How Customer Success Director, Diana Osuna, Found ALICE When She Least Expected

Diana Osuna is the Customer Success Director, Strategic Accounts at ALICE, based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Diana has worked at ALICE for the past three and a half years and has helped grow our Customer Success operations.

ALICE’s People Team sat down with Diana to chat with her about what it’s like working with the Customer Success team at ALICE.

What is your role here at ALICE and what does it entail?

I am the Customer Success Director of Strategic Accounts, which is a hybrid role focused on strategic accounts, as well as our enterprise extension accounts.

What’s unique about the Customer Success Team at ALICE?

I love the fact that most of our Customer Success team is made up of former hoteliers. We have found a place to use our expertise that is not within the four walls of a hotel. We all love hotels but also want a better work-life balance, so we can all relate to hotel expertise and long hours, which allows us to better help our customers. For many members of our Customer Success team, moving into the tech industry was something new, which makes our team a unique blend of talents. 

What were you doing before joining the ALICE team?

Before joining ALICE, I worked as a concierge for six years. My role was in guest services, and in the front office, at a hotel group that had 700 rooms. I always liked being in a very fast-paced environment. 

Right after that experience, I was working in a luxury hotel, customizing stays and itineraries for each individual guest, and making sure every detail was perfect; this experience definitely gave me a new mindset for hospitality. 

After that role, I was in charge of guest relations; this work was about creating everlasting memories for guests - I was the “wow person.” I enjoyed being able to assist the hotel manager, and I got to understand why decisions were being made. 

After working in hotel operations for 10+ years, I still loved the industry but was looking for more work-life balance with my schedule. I started my own business with a business-partner and it was becoming successful, so I handed in my resignation at the hotel I was working at the time. The funny thing is that my last week working at the hotel, ALICE began implementation. In college I studied hospitality, but I also have a degree in computer science. During my last week working in the hotel, Maxine (ALICE’s VP of Customer Success) came in as the Implementation Specialist and ALICE blew my mind; I thought “this is exactly what we needed”. I attended one of the sessions and talked to Maxine about all of my ideas and we ended up talking until 10pm. I told her I was retiring from hospitality, she was shocked and mentioned an open role on the Customer Success team at ALICE. We talked the next day over breakfast, and then I ended up being the first remote Implementation Specialist at ALICE. I have now been here for 3 years and 4 months.

What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on here at ALICE?

I work with the hotel group Posadas, which is a customer of ours that has helped ALICE grow so much as a company. Posadas is a very process-driven company - they know what they are doing and how they are doing it. ALICE and Posadas have had a relationship for over four years now; I have grown as a customer success team member while working with them, and they have helped ALICE grow and improve our processes. Working with them has given me a  broader view of how to work with enterprise accounts, which is about looking into problems on a larger scale. It’s shifted my mentality to think of “can this be effective with other properties? Or, is it a response to a single issue?” It’s also improved my own ability to have transparency and build relationships with customers and understand how their properties work.

Diana and Kenya (Product Owner) at "Camp Success" in 2019

What are your favorite hobbies/activities outside of work?

I’m currently training for a triathlon. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I swim. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I bike, and on Sundays I run (running is my least favorite). I train with a group of 5 other people. Initially, I started it as a way to get out of the house, but then COVID-19 happened. We took a bit of  a break, and did some training from home. I plan to compete in one this October, and I’m hoping it doesn’t get canceled due to COVID-19.

If you could go anywhere in the world post-COVID where is the first place you
would go?

I really want to go to Singapore, it will definitely be the first place I want to go once I’m able to travel internationally. Since I haven’t been able to travel internationally I have taken the opportunity to explore more locally throughout Mexico.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading “The Leader Who Had No Title”, which discusses an interesting approach to leadership. 

What is the last show that you binge watched?

The last TV show I watched was The Good Doctor, I’m really passionate about Autism. I lived with a family that had two kids, they were both adopted and had Autism. There are some personal initiatives I want to implement in my community focused around Autism, so that’s why I wanted to watch the show.