The Jasmine Star Show

The Secret to Building Influence—One Person at a Time with Jen Gottlieb

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PR expert Jen Gottlieb built one of the most influential networks in business—and she did it with one simple mindset: Help One Person Every Day (aka HOPE). In this episode, Jen shares how generosity, not gimmicks, skyrocketed her success and breaks down her tactical “Top 20” strategy to land media, sales, or anything you want in just 20 days.

If you're ready to grow your network and your business—without spending a dime—this conversation is your roadmap. Let’s go!

Click play to hear all of this and:

[00:45] Why "HOPE" Is the Most Important Framework Jen Uses to Grow Her Business

[01:43] How Helping Just One Person Daily Creates Ripple Effects in Your Network

[03:14] Where Helping Turns into Relationships—and Relationships Turn into Opportunities

[03:33] Jen’s “Top 20” Strategy That Gets You Anything You Want in 20 Days

[04:10] Why You Must Be Brave Enough to Take Action (Even When It’s Scary)

🎧 Listen to the full episode with Jen Gottlieb, How to Get Anything You Want in 20 Days, >>HERE<<

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Connect With Jen Gottlieb:

Jen Gottlieb is the co-founder of Super Connector Media, a powerhouse PR and visibility firm that helps entrepreneurs get media exposure and build their personal brand through genuine connection. A former Broadway actress turned entrepreneur, Jen is known for her practical frameworks, contagious energy, and relentless belief in the power of helping others.

Follow Jen on Instagram: @jen_gottlieb

Learn more: superconnectormedia.com

📧 Join my Newsletter for a weekly cocktail of insider business strategy, personal reflections, and the journey of being a thought leader: https://jasminestar.com/newsletter 📧

For full show notes, visit jasminestar.com/podcast/episode558

Rosie Shephard 00:00:00  I'm Rosie. Customer success manager at social Curator, and you're about to hear one of the most actionable and inspiring conversations we've ever shared on The Jasmine Star Show. Jasmine sits down with PR expert and powerhouse entrepreneur Jen Gottlieb. And what starts as a conversation about growing your business quickly becomes a masterclass in authentic connection, generosity, and influence. You'll learn Jen's deceptively simple framework h o p e, which stands for Help One Person Every Day, and how that mindset led her to create real, lasting relationships that skyrocketed her business, her media presence, and her network. If you've ever wondered how to grow your business without being salesy, pushy, or spending a dime on ads, this episode is for you. Let's dive in.

Jen Gottlieb 00:00:45  This is the most important conversation that I've had in a really, really long time, because I'll go on a lot of podcasts and people will never ask me about this. And this is the if you want to know how to build your business in the most authentic way, that doesn't cost any money, and that doesn't really take a hell of a lot of energy because it's just genuine.

Jen Gottlieb 00:01:01  It's four letters h o p. Hope help one person every day. That's it. It is so simple. And if I make it too big, if I'm like, oh, I gotta do all these things. I gotta reach out to 25 people and I gotta, you know, make, make a whole big deal about it, then I won't do it. But if it's so simple as think about one person I can help every single day and just reach out to that person and figure out how I can, I can serve them. Most of the time it's not even asking them how they want to be served, but most of the time it's like getting a little creative and figuring out what would Jazmin want right now? Like, how can I help her? Does she have a podcast episode launching that I could share and review and like, does she have a book coming out? Does she have a course that's launching could I help? Just like screenshot it and share it on my IG for absolutely no reason.

Jen Gottlieb 00:01:43  Just a random act of service. Think about how you can help one person every day, and not only will that bring along this beautiful thing called the law of reciprocity. So when I help you, you're going to just genuinely want to help me because it's like a law of the universe. You know, when someone helps you, you want to help them back. But also what that does is it makes you feel good when you help somebody else. You cannot not feel good. It's impossible. So then you're like, oh, that felt good. I want to take another little action step. That feels good. So what else can I do? Can I help somebody else? And that's how you create Win-Win relationships. That's how you broaden your network. And that is how you make steps forward in your business. That's it. Like, if you only do that thing, you will grow your business exponentially.

Jasmine Star 00:02:24  okay. So Jen's dropping bombs. And guess what, y'all? That was simple. Hope help one person every day.

Jasmine Star 00:02:32  No, I said I was good. I was gonna put hope, I was, I spelled hope did, I was homeschooled. Leave me alone. Help one person every day. Yeah, that is absolutely incredible. Okay, so let's take this a little bit further. Let's tap here for one second because I want to give people practical tips like immediately following this podcast, people will help one person on that day. And then let's just multiply it by a month or by two months. And over time you will have helped maybe 60 people. Or maybe you'll help 30 people twice. Whatever, whatever your rubric will become. Yeah. What? What then? Like how then do you start figuring out where does help turn into relationships? And then where do. Relationships turned into like business opportunities? Yeah.

Jen Gottlieb 00:03:14  So I would start with the hope. Well I'm going to back up a little bit. I'm going to give you guys even a more tactical, unbelievable tool that will 100% get you or anybody that's listening, absolutely anything that you want in 20 days with just using your internal relationship.

Jasmine Star 00:03:29  Okay. I'm dying. I'm so excited. You're so good. This is ridiculous. Okay, okay. Let's go.

Jen Gottlieb 00:03:33  Actionable steps. Yes. Talk about all day long. And that's great. But, like, if I can give you an if someone can give me an actionable step, I'm like, man, if I can do this. Yes. Okay.

Jasmine Star 00:03:42  Yes.

Jen Gottlieb 00:03:43  This is called the top 20. And we get whenever we teach this. I get messages almost every day of people that are like, I did the top 20. It worked. I got what I wanted, but the key is, is that you actually have to do it and you can get a lot of noise and it can get kind of scary when you start to reach out to people and ask for help and stuff like that. So what I say is that if you want this to work. You actually have to be brave and you have to take scary action steps and you just have to do it. So, Jasmine, are you in? Are you going to do this?

Jasmine Star 00:04:10  I'm going to do it, okay.

Jasmine Star 00:04:11  Like I'm going to do this.

Jen Gottlieb 00:04:11  I'm telling you, if you do this, you'll get whatever you want, whether that's media. So, you know, our business is PR or media. So it's a way to get media relationships, make sales, get a boyfriend I don't know. Whatever you want. You can figure it out and you can use this tool.

Jasmine Star 00:04:24  Okay.

Jen Gottlieb 00:04:25  Okay.

Jasmine Star 00:04:25  So come on.

Jen Gottlieb 00:04:26  You're going to you have an imaginary piece of paper listeners, if you got paper out, you take a piece of paper. You make four columns one, two, three, four. The first column you put 20 like just a 20 on top. And what you're going to do is you're going to do a dump list of 20 people that could possibly help you in getting what you want, or connect you to somebody that can get you what you want. So whatever that is. So let's say that it is you want to get featured in the media. This is how we teach. So let's say you want to get featured in Forbes okay.

Jen Gottlieb 00:04:55  So you're going to list 20 people. And your first thought a lot of people are always like, God, I don't know, 20 people. Yes. You know, 20 people, I promise. Open up your Facebook, open up your contacts and your phone. And don't just think about people in your entrepreneurial circle. Think about people like your cousins, your kids, parents, friends, your next door neighbor, your parents, anybody in your life that could possibly know, someone that could connect you to somebody at Forbes? Cool. Then you're going to just dump those people on a piece of paper. So in your second column, you're going to rate those people on a scale of 1 to 10 on how influential they are now, not how influential they are and how many Instagram followers they have. But how influential are they in helping you get what you want? So let's say one of your friends is the editor in chief at Forbes. Holy crap, they would be a ten on how influential they are.

Jen Gottlieb 00:05:47  Let's say your friend is, you know, friends with somebody that works at Forbes. They're a writer, so maybe that's like a six or a five. Okay, then in the next column, that same person, you're going to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 on how likely they are to help you. So if it's your mom or your best friend or somebody you're super close to that you've provided a lot of value for in the past. They're going to be higher on the 1 to 10 scale. If it's somebody that maybe you just met in passing that you don't really know, but you kind of know, or maybe somebody that you're friends with on social media but you haven't really spoken to. They're going to be a little bit lower. Then you're going to add up those scores, the influential score and the how likely are they to help you score. And you're going to get a number okay. And then you're going to sort those numbers or those people.

Jasmine Star 00:06:30  And that's in the fourth column.

Jen Gottlieb 00:06:32  In the fourth column. God, you're still with me.

Jasmine Star 00:06:35  I'm with you.

Jen Gottlieb 00:06:36  Okay, good. You're going to sort them in descending order, which means the easiest people to contact, the people with the highest scores. They're at the top. And the people that are a little bit harder. They're going to be at the bottom. Cool. Then for 20 days, you're going to reach out to one person per day. Now the people at the top of the list, this is the key. They're going to be a lot easier to ask for help because they're people that, you know, they're high on the level high scores. Right? They're going to be like your mom, your sister, or your best friend or somebody that you've helped a lot. So you can go straight out and be like, hey, do you know someone at Forbes? Or could you connect me to that person at Forbes? Or, hey, I have an amazing idea for an article at Forbes. You can go straight out for the ask, but the people lower on the list.

Jen Gottlieb 00:07:19  You're going to have to create that relationship. Now, what do we do to create relationships? Figure out how you can help them.

Jasmine Star 00:07:26  I was going to say hope. I want to be the valedictorian of this conversation. Okay, so forget.

Jen Gottlieb 00:07:31  I said anything. Jasmine. What are you going to do to those people at the bottom of the list?

Jasmine Star 00:07:36  I am going to help one person each day, and I'm going to reach out to them for the first 20, for the first 19 days to see if I can help them before I ask for something on day 2,100%.

Jen Gottlieb 00:07:46  You are such a good student. Yes. Yes.

Jasmine Star 00:07:49  Okay, this is just ridiculous. So what I like to do is I like to mirror to ensure that I didn't miss anything. So we started with the foundation. And this is like a life principle foundation. Not just business, but that's hope. Help one person every day. And then I said, okay, Jen, but actually, how do we actually put this into motion? To which she brilliantly responds, let's go into this.

Jasmine Star 00:08:10  What are we calling this, the 20 top 20.

Jen Gottlieb 00:08:12  This is.

Jasmine Star 00:08:12  The top. Top 20 are the top 20 poll. Great. So in column one, I am going to list 20 people who I think could help me get the thing that I want. In column number two, I am going to rank how likely they are to help me get the thing that I want. In column number three, I'm going to rank how likely they are to actually help me.

Jen Gottlieb 00:08:34  How influential they are.

Jasmine Star 00:08:36  Oh how influential. Oh that's it. Thank you. Thank you for the clarity. Yeah. And then the fourth column is a sum of that number. And I'm going to put the largest number on top. Yes. Right. I'm going to start with the person who's most likely to help me. And I'm going to work my way down to person number 20 on the list. But because I think that they're the least likely to help me, I will use the first 19 days to find ways to give to them before I ask for something?

Jen Gottlieb 00:09:06  That's right.

Jasmine Star 00:09:07  Hey, girl. That's them. See? You're just smart. I love this. I love it. I feel like we could just like, we're like, okay, that was the podcast.

Rosie Shephard 00:09:15  Ladies and gentlemen, we're done.

Jasmine Star 00:09:17  This is great. This is great. So, do you have any, like, real success stories from people who do this?

Jen Gottlieb 00:09:21  Oh, my gosh, I have my own success story.

Jasmine Star 00:09:23  Do you want to tell me?

Jen Gottlieb 00:09:24  Yeah, that I actually use I did it. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do the top 20, I'm going to use it, and I'm going to try to get something. So I did it. I did it a little small because I was like, I'm going to do an experiment and see if this works. So I really wanted to get into well and good when I was a health coach. And this is when I first learned about this top 20 tool. Chris actually taught it to me and well and good. I don't know if you know it.

Jen Gottlieb 00:09:45  It's a blog. It's like a wellness blog. It's amazing. And I was like, that would be a perfect place for me to be. So I'm going to list out 20 people that I know that could possibly connect me to somebody well and good, or get me in well and good, or could help me. And I had met briefly at an event one of the writers at Well and Good, and so she was like, right at the top of my list. I'm like, all right, here we go. Now, at the influential level, she's a ten because she's a writer at well and good. But on the. How likely is she to help me level. I would say she was like a 2 or 3. I briefly met her. I didn't know her that well. I've never really done anything for her. And we had like a two minute long conversation. So if I were to just cold pitch her like, hey, what's up? I have an idea. I would be like 20 other thousand people.

Jen Gottlieb 00:10:30  I mean, I don't even know how many emails they get with pitches, so why would she listen to me? So what do I have to do? I have to provide value for her. And I'm like, all right, what can I do for this girl? Let me think. What are the things that I know about her? And in that brief conversation, I listened. So that's another thing you got to listen when people talk. I was listening and paying attention, and the few things that I learned about her was she was a single girl living in New York City, and she was writing a book. So I was like, all right. I was a single girl living in New York City at one point in time in my life, what did I want? And I wanted friends. I wanted things to do. I wanted to go out, I wanted Connection and, you know, have places to go. So I could possibly meet somebody. And then I was like, all right, and she's writing a book.

Jen Gottlieb 00:11:12  So then I thought, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to create a brunch, a girls brunch in New York City. And I have a friend that works at hay House, which is a book publishing company, and she's single and lives in New York. And I'm going to invite the girl from Well and Good, invite the girl from hay House, invite a couple of other women and have a lovely brunch and connect everybody and provide massive value for everyone involved. Now you may be thinking, Holy Jen. Like that's a lot to do for like one little thing, but this is long game stuff. I'm looking to make real relationships with people because not she's not just going to get me into well and good. Hopefully I'll make a relationship that could help me in so many other ways, and I could help her, and it could be a win win and we could introduce each other to other people. So I throw a brunch. It's easy. It took like two seconds. I made.

Jasmine Star 00:11:58  Her okay. I'm a storyteller. Jen, tell me, where was this brunch?

Jen Gottlieb 00:12:01  Cafe Clover. Downtown in the West Village. It's super cute. Like organic farm to table restaurant.

Jasmine Star 00:12:07  Okay. And so like so so you in New York describe like, what are you guys wearing? Not because I want to know labels, but because I want like I want to get this in my mind. Like I want to host a brunch. And I just feel like I'm so awkward. I would just, like, die and be, like, sweaty, pitted and be like, oh, no one's going to show up to this brunch. Like literally set the scene for me because I'm dying with these details. So you host the brunch. I'm assuming you get there a little bit early. Yes, but. And then what do people wear?

Jen Gottlieb 00:12:33  This is not a big brunch like the dinner you were at. I literally it was five girls, so it was very small. And I like just sent out an email.

Jen Gottlieb 00:12:42  I was like, I really just want to get to know you guys and do a nice, fun girls brunch. What was I wearing? I have a picture of this outfit.

Jasmine Star 00:12:48  And you send it to me so we can put it in the show notes. I will. Okay, okay, okay.

Jen Gottlieb 00:12:53  I'm wearing this little, like, blue and white romper. I remember, I like I'm just thinking about the picture. I invited Angela, my best friend. I invited the girl from her house. I invited the girl from well and good. And the girl from Well and good was wearing a yellow dress. I'll send you the picture.

Jasmine Star 00:13:06  Okay. A very New York brunch. Okay. Okay.

Jen Gottlieb 00:13:08  Exact image of what you would think. Like a girls New York City casual brunch at, like, a farm to table restaurant would be.

Jasmine Star 00:13:14  And isn't that. I love this.

Jen Gottlieb 00:13:16  I legitimately went on OpenTable and made a reservation for 4 or 5 people, and then I sent them all an email and I invited them and we showed up.

Jen Gottlieb 00:13:24  It wasn't like a big production. It was just easy. And we all came. Had the most amazing time. Not once did I say, I have an idea for a well and good article. Not once. I just had fun. I just figured, oh, I was like introducing the to all the ladies and making sure we all, like, could help each other. And we didn't even it wasn't even that organized. It was legitimately let's talk about boys. Let's talk about outfits. Let's talk about makeup. I don't know whatever you got going on in your life. And then we had a great time. Skip to like a week later. The writer from Well and Good. I'm not using her name because I don't know if she wants to be mentioned or not. Right. Sends me an email and says, Jen, I had the most amazing idea for an article and I would love for you to be part of it.

Jasmine Star 00:14:05  Boom.

Jen Gottlieb 00:14:05  So then boom. So like a month later, I'm published in Well and Good.

Jen Gottlieb 00:14:09  I got what I wanted from the top 20, but not only did I just get what I wanted because I have a friend. Now, now she is a genuine friend, right? And I own a PR agency now, so whenever I want to get my clients in, well good luck. This is a long, long, long, long, long game. Now you have a great connection there. So you may think like, God, that's a lot of energy to to do all of that for one thing, but it's so worth it in the end. And we always say the extra mile is never crowded nowadays with social media and Instagram, it's so easy to just DM and like, stay behind the screen and not go the extra mile and not make real life relationships, but the things that move the needle forward. And what I've noticed for me always are the real, in-person, deep relationships. Jasmine, we could have dmed all day long, and we wouldn't have the relationship that we have if we didn't meet at that dinner and we didn't do the connection, and that's what it's about.

Jasmine Star 00:15:02  I absolutely am like smitten with this. And I think that you're a living example. And one thing is like, I would change the narrative because you said it might sound like so much work to do, and it was quite the opposite for me. And maybe it's just how how I'm hardwired. I'm like, that sounds like a lot of fun. Like it doesn't sound like it's super intimidating. I could absolutely reach out to 3 or 4 other people in my neck of the woods and say, hey, let's go to brunch. Like, that's doable. And I feel like it's really authentic and genuine to me, which makes me feel empowered that I can actually do something, find ways to help, and then play the long game. So I love that.

Rosie Shephard 00:15:36  Yeah, that was pure gold, right? Jen reminded us that real success doesn't come from a viral post or a magic funnel. It comes from serving others, showing up, and building meaningful relationships one person at a time. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend, post it to your stories or let us know your biggest takeaway? We love hearing what you're implementing and cheering you on as you grow.

Rosie Shephard 00:16:00  Until next time, go help one person today and remember the extra mile is never crowded.