This week's episode is a solo Q&A and i’m answering the questions you’ve been sending me about building a personal brand, making money online, getting clients, creating content consistently, and getting out of your own way.
We get into why self-sabotage is usually a safety thing (and the book i think everyone should read if they keep doing it), the systems i use to get content made, and why i think your personal brand needs to come before your 9-5 if you’re serious about building something for yourself.
I also get into the stuff people usually overcomplicate: how to get your first freelance client before you technically feel “qualified,” why writer’s block is really just perfectionism, how to go to conferences without paying thousands of dollars, and why sometimes the fastest way to stop feeling cringe online is literally just… block the people making you feel cringe lol.
Basically, if you’ve been waiting until you feel more ready, more confident, more legitimate, or less embarrassed before you start building your personal brand… this episode is for you.
➡️ have a question you want me to answer in the next Q&A? drop it in the comments (i'll read them and pull questions from there 👀)
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
01:22 My work setup now that I’m a mom
03:33 Why you keep self-sabotaging + the book I recommend
06:06 The systems I use to create content consistently
08:55 How to build a personal brand while working a 9-5
10:25 The underrated advice I’d give anyone trying to grow online
12:04 Block the people making you feel cringe
12:35 How to get your first freelance client before you feel ready
14:26 How to go to major conferences for free
19:02 My take on Shelby Sapp + high-ticket sales
23:52 Does personal branding work for product-based businesses?
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Angie Lee just exited Soul, the CBD gummy brand she started with her brother eight years ago. The idea for her next business hit her at 3 a.m., and now she's building WITTI, an ADHD supplement line made for women.
In this episode we go over why she's betting on a product instead of an online course, and the checklist she'd run before launching anything physical (plus the kind of product she says takes millions up front).
Then we get into the stuff that changes how you show up: the "dead grandma test" that tells you if a habit is really a habit, why she posts at 60% (wait until you feel 100% and you'll post twice a year), and why she thinks humor is what's missing from so much content online.
And since this is a cheat codes kind of conversation, we swap our "problematic cheat codes" too, including learning cult tactics and, yes, my now-husband, the boyfriend who paid my rent for 3 months (we'd only been dating for a month when I asked)
➡️ Your turn!!!! comment the name you like for her comedy course in the comments (Funny on Video? Paid to Be Funny? any other funny name???)
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
03:12 Exiting Soul, the brand she started with her brother, and the law that could block online sales
05:00 WITTI: the ADHD supplement line she's building for women, not bros
06:06 Why she's betting on a product over a course, and the $50 million question
11:03 The 3 a.m. idea she ran downstairs to tell her husband
11:47 Thinking about launching a product? The boxes it needs to check first
15:25 Googling "how do you make money off the internet," and the $60 order that started it all
22:06 Building WITTI out loud
46:24 Our problematic cheat codes
About Angie Lee
Angie Lee is a podcaster, speaker, and comedian, and the co-founder and creative director of Soul, the wellness brand she built with her brother Mike. A college and corporate dropout, she started a blog in her dorm room and is now the "queen of the BabyGrandmas," a community she also calls her squirrely girlies: women "whose brain moves fast, feels deep, and refuses to play small." She hosts The Angie Lee Show, where she talks about "the realities and hilarities of entrepreneurship & womanhood," and she's now building WITTI, an ADHD supplement line made for women.
Connect with Angie
👍 Instagram: @angieleeshow
🔗 angielee.com/
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

y'all! in this week's episode i'm joined by Bradley Jacobs, former Uber exec turned founder of Mylance. He scaled Uber Freight into a $1 billion business, quit with zero plan, and made up a consulting rate out of thin air. They said it was too much. he held his ground instead of caving. turned it into $25k a month !!!
Now he runs Mylance, and in this one he hands over exactly how he did it: the DM strategy that landed his first client with zero case studies, the easiest pricing trick, the positioning shift that'll change how you show up on LinkedIn, and why he built his own AI tool because ChatGPT and Claude write posts that sound like garbage.
Press play before you talk yourself out of charging what you're worth.
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
04:08 Building Uber Freight from scratch into a $1B business
06:32 Quitting Uber
08:19 The "ridiculous calculation" behind his first consulting fee
16:22 Why "fractional CMO" is the laziest positioning you can pick
18:06 The "ice cream store vs. gas station" analogy that changes everything 18:52 You only need 3 clients: the real LinkedIn outreach math
26:35 Why you shouldn't use ChatGPT or Claude to write your LinkedIn posts
36:25 Leaving corporate was more confronting than he expected
38:08 Building a personal board of directors to replace corporate structure
39:45 The nightly ritual he's done for years to stay on track
About Bradley Jacobs
Bradley spent 4.5 years at Uber across Rides, Eats, and Freight, launching Uber Eats in Miami and Milan and helping scale Uber Freight into a $1 billion business. He left in 2018, sent 12 DMs to see if anyone would pay for his expertise, and landed his first consulting client at $25K/month working part-time. Over the next two years he built an independent consulting practice working with seed and Series A startups on marketplace launches and scaling, then turned what he learned into Mylance, the platform he founded in 2020 to help consultants and solopreneurs build predictable, sustainable businesses through LinkedIn content. Mylance has since helped 1,000+ founders and consultants grow their businesses using the same content and outreach systems Bradley built for himself.
Connect with Bradley
💼 LinkedIn: Bradley Jacobs
🔗 mylance.com
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson