Built in Public

The internet has sold you this idea that going viral is the goal. It's not. And it never was.
JT Barnett left professional hockey with $0, no degree, and no plan. Instead of following the traditional path, he started posting, started failing in public, and started figuring out what makes people memorable online. 
He went from filming fitness content to growing a TikTok house from zero to a million followers in 60 days, to consulting for brands like Poppi, to building Core Access, a recruiting firm that places creators inside the brands they already love.
In this week’s episode, JT breaks down the 4-part framework he uses to evaluate every creator he works with: Capacity, Identity, Execution, and Conversion. We get into why most people stall before they ever hit "post," why you don't need to be an expert to build an audience, and why the creators who will win in 2026 are the ones who stop chasing algorithms and start building real connections with a narrow, intentional audience. 
If you've been waiting to feel ready before you start creating, this is the episode that's going to change that!!!
Mentioned in this episode:
📘 Career Cheat Codes (Pre-Order)

My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available for pre-order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Pre-order → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
05:20 How growing up in hockey and the internet shaped JT's view on personal brand
08:20 Why so many people can't articulate who they are publicly
10:09 The moment social media clicked as the ultimate leverage tool
14:24 You DON’T need to be an expert to start building an audience
15:14 The TikTok house that went from zero to a million followers in 60 days
24:54 The four stages of personal brand: entry-level, mid-tier, elite, and world-renowned
32:16 The 4-part framework: Capacity, Identity, Execution, and Conversion
38:19 Reputation beats Virality and where the creator economy is headed
41:50 The posts that perform vs. the ones that just get views
54:01 How to start hosting micro-community events today with zero budget 
About JT 
JT Barnett is a former professional hockey player, organic social strategist, and the founder of Core Access. After retiring from hockey with nothing lined up, he built his career entirely through social media, going from fitness content to organic social consulting for brands like Poppi to building a recruiting firm that places creators inside the brands they love. His 4-part framework, Capacity, Identity, Execution, and Conversion, is the foundation of how he coaches creators at every level. He's now building Core into a full performance center for creators who want to build reputation, not just reach.
Connect with JT
👍 Instagram: @jtbarnett
💼 LinkedIn: jtbarnett
🎶 TikTok: @jtbarnett
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Most people treat LinkedIn like a job board. Mischa Collins treats it like the most powerful business development tool on the planet, and she has the receipts to prove it. After being laid off in 2024, Mischa didn't scramble for her next role. She built in public (literally). Within 12 months, she grew her LinkedIn audience to over 50,000 followers, signed clients through inbound DMs alone, and turned a platform most people sleep on into a fully functioning business, one that's now taken her from the UK all the way to LA. 
In this episode, we get into the strategy behind that growth. Mischa breaks down why posting without a mission is just noise, how to build authority on LinkedIn even when self-promotion makes you want to crawl out of your skin, and why the content you think is repetitive is actually the content that makes you unforgettable. 
If you've been meaning to get serious about LinkedIn, this is the episode that's going to make you open the app before it's even done playing.
Mentioned in this episode:
📘 Career Cheat Codes (Pre-Order)

My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available for pre-order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Pre-order → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
👩‍💻 Holly Maglin — Early Career Recruiting Strategy
If you're a founder or startup team hiring Gen Z talent, check out Holly Madeline. She helps companies modernize how they recruit early-career candidates.
Connect on LinkedIn → Holly Maglin
03:28 Getting laid off and deciding to build instead of job hunt
08:18 The moment she went all in
12:11 The scheduling trick that kills the fear of posting
15:21 Why LinkedIn is genuinely having its moment in 2026
23:44 Profile optimization and why your network is already full of opportunity
27:42 Every opportunity Mischa has landed through inbound LinkedIn DMs
35:00 Engagement strategy: why commenting might matter more than posting
41:00 How to use AI without sounding like AI
51:00 The MAP framework: Mission, Authority, Pillars
54:00 Mischa's next chapter: expanding beyond LinkedIn
About Mischa 
Mischa Collins is a LinkedIn branding expert who helps entrepreneurs, coaches, and professionals establish authority, grow their audience, and monetize their expertise. With a proven track record of transforming LinkedIn profiles into powerful business assets, she shares actionable strategies to build influence and attract high-value opportunities.
Connect with Mischa
💼 LinkedIn: Mischa Collins
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

There's a reason some people walk into a room and everyone notices. It's not luck. It's not looks. And it's not something you either have or you don't.
Today I'm sitting down with Whitney Uland, founder of How to Be Famous, to talk about the one thing most people building a personal brand are missing: the it factor. And no, you're not born with it. You build it.
Whitney spent over a decade in the entertainment industry, acting, writing, navigating rejection, until someone told her she didn't have what it takes. Instead of accepting that, she became obsessed with understanding what magnetism is, where it comes from, and how anyone can develop it. Now she helps creatives, founders, and entrepreneurs step into what she calls their celebrity energy.
In this episode, we get into why your personal brand is 90% subconscious, what's blocking you from showing up online even if you've performed in front of thousands of people, and why following trends will always keep you chasing instead of leading.
Mentioned in this episode:
📘 Career Cheat Codes (Pre-Order)

My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available for pre-order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Pre-order → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
👩‍💻 Holly Maglin — Early Career Recruiting Strategy
If you're a founder or startup team hiring Gen Z talent, check out Holly Madeline. She helps companies modernize how they recruit early-career candidates.
Connect on LinkedIn → Holly Maglin
03:00 What the ‘It Factor’ is 
08:02 Why your personal brand is 90% subconscious 
09:04 Why "personal brand" feels icky
20:27 How to build magnetism from scratch 
24:04 Why visibility shuts people down (and how to fix it)
27:15 Why performers still struggle on camera
38:00 How to stop chasing trends and start creating them 
44:00 Fame, ego, and why hiding is the more egoic move 
51:00 How boundaries grow as your brand grows 
About Whitney 
Whitney Uland is the founder of How to Be Famous, a framework and community built around the idea that magnetism, visibility, and presence are learnable skills — not personality traits you're either born with or not. Before building her personal brand, Whitney spent over a decade in the entertainment industry as an actor and writer. She now works with founders, creatives, and entrepreneurs to help them own their spotlight on their own terms.
Connect with Whitney
📲 Instagram: @whitneyuland
🎶 TikTok: whitneyuland
🎙️ Podcast: How to Be Famous
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t really know what a personal brand is” or “how do I even start a personal brand???”, this episode is for you.
Today I’m joined by Danielle Canty, former co-founder of Bossbabe, to break down one of the biggest misconceptions about personal branding:
You don’t start a personal brand. 
You ALREADY have one.
Danielle shares how she went from working in the medical field to co-founding BossBabe, one of the most recognizable online business brands of the last decade, and how she now thinks about personal brands as leverage. Not the business itself, but the thing that opens doors, builds trust, and compounds opportunities over time.
We also talk about the mindset blocks that stop people from showing up online, why perfect content actually hurts engagement, and how building community matters far more than going viral.
Mentioned in this episode:
📘 Career Cheat Codes (Pre-Order)

My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available for pre-order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Pre-order → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
👩‍💻 Holly Maglin — Early Career Recruiting Strategy
If you're a founder or startup team hiring Gen Z talent, check out Holly Madeline. She helps companies modernize how they recruit early-career candidates.
Connect on LinkedIn → Holly Maglin
02:30 You already have a personal brand
09:34 The truth about reputation and online presence
13:31 Why personal brands create leverage
16:41 The cultural excuses people make about showing up online
17:17 “You are what you say you are”
19:41 How mindset shapes growth and motivation
36:05 Perfect content hurts engagement
37:45 The power of imperfection in building trust
About Danielle 
Danielle Canty is an entrepreneur and the former co-founder of BossBabe, the online education brand that grew into an eight-figure business supporting hundreds of thousands of women entrepreneurs worldwide.
Since exiting the company in 2023, Danielle focuses on helping founders turn ideas into scalable businesses through clear systems, predictable revenue, and strategic simplicity.
She has generated $35M+ in online revenue, built multiple seven-figure businesses, and her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Elle, and Success Magazine.
Connect with Danielle
📲 Instagram: @daniellecanty
💼 LinkedIn: Danielle Canty
🔗 Website: danielle-canty.com/
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: [email protected]
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Welcome to the first official episode of Built In Public!

If you’ve ever felt stuck choosing a niche… frustrated with low engagement… or unsure how to turn content into actual conversations and clients, this one’s for you.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the philosophy behind building in public (the authentic and awkward version)

I break down the biggest engagement mistakes I see creators making, why faces and formatting matter more than most people realize, and how to use your audience’s exact words to sharpen your messaging so they reach out.
And we get into the thing nobody wants to hear, but everyone needs to: consistency will always matter more than trying to game the algorithm.

00:00 Why I rebranded to Built In Public
05:15 How to actually find your niche (without forcing it)
10:19 The messaging strategy that makes people reach out to you
21:04 Why your content isn’t getting engagement
23:12 Formatting mistakes that kill performance
29:30 Consistency algorithm hacks

If this episode helped you think differently about your personal brand, leave a review and let me know what hit.
We’re just getting started.

Stay connected with me! 
[email protected]
IG @courtlynnjohnson 
LK @Courtney Johnson
TIKTOK @courtney..johnson