May 2023 Bonfire Marketer of the Month: Bilt Rewards’ Sean Collins

Each month, Braze selects one individual as our Marketer of the Month in order to celebrate the exceptional work being done by members of our Braze Bonfire community. Whether it's providing support for their fellow marketers or going above and beyond by sharing their innovative ideas and strategies, these individuals are making essential contributions to their companies, their users, and the customer engagement space as a whole.

This month, we’re recognizing Sean Collins, VP, Growth Marketing at Bilt Rewards, a loyalty program for renters. Read on for more about Sean, including his career journey, his favorite part of his job, and what Bilt is doing to keep their customers happy and engaged.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you found yourself at Bilt Rewards?

I was tricked! Someone from the Bilt team reached out via LinkedIn and asked me a question about email marketing. They knew my weak spot—I’ll talk to anyone about email marketing (nerd alert!) We got to talking and next thing I know, they asked if I had time to chat with the CMO. The product and the team were both too amazing to turn down.

What is your favorite part of your job?

It’s hard to pick just one (and I actually mean that). Working for a company where you really believe in the product (and use it) is the dream, so that’s great. We’re really providing value to people in a way that very few companies ever get to. The day-to-day is (usually) a ton of fun, too. We’re still so early in our journey as a company and it’s really fun to get to build this. And, of course, the team is amazing. I am always blown away by how smart everyone is, how genuinely team-first they are, and how great of a group of people we’ve assembled to work on this.

What company goals have you focused on first and how have you managed to prioritize?

Onboarding. Always onboarding. Figuring out how to make that better is (in my opinion) the most important thing a lifecycle marketing team can do.

How do you see Braze as a career accelerant?

I think it’s less about Braze itself being a career accelerant, and more about the companies that are using Braze and the power that Braze gives you. In a lot of industries, email marketers are kind of put in a corner by themselves. With Braze, you can do so much—you can drive serious results for your business. This will lead to you being tied into everything. That means you can make a bigger impact, learn a lot more, and do it all a lot faster. Results will open up doors to more opportunities when you do that.

What has your experience been like working with the Braze team and community so far?

Every interaction with the actual Braze team has been really solid. It’s a group of people who really care about their customers. The Braze community is also amazing—it has been pivotal to me learning the platform. You can pick up so much just by staying engaged there. And there is always someone willing and able to help you solve your own problems. It’s easily 100X better than Googling something because they’ll also ask you questions you didn’t even know/think to consider.

Interested in collaborating to build the future of customer engagement? Join a collective of experts to forge connections, share ideas, and accelerate your career at community.braze.com.