Q&A with Annie Crego, Sr Manager of Customer Experience Strategy for AMXL

Everyone, meet Annie Crego! She is a Senior Manager leading the Customer Experience strategy team for Amazon Extra Large, also known as AMXL. AMXL is the end to end network that services heavy and bulky goods such as furniture, televisions, and fitness equipment. Her team is composed of Program Managers, Product Managers, Packaging Strategists, and Analysts that are focused on ensuring AMXL provides a best in class customer experience while reducing defects and improving profit. Her team relentlessly innovates on behalf of our customers and were responsible for the packaging design guidance to help onboard Peloton’s portfolio to Amazon. Annie brings a wealth of knowledge from her experience prior to transitioning to Amazon; previously, she spent her career in traditional retail as an Assistant Store Manager, Regional Merchandise Manager, and held multiple leadership roles on both District and Regional Teams. Outside of Amazon, she is a mom of three kids (15, 13, and 10), spends her days volunteering at her children’s schools, coaching volleyball, and acting as a human chauffeur and chef. She runs when she can, dabbles in home improvement, and uses her downtime to work on her endless list of ideas.

Annie, tell us what brings you passion/excitement in your role and team?

I am an innovator at heart and thrive on tackling complex problems, deconstructing them into manageable parts, and creating large scale strategies to address them. My team’s work is nothing short of exhilarating—they have an incredibly broad scope, spanning from our upstream vendor and retail partners through the entire supply chain including packaging, customer delivery, and all things in between. I am amazed daily at the passion and drive my team puts into their work, managing more partner teams than I can count, while acting as gatekeepers for Customer Experience across the AMXL network. They don’t just “Think Big” but also pride themselves on diving deep to understand the impact of their strategies at every level, from high-level planning to site and field operations. I am excited to come to work daily and enjoy that I get to surround myself with such talented people. They make work so fun!

What is your favorite Leadership Principle and why?

My favorite Leadership Principle is Think Big. My team’s primary charter is to build and execute strategies that drive exceptional interactions for the AMXL customers, and we take it very seriously. Although we work backwards from our external customers in each decision we make, we also consider the teams in the field that our strategies impact as our internal customers. My job as a leader is to help my team understand that there are no limits on what we can do as we innovate for these internal and external customers, but innovation can be hard, so I teach my team to be fearless. They know that no idea is a bad one, and failing fast allows us to learn and grow, applying what we learned in the next strategy we build. I expect them to challenge the status quo; coming from outside our organization, one of my favorite questions is “why?”. I firmly believe that just because we have done something a certain way, does not mean it is the right way to do it, and if we are to continue to succeed we should relentlessly sharpen our approach by driving new and innovative strategies. Strategy is where I am at my best, and thinking big is such an important part of any strategy. Keep notes on what you think are your crazy ideas - my team will tell you, I LOVE to whiteboard these ideas (and might even keep my own dry erase markers in my bag so I always have more than four colors to use), and I carry a notepad that I often scribble my ideas on while in meetings/calls to revisit later. Nothing makes me more proud of my team than when at the end of the day, we have driven change through big ideas, pushed boundaries to improve the lives of our customers, and have inspired those around us to be part of the solution.

How important is diversity to you and what value does it bring?

My experience has shown me that teams are stronger when they are made up of individuals with varying backgrounds, experiences, and opinions. Prior to my Amazon journey, I built my career in retail, which shaped my approach to team building. Retail is an ever evolving industry, especially the more brick and mortar businesses, and as the world has evolved the retail sector has had to balance innovation with the need to continuously evaluate strategies to ensure profitability. Every year, priorities could drastically change, and the ability to be nimble and leverage strengths from those around you was a key contributor to success. When selecting new team members, I actively look for candidates that come from all sectors, both within and outside of Amazon, knowing that I can broaden my understanding and we can leverage our talents together. Having team members with differing life experiences and professional backgrounds is key to having in-depth discussions, questioning the status quo, and driving creativity. Differing viewpoints on problems and strategies allow us to have robust discussions, sometimes animated ones, and find the best solutions for both our organization and our customers.

How do you balance demands of work and personal goals?

I have been lucky to navigate my career with the mantra “I’m a mom first.” Early in my professional career, I worked for some strong leaders that empowered this philosophy, balancing work and family successfully, and I embody this approach with any team I am on. This takes deliberate effort to accomplish and I challenge my team to follow my lead. I don’t expect meetings, emails, and responses outside of working hours, and they know I trust them to balance home and work priorities. It is not a debate, for me work/life balance comes first and having employees that are comfortable with that approach and feel supported to work this way is something I take very seriously. I pride myself in earning trust of my stakeholders and team by being efficient, detail oriented, and highly engaged, but I prioritize tasks and deliverables so I am able to be fully present both at work and at home. I am not perfect, and sometimes balance might look like a conference call in the car while waiting at soccer practice or emails in a quiet house after bedtime, but I am grateful that Amazon embraces work life balance so I can be my best self at work and at home. This balance makes me want to continue to perform my best, knowing that I can support all facets of my life.

What’s your favorite travel destination?

My 97 year old grandmother (who turns 98 in a few weeks) is still living independently and spends the spring/summer on her ranch in Montana, just south of Glacier National Park. We try to visit at least once a year - it is a beautiful place to get away; an incredibly tiny town at the base of the majestic Mission Mountain range that feels removed from the city life I normally live with my family. Everything moves at a slower pace there, and it allows me to relax while reminiscing about my childhood days wandering through fields, playing in the creek, picking fruit from the orchard, getting milkshakes from the town Malt Shop, riding my first horse, and spending time with my extended family. We enjoy the mountains and nature as a family and I love nothing more than listening to my grandmother’s lifetime of stories and memories. Witnessing her independence, resilience, and love of all around her, while maintaining what I like to call a healthy level of sass (that I know I inherited directly from her) overwhelms me with gratitude for such a strong example in my life. My hope is that I can live a life as full as hers.

Thanks for sharing your Amazon story with us, Annie!