Freedom Doran didn't set out to become a power user of email clients. But when you're running a global management & media company with 10-11 email accounts, multiple teams, and clients across four continents, you don't really have a choice.

The problem: Death by a thousand Gmail tabs

Freedom Doran's company, 22 IMPACT, manages creators, models, and artists while handling PR, event production, and campaigns across the globe. It's the kind of operation where email isn't just a communication tool—it's mission control.

"I work across 11 different email accounts" Freedom explains. "Some are personal, some are work. I have shared access with my assistants, my staff, talent, and even my mom's company."

The setup started simple enough: Apple Mail for multiple accounts. But that quickly became "so bad" that Freedom switched to Gmail. Which created a new problem.

"The primary issue with Gmail was the limitation of only handling one account, while I needed to manage approximately 10 to 11 different email accounts, some of which were shared with colleagues."

The workaround? Constantly switching between Gmail profiles to check different accounts. "I would just switch between maybe the top three. I wouldn't do all of them all the time."

For someone who describes themselves as "a big software" person who is "particular about features, cost, and functionality," this wasn't going to cut it.

The search: Finding a needle in a stack of collaborative inboxes

Freedom's approach to software is methodical: "I try out like every single one for the most part. And usually there's something, in the functionality or design, that annoys me and then I have to move off of it after like two weeks."

The hunt for a better email solution led to searches for "collaborative inboxes." Freedom tried Superhuman. Didn't like it. Tried another platform. Still not satisfied.

"Although other solutions addressed the multi-account problem, Missive stood out because the user interface and design of the other platforms were frustrating and did not meet their standards."

For Freedom, this wasn't negotiable: "The UI/UX was just really frustrating and annoying. The design was just awful. Or I guess I'm just specific with it, so it wasn't up to the standards that I would expect."

Then he found Missive.

The solution: All your emails in one place (that doesn't look terrible)

About two years ago, Freedom adopted Missive and hasn't looked back. The primary draw was straightforward: superior design and the ability to actually see all those email accounts in one interface.

"Overall the design and functionality is way better than everything else."

But as 22 IMPACT grew, something interesting happened. What started as a solo email consolidation tool evolved into a collaboration platform.

The assignment feature changes everything

Two months before this interview, Freedom onboarded Jasmine, Senior Model Booker, to Missive. The assignment tool transformed their workflow.

"Before, we would loop her into every single email and reply to the client and be like 'looping in Jasmine.' After a while I was like, look, move to this and I can just click assign and then it's in your inbox and it's a bit easier."

Lost in translation? Not anymore

With clients across multiple countries, language barriers were a constant friction point. The ChatGPT integration in Missive solved this elegantly.

"I do a lot of work in different languages. So people always message me in German for example and I could just kind of open the sidebar, paste it in there and say translate this."

The future: Expanding the team, dreaming bigger

Freedom is currently planning to expand 22 IMPACT's core team within the next three months, and those new employees will all be onboarded to Missive.

Beyond team growth, Freedom is thinking about deeper integrations. They recently reached out about connecting Missive with their CRM, Attio, to streamline adding deals without switching apps.

The most interesting feature request? Using Missive's AI Assistant to query years of email history to identify "lost opportunities" for re-engagement. Freedom recently went through a complex process involving Clay, Google Sheets, CSV conversion, and other external tools to accomplish this manually.

"Something that would have been cool is to be able to see in Missive, the top 50 lost opportunities within the past 3 months or something along those lines."

The bigger picture: Solo users who grow into teams

Freedom's use case is common. A solo user consolidating multiple email addresses for organizational purposes, with the collaboration function being a secondary, later-stage benefit.

It's a pattern many small businesses follow. You start with an organizational problem. You solve it. Then your team grows, and suddenly that tool becomes collaborative infrastructure.

For Freedom, the journey from juggling Gmail profiles to running a streamlined operation in Missive reflects a larger truth: "I've been loving it for a long time. Even if you took [the collaboration features] away, I still wouldn't be moving because I love it."

Key takeaways

The problem: Managing 10-11 email accounts across personal, team, and client communications while constantly switching between Gmail profiles

Why Missive: Superior UI/design, true multi-account functionality, and collaborative features that grew with the business

The results:

• All email accounts accessible in one interface
• Streamlined team collaboration through assignments
• Easy language translation for international clients
• Plans to onboard entire growing team to Missive