What Girlfriend Collective Gets Right About CX With Nichelle Mesa

Let’s talk about CX teams.

There are the ones trying to scale with headcount, outsourcing, automations, and AI doing the absolute most.

And then there’s Girlfriend Collective. Still small. Still fully remote. Still eating.

This week on Above The Fold, I sat down with Nichelle Mesa, CX Manager at Girlfriend Collective, and we got into it: the good, the messy, and the actually sustainable way to build a team that gets sh*t done and still sounds like a real human being in the inbox.

Spoiler: it’s not about headcount.

Let Your CX Team Be Main Character Energy

Nichelle’s team is tiny on purpose. Not in a scrappy, hold-it-all-together-with-Duct-Tape way. More like: "We know what we’re doing, we know our voice, and we trust our people."

There’s no outsourcing just for the sake of scale. No trying to fix a brand problem with a call center. Just real people who care about the product and actually want to solve problems (wild concept, I know).

Customer Support or Internet Sleuthing? Why Not Both

Nichelle’s team isn’t just reacting to problems. They’re catching weird stuff early, bringing receipts to the product team, and making sure one person’s broken zipper doesn’t turn into a Reddit thread.

Also, every CX rep is basically a detective. They might not list it on the job post, but everyone’s out here playing internet Sherlock when things get weird in the queue.

Say Goodbye to Robot Voice CX

No fake empathy. No weird scripts. Nichelle gives her team room to be themselves. The result? Messages that sound like a friend texting you, not someone copy-pasting from the brand guidelines doc.

One customer literally emailed back: "I love you. I’m drunk. Bye."

If that’s not top-tier CX, I don’t know what is.

AI Can Stay In Its Lane

Nichelle’s not out here trying to replace her team with a bot. She’s using AI where it makes sense ("Where’s my order?" stuff), but that’s it. No letting a chatbot take the wheel when a customer’s asking about fabric allergens or a missing package.

Empathy doesn’t come in beta. Say it louder.

CX Is the Brand, Period

And Girlfriend treats it that way. Whether it’s product feedback, retention strategies, or just someone commenting something spicy on an ad, Nichelle’s team is in it.

They’re not just solving problems. They’re creating moments. Real connection. The kind that keeps people coming back even when their float bra is out of stock.

This episode of Above the Fold is for anyone who’s tired of robotic CX, teams drowning in macros, or leadership who still think "adding AI" is a strategy.

Go listen. You might just rethink how you run your support team.

And please. Give your CX reps a raise.