Why CX Is More Human Than Ever With Mackenzie Lukas Of Hormbles Chormbles

This week on Above the Fold, I got to sit down with someone really special to me, my mentee, Mackenzie Lukas. She’s the Director of Customer Experience at Hormbles Chormbles (yes, the candy brand with the name that makes you laugh the first three times you say it).

Mackenzie’s career path isn’t what you’d expect. Before CX, she was in commercial real estate consulting, building workplace experiences that kept employees engaged and productive. Now, she’s applying that same mindset to customers, and proving that happy humans on the inside make happy humans on the outside too.

Here are a few things we dug into.

CX is about humans, not bots

So many people think CX is just chatbots and AI now. Mackenzie’s perspective is a reminder that real people still matter. Hormbles Chormbles is intentional about leading with humans in their customer interactions, and it’s refreshing to hear that from such a new brand.

Sampling isn’t just marketing, it’s CX

Mackenzie talked about what it’s like to hand out candy bars in person, watch someone’s face light up, and then see them walk straight to the checkout line. For her, those moments make CX feel real, not theoretical.

Empathy first, always

Brand voice, ops, efficiency.. they all matter. But Mackenzie’s non-negotiable is empathy. She’d rather take the extra time and answer a customer with warmth and care than rush through with a generic script.

CX finally has a seat at the table

At Hormbles Chormbles, CX was one of the earliest hires, which says a lot about how the founders think. It’s rare, and it proves that treating customer experience as a core function (not an afterthought) sets the tone for everything else.

Mackenzie is such a good example of how transferable skills are, how you don’t need decades in CPG to make an impact in CX. It’s about listening, asking good questions, and never forgetting that there’s a human on the other side.