If quitting your 9-5 and becoming a full-time creator feels like something you need years (and a massive following) to pull off, this episode is for you.
Becca Flores gave herself three months to build her corporate escape plan. She started posting consistently on LinkedIn, landed a retainer client that covered her bills, quit her job, and kept building from there.
Now she has multiple income streams across freelancing, content creation, brand deals, creator support, and influencer marketing… and she’s gotten to the point where she has to turn down inbound client work.
In this episode we get into the exact strategy behind it, including why one retainer can completely change the way you think about leaving corporate, how she got paid $3,000 for ONE video with under 10K followers, why B2B brand deals are wildly underrated, and how micro-creators can start making money before they have a huge audience.
Becca also gives the brand-side perspective most creators never hear: what makes someone easy to hire, how to pitch without creating more work for the person reading your email, why you should be tagging brands you already use, and the tiny mistake that can cost creators thousands of dollars in opportunities.
If you’ve been thinking, “i want out of corporate but idk how i’d replace my paycheck,” press play. There are way more ways to monetize the skills you already have than you probably realize.
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
03:20 The wake-up call that made Becca decide to leave corporate
04:52 Giving herself 3 months to build her corporate escape plan
05:43 Posting consistently on LinkedIn to create new income
09:15 How LinkedIn started bringing her inbound clients
10:58 Documenting the journey + publicly asking for what you want
13:12 Landing her first four-figure brand deal
14:33 Making $3,000 from one video with under 10K followers
16:29 Why documenting your life can become your content strategy
21:49 Every way Becca makes money now
25:54 Why micro-creators can still land paid brand deals
34:33 How brands find creators they already want to work with
36:08 How to pitch a brand without making them do the work
41:28 The tiny bio mistake that can cost creators thousands
About Becca Flores
Becca Flores is a Gen Z creator-economy strategist, content creator, and founder of Florish who left corporate to build a portfolio career.
After starting in journalism and social media, she moved into corporate influencer marketing, managing campaigns for major consumer brands. Today, through Florish, she helps brands run influencer campaigns and helps creators and solopreneurs land paid brand deals, build portfolio careers, and navigate life after corporate. Her clients include Teremana Tequila, Meiomi Wines, Oral-B, and Expedia, and she has built an audience of 42K+ across platforms around the creator economy and brand partnerships.
Connect with Becca
👍 Instagram: @thebeccaflores
💼 LinkedIn: Becca Flores
🎶 TikTok: @thebeccaflores
📩 thebeccaflores@gmail.com
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

This week's episode is a solo Q&A and i’m answering the questions you’ve been sending me about building a personal brand, making money online, getting clients, creating content consistently, and getting out of your own way.
We get into why self-sabotage is usually a safety thing (and the book i think everyone should read if they keep doing it), the systems i use to get content made, and why i think your personal brand needs to come before your 9-5 if you’re serious about building something for yourself.
I also get into the stuff people usually overcomplicate: how to get your first freelance client before you technically feel “qualified,” why writer’s block is really just perfectionism, how to go to conferences without paying thousands of dollars, and why sometimes the fastest way to stop feeling cringe online is literally just… block the people making you feel cringe lol.
Basically, if you’ve been waiting until you feel more ready, more confident, more legitimate, or less embarrassed before you start building your personal brand… this episode is for you.
➡️ have a question you want me to answer in the next Q&A? drop it in the comments (i'll read them and pull questions from there 👀)
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
01:22 My work setup now that I’m a mom
03:33 Why you keep self-sabotaging + the book I recommend
06:06 The systems I use to create content consistently
08:55 How to build a personal brand while working a 9-5
10:25 The underrated advice I’d give anyone trying to grow online
12:04 Block the people making you feel cringe
12:35 How to get your first freelance client before you feel ready
14:26 How to go to major conferences for free
19:02 My take on Shelby Sapp + high-ticket sales
23:52 Does personal branding work for product-based businesses?
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson

Angie Lee just exited Soul, the CBD gummy brand she started with her brother eight years ago. The idea for her next business hit her at 3 a.m., and now she's building WITTI, an ADHD supplement line made for women.
In this episode we go over why she's betting on a product instead of an online course, and the checklist she'd run before launching anything physical (plus the kind of product she says takes millions up front).
Then we get into the stuff that changes how you show up: the "dead grandma test" that tells you if a habit is really a habit, why she posts at 60% (wait until you feel 100% and you'll post twice a year), and why she thinks humor is what's missing from so much content online.
And since this is a cheat codes kind of conversation, we swap our "problematic cheat codes" too, including learning cult tactics and, yes, my now-husband, the boyfriend who paid my rent for 3 months (we'd only been dating for a month when I asked)
➡️ Your turn!!!! comment the name you like for her comedy course in the comments (Funny on Video? Paid to Be Funny? any other funny name???)
📘 Career Cheat Codes - IT’S OUT!!!
My new book Career Cheat Codes is now available to order. It’s a practical guide to building career leverage, growing your visibility, and turning your expertise into real opportunities.
Order yours → penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807588/career-cheat-codes-by-courtney-johnson/
03:12 Exiting Soul, the brand she started with her brother, and the law that could block online sales
05:00 WITTI: the ADHD supplement line she's building for women, not bros
06:06 Why she's betting on a product over a course, and the $50 million question
11:03 The 3 a.m. idea she ran downstairs to tell her husband
11:47 Thinking about launching a product? The boxes it needs to check first
15:25 Googling "how do you make money off the internet," and the $60 order that started it all
22:06 Building WITTI out loud
46:24 Our problematic cheat codes
About Angie Lee
Angie Lee is a podcaster, speaker, and comedian, and the co-founder and creative director of Soul, the wellness brand she built with her brother Mike. A college and corporate dropout, she started a blog in her dorm room and is now the "queen of the BabyGrandmas," a community she also calls her squirrely girlies: women "whose brain moves fast, feels deep, and refuses to play small." She hosts The Angie Lee Show, where she talks about "the realities and hilarities of entrepreneurship & womanhood," and she's now building WITTI, an ADHD supplement line made for women.
Connect with Angie
👍 Instagram: @angieleeshow
🔗 angielee.com/
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @builtinpublicpod
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
🎶 TikTok: @courtney..johnson