Join us today with another interview in our blog series: Authenticated Answers! We sat down with Tracey Crawford, Director of Compliance and Deliverability at Bird (formerly SparkPost).
At Valimail, we take our work seriously but try not to take ourselves too seriously. This value inspires us to get to the heart of what makes people unique and how it affects their careers to provide valuable advice, inspiration, and insights to people working with email daily.
In this lighthearted interview series, we connect with experts from the email, IT, security, ISP, and authentication spaces to learn more about them and their experiences.
About Tracey Crawford
Tracey has been in the email industry for over 11 years. Her experience ranges from the more technical side of managing MTA servers to the customer-facing side of compliance and deliverability. She has been working at SparkPost (now Bird) for almost nine years, and as Director of Compliance and Deliverability, her focus is on protecting SparkPost’s cloud platform and helping customers with their deliverability issues.
Tracey lives in Maryland and is an empty-nester after raising a family of four boys. When she is not working, she is usually on the tennis courts playing a friendly yet competitive match with her friends.
How do you stay motivated when learning something challenging or frustrating?
Honestly, I really like a good challenge, but when it becomes frustrating, I take a break from the issue and concentrate on something else. I also look at the issue from a different perspective, or I try to break it down into smaller pieces to be solved.
What was the last wall you crashed through?
These last several years have been like a roller coaster with many ups and downs. During the Covid pandemic I started working remotely, then our company had several layoffs, and we also pivoted our company focus to a new product. I would say that having to adapt quickly was the last wall that I crashed through.
What’s your favorite way to show gratitude?
I like to show gratitude by helping people. I know how much it means when someone takes the time to help me with an issue, so I like to pay it forward.
What’s the funniest mistake you’ve made, and how’d you handle it?
Many years ago, I applied for a job at a small company. One of the owners interviewed me, and at the end of the interview, he asked me if I wanted to talk with any of the employees to hear what it was like to work for the company.
He put a list of names in front of me, and I pointed to a name. He replied, “That’s me.” I laughed. There was really no recovery from that. Oddly enough, I got the job.
What’s the smallest hill you are willing to die on?
It really depends on my mood at the moment. But, one time, at an intersection where two lanes were merging into one, I rolled down my car window and yelled to the driver of the car who just cut in front of me, “Do you know how to zipper?” Actually, I might have done that more than one time.
What’s your favorite part about working in the email space?
I think the email space has a very strong community where people are willing and enjoy helping each other. I really like that we can all work together even though our companies are competing against each other.
How would you explain DMARC to your grandparents, friends, or relatives?
DMARC is like the lock and deadbolt on your front door. Both need to be unlocked before you can get in, and when both are locked, you are safer.
