The Mindful Marketing Podcast

Episode: Building Stronger Connections Through Email With Allea Grummert [Happy Subscribers Podcast]
Host: Andréa Jones
Guest Host: Allea Grummert
Date: December 30, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into mindful, human-centered marketing—particularly through email. Andréa Jones, host of The Mindful Marketing Podcast, discusses strategies for using email to build meaningful connections with audiences, how to avoid creator burnout, and why email often outperforms social media for long-term engagement. The conversation, originally aired on the Happy Subscribers Podcast with Allea Grummert, is packed with actionable advice for creators, business owners, and marketers seeking to break free from ‘shoulds’ and build authentic, sustainable practices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Burnout and Mindful Marketing: Breaking Free from the ‘Shoulds’

• The Problem with “Posting More”
  Social platforms incentivize constant content creation, which can lead to burnout and anxiety. Andréa emphasizes the need to choose marketing activities aligned with personal preferences and energy levels.
  • Quote:

    "Every single social platform to date has rewarded you for how much you post... It's really easy for us as content creators to fall into the trap of, 'I've got to post more, I have to do bigger.' ...My mission is: let’s find a way you can create content consistently from a place that’s exciting and fun and energetic, without sacrificing yourself to the Instagram algorithm."
    — Andréa (03:12)

• Personal Boundaries with Social Media
  Andréa shares her own experience of burnout, deleting social apps, and establishing firm boundaries on notifications and consumption.
  • Quote:

    "I realized I needed to create space and boundaries and figure out what this is for me... I deleted everything off my phone for two weeks and then slowly started adding things back in."
    — Andréa (05:46)

2. Choosing Channels That Match Your Preference

• Platform Choice Based on Enjoyment
  Andréa urges creators to follow their instincts for the platforms and content types they enjoy, instead of pursuing what’s trendy (i.e., TikTok, if you hate making short video, is not your move).
  • Quote:

    "If you don't even enjoy being [on a platform], it doesn't matter if it could have viral potential. You're never going to do it because you don't like being there."
    — Andréa (04:19)

• Avoiding Comparison Traps
  She avoids following competitors on social platforms to protect her own headspace, checking in only during dedicated research times.
  • Practice:

    "I put them in a list in my Google Keep, my notes app... I will check in when I’m doing competitor research, that’s my boundary."
    — Andréa (08:19)

3. Why Email is More Intimate—and Effective

• Email as Relationship Builder
  Despite starting as a “small fish,” email’s intimacy has led Andréa to put more focus there. The depth of replies and engagement far surpass social comments.
  • Quote:

    "Even when I only had a hundred people on the list, it felt more intimate because of the depth of conversation we can have... I didn’t really start taking email seriously until I started my community...[then] I realized, I need to stay connected with them."
    — Andréa (15:11)

• Bigger (and Better) Email Community
  Data from her recent business audit: her email list is almost double her largest social following and much more engaged.
  • Quote:

    "My email community is much larger and more tight knit than any of my social platforms... I have about 18,000 [subscribers]. My highest social following is 10,000, barely, on Instagram."
    — Andréa (13:33)

4. Andréa’s Newsletter Structure

• Three-Part Newsletter System:
  1. Storytelling (Personal, relatable story that teaches a marketing lesson, ~1-2 short paragraphs)
     • Example:

       "I shared one recently about how we went out to dinner and my 2-year-old threw her food on the floor. I tied it into marketing—how we feel more embarrassed about some things than anyone else does."
       — Andréa (26:25)

  2. Hot Links (Quick links to podcast, YouTube, guest spots, etc.)
  3. Before You Go ("Expands on the story and is where I sell things—products, offers, etc.")
• Consistency & Alliteration
  • Weekly, on Tuesdays: “Mindful Marketing Memo.”
  • Quote:

    "Here’s the alliteration again. My Mindful Marketing Memo I send every Tuesday... I always try to tell my stories and give advice from a place of vulnerability."
    — Andréa (19:07)

5. On Welcome Sequences and Personalization in Email

• Short, Human Welcome
  Contrary to common marketing advice, Andréa prefers a single, personalized welcome email over a lengthy sequence—though she acknowledges sequences are valuable for most.
  • Quote:

    "I'm not a fan of welcome sequences. I used to spend a lot of time crafting them... I have one email that introduces me... and then at that email, I say, I want to get to know you. And I get a lot of responses to that one email."
    — Andréa (19:07)

• Automations for Lead Magnets Only
  Longer automation sequences are used only when someone opts into specific resources (e.g., 7-day challenges).
  • Tactic:

    "I do have lead magnets that have sequences... but if someone signs up just for the newsletter, it’s just the one welcome."
    — Andréa (23:38)

6. Selling through Email: Strategy & Results

• Tying Story to Offer
  Each email ties a relatable story to a product or offer in the “Before You Go” section.
  • Monetization Insight:

    "Almost every time I send an email, I sell something... if it’s something people want, it sells."
    — Andréa (27:47)

• Launch Planning & Listening to Community
  Fixed events anchor her sales calendar (e.g., LinkedIn Challenge in January), but she also listens for demand and offers ad hoc products.
  • Quote:

    "So for instance, my LinkedIn challenge I do every January, people love that... the rest of it, I listen to what people want."
    — Andréa (29:00)

7. Email Growth and List-Building Tactics

• You Need New Leads to Stay Motivated
  Seeing new subscribers is motivating; it’s human nature to crave feedback.
  • Quote:

    "Once you start seeing those new people come in—it is motivation to keep writing... so, keep sending emails, but you gotta get new people on your email list."
    — Andréa (38:00)

• Favorite Lead Gen Channels:
  1. Social Media – Use as a funnel to the email list.
  2. Podcast Guesting – Even small audiences matter.
  3. Virtual Summits – Leverage speaking opportunities with just one signature topic.
  • Pro Tip:

    "Podcast guesting—even if the podcast you’re pitching has one listener, that’s one person who didn’t know you existed before... My second favorite way is virtual speaking, specifically in summits."
    — Andréa (41:26)

8. Embracing Efficiency: Tech Stack and AI

• Favorite Tools
  • Email: ConvertKit
  • Courses/Community: Circle (preferred for community over Teachable)
  • Audio: Hello Audio (private feeds for course content)
  • Checkouts: ThriveCart
  • Website: WordPress + Blue Chic themes
  • Integrations: Zapier
• Writing Emails Faster with AI
  Andréa leans on ChatGPT to flesh out her newsletter drafts, making content creation faster, while still tweaking for personal touch.
  • Quote:

    "I have my custom GPT... I'll talk my newsletter out and then it will format it for me. That’s my fast track to creating more newsletters. But I still have to edit it...it’s like me talking through the story."
    — Andréa (33:12)

9. Trends & Marketing Complexity

• The Path to Purchase is Messy
  The customer journey is now a web of touchpoints, not a straight line from social > email > sale, requiring marketers to be more flexible.
  • Quote:

    "It’s becoming more complicated... Instead of just A to B to C...It's going to get complicated, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. We just need to relax our shoulders and meet people where they are."
    — Andréa (46:26)

• Experimenting with Platforms Like Substack
  Keeping an open mind—if your audience is there and you enjoy it, it’s worth exploring, even if it doesn’t fit the old blog/newsletter mold.
• Mindfulness and Permission to Pivot
  It’s more important than ever to intentionally choose where you invest energy, reevaluate what’s not working, and give yourself permission to change course.
  • Quote:

    "You have to be intentional and mindful about choosing what will work for you and the direction you want to go with your business."
    — Andréa (50:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Email Intimacy:

  "It felt more intimate because of the depth of conversation we can have... it felt more one on one than, like, publicly talking to everybody."
  — Andréa (15:11)

• On Creation Fatigue:

  "If you try to do them all, we will burn out and then we’re not doing any of them and then we’re not happy."
  — Andréa (49:09)

• On Breaking the Rules:

  "You can break the rules and say, then this is just something people are going to have to learn about through my regular emails and then it's just more on me to make sure that I'm talking about those things and what's changing, what's new."
  — Allea (24:06)

• On Standing Out:

  "Once people find you and they really connect with you, you have a path to providing answers to them that they didn't know they were looking [for]."
  — Andréa (43:04)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:12] — The myth of “more is always better” in content creation
• [04:58] — How preferences shape your platform and content choices
• [08:19] — Setting boundaries: Not following competitors to avoid comparison
• [13:33] — Business audit reveals: email list is the real MVP
• [15:11] — Email’s intimacy versus social media’s superficiality
• [19:07] — One-welcome-email approach versus long welcome sequences
• [26:25] — Example of integrating storytelling with marketing lessons
• [27:47] — "The money's in the list" moment
• [33:12] — How Andréa uses AI (ChatGPT) for writing
• [38:00] — List building: why you need new people for motivation
• [41:26] — Lead gen: podcast guesting & virtual summits
• [46:26] — Increasing complexity of buyer journeys in digital marketing
• [49:09] — Why mindful marketing matters to avoid burnout

Where to Find Andréa Jones

• Website: onlineDrea.com
• Newsletter: Mindful Marketing Memo (sign up on site)
• Community: Mindful Marketing Lab
• Podcast: Mindful Marketing Podcast
• Primary Social Hub: Instagram (@onlineDrea)

Final Thoughts

This conversation underscores the power of thoughtful, preference-driven marketing, especially via email. Andréa’s approach blends personal touch, storytelling, and real sales strategy, all while fiercely protecting one’s well-being and creative joy. The episode is a must-listen for anyone overwhelmed by social media ‘shoulds’ and eager to find a more authentic, sustainable way to connect and sell.