Jennifer Cohen & Sean Callagy: Why Bold People Get What Everyone Else Wants

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The answer is always no if you never ask. Most people know that.

Almost nobody lives it. Jennifer Cohen has lived it for 30 years. In 40 below weather, in rooms she had no business being in, in front of people who'd said no a thousand times. She understood what most people never figure out. You don't get what you don't ask for.

Jennifer Cohen (0:23)

I got a master's degree in failing, but I got a PhD in getting right back up.

And I did that over and over again. A lot of people said no to me. I like asked Oprah Winfrey to be on my podcast. She said no. It's the audacity. Just because two big people said no, I'm betting on the third person to say yes.

Sean Callagy (0:42)

What you're hearing is they just liked Jennifer, and she didn't even have a big audience yet.

Jennifer Cohen (0:48)

My first interview that was an extraordinarily big one, because I was so amateur at that time, the person that was doing the sound of that podcast screwed it up, and I couldn't even use it.

Sean Callagy (1:03)

And who was that one?

Jennifer Cohen (1:04)

That was the Jack Dorsey one.

Sean Callagy (1:06)

You want to scale your impact so it is actualized as much as you possibly can to do good in the world.

Jennifer Cohen (1:14)

I want to compound it. I want to be a force.

Sean Callagy (1:17)

Like the name, this is the compound influence immersion. That is literally what this is.

Jennifer Cohen (1:22)

Is it really?

Sean Callagy (1:23)

Yes.

SPEAKER_1 (1:23)

And now we welcome to the stage, the woman who has made a career out of asking the questions most people are too afraid to ask. Jennifer Cohen.

Sean Callagy (1:35)

Let's bring Jennifer up to the stage. No, Jennifer Cohen is in the building.

And she actually stayed through all of your insanity and mine. So it was very impressive. Please.

Jennifer Cohen (1:57)

Oh, I love that. That's a great video. Can I borrow that? That's such a motivator, isn't it? Yes.

Sean Callagy (2:04)

Incredible job.

Jennifer Cohen (2:04)

I loved it.

Sean Callagy (2:06)

So was that exactly what you're expecting to be brought up to?

Adam (2:10)

No, not at all.

Jennifer Cohen (2:11)

But I like it. I mean, it's a great intro. I love it. That was very, very entertaining, if nothing else.

Sean Callagy (2:18)

Yes, that is fun. So what were you thinking, honestly, just like-

Jennifer Cohen (2:23)

I was just kind of shocked. I wasn't expecting that enthusiasm and that energy. And I love it. I think everything's- enthusiasm is a big piece of what I talk about. I think that's how you were talking earlier about how I get a lot of this stuff done. And a lot of a big component that I talk about and that I really believe in is being positive and being enthusiastic. It's infectious. So that was very infectious. And so I thank you very much. I'm going to come back again and again if I can.

Sean Callagy (2:53)

Thank you.

Jennifer Cohen (2:54)

Of course.

Sean Callagy (2:54)

Thank you. Yeah. So yeah, let's go. So so I'm so excited because I don't know some of these answers.

I know there are answers.

Jennifer Cohen (3:05)

Yeah.

Sean Callagy (3:05)

How? And here's the question. We're going to get into like, please, if we can.

Jennifer Cohen (3:10)

Yeah.

Sean Callagy (3:10)

Some real micro micro stuff from the beginning.

So how would you do it? How did you begin to have people with amazing identity coming on to your podcast? Like if you take us through that journey in really granular detail, you guys want to know that they want to know that. So we'll get to know all kinds of amazing things about you. But if we could start there, it would be amazing.

Jennifer Cohen (3:36)

Yeah. Well, first of all, can I take it back before the podcast? The podcast is Thank you. Well, only because the podcast is just the by-product of a lot of other things and steps that I've done. And that's just one piece of the pie. And so I think the bigger question is like, how do I, you know, you were saying earlier, how do I get this guest on the show? Or how do I get that person to do something when I'm technically a nobody in the grand scheme of things? And I'm going to take it back to the beginning, which is the first thing, which is very easy, which is, guess what, Sean? I asked.

I asked.

Sean Callagy (4:16)