Welcome back to our Meet the Postie series. Each month I sit down with a fellow member of the Postie team to ask them questions about work, life, and everything in between. These posts are loaded with relatable stories, tips on stress management and work/life balance, fun photos, and more. Last month we sat down with Brandon Mecham, a father to three adorable children with great time management skills and an appreciation for focusing on what matters most in life. This month you get to meet Ambur Cole, the leader of our Growth Marketing team! Ambur inspires at Postie with her insightful mind and collaborative attitude. Not to mention we all love seeing pictures of her adorable pup and outdoor lifestyle. Let’s dive in more…
Name: Ambur Cole
Location: Denver, Colorado
Title: VP of Growth Marketing
Time at Postie: 2 years
Favorite Food: Brunch
If you could travel to space, who would you take with you: My mom is the passenger who reads storefront signs along the way, so I’d imagine her peering out the window naming off different constellations and planets as we rocketed by…. “Andromeda! Venus! Orion! Polaris! Ooo, the Big Dipper!”
Pets: The one and only Handsome Henry Wagsworth, a big fluffy Pyrenees/Hound Dog rescue who just turned 4.
Find Ambur on LinkedIn!
What inspired you to join Postie?
The technology, the team, and the opportunity to build out a marketing function to support our trajectory into the next chapter.
What do you love most about your job?
Are you kidding? My singular purpose is to bring one of the most advanced campaign platforms on the planet to the biggest D2C brands and retailers in America. And in return, they trust us with their acquisition, retention and retargeting goals. What’s not to love??
What are you most proud of, professionally, since joining Postie?
Gaining the trust of our Founders, senior leadership team, and broader Postie org in the test-and-iterate approach to a marketing-led sales strategy.
Where do you think you can have the biggest impact in your role?
Second to marketing overall, I’m really passionate about people & culture. As a fully-distributed workforce, Postie is an inclusive organization from every aspect and I hope I can continue to underscore and promote collaboration, culture, contribution, passion and growth for all of us.
What’s your favorite memory from working at Postie?
Can’t choose just one. As a remote org, my favorite memories happen when we all come together in person: our head of engineering beautifully playing Beethoven on a piano; surprise octopus costumes; mad ping pong skills; pickleball lessons from our SVP; finding a great new rooftop after an all-day email workshop; cornhole in the rain at a popular Austin beergarden; haunted picture frames; team costumes, warrior challenges, and kitchen cook-offs…oh the competitiveness!
Do you have any strategies for dealing with stress at work?
Stress seems to be everywhere right now – some of the techniques I use are borrowed from my yoga practice: breathing exercises, taking a moment to be present and to actually try to pinpoint the source in that moment… from here, break down the source into incremental steps to move through it. And then reward success with a glass of wine or a homemade old fashioned. 👀 And I’d be remiss to not talk about exercise, particularly if it’s outdoors, and specifically when it’s with my floofball, Henry.
What tips or advice would you give someone starting a new job in your field?
Marketing is broad! And fun! And always evolving! And incredibly rewarding. From creative, to content, to growth, to demand, to lifecycle, to events, to customer, to loyalty, to advocacy… try it all. Do every role. Find your favorites. Test everything. Then test again.
What industry changes or trends do you think will have the biggest impact?
All I really have to respond here is AI… and ML… and data science… and math. Just look at Postie – these four revolutionary realities have completely upended the direct mail channel. And now marketers have the most predictable, performant tool to anchor their media mix. We’re always searching for ways to be more efficient without sacrificing performance… does AI have it? I believe it does.
Do you have any mentors (Postie or otherwise) you’d like to shout out? If so, who and how has this person made an impact in your life?
I have a lot of gratitude here. With mentors from nearly every company I’ve been a part of over the last 25yrs, I’ve been fortunate to build on my capacity for empathy, loyalty, leadership, collaboration, passion and grace as a result of each of them.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Honestly there isn’t much I don’t enjoy doing as long as it’s got great energy flowing. But if I’m scheduling something on my calendar, it’s usually yoga, hiking, biking, cold plunging, catching live music, traveling and/or a great place for food & drinks.
What would your perfect weekend look like?
Great weather, and then in no particular order: yoga, live music, progressive dinner, favorite people, tasty cocktails, 9 holes of golf, brunch on a patio, bike ride, dog hike, and a few house chores.
What’s something surprising that not many people know about you?
I was actually a pretty quiet kid growing up; a “wallflower” in social situations. But I found my way into team sports and discovered I loved the camaraderie, the competition, the team work, the wins, and the losses. It didn’t hurt that I was pretty good…at almost everything. In high school I played all the sports, yet through all of these experiences, I still felt relatively introverted off the court/field. Found myself disappointed after a school party when I was too shy to dance with my friends. I decided in that moment that I didn’t have to feel that way–that I could (and should) be comfortable living as the truest version of myself, feeling free and unbridled–and I haven’t missed a chance to dance since.
Do you follow any sports teams?
Not really; I love watching sports live, but am not an avid follower of any team at the moment… HOWEVER, past obsessions would be the SD Padres and Denver Broncos.
What type of books/movies do you enjoy?
Documentaries / docu-series for watching, and self-improvement or quick-witted fiction for reading.
Do you have any creative outlets or interests?
Life is a spigot of creativity! But I tend to lean into photography as my main creative outlet. www.amburcole.com if you’re curious. 😉
What’s a cause that you are passionate about?
While I consider myself generous across causes that support people or the environment, the real passion is reserved for animal rescue organizations. Adopt, don’t shop!
What’s something you’ve always wanted to try/learn?
I’ll give you three: speak French, learn the guitar, and take singing lessons. Maybe someday I’ll be able to sing and play some French jazz for you. 🙂
What is the best thing that has happened to you this year?
I committed to a Yoga retreat! And was the single best thing I could’ve done for myself at the time. Already trying to narrow down my next one. DM me for all of the zen details!
What is something that you are proud of about yourself?
I am a lifelong learner – in fact, it’s one of the main pillars of how I make decisions.. What can I learn from this? Will this (or that) help me with my profession, my relationships, my own wellness? Do I feel smarter as a result of this experience? What new skillsets should I be dabbling in? Where do I go from here? How do I get there? Hello? Ambur?
If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?
This one’s easy. I’d be able to communicate with anyone, in their native language… including animals. Just think about it.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m looking forward to reading about the rest of our Posties!
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I know everyone else is looking forward to learning more about our Posties, too. 🚀 See you next time!
