key to achieving sustainable ‘customer-obsessed’ culture, including identifying those onside, those unlikely to be convinced and those sitting on the fence about Customer Experience and its impact upon an organisation and about the importance of empowering frontline staff through the communication of strategy, training and rewards.

Key talking points include…

💪 How Thirza ‘took the plunge’, leaving her corporate role and co-founding CX consultancy, CX Unraveled

⚖️ Discussing “mum-guilt” and what a healthy work-life balance looked like for Thirza

📋 Outlining the 7 factors key to achieving a ‘customer-obsessed’ culture, including the importance of empowering frontline employees and targeting those “in the middle”

🤔 Thirza’s advice on where to start when creating culture change within your own organisation, analysing your current state and identifying areas for improvement.

For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Jennie Lewis, Strategic Services Lead at Airship, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about navigating the CX tech space as a woman, finding her niche – understanding not only the technology but the customer perspective too – and dealing with dismissal by finding her voice and ‘partnering up’.

Key talking points include discussing …

🤖 The challenges faced by women in tech

🤝 Driving customer centricity in SaaS companies 

💡 Applying the principles of Design Thinking

🤨 And how to be more customer focused in product-led environments

For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to womenincx.community

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