diff --git a/drip/migrations/0001_initial.py b/drip/migrations/0001_initial.py
index 914041f..ef191fd 100644
--- a/drip/migrations/0001_initial.py
+++ b/drip/migrations/0001_initial.py
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
 from django.db import models
 
+from . import USER_ORM_LABEL
+from . import USER_MODEL_LABEL
+from . import User
+
 
 class Migration(SchemaMigration):
 
@@ -25,7 +29,7 @@ def forwards(self, orm):
             ('id', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.AutoField')(primary_key=True)),
             ('date', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField')(auto_now_add=True, blank=True)),
             ('drip', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey')(related_name='sent_drips', to=orm['drip.Drip'])),
-            ('user', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey')(related_name='sent_drips', to=orm['auth.User'])),
+            ('user', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey')(related_name='sent_drips', to=orm[USER_ORM_LABEL])),
             ('subject', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.TextField')()),
             ('body', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.TextField')()),
         ))
@@ -70,21 +74,16 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
         },
-        'auth.user': {
-            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
-            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
-            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
-            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
-            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        USER_MODEL_LABEL: {
+            'Meta': {
+                'object_name': User.__name__,
+                'db_table': "'%s'" % User._meta.db_table
+            },
+            User._meta.pk.attname: (
+                'django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [],
+                {'primary_key': 'True',
+                'db_column': "'%s'" % User._meta.pk.column}
+            ),
         },
         'contenttypes.contenttype': {
             'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'drip': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['drip.Drip']"}),
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'subject': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
-            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['auth.User']"})
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['{0}']".format(USER_ORM_LABEL)})
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/drip/migrations/0002_auto__add_field_drip_from_email__add_field_drip_from_email_name__add_f.py b/drip/migrations/0002_auto__add_field_drip_from_email__add_field_drip_from_email_name__add_f.py
index f287ae7..a891420 100644
--- a/drip/migrations/0002_auto__add_field_drip_from_email__add_field_drip_from_email_name__add_f.py
+++ b/drip/migrations/0002_auto__add_field_drip_from_email__add_field_drip_from_email_name__add_f.py
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
 from django.db import models
 
+from . import USER_ORM_LABEL
+from . import USER_MODEL_LABEL
+from . import User
+
 
 class Migration(SchemaMigration):
 
@@ -57,21 +61,16 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
         },
-        'auth.user': {
-            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
-            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
-            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
-            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
-            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        USER_MODEL_LABEL: {
+            'Meta': {
+                'object_name': User.__name__,
+                'db_table': "'%s'" % User._meta.db_table
+            },
+            User._meta.pk.attname: (
+                'django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [],
+                {'primary_key': 'True',
+                'db_column': "'%s'" % User._meta.pk.column}
+            ),
         },
         'contenttypes.contenttype': {
             'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
@@ -112,8 +111,8 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'from_email_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'default': 'None', 'max_length': '150', 'null': 'True'}),
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'subject': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
-            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['auth.User']"})
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['{0}']".format(USER_ORM_LABEL)})
         }
     }
 
-    complete_apps = ['drip']
\ No newline at end of file
+    complete_apps = ['drip']
diff --git a/drip/migrations/0003_auto__add_field_drip_message_class.py b/drip/migrations/0003_auto__add_field_drip_message_class.py
index 5851455..852a4ff 100644
--- a/drip/migrations/0003_auto__add_field_drip_message_class.py
+++ b/drip/migrations/0003_auto__add_field_drip_message_class.py
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
 from django.db import models
 
+from . import USER_ORM_LABEL
+from . import USER_MODEL_LABEL
+from . import User
+
 
 class Migration(SchemaMigration):
 
@@ -31,21 +35,16 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
         },
-        'auth.user': {
-            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
-            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
-            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
-            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
-            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
-            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
-            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
-            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        USER_MODEL_LABEL: {
+            'Meta': {
+                'object_name': User.__name__,
+                'db_table': "'%s'" % User._meta.db_table
+            },
+            User._meta.pk.attname: (
+                'django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [],
+                {'primary_key': 'True',
+                'db_column': "'%s'" % User._meta.pk.column}
+            ),
         },
         'contenttypes.contenttype': {
             'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
@@ -87,8 +86,8 @@ def backwards(self, orm):
             'from_email_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'default': 'None', 'max_length': '150', 'null': 'True'}),
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'subject': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
-            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['auth.User']"})
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'sent_drips'", 'to': "orm['{0}']".format(USER_ORM_LABEL)})
         }
     }
 
-    complete_apps = ['drip']
\ No newline at end of file
+    complete_apps = ['drip']
diff --git a/drip/migrations/__init__.py b/drip/migrations/__init__.py
index e69de29..b7b0921 100644
--- a/drip/migrations/__init__.py
+++ b/drip/migrations/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+try:
+    from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+except ImportError:
+    from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+else:
+    User = get_user_model()
+
+# from:
+# kevindias.com/writing/django-custom-user-models-south-and-reusable-apps/
+# With the default User model these will be 'auth.User' and 'auth.user'
+# so instead of using orm['auth.User'] we can use orm[user_orm_label]
+USER_ORM_LABEL = '{0}.{1}'.format(User._meta.app_label,
+                                  User._meta.object_name)
+USER_MODEL_LABEL = '{0}.{1}'.format(User._meta.app_label,
+                                    User._meta.module_name)