Make Yourself

Former model Jill de Jong might know a thing or two about handling rejection. “Sometimes ‘no’ really just means ‘not yet’ - especially if you use that time between to make your offering even better.” 

And Jill de Jong just keeps getting better. 

It’s hard to imagine that’s even possible after a successful modeling career that saw Jill working with some of the world’s biggest brands like Escada, Avon, and L’oreal. She was the actual body model for the Lara Croft Tomb Raider video games and has graced the cover of top publications like Women’s Health and Fitness magazines. 

Following the urge to use her talents and platform to help others, Jill has since  become a sought after coach and trainer as well as a skilled chef, even authoring the book Models Do Eat. She also hosts the podcast Life Done Better where she interviews women in wellness on ways to improve health and life in general. 

On today’s show Jill shares a bit of her experience along with useful insights on cultivating a productive mindset, managing confrontation, and ways to overcome rejection - even leveraging it into new opportunities.  With her warm and upbeat personality you can’t help but feel you have a friend and supporter in Jill. Can’t wait for you to listen! 

Aristotle said “Pleasure in the job, puts passion in the work.”

It’s clear Heather Catania is passionate about her work. Her experience and unique point of view has made Heather one of the most in demand social media innovators and digital content producers in LA. Heather is the founder of Social Fleur, which offer digital content production and services, and With Honors that features online digital marketing education from industry leaders. Before that, Heather launched her career as NYLON Magazine’s first Bookings Editor.  There she drew on her academic training in Visual Communication and Art Theory to strategize cover shoots and produce fashion editorials and executed NYOLN’s first video platform, NYLON TV.

Heather recognized the opportunities in digital media early. While still working in publishing she established herself as an authority in digital content and social media marketing by producing branded advertising and viral digital campaigns for the world’s most prestigious celebrities, fashion magazines, Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, media moguls, and wellness brands. Happy clients include: Harper’s Bazaar, Italian Vogue, GQ, Alexander Wang, Elle, Google Play, Samsung, H&M, Steve Madden, Nike, Marc Jacobs, Pepsi, M.A.C. Cosmetics and many more.

On today’s show Heather explains how to meaningfully engage your consumer on social media by creating content that serves them. And while we didn’t expect the conversation to go here, Heather walked us through establishing a healthy relationship with social media through setting appropriate and effective boundaries that still allow meaningful and effective connection.

It’s a great show and we’re so excited for you to meet Heather!

There’s a saying about goldfish: they only grow to fit the size of their bowl. It’s a good metaphor on how we stifle our potential with arbitrary limitations. But what about the fish that could never survive in a bowl it the first place? What then?

Scout Sobel had her first depressive episode at fourteen years old. She suffers from a severe case of bipolar type 2 disorder and general anxiety disorder. She’s been hospitalized and through outpatient treatments twice. She dropped out of college, quit internships and jobs, and was ultimately deemed “unfunctionable.” Friends and family weren’t sure she’d ever hold a job or be able to live independently. She was that metaphorical fish that might not thrive in the bowl, no matter how big it was.

Today, Scout founded and runs the successful PR agency, Scout’s Agency, that specializes in amplifying women’s voices via digital outlets like podcasts. Her clients include Cat Sadler and Rebecca Minkoff along with brands like Bala and Remedy. 

Scout joins us to talk about the opportunity entrepreneurship offers for those of whom traditional employment doesn’t work. She will walk us through the purpose and healing she’s gained through being a business owner. In addition to walking us through her story, Scout will advise us how to overcome hesitancy to pursue passions, and explain why that’s so important for those struggling with mental health. She’ll also offer tips on staying motivated and focused – a challenge for many entrepreneurs, but especially for those struggling with depression and other mental illness.

Today’s conversation serves to de-stigmatize mental health, offers hope to those struggling, and inspires all listening to challenge our limitations so that we might maximize our potential and thrive. 

Please note: this show includes conversation about mental illness that may be triggering for some. It also is an inspiring success story that offers guidance and hope for those suffering.  If you are struggling with mental illness or suicidal thoughts please call:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-TALK

National Alliance on Mental Health (800)950-NAMI

Can you think of anything better for a child to know? What one might do with that knowledge?

Tune in to find out!

Our guest this week is the powerful Tori Dunlap. Tori’s started her first business at only 9 years old owning those 25 cent candy machines. She grew this business and eventually sold it - to another little girl also named Tori.

This experience of passing on that feeling ownership and power to another  fueled Tori’s passion of helping women realize their power through financial education. Tori started “Her First $100k” after, well, earning her first $100k by age 25. At “Her First $100K” she offers e-courses and coaching to help other woman realize and achieve their financial goals. Tori has helped over one million women realize their power through financial freedom. 

Tori regularly shares useful tips and tricks to her over 800k followers on TikTok.  Her content has earned her national press features as well as a Plutus Award.

On this episode Tori shares her story. We get a peek into her upbringing and how her parents supported her as she realized her own potential.  She offers advice on establishing solid personal foundations to support your business ventures and helps navigate us through the differences of personal versus business finance to ensure the success of both the business and the entrepreneur.

Not every business needs to be cause driven, but having a cause can definitely drive business.

Today we talk to Jameel Mohammad, founder of the Afro-futurist luxury brand Khiry who was just recently named one of Forbes 30 under 30: Arts and Culture. Mohammed launched Khiry from the couch of a friend’s dorm room while studying poly-sci at the University of Pennsylvania.   In his own words he started Khiry “with the goal of subverting the conventions of luxury positioning to make pointed statements about the value of black life and culture.”  People are listening and his client list is impressive.

While he may not have expected the venture to grow the way it has, his success is encouraging for all those who are more than ready to see real change.

In today’s show we talk about Mohammed’s inspirations for the brand, how he managed to catch the eye of key buyers and decision makers at Barney’s NY and Vogue. He walks us through how he balances the creative process while attending to business needs all while staying true to his mission. We also had a great conversation about how we, Jill and Amelia, two white, middle(ish)-aged, suburban moms can be responsible consumers and supporters of retail goods that have strong references to African culture and art.

We are so grateful to have had Jameel on the show so early in his career and can’t wait to follow his success. Hope you enjoy the show!

If the term “personal branding” makes you immediately think of social media, well, you’re not entirely wrong, but you are also missing SO MUCH MORE!

This week we talked with Jessica Zweig, an award-winning entrepreneur and personal branding expert, and WOW! did we learn a lot! Jessica’s agency, SimplyBe., works with entrepreneurs, creatives, CEOs, and the companies they lead to help them grow by leveraging the most powerful marketing tool available: authenticity.

Jessica shares her own journey to becoming her truest (and most fulfilled and successful) self in her new book: “Be. A No Bullsh*t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself.” In it you’ll find valuable insight and encouragement along with step-by-step activities and guidance to help you establish yourself as an authority in your space.

In this episode of Make Yourself you’ll learn what personal branding really means and why it’s important for any entrepreneur or business. We talk about how social media is not the brand(!!!), but how we can can best use it to support our brand by focusing on clarity and consistency. You’ll learn the basics of effective pitching, ways to handle rejection, and how to reframe competition and comparison to keep you out of its trap. Jessica was a dynamic and super knowledgeable guest and we can’t wait for you to learn from her!

Jessica’s book is available now! Be sure to check it out! Available through our website or via Amazon!

This week we welcome CEO and Founder of GroupGreeting, Anthony Doctolero. Like many entrepreneurs, it took several attempts, to hit entrepreneurial gold, but with the recent pandemic, GroupGreeting began to flourish! Anthony and his team saw explosive growth as various corporation began to inquire about their services. GroupGreeting creates exciting virtual greeting cards, making it fun and easy for colleagues to join in on the action. GroupGreeting has been a big success with Facebook, SpaceX, Google and more. 

Anthony not only shares his inspiring journey, but he also along provides great tips on managing your clients expectations around the momentum of your business. 

Today’s show features the inspirational Lori Shao. After a 17 year career in banking, Lori took the entrepreneurial leap and built the successful financial-tech company, Finli, designed to “power neighborhood businesses.” A first time female founder, Lori talks about her inspiration for Finli, how she funded and grew the venture, and how she adapted to best serve local businesses - and their customers - during this global pandemic.

There’s so much to learn in this episode and, who knows, you may just find that Finli is a great solution for your small business! Can’t wait for you to listen!

This week we have the absolute pleasure of welcoming the amazing and talented Rebecca Minkoff! Rebecca shares her incredible insight on truly knowing your customer and pivoting your business during these challenging times. Let's face it, 2020 and trickling into 2021, has been a shift for all of us, and Rebecca shares how you are able to truly focus on your customer needs to fulfill those of your business. 

Be sure to share with your friends and check us out on social media @makeyourselfpodcast! 

You guys! We are back and ready to get season 3 started with each and everyone of you! We have some exciting news to share and also ready to kickoff the season with some exciting updates! 

Be sure you checkout our website at makeyourselfpodcast.com and social media @makeyourselfpodcast!