Baseball Lifestyle 101

My career began in the hospitality industry, working in hotels for about five years. That experience shaped how I think about service at a fundamental level. It taught me how to understand people. Later, my husband and I became multi-unit franchise owners of a restaurant. That phase gave me a deeper understanding of operations and what it really means to run a business.

A significant turning point came during COVID. I connected with Bill Rom, who had been running an athletic training facility but had to pivot due to the pandemic. He co-founded a boutique marketing firm with his wife, where I joined to handle SEO and manage customer accounts. Baseball Lifestyle was one of our clients, and as the brand grew, its needs expanded significantly. Eventually, they brought our entire marketing team in-house.

I joined Baseball Lifestyle full-time in June 2024, and at that time, I was the only person handling customer experience. We quickly added a virtual assistant and have since scaled to a team of about 20. That level of growth reflects both the pace of the business and the increasing importance of customer experience as a core function.

Customer Experience through Engagement and Feedback

We focus on community over transactions. Before we ever sold a product, we were an Instagram community, and that foundation still drives how we engage today. We are not just selling apparel, we are part of how our customers experience the sport, how they connect with it and how they express it in their everyday lives. It is built around an entire baseball lifestyle, centered on players, parents and the wider baseball family.

One of the most impactful initiatives we have introduced is our VIP Facebook group, which has grown to over 10,000 members. It gives us direct, daily access to our most loyal customers, while also allowing a single response to address questions for thousands of members at once.

"The main objective of our company is that we put the community first, we put our customer first."

 At the same time, we focus on building more personal and meaningful interactions. Members receive early access to product drops, exclusive offers and they actively share their experiences with us. This creates a more natural, two-way interaction, where customers engage with us rather than interact with a brand. We include handwritten notes in as many packages as possible and create opportunities to meet customers in person through events and experiences.

Feedback sits at the center of everything we do. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn, improve and do better the next time. I take that feedback and share it across teams. Product development uses it to refine material and fit. Marketing adjusts messaging based on what customers want more or less of. Operations improve shipping, returns and exchanges. Since we release new products every Friday, this feedback loop operates continuously, allowing us to adapt in real time.

Staying Ahead in a Fast-Changing Customer Landscape

One of the biggest challenges we face today is the rise of counterfeit and scam companies. With several platforms, it has become easier for others to replicate what we do. This was not something we dealt with a few years ago, but now it requires constant attention. Brand protection has become a priority to ensure customers receive exactly what they intend to purchase.

Customers today also have more information, access and options. That means we have to differentiate ourselves beyond just the product, by focusing on the full customer experience from first interaction through post-purchase engagement. Customer service has evolved significantly. Instead of relying on phone-based support, we now connect through live chat, email and our Facebook community, allowing us to respond faster and at scale.

I believe customer experience today has to be proactive. It cannot rely on the traditional model of waiting for customers to reach out with issues. We actively ask questions, identify friction points and improve continuously. Technology plays a major role in enabling this. With the platforms we use, we have instant access to customer data, including purchase history, reviews and past interactions, all within a couple of clicks. That allows us to engage with full context and provide better support from the start.

AI also helps us manage repetitive, lower-level inquiries, especially before a purchase. Without these tools, handling this volume manually would be overwhelming. I do not believe any brand that truly cares about its customers will ever go fully AI-driven. There will always be a need for human connection, especially when customers have unique issues or want to share feedback.

Looking ahead, customer experience will only become more critical.The role of leaders in this space will continue to evolve, but one thing is clear. Customer service should not be treated as a cost center. It should be treated as a growth and retention engine. Every interaction shapes how customers perceive our brand. If we treat each one as an opportunity to build loyalty, we strengthen retention, increase repeat business and drive long-term value.