A Day in the Life of a Principal CX Consultant

Hi Stemettes! I’m Amy, a Principal CX Consultant at Alida.

Many moons ago, I attended the NYU Stern School of Business in New York City. Here, I  got my degree in Marketing and International Business. After working in NYC for several years doing digital marketing, I joined the CX software industry in Silicon Valley. Then, after almost a decade in CX, I joined Alida two years ago. You’ll notice “CX” in my title – that stands for “Customer Experience”, a unique area of software where technology helps people like you and me. Businesses use Alida software to listen to their customers to improve their experiences, such as shopping on their website.

Sometimes these businesses need help getting their Alida software all set up. That’s where my team – Professional Services – comes in. We work with these businesses to design, build and test the software so that their employees can use it. You can think of Professional Services as a group of chefs who use different ingredients to create a dish that a customer will enjoy!

As part of Professional Services senior leadership, I get to wear different hats every day – using the chef analogy:

• Sometimes I work directly with Alida customers who use our software to translate the technical language we use in software into normal language

• Sometimes I create or update the recipes my team uses to create their dishes. We refer to this as ‘process documentation.’

• Other times I teach teammates how to cook, which we call ‘training and enablement.’

• More recently, I launched our new office in the Philippines, which is like opening a new restaurant.

• And another fun project I’m working on at the moment is launching some new software for my teammates, kind of like building a new set of tools for chefs to use in the kitchen!

A lot of my job has to do with effective communication and what we call ‘project management.’ At Alida, we are very collaborative so I get to work with many other departments on my projects. I need to not only be able to communicate in a straightforward manner to my teammates but to also rally them so we can get stuff done and have fun doing it all. Project management comes in when we have a goal and need to figure out how to get there.

The last thing I’d like to discuss is something called ADHD, which stands for “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” I got diagnosed with ADHD in my adulthood but I’ve dealt with it since I was very young. You might have heard of it or you might even have it yourself. ADHD falls within an umbrella term called “neurodivergent” which means that my brain works a little differently from other people who we refer to as “neurotypical.” Having ADHD means I need to make slight adjustments to the way I work, for example:

• I work earlier in the day because I focus better in the morning and afternoon

• I manage my time so I can read things like emails several times so I fully understand what is being said

• I take notes during meetings so I can keep track of decisions and actions

• I work on different projects in blocks of time so I can give my full attention to each one

• I work in a very quiet environment with no music or distractions

I’m very lucky to be a ‘Lider’ (what we call Alida employees) and a woman in a leadership role at a leading technology company. I identify with and exemplify our Alida values of being bold, empathetic, authentic, and curious and I hope you have found my experience helpful in your journey!