Radically Personal

Adam Seed has spent over three decades in customer experience, including 13 years at Nordstrom and now eight years leading guest services at Ulta Beauty through explosive growth, a pandemic, and growing international expansion.

In this episode, Adam shares how Ulta treats AI like a new team member, why he wishes he had moved faster on AI adoption, and how 45 million loyalty members create the data foundation that makes personalization actually work. He also reveals he started his career at 17, selling beauty products on the phone, setting up a foundation for becoming a CX powerhouse.

Kate Showalter has done what most CX leaders only dream about. She transformed customer service from a cost center into a revenue machine. In this candid conversation, the Crate & Barrel VP reveals how 30+ years of institutional knowledge became her superpower in the AI age.

Discover how Showalter drove change in annual savings, her insider tips on building the best teams, and why her CX shadow program now has a waitlist of executives wanting to learn her methods. Kate shares how she contributes to her C-suite coalition, and why she coaches AI like a new support hero.

This is a masterclass in enterprise-scale transformation from someone who's lived every level of the business, from selling wine glasses on the floor to shaping the future of retail CX with Gladly. 

When Lauren Inman-Semerau joined Pact, she found an 11-person team managing 13,000 monthly conversations with disconnected systems. Her solution? Refusing to compromise. In this episode, Lauren reveals how she's preparing PACT to grow in 2026 through strategic AI, tips on getting team buy-ins, unified data, and what she calls gritty innovation. 

On this special episode of Radically Personal, we sit down with not one but two amazing guests, Nari Sitaraman and Hernan Giraldo of BARK. Together we dig into how BARK’s mission to make all dogs happy starts with the people who love them, and how a strong partnership between IT and customer service ensures no dog — or dog parent — is left behind.

On this episode of Radically Personal, we hear from Brian Kershon, Director of Global Customer Service at Zenni Optical. He discusses the work he and his team are doing that has landed the company a place on Newsweek’s list of top customer service companies five years in a row. 

In this Gladly podcast episode, hear from Founder & CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, Christina Stembel, on the brands’ success in powering customer acquisition through customer service, on how prioritizing loyalty is the future of commerce, and more. 

During this episode, President & Integrator of KURU Footwear, Sean McGinnis and I talk about how they provide world-class anticipatory experiences for their customers, what it means to serve with empathy and so much more.

With the slogan "Seriously Nice", Breeze Airways is reimagining customer service for brands and businesses to be the best part of a customer’s day. So, what does it look like to be Seriously Nice?

In this episode, Vice President of Guest Experiences, Danny Cox shares what it means to be Seriously Nice, how they raise the bar for guest experiences, and why they decided to omit voice as a primary channel for customer service.

Ulta Beauty has redefined beauty shopping for nearly three decades with the promise, "all things beauty, all in one place." 

 

On this episode of Radically Personal, I speak with my friend Adam Seede, Director of Guest Services at Ulta Beauty. Adam reveals the visionary grit of this retail powerhouse. Hear how Ulta Beauty weathers retail closures during the pandemic, turn guest services into a revenue driver, and continue to remain customer-focused during an accelerated shift to digital. 

You might know TUMI best for introducing their stylish, ultra-functional, black-on-black ballistic nylon travel bag that you see on the streets and in airports worldwide, but they are known for much more than that.

TUMI anchors superior quality and functionality to technical innovation and design excellence. They also provide world-class customer experiences that inspire the industry. According to Victor Sanz, Creative Director for the brand, if your question starts with, "Can you help? The answer is always yes.” TUMI relishes the opportunity to offer customers unparalleled support when things go wrong. That mindset is deeply attractive to customers and makes a brand powerful.

During this episode, Victor & I chat about what it means to understand the customer, what drives brand loyalty, and how to provide the same level of service and experiences no matter where in the world you are.