Would Recommend: Real Stories From Businesses Worth Talking About with Nikki McKnight Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:00:04 -0400 https://wouldrecommend.buzzsprout.com en-ca © 2026 9052020 Canada Inc d/b/a The Ops Shop and Nikki McKnight yes 7bd6a649-8f9f-5142-82d5-2d0b42730ffa Nikki McKnight episodic false Some businesses get reviewed. Others get raved about.


Would Recommend goes behind the five stars with the founders who earned them. Every episode is a real story from a real business that figured out how to turn their client experience into their most powerful growth engine, without more ad spend, without more content, just by designing something worth talking about.


Host Nikki McKnight is a CX and operations strategist with 15+ years across wildly different industries and geographies. Each week, she talks with founders about the specific decisions, the costly experiments, and the moments of truth that separate a satisfied client from a raving one. Some episodes are solo deep-dives into a CX principle or framework. Others bring two founders from the same industry together to show how the same problem can be solved two completely different ways, and why both work.


This is not a marketing podcast. Client experience is not a layer on top of your marketing strategy; it is the growth engine your marketing can't replace. If your clients are happy but not referring you, this show is for you.


Would Recommend is for founder-led businesses in retail, hospitality, food and beverage, professional services, wellness, events, and beyond.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Nikki McKnight https://storage.buzzsprout.com/czbbgybe9z511r7qhp548yygnfba?.jpg Would Recommend: Real Stories From Businesses Worth Talking About with Nikki McKnight How to Layer Surprise and Delight For a Big Payoff (Without a Big Budget or a Big System) How to Layer Surprise and Delight For a Big Payoff (Without a Big Budget or a Big System) Two years ago I walked into a steakhouse for my birthday and walked out with a story I apparently cannot stop telling. 

This episode is that story, and more importantly, it's layers of surprise and delight that we can take into our own businesses.  None of this costs a lot. All of it requires a decision.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • The specific moment at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse that made me realize most businesses are delivering a service when they could be designing an experience.
  • Why the espresso martini my dad cried over wasn't in any SOP, and what that means for how you build your team culture.
  • The one question your intake or booking flow is probably not asking, and why that missing question is costing you referrals.

If you've ever wondered why your satisfied clients aren't becoming your raving ones, press play.

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Two years ago I walked into a steakhouse for my birthday and walked out with a story I apparently cannot stop telling. 

This episode is that story, and more importantly, it's layers of surprise and delight that we can take into our own businesses.  None of this costs a lot. All of it requires a decision.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • The specific moment at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse that made me realize most businesses are delivering a service when they could be designing an experience.
  • Why the espresso martini my dad cried over wasn't in any SOP, and what that means for how you build your team culture.
  • The one question your intake or booking flow is probably not asking, and why that missing question is costing you referrals.

If you've ever wondered why your satisfied clients aren't becoming your raving ones, press play.

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19256085 Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:00:00 -0400 889 full false What Agencies Know About Human Nature That Every Founder Needs to Hear (And Can't Automate Away) ft. Andréa Jones & Natalia Kaplan What Agencies Know About Human Nature That Every Founder Needs to Hear (And Can't Automate Away) ft. Andréa Jones & Natalia Kaplan Scope creep. Client reliance. The quiet chaos of selling a service to a human being who doesn't always know what they want. Call them agency problems if you want, but if you've ever said yes to something and spent three weeks wondering why, this conversation is for you. 

Andréa Jones and Natalia Kaplan have both built agencies from the ground up, blown past their own limits, and come out the other side with very different businesses and a lot of earned wisdom.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • Natalia's $50 campaign that got the Minister of Defence's attention (the location is not for the faint of heart, but the ROI absolutely is)
  • Why Andréa won't quote a number on a sales call anymore, and the business partnership agreement that got her there
  • The honest answer to whether any agency has actually locked down scope creep (spoiler: they haven't, and neither has anyone else)


About My Guests

Meet Andréa Jones — your marketing shortcut in human form. As the founder of OnlineDrea and Creative Director at Uncommon Marketing Agency, she’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs do less, market smarter, and grow without the guilt trip of hustle culture. Her approach blends savvy strategy with playful creativity, helping business owners turn overwhelm into ease and chaos into clarity.

With more than a decade of experience, Andréa has guided over 5,000 students through her courses, programs, and resources, helping them build systems that actually fit their lives so marketing feels doable and even fun.

She’s also the host of the award-winning Mindful Marketing Podcast, where she breaks down timely trends and timeless strategies into bite-sized, actionable insights.

Based in Niagara Falls, Canada, Andréa brings a grounded, refreshing perspective to modern marketing. Her mantra? Growth should feel good.

https://onlinedrea.com

uncommon.ca 


Natalia Kaplan is the founder and Managing Director of On Point Agency Inc., an award-winning Montréal-based creative marketing agency that helps brands become harder to ignore.

Her path into marketing was not exactly traditional. With a background in psychology, a master’s in accounting, and an early career at L’Oréal Canada, Natalia built her approach around understanding both what makes people care and what makes a business actually work. Over the past decade, she has worked across beauty, tech, defence, wellness, digital platforms, and other industries where the message is not always easy to explain.

Through On Point Agency, Natalia helps clients sharpen their positioning, build memorable campaigns, create content with a real point of view, and bring bold ideas into the real world. She is especially interested in the space between business strategy and creative risk, where brands stop sounding like everyone else and start becoming something people actually care about.

You can see the agency's work at www.onpointagency.ca and find Natalia at https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-kaplan/



Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Scope creep. Client reliance. The quiet chaos of selling a service to a human being who doesn't always know what they want. Call them agency problems if you want, but if you've ever said yes to something and spent three weeks wondering why, this conversation is for you. 

Andréa Jones and Natalia Kaplan have both built agencies from the ground up, blown past their own limits, and come out the other side with very different businesses and a lot of earned wisdom.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • Natalia's $50 campaign that got the Minister of Defence's attention (the location is not for the faint of heart, but the ROI absolutely is)
  • Why Andréa won't quote a number on a sales call anymore, and the business partnership agreement that got her there
  • The honest answer to whether any agency has actually locked down scope creep (spoiler: they haven't, and neither has anyone else)


About My Guests

Meet Andréa Jones — your marketing shortcut in human form. As the founder of OnlineDrea and Creative Director at Uncommon Marketing Agency, she’s on a mission to help entrepreneurs do less, market smarter, and grow without the guilt trip of hustle culture. Her approach blends savvy strategy with playful creativity, helping business owners turn overwhelm into ease and chaos into clarity.

With more than a decade of experience, Andréa has guided over 5,000 students through her courses, programs, and resources, helping them build systems that actually fit their lives so marketing feels doable and even fun.

She’s also the host of the award-winning Mindful Marketing Podcast, where she breaks down timely trends and timeless strategies into bite-sized, actionable insights.

Based in Niagara Falls, Canada, Andréa brings a grounded, refreshing perspective to modern marketing. Her mantra? Growth should feel good.

https://onlinedrea.com

uncommon.ca 


Natalia Kaplan is the founder and Managing Director of On Point Agency Inc., an award-winning Montréal-based creative marketing agency that helps brands become harder to ignore.

Her path into marketing was not exactly traditional. With a background in psychology, a master’s in accounting, and an early career at L’Oréal Canada, Natalia built her approach around understanding both what makes people care and what makes a business actually work. Over the past decade, she has worked across beauty, tech, defence, wellness, digital platforms, and other industries where the message is not always easy to explain.

Through On Point Agency, Natalia helps clients sharpen their positioning, build memorable campaigns, create content with a real point of view, and bring bold ideas into the real world. She is especially interested in the space between business strategy and creative risk, where brands stop sounding like everyone else and start becoming something people actually care about.

You can see the agency's work at www.onpointagency.ca and find Natalia at https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-kaplan/



Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19255894 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0400 1931 full false What Would Mr. Rogers Do? How to Stress-Test Any Client Touchpoint What Would Mr. Rogers Do? How to Stress-Test Any Client Touchpoint There is a 1970s children's television show that had a more rigorous empathy standard than most businesses apply to their client communication. And the test its head writer used on every single sentence before it could air is one of the most useful frameworks Nikki has ever brought into a client engagement.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • How the Mr. Rogers' writing team stress-tested every sentence before it aired, and the three questions that changed what made the final cut
  • The real revenue problem hiding inside your most reasonable-sounding policies, and why "it makes sense to me" is the wrong question to be asking
  • Three real business examples run through the Mr. Rogers’ test
  • The mindset shift that separates technically correct from actually remembered

If you've ever sent a policy, an email, or an out-of-office and wondered why it landed wrong, this episode is going to show you exactly why.


Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> There is a 1970s children's television show that had a more rigorous empathy standard than most businesses apply to their client communication. And the test its head writer used on every single sentence before it could air is one of the most useful frameworks Nikki has ever brought into a client engagement.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • How the Mr. Rogers' writing team stress-tested every sentence before it aired, and the three questions that changed what made the final cut
  • The real revenue problem hiding inside your most reasonable-sounding policies, and why "it makes sense to me" is the wrong question to be asking
  • Three real business examples run through the Mr. Rogers’ test
  • The mindset shift that separates technically correct from actually remembered

If you've ever sent a policy, an email, or an out-of-office and wondered why it landed wrong, this episode is going to show you exactly why.


Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19254818 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 06:00:00 -0400 1131 full false How Do You Build a Physical Product Brand That Creates Real Word of Mouth? ft. Lisa Simone Richards and Cheryl Sutherland How Do You Build a Physical Product Brand That Creates Real Word of Mouth? ft. Lisa Simone Richards and Cheryl Sutherland What does it mean to design something a customer will hold in their hands every single day? 

Nikki sits down with two founders who built physical products rooted in confidence, clarity, and self-belief, and who both obsess over the experience long after the order ships.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • The story behind the pink metallic envelope, and why Lisa gets unboxing videos from customers who weren't expecting to feel that moved by a mailer.
  • Why Cheryl spent years trying to make PleaseNotes a faceless brand, what changed her mind, and how that shift rewired her entire approach to packaging and growth.
  • The belly band conversation nobody has in product development; and why what works beautifully in D2C can completely fail when your product hits a retail shelf.
  • What Lisa's QR code nudge is actually doing for her customer relationships (hint: it's not a marketing tactic, it's a continuity experience).
  • Why Cheryl says your product has to work as an ecosystem, and what that means for founders who are just starting to think beyond their hero product.

If you've ever wondered what separates a product people buy from a product people recommend, press play.


About My Guests:

Cheryl Sutherland is a transformational Confidence and Mindset Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Founder of PleaseNotes, a personal growth brand that creates affirmation-filled goods to inspire clarity, confidence, and creativity. Known as The Confidence Creator, Cheryl helps individuals and organizations unlock bold leadership, resilience, and personal power through the art of mindset mastery. After spending over 10,000 hours studying personal development, coaching, and mindset psychology, she discovered that true leadership begins within. Her work has been featured in Forbes, InStyle, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and FOX LA. She has partnered with organizations like Salesforce, Freshbooks, CPA Canada, and Quicken Loans to deliver keynotes, panels, and workshops that challenge traditional ideas around leadership, confidence, and self-trust. Cheryl travels internationally from her home base in Toronto, Ontario.

pleasenotes.com
instagram.com/pleasenotesgoods   
Clear and Confident Course: cherylsutherland.thrivecart.com/clear-and-confident-course-pleasenotes/ 


Lisa Simone Richards is the co-founder and CEO of Pearl Spark Pages, a self-belief fueled stationery brand that gives women entrepreneurs a daily dose of self-confidence so they can push past imposter syndrome. After two decades as a publicist helping women-led startups gain visibility, Lisa realized she was facing the very challenge she had coached so many founders through: imposter syndrome. Even with years of experience, she saw how inner dialogue shapes the way we show up in business and in life. Determined to change that narrative, Lisa created the Female Founders Journal to help women entrepreneurs turn self-doubt into bold self-belief. Through beautifully designed paper products, her mission is to help women see themselves the way the world already does: capable and confident.

pearlsparkpages.com
instagram.com/pearlsparkpages 
Free 7-day digital preview of the Female Founders Journal: https://pearlsparkpages.lpages.co/free7dayjournal/ 


Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> What does it mean to design something a customer will hold in their hands every single day? 

Nikki sits down with two founders who built physical products rooted in confidence, clarity, and self-belief, and who both obsess over the experience long after the order ships.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • The story behind the pink metallic envelope, and why Lisa gets unboxing videos from customers who weren't expecting to feel that moved by a mailer.
  • Why Cheryl spent years trying to make PleaseNotes a faceless brand, what changed her mind, and how that shift rewired her entire approach to packaging and growth.
  • The belly band conversation nobody has in product development; and why what works beautifully in D2C can completely fail when your product hits a retail shelf.
  • What Lisa's QR code nudge is actually doing for her customer relationships (hint: it's not a marketing tactic, it's a continuity experience).
  • Why Cheryl says your product has to work as an ecosystem, and what that means for founders who are just starting to think beyond their hero product.

If you've ever wondered what separates a product people buy from a product people recommend, press play.


About My Guests:

Cheryl Sutherland is a transformational Confidence and Mindset Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Founder of PleaseNotes, a personal growth brand that creates affirmation-filled goods to inspire clarity, confidence, and creativity. Known as The Confidence Creator, Cheryl helps individuals and organizations unlock bold leadership, resilience, and personal power through the art of mindset mastery. After spending over 10,000 hours studying personal development, coaching, and mindset psychology, she discovered that true leadership begins within. Her work has been featured in Forbes, InStyle, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and FOX LA. She has partnered with organizations like Salesforce, Freshbooks, CPA Canada, and Quicken Loans to deliver keynotes, panels, and workshops that challenge traditional ideas around leadership, confidence, and self-trust. Cheryl travels internationally from her home base in Toronto, Ontario.

pleasenotes.com
instagram.com/pleasenotesgoods   
Clear and Confident Course: cherylsutherland.thrivecart.com/clear-and-confident-course-pleasenotes/ 


Lisa Simone Richards is the co-founder and CEO of Pearl Spark Pages, a self-belief fueled stationery brand that gives women entrepreneurs a daily dose of self-confidence so they can push past imposter syndrome. After two decades as a publicist helping women-led startups gain visibility, Lisa realized she was facing the very challenge she had coached so many founders through: imposter syndrome. Even with years of experience, she saw how inner dialogue shapes the way we show up in business and in life. Determined to change that narrative, Lisa created the Female Founders Journal to help women entrepreneurs turn self-doubt into bold self-belief. Through beautifully designed paper products, her mission is to help women see themselves the way the world already does: capable and confident.

pearlsparkpages.com
instagram.com/pearlsparkpages 
Free 7-day digital preview of the Female Founders Journal: https://pearlsparkpages.lpages.co/free7dayjournal/ 


Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19254807 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0400 3135 full false What Is Customer Experience and Why Does It Matter for Your Business? What Is Customer Experience and Why Does It Matter for Your Business? This is the first episode of Would Recommend, and Nikki is starting here on purpose: because customer experience is one of the most used and least understood terms in business, and getting it wrong is quietly costing founders more than they realize.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • Why customer experience and customer service are not the same thing, and why that confusion is where most founders start building defensively instead of intentionally.
  • The three-part equation that runs every client relationship: brand promise, brand experience, and the one in the middle you can't actually control.
  • Why CX runs on emotion and not logic, and the documented research that explains why a satisfied client is not the same as a loyal one.
  • The three-level pyramid that separates businesses people retain from businesses people rave about, and which level most founder-led businesses are stuck on.
  • The financial case for investing in client experience, with real numbers, because "it feels good to do things well" is not a business strategy.

If you've ever wondered why referrals aren't coming in the way you expected, this is where to start.

Resources & Research Referenced in This Episode

The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty — Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi (Portfolio/Penguin, 2013)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591845815

The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World — Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011)
https://www.bain.com/insights/the-ultimate-question-2/

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> This is the first episode of Would Recommend, and Nikki is starting here on purpose: because customer experience is one of the most used and least understood terms in business, and getting it wrong is quietly costing founders more than they realize.

What you'll hear in this episode:

  • Why customer experience and customer service are not the same thing, and why that confusion is where most founders start building defensively instead of intentionally.
  • The three-part equation that runs every client relationship: brand promise, brand experience, and the one in the middle you can't actually control.
  • Why CX runs on emotion and not logic, and the documented research that explains why a satisfied client is not the same as a loyal one.
  • The three-level pyramid that separates businesses people retain from businesses people rave about, and which level most founder-led businesses are stuck on.
  • The financial case for investing in client experience, with real numbers, because "it feels good to do things well" is not a business strategy.

If you've ever wondered why referrals aren't coming in the way you expected, this is where to start.

Resources & Research Referenced in This Episode

The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty — Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi (Portfolio/Penguin, 2013)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591845815

The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World — Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011)
https://www.bain.com/insights/the-ultimate-question-2/

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19254802 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 04:00:00 -0400 1328 full false Trailer Trailer Some businesses get reviewed. Others get raved about. Would Recommend goes behind the five stars with the founders who earned them.

I'm Nikki McKnight, CX and operations strategist and the host of this show. Every week, I sit down with founders who built something worth talking about and get into the real decisions behind it. What they designed on purpose, what broke, what they rebuilt. The thesis: you don't need more marketing. You need an experience so good your clients can't stop talking about you.

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Some businesses get reviewed. Others get raved about. Would Recommend goes behind the five stars with the founders who earned them.

I'm Nikki McKnight, CX and operations strategist and the host of this show. Every week, I sit down with founders who built something worth talking about and get into the real decisions behind it. What they designed on purpose, what broke, what they rebuilt. The thesis: you don't need more marketing. You need an experience so good your clients can't stop talking about you.

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

]]> Nikki McKnight Buzzsprout-19274321 Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400 84 full false