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: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 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: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

April Whitney was eating under 1,200 calories a day, training like an elite athlete, and still couldn't figure out why her body wasn't changing. Then she started working as a copywriter in pharmaceuticals, and the answer was right in front of her the whole time.
April is a former competitive fencer, pharmaceutical copywriter, and the founder of Petite PWR, a fitness and nutrition platform built exclusively for women 5'4" and under.
In this episode we get into how she went from posting her body transformation on a secret Instagram account to building a business with 4,000 coaching clients, a team of 20, and a 150,000-person email list with a 48% open rate !!!!!
Here’s something you probably didn’t know but it’s freaking important and probably relevant to you: April posted every single day for five years STRAIGHT without missing one day, including Christmas.
She talks about why continuity and consistency are what build a brand, why getting views and building a brand are two completely different games, and the secret sauuuuce behind her best-performing YouTube videos.
👉 PRESS PLAY. Your niche is about to feel a lot less scary.
📘 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/
04:09 The secret Instagram account she started because she was too embarrassed to post
08:06 Why your customer knows what they want but not what they need
10:08 What AI did to the coaching industry
13:29 The funnel: from free content to 4,000 coaching clients
21:00 Why she gives 99% of her content away for free
35:41 Why continuity and consistency are the only content strategy that works
43:35 Five years of posting every single day without missing once
About April
April Victoria Whitney is a former competitive fencer who spent 18 years in the sport with dreams of making the Olympics. After retiring, she worked as a science copywriter in pharmaceuticals, where she worked on early GLP-1 research, before founding Petite PWR, a fitness and nutrition platform dedicated to women 5'4" and shorter. What started as a $65 ebook has grown into a coaching business with 4,000 clients, a team of 20, and a 150,000-person email list. April is not just building a brand, she is building a movement.
Connect with April
🎙️ Youtube: April Whitney
👍 Instagram: @aprilvwhitney
🎶 TikTok: @aprilvwhitney
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson