Reading List: Jenna Erickson of Codal

“Reading List” is an occasional series where we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite books and blogs and tell us why they read them.

For this installment, we corresponded with Jenna Erickson. She is marketing manager at Codal, a user-experience and application-development agency with offices in the U.S., India, and England.

5 Favorite Books

“Life is Good: The Book“ by Bert Jacobs and John Jacobs

“Life is Good is a lifestyle product company to spread good vibes and inspire optimism. The ‘Life is Good’ book tells the story of how the company started, and how it grew to be worth over $100 million. The book addresses 10 ‘superpowers’ that are the driving forces behind the brand. I found this book valuable and inspiring!”

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“Outliers: The Story of Success“ by Malcolm Gladwell

“This book is for the curious. Malcolm Gladwell explores the question, ‘What makes high-achievers different?’ He explores scenarios such as secrets of software billionaires, and why it seems that all are Asians good at math. This book has a great mix of business and real-life components.”

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“The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business“ by Charles Duhigg

“‘The Power of Habit’ is an award-winning book. The author discusses why habits exist and how they can be changed to benefit your life — both personal and business. It is very interesting.”

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“Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose“ by Tony Hsieh

“‘Delivering Happiness’ is by the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh. Throughout the book, he shares his story and how Zappos became what it is today. The book focuses on different models for achieving success, mostly around company culture and how concentrating on the happiness of employees can help achieve success.”

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“The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage” by Daymond John

“‘The Power of Broke’ is written by Daymond John, an entrepreneur and an investor on Shark Tank. This book is about how he built multimillion-dollar companies from nothing. He shares his own experiences as well as stories from Shark Tank contestants. If you’re interested in entrepreneurship and creativity, and if you love Shark Tank, this book is for you!”

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5 Favorite Blogs

Entrepreneur

“Entrepreneur keeps me up to date on business, technology, and entrepreneurship. It is my go-to publication when I have downtime.”

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Inside Design by InVision

“Not only is the InVision app a great design tool, but the company’s blog is awesome. It focuses on user experience, often via real-life examples and case studies. Plus, my team contributes to it.”

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HubSpot

“I love this blog because I am a HubSpot user and a huge fan. However, anyone interested in digital marketing would likely find the blog valuable.”

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Neil Patel’s Digital Marketing Blog

“This blog is an amazing resource to learn about search engine optimization, ecommerce, social media, conversions, advertising, email marketing, and more. It includes text pages as well as videos and podcasts, my favorite parts.”

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BuzzFeed

“BuzzFeed reports on trending topics, including business, which I love. The site includes quizzes, videos, and podcasts.”