How to Build Systems That Feel Human (And Still Scale)
Human-centered marketing. Sustainable business systems. Automation without burnout.
You can build systems.
You should build systems.
But if your systems are designed to remove you instead of support you?
That’s when the quiet resentment creeps in.
And resentment is not a growth strategy.
The Dubsado Dumpster Fire (A Love Story)
A few years ago, I opened my Dubsado and genuinely considered burning it to the ground.
Not metaphorically.
Like… sage it. Bury it. Start over.
It was a maze of worn-out workflows and over-engineered email templates crammed into every nook and cranny. VIP Day automation. Inquiry automation. Follow-up automation. Post-project nurture automation.
If you breathed near my website, you got automated.
At the time, it felt brilliant.
You sign up for this → you get that.
You book this → you’re tagged here.
You finish this → you get a perfectly timed “just checking in” email 37 days later.
It sang.
Until it didn’t.
Because those systems were built on a very specific assumption:
Every client is the same.
They weren’t built around hospitality.
They were built around efficiency.
And there is a difference.
When Marketing Automation Burnout Sneaks In
No one tells you this part when you’re deep in “scale your service” land:
You can build a business that looks streamlined on paper… and still hate running it.
That early version of my automation?
It was transactional.
It was optimized for volume.
It was built on the “shoulds” of VIP Day gurus and copywriting experts who were teaching me to systematize everything so I could churn out as many clients as possible.
Spoiler: I never hit a full docket that way.
Instead, I:
Chased leads constantly
Attracted clients who didn’t stick
Landed projects that didn’t light me up
Felt permanently behind
That’s marketing automation burnout in disguise.
Not because I had systems.
But because my systems were designed to extract.
Automation Should Support Your Humanity (Not Replace It)
Here’s the reframe that changed everything for me:
Automation is not the problem.
The philosophy behind it is.
There’s a version of automation that:
Reduces decision fatigue
Creates steadiness
Makes onboarding smoother
Frees up creative energy
And there’s a version that:
Assumes uniform buyers
Pushes urgency at every turn
Removes real connection
Turns your business into a conveyor belt
One burns you out.
The other sustains you.
That’s the difference between generic marketing systems and ethical marketing systems.
The Tale of Two Automations
Let me show you the contrast.
1️⃣ Early-Career Laura Automation
Built to scale fast.
Optimized for maximum throughput.
Written like everyone had the same needs, timeline, and energy.
Result?
Stress. Friction. Clients who didn’t feel like “my people.”
2️⃣ Present-Day Laura Automation
Still uses systems.
Still uses Dubsado.
Still uses email sequences.
But now?
Contracts are systemized.
Onboarding has structure.
Lead magnets have a “set it and forget it” nurture flow.
And here’s the kicker:
That simple lead magnet automation?
The one I barely touch?
People hit reply.
Not because it’s aggressive.
Not because it’s optimized to death.
Because it sounds like me.
It invites conversation instead of pushing conversion.
That’s human-centered marketing inside a system.
What Human-Centered Marketing Actually Looks Like
Let’s get specific.
Human-centered marketing systems:
Assume discernment, not impulsivity
Leave space for conversation
Normalize timing
Sound like a person wrote them
Build trust instead of pressure
They don’t remove humanity.
They amplify it.
You can absolutely:
Automate onboarding
Automate reminders
Automate nurture sequences
Automate evergreen offers
But ask yourself:
Does this feel like a warm welcome?
Or a checkout counter?
That’s the difference between sustainable business systems and short-term hustle mechanics.
Why Efficiency Without Empathy Leads to Resentment
Here’s something I’ve seen again and again in seasoned founders:
They don’t burn out because they’re incapable.
They burn out because they built something that doesn’t feel like them anymore.
If your values are relational…
And your systems are transactional…
That friction adds up.
You override it for a while.
You tell yourself this is just how scaling works.
Until one day you open your own automated email and think:
“Who wrote this?”
That’s not weakness.
That’s misalignment.
How to Build Ethical Marketing Systems That Actually Scale
If you want automation without burnout, here’s where to start:
1. Audit the Energy Behind the System
Is it built around pressure or steadiness?
When systems are built around urgency, you feel urgency maintaining them.
When they’re built around clarity, you feel clear.
2. Read Your Automations Out Loud
Would you say this to someone across a table?
If it sounds like it was drafted by a robot in a Halloween costume of you… rewrite it.
3. Remove Blanket Assumptions
Not everyone wants to “hop on a quick call.”
Not everyone needs a 6-email countdown sequence.
Build flexibility where it matters.
4. Design for the Long Game
Will you be proud to run this system five years from now?
If not, it’s not sustainable.
Sustainable Business Systems Are Quietly Powerful
There’s a myth floating around that hospitality slows growth.
I haven’t found that to be true.
What I’ve found instead:
Hospitality attracts buyers who don’t need convincing every five minutes.
They:
Stay longer
Refer more
Don’t churn at the first inconvenience
Feel safe inside your ecosystem
Stability compounds.
And stability is wildly underrated in online business.
You Don’t Need Fewer Systems. You Need Better Philosophy.
This isn’t an anti-automation manifesto.
It’s an invitation.
You can systematize without sterilizing.
You can scale without becoming someone you don’t like.
You can automate without removing the human.
That’s the heart of sustainable business systems.
Not slower.
Not softer.
More aligned.
If This Hit a Little Too Close to Home…
If you’ve felt that subtle disconnect between:
The business you’re running
And the business you actually want to run
You’re not broken.
Your systems might just need to be redesigned through a more human lens.
And that’s exactly what we explore inside Welcome In. This is Hospitality in Marketing.
It’s a private podcast for thoughtful founders who are done with extractive marketing and ready to build businesses that feel steady, relational, and deeply human.
If that sounds like your kind of room…
