Creating Superfans

In this episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, I welcome back my partner-in-crime, Alix Steinberg. Alix and I break down one of my most recent newsletter topics: loyalty programs and pricing tiers.  Whether your business has a tiered loyalty program or a tiered pricing structure, you’ve got to strike that perfect balance of creating a delightful ‘base’ experience that still encourages customer...

Identifying your unique purpose and developing your personal brand are two of the most important, yet challenging, components of being an entrepreneur. Without a clear North Star, you’re doing a disservice to all of your potential customers that are in need of your message. To help us distill our personal brand is Rory Vaden, a New York Times bestselling author, Half of Fame speaker, and co-founde...

Dr. Aaron Ahuvia knows a thing or two about superfans. He co-authored the publication that popularized the term “brand love” and is the world’s most widely published and cited academic expert on non-interpersonal love. He’s the author of The Things We Love: How Our Passions Connect Us and Make Us Who We Are.  Aaron is a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Dearborn. Aaron researche...

If you’ve ever been to downtown Franklin, Tennessee or to one of Nashville’s trendiest neighborhoods in 12 South or the Gulch, chances are you’ve either walked by or shopped in Finnleys, a women’s clothing boutique. I’ve been a superfan of Finnleys for the last several years. In fact, if you’ve read my book, Creating Superfans, you may recognize this week’s guest from my case study in chapter 17....

Have you ever wondered what goes inside the iconic celebrity gift bags at A-list events like the GRAMMYs or the Oscars?  Today’s guest of the Creating Superfans podcast is the pioneer of celebrity product placement and award show swag. He’s transformed it into a bona fide media obsession.  Lash Fary, otherwise known as the “Gift Guru” or the “Sultan of Swag,” is the president and Founder of Distin...

What do ADP, JP Morgan Chase, Universal Resorts, and Visa all have in common? They’ve all worked with today’s guest, Howard Tiersky, to transform their digital customer experience. Howard is the CEO and Founder of FROM, a digital transformation agency that helps companies go from where they are, to where they need to be.  He’s the author of Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irrelevance ,...

If you feel like your cold outreach is getting ignored in the digital clutter, or you’re struggling to make personal connections with your clients, this is the episode for you. This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with a dear friend of mine, Ethan Beute. Ethan is the Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, the host of my favorite podcast, The Customer Experience podcast, and the author of several amazi...

If you’re a Customer Experience nerd like me, then today’s guest is going to leave you inspired. His name is Ron Holt and he’s the founder and CEO of Pink Zebra Moving. Ron is on a mission to disrupt the moving industry - but not with big data or advanced technology. Instead, taking inspiration from brands like the Savannah Bananas, he’s designed a magical experience for his customers that he’s wo...

This episode of the Creating Superfans podcast welcomes a very special guest, Amy Porterfield. Amy is an ex-corporate employee turned online marketing expert and CEO of her own multimillion-dollar business. She’s the creator of several best-selling marketing courses, the host of the top-rated Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, and the author of the brand new book, Two Weeks Notice: Find the Coura...

In this week's episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, Alix and I are breaking down the best and worst TV commercials from Super Bowl 57. You'll hear our opinions on the brands that did the best job of overcoming apathy, and which ones fell totally flat. Reach me on all socials @BrittanyHodak and let me know how you felt about the commercials! Show Notes 2:56 - Farmer’s Dog simple bra...

Customer experience is not a department—it’s a philosophy that must be embraced by every member of an organization. When executed correctly, it becomes your most powerful competitive advantage. Perhaps no guest has understood this better than Jim White, the Chief Experience Officer of Ignite Medical Resorts.  Jim and his team at Ignite are “extinguishing the stereotype” of traditional rapid rehabi...

Social media is no longer just a content creation platform - it plays a complex role along every step of your customer journey. Your social accounts are the point of entry for prospects to learn about your brand for the first time,  the new call center where they go to voice their complaints, and everything in between. In this episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, I chat with Hillary Applegat...

As consumers, our basic wants and needs haven’t really changed, but our preferences and expectations for how we achieve what we want or need has changed. Customers expect seamless digital experiences from the brands they interact with, which can introduce a daunting challenge to unprepared companies. Joe Harouni is the Connected Commerce practice lead at Avionos , where he works with clients to de...

This week's episode of the Creating Superfans podcast is a special one because it's all about my book! Creating Superfans is available NOW, and to honor its publication date, we switched things up a bit! My Chief of Staff, Alix Steinberg, asked me questions about what it was really like to write Creating Superfans , including the different editing phases, the design choices, and the reco...

Episode 6 of the Creating Superfans podcast is a special one because I got to chat with the founder and CEO of Total Expert, Joe Welu. Joe transformed the company from a tiny startup developed in the basement of his real estate office to an organization with over 300 employees that powers customer engagement for 200 financial institutions, including 15 of the top 25 U.S. banks and lenders. Joe sha...

In episode 5 of the Creating Superfans podcast, I interviewed the brilliant Hilary Billings, Co-founder and CEO of Attentioneers Agency. A self-proclaimed “engineer of attention,” Hilary is a viral video expert that helps brands drive exponential growth on TikTok. She has earned over a BILLION organic views on her social platforms and sheds some light on the science behind a viral video and how YO...

In the 4th episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, I sat down with Kim Goei, Chief Operating Officer of Fexa. We talk about the under-the-radar aspects of customer experience that customers and entrepreneurs often take for granted. If you’re a fan of intentional experience design like me, you’ll be interested to learn about how Fexa technology can maintain or automate the crucial ingredients th...

In episode 3 of the Creating Superfans Podcast, I interviewed former Walt Disney World executive, Dennis Show. During his twenty years with the company, Dennis worked his way up from a front-line attractions operator to founder of the Disney Institute, the internal firm that consulted for organizations like ExxonMobil, AT&T, and Coca-Cola. Now, he’s a full-time speaker and author who trains bu...

On the second episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, I interview Nashville-based photographer Fizzah Raza. I worked with Fizzah for my brand new headshots over the summer and had a WORLD CLASS customer experience. I was wowed before, during, and after our session together and immediately became her superfan. If you’re a solopreneur of any kind, this is a can’t-miss episode filled with tons of...

Welcome to the very first episode of the Creating Superfans podcast! What better way to kick-off than with the world’s top Customer Experience and Customer Service expert, Shep Hyken! Shep is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and his latest book is called I’ll Be Back. He’s a hall-of-fame speaker and a HUGE mentor of mine, which is why I was thrilled when he agreed to wr...

In today's business environment, experience is everything. It’s the number-one way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and create customers for life. But, the inverse is also true. Everything is experience. Every interaction — even the small ones — can determine whether or not customers come back and what they tell their friends. The Creating Superfans podcast is a fun, entertaini...