Lilian Starr

I was born and raised in Brazil, where I began my career in the airline industry working in the lost luggage department, which quickly taught me the impact of customer experience and operational efficiency. After earning my college degree in journalism with a major in corporate communication and public relations, I joined American Airlines full-time in Brazil, where I spent about 10 years in various roles including airport agent and executive assistant to the sales director. This opportunity led me to move to the United States to work for British Airways in their customer experience division, serving the Latin America department and assisting customers in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. At British Airways, I advanced from contact center agent to supervisor and then to quality manager. When British Airways moved operations overseas, I joined First Citizens Bank in their equipment finance division here in Jacksonville, Florida, where I've been for 12 years. I started as a manager and was promoted to VP, and for the past three years I've served as Director of Operations overseeing customer service for small to mid-sized businesses across various verticals including technology, office imaging, industrial equipment, healthcare, and golf and turf. I'm actively involved in the industry as a member of the Equipment Leasing Finance Association (ELFA) Innovation Lab Committee, helping plan their annual innovation conference, and as a member of the Customer Contact AI Association to stay current with technology and innovation initiatives. I'm also a featured contributor for the International Contact Management Institute (ICMI), writing articles every two months on topics like servicing culture. Last year, I was honored to be recognized by Monitor publication as one of the top women in equipment finance, and you can find links to my published articles and podcasts on my LinkedIn profile.