
Loading summary
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You literally became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model from a LinkedIn post. That is a crazy thing to say out loud. It is.
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I never accepted that being sick was something negative for me. I always used it to inspire people to get through it. The number one mistake I see creators making is they'll say, I want a talent manager because I know that it's going to get me more brand deals. That's the biggest lie I've ever heard.
A
Oh my God, the amount of people, sorry, this is really about to me. Cause I get these DMs all the time that I'm like, courtney, I really wanna build a personal brand. I say, okay, start posting. They say, well, I need to know what my niche is first.
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Like, bitch, you don't need to know
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what your niche is. Welcome to Built in Public. I am your host, Courtney Johnson. I've been a full time content creator and a personal brand strategist for seven years. And I really built my career sharing the process, not just the outcomes of personal brand. Built in Public is about what it actually looks like to build a brand, a business, and to build real leverage in the creator economy. We're talking strategy systems, audience growth, monetization, and that uncomfortable middle ground between. I have an idea. And this is actually working. I'll be sharing what I'm testing, what's working, what's not. And I'm going to be bringing on people who are building their careers and companies out loud too. If you want honest conversations, practical insight and zero bs, you are in the right place. Let's build in public. A lot of people think that when you're starting a personal brand, you need a clear niche or a strategy or the perfect framework or formula before you actually start. But what if your niche is literally just sharing your life? Today's guest, Gigi Robinson, has built an incredible personal brand by doing just that. Sharing her authentic life. She became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model from a single LinkedIn post. Y', all, Gigi is one of the coolest women I have ever met. And today we're diving into the exact strategies that she used to build her personal brand and attract insane opportunities without the perfect niche or a massive, massive audience. So if you ever feel like you don't want to confuse people or you don't have a perfect, clear niche, this is the episode for you. Let's dive in. Welcome, Gigi. Ah. I can't believe I'm like, seeing you in person. I know. I feel like we've been crossing paths on the Internet for so long, we
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don't even need an introduction. Like, we're already friends. That's how I feel.
A
I already feel like I know you and I've met you a million times. And welcome to Austin.
B
Thank you.
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You're here for South By.
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I am. I took off my badge, which is like, I don't know.
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They're cute.
B
The badge is cute.
A
They're cute.
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I, like, want to put it in a frame on my wall. Maybe I will.
A
It's so fun. Yeah. And what are you speaking?
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I am hosting an event. So technically, yes, speaking, I'm here with a brand and I'm going to be like a journalist for them this entire time doing top secret industry reporting and reporting back to them.
A
Love that you are one of those people that just really lives an inbound life. Like, you're always getting opportunities. Cool shit is always coming to you. And I really want to break down how, how you've created that. So when you think back to when you first started building your personal brand, how did you know what to do? Like, where did you start? When were you, like, all right, it's time. I'm officially going to start building my personal brand.
B
If I'm being honest, I think I started in my teenage years. I originally was a photographer and that's what I did. As you know, we get more into my story. I found photography when I got really sick as a kid and it was a creative outlet. Essentially. My doctors said, gigi, you have to stop competitive swimming. And because if you don't, you're going to quite literally, like, destroy your shoulders and you'll need surgery very soon. So I gave that up, decided I want to find a way to channel that competitive energy. And I just started being creative. And I'm like, when you're competitive with yourself, when you're a creative person, literally there is no limit to what you can do. So I decided photography was my thing. I started applying to competitions. But to apply to a competition, you need a portfolio. And so when I was like, I don't know, 12 or 13, here I was in Squarespace getting my domain, which actually, fun fact, my name is Gabrielle. So Gabrielle RobinsonPhotography.com is like in the archives with all of my old photos. And then I would send them out, submit to local, regional, national, and then international competitions. And I did really well. And then that made up my college portfolio, so on and so forth.
A
And okay, so you are winning these competitions, you're realizing, okay, this is what it is to set up my website, to have my face, to have probably your accolades, like, the competitions, wanted to know what else you had won, what awards you had gotten, all of that, who you had shot for, whatever. So now you're in high school, college. Are you starting to continuing to post your photography? Is that the angle?
B
So that was the angle until I got to us, which is where I went to college. So fight on to any Trojans out there.
A
Go Trojans. Yeah, go Trojans.
B
But I joined this club called USC Reach. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's a club on campus that was founded by YouTubers and, like, Facebook influencers back in the day. And we're talking 2016. So this was the time where creating square videos for Facebook ads and, like, whitelisted Facebook ads was a really big thing. And I knew I was great at production and photography, so I joined the club. And my intention was to become the best photographer for brands who needed branded photos or videos for social media. That was my plan. But what happened was that one day someone didn't show up for a shoot, so I decided to just step in front of the camera. I knew how to do self portraits. And then they were like, do you want to post it? And I was like, okay. And they're like, okay, here's some extra money. And I was like, oh, you're all making money with this. And this was literally like, 2016 or 2017.
A
What was the video about?
B
It was Hint Water. So Hint Water used to do these, like. I mean, I'm sure they still do, but these whitelisted, like, skit videos. And it was just really fun. We did like, a one for Hint Fizz, Hint Watermelon, Hint Cherry. It was just, like, such a time. And through that, it also opened the doors to me to start doing brand ambassador programs as a college student. And when I say brand ambassador, I don't mean these, like, affiliate programs, which is what they've kind of morphed into. I mean, field marketing. I mean, hosting events. I mean, popping up randomly at a bar or coordinating a custom ice luge for a brand like Tinder and throwing a tailgate for, you know, 2,000 students, just getting them to download the app. And that was really my start. And so I did quickly become known as, like, the influencer girl on campus. Uh, I will say Olivia Jade was there at the same time as me, so, you know, not to step on her toes, but. No, it was. It was just incredible. I think being in LA and being at USC from 2017 to 2020 was, like, instrumental to where I am now.
A
Yeah. Okay. So you graduate college.
B
Yeah.
A
Now what are you. Are you doing? You're still working with brands, you're posting
B
about brands, so obviously. And I don't wanna like date myself or be like, I'm young, I'm old, I'm 27. So six years ago, literally almost to the day, I was sent home from school because of COVID Yeah. And so I get sent home.
A
So you were like a senior.
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I was a senior. Literally had my internship with Warner Bros. And then an internship with Paramount lined up for the summer. And I was like, I'm gonna be the best at corporate social media. I could do content on sets. And this was also the time where I think guy on a guy with a movie camera was getting really popular. And I was like, oh my God, like that's really. Would love to do that. And I was already a TikTok ambassador, so I figured like, this is gonna be my future in entertainment. I just got internships at the two. The two best studios to work at. Covid happens. I get sent home. The internships are like, sorry, we're done. And they did pay out, which was nice. But like, it was not that on set experience that I really had wanted. And at the time I was on LinkedIn and when I worked with Warner Bros. I actually friend requested or connection request the team, the two CEOs of. Or CEO and co founder of Movers and Shakers, which is a TikTok marketing agency. I think they've since exploded. They have over a hundred employees now, which is wild. And I just like attended their webinars literally as like a senior in college, desperate to just learn. And a couple, I think days after I attended the first webinar, I got an email for the second one. So I attended the second one. And then a couple days after that I got an email from one of the co founders saying, do you want a job? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I do want a job. And this was right after, like, I just come off of like Warner and like hearing the news about Paramount. For my summer internships that I'd worked so hard to get, I did maybe like four or five hundred resumes that year. I was crazy. Like genuinely like an Excel sheet you had to scroll on. And then I worked with them and that opened my eyes to what creators were getting paid. Because that was peak Covid. That was 2020. That was TikTok dance challenges, hashtag challenges, top screen ads, brands, licensing, original music for dance challenges. And then also just seeing like how these creators are being involved with the briefs, how they're building their own media companies. And that was in 2020. So I can't believe that it's been six years since that. But that opened my eyes to be like, I'm never working for someone else ever. Wow. And I told my parents.
A
What did they say?
B
Well, I was living at home at the time and I just kind of said like, can I do this? And they were like, as long as by the time you're 26, you can afford your health insurance and rent, we don't care what you do. I was like, okay, cool. Deal.
A
Okay, yeah, got it.
B
Yeah. So that's the. The rest is history.
A
Wow. Okay. So you decide you're never working for anybody again. What was your next step?
B
So I had worked for. Right. Right after I say I'm never working for anybody ever. I was like temp for movers and shakers over the summer instead of, you know, doing my Paramount internship. And then I did freelance for a company called the likewise app, which is like a book and TV show recommendation platform. So it's like, if you like the show Yellowstone, you'll like this show. So I was doing short form content for them also. Seeing budgets, seeing things like that. And then there was this one moment where I realized that the ad that I had made for them, working for them as an employee, did better than the content creators ad. So I was like, oh, I just have to do this for myself. I also enrolled in a master's degree program at usc. So I did get my master's remotely instead of moving out and spending money on rent in New York. Because why would I do that during COVID if I had proximity by living with my parents and I had a space and it was incredible. So I founded my LLC and I just got to the grind. That was it. That really was it.
A
So it was a big aha moment when you realize, like, oh, they're paying these creators. But actually the content that I made performed better than them.
B
Yeah. Which is validating in and of itself to say, I can do this full time and what's the harm in letting a brand boost your content? And that's actually been something that's been an advantage for me this entire past six years. Because as I talk to more and more creators, they're all stingy about, I need this usage. Right. I need, you know, boosting fees and attendance fees and all of this stuff. And I'm like, do you want to build a long term relationship? Yes. Okay. So then you do what you need to do to maintain that relationship with the brand. Obviously, don't let them take advantage of you. But I don't think there's much harm in letting a brand boost your content if it's going to get you a better result in the end. It'll also make you that much more, like, rebookable, like as a repeat booking, which a lot of creators don't get. So that's something I learned early on. And I always love giving brands boosting and. Or I use it in my negotiations where I'll essentially say, oh, okay, if you can't do this, you know, boost it instead. Or like, if you can't pay us what we want, just boost it and include our affiliate link. So I just do these little tricks and I think it stayed with me since the very beginning.
A
Yeah, there's a few things you do differently. I think that's a huge difference. And I love this because I think our audience can see that there's many ways to build a personal brand and many ways to monetize a personal brand. It does not have to be this super clear path of like, you get a manager and then you start this thing, whatever. So you also don't have management. You self manage?
B
Yeah.
A
Why did you make that choice?
B
I have tried management a couple of times and I personally did not feel like it was the best decision for me. But if it comes down to your work ethic and also how you manage your business. And the number one mistake I see creators making is they'll say, I want a talent manager because I know that it's going to get me more brand deals. That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. And just because you have a manager doesn't mean you'll get rebooked, doesn't mean you'll get booked. It doesn't mean you'll get more opportunities. You could, but it doesn't mean that you will. And so in my experience, I just realized that I was the best person to position myself. And unless I was directly working with somebody every single day to know my brand like the back of my hand, they would never be able to pitch me the way that I genuinely wanted to be pitched or in a way that I know sells. And what I do best, in my opinion, is crafting an original narrative. I don't want to be on a campaign for, you know, a brand's new lip gloss. I want to be on a campaign with a brand's new lip gloss. But I want to be getting ready to go speak on a stage somewhere and documenting my final touch up before I'm going on the stage and then after I'm putting it on right before I take my speaker photo. That's the kind of original storytelling that you would never get in a traditional get Ready with me video from a makeup brand. And so you may say like, well, you do creator, economy, content. Why would you work with a makeup brand? Well, I could. And that's the advantage of me pitching myself versus if you box yourself in working with a specific category of management, for example, lifestyle will, you know, get lifestyle brands or tech will get all this like B2B business. That's a great thing. But at the end of the day, I'm getting invited to fashion events, beauty events, like B2B events, conferences like this, approached by all different kinds of brands. Literally yesterday I was on a call with a brand or an agency and they had said our clients include Honda and I think it was Chantical, which is like a bougie makeup brand. And I was like, oh, okay, yeah, I have two ideas. Easy, let's do it.
A
For both of them? Yeah, for both.
B
And that's just showing you the range. Like everybody always says, like, oh, niche down. I think niching down and getting a manager in. And again, this is my experience. Some people love management. I have friends that have made hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in revenue working with management. It's just not the right fit for me. And then the one other thing I wanted to say is most creators don't think about management as a business decision. They think about it as a visibility decision. And if you're looking at your actual numbers, if you're hitting that 100k6 figure creator range, that's great. But let us not forget about taxes. So take away 30% and let us not forget about the talent Manager. It's another 20%. Is 50k enough to live in major cities in the U.S. it's not. And so even if you're hitting that six, like six figure range, it just doesn't mean that your talent manager is actually going to bring you revenue. So unless they score you that, you know, 20% of whatever you're making and they make up for it, I just don't always think it's the smartest business move and financial move. And I just don't think enough creators are viewing their content business as a business. And that's the problem.
A
So you talked a little bit about niches. Why do you think it's a bad idea to niche down?
B
It's a bad idea. Mostly because you just, you box yourself in. Like I just said, I could be on a call talking to a car manufacturer and a beauty brand. What other creator can do that? There's a few I can think of off the top of my head, but a lot of people just want to do beauty. And at some point you're going to max out on working with all your competitors and you may get rebookings, but you also may not. And there's only a finite amount of brands within the beauty industry that I think are doing really successful creator marketing. So I just think if you're able to work with a brand like LinkedIn, but then you're also able to work with a brand like Unilever or Spotify or what other brands have I worked with recently that are just like, bizarre? Like Hatch.
A
What's Hatch?
B
Like the. Like sleep alarm clocks. Yeah. Or like Apple Fitness. Right. Like. Like having the range is going to get you farther and more opportunities will come up. And I just posted this video this morning about how I literally bought my tickets for this event. I paid out of pocket for it, and I was like, I don't know, universe, show me what you got. You know? And at the end of it, it's like, the brands I'm working with here are like Adobe, Spotify and Unilever. Like, what a range. It's so big. And it wouldn't have happened if I didn't position myself as simply a thought leader, able to craft and create stories no matter the niche. So that's. That's why I don't believe in niching.
A
Yeah. I mean, I think it makes you boring, to be honest. Like, if you just talk about beauty, you are not going to be different than. Yeah, there's nothing different about you. Ye. Like, genuinely, if you only talk about beauty.
B
Yeah.
A
Now, if you talk about beauty, but you also talk about how you're a teacher who's obsessed with beauty and now you're doing your get ready with me in the classroom and it's really cool. And you talk about edgy. Like, that's what makes you really interesting.
B
Yeah.
A
Just. And oh my God, the amount of people, sorry, this really bugs me because I get these DMs all the time. The amount of people that I'm like, courtney, I really want to build a personal brand. I say, okay, start posting. They say, well, I need to know what my niche is first. I'm like, bitch, you don't even know what your niche is. You're not going to know your niche until. Until a lot of years down the road. Because also, a niche is not necessarily topical. A niche could be something more, like, energetic. Like, again, your niche is storytelling. Yeah. You're figuring out that you can tell stories in your unique way across multiple different channels. You probably would have never sat out and said, I'm gonna. My niche is storytelling. And that's. No, it wouldn't have made sense. Like, yeah, same. I. If I would have started out only talking about marketing.
B
Right.
A
It would be so fucking boring.
B
So boring.
A
And now my niche is, like, personal brand mindset. Yeah.
B
And another thing I always love talking about is, like, you become the niche yourself. You yourself are the niche, and that makes you hireable. That makes you able to become an author, a speaker, a creator, a director, whatever you want. It's all about your personality. And, like, you're the center. Become your own solar system.
A
Yeah.
B
When you do that, you're the sun. All of your different interests are the planets, like, orbiting around you. And from there, that's where, like, all of these vast opportunities can just come from.
A
Yeah. Another objection I get from people a lot is like, oh, well, I don't want to confuse my audience. And I promise you're not going to confuse your audience. I always use the example of, like, Selena Gomez. Selena Gomez is like, singing, acting. She talks about lupus. She talks about her faith. She talks about relationships. She cooks, has cooking, makeup, rare, beauty, a nonprofit, all of these different things. And nobody's confused by Selena Gomez. It makes perfect sense because it's all through the channel of her and her energy and her passions.
B
Exactly. And earlier this year, I kind of felt like I came to a crossroads because on my Instagram and TikTok accounts, for the longest time, it was all about chronic illness, being, you know, a creator in New York City. And it was really lifestyle. And about two years ago, I really started going ham on the creator economy stuff. And over time, I realized my audience is just not receptive to this. So part of it is being strategic about what you're talking about and where, but also knowing and having the courage to start fresh. Which is why I started Host of Influence. I was like, I need a dedicated space that is just creator economy and, like, business mindset, creator professional development. And that's what I'm doing with Host of Influence. Everything on my personal page is sourdough. It's being a dog mom. It's traveling.
A
It's.
B
Yes. Some speaking stuff. But guess what? Now I have two accounts, essentially two sex of my personal. Oh, my God, sext. S E C T s just making that clear. Everyone. Okay. Two separate lanes of my business and I could just collab post them. Who cares? Everybody does that. And guess what? It's more valuable to a brand because I have more followers, a more engaged audience and I can say, look, now I could do a micro influencer partnership with the host of Influence stuff, or I could do a more macro influencer partnership on the Gigi Robinson stuff, or we can combine them and make it even better. And it's visibility and clients for my host of Influence brand. And then for the Gigi brand, it's kind of just, you know, another brand under the belt.
A
Yeah. What was your first big win from personal Brand? Like the first time you got that inbound message where you were like, holy fuck, I can't believe this is happening.
B
Yeah, it was also. It was during COVID and I was just being myself as a content creator. I think obviously getting verified like the old fashioned way through press, the thrill of getting your first press featured, like, there's nothing like that. Right now I have a spreadsheet that goes hundreds of lines down with all of my press that I've ever had. And I'm really proud of myself not only for having that database to pull from literally forever, but it also just reminds me of where I started. Like the first publication I was ever in that nobody's really heard of, that was a local LA newspaper, Even the Daily Trojan at USC to now where it's like, oh, I'm in Forbes this week, I'm in Digiday this week, Ad Week that week. And it's just like, whoa, that's crazy. But after that, I think a team at Meta saw my work in Business Insider and they reached out to me to be on a panel for Advertising Week. And that was my first speaking gig. And it was a virtual gig during COVID And that had happened really seemingly overnight. But it wasn't. It was. It was all this ripple effect that I don't even wanna say I'd been working towards. I don't think I'm ever working towards something except like competing with myself to serve more and to help more people and to just help. Yeah, help people do better in the world. Whatever it is that I'm talking about or doing, it's to help and inspire other people to do better. So I didn't really care. I've never really cared about what the opportunity is. It's what comes from the opportunity that I really care about.
A
So first big opportunity was your first official speaking gig. That's awesome.
B
I Think so.
A
When did the opportunity for your book come?
B
The book was about three years ago, almost to the date. So it was like late December 2022. Right. When I had my endometriosis surgery. And I was talking a lot about that on the Internet. I think a friend of mine, Brandon Farbstein, really incredible disability advocate, wrote a kid's book about self love. And I had seen it. I had.
A
It's from the same, like, series, right?
B
Yeah, the same series. So the catalog has, like, hundreds of books at this point. A kid's book about, blah, blah, blah. You name it, there's so many. And I just hit the founder up, and I was like, hey, I really love what you're doing. I don't see that you guys have a book about chronic illness for kids. I would love to be the person to write it. They said, wow, you've got a social following. We believe you can sell books. Okay, let's do it. And that was it.
A
Wow.
B
And then the crazy story is that I went to Tony Robbins, Unleash the power within in 2024. And that was my second time at UPW. I was on the floor and I kind of was with my friends, and we just kind of looked at each other and we're like, okay, what are the goals by this time next year? We're, like, each going off. I'm like, I'm gonna get a book deal. And two months after that, I wake up to an email from my publishing team that said, hey, Gigi, we just wanna let you know you're now a Penguin Random House author. The company's been acquired, and I became a Penguin author overnight. Wow. So I was like, whoa. Not technically a book deal, but, like, now I'm a Penguin Random House author. And then second to that, I went out of my way to work with the publishing team to say, I'll do all this extra marketing for you and PR for you. I've gotten the book in Forbes, the New York Post, and then I went twice to the headquarters to take photos. And the only reason I got access to that was because I asked. And the only other creator in the catalog that I've seen do that was Taylor Hill, who's literally Victoria's Secret supermodel. Yeah. So I was like, okay, Gigi, just ask.
A
Just literally just ask. Yeah. In content club, something that I have everybody do monthly is pick a really scary big ask.
B
Yeah.
A
And make that ask. It can be really, really scary. However, there's no competition in making asks because it's so scary that nobody Else is doing it.
B
Yeah. I love replacing anything having to do with fear with a mindset of opportunity. Just because. And I know you talk about this all the time, just because somebody says, no, not right now, doesn't mean it's a no. It just means that you're now on their radar. And I know when I started pitching my book proposal, I put in the chart that I made, like a spreadsheet, like, waiting on responses, rejected, yes or no, you know, whatever. And I just wrote like. Like waiting to hear back instead of haven't heard back. And even those small little changes help to rewire my perception of the entire situation so that if I get a rejection from any of these big agencies that I want to rep me to pitch my book, it's not a big deal because I'm on their radar now. And that's the win for me that's so powerful.
A
Like making Giant asks, yeah, who? So did you go through the proposal
B
process for the other book for.
A
Yeah, yeah. No, yeah, tell me about your. Your other one.
B
Yeah, for that one, I just kind. I mean, I. It was a gentle proposal. It was more casual since the company was not an official PRH company before. But I just got on a Zoom call with them and told them about my idea, and then we made a contract and.
A
Wow. And talk more about that. That book.
B
That book. So I wrote a children's book called A Kid's Book about chronic illness. It's all about my experience of living with a chronic illness. And the key themes are resilience, illness, hope, and bodies. And the reason I focused on those instead of, like, illness, fear, loneliness. What are you hearing? Negativity. I never want anybody dealing with a chronic ill to make themself a victim, because chronic illness is something that can be lifelong, it can be terminal, it can be really fucking shitty. But how are you gonna use that as momentum to move forward in your worst days? What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about how to get out of your chronic illness? Are you thinking about, you know, asking for help? Are you doing a very detailed journal of all of your symptoms that maybe can be used in a clinical study that's gonna be, you know, changing the future of cure, like treatments for your disease. I never accepted sick was something negative for me. I always used it to inspire people to get through it. And that was also, you know, I know we've talked a little bit about it in the past, but that was what inspired me to submit to SI swim. I knew that my angle was going to be amplifying and bringing awareness to endometriosis and invisible chronic health issues. I wasn't like, oh, I'm this sexy model girl and I happen to have a chronic illness. It's like, no, I want to actually make everything about my platform. Talking about helping women learn to love themselves as they are, but further, to just accept where they're at and then see if they can get better. Do anything to get better.
A
Yeah, you literally. You literally became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model from a LinkedIn post. Like, that is a crazy thing to say out loud. It is.
B
It is. It still is.
A
Tell me more about the actual LinkedIn post.
B
Wait, did I send it to you? I didn't send it to you.
A
I don't think so. I've seen it, though. But send it to me. I'll put it in the show notes.
B
I'll send it to you. Because it's really quite funny. I think it was similar to what I had posted in the caption of my YouTube casting video, but I just decided, again, bold ask. Like, I'm just gonna post this and see if I can tag the editor in chief and see if I could catch her eye. I didn't think anything of it, but I'd never seen anyone do it before. And in the moment, I wasn't like, oh, no, nobody's done this before. This is strategic. Like, I'm plotting. I was just, like, being me. I was doing me. And naturally, I was like, I do not care that I'm posting myself in a bikini on LinkedIn. Mostly, again, because I was talking about elevating women's voices in the workplace. And what Si Swim loved about that was not only the boldness to post that on LinkedIn, but to share with women that, like, modeling can be a job, that living with a chronic illness is something many people deal with in the workplace, and they really love that. And I'm grateful that I just had the opportunity to be two weeks later in the Dominican Republic with them.
A
Like, hey, the pictures are so gorgeous.
B
Yeah, it's. It's still crazy. And another layer to that story, actually, that I feel like I somehow leave out is the tie back to my photography roots, because the photographer shooting was usi, and he literally, like, shoots Vogue covers. He's shooting all these incredible supermodels. And from the time I was a kid, I used his photos as inspo, and I was like, oh, my God, I would love to be on set with him one day. Just being a production assistant, that's all I want to do. I just want to shadow him or, like, I want to be him when I grow up. And there I was, but on the other side of the camera, and he's just there, and we're like, vibing, and it was just incredible.
A
Master Manifester.
B
See, this is the thing I actually texted one of my mentors while I was on the flight here this morning. I was like, everything feels like a manifestation, but I don't know if manifestation is actually the word I would attach to it. I think it's like an actualization of my work. It's doing the work that when everybody says, do the work and things will come, this is what we're talking about. This is, oh, you blew up overnight. No, it's, oh, you got into si Swim. You got lucky. No, it's being bold enough to just be myself and follow my path. And that's also something. People get wrong all the time. They're like, I want to be like Gigi. I want to be like Courtney. So then they try to do that, and it doesn't work because they're not being them. They're trying to be someone else. And I just feel like even the opportunity to come here and to be here not only with you right now, but just at south by Southwest in general, all of this happened literally. Like I was telling you before we pressed start, I didn't have the contract for the gig that I'm doing this weekend until this morning on the plane. That's crazy.
A
Like, I, I. It's literally so crazy. Yolo. Yeah, yolo.
B
But also being available for the opportunity and saying yes when it's ready. It's the, the quote about, you know, what is it called? Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. I'm prepared to say yes whenever, and the opportunity is now. And the more you move on that, the more manifestation seems to be this magical thing when really it's everything I've been working towards.
A
Yeah. Yeah. Well, going back to The Sports Illustrated LinkedIn post, a few things about that. 1. They probably would not have chose you had that been your first post ever on any platform. And you didn't.
B
Right.
A
You didn't. There wasn't anything else about you. Yeah, you had built up a movie.
B
They would have.
A
It's a great story. But you had built up credibility and credibility and credibility and a story that went beyond just that. So it was like this giant under the iceberg. Yeah. Giant, like, foundation that you had built. So when these opportunities come, they happen so quickly.
B
Exactly. And then you just have to say yes.
A
Exactly. Same with today, like Being able to be here, being paid for your expertise, your authority to be at south by Southwest. You know, it's not just your. You sent the one email and the one cold pitch. It's like the thousands of emails you sent before and the consistency you've put in. Yeah, yeah, but, but the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model search is so interesting because you're so right. Everybody does the same thing of, well, I want to be like these beautiful women, so I'm going to, like, sex it up and be as hot as possible. I gotta, like, push my boobs out and like, talk about how I'm just a small town girl and everyone like, like, has a crush on me. Right. Like, you're not. You did not go that route. You did not go like the sex kitten route. You went the route of, I'm gonna share just genuinely what is real. I'm sharing about my chronic illness. And I'm sure so many people. Yeah, doing the SI search would never like chronic illness. I can't tell what if they. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But you showed up authentically yourself in a way that brought you to this fucking incredible dream. Like, I just think that's so incredible because it's like, it's just such a testament to being true to who you are in your own story.
B
Yeah. And the interesting thing that the editors ended up telling me was that that changed the way people applied. Well, so they not only are posting on LinkedIn now, which is again, crazy for people to be posting their swimsuit casting on there, but they're now talking about other vulnerabilities as a part of their story. And so I think, I do think it's really awesome that people are open to being more vulnerable, but also don't use your vulnerability at the expense of, like, your happiness or like your own personal brand. Think about how you're talking about these things every single day. And then from there, maybe that's when you incorporate it. Like hearing about somebody's anxiety attacks or a health issue. If they've never talked about it on their social platforms before, but they're submitting it in their casting might not make sense until they make that a part of their brand or they make advocacy in that field a part of their brand.
A
It's been. It was building and building and building. It wasn't just one post. I mean, it was one post, but it was one post that built upon hundreds, probably thousands of posts.
B
Exactly.
A
That's incredible. Wow. Yeah.
B
The more I think about it, the more I'm like, wow, that was Crazy. And what's even crazier is I'm like, that was four years ago.
A
Wow. Yeah. Even crazier things are coming. So before you came on the show, I asked my community if they had any questions for you. And a couple of them asked that they felt really called to talk about their own chronic illness on LinkedIn. It's a couple of people asked this, but they didn't want employers to look down on them or discriminate against them. If they start talking about that, what would you tell them?
B
Yeah. So there's definitely two things I would think about that are very top of mind. Number one, if you haven't mentioned to HR before that you need accommodations, that's something you should have done day one. But if you haven't done it yet, you can always go to hr. And I would go to HR first as this, like, safety net. So when I was at USC, I did go to the Office of Disability first to register my 504 disability accommodations at the time. And for me, living with several chronic illnesses during college, I couldn't carry around all the books that most other college students could, mostly because it was just too physically straining on top of the chronic pain, fatigue and brain fog that I was dealing with. So I got to use my laptop. And again, this is a pre 2020world when, like, laptops in the classroom are almost taboo.
A
Bad.
B
It's like, no, like you can't. Like you have to write your homework on paper. No virtual turn ins, no zooming into class. Like, it was this whole taboo thing. And there were times where teachers genuinely were like, gigi, you can't do that. You have to write your paper. Like, on paper. I'm like, fine, I'll sit in the back and I'll just write my paper. It'll take me 45 minutes.
A
Sorry.
B
And so part of that was me being a little petty after that happened. But they were violating my 504 forms.
A
They also got illegal. Right?
B
Yes. And it's illegal for your employer to deny you.
A
Yeah.
B
Accessibility. So that's why going to the HR department, having it officially filed in terms of what you need, maybe in your negotiations of your salary, you're saying, oh, I need X amount of remote days because of my health, or I need remote flexible if something comes up, or you have to go to appointments, et cetera. So HR first second is if you're posting about it on LinkedIn. I wouldn't talk about anything you're experiencing negatively within the company. I would talk about, like, the ways that I Manage my chronic illness While working a 40 hour job that is more evergreen. You're. You're able to tell an individual personalized thought leadership story there instead of. I had this really bad experience at work where I got a terrible migraine and my boss said blah, blah, blah to me. And all of a sudden you've put your company down and you're talking negatively about your health versus the content that does well on LinkedIn would be thought leadership. How do you work through a migraine if it happens at work? Who did you talk to? Oh, well, I had this blanket of stability where I talked to my HR manager about having a remote flexible schedule. I'm so grateful that my company does this for me. There's a clear difference. You just have to figure out how to frame it. And if you frame it correctly, it shouldn't be a problem. Especially if you've done the first step of letting your employer know in your negotiations. And just like if it's not in the negotiation when you sign your contract, you got it. You just, you just got to go talk to them, like asap.
A
Yeah. I think anything that you're posting that might be sensitive emotionally, whatever, make sure you're sharing. What's the phrase? Like, share from the.
B
From the heart.
A
No, share from. Okay. Share from the scar, not the wound. Oh, yeah. So you're not posting like, oh my God, today was the absolute worst day. I was on my ass. It was. It sucked. I don't have enough support. Blah, blah, like, you don't want to like chom dump. You want to say I. Listen, I had a really hard week last week and here's how I overcame it. Here's the support I needed. Here is the resource that helped me. Like, share from the scar. Share something that can help others. You can, like, chum a dump all day as long as there's a lesson from it.
B
Yeah.
A
And some sort of takeaway for the audience that can help them. Yeah, that's a good framing if you're
B
looking to get into these advocacy spaces. If you live with a chronic illness mental health issue, look up these resources ahead of time. Like, there are literally infinite resources. Go to Google Scholar or something and find an academic study or find a nonprofit that has these kinds of resources, like think outside the box. Maybe it's a nonprofit for, you know, Autoimmune Association. Right. It's pretty broad. There's so many different autoimmune diseases. But maybe you could find a resource on their blog or maybe there's a conference, you know, that talks about patient leadership and patient advocacy. Maybe you attend a virtual session, maybe you share your learning, and then from there you could start placing your name in the ringer of, like, opportunity.
A
So you do a lot of in person stuff. You do a lot of connection with community. I feel like you're, like, always traveling somewhere new. How has in person conferences events impacted your personal brand and would you recommend them for others?
B
Yeah, definitely. I think it's fun. I would say don't host an event to host an event, but also go to events that will help you get to where you want to. Where you want to go ultimately. So back in, you know, 2021, in 2022 is really when those in person events started back up again after everything was closed. But as I mentioned, in the beginning, I was doing field marketing and throwing events when I was in college on behalf of brands. So I did 13 brand ambassador programs. I worked with Tinder, TikTok, Abercrombie, Timberland, Smashbox, and then others that I honestly am blanking on right now. It was a lot. And Business Insider did write a story about it, so I'll send it to you as well if you want to show that. Yes, but I was throwing events for them back then. For me, nothing's changed. It's so fun for me to create an experience where people can connect with each other. And it's. It really didn't matter if people were getting super drunk at a tailgate that was sponsored by Tinder and I got to order a sick ice luge, which is like, so fun for game day or hosting an event now for Adobe and having 250 creators come and listen to a panel on creator mental health. I mean, the evolution has been really incredible to reflect on. But even like, tomorrow, I'm hosting this event here at south by Southwest. And this started from an idea of, like, if I'm going and I don't have a brand sponsor, I at least want to get together with some really cool people. And I booked a venue and a photographer with no sponsor in sight with, you know, just my credit cards. And I was like, it'll. It'll definitely be worth it. And at first I thought, it'll be great if 30 people come. There's over 150 people RSVP'd. Is it for tomorrow's event for tomorrow morning? Wow. And I'm overwhelmed and I feel so lucky to be in this position because I know everybody coming is coming to connect with my network, and that means the world to me. It's just, it's so incredible to reflect on. So yes, that was my long way of saying, yes, you should do in person events. And also, wait, I did go on a tangent. There was one other thing I wanted to mention here, if that's okay. Of course it was when I was first getting back into events in 2021, I was going to makeup events, I was going to beauty events, I was going to shoe events, lifestyle creator. The second that I realized going to those events was not making me money, I realized, is this a good use of my time? And that's when I started shifting to the B2B space. That's when I said, oh, if I go to Adobe Max, I could partner with Adobe. I could get paid for this. Versus some influencers in the beauty space. They do get paid for their content at these places, but it's rare. The beauty space is very hard. The fashion space is very hard. Not impossible, very hard. And so I just decided B2B was like what I wanted to do in creators with other business. And that was a big shift. But yeah, as I said, reflecting on this whole thing has been incredible.
A
Yeah, I feel the same. Like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, it's. The money is not as good as B2B. Yeah, it's just because B2B, there's not enough creators. Like there's. We all see each other all the time. It's like the same like 50, 100 people that are B2B creators. There's just not a lot. So I think that's a giant sign. I mean there's a need for it. And I've also worked for tech companies, tech startups before, where we couldn't find enough. I remember I worked at Miro in 2022. It was my last, my last full time job and we were trying to find creators for a campaign. We had a massive budget. Creators who were project managers or talked about project management. When I tell you we could find two. Yeah, two, even migrant, like literally two. And it's just crazy that even at that time, even just a couple of years ago, there just wasn't enough. So there's huge opportunity there.
B
I think LinkedIn has a crazy stat and you may have to go and find it and correct me on it, but it's something like less than 2% of creators on the platform of LinkedIn post weekly. Post. Not only post weekly, but are creating content on LinkedIn.
A
Oh wow, that's crazy.
B
So it's like this massive platform with what billion billions of users?
A
Yeah, 1.1 billion.
B
Right. So like 1 or 2% of that are creating every day, meaning writing a post. That's crazy. Like the opportunity and the money that you can make there. It's untapped right now. It's incredible.
A
Especially cuz LinkedIn is so much easier than other platforms. Yeah, so much easier. Like oh my gosh, you don't have to have all the fanciness of the other platforms. Yeah.
B
You can also write, you can make videos, you can make graphics, you can make carousels, you could do newsletters, you could do lives. They used to have a story feature, maybe they had a podcast feature, they have the learning feature. You could become an instructor. You can also just network with people like that. Literally I just named 10 different things you can do on that platform that maybe you could do on other platforms. But I just think it's very untapped.
A
It's so untapped. Yeah. Also a little cheat code for the audience. I love your LinkedIn banner because what happens when you land on someone's LinkedIn profile is the 3 second test, right? They look at your profile for less than three seconds. They're glancing at it, they're not really reading the words, they're just glancing at it. And their brain is forming an impression based on unconscious biases. And I use the word bias as a neutral term. They could pick out positive things, negative things, things that are associated, not associated. And you have a really good 3 second test where if you glance at your profile, a couple of things. One, you have a lot of bright colors. You immediately assume that you're someone who's like bright, bold, friendly, you would get along with. You also have a lot of press as well. And I think anybody here that's been featured in press to add those press logos somewhere in your LinkedIn is really, really, really effective.
B
And if you don't have press, because people always say, well, what if I don't have it? That's fine. What brands have you worked with? What companies have you worked at?
A
Yeah, who have you freelanced for?
B
Where have you spoken? You know, what are, what are things and brands that you can associate yourself with that will elevate you know yourself until you get to that next level, until you start getting press, until you start getting featured in the news, or until, until you start speaking on stages like baby steps. And over time it'll change. I have changed that banner countless times. I could probably find the first one I ever did, it wasn't very good. And that's, that's the same with every post I've ever done. That's the same with every website draft I've ever done. So it's always been an evolution. And I do owe you the template for that.
A
Oh, yeah, I'm gonna steal that template. Yeah. I mean, that's a great mindset to have because it's not like you're wa. Waiting for it to be perfect. I see a lot of people like, well, I can't start posting on LinkedIn because my banner's not perfect yet. It's like, just start posting. It'll come. Well, I don't have my perfect headline. It does not matter.
B
Doesn't.
A
Doesn't matter.
B
I forgot if I shared this in the content club, but a quote that I love is, do today what others won't, so that tomorrow you can do the things that others can't. It's by Jerry Rice. And that quote has been really important for me because it reminds me that it's better done than perfect. It's better if I just do what I need to do to become the best version of myself, to share my message, to amplify, to expand, to help people. If I do that today, and I put my all into it every single day, every single moment, if I do that today, tomorrow, I know the opportunities will be there. And that's literally the story of my life. I feel like that's everything I've talked about this entire time.
A
That's so beautiful.
B
Yeah.
A
So you're really, really good at getting press, and that's a whole part of personal brand strategy we haven't really talked a lot about on this podcast. So if somebody wants to start getting featured in the press, what would be the first step you would tell them to take?
B
It's gonna involve some stalking. Yes. So this could be on Google, this could be on LinkedIn, this could be on Twitter threads. What you wanna do is start by searching headlines in the niche that you wanna be known for. So influencer marketing. Go to the Google News tab or go to the LinkedIn, you know, news tab and look up influencer marketing journalist or creator economy journalist, or for Google, Creator economy headlines this week, top 10 creator economy news this week. Then you tap the news tab and articles will appear. You'll see Forbes, you'll see Digiday, Ad week, Advertising Week, you know, adage, all. All these major headlines. From there, you can tap in and see who wrote them. And then you can just pop over to LinkedIn or onto Instagram and find the journalist. Either follow them or connect with them. And then do not cold pitch them right away, like, hard. No. What I would do is read three to five of their stories. And if you really can't read the the press and spend the time to read the press, I don't think you should be getting the press. But ideally you're sitting down, you're reading the story, you're understanding their narrative. When you understand their narrative, think about how that narrative storytelling can be applied to yourself and your brand. And then from there, start casually interacting with their content whenever they post. Because usually journalists do cross post their stories on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on X, on threads and they're just like new story, just like go and like it. And then sometimes they'll have journo requests and they'll hashtag journal request. Or they'll just be like looking for sources, talking about the TikTok van or about creators at south by Southwest. If you were there, tap in below. And so then you just have to again make yourself in the know. But you have to be active about it. Um, and so from there, comment, message and just say, hey, saw your post, like absolutely love that. Or like if a journalist wrote a story about me or about you, and I wanted to be featured by that journalist, let's say Forbes. I'd say, oh my gosh. Hey, Susie, I absolutely loved your story about Courtney talking about personal branding and how she landed her book deal. I actually, actually did XYZ thing. It's not exactly the same, but if you ever need a unique story about how I turned my chronic health issues into my personal brand that's generated me X amount of money, I would love to share or if I could be a resource for you, I would be happy to jump on a call at any point and then you just leave it. And then one day you're gonna get the the inbound. So that's how I have done it since the beginning and since I've been very fortunate to build a just incredible network of fantastic industry journalists and friends now where you know that this is how the adage opportunity came up. I had spoken to this journalist like over the years we just have stayed in the loop maybe for a couple different stories. I talked with her because I had followed her stories, commented on posts. She had my number, she reached out to me, she said, we have one slot open to run a creator simulator workshop at our conference. Do you want to come speak? I was like, yeah. And then from there I got there, was up on stage, had a full 45 minute session to myself on stage, which was incredible, in front of about 150 executives. And you just never know what's going to come of it. And that all happened because I said yes to being in her story. So, yeah. And the other thing is, you never wanna approach a journalist from a perspective of, hey, I'm a creator. Write about me. Like, boring, lame, what story are you trying to tell? And that's what comes down to the storytelling that I've been talking about since the very beginning. It's all about how you're crafting your narrative. And if you cannot figure out how to craft your narrative, if you don't know your elevator pitch, why would a journalist write about it? They probably won't. Another great place to start before I go. Go too crazy, because I honestly could talk for hours about this would be podcasts. So reaching out to podcasters. I think I reached out to you even, like, months and months ago. Like, before we were chatting more where I was like, oh, if you ever need a guest, like, I'm happy to go. It was when you interviewed A.J. i was like, oh, my God, like, I would love to sit down with you and have a conversation. And I just messaged you. I said, hey, like, I'd be more than happy to be a guest anytime you choose the topic, let's do it. And some creators will be like, oh, my God, yes. Would love to have you other creators be, like, virtual only. Some will be like, yeah, I'll let you know. Or some will just ghost you, and you just have to be okay with that. So that is where I would start. And that's also a great place to start where you can go on people's podcasts, start a playlist on Spotify with all of your podcast features that you can then send to journalists that then they can potentially reference about what topics you talk about for stories.
A
Yeah, I. I love that you messaged me. I think I said. I think I. I say, when you're in Austin and then, like, now you're here.
B
Yeah, I was like, well, I'm gonna be here.
A
So it's amazing.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah. So I. I hear. What I'm hearing is like, one. Just stalk people. Like, go. If you're like, I can't get any press. Well, go. Make sure you have, like, 500 journalists in your LinkedIn network. Also make their lives easier.
B
Yes.
A
It's. It's so annoying to be like, write about me. And then they have to research. You're giving them a task. Yeah, like a task to research you and to whatever. If you're putting together an idea based on their beat and it's gonna make their lives easier. They're so much more likely to want to work with you than if you're making. You're giving them a task, making their lives harder. And what you are doing is you're making their lives very fucking easy.
B
Yeah. And not only that, but like I've positioned myself as this Gen Z future of work in entrepreneurship and creator economy kind of creator and future of work touches the creator economy. Future of work touches accessibility. Future of work touches what the modern entrepreneur is doing. It touches how workplace is changing. And had it not been for Covid, would I be in this space? I don't know. So I figured out like, okay, not only am I interested in this, I want to know and be in the know about the actual facts of what are happening. What is the data? Am I using that in my content? Am I talking about that? And I'm not saying that every single person has to become this knowledge creator or this educational creator, but if it will position you as this thought leader that becomes an expert rather than a creator potentially being featured for something cool that they're doing.
A
So we have like five minutes left. I want to leave with this cheat code cause I think it's really important and related and that is you also do this with LinkedIn writers. So LinkedIn has that news section and you're often engaging with that. You are submitting to LinkedIn News. And by the way, join Content Club if you want to see the whole like breakdown of how to do this. But do you have like just a couple steps of someone that wants to start contributing to LinkedIn News to get more press?
B
Yeah, high level. You're gonna open LinkedIn and then you're going to click on the top right Corner. You'll see LinkedIn news stories. From there, click See more and a bunch will come up. There will be something that is very important, which is how many readers are going to be viewing each story. From there, either choose the most viewed one that's applicable to you and your niche, or one that was recently posted. Because sometimes recent news gets like pushed to the top automatic because they want more eyeballs. From there, write your perspective, your take on it. You could do that by either clicking into the story and clicking Share post and adding your thoughts, or you can simply add the story and like write about it. And then if you really want to be ballsy, you can tag the editor in the comments and or follow or connect with the editor. I would say do not go and bombard the editors, but if you are talking about something specific that maybe other People want to know about or they could use your perspective about. That's where I would go. And I did this last year with the whole TikTok ban and I gave my, you know, a lot, a lot of perspectives about it, is what I'll say. I was posting three or four times a day with videos in response to all of this trending news because I just felt like it was really important. And those videos brought me over the hundred million impression mark. Mark for 2025. That's wow. And so because of that, that meant LinkedIn made up a significant portion of my income because impressions, more visibility, more visibility, better for brands. Brands love visibility. And then from there it also is like good audience and just. It's that ripple effect that I've been
A
talking about that's so powerful. You, you have such a powerful personal brand, such a unique and authentic personal brand. And I'm very excited for everybody to connect with you and learn from you. So where can they get your book? Connect with you, work with you?
B
It's gonna be annoying, but you can Google me, but Gigi Robinson dot com. I have all the links to my books. You can buy it on like Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, wherever you get your books. Strand Bookstore might have it. Local bookstores sometimes even have them. It's really just. It's cool. One time I was traveling and I went into a random Barnes and Noble and I was like, wait, this is so cool that they have my book, like, and they only had a couple copies because the. There's just so many in the catalog that they don't always print them. But yeah, it's just been really awesome. And yeah, feel free to email me, connect with me on LinkedIn. I love meeting new people all the time.
A
Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Gigi.
B
Oh my God, this was incredible. I feel like we could literally go.
A
I know. For hours.
B
Okay, part two, when you come to New York.
A
Yes, yes. I'll be in New York in July. So part two. Beautiful. I'll put in the comments that you want a part two.
B
Yeah. What do you want us to talk about?
A
Yes, yes. Any questions? And we'll do a Part 2 in New York York. Amazing. Thank you for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. You're incredible. I do have an ask for you guys before we go. If this podcast has benefited you in any way, if you have gotten a tip that you've really loved and you've implemented it, if it's given you some sort of inspiration, if it's given you some sort of motivation or clarity. My ask is that you leave a five star review. I would appreciate it so much. It helps spread the message. It really helps helps the show grow and it helps more people get access to this information. My deepest desire is un gatekeeping shit. I want to un gatekeep information. So anybody that desires to build a personal brand, to build a business, to create this success in their life and to live their dream, I want them to have all of the information. And I don't hold shit back on the show. Okay, we are not holding shit back. So in order to get this message to. To more people, in order to get these resources and tips to more people, your reviews go a long way. I appreciate you so much. Thank you.
Episode: Her Personal Brand Made Her a Sports Illustrated Model, with Gigi Robinson
Air Date: May 12, 2026
Guest: Gigi Robinson
In this vibrant, no-BS conversation, host Courtney Johnson sits down with creator and model Gigi Robinson to break down how Gigi built a personal brand that led to modeling for Sports Illustrated, authoring books, and landing diverse brand partnerships—all by refusing to niche down and showing up authentically online. The episode dives into alternative strategies for creators who don’t fit the typical “pick-a-niche” route, explores monetization, thought leadership, audience outreach, landing press, and building leverage—especially when chronic illness is part of your story.
Gigi’s episode is a full masterclass in building authority by showing up, making bold asks, and refusing to box yourself in. Her journey shows the ripple effects of consistently sharing your story, leveraging all platforms, and crafting your personal brand around your personality, passions, and values.
If you’re waiting for the “perfect” niche, banner, or headline—stop waiting and start posting. The opportunities stack over time, not overnight.
Not a listener but want these insights? Save this summary as your personal brand game plan and reference for your next bold move.