Above The Fold

This week on Above the Fold, I sat down with Daniel Schwarz, founder of Chuza, to talk about what it actually takes to build a spicy Latin snack brand from the ground up. We get into Daniel’s journey from tequila and spirits brand management to entrepreneurship, why having skin in the game matters, and how Chuza was built with one hundred percent Mexican spices and zero artificial ingredients. Dan...

This week, I sat down with Aniesha Jones to talk about what customer experience actually looks like when empathy, data, and revenue are all in the same room. We get into her unconventional path from opera and vocal performance to leading high-growth CX and retention teams, and why creativity is one of the most overlooked skills in business today. We cover CX leadership, retention strategy, the rea...

This week, I sat down with the operations queen herself, Hattie Gilpin, to talk about what it really takes to keep subscribers around in one of the most competitive categories out there. If you’ve ever wondered why customers churn, what actually drives operational success, or how brands can earn long-term trust without leaning on discounts, this episode is for you. We cover subscription retention,...

This week, I sat down with Alex Ferzan, co-founder of Manojo Mezcal and founder of ZADDY, creative agitator, and the definition of a career shapeshifter, from the late-90s punk scene to managing bands, to building culture-shifting brands that go way beyond hype. We get into the real story behind how someone who once toured with hardcore bands ended up helping create some of the most irreverent, un...

This week, I sat down with Patrick Coyne, founder and chief executive of Laoban Dumplings, for a conversation that reminds you why some brands just hit differently. From teaching English in China to running dumpling shops in D.C. to building one of the most exciting frozen food brands in the country, Patrick’s journey is proof that authenticity travels, even into the freezer aisle. We get into how...

This week, I sat down with Erin Meskers, Director of Brand at Brami, to talk about what it really means to build a food brand people feel connected to, not just buy from. We cover brand building, community, and the kind of marketing that makes people slow down and care. Erin shares how her work at Supergoop, Aviva, and Cadence shaped her approach to storytelling, and how those lessons now guide Br...

This week, I sat down with Sydney Chestler, Director of CX at Fresh Clean Threads, to talk about what it really takes to build trust in customer experience, not just close tickets. We get into what it means to lead CX at two wildly different brands, from helping a 25-year-old skincare fan find her first serum to supporting a 45-year-old dad buying tees for vacation. Sydney shares how she’s built a...

This week, I sat down with Rachel Coburn, a fractional marketing leader who’s worked with some of the biggest names in health and wellness, including AG1 and Happy V, to talk about what it really takes to build brands that last beyond the hype. We cover growth, brand strategy, and what happens when the pursuit of “acquisition at all costs” starts eroding trust. Rachel brings the kind of honesty an...

This week, I sat down with Tess Awal, CX Manager at Dr. Squatch — the men’s soap brand that turned natural hygiene into a full-blown lifestyle movement. If you’ve ever seen their cheeky ads or heard about their viral Sydney Sweeney “bathwater” drop, you already know: Dr. Squatch knows how to make personality a growth strategy. We cover creativity, leadership, and what it really takes to build CX t...

This week, I sat down with Lisa Yarrow, Senior Manager of Customer Experience at Everlane, to talk about how retail instincts are shaping the next era of digital CX. We get into what it means to bring empathy into analytics, why storytelling is the secret weapon for getting buy-in, and how the best customer insights do not come from dashboards. They come from people. Lisa shares her journey from t...

This week, I sat down with Minou Clark, CEO of RealSelf, to talk about leadership, culture, and why creativity is the secret weapon in business. Minou’s journey is anything but traditional. From theater major to running digital growth at BuzzFeed, PopSugar, People, Yahoo, and Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, before stepping into the CEO role at RealSelf. We cover entrepreneurship, digital strategy, and...

This week, I sat down with Suze Dowling, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Pattern, for a conversation about what it really takes to build brands that last. Suze has spent more than a decade helping companies launch, scale, and connect with customers in meaningful ways, and today Pattern is a family of seven home-focused brands built around one mission: making everyday life more joyful. We...

This week on Above The Fold, I sat down with Chef Rama Ginde to talk about building a food brand rooted in heritage, education, and flavor. Rama is a private chef, culinary educator, and co-founder of Satya Blends, a spice company created from family recipes with the goal of making Indian flavors approachable for every kitchen. We cover entrepreneurship, food culture, and what it really means to e...

This week, I went live at Subs Summit with my girl Ren Fuller-Wasserman, Senior Director of CX at Tushy, the brand that made bidets cool (and fun to talk about). We cover startup grit, customer obsession, and why CX is never just about support tickets. Ren gets real about: Her unlikely path into CX, starting in a call center and turning it into a career superpower What it was like building Tushy’s...

This week, I sat down with my good friend Michael Bair, founder of Bair Consulting, to unpack what really separates good CX in B2B from the DTC playbook, and why both worlds have a lot to learn from each other. We cover B2B SaaS, enterprise customer success, DTC retention, and why too many brands still treat CX like an afterthought. Michael gets real about why B2B companies ignore brand at their o...

This week, I sat down with my mentee, Mackenzie Lukas, to talk about what it really means to put people first in customer experience. 💬✨ We get into her unexpected career pivot from commercial real estate to CX, what she’s learned as Sr. Director of Customer & People Experience at Hormbles Chormbles 🍫, and why empathy will always beat efficiency 💛. Mackenzie shares how her team is building...

This week on Above the Fold, I sat down with Max Wallace, Director of CX at Tommy John, and Kara Randle, CX manager, to talk about what it really takes to scale a customer experience team without losing the human touch. We get into career pivots, building long-term team culture, and why “first response time” is not the CX metric you should be obsessing over. Max shares how he has kept Tommy John’s...

This week, I sat down with Berk Bahceci, founder of Heraclea, to talk about what it actually looks like to build a product-led brand from scratch, without cutting corners. We talk about what it means to invest early (like, before a single sale), why he built a full production facility in Turkey instead of outsourcing, and how customer feedback led to one of Heraclea’s most important programs. Berk...

This week, I sat down with Lisa Nielsen, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Victoria Beckham, to talk about what brand building looks like behind the scenes at a luxury fashion house and why customer experience is more than a post-purchase email. We get into the real impact of handwritten notes (yes, real ink and paper), how to bring humanity into high-pressure digital roles, and why text marketi...

This week, I sat down with Liz Ahern, former CMO of Chamberlain Coffee and current Founder of Brand 555 Marketing to talk about what actually drives brand longevity in a world full of creator launches and fast-moving CPG hype. We talk about why most brands lose sight of their customer, what “community” actually means (hint: it’s not just comments), and why a retail strategy needs a lot more than s...

This week on After Hours x Above the Fold, I sat down with CX specialist and Midwest dad extraordinaire, Larry Thoma. We got into what great CX looks like after the checkout page, how brands can use returns to build trust (not just process refunds), and why “dishwasher safe” is not a real instruction. Larry’s worked with brands like Yeti, Caraway, and See’s Candy, so he’s got receipts (and hot tak...

✨ In this episode of Above the Fold, I sat down with Keri McGee, CMO of Attentive and a cx-to-marketing powerhouse, to talk about why good customer experience isn’t enough anymore—and what today’s best brands are doing to actually stand out. 📱💡 📊 The real reason 97% of brand messaging still looks like 2013 📦 How brands like UGG and OLLY are making omnichannel work—for real 🤖 Why AI isn’t the...

This week, I sat down with the brilliant (and brilliantly humble) Jim Lee—President of Crunch Labs—to talk about what it really takes to build a brand that doesn’t just go viral, but sticks. We cover creator-led growth, product design that drives retention, the future of STEM education, and why customer experience starts way before someone hits “buy.” Plus, Jim shares how Crunch Labs turns YouTube...

This week, I sat down with two of the sharpest minds in the retention and CX space to talk about what really drives long-term loyalty—especially in the skincare and wellness world. We get into subscriptions, lifecycle marketing, cancelation logic, and why the prettiest packaging in the world won’t save you from bad UX. AJ shares how U Beauty builds obsession-worthy routines (with zero fluff) and N...

This week on After Hours, I caught up with Nate Rosen—founder of Express Checkout and snack industry insider—to talk about what’s really going on in CPG right now. We get into what’s changing with funding, why retail isn’t a guaranteed win, and what makes or breaks a brand in today’s market. Nate shares honest takes on hydration hype, TikTok Shop chaos, and the difference between creators who buil...