Over the past five years, The Wise Marketer’s Women in Loyalty™ video interview series has evolved into something far more meaningful than a collection of executive conversations. It has become a living archive of leadership journeys, professional insight, and peer mentorship — spotlighting the women shaping the loyalty, customer engagement, and experience industries.
Each episode pairs candid career reflection with practical strategic thinking. The result is a series that serves both as inspiration and as an executive resource: a place where emerging and established professionals alike can learn how leaders navigate complexity, build influence, and drive customer-centric growth.
Viewed collectively, the Women in Loyalty™ series reveals several recurring themes — leadership resilience, human-centered strategy, innovation discipline, and the importance of representation in a rapidly evolving field.
Leadership Journeys That Illuminate the Path Forward
From its earliest episodes, the series established our mission – to examine real leadership journeys, not just spotlight polished outcomes.
The inaugural conversation with Margaret Murphy, CEO of Bold Orange, set the tone. Murphy reflected on building organizations grounded in authentic human connection — reminding viewers that loyalty strategy begins with understanding people. The episode positioned the series as a platform for learning directly from leaders who combine commercial success with cultural impact.
That emphasis on lived experience continues across early episodes featuring voices such as Cheryl Nuttall and Rachel Bicking, who share how adaptability, curiosity, and collaboration shape long-term career growth. These interviews avoid prescriptive formulas in favor of practical wisdom: how to lead through ambiguity, how to stay grounded in customer value, and how to build influence across complex organizations.
The series consistently reinforces a central idea: leadership is not a linear ascent, but an evolving practice shaped by context, mentorship, and resilience.
Industry Perspective Across Sectors
One of the strengths of Women in Loyalty™ is its deliberate diversity of professional backgrounds. Guests represent retail, fuel and convenience, technology, analytics, and enterprise loyalty platforms — offering a panoramic view of how customer engagement principles translate across industries.
For example, Lesley Saitta of Impact 21 shares insights drawn from decades of loyalty work in fuel and convenience retail, emphasizing operational discipline and customer empathy. Her episode underscores how industry specialization still relies on universal leadership skills: clarity, accountability, and an ability to translate strategy into execution.
Similarly, Andrea Brecka of Shell and Sandra Sanderson of Sobeys bring perspectives from large-scale retail environments where loyalty programs intersect with daily consumer behavior. Their discussions highlight the complexity of delivering meaningful engagement at scale — and the leadership required to align marketing, analytics, and customer experience teams.
Meanwhile, technology-focused episodes — including conversations with Clare Dorrian of SugarCRM and Zsuzsa Kecsmar, co-founder of Antavo — examine how platform innovation must remain anchored in human outcomes. These leaders articulate a shared message that technology is an enabler, while loyalty success depends on thoughtful strategy and organizational readiness.
The Global Expansion of Loyalty Leadership
As the series matured, its scope expanded beyond North America to include international voices shaping the future of loyalty.
Episodes featuring leaders like Chayya Bassi and Mateboho Malope reflect a growing recognition that loyalty innovation is global — and that leadership lessons transcend geography. These conversations explore how cultural context influences engagement strategies, while reinforcing shared professional values: integrity, mentorship, and continuous learning.
The written introductions accompanying these episodes frame the interviews as opportunities for cross-border insight exchange. Rather than focusing solely on tactics, the series highlights how leadership principles adapt to regional realities while maintaining a common commitment to customer trust.
Mentorship in Action
A defining characteristic of Women in Loyalty™ is its emphasis on mentorship — not as a formal program, but as an ethos embedded in every conversation.
Later episodes featuring leaders such as Laura Miller and Paula Thomas explicitly position the interviews as “virtual mentorship” moments. Guests openly discuss career pivots, leadership challenges, and the importance of building professional networks that support growth.
Paula Thomas, known globally for her work in loyalty media and thought leadership, speaks to the value of community-building within the industry — a theme echoed throughout the series. These conversations normalize learning curves, celebrate diverse career paths, and encourage viewers to view leadership as an ongoing dialogue rather than a destination.
The mentorship thread continues in more recent interviews, including conversations with analytics leader Emily Merkle, who illustrates how data expertise and strategic thinking can coexist with empathy and collaborative leadership. Her episode reinforces a recurring series message: modern loyalty leadership blends analytical rigor with human intelligence.
A Human-Centered View of Loyalty Strategy
Across all episodes, the Women in Loyalty™ series consistently returns to a core principle: customer engagement and loyalty is about relationships, not transactions.
Whether discussing retail execution, enterprise platforms, analytics innovation, or community-building, our guests over the past five years emphasize that loyalty programs succeed when they respect customer needs and organizational realities.
This human-centered approach distinguishes the series from purely tactical discussions. While strategies and technologies evolve, the leadership qualities highlighted — curiosity, empathy, adaptability — remain constant.
A Living Archive of Leadership Insight
The library of Women in Loyalty™ interviews form an evolving archive of professional wisdom. They document how leaders navigate industry change, advocate for inclusive representation, and mentor the next generation of loyalty professionals.
Each of our viewers may bookmark a favorite episode, or two, but we hope a higher value awaits through processing of the collective narrative. As we listen to these powerful executives leading the global customer loyalty industry, we are reminded that leadership is multifaceted, mentorship is essential, and meaningful customer engagement begins with people.
We are committed to continuing this series as it stands as both a celebration of accomplished professionals and an invitation — encouraging the loyalty community to learn, share, and lead with intention.