I admire you. Can we talk?

The best pickup line to get people on your show.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have some amazing guests on my weekly Friday show (12:30pm eastern!). They come from many walks of life and some of them go way back with me and some of them recently came into my world. But they all have one thing in common—I admire them.

Some of them I admire for picking up the ball and running it into the end zone. Like Deborah Sosin (my first ever guest) and Katie DeBonville (my most frequent returning guest), for seeing their books through from passion to published. Or Princess and the Bear churning out five Disney food reviews a week, plus being true menschen as they do it.

Some of them I admire for the beauty they exude out of every pore. Like Jennifer Gasoi who writes songs of pure joy that nestle their way into your heart. Or Kimberly Jane Nasrul (another returning champion) who is a source of warmth and light and inspiration every time we connect.

Some of them I admire for trying to wrestle big things to the ground. Like Seana McCarthy who writes powerful, lovely words that help her work through questions of faith. Or Billie Butler who diligently serves as a NH state rep despite her lack of optimism about the current state of our democracy.

Some of them I admire for knowing a lot about things about which I know nothing. Like Jill Grade who brought me into the hugely popular world of romance novels. Or Farrell Parker who brought me into the world of tax prep for artists (and what Pete Hegseth’s really like…)

How did I convince these amazing folks to come on my show? How can you do the same?

• Be direct: “I really love your IG reels. They always make my day a little better.”

• Be specific: “I really admire the way you talk so openly about your struggles with anxiety and how you’ve transformed that into an amazing career.”

• Be clear about who you are: “I host a weekly live show on my substack Fridays at 12:30pm eastern. We talk about using creativity to navigate challenging times.”

• Be clear about what you want: “Would you be interested in coming on my show to talk more about that?”

It’s surprising how willing even really busy, high-profile people are to give you a little of their time to engage in great conversation.

Case in point, two of my upcoming guests are:

• June 1 (special Monday show): Julie Voris, superstar motivational speaker and goddess of Instagram

• June 5: AJ Wolfe, head honcho at the insanely popular Disney Food Blog and Allears.net, and author of the bestseller Disney Adults.

A year ago, I would never have thought to approach either of them for my little show. But I did, and they said yes.

And this is just the beginning. There are lots of exciting guests coming down the road. Stay tuned…

❤️
Adam