From Fired to $20K/Month, in 3 months:

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When Ben Fitterman got fired from his agency job, he had two kids, a shrinking savings account, and no backup plan. But within three months, he built a solo email marketing agency doing $20K/month, and he hasn’t looked back.

Today, Pink Lava Studios is helping ecommerce brands turn overlooked email lists into revenue machines. I caught up with Ben to hear how he got started, landed his early clients, and plans for the future.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Ben Fitterman, founder of Pink Lava Studios. We're an email marketing agency for ecommerce brands.

2. What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea to start an email marketing agency?

I’ve been in email for about six years. Started freelancing, worked in-house at a New York retailer, then moved agency-side. After COVID, I followed my boss to a new agency, but managing 6–7 clients while raising two kids was just too much. I burned out hard and got fired.

I started applying to jobs but also picked up four clients pretty quickly. That’s when I realized I didn’t want to go back to 9–5. I wanted to build something sustainable on my terms.

3. How’d you get your first paying customers?

One was a brand I’d worked with through a past agency. They reached out and said, “Hey, can we just work with you directly?”. They didn’t want to pay the high fees to the agency anymore.

The second came through a designer I’d collaborated with for years. She referred me to a CPG brand, and we’ve worked together for 18 months now.

4. Since launching, what’s worked the best to attract and retain customers?

It’s definitely been content and referrals. I’ve been posting consistently for 9 months across LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. LinkedIn’s best for ecommerce, but Twitter’s landed some surprising leads. Like one anon account with 20 followers who ended up being a guy buying a big nutrition brand. He said he’d been reading my stuff for a while and wanted me to run all their retention.

For retention, I focus on strong relationships. Most clients have stayed with me for over a year because we talk weekly, I follow through, and if I mess up, I own it.

5. How’s the business doing today and where do you see it headed?

Things are good, but I definitely had to shift my mindset from account manager to business owner. I lost a few clients and realized I needed a team to handle delivery so I could focus on content and sales.

Now I’ve got a small team helping with daily work, and I’m building more consistency in my pipeline. I don’t want to hit six clients, stall out, and lose them again. I’m building out a system so that doesn’t happen.

6. Was there ever a moment you thought it might not work?

Oh yeah. Getting fired with two kids and watching my savings account drop… that was terrifying. But it was also freeing. I gave myself a couple of months to figure it out. Once I hit $20K/month by month three, I felt like I could really do this. That moment really changed everything.

7. What do outsiders not understand about email marketing and your business?

People underestimate how much revenue email drives. It’s not flashy like TikTok, but I see plenty of brands generate 40–50% of revenue through email and SMS.

One brand added $700K in three months just by sending more campaigns. We went from once a month to 3–4x per week. It’s not just “spam” when done right. These emails get repliesm build real relationship, and drive serious revenue.

8. What tools do you use on a daily basis?

Gmail and Slack, of course. Asana for project management. Wispr Flow is my new favorite… I barely type anymore. Also ChatGPT, Claude, and a Chrome tab manager called Workona. It Keeps my client's work organized into separate tabs.

9. What books have had the biggest impact on you?

Unreasonable Hospitality has been huge. There’s a story in there about restaurant owners who would sit down and experience their menu like a customer.

That made me realize: I hadn’t even tested the subscription flow for one of my clients. When I did, I found obvious friction points that explained some of the churn. It’s a reminder to actually experience what your customer does.

10. If you had to start a new business today, what would it be?

Something local. Probably a speech or occupational therapy clinic. We’ve used those services for my son, and new ones fill up instantly. There’s so much demand and not enough supply.

Digital business is really fun, but at some point, it's cool to have a local presence around people.

11. Best advice for entrepreneurs?

Be impatient with action, and patient with results. I used to spend thousands on courses and never implement. Now, if I learn something, I apply it that same day, even if it’s messy.

Just get reps. I gave myself a year to post consistently on YouTube, knowing the early stuff would suck. You only get better by doing.

Final Takeaways

Some of the best businesses start by turning your job skills into a service.

You don’t need 100 clients to get started. 1–2 good clients can give you the base to show you what’s possible.

You need systems and infrastructure to build a sustainable business. If you don't have these, you'll deal with churn and always be on the hunt for your next client.

Content takes time to work, but you never know who’s watching and could be your next client.

Email isn’t sexy, but it’s still a 7-figure channel hiding in your inbox.