292: Your Net Worth is in Your Net Work with Colleen O’Mara and Jessie Nagel

This quarter on the podcast we’re focused on the theme of “Wealth.”

We’ve talked about how to go from commodity speaker to thought leader (last week’s episode 291) to generating more leads from your presentations (on-air coaching call episode 290) to increasing your speaker fees (episode 289) to using our framework to create a signature talk for both impact and income (episode 288).

Today we’re focusing on the wealth of your relationships. After all, your net worth is in your net work.

If I think about many of the speaking invitations I’ve received over my career, the vast majority came from my network.

This episode is to help you think and plan more intentionally and proactively about building and nurturing relationships in your industry and with other speakers and event organizers.

My guests are Colleen O’Mara and Jessie Nagel, who are co-founders of Hype, a PR, social, and branding agency based in Los Angeles, that they started 25 years ago (so impressive!).

As you’ll hear in this episode, I invited Colleen and Jessie to talk about this topic because I’ve seen the robustness of their network in action and how much their clients and relationships matter to them.

They are soon-to-be graduates of our Thought Leader Academy, so they also share their experience and why they joined to work on their projects (for Colleen, a memoir; for Jessie, a non-profit initiative).

We talk about:

• What their agency does, who they work with, and how it's evolved over the past 25 years
• How Colleen and Jessie have been intentional about building their network and creating trust
• Specific things they do to meet new people and to nurture relationships for their business
• Tips you can use, including “Always take the meeting” and the power of hosting your own events (big or small)
• The most impactful relationship they each made that changed their life/business
• Their experience in the Thought Leader Academy and why they joined

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/292/

Colleen’s and Jessie’s agency: http://www.hypeworld.com/

Apply for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Colleen O’Mara (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleeno3/
• Jessie Nagel (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/greenthebid/

About Our Guests:

Colleen O'Mara: Hype Co-Founder & Special Agent Colleen O'Mara-Diamond, a former magazine editor, devised the concept for Hype and opened the agency with her good friend Jessie Nagel. Because of Colleen and Jessie's diverse interests, they built a client roster for Hype, which constantly challenges them and their energetic team. Today, the international Hype roster features an eclectic group of talent in entertainment + beyond. Hype recently expanded by adding a social media division, Hype Social, as well as a branding-design division, Hype Creative. In addition to her work co-managing Hype, Colleen enjoys her collaboration with an ever-expanding group of press contacts around the world.

Beyond her co-directorship of Hype, Colleen writes short stories, poetry, essays; and has embarked on writing her first book-length project, "Raw Diamond: A Memoir" (www.colleenomaradiamond.com). She is represented by Editor-Agent Nancy Hancock, formerly of Harper Collins & Harper One. Colleen also hosts & moderates her own writing group each week with Writing Partner Catherine Simone Gray (Unsilenced Woman) called The Writer's Collective, which includes Writers from around the U.S.

Jessie Nagel: Special Agent Jessie Nagel is the co-founder of Hype -- a sassy boutique communications company that provides brand-strategic PR, Marketing, and Social Media services to creative companies. Dedicated to the entertainment industry as a community, Hype is committed to keen storytelling and promoting the creative process. Just under two years ago, Jessie, along with four other co-founders from various disciplines with advertising, launched Green The Bid, a non-profit organization, educational resource, and community dedicated to transitioning the global advertising and production industry to sustainable and regenerative practices. Green The Bid currently has over 300 member companies (and growing) - comprising brands, agencies, production, and post - along with supporting trade organizations.

Jessie’s participation in the development and ongoing nurturing of Green The Bid came out of volunteer work on the West Board of the AICP (the Association of Independent Producers) for which she helped develop the organization’s first sustainability guidelines. She leads the annual AICP Gives Food + Goods Drive and is a member of AICP’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Colleen’s Favorites:

• Book = Lisa Brennan Jobs’ Memoir “Small Fry,” which I modeled my own book project on.
• TED talk = Roxanne Gay’s “Confessions of a Bad Feminist"
• Quote = Dr. Maya Angelou (who I had the good fortune to collaborate with on a project about “Diversity,” before that was even a word or term, in my early 20s…): “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” and “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style."

Jessie’s Favorites:

• Books = “Fight Knight” by Mariam Towes is a funny, heartbreaking, wonderful story told through the perspective of a precocious girl about a family of three generations of women. “Station Eleven” by Emily St John Mendel is a beautiful and haunting work of fiction about humanity’s cruelty and hopeful perseverance. It’s the book that inspired the equally excellent TV episodic series.
• TED talk = Spoken word poet Sarah Kay’s “If I should have a daughter” https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter
• Quote = “Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.” - Michelle Obama

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant...