We had the good fortune of connecting with Johnny Sfeir Karam and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Johnny, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
IT IS HOW DELIVER A PERFORMANCE CUSTOMERS NEVER FORGET. Count the number of times have you called your best friend or approached a coworker and said, “You cannot believe what just HAPPENED to me just now.” These words precede a story about something bad that HAPPENED, right? And then when you tell the story, you freak out your listener … as well as yourself. Let´s take back the phrase you cannot believe what HAPPENED from all the negative, freak-out feelings, and use it for positive moments: • The moments that make us smile and laugh. • The moments that warm our hearts. • The moments that surprise us. • The moments worth celebrating. • The moments worth telling stories about, year after year, to everyone we meet. • The moments that interrupt the humdrum of daily life and introduce novelty and excitement. • The moments we remember for a lifetime and that feel like they happened only yesterday. And, as customer experience designers, I create such moments, HAPPENINGS, for everyone who encounters my brand. I go above and beyond keeping new and loyal customers satisfied. And when I do, I can leave my competitors way behind.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Everyone loves to feel comfortable and stable, right? If you’re like me, you can probably think of a time when you felt very comfortable and stable. Everything in your life felt so easy. You had very few problems or worries. And you’d do absolutely nothing to disturb the tranquility of your life because doing so would mean stepping into uncertainty, the possibility of hardship, and even losing something of great value. But it is not my case, I am a Customer Experience designer, I need to grow and step into my greatness. Comfort and stability will be the enemies of my growth. In 2008, I felt comfortable and stable. I held a position at a hotel. I was the manager and loved every aspect of what I did. It was the position I always wanted and had worked hard for 20 years to get where I was. But as nice as these things were … I felt bored. I had reached the top in my position and had no further to climb. Very simply, I wanted something more. So, what was that “something more”? Long before boredom with managing a hotel had set in, I’d been rolling an idea back and forth in my head, an idea I’d had for ten years. And that was to become an entrepreneur, to own my own business, to build an academy for Customer Experience professionals. Through these efforts, I wanted to become a top CX designer. I wanted brands from near and far to be willing to hire me to enhance their internal and external customer experience delivery and take their leadership and service to the next level. My vision for the company I wanted to build was to help professionals at the entry level all the way up to the executive level find their HOW: • how to design experiences for their customers • how to design their own lives. But!!! Something was in the way of my vision and purpose. Two very annoying things were stopping me from taking the next steps to step out on my own. #1 – I doubted myself. Am I any good at what I do? What if I’m not as good as I think I am? Am I making the right choices? What if I fail? What If I cannot compete in the market? How do I even start? How much money do I need to invest to make the right things happen? What if I invest in the wrong things? Why would any company be willing to hire me? #2 – I was afraid to lose everything I had built for many years. What will I do without comfort and stability? What if I have to give up the lifestyle I have been working toward for 20 years? A great salary working at an amazing resort, a prestigious position, excellent insurance coverage for my family, a luxury car, beautiful home, the ability to travel all over the world, access to luxury resorts worldwide … for free. I have everything I ever wanted, and more. Do you hear the negativity in all those questions? Everything in my mind at that time was one-hundred percent focused on the most negative perceptions of the future. I let my negative brain, my saboteur’s brain, do all the talking. I allowed it take control of my positive brain, throw away all my positive thoughts and cover my vision with a big black cloud. When I think back on it, it seems crazy, because everyone has always known me as a positive person, always sharing positive sentiments and approaching everything with a positive attitude. My positive mind has always been capable of growing my career and becoming good at any position I held. Finally, my positive brain kicked in and sent out one positive thought. “Do it, Johnny. This is the perfect time to take the step.” Then my negative brain said, “Don’t do it. Stay comfortable and stable. Keep your amazing lifestyle.” Finally, my positive wife Vanessa said, stop the BS you will will make the difference, take your vision to action, no more excuses, no more complaining about your 46years age. “Now is the perfect time, Johnny.” I had to: • sever my attachment to comfort • start thinking like an entrepreneur • let my purpose and vision outshine my attachment to a luxurious lifestyle It was the perfect time to do something, to step out into uncertainty … and see a return on my investment of time, energy, and talent. It was time to do something specific to get something specific in return. I learned that fear cannot play part of you vision performance. Risk is fun and a revival of what you learned in your life. There is always a need of someone at your side, that believes in you and support you, without giving you the but ? of your illusion.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I will cook for them and create an atmosphere where we will enjoy the food, the stories and the look and feel of the setup. I will build a scene that they will never forget.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife, friend, support, mentor, love of my life Vanessa Estaras, On the 15th of January 2020, my wife, Vanessa was supposed to take a flight from Miami to Madrid and join her best friend whom she had not seen for the past 12 years to celebrate with her that she is cancer free. However, the universe had a different plan, before she can pack her bags, Vanessa began to experience very sharp pain in her ???? And had to go to the hospital to later be taken to the ICU. The doctors advised us she had two blood clots on the right side of her lung. Her oncologist asked her to work on healing herself as quickly as possible and then she can go home on a new treatment. At that point, we discovered, the cancer had enlarged in her lungs. Vanessa looked at me and said, “really, 6 month ago I was cancer free and now I am sitting in a bed facing death.” I was so chocked with fear running down my veins and hid behind the doctor. “Can you please clarify the situation, is she going to make it?” I asked the doctor. He replied, “Johnny, she needs a miracle.” After speaking to the doctor, I went back and sat by her side, she held my hand and said, “you and our daughter Chiara will be fine, bring her every day after school, I want to see her.” She continued, “we are in the hand of science discovery. One day you are ok and another you are dying.” Even in these moments, she continued to have a smile on her face. I said to her, I would love to share my experience and what I am learning and help me understand if I am helping or misunderstanding. I expressed my frustration during her sickness, asking her to rest more, exercise, eat healthier. I was angry she wasn’t doing this and I continued to push her. I will never forget how she said, “you are doing your best and you want me to heal and you want the best for me, but there is an alien inside me that is eating my organs and sometimes I am unable to swallow the water. I am so sorry that I couldn’t transmit what I am feeling. You know me, positivity first.” At that moment, I understood that I wasn’t really helping her. I wasn’t listening to her inner voice, or understanding her emotions and feelings. I was trying to serve her doing my best, not doing for her best. I decided from that day on, I would follow her lead and ask her what she wanted to do on any medical decision she wanted to take. I realized, I was not the only one in pursuit of finding the reasons why she was sick, her best friends and family were equally looking for those reasons too. It is all BS. I said to myself I had to work on those bad habits and change them immediately. I asked Vanessa for her help creating an assessment to evaluate myself to become the best version of myself. She quickly rescinded, “Become the Best you.” Each time I shared with her what I was writing, she moved her head to the side for a yes or no as sometimes she couldn’t pronounce the words. In less than two weeks we created the workbook with the title, Become the Best You. She said once I got over this situation, I had a story to share. I had to do something about it. That is the reason why the workbook is now in the market exclusively for organizations globally. My wife, Vanessa, worked in corporate for over 22 years and I wanted to make sure her legacy would impact people in a positive way. After all, everyone at her corporate job used to call her “Positive with a capital P.” The story behind the workbook is a game changer, and is intended to be motivational. The power of the workbook, along with the talk, transforms the audience mindset into powerful and fearless.
Website: www.cxacademy.es
Instagram: @joincxacademy
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joincxacademy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joincxacademy
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgRSCCVIYPVDYX0t4tISWbg?view_as=subscriber
Other: johnny@cxacademy.es
Nominate someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.