There are some things you can learn from a textbook. And then there are the things you can only learn from someone who has actually done it.
Today at Florida Atlantic University, entrepreneurship students got the latter.
Influencer, speaker, entrepreneur and personal branding expert Jen Gottlieb joined ShrimpTank hosts Jason Hill and Dr. Kevin Cox for a live podcast taping in front of an audience of students, entrepreneurs and community leaders. And somewhere between the conversation about personal branding, social media and creating opportunities, it became much more than a podcast.
It became a masterclass.
Denis Sinelnikov and I were sitting in the audience, there to support our friends, capture some content to help spread the word about ShrimpTank, and enjoy the conversation. Denis is approaching 20 years building his digital marketing agency, Media Components, and I’ve spent the last 25 years building my PR agency, Omm Media. Between us, we’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of businesses, from growing entrepreneurial brands to multimillion- and billion-dollar companies.
And yet, we still walked out of that room with new ideas, fresh perspectives and more than a few nuggets of wisdom of our own.
Maybe that was one of the best reminders of the day: no matter how long you’ve been doing something, there is always something to learn from people who have been somewhere you haven’t, see something differently, or simply make you think in a new way.
Because good advice doesn’t really have an age limit.
I learned that personally last March, when my son and his crew teammate – both 16 – presented their TEDx talk on stage at TEDxMiramar, sharing life lessons they gained from rowing for more than six years.
One of Jen’s most powerful messages was also one of the simplest lessons: stop thinking first about what you can get from people and start thinking about what you can give them.
She talked about the law of reciprocity and challenged the students to recognize the extraordinary opportunity sitting right in front of them.
That idea of reciprocity really resonated with me. For the past 10 years, I’ve volunteered as a co-organizer of TEDxBocaRaton, working alongside Erik Mintz and an incredible team to help more than 100 speakers bring their ideas worth spreading to TED’s global platform. I’ve never thought about what I might get in return. I do it because I believe in the power of giving someone else’s idea, story, or voice a platform — because you never really know how far that ripple might travel, whose life it might touch, or what it might inspire. And to me, that kind of return is priceless.
ShrimpTank is also creating a ripple effect, bringing successful entrepreneurs directly into the students’ world… sitting right in front of them. Instead of immediately asking those guests for an internship, an introduction, advice or an opportunity, Jen suggested turning the equation around.
What can you do for them?
Share their post. Comment on their content. Review their podcast. Buy their book. Tell someone about their company.
In a world where attention has become one of our most valuable currencies, those seemingly small gestures have real value.
Jen called it “audience equity” — building an audience and a distribution channel of your own.
And for a generation that has grown up with a phone in its hand, that creates an opportunity previous generations of entrepreneurs simply didn’t have.
Every student in that room already owns a “media” company. It just happens to fit in their pocket… or maybe on a website like MillionDollarMedia.news.
That may have been my favorite takeaway of the day.
We spend so much time telling young people they need experience before someone will give them an opportunity. Jen flipped that thinking completely. You don’t necessarily have to wait for someone to give you a seat at the table. You can start creating value for the people already sitting there.
And sometimes, that is exactly how you get invited back.
Learning From People Who Are Where You Want to Go
That idea is also what makes ShrimpTank such an interesting and valuable opportunity for FAU’s entrepreneurship students.
Over the course of the podcast, they aren’t simply hearing theories about entrepreneurship. They are meeting hundreds of people who are living it.
The wins. The mistakes. The risks. The pivots. And occasionally, the moments when everyone around them probably thought they had lost their minds. Former ShrimpTank guest Steve Edwards returned today and offered a pretty memorable example of that.
Steve shared how he once put his savings and retirement into an idea he believed in, taking on debt without knowing exactly how the story would end. He eventually built his business, had a successful exit, became a bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and today gives back through FAU’s Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, helping other veterans build businesses of their own.
His advice to the students?
Take chances. Follow your instincts. And when you have an idea, run with it.
He told the audience that recently he sat down intending to build a spreadsheet and, with today’s AI capabilities, ended up building an entire app in two days. Think about that for a moment. The distance between “I have an idea” and “I built something” may be shorter today than at any other time in history.
Which brings us back to Jen’s point.
Today’s students have access to technology we couldn’t have imagined, platforms capable of reaching millions of people, and, through programs like ShrimpTank, direct access to entrepreneurs who have already traveled some of the road they’re hoping to take.
The question isn’t whether the opportunity exists.
It’s what they’re going to do with it.
Maybe the Real Curriculum Is the Room
I have always believed there is tremendous value in learning from people who are already where you want to go.
Ask questions, listen to their stories, and study what worked. Pay even closer attention to what didn’t. And whenever possible, find a way to bring value to the relationship before asking for anything in return.
That’s networking at its best. Actually, maybe we shouldn’t even call it networking.
It’s relationship building. And there is a very big difference.
Watching Jen speak directly to these students today reminded me just how powerful access can be when it’s paired with curiosity and action.
ShrimpTank isn’t simply putting microphones in front of successful entrepreneurs. Jason, Kevin, and the team are putting those entrepreneurs within reach of the next generation.
And that’s pretty extraordinary.
So thank you to ShrimpTank… thanks to Owwll founder Jason Hill, and Dr. Kevin Cox, head of FAU’s Entrepreneurship Institute, FAU, and all of the entrepreneurs willing to sit in that chair and share what they’ve learned along the way.
Jen reminded the students today that sometimes the greatest opportunities come not from asking, “How can I benefit from this?” but from turning the question around:
“What can I do for you?”
And whether you’re 20, 40, 50 or somewhere beyond that, that’s a nugget of wisdom worth taking with you.
