Allea’s European Adventure: What I’m Doing to Prepare

Allea Grummert (00:12)

Hey there, welcome to Happy Subscribers, a podcast that explores how bloggers and content creators can create more purposeful relationships with your audience through email marketing. I’m Ali Grimert, email marketing strategist, copywriter, email platform expert, and founder of the Done For You Email Marketing Agency, Duet. I started as a personal finance blogger in 2016 and have since helped hundreds of bloggers and creators like you maximize your email marketing for more impact, more traffic, and a better connection with your subscribers.

Be prepared for some advanced email talk as well as tactical tips to help get your valuable content into the hands of your audience faster and easier. I’m excited you’re here, so let’s do it. We can create a deeper, more meaningful connection with the community you love and serve through email.

Guys, I’m going to Europe for three weeks. I’m going to Italy, France, and Spain. And I wanted to share some context for how I’m doing that, ⁓ and why, because I think it’s fun and it’s a little personal, it’s a big personal achievement for me. I will say, you know, the pandemic happened when I was 30. I’m now 36. And you’re like, my gosh, life has not felt normal or white, if you will.

In a long time. in the last six years, I was in a pretty unhealthy dating relationship. I was estranged from my parents for a year and a half. I moved cross country and like so much has happened. And of course it wasn’t all bad. There was also just like there’s a heaviness to it, right? Like moving cross-country. I am twelve hours away from my parents’ house, which we are no longer estranged. But

It’s still it’s a distance and it’s both a good distance and a hard distance sometimes. Like my dad’s health isn’t top notch and I’m not there to assist with that. I also have like a couple of my best friends having babies and like not there for that either. And so there’s some hardness with that. I will also say, like, my business is eight years old this summer, and so it’s also just been long time, a long like building up of

a system for getting new clients, for building our internal systems, our marketing systems, managing a team, training a team, hiring a team, and doing all of my own marketing and kicking off a podcast, like all really, really good stuff. It just gets exhausting. And I’m not saying you have to like earn a trip to Europe by any means, but I want to give some context because I am allowing myself the opportunity to explore and gain some new experiences through this trip.

I’m just excited to share that that it’s happening and give you some context into my story and then what I’m also going to be doing to manage my business while I’m gone. So ⁓ a little bit more context, especially as to why it’s happening now. Last year, 2025, I added it up, y’all. I went on 14 trips, like capital letters 14. 14 trips. And all of them were a minimum of four days each.

At one point in November, I had been gone 15 days throughout the month. And I got back, and my cat verbally told me off for three straight days. She was mad. And so this year, going into 2026, I was like, maybe it’s time I finally do a trip to Europe. and actually travel for myself, like not for a work trip, not just to visit family, which is so good, but it ends up being not really relaxing because I have a lot of people I want to see. And

Yeah, not tacked on to a mastermind or conference or other event, which like twenty twenty five was great for that. I got to spend an extra day and a half in Tucson with my family and a day in Boston early walking around by myself. And so all really great things. But yeah, what would it look like for me to do this on my own? And I think it’s also tricky being a single woman. Like you kind of

I don’t know, it’d be easier to make these plans if somebody else could help. And I finally was like, gosh darn it, I’m doing it myself. And yeah, so what’s crazy is that when I started my business in 2018, somewhere early on in there, I’d said I want to get my business to the place where I could live in Spain for a few months at some point. Just like, I don’t know, just Spain the whole country somewhere in there. And you know, by the time the pandemic is done and this relationship was over.

I was like staring at winter twenty twenty-three, going into twenty twenty-four, and I was like, yeah, it might not be Spain, but I need to go somewhere. And that’s when I actually moved to Nashville for just the intention was for three months. And because I had a cat, so it wasn’t like I could just up and go to Spain. Now I had this new little dependent. And so that turned into me moving to Nashville, which was a lot of decisions, a lot of prayer, a lot of back and forth mentally.

And part of that decision making was weighing the cost of moving to a new city, especially because my rent was gonna go up a thousand dollars a month. Like and at the time, the way that I was looking at it was like, if I move to Nashville, the super expensive city compared to Lincoln, Nebraska, where I was, I won’t be able to do X, Y, or Z. I won’t be able to go to Europe. I won’t be able to do these fun trips. But Nashville itself kind of becomes the fun trip, right? Like

But you just, Allie, like just recognize if you are moving to this new city and it’s more expensive, it’s gonna limit some of the other goals you have or dreams that I’ve had. And what’s crazy is like now I’m still making it happen two years later. Like I thought I would be so strapped for cash and having to say goodbye to those old dreams when in reality it’s really cool to look back on the last two years and be like, How do I, yes, live like and enjoy my new city?

But still build a business that allows that to happen with time. So as much as I thought that I was gonna be boxing myself in to one dream and excluding others, it’s kinda wild that both are happening. And I’m really, really grateful for that. So here I was, January 2026. I bought a flight to Rome with a return from Barcelona, and somehow I’m able to make it all happen.

I just want to share that because maybe you felt like I’m making this decision, which means I can’t do this for a while. And while that might be true, we are allowed to take up new space, you know, and maybe for me, taking up new space in Nashville was a lot. And now I’m able to now that I’m comfortable here, I can take up a new space in booking a three-week trip. I had originally thought that I was gonna book like 10 days Portugal and Spain. And my business coach Anna was so sweet, she’s like

Well, Allie, actually a of people at this phase of your business, like eight years in a business, take off a whole month. And I was like, they’re doing what? Like, what is this? And so I was like, well, I can take off three weeks. And then that gives me a week to recover back in Nashville and all that. So I did it. I bought a three-week trip. And I’ve had so much hesitation around solo travel. Honestly, because when I studied abroad in 2011, I did a lot of little excursions by myself before school started.

I would visit family and friends, but then they’d be like, you can go look at the Brandenburg Gate yourself. We’ve we’ve been there, you know? And so here I was taking selfies with my little point and shoot by myself. And it was like honestly kind of depressing to not share those memories with someone else. And so that’s also something that I feel like I’ve made a leap, a change in. And it it is like a leap of faith. I’m like, I’m just gonna buy these tickets. I’m gonna go by myself. I don’t care if I just have to sit at a little table in Italy, poor me.

And read a book and drink an Aperol Spritz by myself. Like I can do it and I believe that I can make friends. But my honestly, my biggest fear is just being lonely. And I don’t know if you can relate to that. But that has held me back for a long time from doing any sort of solo travel, anything not attached to an event or a mastermind or a trip home. And so this is a big step for me. And I just want to share that if you’ve ever felt the same. And then what’s crazy is that now that I booked the trip.

And I’ve been telling to people about it for months. I actually found a friend in Nashville and her friend is also gonna join me. So I will have buddies on the first half of my trip. So it’s kind of crazy how it’s like you take that step of faith and the things do kind of fall into place. And so while I was totally prepared to go by myself, now I don’t have to. But all of us are fairly independent. So if I wanna take a daily nap, my friend can go read her Kindle at an Italian little bistro while I’m

taking my daily nap or whatever, mostly hiding out from the hot sun because I’m going in July. So this trip to Europe has held a lot of things for me, as you have just heard. Like this idea of like, I’m taking a leap of faith and going solo if that’s what I need to do. I honestly just need time outside of the United States. It’s been a minute. I literally crossed the border one evening into Warez in 2021 with a conference. But s before that I haven’t been

Outside of the country since 2016. And like I mentioned, I started abroad in 2011. And so I just have kind of missed being outside of my culture and somewhere else. And I also get to redeem this dream from when I was 29 years old, starting my business back in 2018. And then it’s also a chance for me to trust the systems that I’ve built for my business, like the team that I’ve trained, and for me to take off.

Three weeks of work and trusting that it’s not gonna tank the whole thing. You know, I’m still gonna have my computer. I will check in on things, but it means like I’m gonna have a whole month where I’m not starting new projects and I’m not gonna be available for calls. And some of that is a relief, like, whew, you know what? Maybe I just enjoy myself and I don’t start a new project. But not being able to take calls, like sales calls, is a little bit scary, right? I also know that there are plenty of people who have gone on maternity leave who are run online businesses.

Who book out in advance. And I’m like, okay, I know it’s capable to book out in advance. And I’ve done it before. So it’s just a way of reorienting my thought process and that it’s like things aren’t going to be happening immediately and preparing for that. But ultimately knowing that I can build out my workload. I can take on clients to even start while I’m gone because I have a team of people. So

I love my systems, as you know that. And so I’m gonna share just some details of like what I specifically have in place and how I’m preparing. Now, personally, you know, I’ve saved up the money to go. I have a crew of people. I have literally like back to back friends coming to stay with Tilly and keep her company while I’m gone. And you know, I don’t have anything else to really account for in the summer. I rent

Nobody has to mow my lawn. I don’t have to take out the trash. My landlord that my house is attached to will take care of that. So I’m aware that I also have like a bit of time privilege and that I am also wanting to seize that while I can. Now, the reason why I’m going in July, part of why I know that I can go this month is it’s actually like my slowest sales month. Something about the summer in my client base, they’re all they’re taking care of their kids. They’re at summer camps, they’re on vacations, they’re not really booking a lot of

Sales calls or conversations at this time during the year. So it’d be different if it were October, which is like my busiest time for sales. But July is already my slowest month. So I’m not really like quote unquote missing out on a whole lot of revenue that I’m not already used to. And with that, I’ve also got a new recurring service, which I kicked off last summer called Done and Delivered, where we send newsletters on behalf of our clients. So that has also helped alleviate some of the stress of.

Zero sales July first to like there is ⁓ some revenue coming in from those clients who’ve signed on for that service. So mentally I’ve prepared myself and emotionally because I know that I have that revenue coming in. And while it’s not like always it’s not going to be enough to like fund the whole business, it’s better than zero. And I’m still allowing myself to go on this trip. I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but lastly, the biggest thing that I’m doing to prepare is having my team that I can trust.

Not just with like executing things for duet, like publishing my podcasts, which would be ⁓ Kat and Tina are doing that and sending my emails, that’s Tina, and managing my inbox, that’s Katherine. But they’re also I have a whole team of people taking care of our clients and answering questions and following our procedures, our processes to make sure that everybody gets what they’re supposed to. So if you haven’t heard me brag about my team before, I’m gonna do it. So right, I mentioned Kat and Tina, they are

My internal wizards helping with me with like marketing and my schedule and making sure I don’t burn out. And then I’ve got my project team to people who work alongside of our clients. So that team, you know, Laura has been with me over five years, like February 2021. And she manages all of our duet debut clients. So working with clients to set up their automations, create a new newsletter, create a strategy around audience research that we gather all of these things. So she’s been doing that for so long, she barely has questions for me anymore.

But then I also know, of course, I am available for questions. I plan to check in my email at least 30 minutes a day. Just like, how can I help keep things keep them moving along? I don’t need my team to be like, how do I prepare for a lockdown where I cannot reach Allie at all? Like, y’all, that’s not me. I like and it’s not that I have a control issue. It’s just that I know if I can answer a question sooner than later, my team has movement. They can keep going.

I’ve also got on the done and delivered side of things our recurring newsletter service. I’ve got Carrie Ann. And she’s been managing these projects for a year now and is absolutely killing it. Loves her role on the team doing this and working alongside of our clients, not just with like getting their new emails out, but also assessing the data and using that to compound into our strategies for upcoming emails, upcoming lead magnets and things that we create for those clients. And I want to say to

You know, I started out as a just just Abby. It was just me back in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, basically twenty twenty. Like I was doing all of the things. And I’m just really grateful that the business that I have, the services that we provide don’t stop because I am going on vacation or because I’m away at a conference or going home for my niece’s graduation, things like that. And not only does it not stop, I think

Well, I know that I’ve had to learn as an individual that I can trust other people. And by having more eyes on a project, the better outcomes we get for our clients. I learned that early on, actually, which is why I love having a team, because if somebody else can come in and gather the hard data, then I can come in with fresh eyes and assess the data. Or if we can create, like, you know, I created a process for getting audience research from our

clients’ audiences and how to assess that and these things that like I’ve been able to teach my team and what do we do with this information once we have it. Like what I know is that by having more eyes and hands on deck within my team, we’re providing our clients with even more refined strategies, better copy. So we’ve got a copywriter, we’ve got a project manager who oversees it, a copy editor and a proofreader.

all things that I used to do just as one person. And in addition to that, I just know that with better strategy, better copy, more timely project management that’s not weighing on me, we are able to provide you, our clients, with less work on your plate and getting you closer and closer to the results you want for your business from email. Whether that’s building connections with your audience or getting a higher open rate or getting your list cleaned up.

Whatever those things are, I just know that the hands that we have on deck are all people who are so well trained that I know that I can leave for three weeks and I can go sip my Aperl Spritz near the Coliseum. And my team and clients are going to be taken care of. It’s been a real trust exercise with being self employed and having a team. Maybe you’ve experienced this that it requires a lot of personal growth in order to operate.

a team well and manage them well. And I’m really, really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to do that. So just like I’m taking this risk of like going to Europe for three weeks, potentially alone, thankfully not alone the whole time anymore, I will get to do Barcelona by myself. But like I’m taking this personal risk. And I just want you to know that when you bring on duet to be a supportive asset to the marketing and connection you have with your email marketing.

your subscribers, like that is a similar risk, but it pays off and you know that you’re gonna come out stronger on the other side. So I share this all with you, hoping that it is an encouragement to you. And if you are in a place where you would love to have a team actually support you in your email marketing and your marketing just kind of strategy in general kind of flows from what we do with our clients.

Like creating your lead magnets, we send out regular newsletters, we set up your segmentation, all of that. That’s exactly what we do for our clients. And we can do it for you too. So not just like doing it, but working alongside of you and taking the thinking portion out of it, to be honest. We do so much of the heavy lifting that you just get to be the managing editor as if like you’re running this big magazine in New York or something. You get to say, This is what I like, this is what I want more of. Do we have the stats on this?

Can you help me make an informed decision? We absolutely love supporting our clients in this way. And so if you want a team to help build your email marketing assets and compound the data and what’s working into doing more of what’s working for your email marketing, I would love to be able chat with you. You can always book an interest call with me and we’ll chat ⁓ when I’m back in the office, or we can chat over email in the meantime if you’re hearing this while I’m actually in Europe. Thank you so much for listening.

Of course, always reach out to me if you want. You can DM me on Instagram at Ally Grimmert or if you sign up for my email list, you can reply back to any email there. And if you want to book that free interest call, you can do that at duet.co slash happy.

Thanks so much for listening to Happy Subscribers in our conversation about email marketing today. I hope you feel inspired to take action, even if it’s a small change, so you can more confidently share your valuable message with your community through email. Special thanks goes to my team who makes it possible to produce and share these episodes with you. Seriously, thank you guys. If you want to hear more email marketing tips, strategies, and success stories to help you develop deeper, more meaningful relationships with your email subscribers, be sure to subscribe.

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