She became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and a Penguin Random House author, and neither of those things came from a talent agent, a manager, or a plan. They came from a LinkedIn post and a cold DM.
Gigi Robinson has been building her personal brand since she was 12 years old with a Squarespace portfolio and a competitive swimming injury. Now she's a speaker, a creator, a published author, and the founder of Hosts of Influence, and she's done all of it without a manager, without niching down, and without “waiting until she was ready” 😑!!
In this episode, Gigi explains why niching down is destroying your brand, why you ARE the niche, why a talent manager might be costing you more than they're making you, and the exact way she pitches journalists to get featured in Forbes, DigiDay, and AdWeek.
She also gets into why LinkedIn is the most untapped platform right now (if you are here is because you already heard this!!!), how she hit 100 million impressions in 2025 just by responding to trending news, and the LinkedIn banner strategy that makes people decide whether to trust you in under 3 SECONDS.
Oh, and she also just casually tells us how she ended up shooting with the photographer who shoots Vogue covers, the same photographer she used as inspiration when she was a kid.
📌 Get Gigi's children's book A Kid's Book About Chronic Illness on Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you get your books → gigirobinson.com
📌 Want to learn more about Hosts of Influence, Gigi's platform for creators and professionals building real careers? → gigirobinson.com
📘 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/
11:32 Why having a talent manager is probably not the business move you think it is
14:55 Why niching down is a trap, and what to do instead
17:44 You don't have a niche. You ARE the niche.
22:09 How she became a Penguin Random House author overnight, without a traditional book deal
27:33 She literally became a Sports Illustrated model from a LinkedIn post
28:20 Why she posted herself in a bikini on LinkedIn and didn't think twice about it
13:11 Less than 2% of LinkedIn's 1.1 billion users post weekly. That's your opening.
16:49 How to get press: the exact stalking strategy she uses to get into Forbes and AdWeek
23:46 The LinkedIn news hack that got her 100 million impressions in 2025
About Gigi Robinson
Gigi Robinson is a speaker, creator, author, and founder of Hosts of Influence, a platform helping creators and professionals build personal brands that actually turn into careers. She's partnered with 100+ global brands, including Adobe, Spotify, Unilever, and LinkedIn, spoken on 100+ stages, and wrote A Kid's Book About Chronic Illness, a bestselling children's book published by Penguin Random House. She's been featured in Forbes, DigiDay, AdWeek, Business Insider, and the New York Post, and hit 100 million impressions on LinkedIn alone in 2025.
Connect with Gigi
👍 Instagram: @itsgigirobinson
🎶 TikTok: @itsgigirobinson
💼 LinkedIn: Gigi Robinson
🌐 Website: gigirobinson.com
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Nobody quits a $252K job when they're the #8 sales rep out of 5,079. Brian Luebben did, driving through rural Georgia with a backseat full of Carhartt pants, realizing that a quarter million dollars a year still wasn't enough to make him stay.
Four years later, he runs Action Academy, a mastermind community that went from $0 to $5 million with zero ads, built entirely on a $279 podcast mic and a $600 iPhone. This year, he's going for $12 million.
In this episode, Brian gives us the EXACT playbook (not theory or how to do this sh*t but the actual steps)
He saved $60K in cash before quitting, bought rental properties while still employed, and built a side hustle podcast interviewing millionaires at Atlanta real estate meetups before he ever left his job. Then he moved to Brazil, did 100 free 15-minute coaching calls on the beach, found out what people needed, and sent a Venmo link for a course that didn't exist yet, and made $100K in 48 hours.
He also gets into the Minivan Theory and why your closest friends will be the last ones to support you, why a $200K employee can return $2 million while a $40K employee returns $40K, and why the only reason entrepreneurship beats employment is leverage.
If you've been waiting for the right time to leave your job, this episode is the sign you've been looking for.
📌 Want to join Action Academy? Head to actionacademy.com
📘 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/
00:00 Brian opens reading Career Cheat Codes - no, really
03:25 Entrepreneurs aren't born, they're unlocked
05:03 The "selling pants" moment driving to Cedartown, Georgia
06:16 The 3 pillars Brian had before quitting: cash, assets, and a validated side hustle
13:08 Stop trying to be the most interesting. Be the most interested.
20:44 Why your friends and family aren't trying to derail you, they're scared for you
21:24 The Minivan Theory: front row, middle row, and back row friends
27:17 The step-by-step from $0 to your first $100K
31:44 $100K in 48 hours with a Cash App link and a course that didn't exist yet
41:01 Why leverage is the only reason entrepreneurship beats a job
About Brian Luebben
Brian Luebben is the founder of Action Academy, a mastermind community that helps people leave corporate America to buy businesses and real estate. He left a $252K corporate sales job in March 2022, traveled the world for a year documenting the journey, and built a $5M/year business from scratch with zero ads. He hosts The Action Academy Podcast, one of the top entrepreneurship shows in the country with over 1 million downloads.
Connect with Brian
👍 Instagram: @brianluebben
🎙️ Podcast: @actionacademypodcast
💼 LinkedIn: Brian Luebben
🌐 Website: brianluebben.com
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

You're overthinking your content. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old was editing videos under his desk in math class and accidentally stumbled into building one of the biggest personal brands in business.
Sam Gaudet started working with Dan Martell's videographer at 16, joined Dan's team full-time at 18, and has spent the last eight years as the brain behind a content machine that now generates over 3 billion views and 200 million views per month across platforms. He watched Dan go from 500 views per video to the fastest-growing business influencer in the space. And he built the frameworks that made it happen.
Now Sam is stepping out from behind the camera to build his own brand, using nothing but his iPhone, a 90-day challenge, and the same system he used to scale Dan's.
In this episode, he breaks down the HEIT framework (Hook, Explain, Illustrate, Teach) that drives every piece of content they create, why picking the right topic matters more than your camera or your lighting, and why the biggest creators in the world talk about the fewest things.
If you've been stalling because your setup isn't right, your hook isn't perfect, or you don't feel ready, Sam built a 3 billion view brand while getting caught editing videos in class. Your excuses don't stand a chance!!!
Mentioned in this episode:
🤖 Sam's Custom GPT for Content Ideas
Want Sam's custom GPT that spits out 25 validated content topics using the HEIT framework? DM him the word "TOPIC Courtney" on Instagram and he'll send you the link for FREE! → Instagram: @sam.gaudet
📘 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/
02:06 Getting caught editing videos in math class (multiple times)
05:04 The mindset shift that changed everything: if you can picture it, it's possible
07:00 Why Sam started building his own brand now
09:08 The HEIT framework: the system behind 3 billion views
17:55 Why the biggest creators in the world talk about the fewest things
24:38 CCN fit: how to make every video appeal to your core, casual, and new audience
35:57 Trust is more important than views right now.
40:37 People aren't paying for information. They're paying for time acceleration.
45:49 F*ck the norm. Go try something.
About Sam Gaudet
Sam Gaudet is a content strategist, media company builder, and the creative force behind Dan Martell's personal brand. He joined Dan's world at 16 as a videographer, went full-time at 18, and has spent the last eight years developing the content systems that have generated over 3 billion views and 200 million views per month. His frameworks, including the HEIT method and CCN fit, are used across Dan's entire content operation and a team of 15. He's now building his own personal brand from scratch using only his iPhone, documenting the journey from zero to 100K followers.
Connect with Sam
👍 Instagram: @sam.gaudet
💼 LinkedIn: Sam Gaudet
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson