Empowering Women Podcast: Ingrid Lindberg, Founder and CEO of Chief Customer

Episode 8 of the Empowering Women Podcast
Guest: Ingrid Lindberg, Founder & CEO of Chief Customer Consulting
Bio: Ingrid Lindberg is the founding owner of Chief Customer Consulting. She is the first person to hold the title of CXO, or Chief Customer Experience Officer. From the early age of 14, Ingrid began working full-time at a salon; she soon worked her way into retail, and then retail management at the age of 17. Leveraging her customer service experience, she took advantage of opportunities to catapult into the world of customer experience, which was really just becoming a thing when she got into it. In our discussion, Ingrid shares her story of working her way up to executive leadership in Corporate America as a Customer Experience expert. 
 
Resources
Book - Words of Wisdom from Women to Watch: Career Reflections from Leaders in the Commercial Insurance Industry
Alan Cooper, Resource for User Experience
Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers (by HBR on Second Generation Bias)
 
Notable Quotes
"Your voice matters. Raise it. Own it. Use it."
 
"There's room for all of us to succeed and there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be on that path. If you want it, raise your voice."
 
"When you tell the top 10 execs they have to find someone to mentor, it has to be 5 women and 5 women... And actually putting numbers around who you're helping to lift through the organization... you're creating dissonance in the fraternity. "
 
"There's so much fear that drives silence."
 
"Corporate America has been built around the support of the fraternity, from the places where "deals are done" to the business that is done over brown liquor and cigars. The fraternity was built to help men get from one stage to another is one that seems impenetrable for women... Fraternities have built a certain kind of toxic business environment of insiders and exclusion. I questioned the assumption that I should try to join."
 
"When I was managing a team of all men who would invite me to lunches, but would never take me to Friday night happy hour... so I followed them once. And walked straight into the strip club that was three and a half blocks from work. And sat down with them and said, "hey, I'm a part of this team And if I have to sit here to remind you I'm a part of this team, then I'll sit here to remind you that I'm a part of this team. "
 
"I don't know how to do things like say, 'oh Joe, that's a brilliant idea. Thank you so much for coming up with it.' I say things like, 'Joe, I'm sorry you felt like you had to restate something I said 20 minutes ago. Would you like me to be clearer next time?' "
 
"I was 20 years younger than any of my peers, at best. I didn't fit the mold at all. I have not been very good at packaging myself into one of those female execs who disappears. I don't do that... I've not played a lot of those roles that female executives have, where they either try to conform to that boys club or frankly just try to disappear as a human.... "
 
"I literally had a female executive say to me once, ' I did it with no help. Why should I help you?'...  I feel like it is my job to stop that cycle of second generation bias. We have to stop it; we have to help each other."