Rick Denton (00:00)
This is not just a thank you episode. This is a helping folks understand what's next with CX Passport.

Welcome back, CX Passport Travelers. Right away, those of you that are watching will be able to see there's something a little bit different about this episode. This episode is well, it's gonna be just me talking today. And as you may have determined from that intro clip, we're gonna be talking about what the direction of CX Passport and what might be coming up in the future for CX Passport. This is an exciting time. I was actually last week, it was interesting how.

Our pastor at church had talked about how people go through different seasons. There actually at our church, we're about to go through some succession planning with decades-long leadership now moving into retirement and what that looks like. And a point he made is that if you're ever staying in a phase of life, you're likely stuck in a phase of life. That life always has changes. If you stayed an infant.

You would be stuck there if you stayed a toddler, a teenager, an adult, a parent, an empty nester that I am now. All of those are evolutions. And even in the business world, there's an evolution. CX Passport has been going for since 2021. Wow. Even just saying that out loud catches me off guard.

You know, when I think back to how this all started, it was back in 2021. And many of you, many of you, probably all of you remember we are coming off the heels of or kind of in the thick of the end of the COVID pandemic. And I was working in an office space that it was just me. I was in a co-working space, but no one else was co-working there. And building relationships.

at the time primarily over LinkedIn or other sort of networking over Zoom calls, I realized that I wanted to do something a little bit more than that. And I had this idea of why don't I start a podcast? Heck, everybody else is starting a podcast during the pandemic. Maybe I should. And what was the primary goal of it? And the idea behind it was simply this. I just wanted to have interesting conversations with interesting people. There were no monetization goals, there were no download goals.

Really put yourself back in that mindset of what this was like back in 2021. It was a starving for human interaction and finding a way to make that somewhat methodical and a way to have those interesting conversations with interesting people. I also wanted to make sure that this was global by design. I've always had a deep interest in travel. It's been ever since I was a kid. My family was heavy travelers. My parents traveled.

To destinations that Americans typically didn't travel to in the 80s. Now these are destinations that sound common, but places like India and China that sounded so remarkably exotic to a kid growing up in Austin, Texas, in the 1980s. And they introduced that love of travel to us. And that's just been a part of who I am and what life looks like for me. And that was something that was going to be important to me as

This podcast began that I didn't want to just hear Western USA customer experience voices. I wanted to hear global voices. I wanted a global perspective. One, because I think it's more interesting, and two, because I got a chance to learn from some of those perspectives. And the first guest represented that, and I will always be appreciative to Santa Coomeran, Ot Malingum in Malaysia. That episode one, which I go back and listen to it. And as a host, I'm pretty cringy. He had great things to say.

So I'm not encouraging you to go back to listen to episode one, but maybe just skip ahead to only the parts where Santa is talking. And I I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it was the one with the ice cream. And somewhere along the way, those friends style titles of the one with, the one where they became a part of it. And I don't even think I intended that. It just sort of happened that way. And now as I'm recording this episode, which will end up being episode 262, there have been a series of the ones with.

And the ones where they and sticking with that friends esque theme.

It's just an amazing honor when someone is willing to take a chance on you when you're unproven. And that's why Santa will always have a special place in my heart because I was unproven. I feel pretty good about my abilities as a podcast host now, but I can assure you I didn't know what I was doing. If you could see what the setup was in my and air

here for those that are listening, studio. I actually took books from the book library.

You know, all the co-working spaces have these kind of designed, cool spaces that have books. And I really just looked for what were the enough books to stack up that I could put my microphone on, leaning on a small desk, staring into a microphone because I wasn't doing video back then. Knowing all of that, still being willing to to share his insights and kick off what has now become a five plus year experience with.

CX passport. And I will always remain appreciative that someone was willing to take a chance on me and on CX Passport. Thank you, Santa.

So, what does it become in that time? Over fifty country guests from over 50 countries. We've actually hit every continent except for Antarctica. And I've mentioned that a couple of times. I really tried. I actually, somebody I know went to Antarctica and I said, Hey, could you ask a couple of the scientists there? Like literally, I wanted to get somebody on the show. And maybe that will be the one disappointment that I have of CX Passport because overall, I really don't have a lot of disappointments. It is amazing to see what this has become.

And not just again, downloads. Yes, there's been revenue opportunities. There's been brands that have been willing to sponsor. There have been live events that took advantage of the CX Passport live offering. All of those I never could envision when this started. It has been fantastic to see where this has gone. Listeners have come from over 90 countries last time I looked. Who knows? Maybe I've busted 100 since then. That's what has made this show what it is. It's the guests.

And the listeners. I am here merely to facilitate the connection between the guest and the listener. And it has been a phenomenal ride. I th some of the people that I've gotten to meet, can you imagine sitting in Frisco, Texas, USA, that there would be a way for me to talk to the head of customer experience for a Ugandan power company? I was never expecting to be able to talk to someone in Brazil.

As they launched a deep customer experience program for their educational company. There have been voices that I've heard from Singapore. There, I one of the ones that I just did a replay of, I was able to talk to someone in the depths of war in Ukraine as she talked about what customer experience during time of war is like. These are not conversations I expected to have when I was beginning CX Passport. And again, it's all because of.

The listener and the guest being willing to take that opportunity. I've had the chance to purposely talk to folks that are living on the front lines of customer experience, to those that are the most senior executives at customer experience and customer service centers for some of the most visible brands that you know today in transportation and aviation and hospitality. It has

Shocked me.

to see the willingness of people to be able to have that conversation on this podcast. And I have been so incredibly thankful to be able to have been a part of that.

CX Passport created things that, well, simply could not exist without CX Passport. So again, back to you, the listener, back to you, the guest. There is no The Loud Quiet. Those of you that know me know that there's another podcast that I co-host with my wife. There's no The Loud Quiet book. There's none of that.

Expansion into media. There are no podcast conferences. There are no appearances on TV without CX Passport. It has been a. It's real easy to look back and see how, heck, even if I look back to all the way of a career journey, starting as a coder at Anderson Consulting in 1995, how it brought to today. It's really easy to look backwards. It's not as obvious in the moment, and it is.

Fun to think about what exists today that simply could not have existed without CX Passport. Heck, I know a lot more about cameras and lenses and lights and all of that and and and what it means. I have been able to meet some of the most fantastic people in simply the podcasting industry because of CX Passport. There's no way that the relationships that I and that we, Clancy and I have made.

⁓ through Podfest or through empowered podcasting without this fun little five year ride of CX Passport getting us to where we are today.

So

why I want to say thank you. This episode is both about thank you and about the future. And the thank you is so sincerely deeply felt. Honestly, one of the challenges with podcasting is that right now I'm staring at a lens and I know that the microphone is a few inches from my mouth. But those aren't the things that I'm actually talking to. They're just the things that are in this room.

People that I want to talk to, the ones that I want to have the connection with, the ones that I want to help facilitate the connection between guest and listener is exactly that. You, the listener, you the viewer, you are the reason that CX Passport has existed. And it is not a simple fluffernutter phrase or a feeling that I have of s of thanks. It is with deep gratitude knowing.

What you have done to make this possible. There have been incredible moments of encouragement that I have gotten from you. Some of you have reached out to me directly, others, the simple comments that you've made either on LinkedIn or the reviews that you've left on the podcast apps, those are encouraging. I know it seems like perhaps a podcast host is this faceless entity that is out there, but the reality is I'm human too.

And I kind of like that. And it makes me feel good when I hear that from y'all. And it's not just because, my ego, yes. Come on, it'd be foolish to say that my ego isn't stroked, but it makes me feel good to know that there's an impact being made, that there are people out there that are motivated to do better by their customers. There are people that are learning how to do better by their customers. And there are folks that are building connections that

Exist outside of the podcast. There are some of you that have told me, hey, as a listener, I reached out to a guest, and those relationships have grown. All of that is so exciting to see, and it makes me feel great. And so I thank you for that. I also want to give a special thank you to he was a guest. He's also a voice that you hear on most CX Passport episodes.

If you've wondered who the captain is.

For the interstitial. Well, that captain is Nicholas Z. Zeisler. And I'm going to put his LinkedIn link in the show notes. He too is a customer experience consultant, a learning and development leader. He is, I think as I record this, probably heading out to the Air Force Academy to continue ⁓ being a professor there as he does his part for the reserves. I am really thankful to Z for being willing to.

put his voice to that interstitial, which I gotta tell you, he really does sound like everything you imagine in an airline captain. ⁓ his his voice is absolutely perfect for that. And it it has it is it makes me smile every time that I insert that or listen to that. Thank you, Z, for doing that.

Ooh, you know what that means. You've heard the airplane. If you're a longtime listener, you know that means we must be heading the first class lounge. And after 261 prior episodes, I don't know that I've done the first class lounge. And if I have, well, just pretend that I haven't.

So we'll enjoy the first class lounge here. We'll move quickly and hopefully have a little bit of fun. What is a dream travel location from my past? You know, I asked guests to do one, and of course, many have given me more than one, and I find the same challenge. My knee-jerk, my reflex answer to that question is almost always Hong Kong. I have found that to be one of the most amazing cities. Now I haven't been back there in perhaps, it's actually eight years. I just saw that memory pop up.

Been back in eight years, but in the times that I went before then, I found Hong Kong to be one of the most fascinating mixtures of steel and glass, beautiful industrial, gorgeous skyscraper buildings and lights and and all that goes with the modern, with the natural and the beauty. I think that's something that gets underrepresented when hearing about Hong Kong is the natural beauty that exists. One of my favorite places in the world is Victoria Peak looking down over the harbor.

I also found that it was at the time a fascinating blend between the West and the East, as it was a former British colony and its Asian roots never strayed. It's also now I I don't know what's happening today with its Western roots. I will say that when I was there, it was a a shocking blend to be presented with the most authentic neighborhood Asian restaurant right next to a Manchester United pub.

And I loved every bit of that diversity, that dichotomy, that just surprise around every corner. And the food. The simply put, the food is some of the things that I love the absolute most. I know it's Taiwanese, but that's the first place that I've ever eaten den tai fung, which is certainly going through a massive global expansion. It is one of my favorite. Well, we'll hear about that here in a little bit, but den tai fung is certainly one of my favorite places. And I was first exposed to it in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, by far.

One of my dream travel locations from my past. Now there's others I can mention. I love the southwestern US. I love the desert. I love the the the combination, say in Phoenix of the desert and the city. I love Tuscany. Those are all phenomenal places too. It makes it incredible. I just got back from Spain and I don't know, Spain's bumping up the list. That was a a a great place. But Hong Kong is the one that I tend to go to. Dream travel location I've not been to yet. Well, I'm gonna say Antarctica.

And you know what? I may bring my microphones there and and have a bonus episode of CX Passport. But Antarctica, because it is so exotic, because I haven't been there, I would add it to really three two other places that are dream travel locations that I've not been to yet, and they're all southern hemisphere. I really want to do the Australia, New Zealand part of the world. Never had the opportunity to make it down there. And I also really want to spend some time in Patagonia down in Argentina.

I ⁓ there's something you can hear when I thought about the US Southwestern Desert, there's something about the remoteness that I really enjoy. And so Antarctica hits right at the top of the list. Other southern hemisphere destinations of Argentina and then Australia, New Zealand are definitely treat dream travel locations I've not been to yet. Ooh. Now the the question that I asked guests that I expect them to have an answer, and here I am struggling with is what is a favorite thing of yours to eat? Now I will say

That the Jean Lambao, and forgive me, I may not pronounce it right, but the Jean Lambao at Din Tai Fung is is some of my favorite pork soup dumplings. I that is one of my favorite things to eat. The thing is, I live here in Texas. I love my Tex Mex. Give me a crunchy beef taco, give me a good enchilada. I love my pizza. I love my Italian. So it's really hard. I think I've had guests that say, Well, what do I like to eat? And the the answer is food. And I think that really is the answer. Now I will say that I've come to really appreciate now.

kid, I wasn't so much appreciative of this. But the the more handcrafted, and I'm not talking about the cheesy hipster farm to table kind of stuff, but I mean when you have a pasta that is clearly handmade, when you have a Thai dish that is prepared by a family member as opposed to a restaurant, those are the kind of things that I'm really starting to enjoy even more and more. But if I had to to say a favorite thing to eat, those, those soup dumplings, that Jean Lambao from Dent Tai Fung.

That may be one of them. What is something I was forced to eat growing up, but I hated as a kid? Easy. And those of you that listen know the answer to this Brussels sprouts. Can't stand them. Hate them then, hate them now. I am not buying into, they've been adapted. They are less bitter. No, they're not. They're wrong. They're evil. They are Satan's weed. And they belong nowhere, anywhere near a plate. We were forced to eat it. Now, thankfully, my mom would drown Brussels sprouts in probably half a block of Velveeta.

So the I'm I'm not sure that I ended up tasting any Brussels sprout and mostly was just eating fake cheese. But man man, it was something good.

The what is one thing that I will not leave home without, not including my phone and not including my passport. It's evolved over time. ⁓ it used to be things like music and headphones and and podcasts. And actually now, yeah, certainly a a steady cue of downloaded podcasts just in case Wi Fi is not working on the plane, is a pretty strong one. I gotta it's lip balm and hand lotion.

I will not go anywhere without those. I think as I've aged, my skin is not what it used to be. And there is nothing well, that's exaggerating, of course, but it is incredibly miserable to be on a plane with chalky, cracky hands or chapped lips. And so my answer will be hand lotion and lip balm.

Okay, I've been kind of building to this in the episode. This is not just a thank you episode. This is a helping folks understand what's next with CX Passport. Over the last six months, maybe even a little bit longer, it was clear to me that CX Passport in my mind, not necessarily the listeners and the guests, but in my mind was going through an evolution. And some of that evolution was looking to some of the newer opportunities that are out there.

And some of the other elements are, you know, there aren't there are many TV shows that don't last five years. There are many other things in life that don't go beyond five years. And it was time to, well, in the words of friends, it was time to take a break. And that's what I want to do here with CX Passport. And there are going to be three paths, and I don't know what those paths are. Well, I know what the paths are.

You can tell I'm doing this very improv. I am not going to over edit this. I want you to experience, hey, this is the real me and and understand what that is.

There are three paths that are going to happen with CX Passport. One is a simple hiatus. ⁓ Ross and Rachel took a break. They had plenty of fights, but they ended up getting back together. And so there may be just a a simple I was on a break and CX Passport may come back after that hiatus. Another one is CX Passport may simply shut down. Everything, every every season of life has a season. And for those that are familiar with the biblical book Ecclesiastes, or perhaps

The folk song from the 60s, to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn. And it is time t perhaps to let CX Passport find its end and actually have a finale. There's a third outcome, and this is the one that I'm most hopeful for, but admit it's going to take you, the listener.

To be able to make this come to fruition. And that is to sell CX Passport. I'm not as overly interested in the revenue aspect of it. I'm more interested in I know that many of you have come to really enjoy CX Passport and learning from the guests and getting the exposure and the experience that comes with CX Passport. It's just beyond my energy set to continue. There's a lot of value in this. There's the newsletter with a high amount of subscribers, there's the downloads, of course, and simply the brand itself has value.

And for the right buyer, I would be open to a conversation about selling CX Passport. It's not going to go to the wrong buyer. It's going to be going to someone who wants to carry on what CX Passport has been about. And that is a global conversation about customer experience with a dash of travel talk. And so if you know someone, by all means, hey, introduce me. I'd be happy to do that. I'll give you one extra one.

And I call it the Janice Clause. For those of you that are Friends fans, you know that one of the well, some lovers, some find her the incredibly entertainer. I'm on the incredibly entertaining aspect of it. I thought it was brilliant what they did with the character Janice. And Janice would disappear for months and sometimes years at a time, and then would immediately pop up with, and I'm not gonna do her accent, but you know exactly what she would say when she saw Chandler in that pop-up situation.

And for all I know, there may be some Janice episodes of CX Passport that out of nowhere there's just gonna be a pop up because there's a conversation that was just too interesting and too important not to have. And so be on the lookout for perhaps a fourth scenario, and that is the Janus scenario.

Rick Denton (22:54)
So that's what's next for CX Passport, but I'm not going anywhere. In fact, those of you that are watching on video notice perhaps a little costume change. I am wearing the colors of the Loud Quiet. And if you like me, or if you like the style, or maybe you're entering the empty nest phase, or you're already there, or know someone that is, come on over. I'd love to have you join Clancy and me over in the Loud Quiet, the podcast, the book.

The community, it's all there. You can stay with me here on LinkedIn, or you can head over to theloudquiet.com because I'm not going anywhere. I love podcasting. It was just time for a new and fresh topic. So that's what's happened at CX Passport. Again, I am not doing a good job of putting into words what it has meant to me.

What you, the listener, what you the guest have made possible over these last five years. It's shocking to me to think about what where it started and where it is now.

So it has come to this point that it is time to either take a pause, shut it down, or optimistically hope that it stays on through the sale to an energetic owner and partner who wants to take this forward.

Rick Denton (24:15)
So while for now it is a time to say goodbye, I will leave you with this. I'm Rick Denton, and I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport. Thank you for listening to CX Passport.