#133 Building a Successful Customer Advocacy Program: Alyssa Maschi's Journey at Lenovo

Ever wondered how customer stories come to life in global tech companies? Welcome to a fascinating conversation with Alyssa Maschi, Head of the Customer Reference Center of Excellence at Lenovo.

Alyssa's career journey defies traditional expectations. Starting in nonprofit work, she made a bold transition into tech through channel marketing before finding her way to customer advocacy. Her candid admission that she "had to Google what customer reference marketing was" when applying for her current role reveals an important truth: career paths rarely follow a straight line. What carried her through these transitions? The soft skills she cultivated along the way, communication, relationship-building, and adaptability.

Building Lenovo's customer reference program from scratch presented enormous challenges. Alyssa shares how she established the operational foundation, engaged with sellers, recruited customers, and eventually expanded from a single business unit to a company-wide center of excellence. Her role evolved from hands-on implementation to strategic leadership, focusing on program expansion and securing executive support. This evolution offers valuable lessons for anyone tasked with building something new within a large organization.

The conversation takes an honest turn when discussing corporate politics and finding advocates. Alyssa credits her success in scaling the program to having a VP who believed in her work and provided the platform to pitch directly to the CMO. For women navigating large tech organizations, this highlights the critical importance of finding champions who can elevate your work to higher levels. When leadership guidance is lacking, Alyssa recommends returning to strategic foundations and expanding your internal network, practical advice for maintaining momentum during uncertain times.

Looking to position yourself for promotion? Alyssa suggests a methodical approach: understand the specific requirements for the next level position and document how you're already fulfilling those responsibilities. This evidence-based approach creates a compelling case that's difficult for management to dispute.

Join us for this illuminating conversation about career transitions, building global programs, and what it truly means to be bolder, embracing curiosity and following opportunities that spark your interest, even when they aren't obvious next steps.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to To Be Bolder
• 1:27 Meet Alyssa Mashey from Lenovo
• 3:11 Transitioning from Nonprofits to Tech
• 5:44 Building a Customer Reference Program
• 8:35 Finding Leadership Advocates for Success
• 16:44 Personal Branding Through Relationships
• 21:26 Advocating for Promotion
• 25:11 Recognition and Career Growth
• 28:32 What To Be Bolder Means