If you want to use your branded email address to receive emails from Applaud Cloud, then you can set up your custom email domain to verify that Applaud can send emails on behalf of your email server.
For example, if you receive an email from Applaud Cloud at no-reply@applaudhr.com, you can authorize Applaud Cloud to send out notifications as if they originated from your email address (for example, noreply@yourdomain.com). That way, you can preserve your branding throughout the entire process.