When Kimberly Edmunds started her career in telecommunications, her mother gently suggested that she consider utilizing her University of Southern California education elsewhere, thinking the cellphone business was a fad. Now more than two decades later, Edmunds is overseeing customer service operations at Cox Communications and is the recipient of many distinctions, including Multichannel News’ 2011 Wonder Woman of the Year. She is also a fellow of the prestigious Betsy Magness Leadership Institute.
As the senior vice president of customer experience at Cox, Edmunds leads a team on the front line of the business and has a significant impact on growing and retaining customers. A big part of her job is to develop strategy that will take the company from point A to point B and “leapfrog our competitors.”
“You can get these services — voice, video and data, from a myriad of companies. In this competitive environment, the way we do business and treat customers is paramount,” she offers. “My duties at Cox are in good alignment with my business and personal values around creating relationships that are meaningful.”
One of Cox’s childhood heroes is her maternal granddad, Robert Lee Allen, who encouraged her when her six older siblings teased her. She recounts, “My granddad would say ‘Kimmy Gal, your head is bigger because you are smarter than everybody else.’ He set the credence that I could be smarter.”
Cox supports employees’ interests in serving the community and Edmunds has taken advantage of the opportunity to serve on several nonprofit boards including, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Rainbows United, and is currently volunteering with Wellspring Living for Girls, an organization formed to help women and girls who have been victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. –yvette caslin
