Business & Podcasting: The 4-Part Framework for Growth

Ever felt like you're constantly hustling but still not getting the traction you want? Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

In this episode, I join Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch, for a raw and real conversation about finding clarity in your business, podcast, and content strategy.

Too often, we get caught in the hamster wheel of "more." More followers. More downloads. More visibility. But what if true success isn’t about more—but about being clear on who you serve and how you show up?

Alex and I break it down in a simple 4-part framework:

✔️ Internal Clarity – Knowing what you want and why.

✔️ External Clarity – Clearly identifying who you serve.

✔️ Projected Clarity – Communicating your message the right way.

✔️ Perceived Clarity – Making sure others see you the way you want to be seen.

Along the way, we drop hard-earned lessons, real-life struggles (hello, podcast rankings obsession!), and practical steps to simplify your strategy, avoid burnout, and grow with purpose.

Whether you're a business owner, podcaster, or content creator, this episode will challenge you to get clear on what really matters—so you can ditch the overwhelm and focus on what actually moves the needle.

🎧 Click >>PLAY<< to hear all of this and:

[00:00] Behind the scenes: Why this episode is different

[01:45] The hustle, the madness, and the lie of online business

[07:34] The internal battle: Are we chasing numbers or impact?

[10:54] The #1 question that made me rethink my podcast strategy

[13:53] How podcast rankings trick us into chasing the wrong thing

[18:42] My identity crisis: Who I serve vs. who I want to serve

[21:42] The shift that led to multi-six-figure results in 6 months

[25:50] The difference between popularity and profitability

[30:05] My new tagline for 2025: “Jasmine Star, she 10X’s your business”

[35:39] Actionable tips: How to book more podcast interviews (without wasting time)

🔗 Connect with Alex:

Alex Sanfilippo is the founder of PodMatch, a platform that helps podcast hosts and guests find their perfect match for interviews. He is also the host of Podcasting Made Simple, where he shares strategies for podcast growth, audience building, and leveraging podcasting for business success.

• Website: PodMatch.com
• Instagram: @ajsanfilippo
• Podcast: Podcasting Made Simple

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Transcript

Rosy Shephard 00:00:00  Want to go deep behind the scenes of the Jasmine Star show. Hi, I'm Rosie. Customer success manager at social Curator, and in this episode that originally aired on podcasting Made Simple with Alex Sanfilippo. You'll hear Jasmine's personal and I mean her personal podcasting lessons, along with a simple four part framework for finding clarity. Enjoy this episode!

Alex Sanfilippo 00:00:22  Hey everyone, Alex Sanfilippo here. Welcome back to Podcasting Made Simple and Jasmine, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Jasmine Star 00:00:28  Thank you. I think you.

Jasmine Star 00:00:28  Should say welcome back brother because I've been on the pod before and I'm so honored. I'm a little nervous. You always raise the bar, so I'm happy to be here.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:00:37  Yeah. Welcome back. Yes. This is your third time here. And it's funny, I was thinking about this the other day, and I was telling Alicia, my wife, I was like, I really want to bring Jasmine back. But we just had her on the podcast and she's like, are you sure? I was like, yeah, I went and looked and it's been exactly at time of recording two years.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:00:51  And I was like, wait a minute, that's not just Jasmine.

Jasmine Star 00:00:54  We should do this every two weeks. But, you know, I'm just gonna put that out there.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:00:57  Maybe we'll see what anyone who's listening watching later on, let us know. Should Jasmine come back every week? We're doing a little real poll here.

Jasmine Star 00:01:05  oh my God.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:01:06  Anyway, super excited that you're here today. And, here's the thing. This conversation I want to frame a little bit differently than I typically do this type of interview, which is what it historically has been. And when I've had you on the past, Jasmine, it's been more of an interview. But if you have the opportunity to spend a lot more time together and sometimes what we share is really valuable. And so I wanted to bring others, our communities into the conversation just because some of the last times we talked recently, I'm like, man, we probably should have hit record, right? Like, we probably should have been able to share this because a lot of people especially look at you, Jasmine, like, I want to be where Jasmine is and we forget that you're human and stuff happens with you, right? Like you have to make some shifts and all and same with me.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:01:45  So it's funny, I sent you a five minute prep for today because it's gonna be a conversation. You did not check that out.

Jasmine Star 00:01:51  I didn't, I didn't I didn't check it out. I did check it out. You know, here's the thing though, Alex, I like showing up 100% as myself. And sometimes if I get in my head, not always, but sometimes if I get in my head, it becomes too rehearsed and I want people to actually hear and see me exactly in this space. And if I might, you know, we've been working together about every five, six weeks. You and I have the opportunity to connect. And it is a true honor. It is a true privilege because I think that you are a guides guide. And so how you've been able to speak into my journey and how you've been able to speak into my podcast has been very transformative. And I actually made a podcast episode, and I released it just a few weeks ago, and I recounted the story of how you and I were having a conversation, and we were talking in relation to the podcast, and you had said, well, it's just because you're just so confident.

Jasmine Star 00:02:39  And then you said like 2 or 3 things after that, none of which I heard because my brain was fully stuck on. Well, it's just that you're confident. And to tie this back to something that you had said, well, you're human and you go through things and we grow and we change. And one of the things that came up for me is in that conversation. I said, well, Alex, I'm not confident I show up as confident. I think it's a version of me. There's a version of me that is confident, and that's the version that's always shown on the podcast. And I said, for better or for worse, it's 100% me. But I also think that it could be really repelling to a lot of people. It's a lot of straight edges. And then, you know, at the end of the conversation, you simply asked me, are you going to be any other version than the version who you are? And I said, nope. Even if even if it comes on the back of having a smaller listenership, a smaller Tam, a smaller total addressable market, even if my podcast may or may not be destined for top of the charts.

Jasmine Star 00:03:45  One of the things that you've come back down and ground me in again and again is 100% be you serve the audience who will resonate with you and understand that unless your ambition is to be a top podcaster. Then the goal of the podcast should be to connect with the right audience at the right time. And for me, that has been the biggest shift for me and my podcast in 2024. And I want to say thank you.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:04:07  Oh, Jasmine, we could just end right here. Maybe this should have just been like a just a solo talk from Jasmine would have been perfectly fine.

Jasmine Star 00:04:13  Not at all mean. Not at all. Not at all.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:04:15  Definitely honored to be able to help. Kind of bring that out. That was always in there, right? Like you always had that. It's just like kind of helping draw it out. And that's actually where this conversation is going to go quite a bit. Before we get to that, I want to backtrack just for a second to explain why like this even came up in our conversation and why it's coming up today.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:04:31  And I took some notes here. So I'm actually going to be reading this because I want to be really quick. I'm gonna pass it over to you. But when I was thinking about building an online business, building a podcast, being a podcast guest, because we've got all those people in this group here, right? The people that are trying to make it online or are making it, but want to make it further, want to take it further, faster, all those type of things. Right. And I was thinking about just the the general culture of online creation business, all things right. I thought of three things. The hustle, the madness, and the lie and the hustle is that it has to be busy, right? And that really is the core of the culture. It's got to be busy. It's full of opportunity, full of promises and a lot of habit forming, bad practices to just kind of keep you involved. Reaching milestones. Right. I think of we need to grow social media followers.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:05:16  We need more podcast downloads. We need more podcast guesting opportunities. We need more website visitors. We need more email opt ins. And that list could go on forever, right? Like, that's the hustle that so many of us subscribe to. And it goes straight into like that culture goes straight into what I call the trap, which is when we don't get traction, it means we're not doing enough. It means that we have to go wider instead of deeper. So you need to be trying more things. You need to find the quick win. If you don't jump to the next thing and keep on trying. If something will click, something will will win. And that's that last piece. That's the lie, which is you can do it as long as you work hard on everyone else and keep on going and try everything and find ways to do more cut things out of your life for now. You'll get them back later. You got to get rich. You got to get famous if you're gonna make it in this space.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:05:55  And many of us, we might not say all those things, but that really is. That's what we've kind of created in the way that we act. And I'm just realizing more and more people seem almost frantic online when I'm meeting them. I have phone calls with people or even exchanging emails, and I'm just like, how do I grow my followers? Because I get more followers and get more money. When I get more money, I can use that money to get more followers. I can get more famous. And it's like, man, like that's like the whole system. So that's really where we're going to go to a really, we're not going to focus too much on this. We're going to focus on the healthy side, kind of the solution to this. But, Jasmine, do you have any thoughts around this because you have been a core creator in the online space on social media and podcasting. You've done exceptionally well. Do you have any thoughts about what I just shared here?

Jasmine Star 00:06:33  Well, one thing that I want to hone in, you had said, we don't necessarily say this.

Jasmine Star 00:06:37  You're right, but there's two frequencies that are constantly going on in our brain. We have the conscious and we have the subconscious, and the conscious stuff is, oh, well, we don't really say this. That's the conscious level. I don't walk around thinking, you know what? I need to be famous. You know what? I need to do more. You want to know what I need to do? Less of sleep. Do you want to know more than I do of podcast? No, we don't actually say that. But our behaviors betray a subconscious consumption. Because if what we see is the more and more more do do do than the subconscious, the thoughts that our thoughts are thinking in our mind is, well, if I want that level of success, then that's how I need to act and that's how I need to behave. And, you know, I mean, I'm falling prey to it. We started the conversation simply by saying what the truth was was me accepting. Maybe I won't ever have a top ten business podcast.

Jasmine Star 00:07:34  Am I okay with that? Maybe I will. But what is the price I'm willing to pay for that? And it felt very freeing. It felt so freeing. When Alex had said the same thing I say to people as they grow their business. It is one thing to be popular and it is one thing to be profitable. And he simply asked me, Jasmine, what is your driving ambition? And I said, profitable. Now that's not everybody's answer. If your answer is to be popular, well then great, you're going to be on a different path. And that's totally awesome. That active pursuit of that will require a different skill set, but the desire and the satisfaction of it will be the compensation. I have zero ambition to be popular. I have zero ambition to be famous. I have every ambition to grow a wildly profitable business, to show what is possible not just for daughters of immigrants, not just for females, not just for women of color, but for anybody who has had the odds stacked against them.

Jasmine Star 00:08:29  This is not a color thing. It's not a gender thing. It's not a belief thing. I just want to prove that somebody with a tiny bit can actually build a very successful business. Not after going the masses, but after going after a very specific group of people and serving them well. And I think that you came in and you just hammered that down as like a grounding for me this year to be like, you know what? That is my objective. I got caught up. And so yeah, that's my thoughts on On the Hustle.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:08:53  It's good to hear from your perspective. And I really appreciate something that you said. That conscious and subconscious level is so powerful. And we want to do is get those things to align right. And so today we really want to help people get free from that and both of us. The reason Jasmine shared that story right at the start, and I'll have some stories along the way as well, is because we're not immune to this. We're not like, we're above this.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:09:10  Follow us. We might be one step ahead right now, and we might fall back into at some point and need that person in our life to help us get there. But the solution I want to talk about today is how we get freedom and more results is we have to start to walk in clarity. We have to walk in clarity. And it's not just gain clarity, it's to walk in clarity. And here's what I mean by that. It's very clear to almost all of us that if we want to be in better shape, we need to work out, but we don't walk in that. Right. Most of us are like, I know that's what I need to do, but I'm not going to do it right. It's clearly there, but we're not walking in it. And that's what I want to talk about today. And jasmyne, I think you go to the gym six days a week, I go five. So I got a little stepping up to do here, right? But, any thoughts around this before we kind of get the four points around this idea of clarity and learning to really walk in.

Jasmine Star 00:09:54  It more than anything. Alex said it, and I'm just gonna say it again. I am a broken person trying to find the path that is best for me. And so I don't think that Alex and I are ever saying, well, follow us because we are beacons of light and knowledge and wisdom.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:10:07  That was a very I comment of you, by the way, beacon of light like that's clearly you've been influenced by.

Jasmine Star 00:10:13  I oh that's funny.

Jasmine Star 00:10:15  And I think more than anything is beyond being a separatist. We are definitely a lot more together. And what works for Alex works for Alex. And what is work for me is working for me. However, somewhere in the spectrum of that, you're going to find what works for you and to have the courage to step into your version of clarity, because it looks very different for all of us.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:10:33  So when you and I talked about this, I came up with like four steps to gaining this clarity, to learning to walk in it, to stepping in.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:10:38  And again, I myself am learning to apply this and I will share some stories all the way of where I'm getting it wrong and where I'm getting it right. But the four steps to kind of give everyone the full view of this is internal clarity, external clarity, projected clarity, and perceived clarity. And so I want to jump straight to the first one there, which is internal clarity. This is yourself. What do you want? Like why are you here. Like you have to look internally. And I think so many of us, we skip this one. We immediately look externally for why we should be doing what we're doing. And Jasmine, I want to turn over to you and see if you have any thoughts on this idea of internal clarity. And beginning with that.

Jasmine Star 00:11:10  Just as a side note, because, you know, like Alex knows that I go in a thousand different directions. There's like at like 10,000 rabbits in my mind, and we all meet at the same point. So please know that the madness that is inside of my brain will all meet up in this perfect little Easter basket of goodness.

Jasmine Star 00:11:23  A lot of Easter eggs, okay, surprises along the way. So when Alex is talking about the internal, we all acknowledge and know that the reason we started our business, our podcast, was for an internal desire. But oftentimes it gets convoluted by external variations of success that if we aren't at a certain ranking, if we didn't debut at a certain place. If we haven't had this many podcast downloads, that the external factors will impact the internal clarity and whatever it takes for you to be grounded in your clarity. And I have to say, it took me months of actually being super conscious of it. And here's like a real example. So for the podcast, for the last few years, we were dropping two episodes a week, and then we decided to experiment sometime in the summer, dropping three podcasts per week. Well, as a result of that, we started going up in the rankings. In fact, like our podcast PM was posting them in slack this week, were this, this week were this, and we started climbing.

Jasmine Star 00:12:23  And I have to tell you, the dopamine factory in my brain was like, ooh, girl, look at you. Oh, like climb, climb, climb. And I started looking at the ranking climbing as a thing. However, what we just did was use a steroid for growth. I didn't have more singular Downloads. I had more total downloads, which yes, did impact. So it's not like the podcast got better per se. It was just that the same people continued to listen. So did I get better as a podcaster? Did more listeners find what I had to say valuable? No, because we didn't see an increase in individual downloads to result in that. So then once we decided to go back down to two episodes per week, what happened? I dropped in the rankings, and I realized that the external ranking was impacting my internal satisfaction and worse, my internal purpose. That is so broken. And it's in the power of acknowledging woe, that brokenness that comes from this lack or want or desire.

Jasmine Star 00:13:32  And the minute I said, you know what? This thought doesn't serve me. And when the minute I went to my internal driver that you're using your podcast to help people not make the same mistakes you did, that whatever growth you had. You're going to teach people everything you know so that they can get results faster. That's your driver. And if that's what's actually happening on a small scale. Clap that up. That was the internal alignment for clarity for me.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:13:53  It's so good. You know, I'm going to share something from a conversation we had about this when the decision went from three back to two. I asked you a question. I said, are you happy and do you like what you do? And I didn't know what to expect when I, when I got that. And sorry, Jasmine, I'm gonna just transparently put you on this. Put you out here? Yeah. You didn't cry. You did what you call gangster cry.

Jasmine Star 00:14:13  It was a gangster year. Gangster at the edge of my eye.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:14:17  It was just. Just won, right? And, But the thing is, you're like, I love this. And I could just hear the passion. And I think that so many of us, myself included, I learned so much from our conversation when you said that and when that like, just that moment, like I went back, I'm like, do I do I love everything I'm doing? Like like there was all the passion. I could feel it. I was like, wait, I where do I have that? Like, I want that too, right? I want to feel that way. And I bring that up not just to call Jasmine out, but for all of us here. We have to go back to what we're doing to internally decide, like, do we have clarity? And just is there something that you love so much? It drives an emotion, even if it's not crying, is it laughing like, what is it? There's a problem in the world make you angry.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:14:55  Like if there's something there, we've like, we've got to be willing to take the time to explore that. And like, I know I say it a lot. It's like kind of returning to your why the whole purpose. But without this level of clarity, this internal clarity we're talking about, I don't think you can get the next three steps we're going to cover, right? Like you've got to be willing to take the time to do this.

Jasmine Star 00:15:12  Absolutely. Amen. I often joke that for me, it's it's I kind of grew up having a hard time identifying an emotion or expressing an emotion. I'm very expressive, but for some reason, tears like I would, I would joke like, oh, I don't cry like I leak. And I think that would happen. That came out of like left field for me is when you asked me that question and I very much got choked up, like I had to pause and I said, I, I love it so much it hurts. And when you love something so much, you want the results to validate your love.

Jasmine Star 00:15:46  You want the results to validate your ability. You want the results to validate your skill. And sometimes they don't. Despite your best efforts, I think I have become a better interviewer over the years. And has the downloads reflected that? No. So what does that mean about my skill? What does that mean about me? And the internal work is deeply knowing. Jack squat. The way you interview a person, your downloads, the way that somebody assesses your skill means jack squat. Because if you're doing what you have been called to do, external factors should not impact your internal clarity. But that level of depth and knowing it and then feeling it are oftentimes at counterbalances. But this year it has been oh, man, I know who I'm serving. I'm okay. And I love where I'm at. If in the future we go higher in the rankings, well, bless. But it has nothing to do. Nor does it have an impact on what I am intended to do with my internal clarity.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:16:53  That's so good. It brings us right into the second point. External clarity, which you just said. That's who we serve, right? Who do we show up to serve? Like, if it's all internal, all us. I don't know if people are really going to resonate with it. Right. It's got to have some sort of external factor. And again, this is what we do for others, what we want others to experience by engaging with our brand, our podcast, if we're the guest, what they feel after they got to hear us on their favorite show, all these different things. Can you speak a little bit about the role that who we serve, this external clarity place?

Jasmine Star 00:17:20  I mean, yeah, I mean, I think you probably have some notes to be like, I'm gonna spill some tea about the conversations we've had, because I definitely have had an identity crisis with who I know I'm intended to serve, and then who I know is currently listening to the podcast and the business I have built.

Jasmine Star 00:17:37  So my husband and I co-founded a SaaS offering called Social Curator. And we know that we serve SMBs, and most of the people that we serve are earning in their business less than $100,000. And that is incredible. There are people in there who are making 40 or $50,000 doing something they're wildly passionate about, and they avoid a desk job, but it's not necessarily perhaps their ambition or their skill set or even like total addressable market growth capacity to do something that's over a million. And so a lot of the content that I had created early with the podcast was to serve the people who are becoming members of social curator. And then over the past year, I've really stepped into I know who I'm intended to serve, even if that is not in direct alignment to what social curator is offering. And so the separation or the divorcing of the content I'm creating on my podcast versus the funnel that's leading into a business, they had to become separated. And a lot of the content that made the podcast as popular as it was was focused on social media marketing, which is fine and it's beautiful, but it is such a small sliver of who I know I'm supposed to serve.

Jasmine Star 00:18:42  And you and I have had this conversation at the top of the year, and I'm like, I know I'm supposed to serve seven figure founders moving on to eight, and I know it beyond all knowing it. But I said, Alex, let's just do some basic math. Anybody who starts a business, anybody who starts businesses, only 4% of them will actually cross into the seven figure mark. So I'm like, so we have a very small market of potential listeners. I'm like, but beyond that I have a tendency to attract female listeners. And so if I'm going after female entrepreneurs making seven figures, that's only 0.7% of all entrepreneurs, period. I was like, Alex, you want me to say that I want to build a podcast for 0.7% of entrepreneurs and somehow make it into the top ten business category? Does anybody notice a pattern here? I keep on talking about those freaking rankings because at the top of the year I was like, rankings! And now I care. And I totally don't care.

Jasmine Star 00:19:41  I just don't care because I think we've done the work to actually say, when we build a business on the back of doing something we love podcasting, creating awareness, likability, trust funnels into whatever the offer it will be. We have to trust the process, and I'm going to close it by saying this. Alex has said, Jasmine, is there any way that you could start changing your content to start attracting the person that you want to serve, that you're currently not serving? And I said, okay, I'm going to go all in. And we said, well, how do we measure this? Right. Like how do we measure the effectiveness of the working content? How it's changing because you're going to be slashing a lot of the listeners, a lot of the listeners who are at your podcast party for social media marketing. As you start talking about strategy and operations and systematization, you're going to lose a lot of people. And boy, did I. And that's been a fun ride. Tongue in cheek.

Jasmine Star 00:20:28  However, I recently hosted a mastermind for seven figure entrepreneurs. And we have 16 people in our mastermind. And at minimum, at minimum, half of them during the interview had said. Oh, on your podcast. At minimum. And the mastermind is $25,000 on the back of changing really leaning into. I can, without a shadow of a doubt, point back hundreds of thousands of dollars to changing the content on the podcast just this year, and we're just getting started. Alex and I started meeting in around March or April of 2024. Then we had to actually change the direction of the ship, but because we had produced many podcast episodes. The actual strategy deployment of when we actually change that avatar and said we're going all in. Didn't happen until the summer. We closed registration in September for a mastermind. So you want to tell me that I'm not being popular, but I can completely cite without a shadow of a doubt people who actually use these words without being prompted, because I think that if I were to ask the people in my mind, have you listened to my podcast in the last six months? I think that the vast majority would say yes, but what they said, half of them, I could say multi six figures came back on the back of content that I had been creating.

Jasmine Star 00:21:42  And so to me, the external who I serve got very clear and I got an ROI within less than six months as on the back of that.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:21:52  Congrats Jasmine. Like so cool to fill up a mastermind like that. Like I remember seeing your initial post about it and it wasn't that long ago. Like just so cool that it just was like it clicked. And great job. That's a perfect example. On top of all that external clarity. It's funny, like, I feel like you just shined with both of these things, but where you're really going to shine to the next two pieces. So like that's internal, that's external, we're looking at. And then we kind of flip this next part. The next two points are really like around where our it's where our brand comes in. And I think that you're like you're the leading expert in this. So like the third point here is our projected clarity. This is how you're showing up, how you're wanting to show up. Right. This is the projection you want others to see.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:22:26  And I'm going to quickly say I mean no disrespect by this. I see a lot of people get this really wrong because what they want people to see is not the way they present themselves. I'm like, so what are you? Oh, I'm a founder, I'm a coach, I'm a speaker, a podcaster. I have six books. I like to play golf a lot. It's my favorite. And I have three kids that I try to spend time with. I also just picked up playing guitar and all I could hear was chaos. I'm like, that sounds like a crazy life. Might be fun, but it sounds crazy and right. And if that person wanted to kind of shift that, I'm not like saying this is perfect. But off the top of my head it'd be like, hey, I'm a father who's also a successful business owner who has learned how to prioritize my family and hobbies, and I'm teaching others to do the same. Right. Like that. That's a different way to project who you are versus I've got a crazy life.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:23:09  What do you think? Right? Because people can't really say much to that. They kind of like, oh, that sounds like everyone I know, right? We need to find a way to actually project it differently. And again, I think you've done such a good job with this. Can you speak to this point of our projected clarity?

Jasmine Star 00:23:23  Yeah. Can you can you tell me why you think I do a good job and this is not me. Like, tell me, tell me more. It's actually hard to see myself for how I'm perceived. And so when you say, I think you do this like I hear it and I humbly accept, but I would love to hear it. From your perspective, what synergies are you actually seeing?

Alex Sanfilippo 00:23:39  Jasmine, you're fishing for compliments again.

Jasmine Star 00:23:41  I mean, you know, we do this on a weekly basis. Why? Why are we pretending like we don't do this? Yeah. No, no, not at all. It's just actually a distillation because I keep going down when you point it out, then I could break it down or systematize.

Jasmine Star 00:23:50  That's the way my brain works. But, like, let me get in your head.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:23:53  Yeah. So for me, when I look at what you're doing, I go to your YouTube channel, your Instagram, like two places you're really doing really well your website, your podcast. Like, I go to these places and I see that you just understand, like being a content creator, but in the way that you're also driving a really big business and everything models that like, yes, I know you're a mother and I know that you, you work out like a lot, right? And sometimes you'll post that stuff, but it's not like the core of your brand. And sometimes I see people, they blend those things. I'm like, okay, are you a content creator or are you teaching me how to get a six pack? Like, I'm not really sure what's going on here. I don't get any of that from you. When I look at what you do. I'm like, this is someone who does help.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:24:29  Seven figure business owners go to eight figures, and she's doing it through teaching them how to build, like a great system of content. That's that's attracting who is that they're looking for? And that's just what I see when I look at your brand.

Jasmine Star 00:24:40  So the lens in which I look through, oftentimes people will introduce me for better or for worse. And I'm like, oh, this is Jasmine Star. She's an influencer and I will always take a beat. And I'm like, thank you so much. I'm actually an entrepreneur with influence. And the reason why I can really stand in that, like re-education, is that just because you have a sizable platform, it doesn't mean that the business you're building is on endorsing other people's businesses. That's what an influencer does. I don't endorse anybody's business but my own. Although this episode is brought to you by Pod Match.

Jasmine Star 00:25:10  I will say I will. Come on. Alex. Come on. I'm not going to talk about your business. I mean, here's the thing you've done.

Jasmine Star 00:25:17  You've just done really magical things with it, right? So thank you. All jokes aside, all jokes aside, I really have to understand that my business is in service of a specific person with a very specific need, and my content should only speak to that. So I believe 80% of my content should be speaking to my ideal clients pressure points, so that when that pressure just gets a little too much, that I'm the person they think of at the top of their mind. And so, sure, I might be sharing content that is 20% other things that I happen to be doing or find interesting. Which is why on any sort of social profile, you will see less than 20% of my husband, my daughter, my church activities, my yoga practice, my workout or fitness. It is mostly in service of and the other things I get to play with and test with and create the likeability factor, but maybe not the trust factor. Like you don't believe that I'm actually going to be an advisor, a consultant, or a partner who's going to transform or annex your business when you see me at the gym.

Jasmine Star 00:26:19  However, if you like to go to the gym or you aspire to go to the gym or you, you actually have an appreciation for the discipline that it takes to get to the gym. You're going to build the likeability. You might not trust me more, but I think that those types of pieces of content, 20% of your content, should build the knowing and the liking, but the trust comes from the actual content that you are using to educate or empower your followers.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:26:39  That's so good! I love that, and this goes straight into the last thing here the perceived clarity. I'm going to quickly share my mistake on both these things. In 2023, we had so many different brands. I'll do air quotes there that were associated with Pod match. We had pod match, we had our podcast, we had our virtual event, we had our industry report, we had other software companies like all these different things and ended up being, if I remember correctly, I posted it in our community. So someone watching listening to totally correct me on this, I think it.

Jasmine Star 00:27:07  Was.

Jasmine Star 00:27:07  A no. But you also posted.

Jasmine Star 00:27:08  It on on on Instagram.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:27:09  I did. You're right, I posted it everywhere. Yep. Yeah yeah. And I posted as an apology because I think we had like 11 different things going on. And I didn't realize there was a problem until I was meeting with podcasters in person in January and I had heard it. The signs were there because every time I got on a podcast, people would literally say, Alex is like the podcast guy. He does all kinds of things for podcasters, and it's so hard to keep up with everything he does. And they were saying it in a nice way, but it always bothered me. I'm like, no, that's not what I'm trying to do. And in person, it was this one person asked this question and she did it. And really, she didn't mean to be rude by saying it. It came across in my head. It's like, oh, I can't believe that. She goes, hey, I have just one question.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:27:46  I'm so confused. Alex, what do you do? And at that moment, I realized I am projecting the wrong brand, and it's being perceived in a totally different way than I want to. At that point, that's when I went and posted on social media and in our community saying, hey everybody, I am sorry. And so we've done our best to hone it in, to just pod match, because all I want to do is help serious podcast guests and those that are willing to invest in themselves. Streamline the interview process to find that next right connection and just make it happen in a really beautiful way to serve listeners. Like that's all I want to be known for, not the guy that helps you get more downloads or more reviews or any of these other things. And I realize I, I really made a mistake. In all year I've been working really hard to get back to. Okay, this is now how I'm projecting it. I can already tell you the perception is changing rapidly, fast, and the business is taking off faster than it ever has, even at launch because of doing that hard work.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:28:36  And it hurt. I'll be real. And I wanted to be public, to apologize just because I was like, confusing people.

Jasmine Star 00:28:42  So you and I, we meet every about 5 or 6 weeks, and they are, when I see them on my calendar, a moment of deep revelation. I already feel like something's coming. I also feel deep. Oh my God, Alex is going to come back and we're going to have to talk about stats again, and he's gonna see what's going on. And we always have homework at the end of our calls. And to be clear, Alex, I don't think you do consulting in this way, do you? Because I'm like, okay, right. And so I want to be very clear. Alex and I had a personal relationship, and I'm actually asking for a personal favor, and he and I are going to be working on a few other things behind the scenes. However, going into this call, I'll never forget I had to take a call in a hotel.

Jasmine Star 00:29:21  I pulled off the freeway because I couldn't get home. I brought it up on my phone and were sitting in in a hotel. And you were talking about this perceived clarity. Like, who do you serve? And you had said, jasmyne, how do you want people to introduce you? How do you want them to introduce you? Because I said I would express them like Alex, I think that people are just saying, like, I have a social media podcast, all great and amazing, but that's actually no longer who I am. And I'm being booked to speak at events, and I'm being introduced as being somebody who is a social media strategist. Again, all good things is what I had worked for. But like, I'm ready for the next chapter. I'm ready for the next title. And you said, what do you want people to say when they introduce you? And for the first time, I put two words. I want them to say, That's Jasmine star. She tenses your business.

Jasmine Star 00:30:05  And the minute it came out, it was like, ooh, what am I going to do? Make all my content? Point back to this is the process of annexing your business. And that was the first time that I was just like, oh oh 2025 ain't ready. 2025 ain't ready for this version because you give me a full 12 months of knowing who I serve, having a clear path of saying, what are we going to do with your business? Having testimonials, having proof so that my legacy, my brand, that my name on somebody else's lips comes before I even walk in the room? But that takes time. It takes effort, it takes volume, and it also takes deep integrity to your internal, your external. You're projected and you're perceived. That's just the work. And so the work that you and I have done over, you know, the past maybe six months is in direct alignment to that clarity. But it is hard. And for people who want to, like, learn more about that, because I don't even know.

Jasmine Star 00:31:03  Alex, you're putting this in your podcast, but I love this conversation and it feels very open and it's a very different look. It's very personal look. And so after it drops on your podcast, I would love to share it on my podcast. But like, where do people go when they're like, I'm ready to dive into building out my clarity. I'm ready to be a guest on podcast or to host my own podcast. Where do they go to get more clarity?

Alex Sanfilippo 00:31:25  Yeah, I mean, the first thing you have to do, like, I love that you shared all that. Jasmine, I think the very first thing you have to do is like, take a look at the whole thing holistically and start taking small steps. And that's going to take courage, right? We're not like walking in clarity. You have to be willing to take small steps. And some of you are like, okay, I'm all in. I'm starting a podcast, I'm a guest, I'm going to launch everything right? And you go right back into the thing we talked about.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:31:45  That's the hustle, subscribing to it right away. And it looks courageous because you're just doing a little bit of everything. No, it says, here's the destination. I'm gonna take one small step. I'm going to be clear along the way. And again, it means taking courage. And courage. Me is being afraid than doing what you have to do anyway. And so when I think about this, like, listen, there are tons of guides to starting a podcast. There are tons of guides to, to being a guest on a podcast. And like, listen, if you're not on pod match, pod, match.com, forward slash free, we'll give you some great initial steps. Not here to promote my own stuff, like there's no email needed or anything like that. She can tell you five things you can start doing, but at the end of the day, I just tell people to start taking the steps and put it in some sort of timeline and then get some accountability. Like Jasmine, we spend time together.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:32:25  I think of it more as a accountability. Like, listen, like I said this beforehand, I'm like, if I ever got into coaching, I have this terrible misconception that everyone's gonna be like, Jasmine, and they're just not going to. But it's because, you know, oh, in five weeks we're getting back on a call. And Alex said, this stuff isn't done. He's firing me, right. Like, yeah.

Jasmine Star 00:32:40  And so can't be fired. No.

Jasmine Star 00:32:41  Right.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:32:42  So the accountability is such a key point of this. But I think that, hey, if you're trying to do all this stuff, just get started, tell somebody in your corner and just start going for it. Beyond that, just like some rapid fire tips. And I'd love to go back and forth on this, but like, I think the very first thing you have to do is I love to say it this way, every yes has to be protected by a thousand no's. Let's just say you've committed to launching a podcast when someone's like, man, I've got this new stage, we're going to be launching this virtual event.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:33:08  Do you want to be part of it? The answer has to be no. Like, and it sucks. I'll be the first to admit that, like, I actually love speaking on stages. I have turned down more in person speeches this year than I ever have. A lot of them keynotes and it's like, oh man, this looks really fun. But I just, I know that I have to say no. And so, like, that's one of the first things I think about when it comes to clarity is we have to say no. And the other thing is, at some point, opportunity is the biggest killer of your business. Listen, everyone, I've got an opportunity for you. I'm like, yes, but my path is clear. I know where I'm going. And this opportunity is a door that if I walk through, can I come back out of it? Or does that leave me other doors? I have to go through. And again, all this brings you back to the culture of what an online brand has become in the world, which is going to get you back into the hustle and you're going to lose clarity along the way.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:33:51  Those are some of my rapid fire tips. Jasmine, I'd love to hear if you have any thoughts around that before we close up here.

Jasmine Star 00:33:56  Yeah, rapid fire tips and this is all based. I can take zero credit for this, but I will say it's been a swift kick in the pants. Alex and I have met five times, and one of the things that he had said is, Jasmine, you're not linking back to any of your old podcast episodes. So there's a there's a 99% chance that as you look at Alex's show notes. What is he going to do? He's going to link back to my two other interviews, and I didn't actually think about this until we started meeting with him. Another key tip, and that's for actually like a practitioner, like if you are a podcast host. But now let's talk about a podcast guest. And so most of the time I have only had inbound solicitations to be on podcast. But then I started realizing that I wanted to create relationships with other podcasters in the space which required me to do, for the first time ever, pitch.

Jasmine Star 00:34:39  So the team and I, we talked to Alex and I was like, we're gonna come up with this one pager, a pitch went blah, blah, blah, blah. And he said, Jasmine, can I see it before you send it out? So this is let me give you the tip that after we had spent well over 15 to 20 hours preparing my pitch, Alex says, Jasmine, that's great, but just send him a DM, send them a voice memo and say, hi, I'm Jasmine, I would love to be on your podcast. I'm going to be sending you an email. He's like, just make the intro. And I was like, dang, we could have saved 20 hours on pitching myself for a podcast by just doing a normal human emotion introduction on the back of a DM. So if you are a podcast host, you got a tip. If you are a podcast guest, you got a tip. Alex, you are all kinds of a good, good human and I know people on the back end, I obfuscated it.

Jasmine Star 00:35:22  I said, oh, Alex and I are working on things on the back end. Number one, I'm not an affiliate for pod match. If it was, I would be disclosing it. And if Alex ever decides to make that a thing, I mean, I just I don't need to be an affiliate for it because I actually believe in the product. So there's that. So anything on the back end? No, we don't have a hookup. We don't have a code. This is just two really good peers who respect each other and each other's partners and each other's businesses. And we're just having a business conversation. But more than anything, I want Alex's business to win. And if I really say that I want to connect people's businesses and I get the opportunity to work with somebody as good and kind and smart as Alex, then I hope that we look at pod match in a bit and we say we can x that. So thank you.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:35:59  Love it. Thank you Jasmine I really appreciate it.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:36:01  Before I let you go here. Any final thoughts for everybody who's tuning in.

Jasmine Star 00:36:04  Yeah. Build out a profile on pod match if you have here's the thing. You have a message and you have a purpose and podcast give you the opportunity to hone what it is they do. And I have to tell you right now, I didn't listen to Alex's five minute prep, but he framework this podcast not just for you. He thought of you, but he framed it up for himself and myself because we have to teach ourselves before we could teach other people. And we learn more by teaching others. If you want to learn more about who you are, who you serve, and your business, start talking about it. And so there's no greater way for you to do the reps than by serving other people on other platforms. And I just want to say thank you. I think you're incredible.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:36:49  Thanks, Jasmine. I really appreciate it. And you totally did my job for me today. So thank you so much, everybody for tuning in.

Alex Sanfilippo 00:36:53  And Jasmine, again, I really appreciate you. And this was this was a great time. Super fun conversation.

Jasmine Star 00:36:57  Thank you.

Rosy Shephard 00:36:58  See clarity changes everything. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you did, we'd love for you to send it to a business friend who also needs to hear it. Until next time.