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Ty Givens

@itstygivens

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followers

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Support Ops Operator, 25+ years
Founder @cx.collective
Building the systems behind scaling support teams

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Everyone says startups are where you learn the most. That depends entirely on the startup.

Fast growth needs people who already know how to do the thing. There's no room to figure it out while the thing is moving.

At See's Candies it was the opposite. We were running a 90-year-old startup, modernizing operating systems from the 70s and point-of-sale systems from the 90s. The challenge wasn't speed. It was replacing legacy tools without breaking what the business runs on.

Room to experiment lives in steady companies. Speed lives in scale-ups. Pick the one that matches what you're trying to learn right now.

Full episode with Mike Allton on The AI Hat Podcast is in my story. 🔗🎧

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #CareerAdvice #TechTrends #StartupLife by @itstygivens

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12 days ago

Happy National Coffee Day! ☕️ by @itstygivens

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18 days ago

AI doesn't solve chaos. It scales it.

That's what I told Mike Allton on The AI Hat Podcast, and it's the thing I wish more teams heard before they bought the tool.

Two hours in a new platform, nothing to show for it, and the process underneath is still broken. It happens constantly.

Treat yourself like a client. Step back, name the problem, map the process you actually run today. Then build. Otherwise you're automating your own messy habits at scale.

Full episode is in my story. 🎧🔗

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #AITools #WorkflowOptimization #ProductivityTip by @itstygivens

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19 days ago

Every wrong turn I've taken in this business started with a good intention.

I told Mike Allton on The AI Hat Podcast that this is the one I have to remind myself of constantly. You made the call because you wanted things to work. Forgive it, take the lesson, keep moving.

The other thing that helps: leave the room. When I'm stuck, I pack up the laptop and head to Barnes & Noble or claim a corner at a coffee shop. Same problem, different room, and it stops looking unsolvable.

Full episode is in my story. 🔗🎧

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #MindsetShift #EntrepreneurLife #CreativeProcess by @itstygivens

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a month ago

I handed AI my unfiltered thoughts and asked it to critique how I communicate.

The feedback stung a little. It was also right.

AI is not my friend. It's just the one place I don't edit myself first, which makes it an unusually accurate mirror. Taking that and using it to decide how I actually want to show up has changed more than I expected.

Full episode of The AI Hat Podcast with Mike Allton is in my story. 🔗🎧

#PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #AItools #CXCollective #SupportDriven by @itstygivens

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a month ago

My grandfather told me there was nothing I could not do. He did not say it as encouragement. He said it like it was already settled.

So I moved through the world like it was already settled too.

When I decided to start my own business, he was against it. He saw risk. He had worked hard for stability and he wanted that for me.

So I did it anyway. And I did not tell him. Not while I was figuring it out. Not during the messy part. I waited until the business was actually working.

When I finally told him, I said it was his fault. He is the one who convinced me I could do anything.

That is what resilience looks like for me. Not gritting my teeth through hard things. A baseline assumption that I will figure it out, planted by someone who never once suggested otherwise.

Bold Journey asked me where my resilience comes from. That is the whole answer.

Full interview at the link in story.

Who planted that belief for you?

📸 @rayneduronsletphotography

#boldjourney #founderstory #womeninbusiness #customerexperience #cxleaders #supportoperations #consultantlife #blackwomenentrepreneurs #resilience #businessowner by @itstygivens

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a month ago

Being good at getting things done is a quiet trap.

I fell into working on a little bit of everything, just because I could, instead of staying on what actually mattered.

I sat down with Philippa Channer on the Clarity to CEO Podcast to talk about that shift. The most effective CEOs aren't doing every task. They're holding the vision and guiding the team.

If you're wearing every hat right now, try stepping back and asking one thing before you touch a task: why am I the one doing this?

If the answer is "because it's faster if I just do it," that's usually the sign it belongs to someone else.

Full clip and episode are in my story 🔗🎧

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #FounderMindset #DelegationTips #SupportOps by @itstygivens

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2 months ago

Is Throwback Monday a thing? Making it a thing.

I sat down with @thehumanprotocolpodcast and said the quiet part out loud:

AI is not the solution. It’s the mirror.

Turn on a bot and it won’t fix your support operation. It’ll show you exactly where the gaps are. Undocumented workflows. Escalation paths living in one person’s head. Ownership that changes depending on who’s in the room.

If “add AI” landed on your goals this quarter, this one’s for you.

Link’s in my story 🔗 by @itstygivens

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2 months ago

AI is not a set-it-and-forget-it tool, and a lot of teams are learning that the hard way right now.

They blow through the tech budget expecting AI to fix everything overnight. Then the tool ends up costing more than human support and resolving less.

I jumped on the Clarity to CEO Podcast with Philippa Channer to talk about why we aren't obsolete.

AI works best sitting next to you, speeding up research and clearing the tedious stuff so your team can do the part only humans do well: actually solve the problem.

Full clip is in my story 🔗🎧

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #CustomerSupport #SupportOps #AIinCX by @itstygivens

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2 months ago

Last day, and I'm asking for your help.

Quick context: I run @cx.collective. For 25 years I've fixed customer support for companies big and small, and now I'm making that help affordable for the small businesses that can't afford a whole team.

12 weeks ago, I was picked for @blackgirlventures Emerging Leaders cohort, and part of it is a community crowdfunding campaign. The crowd decides, not investors. Every donation of $5 or more counts as a vote.

To everyone who already gave this week: thank you, truly.

Where we stand: 4th place. If we hit 3rd tonight, we move on to nationals. It's that close.

Even $5 counts as a vote. Give $50 and gift a playbook to a business you choose, your own or one you know that's struggling.

Ends tonight at 9pm PT (12am ET). The link is in my story. Whatever happens, thank you for being here for it. 🙏🏽

#CustomerExperience #SmallBusiness #BlackGirlVentures #Crowdfunding #WomenInBusiness #SupportOps #ShopSmall by @itstygivens

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2 months ago

I came across a video of a customer who got a pedicure, then casually decided she wasn't going to pay.

The technician stayed calm and logical through the whole thing. Hats off to him. But it was a reminder that no matter how good your service is, something eventually throws you for a loop.

When you're growing a business, you can't only plan for the good interactions. You have to know your support philosophy cold, and you have to be rock solid on who your customer actually is.

That clarity is what keeps a team grounded when things go off the rails. It's the difference between a rep who knows where the line is and one who's just guessing in the moment.

Full episode with Philippa Channer on the Clarity to CEO Podcast is in my story 🎧🔗

#CXCollective #SupportDriven #CustomerRetention #SupportOps #ClientExperience by @itstygivens

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2 months ago

Growth isn't a reward for doing more. It's what happens when your business is built to run without you in every decision.

The hardest shift I see founders make is going from the person who does everything to the leader who builds systems that hold without them.

I talked about this recently on the Clairty to CEO podcast with Philippa Channer. Scaling gets measured in revenue, headcount, new logos. But none of that is the real signal. The real signal is whether your business keeps delivering when you step out of the room.

That comes from boring things. Clear processes. Documented workflows. A support operation designed on purpose instead of held together by the same three people answering everything.

Operational leadership is strategic leadership. The systems are the strategy.

Link in Story by @itstygivens

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2 months ago