Built in Public

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: [email protected]
👍 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: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

hey y'all, this episode is a little different than usual.
today i'm sharing my full pregnancy and birth story: trying to conceive, the pregnancy itself, giving birth, and where i'm at now in postpartum.
quick heads up before you press play: this one gets real about mental health during pregnancy, and some of it may be heavy for some listeners. please take care of yourself, and feel free to skip this one if now isn't the right time for you 🤍
i was depressed for most of my pregnancy, and i also went through a mental health experience i haven't heard many people talk about openly.
if you're pregnant, trying to conceive, or have been through something similar, i hope sharing this helps you feel less alone.
📘 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/
07:30 Finding out I was pregnant
11:46 My theory: every pregnancy has one challenge
12:39 My challenge
15:14 I lost my ability to speak
16:00 The hallucinations started
19:57 My birth story starts here
27:55 Giving birth to Santi
30:38 Postpartum has been so fun and so good
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

you don't need a million followers to get paid by brands. you don't need an agent. you don't even need to be famous.
this is your no-bs guide to your first brand deal: how i went from $5,000 my first year to $250,000-$300,000 this year, every platform and agency i use, and how my husband, with only 3,000 followers, has landed a $50,000 brand deal i've never gotten with almost a million followers. 
so yeah - let's get into this.
grab my brand outreach templates below ⤵️ 
docs.google.com/document/d/11FhKsM8bTHbLvnjs-GSTdUqZ78ET-rRz/edit?rtpof=true&sd=true&tab=t.0

📘 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/
02:43 You don't need a million followers (here's what you need)
03:16 Cheat code #1: brand partnership marketplaces
11:58 Do this today: apply to 20 marketplaces
12:26 Cheat code #2: work with an agency
15:53 How to find an agency
17:09 What brands really pay (and the $50K deal I've never gotten)
19:14 Is affiliate marketing worth it?
19:55 The LinkedIn trick brands can't ignore
22:00 Why I always turn one post into a series
23:36 How to cold outreach brands (without an agency)
25:49 My final brand deal rule
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

hi friends. did i tell you how I turned $8,500 I didn't have into a program that's made me $300,000 in the last year?
that's basically what this whole solo episode is: me opening up my bank account and walking you through it.
I'm covering my 100 free calls strategy, the exact questions I ask people to build a real offer out of thin air, and then I rank almost every single way I've ever tried to monetize my content, close to 29 of them, from the ones that pay my rent to the ones that were honestly a waste of my time.
some of these numbers are going to surprise you, some of them are small, and I'm not gatekeeping any of it.
let me know in the comments if you want the actual templates I used to turn my free call transcripts into content and offers!! ⤵️
📘 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/
01:08 How I make money from my content 
02:12 My 100 free calls strategy 
14:29 The advice two multi-millionaires both gave me 
19:03 Ranking every way I've made money 
21:51 Patreon and the "1,000 true fans" math 
34:07 The challenge that made me $60,000 in a week 
30:05 Why I charge $1,500 an hour for pick my brain calls 
37:14 The free script that fixed my worst webinar 
39:36 How Maven made me half a million dollars 
40:58 My six-figure book deal, and paying it back 
44:17 My brand deals: $10,000 to $250,000 a year 
49:43 My rule for picking affiliate partnerships
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

I've been wanting to bring this guest on for a while, because she's one of the main reasons I have a book at all.
I'm sitting down with the incredible Thea Diklich-Newell, the editor who acquired and shaped Career Cheat Codes, to talk about how my dream happened and how it can happen for you too.
a little snippet of what we got into and how it all started: a coworker of hers sent her my TikTok series one day, she saw something in it, and she emailed me asking if I'd ever thought about turning it into a book. that's it. that's the whole "how do I get discovered" story everyone assumes is more complicated than it is.
so I brought her on to break down what editors are looking for when they're scrolling your content, what "authority" means to a publisher if you don't have a fancy degree behind your name, the real red flags that make her pass on a pitch, and the one boring, unsexy habit that made her whole team want to work with me before we'd even signed anything.
this episode is the roadmap for anyone who has this constant thought "I should write a book about this"
📘 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/
06:36 Inside the Big Five: what an imprint is and why it matters 
08:27 What "authority" means to an editor if you don't have the credentials 
12:41 The free "hot tip" hiding in the back of every book you own 
15:47 The one habit editors wish more authors had (it's not talent) 
21:15 Why "my book is for everyone" is the fastest way to sell zero copies 
28:36 Why you have to be okay hearing no 100 times before the one yes
30:48 The actual cheat code for landing a book deal, and it costs nothing 
34:46 Why self-publishing doesn't close the door to a book deal anymore
36:47 The books Thea can't stop talking about this year 
39:25 What she's telling authors to write about next, in the age of AI 
42:03 Her two-question test for finding your own book idea
About Thea Diklich-Newell 
Thea Diklich-Newell is an editor at Ten Speed Press, part of the Crown Publishing Group within Penguin Random House, where she focuses on prescriptive nonfiction: self-help, career, parenting, and relationship books built on real authority and lived experience rather than just a big following. She joined Ten Speed in 2024 after editorial roles at Little, Brown and the Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, where she got her start vetting manuscripts from the agent's side of the business. She's also the editor behind Career Cheat Codes.
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

okay so I recorded this one about to burst, and my baby is already here. wild!!!!!
so this whole episode is a Q&A, straight from what you all sent me. the spiciest, most unhinged personal brand questions in my inbox, answered. 
in this one: why "I'm multi-passionate" isn't a real problem, why you'd never let a friend treat you the way your boss does, and the exact system that kept me posting daily even at nine months pregnant.
heads up, "fuck your niche" gets said more than once. I stand by it.
let's get into the questions.
📘 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/
👉 Want your question featured on a future episode? Subscribe to my newsletter, that's where I send these out and where I answer some of them directly, for free → artisanal-originator-6888.kit.com/0e038bf26a
📱 Joel Monteleone, for help getting events and community sponsorships → @joel_monteleone 🛠️
01:14 Why "how do I make an extra $5,000 this month" is the wrong question to ask 
05:23 fuck your niche
07:42 my daily co-working system that ended my procrastination for good 
11:06 The corporate LinkedIn fear question i keep getting
21:44 The client who proved "I'm multi-passionate" was never really the problem
29:57 Stop posting "AISLOP" if you want LinkedIn to actually show your posts
36:20 How to build your "video muscle" without spending hours editing
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Today I'm sitting down with Cru Mahoney, a mindset and personal brand coach who posted every single day for two years to almost nobody, then had one video hit 53 million views and go from 7K to 300K followers in a month, and this episode made me rethink my entire relationship with consistency.
I've spent years listening my audience they needed a strategy before they post anything. meanwhile, this guy posted twice a day for two years with 2,000 views a piece, no strategy, no niche, no plan, just a promise he made to himself, and then one post did more numbers than most people's entire careers.
he came on to share exactly how he built the brand, the three-level framework, the philosophy on niches, the whole thing he believes about manipulation and leadership that most people are too scared to say out loud. 
grab a coffee, this one's a lot!! ☕️
📘 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/

06:12 Two years of posting daily to almost nobody, then one video hits 53 million views 
14:49 The brainwashing video he has coming out, and the client story behind it
22:45 Why he turns down the easy $140K-a-month niche business
25:59 Rage is a legitimate reason to start posting 
34:46 What happens once ambitious people finally "make it" 
46:17 Why he calls follower counts "trash," even with 400K of his own 
50:24 His most controversial post yet: turn off the news

About Cru Mahoney
Cru Mahoney didn't set out to build a personal brand. What started as a private promise to himself, running every single morning since June 13, 2018 to work through years of anxiety, turned into two years of posting the process online to almost no one. Then one video, about the things he doesn't do (drink, smoke, party), hit 53 million views and took him from 7,000 followers to 300,000 in a single month.
Connect with guest
📹 YouTube: @crumahoney
👍 Instagram: @crumahoneyWebsite: crumahoney.com/
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

hi friends!! today I'm sitting down with Rachel Hague, co-host at School of Hard Knocks (yes, THE 23 million-follower media company) and this episode made me want to fire my own excuses.
I've spent actual years being too intimidated to walk up to people I found impressive. meanwhile, this woman casually walks up to actual billionaires on the street with a camera and just... asks. no plan, no permission, no invite. gets a yes anyway.
oh, and she also beat out 950 other women for her job. so my "I'm not qualified enough" is officially retired.
she came on to share exactly how she builds credibility out of thin air, the framework, the mindset, all of it. no "just be yourself" fluff, no vague advice. the real framework.
grab a coffee, this one's a lot ☕️
📘 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/
02:53 Inside the street interviews: 100% unstaged, and here's how she handles getting rejected on camera
09:41 The neuroscientist quote that ruined "walking into a room" for me forever
20:12 "Authority hacking": steal credibility from anyone, legally
23:50 Credibility k*lls all bad attitudes
30:18 Why she'd rather own "a piece of the watermelon than the entire grape"
31:07 The job every company needs right now and doesn't know it yet
33:55 950 women applied for her role. here's how she got picked
44:11 The confidence quote that stuck with me long after we stopped recording
About Rachel
Rachell got her start filming funny videos with her little sister, who has disabilities, to encourage her through her health journey. That was the accidental beginning of her personal brand. From there, she built a following connecting female entrepreneurs, hosting 100+ in-person and virtual events across Austin and the U.S.
She's now a host at School of Hard Knocks, a 23-million-follower media company, where she runs a channel taking viewers behind the scenes of business owners' real day-to-day. Launched about 6 months ago with zero cross-promotion from the main channel, it's already crossed 100,000 followers. In her words: "I'm truly just being a student."
Connect with Rachel
💼 LinkedIn: Rachel Hague
👍 Instagram: @rachellhague
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

hey friends!! welcome back to another solo episode. it's been way too long and I have so much to say before my mat leave!!🤰🤍
okay so. I once paid a woman $100 to clean my house, then spent the entire hour standing outside texting her and watching through the window like a complete stalker.
five years later, I run a team of 20+, including a COO, a social media team, sales team, a video editor, and a roster of virtual assistants, and I barely manage any of them directly.
and guess what? I’m sharing the exact delegation system I used to get there. the real timeline, the real numbers, and every limiting belief that almost stopped me along the way, including the ones I was still fighting at 9.5 months pregnant when I recorded this.
this is 45 minutes of EVERYTHING I know about building a team, delegating without losing your mind, and getting out of your own way. and I made a free doc to go with it so you can implement it.
👉 FREE Delegation Guide: grab the exact SOP templates, agency links, and books I mention → docs.google.com/document/d/1VAZ8UI-L3Tx-2qkXIM4VxZk7bCQ_S9V6yd51h0klL5Q/edit?tab=t.0
👉 Ready to hire your first VA?? I personally use and trust NexusPoint. Book a free discovery call with their team here → go.nexuspt.io/courtneyjohnson
📘 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/
03:53 The $100 house cleaner mistake that taught me how to actually let go
06:17 My first virtual assistant, and why I stopped paying $800 a month for one
16:16 The Beyoncé myth about time that nobody wants to admit is a lie
22:07 The $500 cheat code my friend used to poach the best VA candidates out of a course
28:28 Why "I'll delegate once I'm big" has it completely backwards
31:47 The "waste tax": what it actually costs to grow
45:57 What you're really paying for at $10, $20, $30, and $50 an hour
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson