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Tell us a little about yourself and how you got to where you are today.

Like many email peeps, I did not start out my career looking to be an email marketer. I actually went to school to be a history teacher, and I did teach for a while. But then, the 2008 recession came along and said, “Surprise, surprise!” I waved goodbye to my teaching dreams and landed a gig at an accounting firm that dealt with funeral homes. Yup, talk about a pivot!

But then, fate intervened once again, and I got a job running events at a technical school. As I scurried around with my trusty clipboard, collecting email addresses left, right, and center, a question nagged at me: “What do we do with all of these emails?” And so, my journey into the wild and wacky world of email marketing began!

Over the years, I’ve worn many hats in the email game. I started as an email copywriter, then became an email developer, and eventually found myself driving email strategy. Today, I have the privilege of leading the Lifecycle Marketing team at Zapier, and it has been amazing!

It’s not the career I had envisioned for myself, but hey, life is full of surprises! And who knows what the next 14 years will bring for me and the ever-evolving email industry. All I know is, I’m excited to find out!

What’s your favorite email marketing hack, tip, or trick?

My number one tip is to always map out your subscriber journey. You can use tools like Figma or Lucid Chart to create this map, or even just draw it out on paper (although it’s harder to share this way). By creating this map, you can see all the different points at which a person interacts with your brand or product. This will help you identify any gaps in the journey or areas where you might be sending too much content. The map can also be a helpful tool for promoting your email programs, as it allows you to include visuals and success metrics in an easy-to-follow format.

What is your advice for email peeps entering the workforce in 2023?

First things first, networking is key. Attend email events like Litmus Live, join #emailgeeks on Slack, or simply reach out to fellow email marketers on your favorite social media platform. Not only will this help you make friends in the industry, but it can also open up doors for learning and growth opportunities.

As an email marketer, you’ll often have to juggle multiple responsibilities, from writing copy to designing emails to handling development. To be successful, it’s essential to broaden your skillset and learn adjacent skills. For example, if you’re a copywriter, consider picking up the basics of email design. This will not only give you hard skills to elevate your email programs and career but also enable you to speak the same language as your MOPs or design team.

What’s in your email marketing toolbox?

Hardware:

• Apple Studio Display with Jarvis Monitor Arm
• 16in MacBook Pro w/vertical stand
• Uplift Sit/Stand Desk
• CopyKeyboard
• Eames-design Timelife chair
• Ember mug
• Apple Keyboard and mouse
• AirPod Pros

Software:

• Figma
• Zapier
• Parcel
• Reclaim.ai
• Photoshop
• Notion
• Asana
• EmailPreview.io (a million thank you’s to Stephanie @QueenDTC!)
• Spotify

What’s your favorite email campaign of all time? Why?

There have been so many, the Accessibility Matters from Litmus *chef’s kiss* to the famed Taco Bell parallax-like email, but the one that I still think about is the JCrew Ice Cream email. While I wish it used more live text, it was a beautiful email that made me scroll to the very bottom, and years later I’m still talking about it.

What’s your favorite email marketing tool, and why?

I’ve got two tools that have become essential to my workflow, and I simply can’t live without them (or pick a favorite)!

The first one is called Diffchecker. While it’s mainly used for comparing texts, I love using it for my email development. Whenever I’m trying to troubleshoot why an email isn’t working, I like to put the code into Diffchecker to compare it to the original version. It’s also incredibly handy when I’m trying to identify rendering issues. Did someone make a change to the template code? Diffchecker has got my back.

The second tool I swear by is Email Comb. As someone who’s constantly copying templates and coding emails on the fly, it can sometimes lead me to forget to remove unnecessary code (shush, don’t tell). That’s where Email Comb comes in – it helps me remove unwanted CSS and reduces the overall weight of my emails with features like minify and uglify.

These two tools have saved me countless hours of time and have become an indispensable part of my toolkit.

How do you manage work-life balance?

I’ve found that I’m most productive in the evenings, but it’s always been a challenge to balance my work and personal life. Fortunately, I’m grateful to have bosses who recognize and support my work style, allowing me to have flexible hours that work for me.

I’ve also come up with a schedule that helps me manage my workload better. It’s called front-loading my week, which means I work longer hours earlier in the week and shorter hours towards the end of the week (12-10-8-6-4 hours from Monday to Friday). This way, I can still get everything done while making time for personal activities that matter to me. If you want to learn more about front-loading your work, check out this article.

Much love,
Andy

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove