This week, I sat down with Tess Awal, CX Manager at Dr. Squatch — the men’s soap brand that turned natural hygiene into a full-blown lifestyle movement. If you’ve ever seen their cheeky ads or heard about their viral Sydney Sweeney “bathwater” drop, you already know: Dr. Squatch knows how to make personality a growth strategy.

We cover creativity, leadership, and what it really takes to build CX that keeps customers talking. Tess shares how her background in fashion photography and visual merchandising taught her the art of storytelling through experience, and why good CX is a lot like good design — it’s about knowing what makes people stop, look, and feel something.

She talks about how Dr. Squatch keeps its humor while scaling into major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Costco, and what really went into the Sydney Sweeney campaign that broke the internet. Tess also shares why she believes “bad feedback” doesn’t exist when you care enough to listen, and how she ensures customer insights are front and center — even the company’s COO reads NPS reports every week. Finally, she explains what the Unilever acquisition means for the brand and why loyal fans have nothing to worry about.

If you’re building a brand, leading a CX team, or figuring out how to stay human as you grow, this episode is packed with takeaways you can actually use. Listen now for lessons on creativity, brand voice, and why humor, empathy, and authenticity never go out of style.

📲 Follow Tess:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasnuva-awal/

📲 Check out Dr. Squatch:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dr-squatch/

Website: https://www.drsquatch.com/

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