These 44 practitioners have shaped how the industry thinks about email. They’re referenced throughout this guide where their specific insights are most useful. Follow them for ongoing education.
Strategy: Chad S. White (Zeta Global, author of Email Marketing Rules) | Kath Pay (Holistic Email Marketing, co-founder of Holistic Email Academy, 28+ years) | Jay Schwedelson (SubjectLine.com, GURU Conference) | Jeanne Jennings (Email Optimization Shop, Georgetown professor) | Dela Quist (Alchemy Worx, EEC 2022 Thought Leader) | Ann Handley (MarketingProfs, ‘Total Annarchy’ newsletter) | Ryan Phelan (RPEOrigin, Chairman Emeritus EEC)
Platform Builders: Nathan Barry (Kit, 600K+ creators) | Tyler Denk (beehiiv, ex-Morning Brew #2) | Jimmy Kim (Sendlane, DTC focus) | Brennan Dunn (RightMessage, personalisation pioneer) | Rytis Lauris (Omnisend co-founder & CEO, bootstrapped to 100K+ customers) | Nicolas Vibert (Relay Commerce / SmartrMail, AI product recommendations)
Copywriting: Joanna Wiebe (Copyhackers, coined ‘conversion copywriting’) | Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp) | Ben Settle (Email Players, daily email approach) | Chris Orzechowski (Orzy Media, ecommerce copy) | Samar Owais (Emails Done Right, SaaS sequences) | Tarzan Kay (email marketing expert and boss-babe-in-recovery)
Deliverability: Matthew Vernhout (Netcore Cloud) | Troy Ericson (EmailDeliverability.com, ‘The Email Paramedic’) | Lauren Meyer (SocketLabs)
Design and Technical: Mark Robbins (Customer.io, CSS-only email) | Paul Airy (Beyond the Envelope, accessibility) | Justin Khoo (FreshInbox, interactive email) | Jason Rodriguez (GitHub, ex-Litmus)
Ecommerce and Retention: Chase Dimond (Structured Agency, $200M+ in email revenue) | Val Geisler (Fix My Churn, behaviour-based onboarding) | Reinis Krumins (agencyJR, DTC email+SMS) | Danavir Sarria (SupplyDrop, flow architecture)
Agency: Scott Cohen (InboxArmy) | Garin Hobbs (InboxArmy, lifecycle design) | Shaun Ernst (Email Experts, Klaviyo Platinum Master Partner, Melbourne) | Brenden Rawson (Andzen, first Klaviyo Elite Master Partner in APAC, Klaviyo Agency Partner of the Year APAC 2025)
Newsletter Growth: Dan Oshinsky (Inbox Collective) | Matt McGarry (GrowLetter, paid acquisition) | Liz Wilcox (‘The Fresh Princess of Email Marketing’)
Consultants: Ian Brodie (author of Email Persuasion and Unsnooze Your Inbox) | Jordie van Rijn (Emailmonday, platform comparisons) | Eman Ismail (ethical email strategy) | Andrew Kordek (iPost)
Content Creators: Alex Cattoni (Copy Posse) | Noah Kagan (AppSumo, 750K+ list) | Gavin Laugenie (Dotdigital)