For fifteen years, nine of my client conversations out of ten ended in a yes. These past months: zero. Real interviews, real budget discussions, and then "we went with someone else." By email. No call. No reason. Every time.

The nerve in this story, the part nobody says out loud, is this: the reason you lost will never be written down. Not because people got rude. Because a written reason is a legal risk, and silence is the only answer that can never be held against anyone. The feedback channel didn't die of neglect. It was killed, and everyone in the room knows it.

So I made myself the case study. I posted the zero on LinkedIn and asked the market to talk. Sixty comments, a full DM inbox and one video message later, I had something better than feedback: a diagnosis. Why checkable proof stopped closing deals. What my 90% was actually measuring all those years. Why some interviews were never mine to win. And where the value in this profession is migrating before 2027.

I turned all of it into two things today:

The podcast episode, if you want the story told straight: listen here (or any platform you like...)

The full written version, what I found and what I rebuilt, with every source linked, if you want to check my work: read it here

Next week: the best service I ever paid for, and why I left anyway. Fifteen years preaching customer experience, then I became the customer who walked.

Amélie
Transformation under real conditions, tested on real humans.

P.S. If there's a nerve you want me to touch, reply with one line. I collect them.

And proof matters. According to McKinsey, around 70% of transformation projects fail, mostly because they try to do too much, too fast, with no visible proof along the way.

So today, I'm trying a new format with you: a saveable CX•EX Reset Playbook. These are five steps I've tested, proven, and kept in my “best practice” book. They're simple, practical, and designed to work in the mess of real life.

I'd love to know if you find this format useful, so hit reply after reading and tell me.

The CX•EX Reset Playbook:

• Step 1. Focus: Pick one moment that matters.
• Step 2. Map: Put customer + employee journeys on one page.
• Step 3. Fix: Choose the smallest system change.
• Step 4. Measure: Track one signal for each side.
• Step 5. Sprint: Run a 30-day experiment.

Remember: One moment. One fix. One signal. One month.

Step 1. Focus: Pick one moment that matters

A service company I worked with had the same problem over and over: after signing a contract, the kickoff date kept slipping. Sales promised one thing. Delivery discovered another. Clients chased updates. The team spent hours rebuilding context.

That's the perfect “moment that matters.”

• Customers were confused.
• Employees were frustrated.
• Nobody owned the handover.

Success looks like: one clearly defined moment, one owner, and a simple problem statement.
Watch out for: leaders insisting on fixing three things at once.
Counter: write this rule at the top: One moment. One fix. One signal.

Step 2. Map: Put both journeys on one page

Once you've named the moment, mapping it out is where the magic starts.

Draw two columns: Customer side (what they see, expect, feel) and Team side (what they do, need, decide). Add timestamps and owners. Circle where people step in as duct tape.

Our example:

• Client expects kickoff date within 48h of contract signature. Instead, they get a vague “welcome” email.
• Delivery digs for scope, access, and contacts across five different tools.

Success looks like: a one-page map both sides can read in three minutes.
Watch out for: arguments about what should happen.
Counter: write down what actually happens today, not what the SOP says.

Step 3. Fix: Choose one system change

Here's where leaders usually overcomplicate it. Don't redesign the entire onboarding. Choose one shared fix you can ship in 1 to 2 weeks.

Our example fix:

• Create an auto-generated Kickoff Packet at contract signature: scope, roles, access checklist, and a booking link.
• Add a 2-minute internal checklist so Delivery starts with full context.

Success looks like: one friction loop removed for both sides.
Watch out for: scope creep (“let's redo the whole process”).
Counter: park bigger ideas in a backlog, ship one fix now.

Step 4. Measure: Track one signal per side

You don't need five KPIs. (Trust me, I've seen that mistake a hundred times.) You need one customer signal and one team signal. That's it.

Our example metrics:

• Customer signal: time to confirmed kickoff drops from 5.2 days to under 48h.
• Team signal: fewer escalations on missing info.

Success looks like: both metrics move within three weeks.
Watch out for: leaders adding five more metrics.
Counter: write this rule on your scoreboard: One customer metric. One team metric.

Step 5. Sprint: Run a 30-day reset

Day 1: align on one problem, one fix, one signal, one owner.

Weekly: 20-minute check-ins to check usage, signal movement, and blockers.

Day 30: lock what worked, note what didn't, and pick the next fix.

Our example cadence:

• Week 1: build the Kickoff Packet + checklist.
• Week 2: pilot on three deals.
• Week 3: roll out to all new clients.
• Week 4: stabilize and choose the next fix.

Success looks like: calmer mornings, fewer “where's my kickoff” emails, no more duct tape work.
Watch out for: excuses (“we skipped it on two deals because X”).
Counter: treat misses as data. Ask: what in the system made the new behavior harder than the old one?

What to expect in 30 days

• Less ping-pong between Sales and Delivery.
• Shorter time to clarity for clients.
• Fewer escalations for missing context.
• A visible lift in calm and confidence across the team.

Optional extra in Week 3: add a client-facing status page both sides can see. It reduces chase emails and builds trust fast.

Frictions you'll meet (and how to handle them)

• Budget silos: bring in Operations as co-owner.
• Expert mode: people overcomplicate. Bring it back to the two signals.
• Scope creep: park extra ideas in a backlog.
• “We're different”: same 5 steps apply. Context doesn't break the playbook.

Over to you

Try this 5-step reset on one messy moment this month. Then hit reply and tell me:

• Did it work?
• Did the friction show up differently?
• Do you want more of these playbooks in future newsletters?

With you for results that actually feel good,

Amélie

It all started when I told him:
“This is the most vulnerable thing I'll ever do.”

And I wasn't talking about a business challenge.
I was talking about becoming a mother.

Yes, surprise.
My biggest project of 2025 was a tiny human.
And I kept it off the radar for five whole months.

If you've been wondering why I vanished… now you know.

For the last 15 years, one thing never moved: my work.
My life could be messy... burnout, breakups, money stress, addictions, homelessness...
but my career stayed steady.
It grew, it held me up, it paid the bills, it kept me anchored.

I could be falling apart privately and still be a machine professionally.

But this time… it didn't work like that.

2025 changed the rules.

At the start of the year, I stepped into what I instantly knew was the project of my life:
I was pregnant.
Not just “pregnant” but stepping into motherhood with full presence, intention and honesty.

And for the first time ever, my personal life didn't politely sit on the side.
It walked into my work with muddy boots and rearranged all the furniture.

My time shifted.
My energy shifted.
My pace shifted.
My identity shifted.

I couldn't outwork this.
I couldn't “stay professional” to hide it.
I had to integrate it, fully.

And I'll be honest: I kept it private because I was scared.

Scared of stereotypes about ambitious women and motherhood.
Scared people would perceive fragility where there was none.
Scared of being a total beginner again.
Scared of being judged differently while navigating something so intimate and new.

I needed space.
So I took it.

Now that I'm officially on the other side, here's the real insight:

This wasn't fragility.
This was expansion.
Integration.
A deeper version of ambition, not a smaller one.

Motherhood didn't replace anything.
It added meaning, clarity, and a sharper filter for what truly matters.

There is no “professional me” and “private me”.
There is just… me.
In different contexts, with different stakes.

And instead of diluting my leadership, this experience strengthened it.

I feel more anchored.
More intentional.
More selective.
More powerful.

This is what integration does:
It forces you to let go of the artificial split and lead as a whole human.

What you can take from this (no baby required)

This isn't a story about motherhood.

It's a story about what happens when:

• you stop pretending two parts of your life are unrelated
• you allow yourself to be a beginner again
• you let expansion reshape your systems
• you stop performing strength and actually embody it
• you build a life, a career or a business that support who you're becoming, not who you used to be

Whether your “project” is a baby, a reinvention, a transition, a leap, or a quiet shift,
integration beats compartmentalisation every single time.

It expands you.
It pulls the real leader forward.
It rearranges your priorities with brutal clarity.
And it makes every next step feel cleaner, sharper, more aligned.

This is the version of me walking into 2026.
And I'm incredibly proud of our debut.

More soon... this new chapter is just getting started.

Amélie

PS: If you're entering your own era of expansion, new role, new identity, new ambition, new rules, you don't have to navigate it alone.
I help women build leadership that actually fits the life they're creating.
Reply if you want the details. No fuss.