In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Megan Blissick (Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Orita) sits down with three powerhouse operators shaping retention and growth in e-commerce: Hannah Spicer (Founder, H. Spicer Consulting), Whitney Caldwell (Co-Founder, Code & Cart), and Kerri McDonald (Co-Founder, Greenhouse Agency).

From launching careers on the brand side to building agencies that guide today’s fastest-growing Shopify brands, they share candid lessons on email, UX, and the future of retention.

They tackle:

• 📧 Email truths — why automations and smart segmentation drive more than batch-and-blast.

• 🛍 BFCM in 2025 — how to prep without burning out your team or your list.

• 🤖 AI, the good and the bad — efficiency boosters vs. chatbot horror stories.

• 🧭 Retention redefined — why customer service, trust, and product quality matter more than clever hacks.

• 🔑 Back to basics — what your site really needs to tell shoppers in 10 seconds. Stick around for hot takes on sustainability messaging, sweep-up campaigns, and the one piece of advice each guest thinks every founder should hear.

👥 Meet the guests

Hannah Spicer — Founder, H. Spicer Consulting

Whitney Caldwell — Co-Founder, Code & Cart

Kerri McDonald — Co-Founder, Greenhouse Agency

🎙 Hosted by Megan Blissick, Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Orita.ai

🎧 Chapters 00:00 — Meet the Operators: From Brand-Side Grit to Agency Brains 02:36 — Left Turns & Leap Years: How We Landed in E-Comm 05:28 — Remote, But Real: Culture, Burnout & Boundaries 08:14 — Email Isn’t Dead: Why Flows Still Print Money 10:44 — The 80/20 of Flows: Welcome, Browse, Abandon, Repeat 13:47 — Retention = Everything: CX, Shipping, Loyalty (and sanity) 16:22 — AI in DTC: Hype vs. Help 19:14 — 10x Yourself: Using AI to Kill Busywork 25:27 — The Practical AI Playbook: What to Use, What to Skip 31:39 — BFCM Without the Burnout: Offers, Ops & List Health 45:48 — Do Good or Do Deals? When Sustainability Meets Sales

🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast—where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team.

Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing—by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.

🚀 Get your free email audit from Orita – turn segments into superpowers: https://orita.ai

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