Member Spotlight: Maria McCann
“To me, Pride means creating space for people to be themselves, providing support […], and amplifying the voices of those who can’t yet speak for themselves.”
Celebrating Pride and championing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion year-round, we spoke to Maria McCann, the Co-Founder of Neos Wave, about the moments that shaped the woman she is today, what Pride means to her, and the importance of promoting inclusion beyond one worthy cause or occasion.
To begin, can you tell us a little bit about what you/your company does?
I fell into CX by being in the right place at the right time during the explosion of global online retail and subscription-based streaming services. These were at the forefront of digital customer experience and gave me the opportunity to pioneer practices in self-service, omnichannel retail, social media customer service, community management and CX design for product and service-based industries.
I’ve worked for myself for the last 10 years, building an agency that helps growing brands serve their customers globally. I also contribute to other B2B and consumer-led businesses.
“My family has always been a source of support and enabled me to forge my own path from a young age – now, as a mother myself, I recognise how hard a task this was for my mum.”
How did you get where you are today?
Well, I’d love to divulge a deep and meaningful message, but the honest answer is that it’s probably the sum of my experiences which revolve primarily around my family, having fun and creating memories.
My family has always been a source of support and enabled me to forge my own path from a young age – now, as a mother myself, I recognise how hard a task this was for my mum.
Making memories is, to me, what life is all about. From big events like taking my family to watch the Lionesses at the Euro’s final to the small things like dog walks and chats or cooking a nice meal for friends – each of these builds towards the choices we make in life.
I love having fun and entertaining. I’m a lifelong gamer, which has influenced my approach to life and learning. I start off every game as a blundering amateur and upskill through exploration, repetition, and perseverance. It’s become my blueprint for work.
If I had to sum up my approach, I would say I’m comfortable being incompetent, I ask lots of questions, experiment with ideas and aim for progress over achieving perfection… and I try to have some fun along the way.
What were the main challenges you faced as a woman in CX?
Being in CX is often at the sharp end of the business and this enables us to anticipate patterns and problems. Sometimes this means delivering the bad news that leadership doesn’t want to hear or isn’t ready to act on.
As Customer Experience professionals, we’re the canaries in the coal mine and often a lone voice. I think there are parallels between CX and entertainment as the way in which we present the problem we’re trying to solve is equally as important as the message itself.
“I think we’re defined by many moments in our lives. When I was 20, I thought being gay was my identity – coming out was difficult and my social life was peppered with observations that I just hadn’t met the right man. Then I became a parent, and I realised that part of my identity was a tiny piece in a much bigger picture.”
Tell us about a moment that shaped the woman you are today.
I think we’re defined by many moments in our lives. When I was 20, I thought being gay was my identity – coming out was difficult and my social life was peppered with observations that I just hadn’t met the right man. Then I became a parent, and I realised that part of my identity was a tiny piece in a much bigger picture. I have experienced trauma and was diagnosed with PTSD, which again changed my life and how I view mental health.
What these moments have taught me is that most women know innately that going backwards is a pointless endeavour. When moments of soaring seem impossible, we might slow our pace to an amble or even a slow shuffle, sometimes we have moments of aimless meandering, but we do what we can to use these important moments to propel ourselves forward in life.
What makes a woman courageous, collaborative, inclusive, and authentic?
I believe these traits are a natural part of most women.
Around the world, millions of women display these qualities each and every day just to keep their heads above the water, and it’s a reminder to me that being female is much more than just being feminine.
“I’m a lifelong gamer, which has influenced my approach to life and learning. I start off every game as a blundering amateur and upskill through exploration, repetition, and perseverance. It’s become my blueprint for work.”
Finally, what does Pride mean to you?
I’ll preface this by saying that I'm not a natural flag flyer, but I wanted the challenge of thinking about this question. It made me think of the Pride protests in London back in the 90s – following the aftermath of the AIDS pandemic – and seeing the impact it had on thousands of gay men and women who lost loved ones. At that time, Pride was like a band of rebel voices, pounding to the tempo of fairness and justice; crying out to be treated like everyone else, in law at that time.
However, times have changed. These days, the Pride movement is considered by many as a gold standard for progress. Today it beats like an orchestrated march with a message of unity. However, a homogenous, polished message can sometimes lose its authenticity, especially when we see the spectacle of some brands that go into a frenzied performance every June when they selectively update their social media and brand logo.
I run a growing company and the team is scattered across the world, it encompasses individuals with different experiences, cultures, beliefs, and rituals. I have found that rather than focusing on one worthy cause or occasion, we have found more success in creating inclusion when we help everyone beat their own drum authentically, allow them to create harmony out of individual rhythms and give support to deal with the cacophony of noise when some people are out of sync with others – sometimes it’s the discord rather than agreement that leads to the richer conversations and benefit for everyone.
To me, Pride means creating space for people to be themselves, providing support so that they can contribute to society at their own pace in a respectful and responsible way, and amplifying the voices of those who can’t yet speak for themselves.
About Maria
An early adopter in online customer experience, Maria has spent the last 20 years working with digital brands, building their customer service experience strategies and operations from scratch.
Maria co-founded Neos Wave, a global agency providing market-leading customer service solutions for digital brands without the price tag.
Maria is also a partner at the Fellowship of Responsible Business which pursues and curates modern business wisdom, helping organisations move from good intentions to meaningful action.
Maria is regularly asked to share her experiences on building CX for hyper-growth organisations, running a global remote business, and being a gamer in her 40s.
