RIP Jennifer Videtta, You'll be Missed

The email community is just now learning of the passing of Jen Videtta and for many of us, our heart shatters over this loss.

Jen was a mentee of mine and a very dear friend. We talked often about email, her family, career, marriage and her son Henry. My last conversation with her was 3 days before she passed away. She was as energetic as ever with confidence and resolve in her search for her next experience and herself. 

She was excited about starting EMT training, but still wanted to be involved in the space that had given her so much. Every time we chatted, I always got off the phone thinking “WOW, she’s got a lot of energy.”

Jen was a staunch advocate for email. Speaking at Inbox Expo conferences with Andrew Bonar, contributing to the Only Influencers blog and leading OI-members-only live discussions about her posts, being a speaker on Kath Pay’s Holistic Email Marketing webinar series. Jen was one of those email marketers that knew she did not know everything but loved everything about email and this community.

She was always excited to talk about marketing. I remember her talking about how she was really stoked about traveling to Valencia for Andrew Bonar’s Inbox Expo conference. To her, it was like she “made it.” I was always so proud of her achievements and that she dove right in. Ask anyone, anytime she got to talk to others, you could just see it in her eyes that this was a pretty wicked career.

It was her zeal to learn, humbleness of spirit and her beliefs to stand up for what was right, is a testament to us all in how we practice and believe in this career many of us have chosen. 

An instant friend at conferences, her spirit broke through that awkward experience of meeting new people. She always made you feel at home and that you had a friend. That approachability and passion for life is what makes her passing so difficult.

It wasn’t just email that she tackled with this energy. That same spirit cascaded through to her life and what kind of mom she wanted to be for Henry. To what kind of person she wanted to be.  It was not just a career; it was a choice in her definition of self.

As I get older, friends passing hurts more and more. It brings us closer to what is important in life and what our legacy will be. I will always remember what Jen brought to this world. Her laugh and her intensity for being an active part of this community and life is how she will be remembered.

We mourn a great loss today. One day I hope to meet Henry and tell him about the wonderful woman his mom was.

There’s another Saint in Heaven today. I’m sure she's talking about email.