Paula's Final Episode (#718)

Paula: Hello, and welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, a show for Loyalty Marketing Professionals.

Paula: I’m Paula Thomas, the founder and CEO of Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, where we feature insightful conversations with loyalty professionals from the world’s leading brands.

Paula: If you work in loyalty marketing, join us every week to hear the latest ideas and insights for loyalty marketing specialists around the world.

Paula: Hello and welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, my final, final episode as a host of my show.

Paula: So I’m doing this one solo.

Paula: For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Paula Thomas, and I’m the founder and CEO of Let’s Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV.

Paula: Originally an audio only podcast for loyalty marketing professionals.

Paula: When I started the show back in 2019, it was the result of many months of thinking how I could make a useful contribution to this industry that I love.

Paula: And it’s hard to believe we’ve now published over 700 episodes and we’re in the top 2.5% of all global podcasts.

Paula: I have learned so much along the way and my plan now is to step away from the microphone and the camera to focus instead on growing our audience and our business.

Paula: This wouldn’t be possible without the incredible global panel of loyalty marketing experts around the world who stepped in to each host a monthly episode of our show.

Paula: These amazing people are each aligned with the same vision I had at the beginning, creating educational and inspirational interviews with the loyalty leaders from some of the world’s greatest brands.

Paula: These hosts include firstly Amanda Cromhout from Truth in South Africa, Charlie Hills from MandoConnect in the UK, and Carly Neubauer from Elevate Loyalty and the One Top Group based in Australia.

Paula: These incredible ladies were the first to accept my invitation to guest host some of our episodes.

Paula: And once I saw how much our audience loved their voices and insights, I then invited Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee from the Wise Marketer Group and the Loyalty Academy to join them.

Paula: And then followed by our Spanish-speaking host Alejandro González-Saul based in Mexico.

Paula: Then more recently, they were joined by Bridget Blaise-Shamai, former president of the AA Advantage Programme, Lisa Brightwell, the founder and managing director of Bright Insights Consulting here in the UAE, and most recently, Nyeleti Sue-Angel Nkuna from South Africa and now based in Copenhagen.

Paula: To borrow a phrase from my friends in the Wise Marketer Group, I think we now truly have brought together the leading global voices of loyalty for our show.

Paula: And I think it’s now evolved to become a platform for loyalty marketing professionals, not just a podcast.

Paula: And of course, in every interview on our platform, these hosts share their industry expertise and insights in order to continue to create real value for you, our listeners and our viewers.

Paula: Perhaps even more important for our show is the support of our sponsors.

Paula: Comarch is our biggest and most important sponsor for more than five years.

Paula: And they continue to retain their title sponsorship of Loyalty TV.

Paula: And there’s no doubt we wouldn’t be in business without them.

Paula: I’m extremely grateful to everyone at Comarch for being such loyal sponsors year in and year out.

Paula: We’ve also been thrilled for the last four years to be working with Marigold, another incredibly impressive partner for our clients and audience.

Paula: So thanks to everyone in Marigold for your global support.

Paula: Other wonderful sponsors include Loyalty Methods, the Collinson Group, Capillary Technologies, Phaedon and Visa International.

Paula: A different group of people I sometimes forget to thank are our incredible guests, as we simply couldn’t create our show without their wisdom and knowledge.

Paula: There are simply too many of them to mention, but with my future focus now as CEO, I’m hoping to spend more time listening to their needs as a way to really connect with them and support them as they build their personal brands and their professional networks globally.

Paula: Of course, I also want to thank my own team for their incredible love and loyalty.

Paula: John Kirby Villanueva was first to join me in April of 2022, and he has grown his skills, abilities, and contribution to our business.

Paula: Shortly after John, I was lucky enough to find Pooja Venugopal, who has become the heart and soul of the business, managing all of our guests and hosts, our incredible social media profile on LinkedIn, and stepping in almost like my personal assistant, so for so many things beyond what any job description could possibly have prepared her for.

Paula: Finally, we were joined in January of this year by Eilish Baselmans, who is working incredibly hard to support the commercial side of the business.

Paula: In closing, we would be nothing without our incredible audience.

Paula: Between our audio podcasts and our videos on YouTube, we are just about to cross 500,000 plays, which I think is an extraordinary amount of attention from busy loyalty marketing professionals.

Paula: I was also incredibly honored to be awarded the 2025 Loyalty Industry Personality of the Year.

Paula: So between all of that, I’m thrilled that our work is so valuable to you and making a difference in our world.

Paula: And of course, I want to do it even bigger and better.

Paula: I’ll still be here on camera from time to time when I’m needed, but always driving growth from behind the scenes and hopefully enjoying time together with all of you in person at industry events around the world.

Paula: If we’re not already connected on LinkedIn, please do reach out to me there.

Paula: And let’s continue to Talk Loyalty in the months and years to come.

Paula: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.

Paula: If you’d like us to send you the latest shows each week, simply sign up for the Let’s Talk Loyalty newsletter on letstalkloyalty.com.

Paula: And we’ll send our best episodes straight to your inbox.

Paula: And don’t forget that you can follow Let’s Talk Loyalty on any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Paula: And of course, we’d love for you to share your feedback and reviews.

Paula: Thanks again for supporting the show.