In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Mya Gupta (VP of Client Services, 1r) and Kelsey Carstens (Director of Email & SMS, Bad Marketing) for an unfiltered look at what it really takes to build unified, retention-first commerce in 2025. From agency partnerships to AI hype, they unpack what makes great customer experiences scalable and what still can’t be automated.

They discuss:

• Retention over reach, why keeping customers is cheaper, smarter, and still misunderstood

• Bold brands win, how entertainment, personality, and risk drive loyalty

• Bundle vs. Best-in-class, when to simplify your stack vs. go deep on data

• Deliverability drama, why inbox placement, segmentation, and sunset policies now decide LTV

• Unified commerce, connecting online, offline, and AI-assisted touchpoints into one seamless journey

• AI as the start, not the finish, where automation saves time and where human creativity still wins

👥 Meet the guests

Mya Gupta, VP of Client Services, 1r

Kelsey Carstens, Director of Email & SMS, Bad Marketing

🎙 Hosted by Aaron Schwartz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Orita.ai

🎧 Chapters [00:00] Meet Mya & Kelsey: Two Operators Who Tell It Like It Is [03:27] Disruptive Marketing: Why Playing Safe Is Losing [07:12] How to Build Partnerships Brands Actually Love [10:48] First Look Under the Hood: How They Audit a Brand [15:49] Retention Is Rising: Where Spend Is Really Shifting [20:01] Unified Commerce: Winning Across Every Touchpoint [22:37] Tech Stack Truths: When to Bundle vs. Go Deep [24:14] Rewards That Work: Turning Value Into Loyalty [26:37] Why Clean, Simple Stacks Outperform Complicated Ones [28:16] Retention Simplified: Remove Friction, Keep Customers [29:54] The New Mix: Acquisition vs. Retention in 2025 [33:51] Authenticity Wins: How Brands Actually Build Trust [36:37] AI in the Wild: What Helps and What’s Still Hype [44:04] What Lasts: Loyalty, Experience, and Brand Strategy

🌐 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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