Sometimes the most important lessons come from the customers who call you out.
That's what Domonique Brown, Head of Customer Experience at Liquid IV, discovered early in her journey at the fast-growing hydration brand. A single Facebook message—and the angry phone call that followed—completely reshaped how she thought about building customer experience at scale.
In the latest ep of How to Love a Customer, we sat down with Domonique to explore how Liquid IV went from startup to billion-dollar brand, why AI agents work best alongside human empathy, and how listening to customers—especially the difficult conversations—drives competitive advantage.
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🔑 Key Takeaways from the Episode
1. Trust Beats Brand Voice Every Time
When Domonique first joined Liquid IV as employee #11, she brought experience from the beauty industry where playful, aesthetic-driven brand voice worked well. But when she responded to a Facebook message with that same energy, a customer called immediately—upset and frustrated.
The customer had a medical condition that Domonique wasn't familiar with. What felt like a fun, engaging response came across as dismissive to someone who needed real product education and trust.
"In that moment, I learned that instilling trust with the product was the most important thing and the most important direction to take the team. So it influenced a lot of how I built out the customer experience team and the Voice of Customer program for the next six and a half years in my journey at Liquid IV." — Domonique Brown
That moment taught Domonique a critical lesson: when customers are putting your product in their bodies, brand voice takes a back seat to building confidence and trust.
2. From $20M to $1B: Scaling CX Through Hyper-Growth
Liquid IV didn't grow gradually—it exploded. When Domonique joined in 2019, the company was doing about $20 million in revenue. Today, it's a billion-dollar brand and part of Unilever's portfolio.
Every year brought different challenges. Early on, it was about building operations and having people in seats to answer questions. As the brand grew, it became about sustainable systems, the right technology partners, and democratizing voice of customer data across the organization.
"When you're first starting out, you're really just focused on building out the operations and making sure that there's people there to instill trust in the brand. As you go along, you're improving the experiences with our customers. You're thinking about how do we use that voice of customer feedback? Which systems do we have that are sustainable for growth?" — Domonique Brown
3. CPG Is Different—Customers Want Trust, Not Just Service
In CPG, especially health and wellness, customers aren't just buying a product—they're making a choice about what goes into their bodies. That means the stakes are higher, the questions are more personal, and the need for real expertise is critical.
Liquid IV serves everyone from college athletes to people managing chronic health conditions like POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). Each customer has different needs, different concerns, and different expectations.
"When you're in the CPG space and it's all about creating trust with the individual, it's the same thing. And you have to figure out who are we actually talking to?" — Domonique Brown
Domonique's team fields questions not just from D2C customers, but from shoppers at Walmart, Target, Costco, and Sam's Club who call the number on the back of the package. Product education, ingredient transparency, and real answers matter more than speed or automation.
4. AI Should Handle the Small Stuff, Humans Build the Trust
Liquid IV has embraced AI—but strategically. They use AI chatbots to handle repetitive, straightforward tasks like product questions or order tracking. But when something goes wrong, or when a customer needs to talk through a concern, human agents step in.
"My thought process about utilizing AI is that AI should be there to handle the small repeatable task and that when they need someone to respond, like they need to get on the phone and work something out or they need to talk through something, there should be channels available for the customer to be able to interact and speak with." — Domonique Brown
The result? Customer satisfaction scores actually improved after implementing AI because human agents could focus on higher-touch, more meaningful interactions.
AI isn't a replacement for empathy—it's a tool that frees up humans to do what they do best: build trust, solve complex problems, and go above and beyond.
5. Training Is a Lost Art—But It Drives Culture
Domonique is passionate about training. She believes that how you train your team shapes not just their performance, but how they think about and engage with customers.
At Liquid IV, agents aren't just taught how to close tickets—they're taught how to think strategically about customer interactions. The team holds monthly town halls, weekly feedback sessions, and open forums where agents can share what they're seeing on the ground.
"Training is a lost art in customer experience. When you think about like legacy brands, like in retail in Nordstrom, there was a certain way they greeted and interacted with their customer that told customers how to feel about their store and how to perceive their brand." — Domonique Brown
Empowering agents to think critically and share feedback creates a culture where everyone owns the customer experience—not just the CX team.
6. Surprise and Delight Is a Strategy, Not a Side Project
At Liquid IV, surprise and delight isn't an afterthought—it's a formal function built into the annual strategy. The team identifies moments throughout the year to go above and beyond for customers, whether that's sending free products to loyal POTS community members experiencing financial hardship or reaching out to top customers with exclusive new flavors.
"We embedded a surprise and delight function into our customer service team. So as we're thinking about our yearly strategy, we've already done our 2026 plan, like, you know, what's what's going to happen in terms of next year for most of the year. And so in that we have like specifically a function dedicated to like, how are we going to surprise and delight our customers this year?" — Domonique Brown
These gestures build loyalty, generate positive word-of-mouth, and create memorable experiences that differentiate Liquid IV from competitors who only show up when something goes wrong.
💡 The Gift of Negative Feedback
Domonique has a refreshing take on customer complaints: they're a gift.
"Customers do tell you what they don't like, and that is a gift. A lot of times, sometimes the feedback is looked at in a negative way, but I think it's a gift. They're telling you what they want so that they can stay with your brand." — Domonique Brown
When customers complain, it means they care. They're invested in the relationship and want things to work out. Customers who don't care? They just leave—and you never hear from them.
🤖 Hot Takes
🎯 Overhyped Trend: "AI agents are going to replace human agents and that it's already here and everyone should be afraid."
📊 Biggest Industry Mistake: "Not valuing CX as an executive or enterprise function early enough. I think sometimes people look at it as just operational."
🏆 Brand Inspiration: Nike and Banana Republic—for transparency, self-service options, and product education.
💬 On Metrics: "There's just not one way to measure success in customer experience…You need to understand not just your first response time, but your resolution times, your CSAT, your NPS, your customer effort score."
🧳 Why This Episode Matters
Liquid IV's story shows how listening to customers—especially the difficult conversations—can shape an entire CX strategy. Domonique's approach combines:
- Building trust over brand voice
- Strategic use of AI to empower human agents
- Training teams to think critically, not just close tickets
- Surprise and delight as a formal business function
- Democratizing voice of customer data across the organization
Whether you're building a CX team from scratch or scaling through hyper-growth, Domonique's insights offer a roadmap for balancing empathy with efficiency.
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If you work in CX, Product, Operations, or Leadership, this podcast is for you—filled with real customer stories, practical frameworks, and lessons you can apply tomorrow.
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Episode Notes:
00:13 — Meet Domonique Brown, Head of Customer Experience at Liquid IVFrom fundraising and beauty to building CX at a billion-dollar hydration brand.
01:14 — The Journey from Donor Cycles to Customer LoyaltyHow cultivating alumni relationships taught Domonique about engagement and market research.
02:53 — What Does Liquid IV Do?Health and wellness through daily hydration—electrolyte powder mixes and a mission for clean water access.
04:11 — Domonique's Role: CX Operations + Voice of CustomerOverseeing omni-channel support (D2C and retail) and democratizing customer feedback across the organization.
05:40 — D2C vs Retail Customer BehaviorHow customer questions differ when they buy from Walmart versus liquidiv.com.
07:01 — From Employee #11 to Billion-Dollar BrandScaling CX through hyper-growth and what changed after the Unilever acquisition.
09:10 — The Unique Challenges of CPG Customer ExperienceWhy customers are more specific about what goes in their bodies—and what that means for CX teams.
11:08 — The Story: A Facebook Message That Changed EverythingHow one upset customer taught Domonique the difference between brand voice and building trust.
16:26 — Listening to Customers at ScaleBuilding voice of customer programs, tracking trends, and using data to drive improvement.
19:14 — Training as Culture, Not Just ProcessWhy training teams to think strategically creates better customer experiences.
22:26 — AI + Human Agents: The Best of Both WorldsHow Liquid IV uses AI chatbots for simple tasks while empowering humans for complex, trust-building moments.
28:20 — What Success Looks Like: Tools, Systems, and ProcessesFrom Zendesk to Chattermill—how the right technology helps CX teams scale.
33:06 — Why Customers Give Feedback (And Why That Matters)Negative feedback is a gift—customers are telling you what they need to stay.
34:32 — Surprise and Delight as a Formal FunctionHow Liquid IV built surprise and delight into their annual CX strategy.
37:39 — Brands Domonique Admires: Nike and Banana RepublicWhy transparency and self-service options build trust.
43:48 — What the Industry Gets Wrong About CXWhy there's no "one metric" for success—and why CX should be an executive function from day one.
