From Fashion to Customer Success: Why Value Always Outshines Relationships
Season 5, Episode 1 of Women in Customer Success
What do fashion merchandising and customer success have in common? More than you might think. In our Season 5 premiere, we sat down with Melissa Garcia, Senior Director of Member Success at Chief, whose unexpected career journey from New York's fashion world to tech leadership offers powerful lessons for anyone in CS.
The Unexpected Path to Customer Success
Melissa's story begins at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she studied merchandising with dreams of a fashion career. But life had other plans. Working at a small women-owned apparel company, she found herself naturally gravitating toward relationship management with boutique partners across the country.
"I was managing relationships with boutiques, going to trade shows, building these connections," Melissa recalls. "I was like, this is fun. I love this. But I didn't really know customer success existed - I wasn't in tech, I wasn't doing SaaS. I didn't understand what I was doing was actually customer success."
That organic pull toward relationship building and value creation eventually led her to ClassPass and into the tech world proper. The transition taught her something crucial: customer success skills are universal.
The Non-Negotiable: Value Over Everything
When asked about her one uncompromising CS principle, Melissa's answer was immediate and clear:
"You have to be focused on the value that you're bringing to the customer. Yes, this is a relationship business, and we're good at building relationships. But the relationship isn't going to carry you through to what you're there to do, which is to make sure your customer sees value."
This philosophy shapes everything from her approach to customer onboarding to how she structures ongoing engagements. For Melissa, understanding customer outcomes from day one isn't just helpful - it's essential for long-term success.
Breaking the Check-In Cycle
Perhaps most provocatively, Melissa would eliminate the sacred cow of customer success: the routine check-in call.
"If you're checking in just to check in, what value are you providing?" she challenges. "Nobody, especially right now, has time for meetings they don't want to have."
Instead, she advocates for a more strategic approach:
Turn on Google alerts for your customers' businesses
Look for organic moments to connect when it matters to them
Come prepared with insights they can't find anywhere else
Share what similar customers are doing successfully
"When I come in, the customer should be happy to hear from me," Melissa explains. "You're becoming a strategic advisor, providing something unique they can't Google."
The Power of Taking Chances
Melissa's career pivot was made possible by a manager who took a chance on her - Carolyn Moore, who hired her at ClassPass despite her non-tech background. This experience shaped Melissa's approach to leadership and community building.
"She took a chance on me when I pivoted into tech," Melissa reflects. "Now I try to do that wherever I can. You can change someone's life with a little thing."
Lessons for Your CS Career
Three key takeaways from Melissa's journey:
Value creation is non-negotiable - Every interaction should deliver something meaningful to your customer
Timing matters more than frequency - Strategic, relevant outreach beats routine check-ins every time
CS skills are transferable - The relationship-building and value-providing abilities you develop in customer success apply everywhere
The Future of Customer Success
As Melissa sees it, the future belongs to CSMs who can position themselves as strategic advisors rather than relationship managers. In a world where customers are busier than ever, the ability to provide unique, actionable insights becomes the ultimate differentiator.
"Women in CS can do anything," she notes, "because we learn so many important skills - working cross-functionally, proving value. That's easy to apply to other things."
Listen to the full conversation with Melissa Garcia on Women in Customer Success, Season 5, Episode 1. Her insights on career pivoting, value-driven customer success, and community building offer valuable lessons for CS professionals at any stage of their journey.
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