Women in Customer Success Podcast

Text us your questions and thoughts!

What makes a truly exceptional customer success leader?

In this conversation with Cynthia Taylor, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience at Culture Amp, we explore how strategic branding, international perspective, and a shoulder-to-shoulder leadership style can transform customer success teams.

Cynthia’s journey spans continents and industries, from high school business competitions to leading global teams. Growing up professionally in Australia, she was shaped by tall poppy syndrome - a cultural belief that collective achievement matters more than individual spotlight. It’s a philosophy that mirrors customer success itself, where cross-functional collaboration drives outcomes.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How cultural values shape collaborative leadership.
• Creative ways to use branding, themes, and even Slack emojis to align and inspire teams.
• The evolution of customer success leadership, from being liked to driving outcomes, to building lasting connections.
• Using yearly themes and taglines to rally teams around clear objectives.
• The impact of creating memorable moments like “The Three Amigos” to strengthen cross-departmental relationships.
  
  

These small but mighty “breadcrumbs,” as Cynthia calls them, leave lasting markers of organizational effectiveness. For her, true success means creating teams where people feel they’ve done the best work of their careers - together.

Whether you’re new to customer success or leading at scale, this episode offers fresh CS strategies and leadership lessons that will inspire you. Tune in!

💚 This episode is brought to you by Hook: https://hook.co/

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👉 Follow  Cynthia Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiataylor20/

👉 Learn more about Hook & grow your revenue on autopilot: https://hook.co/

👉 Learn more about Culture Amp, the world’s leading employee experience platform, revolutionizing how 25 million employees across more than 7,500 companies create a better world of work: https://www.cultureamp.com/

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About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

Leadership doesn't require a title but emerges when you inspire others, lead by example, and deliver value. We’re excited to welcome Stephanie Robinson, Global Account Management Leader at Maze, to the show. In this inspiring conversation, she shares insights from her career journey from Toronto to Amsterdam, highlighting how remote work, cultural awareness, and mentorship shaped her success.

Her fascinating journey from a small Toronto startup to managing global enterprise accounts across Europe showcases a powerful career strategy: the 50/50 rule. Every career move should offer 50% mastery (what you already excel at) and 50% challenge (what stretches you to grow). This balanced approach prevents both stagnation and burnout, while keeping you engaged and fostering professional development.

Having worked remotely long before the pandemic at companies like InVision, Stephanie also shares crucial insights into creating effective personal systems.

We discuss:

• The importance of leading by example and being self-sufficient
• Cultural differences in work styles between North America and Europe 
• Why being adaptable and understanding diverse team dynamics is essential for any leader
• Why women should confidently negotiate compensation and know their market value
• How maintaining relationships with mentors provides crucial support throughout your career
• How to quantify your achievements to better articulate your value during negotiations

From leadership guidance to negotiation tactics to CS tips and tricks, this episode will provide you with insights, direction, and support no matter where you are in your career. Enjoy!

💚 This episode is brought to you by Deployflow: https://deployflow.co/

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👉 Follow Stephanie Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjmrobinson/

👉 Learn more about Deployflow & P-Suite by Deployflow and get a quick squad estimate at: https://deployflow.co/p-suite/

👉 Learn more about Maze, the user research platform that makes products work for people: https://maze.co/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

In this episode of the Women in Customer Success Podcast, we sit down with Liz Starling, Head of Customer Success at Anthropic, to explore her fascinating career journey from environmental scientist to business consultant to customer success powerhouse. 

Liz is a seasoned customer success leader with a unique career path and a strong vision for what great customer engagement looks like. From the importance of aligning with the buyer early on to the nuances of presenting and reinforcing customer value, Liz delivers an actionable and passionate masterclass that every CS professional can learn from.

She shares insights on the importance of delivering value to customers and the impact of relationship-building skills. She also offers practical advice on career advancement, lessons every woman should learn, and the role of seeking new challenges in personal growth. 

We discuss:

• Career crossroads & seeking new challenges
• Transitioning from Environmental Scientist to Consultant to CS Leader
• The importance of delivering customer value
• How to create opportunities for career advancement
• Tips for aligning pre-sales and post-sales efforts

You'll also enjoy a fun, rapid-fire round where we get to know Liz on a more personal level. This episode is such a treat. So sit back and enjoy!

💚 This episode is brought to you by Hook: https://hook.co/

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👉 Follow Liz Starling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-starling/

👉 Learn more about Hook & grow your revenue on autopilot: https://hook.co/

👉 Learn more about Anthropic, an AI safety and research company working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems: https://www.anthropic.com/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

We sit down with Lara Barnes, Chief Customer Officer at Crownpeak and a champion of authentic leadership, to unpack the true meaning of goal setting, resilience, and growing your career with purpose.

With over 25 years of experience in high-growth, customer-centric tech companies, Lara has led global Customer Success teams at Microsoft, Facebook, Oracle, and Sitecore. She shares her rise from senior director to SVP to CCO, offering insight into the unique challenges women face in corporate settings and the critical roles of perception, sponsorship, and values in career advancement.

Lara opens up about navigating corporate politics, embracing vulnerability, and becoming a people-first leader grounded in heart, clarity, and courage. She reveals the mindset shifts that helped her succeed while staying true to herself, and how goal setting became a powerful catalyst for transformation.

We also explore her personal mission-turned-passion project in functional neurology, inspired by her journey to help her son overcome learning and behavioral challenges. What began as a search for answers has evolved into a purpose-driven venture, now helping hundreds of families thrive.

You’ll discover:

• How showing up as your authentic self builds trust and impact
• What functional neurology is and how Lara helps bring a sparkle of hope to parents and children
• The value framework, and how will it change the way CSMs are operating
• How to develop your leadership style and lead with heart 
• Playbook to building your path to leadership (& the golden trio: Evidence, Perception and Sponsorship)

Don't miss this enlightening conversation!

💚 This episode is brought to you by Deployflow: https://deployflow.co/

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👉 Follow Lara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larakelly/

👉 Learn more about Deployflow & P-Suite by Deployflow and get a quick squad estimate at: https://deployflow.co/p-suite/

👉 Learn more about Crownpeak: https://www.crownpeak.com/

👉 Learn more about Lara's work with children with neurological disorders: https://www.braindevelopment.co.uk/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

How do you pivot from fashion to a leadership role in Customer Success with no SaaS experience?

We kick off Season 5 with Melissa Garcia, Senior Director of Member Success at Chief.

Melissa joins us to share her unconventional journey from a career in fashion merchandising to becoming a leader in Customer Success. She opens up about what it really takes to break into SaaS, how she built confidence in a completely new industry, and why leading with empathy is her greatest superpower.

We explore how mentors shaped her path, the lessons she learned navigating change, and her bold takes on modern CS practices, from ditching outdated QBRs to delivering “value you can’t Google.”

You’ll discover:

• How to pivot into Customer Success without a SaaS background
• Why “value you can’t Google” is key to becoming indispensable
• Ways to own your voice in customer conversations (even when facing imposter syndrome)
• Why traditional check-ins often fail (and what to do instead)
• The transformative power of small steps, and the growing impact of women in CS leadership

If you're looking to break into CS, grow your leadership skills, or lead more human-centered conversations, this episode is a treasure trove packed with practical insights and heartfelt wisdom.

💚 This episode is brought to you by Hook: https://hook.co/

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👉 Follow Melissa Garcia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-garcia-nyc/

👉 Learn more about Hook & grow your revenue on autopilot: https://hook.co/

👉 Learn more about Chief, the private network executive women rely on to raise their leadership game: https://chief.com/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

Welcome to another Women in Customer Success limited edition episode, where we bring you an exclusive PowerUp Masterclass in partnership with our friends at Gainsight. In today’s conversation, we tackle AI's biggest myths, explore practical use cases, and discuss how leading CS teams are already leveraging AI to mitigate risk, personalize at scale, and drive revenue growth.

You’ll hear lots of practical examples of the daily use of AI in customer success. Buckle up and tune in.

Featuring

Eduardo Amorim, VP of Customer Success, Sendcloud

Kate Neal, Senior Director of Customer Success, Gainsight

Marija Skobe-Pilley, Founder of Women In CS

👉 Follow Eduardo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-a-b4468459/

👉 Follow Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemneal/

👉 Learn more about Gainsight: https://www.gainsight.com/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

NEW! NEW! NEW!

We’re kicking off Season 5 of the Women in Customer Success Podcast!

That means:

- Elevating the voices of more remarkable women in CS

- More inspiring conversations, unique career stories and actionable tips

- And a brand new spin we’re bringing to our show this season

Hear from WiCS Founder & Host, Marija Skobe-Pilley, and discover what's new. In case you're new here, welcome to the Women in Customer Success Podcast. Come join us, be part of our community of ambitious professionals, and join the conversation.

And be sure to follow us and subscribe to our show, wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

Can you believe it’s been five years since we launched the Women in Customer Success Podcast?

What started as a conversation in your earbuds has grown into a global movement. Now, after hundreds of episodes, bringing these discussions into the physical world feels like coming full circle.

We hosted our second Women in Customer Success live podcast recording in Berlin, where Marija Skobe-Pilley welcomed Cara Benecke, Sally Stoewe and Pia Schümann-Hoppe. We discussed:

✨ Redefining what "having it all" means in today's professional landscape

✨ Setting 'non-negotiables' for work-life integration

✨ Building success on your own terms

✨ Setting boundaries that stick

✨ Leading authentically across diverse European cultures

This was a perfect night where our incredible audience engaged in deep conversations, asked thoughtful questions, and shared experiences with each other.

And now, you get to hear it all. Whether you're an aspiring leader or looking to advance your career, this session offers invaluable advice and inspiration. Tune in and enjoy!

***Special thanks to our sponsors Gainsight and Braze for making this happen!

👉 Follow Cara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-benecke/

👉 Follow Sally on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallystoewe/

👉 Follow Pia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pia-sch%C3%BCmann-hoppe-a3aa5437/

👉 Follow Marija on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/

👉 Follow Women in Customer Success: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womenincs/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm

Text us your questions and thoughts!

Struggling to prove the financial impact of your CS initiatives or translate retention metrics into revenue? Watch this exclusive masterclass to learn how to build compelling, finance-driven business cases, align CS initiatives with revenue targets, and confidently lead conversations that secure executive buy-in.

Don’t miss this chance to transform Customer Success into a powerful revenue driver!

Featuring:

Marilee Bear, CRO at Gainsight

Marija Skobe-Pilley, Founder of Women In CS

👉 Follow Marilee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marileeb/

👉 Learn more about Gainsight: https://www.gainsight.com/

__________________________________________________
About Women in Customer Success Podcast:

Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other.

Follow:

Women in Customer Success

• Website - womenincs.co/podcast
• LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/

Host Marija Skobe-Pilley

• Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/
• Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

NEW - Women in Customer Success Courses:

• Thriving as a First-Time People Leader - https://womenincs.co/thriving-as-a-first-time-people-leader
• The Revenue CSM - https://womenincs.co/the-revenue-csm