Building Value with Jason Nellis

The Value of Listening to Data, Not People [Lauren Huttner]

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"At the same time, I'm in this investment banking club. I was constantly told I wasn't good enough. I was constantly told I was never gonna get a job, I was never going to be able to pursue my dreams."
Lauren Huttner, recent Northwestern graduate and founder of Pebble Community Labs, thumbed her nose at what "everyone else" was supposed to do, and found her own path throughout college. Convinced that the creator economy was her calling, she's built strategies for major creators, digesting mountains of data and testing so they can find the pixel-perfect edits and get their audiences get engaged. She contributed to a marketing company's acquisition, built her own agency from the ground up, and she's just getting started.
Lauren and I chatted about her experience in college with those who doubted her, how she's launched Pebble into a scalable, profitable business, and where she's headed next. We touched on the different ways creators can use data - freely available in every platform they're publishing - to optimize their content and grow their audience. And we discussed how hard it is to grow a podcast audience (whoops!).
The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeUjBzgS9MfQ4arXwyeKwo2ehifKp-8Hi 

The Value of Going Viral [Ryan Crowe]

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Until recently, Ryan Crowe was leading marketing and community building for Shortboxed, a startup with an online marketplace for verified and authenticated comic books. But after being let go due to cutbacks, he took to LinkedIn to announce his departure and ask for some help from his followers.
What followed was a massive, explosive post that generated over 800K impressions and nearly 5,000 likes - a huge leap for someone with a few thousand connections. On today's podcast, we discuss how he handled that sudden leap in attention, blowback he experienced from commenters, and what he's doing with all the new social momentum.
See the post for yourself: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7211832216098603009
The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeUjBzgS9MfQ4arXwyeKwo2ehifKp-8Hi 

The Value of Not Giving Up [Pearl Gabel]

"I've been asked to speak to groups to try to explain [the voice of @NJGov]. I tie in the personality to a sort of bullied kid. A lot of people have this experience... And New Jersey is a bullied kid."
Leading up to and during the COVID-19 Pandemic, many different US government agencies took to social media to assuage, educate, and help constituents cut through the noise and deliver direct, meaningful help during trying times. @NJGov was a large part of that... along with a heaping side of Jersey personality. 
Chief architect of this unique voice was Pearl Gabel, former digital director for the State of New Jersey, and a former journalist/videographer turned marketing strategist. Pearl generously sat down with me to discuss her passion for all things Jersey, her post-government career path, and the challenges of building your own brand name when you've spent so much time doing it for others.
You can find Pearl on social media platforms @PearlGabel, and reach out to her directly through her current agency, http://moxie-strategies.com

The Value of Doing the Work

Leave feedback for Jason directly: https://watch.jogg.co/r/K1Nr
Bad News - I don't have a guest this week.
Good News - I have lots of information to share about my experience!
In lieu of an interview this week, I'm looking back on what's worked in the first two dozen episodes of this podcast, what isn't, and what I'm doing differently in the future.
The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeUjBzgS9MfQ4arXwyeKwo2ehifKp-8Hi

The Value of Keeping it Weird [Nathan Allebach]

If you were a person on the internet - especially Twitter - between 2017-2021, you've likely read Nathan's tweets. As the marketing lead on Steak-umm (yes, the frozen beef sheets), Nathan was responsible for taking a tiny food company most folks had never heard of and turning them into a genuine internet celebrity. Not with a spokesperson, but as a brand, offering a buffet of memes, reactions to other companies like Wendy's and Arby's, and philosophical musings usually reserved for college campuses.
Nathan and I chatted about how he came to be responsible for the account, the quirk of timing with the Joe Rogan podcast that helped launch the account, and the peculiar tone set by a previous social media lead that helped pave the way to "Steak-umm Bless". We also discuss how brands in the modern era could (or could not) replicate the success of yesteryear, and how changing platforms have made it more challenging for his work.

The Value of Moving Forward [Rachel Rhee]

Rachel Rhee is no stranger to making something good out of something terrible. As a survivor of kidney cancer, she's taken her experiences of fear and doubt and turned them into a beautiful, creative output - a podcast where she explores how others have processed their grief into something wonderful.
Rachel and I sat down to discuss how she formulated her podcast, the ways in which her guests offer their stories to a larger audience, and how she has moved through her own trauma. We chatted about what I could do to improve my own output as well - after all, I'm always asking for feedback!
Listen to Rachel's podcast "You Are Here":Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-are-here/id1704790802Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/67hOdm0GcduYWtPuE1KieEGoogle: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lODA4ODcyOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw 

The Value of Learning by Doing [Brett Dashevsky]

Brett Dashevsky is at the heart of the New York creator world. As host and founder of Creator Economy NYC, he and his team build a monthly program of engaging speakers from all across the ecosystem. 
He's also the Head of Content Creators for Kickstarter, working to help demonstrate income alternatives to merch stores and subscription plans.
Between these two amazing endeavors, he took time out of his busy schedule to share some of what he's learned from interviewing and partnering with some of the top creator talent in the US. He shares his advice for growing your audience ("just take the work seriously!"), what Kickstarter can offer creators who want to fundraise, and what to do when an advertiser wants to take over a conversation with a creator (spoiler: don't let them!).

The Value of Creating Opportunities [Jerome Rand]

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Jerome Rand is a remarkable being. His upbeat attitude and constant smile belies the experience of being totally alone for most of a year, sailing around the world and being totally exposed to the elements. Having turned that time in his life into a public speaking career and podcast, Jerome has spent the last 3.5 years using his story to inspire people to seek their own voyages.
Jerome and I sat down again (virtually) to get an update on his progress, to discuss how we're supporting one another's work, and to dissect one another's strategies for publishing and growth.