In the modern contact centre, resilience isn't just a "nice-to-have"—it's a business imperative. When your team is facing profanity, racism, and personal attacks on a Monday, it’s no surprise they are less likely to show up on Thursday. But how do we bridge the gap between keeping the phones ringing and keeping our people mentally safe?

In this episode of The Kiwi CX Collective, we sit down with Debbie Schultz, the founder and CEO of Blue Sky Minds. From her early days in a tartan uniform as a bank teller in Edinburgh to her 20-year career in L&D and banking analysis, Debbie has seen it all. Today, she is on a mission to help New Zealand organisations build mentally healthy, high-performing teams.

Debbie shares the science and heart behind her flagship program, Mastering Adversity Together (MAT), and how she worked with leaders at AA Insurance to prove that protecting your team's wellbeing directly fuels organisational performance.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The 26% Breakthrough: How evidence-based training led to a massive reduction in emotional recovery time for frontline agents.
• The "Window of Tolerance": A simple, non-judgmental framework to help agents recognize when they are "rattled" (hyper-arousal) versus "numb" (hypo-arousal).
• Listening with No Agenda: Why the most powerful tool for a team leader is to stop coaching, stop mentoring, and just listen to validate.
• The Remote Isolation Gap: With 58% of some teams working from home, Debbie discusses the unique challenges of handling personal attacks when you aren't sitting next to your teammates.
• AI as a Safety Net: Leveraging real-time sentiment analysis to flag agent distress so team leaders can "check in" before the agent even has to ask.
• The "No Cancel" Policy: Why AA Insurance treats wellbeing huddles with the same strategic priority as business risk.
• Psychosocial Risk Management: A look at the shifting legal landscape and why "you can’t pour from an empty cup" is a warning every leader should heed.

About Our Guest:

Debbie Schultz is the founder and CEO of Blue Sky Minds. With a deep background in organisational learning and development, she specialises in designing programs for high-stress environments. Her work is trusted by major New Zealand brands to boost retention, increase empathy, and reduce unplanned leave through practical, bite-sized wellbeing tools.

Connect with Debbie:

• LinkedIn: Debbie Schultz
• Website: Blue Sky Minds
• Book a Coffee: You can book a virtual coffee or a 15-minute chat directly through her website.

Connect with CCNNZ: Website | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook

Connect with Elias Kanaris: Email | LinkedIn

In the rush to implement the "latest and greatest" AI tools, many organisations are accidentally investing $1,000 to fix a $100 problem—or worse, a problem that doesn't actually exist for their frontline.

In this episode of The Kiwi CX Collective, we sit down with Anupama Wijesundara, a Data and Insights Leader who brings a rare blend of analytical rigor and purpose-driven leadership. With a background in frontline social work and experience managing high-pressure operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anu doesn't just see data points; he sees the kaimahi (staff) and whānau (families) they represent.

Anu joins us to share his research on breaking down the "data silos" that hold organisations back and why successful digital transformation starts with a "Pause, Touch, Engage" approach rather than a top-down mandate.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Business Problem First Rule: Why you must identify the bottleneck before you pick the tool to avoid rolling out solutions nobody wants.
• Breaking the Silos: Lessons from Anu’s Master’s research on how legacy systems and heavy customisations act as barriers to true AI innovation.
• Impact vs. Performance: Why traditional metrics like AHT (Average Handling Time) fail to measure the real-world change being made in the community.
• The AI "Garbage In, Garbage Out" Trap: The risks of training models on poor data and the governance needed to create "safe spaces" for team experimentation.
• Cultural Integration: Anu’s journey from Sri Lanka to Aotearoa and why technology can’t fix a lack of cultural framework or shared vision.
• The Power of the Water Cooler: Why informal conversations often reveal the insights that dashboards miss.

About Our Guest:

Anupama Wijesundara is a Data & Insights Leader with over a decade of experience turning complex data into practical, human-centric outcomes. he is a specialist in reshaping service delivery for community-facing organisations and an advocate for using data as a tool for empowerment and advocacy.

Connect with Anu:
LinkedIn: Anupama Wijesundara

Connect with CCNNZ: Website | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook

Connect with Elias Kanaris: Email | LinkedIn

Is your customer experience strategy all data and no heart? In an era where AI automation and complex processes dominate the boardroom, many organisations are finding that their engagement is falling flat. This episode explores why the most powerful tool for 2026 isn't a new piece of software—it’s the critical thinking and storytelling that only humans can provide.

On The Kiwi CX Collective, we sit down with Liz Pinfold Reed, a global CX strategist and founder of Good CX. Liz has shaped customer journeys across five continents for brands like BMW, Visa, and Dove. She shares her unique philosophy on how to move past "Maserati-speed" technology to find the human truths that actually drive loyalty and trust.

In this conversation, we cover:

• The CX Equation: Why focusing on one "special person" and every tiny micro-moment is the biological imperative for brand survival.
• E + R = O: A masterclass in the framework where the Event plus the Reaction equals the Outcome, and how leaders can shape the customer's nervous system.
• The 2026 Pencil: Why the most important AI tool is actually a pencil—symbolising the need for deep thinking and "ideation" before implementation.
• Polyvagal Theory in Leadership: How understanding the "play zone" and psychological safety allows teams to innovate without fear.
• Vibe Coding: How intergenerational collaboration and "going strong and wrong" helps leaders spot blind spots and scale empathy in a digital world.

This episode is essential for CX strategists, business founders, and leaders who want to ensure their technology serves their people—not the other way around.

Guest: Liz Pinfold Reed, Founder of Good CX

Connect with Liz:
Website: Good CX
LinkedIn: Liz Pinfold Reed

Keywords: CX Strategy, AI, Human-Centred Design, Polyvagal Theory, Leadership, Storytelling, Customer Journey, Innovation, New Zealand Business, Psychological Safety.

Connect with CCNNZ: Website | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook

Connect with Elias Kanaris: Email | LinkedIn