Ep 230, Your Customer’s First Experience Begins with Your Employee’s Experience

This week on Conflict Managed we welcome Kristi Ellingsworth. Together we explore:

• Engaging and empathizing with those who don’t get what they want
• Creativity and generosity
• The willingness to be uncomfortable with people in conflict
• Sharing your calm with others
• Leadership energy
• Curious vs judgmental mindset
• Taking pauses throughout the day to self-regulate
• Being generous with compliments

Conflict Managed is available wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube @3pconflictrestoration

Kristi Ellingsworth is the Director of Hospitality at Dartcor Enterprises. Her work centers on employee experience, leadership development, emotional intelligence, and creating workplace cultures where people feel genuinely supported and connected. What makes her perspective especially unique is that she didn't come up through traditional HR—she spent more than a decade in fine dining, including nearly seven years as Maitre d' at Nobu Hospitality, where she managed VIP guest relationships, trained front-of-house teams, and navigated the constant demands of high-pressure hospitality environments.

Today, she brings those same hospitality principles into the workplace, helping leaders think differently about communication, conflict, trust, and psychological safety. She also previously hosted her own wellness podcast, The Alternative Podcast with Kristi Ellingsworth, where she interviewed experts on mindset, mindfulness, and personal growth.

Kristi’s philosophy is simple: the employee experience is the first customer experience.

Conflict Managed is produced by Third Party Workplace Conflict Restoration Services and hosted by Merry Brown.

#ConflictManagement #WorkplaceCulture #Communication #Connection #Podcast