It wouldn't be right to end the year without giving you one more installment of everyone’s favorite content series, Ask Kemma. As we close out yet another dizzying year, we asked Kemma, Director of Customer Experience at Attn: Grace, to share some of her favorite moments from 2021.
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Hi everyone, Kemma here. If you don’t know who I am, I am the friendly voice behind customer service at Attn: Grace — from phone calls to customer service emails, to voicemails, and everything in between. I have been in this role since we launched Attn: Grace, and it has been so amazing to see our truly spectacular community of women grow. I have had the privilege of meeting so many delightful people, and bearing witness to many touching moments. But it’s not always sunshine and rainbows… I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that global supply chain issues and shipping delays haven’t left me with a few more grey hairs than I had in the beginning of the year! But, looking back, there were so many amazing moments that I am so glad I got to be a part of. Here is my year end wrap-up, from your friend behind the phone. (Names have been changed for our customer’s privacy, of course.)
Everyone deserves a Rose in their life.
Rose is a loyal customer of ours. She lives in North Carolina and has an older friend who she often takes under her wing. She’d mentioned to me that she thought that her friend could really benefit from our products. Over six weeks, Rose went back and forth from her friend’s house, working with me on the phone to troubleshoot, replace, and reorder products until we finally landed on the right pad for her dear, 80-year-old friend. It would have been so easy for her to have given up or file this situation away as “not her problem”, but she didn’t. Rose was tenacious and compassionate, determined to help her friend find a better way. I was so touched by this intergenerational friendship, and so honored to have been part of the team to help this woman find what she needed. As we enter into a new year, may we all have a Rose in our lives to help us along the way.
I love being a trusted go-to.
I have to admit, I’m tickled every time I get a call from a woman who asks for me by name, saying that their friend told them to ask specifically for me. I grew up in New York City, where, for every issue or situation, every friend rushed to advise you with their hidden gem of a resource. “I got a guy,” was uttered so often that it became a cultural joke that I have great fondness for. I like to imagine that when our customers are talking to their friends about their changing needs, swapping recommendations, that I’m their “guy” they mention by name.
Transparency earns trust.
We talk a lot about our Skin-Safe PromiseTM at Attn: Grace, and how we’ll always be transparent about our ingredients, sourcing and manufacturing. That same transparency matters in my role in customer experience as well. On a daily basis, I pride myself on being incredibly candid with our customers. Our relationships are built on that honesty. Did you receive our All Natural Barrier Cream in November and wonder why it wasn’t creamy in the jar? Well, it’s because our formula is oil-based (coconut oil and shea butter to be specific), which allows our product to be preservative and paraben free. However, it also means that in cold winter temperatures, it may look a bit more solid than it looks in the pictures on our website. Last month, I shared the backstory behind our photos with Juliana. We did the photoshoot for our Barrier Cream this summer in a hot, 90 degree studio in NYC, with no air conditioning. As a result, our product photography shows a much creamier version of our barrier cream than women are experiencing when they open the product as it arrives in often frigid Winter temperatures. She had a good laugh and appreciated the honesty. I assured her that the cream would immediately soften into a silky texture with the heat of her body, and I waited on the phone while she tried it out herself. She was so delighted that she offered to be our hand model when we inevitably reshoot our Barrier Cream! These are the moments that I love. Trust is precious, and something that I strive to protect every step of the way.
New jokes :)
The women in our community have the best sense of humor. Shelly, a customer of ours, has an AOL account. (To be fair, she’s not alone! There are many of our customers that still have AOL accounts.) She jokes that AOL stands for “Another Old Lady”. “Shelly”, if you’re reading this now, know that I retold the AOL joke at Thanksgiving this year, and it earned a hearty chuckle from nearly everyone in the room. Thank you!
Women over 100 are phenomenal.
We have several customers over 100 years old and I am beyond impressed with how they navigate the online world. From Edith taking our Find Your Fit quiz online to Ruth emailing me to manage her subscription of pads that she bought for herself online, I am blown away at their independence and self sufficiency. Ladies, you rock!
Finding the right product can quite literally change your life.
I know I’m most likely preaching to the choir when I talk about how life-changing it is when you find an incontinence product that FINALLY works for you, but the individual stories from women who have struggled with the wrong products for years never stops taking my breath away. Take Deborah, for example. She was a nurse for 48 years and knew that she had a latex allergy, but had no idea that all the other leading pads out there all have some variation of latex in them. She suffered for years with painful rashes and welts. Switching to our skin-safe (latex-free!) pads erased that pain within days! Or let me tell you about Susan — before she started using our pads, she didn’t dare leave the house for more than 2 hours, worried about leaks. Now she’s excited to be out and about, exploring her city with her new-found freedom. Yes, what we’re selling is a skin-safe pad, but what women are experiencing is a tremendous boost to their quality of life. How powerful is that?!
Perhaps that’s a good place to wrap up these musings. Honestly, you all are great. Congratulations to all of us on surviving another bizarre year, ladies. My wish for us all in the new year is that we far surpass just “surviving”, and instead find ourselves THRIVING.
Cheers, be well, and happy holidays, everyone!
Warmly,
Kemma