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Return on Reputation

Justin Obey

I'm Justin Obey, and this is Return on Reputation.

Here's what I've learned building companies and helping founders scale: The game has changed. You don't need a bigger ad budget - you need a better media strategy.

This show is about how founders are building authority and leverage in 2026:

  • Podcasting that generates real clients, not just downloads
  • AI tools that actually save you time instead of creating busy work
  • Social media that builds relationships, not just follower counts
  • Founder-led branding that positions you as the obvious choice

I've built a 7-figure company, I run marketing for multiple 7 and 8-figure brands, and now I help B2B founders build the media engines that let them stop chasing and start attracting.

If you're ready to play a different game, let's go.

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  • 25 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 49 min
  • English

Episodes 25

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  • #41
    April 16 · 48 min· Video

    He Killed His Drink Brand After 10 Years — Then Built a Golf Empire | Jon Mason | Ep.9

    What does it really take to kill your own brand — and rebuild it into something better? In this episode of Return on Reputation, host Justin Obey sits down with Jon Mason, founder of Swing Juice, for a raw and honest founder story about entrepreneurship, brand building, and the pivot that changed everything. Jon spent nearly a decade building Swing Juice as an all-natural hydration and energy drink inspired by his love of golf — bootstrapped from his own bank account, cases loaded into his trunk, doors knocked on one at a time. In 2014, he made one of the hardest calls any founder can make: shut it down. He kept the name, threw out the product, and bet everything on a new idea — cool golf graphic tees for people who love golf, hip hop, tacos, and life outside the country club. Today, Swing Juice is a legitimate golf apparel brand with a team of eight, partnerships with the USGA and the MLBPA, and over 77,000 social followers. What you'll learn in this episode: How Jon turned a phrase overheard at a 6:30 AM tee time into a trademarked brand — the same night Why killing the beverage business after 10 years was the right call, and how he knew it How he created a new category in golf apparel by building products around what he personally loved Why founders are afraid to put their face in front of their brand — and what finally convinced Jon to step out from behind the curtain Why going viral is a trap, and what consistency actually looks like on social over the long haul If you're a founder who's ever considered pivoting, struggled to let go of control, or wondered when to start building your personal brand alongside your business — this episode is for you. Follow Return on Reputation wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode. Hashtags #Entrepreneurship #PersonalBranding #FounderStory #B2BMarketing #GolfLifestyle #StartupJourney #BrandBuilding #PivotStory #SmallBusiness #ContentMarketing TIMESTAMPS: 02:49 The Swing Juice Name Spark 05:12 Building The First Beverage 07:35 Personal Brand Before Social 11:10 The 2014 Pivot Decision 13:09 Creating Golf Graphic Tees 17:27 First Shirt Sold Online 19:48 From Solo Hustle To Team 23:24 No Blueprint for Growth 24:01 Hiring and Letting Go 05:02 Community as a Catalyst 25:27 Bootstrapping and Obsession 26:39 Brand vs Personal Social 29:00 Founder Face and Fear 32:48 Building Personal Brand Today 35:06 AI Tools and Human Touch 38:02 Landing Major Partnerships 39:49 Five Year Vision Ahead 40:58 Rapid Fire Golf and Brands 45:40 Consistency Beats Viral

  • #40
    April 9 · 50 min· Video

    Show Up or Get Outspent | Programmatic Advertising, Personal Brand, and How B2B Deals Actually Close | Jessica Chase | Ep.8

    Most founders chase the next ad format, the next platform, the next growth hack. But what if the thing that was actually closing deals was just you, posting honestly on LinkedIn every week, even when it felt cringe? In this episode of Return on Reputation, my guest is Jessica Chase, Co-Founder of getabovethefold.com , a programmatic advertising agency helping brands scale beyond Google Ads into streaming TV, podcasts, audio platforms, and beyond. Jessica is one of those founders who figured out early that reputation is the real growth channel. She did not land clients by outspending competitors or running a perfect funnel. She built 19,000 followers on LinkedIn by posting authentically, sometimes uncomfortably, once a week for an entire year. And the deals followed. With over 20 years in marketing, Jessica started at 1-800-CONTACTS at 18, moved through international agencies, and eventually asked herself a question most marketers are afraid to ask: why am I making other people millions of dollars instead of myself? In this episode we cover: What programmatic advertising actually is and how it differs from Google Ads When founders should start investing in programmatic vs other ad formats How geo-fencing corporate offices and events can accelerate a B2B sales cycle Why last-click attribution is killing your marketing strategy How to build a personal brand on LinkedIn without feeling like you are performing Why posting when it feels cringe is actually the most powerful thing a founder can do Keywords: programmatic advertising, personal brand for founders, B2B marketing strategy, LinkedIn personal branding, Google Ads vs programmatic, ABM strategy, founder marketing, Return on Reputation podcast About Jessica Chase Co-Founder of getabovethefold.com , a programmatic advertising agency helping brands scale beyond Google Ads. 20+ years in marketing, former client and agency side, now building one of the few agencies fully specialized in programmatic advertising. https://www.linkedin.com/in/programmaticmarketing/ About Return on Reputation: Return on Reputation is the show for founder-led brands done flying under the radar. Host Justin Obey, founder of Obey Creative, sits down with experts, founders, and dealmakers to unpack how personal brand, trust, and authority compound into real business leverage. New episodes every week. Connect with Justin Obey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinobey YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinObey Website: https://obeycreative.com TIMESTAMPS: 01:26 What Get Above the Fold Does 02:28 Founder Mindset and Self Care 04:06 Meditation and Hypnotherapy 09:18 Why She Started the Agency 12:37 Programmatic Advertising Explained 14:24 When to Use Programmatic 18:13 ABM and Event Targeting 21:52 Connected TV and Ad Formats 24:14 Building Trust in a Technical Industry 27:15 Why Clicks Are Not the Whole Story 29:29 Personal Branding on LinkedIn 33:39 Why Founders Should Be the Face 35:50 Posting Through Fear and Haters 41:41 How Failure Builds Confidence 42:57 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up

  • #39
    April 2 · 51 min· Video

    Reputation Raised This $10.5M Fund: The Visible Hands Fund Model | Justin Kang | Ep.7

    What does it actually take to raise a venture fund when no one would have hired you to run one? And how do you build the kind of reputation that convinces 80 people to bet their money on you before you have ever written a single check? I sat down with Justin Kang, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Visible Hands, a pre-seed venture capital fund investing in underrepresented founders across Boston, New York, and the American South.I wanted to get him on the show because his story is one of the clearest examples I have ever seen of reputation functioning as actual currency. Justin did not come up through Goldman Sachs or get recruited out of Stanford. He spent his twenties moving between politics, nonprofits, and civic organizations, building relationships without a master plan. Then in 2020, he and two co-founders launched a pre-seed fund from scratch with no institutional track record and no traditional pedigree. Just 15 years of trust, built one relationship at a time. Today, Visible Hands has made more than 100 investments, closed a first fund at 10.5 million dollars with 80 limited partners, and generates 3 million dollars annually through partnerships with cities, family offices, and foundations. This conversation changed how I think about deal flow, founder evaluation, and what it really means to build authority before you need it. What you will learn in this episode: Why micro venture capital funds statistically outperform large funds, and the business model problem that stops almost everyone from running one How Visible Hands generates 3 million dollars a year through city and foundation partnerships, giving a micro fund the resources of a much larger operation The three-part founder evaluation framework Justin uses before there is a product to judge: inspired insights, meaningful skill sets, and resource magnetism Why nine out of ten pre-seed companies pivot from their original idea, and what Justin actually bets on instead The three capital gaps blocking underrepresented founders: financial capital, social capital, and inspiration capital Why the best founders build businesses so that investors chase them, and how that changes everything about how you should approach a raise How Justin raised 10.5 million dollars without a traditional VC background, and what that proves about reputation as a substitutable form of credentialing What founders should be doing right now, a full year before they are ready to raise, to build the authority capital that makes investors pay attention If you are a founder who thinks you do not fit the profile, or you are sitting on an idea waiting until everything is perfect before putting yourself out there, this episode is a direct answer to that hesitation. Reputation is not built on where you went to school. It is built on who showed up for you when you asked, and that only happens if you spent years showing up for them first. About Justin Kang Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Visible Hands. Former VP of Economic Growth at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and early employee at MassChallenge. https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinjkang/ Timestamps: 0:00 — Justin Kang's non-traditional path to venture capital 4:30 — Why Visible Hands started in Summer 2020 8:00 — The "Visible Hands" name: a riff on Adam Smith's invisible hand 10:45 — How ecosystem-building generates deal flow AND $3M in annual revenue 15:30 — Pre-seed diligence: what Visible Hands looks for in a founder 21:00 — Resource magnetism, inspired insights, and why management consultants get a flag 26:00 — The danger of raising too much money too fast 31:00 — AI's impact on founder team size and check size 34:00 — How founder reputation plays into follow-on rounds from seed to Series A 38:30 — Financial capital, social capital, and inspiration capital: the three barriers to underrepresented founders 44:00 — How to build authority capital before you're ready to raise 49:00 — Rapid fire: warm vs. cold outreach, best book, and why LinkedIn wins 52:00 — Closing thoughts on entrepreneurship as privilege Connect with Justin Kang: Website:https://www.visiblehands.vc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinkang Connect with Justin Obey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinobey YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinObey Website: https://obeycreative.com

  • S1 · E38
    March 26 · 48 min· Video

    The Laws of Brand Storytelling: How to Build a Personal Brand That Compounds | Jessica Gioglio

    How do you build a personal brand that compounds over time? What does it actually take to go from invisible to authoritative, and what are the laws of brand storytelling that make it all work? Justin Obey sits down with Jessica Gioglio — bestselling author, keynote speaker, and founder of With Savvy Media & Marketing — to answer exactly that. Jess co-authored The Laws of Brand Storytelling and The Power of Visual Storytelling, has led award-winning marketing and PR programs for Dunkin' Donuts, TripAdvisor, and Sprinklr, and has spent two decades helping companies and founders tell the stories that actually move the needle. This conversation is personal. Jess helped Justin get his first press hits — including coverage in the Boston Globe — when he was building Social Boston Sports from scratch. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and she's one of the most credible voices in brand storytelling. This episode is about what compounded. They cover the Macro/Micro storytelling framework, why neutral brands are invisible brands, the CTFD Index Jess created at Dunkin', why AI is exposing weak strategy rather than replacing storytellers, and the exact playbook for founders who want to start building their personal brand today. What you'll learn in this episode: Why reputation compounds — and why most founders start too late The Macro vs. Micro stories framework from The Laws of Brand Storytelling Why brand pages are losing to personal brands on LinkedIn How to build an authenticity playbook so your brand never crosses the wrong line The CTFD Index — a crisis communications framework from inside Dunkin' Donuts Why AI is exposing weak strategy, not replacing great storytellers The human-AI-human sandwich approach to content creation The one platform, one format, and one habit every founder needs to start today Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction & Welcome 01:14 — The Comcast Sleeping Tech Story That Started It All 03:10 — The Savvy Bostonian Blog & Building a Personal Brand Before It Had a Name 05:14 — Was It Hard to Walk Away from Corporate? The Leap to With Savvy 07:00 — Using Side Projects as a Test Bed for Your Marketing Skillset 09:40 — Personal Brand as the New Career Security 12:00 — When Should a Founder Build a Personal Brand vs. Go Faceless? 13:05 — The Macro vs. Micro Stories Framework Explained 15:07 — The Dunkin' Pay-It-Forward Story (and What It Teaches About Brand Storytelling) 18:25 — Employee Advocacy: Why Employees Outperform Brand Pages 21:10 — Are Brand Pages Dead? The Shift to Founder and Executive Voices 23:00 — The Rise of B2B Influencers and Why It's Harder Than B2C 25:00 — The Laws of Brand Storytelling: Core Thesis Breakdown 28:48 — Why Neutral Brands Are Invisible Brands (The Switzerland Problem) 31:50 — The Neuroscience of Storytelling and Why Stories Beat Data 33:05 — How to Take a Brand Stand Without Crossing the Line 36:00 — The CTFD Index: Jess's Crisis Communications Framework from Dunkin' 37:50 — AI and Brand Storytelling: What Founders Need to Know Right Now 38:30 — What the CEO of Google DeepMind Told Jess About AI and Storytellers 42:25 — The Human-AI-Human Sandwich (Justin's Framework, Jess Approves) 43:45 — Why Companies Confuse a Growth Problem with a Branding Problem 46:35 — Rapid Fire Round Connect with Jessica Gioglio: Website: https://jessicagioglio.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicagioglio Newsletter (The Marketer's Storybook): Available on LinkedIn and Substack The Laws of Brand Storytelling — available on Amazon The Power of Visual Storytelling — available on Amazon Connect with Justin Obey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinobey YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinObey Website: https://obeycreative.com About Return on Reputation: Return on Reputation is the show for founder-led brands done flying under the radar. Host Justin Obey, founder of Obey Creative, sits down with experts, founders, and dealmakers to unpack how personal brand, trust, and authority compound into real business leverage. New episodes every week. #PersonalBranding #BrandStorytelling #FounderBrand #ReturnOnReputation #JessicaGioglio #ContentMarketing #B2BMarketing #TheLawsOfBrandStorytelling #FounderVisibility #LinkedInMarketing #PodcastMarketing #OBEYCreative

  • #37
    March 19 · 54 min· Video

    What Investors Actually Look For in Founders - Andrew Nash on Reputation, Risk & Building Again | Ep. 5

    What separates founders who scale from the ones who stall? Andrew Nash has spent 40 years finding out. Serial founder, investor, and entrepreneur Andrew J. Nash has built and exited companies acquired by Apple, eBay, Deloitte, and Chowly. After selling Targetable in 2024, he moved back to Australia ready to step back - and then AI pulled him right back into the arena. Now he's building again: launching Austral Impact to strengthen the Australian startup ecosystem, developing Kemu (a vendor-agnostic AI orchestration platform), teaching as an Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne, and hosting his own podcast, Big Bets and Bad Calls. In this conversation, Justin and Andrew get honest about what a 40-year career of exits actually comes down to — and it's not the technology. It's the trust. What we cover: Why Andrew left retirement to build again — and what he saw in AI that others missed What Kemu is and why vendor-agnostic AI orchestration matters How Austral Impact is filling a critical gap in the Australian startup ecosystem What Andrew looks for in a founding team before writing a check Whether personal brand and reputation actually influence investment decisions The case for founder-led brands in B2B Big bets he's proud of — and bad calls he'll put on the record If you're a founder, investor, or operator building something that's meant to last — this one's for you. Episode Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction & How Justin and Andrew Met 01:00 — Andrew's 60-Second Career Pitch (The Forrest Gump Version) 03:00 — Why AI Pulled Him Out of Retirement 05:15 — Learn, Earn, Return: The Framework Behind Everything Andrew Does 08:00 — Austral Impact: Closing the Gap in the Australian Startup Ecosystem 09:30 — Why He Started Big Bets and Bad Calls (And What the Name Really Means) 20:30 — Kemu Deep Dive: Building the AI Orchestration Platform of the Future 34:00 — We're Only 1-2% Into the AI Revolution 40:30 — Is Reputation the Real Throughline Behind Andrew's Exits? 43:00 — Jockey Over Horse: How Andrew Evaluates Founders Before Investing 47:00 — Founder-Led Brand: Vanity Play or Business Necessity? 49:00 — The #1 Role of a Founder and What to Look for in a Team 52:00 — The Biggest Bet of His Life (Moving to the US in the 90s) 53:00 — Risk, Resilience, and Running Hard at It Connect with Andrew Nash: 🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrewjnash 🎙️ Big Bets and Bad Calls: [URL] 🌐 Austral Impact: [URL] 🤖 Kemu: [URL] Return on Reputation is hosted by Justin Obey, founder of OBEY Creative. New episodes every week at the intersection of reputation, visibility, and business growth. 🔗 LinkedIn: [URL] 🌐 OBEY Creative: [URL] 📩 The Authority Brief: [URL] #PersonalBrand #FounderStory #Entrepreneurship #ReturnOnReputation #AndrewNash #AIStartups #FounderLedBrand #B2BMarketing #StartupPodcast #Reputation

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