Cricket St. Peters - Larsen
With more than 30 years of professional experience and over two decades of dedicated service at TruGreen, Cricket Larsen has built a career defined by leadership, resilience, and a deep commitment to developing others. She began her journey as one of the first office managers hired externally into the organization—an uncommon path at the time—and quickly distinguished herself through a strong work ethic, practical problem‑solving skills, and an authentic leadership style.
Over the years, Cricket consistently advanced within the company, embracing new opportunities and growing into her current role as Senior Customer Care Manager, where she plays a pivotal role in driving operational success while developing high‑performing teams. She specializes in strategic partnership, bringing a collaborative, solutions‑driven mindset to her work and excelling at building alignment across departments around a shared vision for the customer experience.
With a keen ability to identify the right people, processes, and execution pathways, Cricket effectively breaks down silos and ensures initiatives are carried out with clarity and purpose. Her strength lies in thinking holistically while executing tactically—a combination that has earned her trust as a leader and positioned her as a key contributor to a culture grounded in service excellence.
A strong believer in communication and consistency, Cricket begins each day with a company‑wide outreach: an open customer follow‑up message sent each morning at 8 a.m. This daily touchpoint reinforces alignment, transparency, and teamwork across the organization. She takes great pride in being the kind of leader and teammate people want to work with—someone who listens, supports, and creates an environment where individuals feel valued, challenged, and motivated to do their best work.
Cricket's greatest professional impact has been her ability to see an organization through the customer’s eyes and strategically partner across teams to improve the end‑to‑end customer experience. By working horizontally across departments, she helped align people, processes, and technology around a shared commitment to service excellence. One of the most impactful examples of this collaboration was her role in helping develop and implement the company’s first AI agent—an initiative designed to enhance customer support, streamline resolution, and better support frontline teams. This effort reflected her belief that innovation is most successful when it is grounded in real customer needs and driven by strong cross‑functional partnership.
Cricket is particularly proud of her role in empowering women, encouraging them to step into leadership with confidence and determination. Her commitment to mentorship extends beyond the workplace as well. A former athlete and lifelong competitor, she has spent years coaching volleyball and mentoring young women—including her own daughters, whom she considers her proudest accomplishment.
Driven by a belief in continuous learning, Cricket remains committed to leadership development, and ongoing self‑improvement. Whether at work or in her community, she leads with purpose—empowering others to recognize their potential, pursue growth, and lead with confidence.
• Indiana University South Bend - Elementary Education and Teaching
• President’s Club Award – 7x Recipient
Recognized consistently for exceptional leadership, performance, and impact on customer care operations.
Customer Care Manager of the Year
Awarded for outstanding leadership, operational excellence, and commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience.
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mother and the values she instilled in me about strength, confidence, and self‑awareness. She taught me the importance of adaptability and emotional intelligence—skills that allow me to read the room, understand what’s needed, and lead with intention. Her influence continues to shape how I communicate, build relationships, and navigate challenges with clarity and purpose.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the best pieces of career advice I’ve ever received was to always look at the whole picture—not just the area of my direct responsibility. That mindset became foundational to my work in customer experience, helping me understand how decisions across operations, technology, sales, and service ultimately shape the customer journey. By stepping outside my lane and learning how other parts of the business operate, I was able to anticipate impacts, solve problems more effectively, and build strong cross‑functional partnerships. Those relationships have been essential to delivering meaningful, customer‑centered improvements and remain some of the most valuable connections I’ve built throughout my career.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If I could offer one piece of advice, it would be this: don’t be afraid to take chances. Challenge the status quo, ask questions, and be willing to step outside your comfort zone. Growth happens when you’re courageous enough to try something new.
Equally important, strive to be the kind of leader and teammate people genuinely want to work with—someone who listens, collaborates, and brings others along. Relationships matter, and how you show up every day leaves a lasting impression.
Finally, make sure you find work that fulfills you. When you leave your family and your children each day, it should be to do something that energizes you and aligns with your values. Loving what you do makes the challenges worthwhile and allows you to show up fully—both at work and at home.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges—and opportunities—right now is remote management. The world changed with COVID, and customer expectations have evolved right along with it. In many ways, I’ve had to relearn what I spent years mastering. The pace of change over the last five to six years has been unlike anything I’ve experienced in my career, requiring us to rethink how we engage teams, manage performance, and deliver on the customer experience.
At times, it feels like we’re rediscovering what customers truly expect and redesigning how we meet those expectations in a more flexible, digital, and human way. While that shift hasn’t always been easy, it’s been incredibly energizing. One of the things I love most is the opportunity to step back, rethink traditional approaches, and strategically design new ways of doing business that better meet the needs of both our customers and our teams.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty and loyalty are the core values that guide both my professional and personal life. I believe in leading with transparency, ethics, and accountability—principles that foster trust, credibility, and meaningful relationships in every interaction. Loyalty, to me, means showing up consistently, supporting others, and honoring the relationships and commitments that matter most. Together, these values shape how I lead and collaborate, ensuring that I approach every opportunity with integrity, respect, and a strong sense of responsibility.