Ep.26 - Customer Pain Is Your Business Case - Carolyne Gathuru

From grassroots insights in East Africa to global strategy, Carolyne Gathuru brings a powerful voice to what it truly means to be customer-centric. As a CX strategist, leadership coach, and member of the Women in CX Inner Circle, she weaves 25 years of field experience into practical, impactful guidance for organizations undergoing transformation.

In this conversation, Carolyne dives into how to build genuine customer care into company culture, why training isn't always the answer, and how to simplify CX strategy without losing depth. She challenges assumptions about AI, voice of the customer programs, and what it takes to operationalize CX in both commercial and government settings.

Guest Bio

Carolyne Gathuru is a seasoned CX strategist and communication coach with over two decades of experience guiding public and private organizations toward customer-centric transformation. She is a core member of the Women in CX Inner Circle and the founder of Life Skills Consulting in Kenya.

Her work spans leadership alignment, culture change, and voice of the customer (VOC) programs. Carolyne’s mission is to help organizations move from box-ticking initiatives to genuine impact by diagnosing systemic gaps, simplifying complex strategies, and advocating for the human side of customer experience. With her clear-eyed approach and relentless passion, she is changing how organizations view and implement CX from the inside out.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Carolyne Gathuru and CX in Africa

01:47 Training for genuine care, not just scripts

06:05 Why training often isn’t the real problem

09:07 The power of stakeholder interviews and bottom-up insight

12:05 The leadership checklist to define CX initiatives

17:22 The tension between AI convenience and human connection

23:29 Rethinking Voice of the Customer programs

29:16 Why organizations must ask: What do customers really want?

32:49 The surprising evolution of CX in government

36:23 The hardest part: Tying CX to the bottom line

40:10 Journey mapping as a diagnostic tool

42:27 Tying CX to brand, ESG, and internal engagement

46:18 Using pain points to build CX business cases

47:50 Why simplicity drives action in culture change

50:15 Representation and relevance in global CX networks

52:30 Elevating CX as a real profession for women in Africa

55:22 Final thoughts: Start experience excellence at home

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