Celebration, Empowerment, and Mentorship: CCWomen Hall of Fame Inductees Tell All

By now, you may already be familiar with our origin story—and we love to share it. What started off as a casual mimosa breakfast with founder Sandy Ko Fonseca eventually evolved into the platform we have today. However, our growth wouldn’t have been possible without the women leaders who leveraged their networks and resources to bring our vision to life. 

It’s why we have our Hall of Fame. Just as our inductees embody our mission in their everyday work, we strive to be a stage where they can celebrate their achievements and inspire others.

Our guests for our August webinar were as follows:

• Cheryl China, SVP, Director Retail Servicing, Citizens Bank
• Colleen Beers, Global Customer Experience Executive
  
• Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis, Founder & CEO, SupportU
• Kacey Felila Tolua, Senior Director, Global Technology - Center of Excellence Products and Infrastructure, Marriott International
• Kathy Phelps, President, C-lect
• Martha Sager, Global Customer Experience Executive

During our session, our luminary inductees shared how they continue to pave the way. Here are their takeaways for uplifting communities and driving transformational change. 

Why advocate for women? We do unto others as they’ve done to us. 

Advocacy doesn’t stop when we hit all our career milestones. Often, it leads us to contribute to a greater picture where we work tirelessly to champion those around us. “I’m passionate about advocating for women in the customer contact industry because it’s important to promote women, period,” said Martha Sager. “I care most about societal change. The workplace is essentially an extension of the communities we serve.”

“My advocacy starts with what others did for me. Someone saw my value and gave me a purpose,” added Kacey Felila Tolua. “The reward is seeing every woman for her worth, partnering with allies to celebrate one another, and integrating this habit into the fabric of every organization.”

Mentorship is a powerful way to pay it forward. 

Not everyone needs an entire village of mentors to succeed. Sometimes, all it takes is one person to change our trajectory. Cheryl China shared:

“I didn’t have a community of mentors, but I had one in particular who literally shaped my future. I started at Citizens Bank as a contact center agent, but she encouraged me to do more. She believed in me. She showed me exactly what I was capable of doing, and she pushed me to be a better version of myself, which I’ll never forget.”

As constant learners, we won’t have an end destination that ends our need for mentors. With unique challenges and uncertainties, each life season requires outside guidance for us to be successful. Kathy Phelps emphasized the importance of lifelong mentorship: 

“Throughout your career, you’re never at a point where you don’t need mentors. You never reach that pinnacle. I’ve always been somewhat intimidated with the thought of going to someone and asking, ‘could you please be my mentor?’ But I like to sit down and try to gather information and find strong individuals that I respect. No matter if they’re in the same field, if you find qualities in a person you really admire, just talk to them. Be open to conversations.”

“Mentorship can look as formal or informal as you want, but definitely leverage it,” encouraged Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis. “You don’t have to be at the beginning of your career. You can be at any point in your journey to really take advantage.”

Self-compassion goes hand-in-hand with self-discovery.

When we make unexpected pivots, self-compassion is essential. Venturing the unknown is always daunting, but it’s a natural part of our growth that helps build our resilience. Colleen Beers shared:

“I’ve found myself saying, what am I going to do next? In this lull of my career journey, I’ve discovered hope, compassion, and inner strengths. Sometimes, when I need a restart or restructure, when I need to discover myself, I look to the past and ask: when was I at the top of my game? It’s always when I’m helping others. 

Currently, I’ve found myself helping people full time. But in the process of this mentoring, I’m self-healing. I know what I’ve done for the last 30 years. These are my skills and passions, so whatever my next journey is, I know what I’m going to do. 

I know what I've done for the last 30 years. These are my skills, and these are my passions.”

We must make celebration a daily habit.

As women, we may allow our accomplishments to pass without proper recognition. We tend to keep quiet about our hard work that deserves visibility—but times are changing, and we’re slowly, but surely seeing a culture shift.

“Look for opportunities to celebrate women, but keep in mind that men and women respond to recognition differently,” noted China. “When someone celebrates you, own that accomplishment.” 

When discussing personalized empowerment, Sager added:

“Some people aren’t going to find it advantageous to have gotten a big shout-out in front of an executive team. So, find out what people’s celebration style is. I would always check in and say, ‘Hey, I want to shout you out. What’s one good thing you accomplished this month?’ Many times, I would find out that someone was missed because they were shy or quiet. If you can ask them, you can celebrate them, and how you do so may differ.”

“I think [celebration] is what our community is all about. If you think about helping customers, employees, and the entire experience, be that experience. Don’t be the person who ignores or shuts others down. Make sure you’re taking the time to do it. It fuels you and helps you become a better human, not necessarily just a better leader. 

Empowerment is a lifelong action. 

Empowerment should never be a one-time occurrence, nor should it be treated as a rarity. It pushes individuals to support one another by breaking societal barriers and creating more opportunities for people to shine. Tolua said: 

“Connect and help others do the same. Don’t be a hierarchy level diva who only talks to people at their level or above. For me, being a CCWomen Hall of Famer has provided more visibility, and I’m happy to share those connections. If you see our names and we’re connected to an individual or organization you’re interested in, reach out. We have the gift and privilege to turn around and make sure we’re giving to the next person.”

Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis further highlighted how our CCWomen is her safe space for maximal empowerment: 

“I have a special affinity for CCWomen because I’ve been so involved in it. I can tell you that the accessibility to other women within this particular group is unlike the others I’ve seen. You get rid of titles—it doesn’t matter if you’re a client or vendor. No one’s selling products in this community. It’s about commitment, values, and paying it forward.”

Feeling empowered? Join our network to get your regular dose. 

“We’re only as strong as our weakest link. It’s really easy to point fingers at others’ shortcomings and how they affect us negatively, but it never helps,” concluded Sager. “We’ve got to rise above it. We can’t reach our full potential alone—we all rise up together.”

Watch the webinar here!

CCWomen, your premier networking community for customer contact leaders, is on a forever journey to soar above the glass ceiling. We’d love for you to join our mission.