Women in Leadership: My journey in Customer Experience

The beginning of my story is no different than so many others. Back in my early 20s, I was navigating college for a Communications and Cultural Studies degree and needed extra cash to support myself. Working as a call center agent seemed like a good opportunity as the money was decent and allowed me to perform my job on a part-time schedule.

The path was not easy for an ambitious and curious person such as myself. In my first attempt as a customer support representative, I was denied any promotion because I was “too valuable” in my current role. In the second one, I got fired after a false accusation of being involved in a colleague’s scheme to steal money from customer accounts. Needless to say I felt angry and betrayed after both situations.

Fortunately, I was reminded of the very important life lesson that there is always calm after the storm. Following six years of a challenging journey as a call center agent, I joined Talkdesk® as a technical support representative in 2015. Everything about the company was great: the innovative spirit, the growth mindset and, more importantly, the fact that they didn’t look at me any differently for being a woman.

My gender became a concern to me when I tried to move from support representative to a position with the Product team because in most high-tech companies these are roles commonly male-dominated. Once again, Talkdesk proved me wrong. The Head of Product congratulated my ambition and gladly welcomed me to the team.

Fast forward to 2020, and I couldn’t be prouder of my path. I’m now a Product Manager, managing two teams of ten people in a company that gave me the platform to grow, build outstanding connections and create my own career as a woman in a male-dominated world. Along the way I learned a lot about both myself, the customer support universe and am pleasantly surprised to see how many opportunities can be conquered through hard work and patience.

I’ve had the pleasure of going into detail on my story in the new book by Elisa Reggiardo and Alexa Huth, titled ‘Undefined World’. Six customer experience (CX) professionals, including myself, dive deep into the world of CX and how it is being reinvented. Check out the link below for more stories or feel free to contact the author and provide your own!