The Marketing Tools Powering Simplified—And the Metrics We Obsess Over

Our Marketing Director gives you a peek behind the Simplified curtain.

If you had asked me five years ago what my dream job was, I would have told you, “being the Marketing Director at Simplified”. In fact, when people actually did ask me this question, that’s exactly the answer I gave them. I bought my first Simplified Planner from a little corner stationery shop in Chicago in 2016 and looked forward to my fresh Daily every year after. I was a self-proclaimed Simplified fangirl.

When Emily posted on Instagram about an open Marketing Director role, no less than five friends sent me the post. I applied that day. The next morning, I woke up to EMILY LEY FOLLOWING ME ON INSTAGRAM. (Editor’s note: Emily and the team had absolutely *zero chill* about Liz’s application and intro video.) I about died. Read: I shrieked, jumped, squealed, shook my husband awake, and ran around the house not sure what to do with my hands. The rest is history.

For context, my background is in marketing. I graduated from DePaul University (go Blue Demons) with a degree in Public Relations and Advertising. A spent a year or two as a college admissions counselor post-grad and then landed my first role in marketing as a Social Media Associate. Before joining Simplified, I spent six-ish years in various e-commerce / DTC (direct-to-consumer) roles, including a collagen-based nutrition company you probably know, where I got to do some v cool things (like interview one of my all-time favorite Olympians Nastia Liukin).

Look at us, we’re best friends.

I’ve ridden the high highs and low lows in the e-commerce world in the last decade. The digital space evolves SO fast which is super fun and also … a lot. What worked three years ago probably won’t give you the same ROI (return on investment) today (case in point: paid advertising). Let’s be honest, what’s working today might not even work two months from now. To thrive in the marketing space, you have to be nimble, adaptable, and curious.

You’re probably reading this because you’re either 1) in the marketing world or 2) nosy (great, because, same). I looooove getting to see how other businesses operate, especially small businesses.

Let me preface everything by saying our team—and our business—is unique. We are a small team of nine women. When we tell people that on external calls, people are always shocked. The amount that we accomplish as a fully remote team—while also trying to be very present wives, mothers, grandmothers, and friends—is actually insane.

🩷 Our magic sauce is this: We love each other, we love what we do, and we’re organized AF.