Interview: How A Strategic Customer Success Manager Found Career Success At Braze

Braze is the leading customer engagement platform that empowers brands to Be Absolutely Engaging. Founded in 2011 and working with 2,600+ brands, Braze helps brands deliver great customer experiences that drive value for both consumers and their businesses.

From cross-channel messaging and journey orchestration to AI-powered decisioning and optimization, Braze enables companies to turn action into interaction through autonomous, 1:1 personalized experiences.

POCIT sat down with Madison DeJesus, a Strategic Customer Success Manager at Braze, at the company’s headquarters in New York City to discuss her role, career journey, and how Braze has supported her career growth.

As a Strategic Customer Success Manager (CSM), DeJesus tells POCIT that her role focuses on retail clients and their CRM programs, helping leading brands get the most out of the Braze platform to drive long-term success. Outside of work, she shares, “I’m Puerto Rican, born and raised in The Bronx, which is also where I currently reside with my fiancée and adorable puppy.”

Before joining Braze, she completed internships in digital marketing at Facebook and BET, working in social media, advertising, and content curation. “My Philosophy degree didn’t do me many favors in the job market, so I pivoted to sales, starting in cybersecurity hardware and software sales,” DeJesus adds.

After spending a year in a toxic environment, she moved to another company that sold cybersecurity consulting services until the pandemic hit. But she realized she wanted a change, so she decided to transition to customer success: “That’s when I found Braze (or maybe Braze found me!) for an entry-level CSM role, and I’ve been growing in this career path ever since.”

Her experience as a person of color in tech has been varied. “My first post-grad job had almost no HR support, and my second job required an employee-led push for diversity policies after a poorly timed email from the CEO during the George Floyd protests – which made it difficult to show up as your authentic self or justify not showing up at all.”

But at Braze, she’s found the most stable infrastructure and culture around inclusion and opportunity she’s ever experienced, particularly in Employee Resource Groups. “As the co-president of Black@Braze, it’s been incredibly fulfilling to contribute to diverse programming that enhances our overall employee experience,” she says.

“Sometimes that means bringing fun back to this important work with events like Family Feud and Black Jeopardy, and sometimes that means deep diving into a cultural topic that might be new for folks like land ownership, intersectional identities, pop music culture, and more.”

Madison has represented Braze at various events, including AfroTech, the world’s largest annual tech conference for Black professionals, where the focus is on hiring diverse talent and sourcing founders for Braze’s Tech for an Equitable Future product grant program.

Tech for an Equitable Future offers twelve months of free access to the Braze customer engagement platform and supporting services for startups with underrepresented founders, giving them the tools they need to build stronger relationships with their customers, drive revenue, and accelerate business growth.

In addition to her day-to-day role, Madison generously volunteers her professional skills as a dedicated CSM for the program, providing the strategic guidance these startups need to realize their full potential in the platform. “These initiatives are a testament to our commitment to creating a more diverse and welcoming workplace, and I’m proud to be part of them,” she says.

When asked how other people of color can advance their careers in tech, DeJesus suggests networking by attending conferences and job fairs. “You never know where a connection might lead. I went to a hiring event at Braze when I was looking to leave my first job, and after three years of my resume being on file, Braze reached out about another event in NYC.”

Overall, DeJesus describes Braze as a rare gem in the tech world. “If you’re looking for a place to thrive rather than just survive, keep an eye out for those mid-sized tech companies that might not be on your radar. They often offer that personal touch in career development that can really help you grow!

Braze was named a 2025 Best Companies To Work For by U.S. News & World Report, a 2025 America’s Greenest Companies by Newsweek, and a 2025 Fortune Best Workplace in Technology by Great Place To Work®. The company is headquartered in New York with 15 offices across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

Learn more and explore open roles here. Underrepresented founders interested in scaling with Braze can learn more about the Tech for an Equitable Future program and sign up for Cohort 7 updates here.

Image: Madison DeJesus

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