In this episode, I sit down with the brilliant Laura Belgray—renowned copywriter and founder of Talking Shrimp—to talk all things email marketing. We dive into why your email list is still one of the most powerful tools you can have as a business owner and how to write emails people actually want to open and read.
Laura shares her journey into copywriting, breaks down what really works in crowded inboxes, and gives practical advice on storytelling, humor, and being unapologetically yourself in your emails. We also explore how to use AI as a writing assistant without losing your voice, plus how often to email your list without burning it—or yourself—out.
This conversation is packed with honest insights, refreshing perspectives, and actionable tips you can use right away to build stronger connections with your subscribers.
What We Cover:- Why email marketing still matters more than ever
- How storytelling and personal anecdotes build trust and engagement
- Using humor to stand out (even if you think you’re “not funny”)
- Finding the right balance with email frequency and selling
- How to use AI to tighten and improve your writing—without sounding robotic
3 Key Takeaways:- Your email list is your biggest business asset
- Social media comes and goes, but email allows me to build a direct, authentic relationship with my audience—on my terms.
- Stories and personality beat “perfect” copy every time
- The more human, specific, and real I am in my emails, the more they resonate. People don’t want polished—they want relatable.
- AI should support my voice, not replace it
- Used thoughtfully, AI can help me tighten my writing and spark ideas, but my personality and perspective are what truly make my emails connect.
LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE
Connect with Laura on Website, Instagram, Facebook, X
Connect with Teresa on Website, (Grow, Launch, Sell), Sign up to Teresa's email list, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, Subscribe to my Youtube
Transcript
Teresa: If you've been in my world a while, you will know I am a big fan and advocate of every single business owner having an email list. It's one of your greatest assets, but if you've ever sat there thinking, I'm not entirely sure what to write, or I'm sending emails and they're just not doing anything, then this is the episode for you.
If we've not met, my name is Teresa Heath Wareing and I help course creators, membership owners, and coaches grow their online businesses. And every single week I put out an episode and a YouTube video where I give you strategic, practical advice on how to grow your online business. This week is gonna be a little bit different because I have the pleasure of interviewing the amazing Laura Belgray.
Now, if you are a longtime listener to the podcast, you will know that I have done hundreds and hundreds of interviews with some of the industry's top voices. But since starting YouTube, I have. Slowed that down a [00:01:00] little. And in fact, we're not taking interviews at the moment, but when an amazing interview comes up, I'm obviously going to say yes.
And so when I met Laura back in June of 2025 at Atomic Con where we were both speaking on the main stage, I couldn't help but fall in love what she had to say and knew that I wanted to bring her onto the podcast so you guys could learn from her amazing ways. Laura is one of the sharpest and funniest copywriters in the online space, and that's why she has worked with huge names in the online space to help them refine their copy.
In this episode, we are going to be covering how to become someone's favorite email in their inbox, why most people are using emails wrong, how often you really should be emailing, and how to tell those stories without feeling like it's fake or you're forcing it. And we discuss AI and how you can actually use it to make sure that it sounds like you, there are so many good value things that Laura is giving in this episode.
But [00:02:00] without further ado, here is the interview with the amazing. Laura. Laura, welcome to the podcast.
Laura: Oh, thank you so much, Theresa. I'm so happy to be here.
Teresa: Me too. So Laura and I met in person in real actual life, uh, at Atomic on this year. I keep saying it's last year, but it's not as we are recording this, it's November.
No. And it's this year, uh, she was keynoting on the main stage and then later on I was also on the main stage, which was cool. But it was great. What did you think of, had you done an event over here in the UK before?
Laura: No, I had not. And I think even if I had, it would not have been anything like at automaton.
No. It was so fabulous and it was, it was nothing like any event that I've been to, um, just full of. Freaks, and I mean that in the best possible way. The nose freaks like blue hair, pink hair, pierced, everything. Just cool. People being themselves.
Teresa: Yes. Yeah. A lot of polka
Laura: [00:03:00] dots, um, just, and people, people like just living out loud and I loved
Teresa: it.
Honestly, it's such a great event and you are entirely correct. That event is like. No other event, really in the uk. So I think that was a great one. And also that main stage, because you were a keynote, it was round. Mm. Like how I, was it like 1400 people? I think the sports, yeah, I heard
Laura: 1500, but uh, it might've been 1400.
Teresa: It was a lot. I didn't
Laura: see any empty seats. Um, yeah, it was a lot. And I walked out there and that was the biggest one that I've ever done. And I'm used to doing the, these events that are in like, you know, carpeted ballrooms with round tables mm-hmm. And people sitting there with their notebooks. And so that's kind of what I was picturing, and then I went in for soundcheck and I was like, oh my God, that is no pressure.
Teresa: No, that is not a small room. That's not what this is. No. So, [00:04:00] okay. That surprises me because you hang around with some pretty cool people in the online space and you are. Connected through doing work and helping with some pretty big people in the online space. So I'm surprised that you, that that was probably the biggest you've done and you hadn't done bigger than that.
'cause if I had to have guessed, I would've said that was probably your wheelhouse and you were very used to that.
Laura: Oh, thank you. Thank you for guessing that. Yeah. No, I haven't like. Most of the people I know do smaller events. You're right. Yeah. They're usually more intimate and I've never got, I've been very lazy about my speaking career, even though I always say I wanna speak more and then I don't, and so I don't make a.
A real go of pushing it and pitching to all different events. It's usually the event asks me and I say, sure, that sounds fun. They're paying well enough. Let's do it. Um, and [00:05:00] yeah, let's do it. I did speak at, uh, traffic and Conversion in 2019, and that might have been the same number of people. It just was not stadium seating.
Yeah. So it didn't feel as intimidating, but it wasn't, it was a more intimidating conference and crowd.
Teresa: Yeah. It's, it's, yeah. Not as friendly. No, not that the people aren't friendly, but it's much more, I got a little bit of bro marketing from it.
Laura: Absolutely. It's, they are there. Like you can see the ROI calculating behind their eyes, literally while they're walking around.
Like how much ROI, if I go into that session, what's the ROI of that session? Yeah. And uh, it's no pressure to deliver. A lot of intent. Actionable tips. Yeah.
Teresa: Yeah. They were like, what am I getting from every minute of my day here? 'cause this is costing me money. Right. Okay. [00:06:00] So we have digressed, which I love doing, and that is my favorite thing.
Me too. Let's talk about. How you got to be so good and so big at what you do because you have, like I said, you've got some great people that you've done work for that. A lot of people in the online space were like, if I could go and work for them and get a testimonial, like I looked on your site. I did a bit a bit of research, like I'm not, yeah.
You know, it's not really my thing if I'm honest. I'm a kind of. Fly by the seat of your pants girl. But you've got some pretty impressive testimonials on there. Like, how did you enter that world? Did it happen by accident? Was it strategic? How did you get to be the voice for this?
Laura: Yeah. Um, people will wanna throw things at me for saying this, but it was pretty much by accident.
And I mean, that's how the best things happen when you're not pushing.
Teresa: Yeah.
Laura: And attached. I met Marie Forlio in [00:07:00] 2003 in hip hop class at Crunch, and this is when she was hustling as a bartender and with a side business, like side hustle as a life coach. And she gathering names for her list, uh, on a yellow pad, um, with a pen.
And we just, I, I. I had no, I was not networking whatsoever. We just may have started chatting one day after I spent a few months hating her because she had such a great body and like perfect moves and
Teresa: Yeah.
Laura: Um, and we started chatting and she was really nice and we became friends and started walking home together.
And, uh, we would talk about The Apprentice as we were both fans, not knowing that it would lead to the downfall of civilization and, um. You know, in life and, and whatnot. And years later she was. Really into, she was already in the online [00:08:00] business world back then. I had no idea what she was doing. Years later, she was starting like to kind of make it, and she was doing her first live event called Rich, happy and Hot Live.
Um, it was in the Soho House Library, like 50 people, and she invited me to speak. She knew I was a copywriter and I wrote, I wrote for TV back then. Nothing to do with online business, nothing to do with direct marketing, any of that kind of copy. And, but she asked me to give a talk on copywriting and I did.
It was called Five Secrets to Nons Sucky Coffee. And there were no slides. It was just on a, like, on a piece of paper, um, on an easel. And I ended, and people started coming up to me and saying, Hey, I really love that I'm a coach. Um, can you, can I hire you to help me with my about page? Or, I'm a realtor, I don't know what to write in my emails.
And I said, sure, I can do that. And that's how I ended up segueing into this [00:09:00] world. And Marie was my. My mentor and and friend and we ended up working together and, um, she really liked how I approached copywriting and taught it. She was a great copywriter in her own right, but she liked how I brought flavor to it.
And she invited me to create a course with her called The Copy Cure. And so. That, that was really how I, I mean, that was a cheat of all cheats to just, um, up the ladder of the, of the online hierarchy. And so I had Marie in my corner and other people wanted to work with me because of that. Like her name just had so much clout.
People would say, oh my gosh, you work with Marie, you know, I, can I hire you? And so that. That was an incredible, uh, doorway for me.
Teresa: So just so I'm clear and the audience is clear, [00:10:00] your business now, how does it look? Is it predominantly online? Is it predominantly kind of consulting? What, like, if, if you had to explain how you make your money, what, what does your business look like?
Laura: Yeah. I mean, I like to say that I make my money from writing emails because that, that's how I like to think about it. Yeah. 'cause they're the most fun part of my business. But really what it boils down to is I'm a course creator.
Teresa: Mm-hmm.
Laura: So I don't offer one-on-one. Coaching or consulting or copywriting services anymore?
I used to, and that was the mainstay of my business. And then I segued into courses because I really didn't want anything on my calendar anymore. I didn't want appointments.
Teresa: Mm-hmm. During the week. Yeah. I'm with you. Like, honestly, like if I have too many one-to-one calls and it's like, oh no, it makes me feel sick.
I just can't. Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, and you're probably like me. I love the work that I do when I'm on [00:11:00] those calls.
Teresa: Yeah.
Laura: But I just, I wake up in the morning and look at my calendar when I see one o'clock, two o'clock, four o'clock.
Teresa: Yeah.
Laura: Oh no.
Teresa: Exactly. Yeah.
Laura: When you are doing it, it's, it's fine.
Teresa: But it's that just viewing my calendar and also the other thing, I have an issue with people being able to book into my calendar.
Mm-hmm. Like if someone says to me, can you send me a calendar link? I'm like, I can, but there's probably no dates on there. 'cause I just don't like the thought that someone can put themselves in my calendar. Like I hate it. So
Laura: Exactly. It used to be like, yay, I just got a, you know, just got work and the money would come in and be like, oh no, now I have to show up for an appointment,
Teresa: do the work.
Laura: And yeah. So now I have to do the work and my happy place is really writing
Teresa: Yeah.
Laura: Communicating and, and that creative space. And I love nothing more than a day with nothing on the calendar. Mm-hmm. Zero. Um, where I can just write. [00:12:00] And look up and half the day is gone and that's okay. It's not like, oh no, I'm late for something, or I have something coming up.
I love that freedom. That's really my reason for being.
Teresa: So you are fully, like the business is just the online side of the business. You've been in it for quite some time, like pretty early doors of Marie. What like okay. I have a really bad habit of asking about three questions in one. So first off, I really want to know, do you like the online business, the online world?
Because I think that's a really interesting kind of thought. The other thought is, yeah, how is that, how does that question impact the, how much it's changed and how do you feel about it today? Yeah.
Laura: Yes. Um, I've always had a love-hate relationship with it since I got into it. There have always been. What felt like a, a pyramid scheme of coaches, coaching coaches to coach coaches to coach, coach coaches, [00:13:00] uh, and.
It just felt like a snake eating its tail, and I hated the language that people were using of step into your juiciest, most empowered you and all that. Um, I hate juicy, I hate empowerment. I say
Teresa: that wood is horrible.
Laura: It's awful. It all, everything sounded like a badly written Chinese menu. Like three kinds of delicious in juicy sauce and, um,
Teresa: definitely not ordering that.
Laura: Yeah, exactly. And, and I also did, you know, I, there were two sides of it that bothered me. One was the bro marketing side. Um, and especially the beginners who would start studying marketing and then like tweet like, Hey, Wendy's, you're doing it wrong. Um, you know, they just spotting things they thought could be improved, like, you know.
Ice cream. Where's the call to action? Yeah. [00:14:00]
Teresa: Brilliant. Like, and I think that is one of the weirdest things about this industry, that someone can come into it having no experience. So one of the things I'm always very passionate about, and you are exactly the same, right? You came from a copywriting background.
Yeah. I have a degree in marketing and spent 10 years doing marketing for big companies. Like this was our bread and butter before the, we were...
