Jen Allen-Knuth

Founder, DemandJen | Sales Trainer & SKO Keynote Speaker | Dog Rescue Advocate

I help B2B revenue teams stop losing pipeline to buyer status quo. I'm a former Enterprise seller who carried quota for 18 years, closing 7-figure deals with Fortune 500 brands. Now, I run DemandJen, a sales-training firm trusted by Autodesk, GE, G2, IBM, Bloomberg, Instructure, Sprout Social, and more.

From conference stages to company Sales kickoffs, I'm known for:

- Buyer-Centric Frameworks – Practical playbooks for defeating buyer status quo in outbound pipeline generation, running executive-level discovery, building a point of view on cost of inaction (COI), and gaining consensus with larger Enterprise buying groups. 

- Story-First Messaging – Techniques that replace product pitches with problem-centric narratives that buyers remember.

- Engaging Delivery – A direct, humorous style that keeps even your most tenured reps taking notes.

Featured in Forbes, Sales Hacker, and 200+ podcasts, I combine real-world stories with data-driven insight to move audiences from inspiration to application. When I'm not on the road, you’ll find me in the Chicago suburbs chasing my 4 rescue dogs and 4 step-kids.

Head of DemandJen

Delivering SKO keynotes & virtual workshops that won't put your teams to sleep.

B2B Sales & Marketing teams have tried to earn buyer time and attention with a strategy of "more". 

More dials.
More emails.
More content.
More "value" and ROI.

But, 2023 showed us "more" is expensive and no competition against today's risk-averse B2B buying teams.

Instead of motivating the team to do “more”, I help empower teams to defeat customer status
quo and to make their sales conversations a competitive advantage.

Last January, I posted about how I collected social proof from 51 clients in 4 simple steps. It costs $0. I started doing this when I was an AE, but now I do it religiously as a solo business. 

Alejo P. turned the post into this cartoon carousel. 

(If his fun artwork looks familiar, it's because he created my website illustrations & the DemandJen logo cartoon 🤗 )

How I Gather Social Proof 

zoë hartsfield 🌊

good @ building pipeline | bad at most other things | currently building pipeline + evangelism at Apollo

I've generated over 100MM impressions for brands on social media in the past 24 months. Most coming from LinkedIn. Building world class employee, executive and influencer advocacy programs for B2B software companies. 

I'm a marketer by trade, but sales has my heart. Also passionate about helping younger professional level up in their careers (mostly by charing lessons I learned the hard way).

-------------------------------------------------------------

If you're a brand and want to collab on content, shoot me an email at zoe@zoehart.co

If you're a young professional looking for tips, hacks, and learnings to help you level up, hit the bell & follow me on IG (@zoepatience) and TikTok (@zoeeharttt).

If there are other ways you hope to work together, shoot me a DM- let's chat.

Head of Marketing & Evangelism

Standing up the content, community & demand gen functions at Swantide. 
Q1 & Q2 OKRs + Wins:
- 4x inbound traffic
- organized and generated Sales Collateral Library
- guested on 15 podcast + webinars to evangelize the brand
- onboarded tools: HockeyStack, Warmly, Demandwell
- Stood up content calendar
- Stood up product release marketing with CS
- Trained the GTM team on social selling
- Created Community Driven Pipeline Playbook
- Launched Events marketing program hosting in-person and virtual events
- Stood up partnerships program
- Stood up first-ever referral motion (generating 15% of pipeline after 2 months)
- leveraging my personal brand to generate new business opportunities
- Set up GA4 + marketing attribution model
- Generated 50% of pipeline from inbound, content + community
- Generated 39% closed-won revenue from inbound, content + community
- did all of this without ads^ 😏


We are making implementing and configuring salesforce 10x faster, 10x simpler at 1/5 the cost. It's so easy, I can set up your Salesforce instance. DM me if you're about to or just bought SFDC and need help with configuration & system management. We've got you covered 😎

zoë hartsfield

"i don't want to work with you. you write in all lowercase. that's unprofessional."

my guy… i'm not going to write like me for you. i'm going to write like you for you. that's literally the point of ghostwriting.


lowercase everything works for MY brand cuz i’m a zillennial girlie in sales/marketing who doesn't take herself too seriously at all. 

But the CRO of a Series B RevTech company? You're not posting like that. 

You shouldn't post like that. Your board would have some big questions for you at the next quarterly meeting. 

(see what I did there?^)

when i write for YOU, i write like you. 

- Proper capitalization. 
- Structured frameworks. 
- The occasional dry humor that lands in a CFO's inbox without raising too many eyebrows.


i've been doing this long enough that nobody has ever figured out who i write for. and that, my friend... is the point. 

i like to consider myself the best ghostwriter you've never heard of ;)

so if you're worried i'm going to make you sound like a chaotic gen-z kid who types like she's sending a text... i promise i won't.

unless that's your vibe i guess

zoë hartsfield 👻

EGC is the new brand marketing | i build executive and employee brands on linkedin that drive awareness and revenue | executive brand & ghostwriting | documenting my life as a first time founder

I quit my job 2 weeks ago to go all in on [redacted]. I haven't even officially announced the new company (soooon) but closed my first deal with a DREAM client. Today. From a coffee shop. In Dubai...

I was always a W2 girlie, and I will still champion anyone who wants that life. 

Climbing the corporate ladder was an epic challenge and I am so grateful for that experience. 

But I remember so vividly a few months ago... the night I finalized my divorce, lying in bed thinking "what's stopping me?"


Am I scared? Yep.
Am I prepared? Nope.
BUT do I know anything about building a business on my own? 

Also no

F*ck it... I'm doing it anyway! And I'll bring you along with me.


So if you are into:
- Personal Brand/LinkedIn content tips
- Watching me (attempt) to build a 7 figure business in public
- Remote work/productivty hacks


It's nice to meet you. I'm zoë hartsfield 👻 and I'll be your host for this series. 

1 deal down. Many to go:)

i build linkedin personal brands that convert | personal brand tips, social selling training + executive ghostwriting | ask me about optimizing your linkedin strategy

DIY v hiring a professional: 

i’m in nyc for 48 hrs. my friend was taking some pics of me in time square and one of those street photographers came up and asked if he could take one for us 

i declined 

we took a few more and he came back to offer to just take one and show us. 

the difference was massive

so he took 40 more in 5 minutes and suddenly i spent $150 


but the end result was better than the 30 minutes my friend and i had spent 



sure it was pricey but i have a better product & results to show for it 




this post is about hiring a ghostwriter 👀

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4 lessons from from 4 massive creators i met here in dubai this morning: 

MrBeast (yes this is real) - until you’ve put in the work to make 100 videos/try 100 times, you really can’t complain about it “not working” - you don’t even have enough data to make that call yet and you definitely don’t have the skills 

Vinh Giang - there is a much power in “pause” just give it that extra half second, especially on stage- it’s a way to let people absorb what you said and hook an audience in 

Amar Kandil - ask yourself if it will make an interesting story. everything can be an interesting story, you just have to find the narrative 

Justin Mecham - instead of teaching people 1 thing about everything, package everything about one thing. that’s the thing. that’s how to approach posts, products and courses. people don’t want 30 hours on a massive concept- they want 90 minutes on a core concept they can stack together with other core concepts. 


there’s something really special about being in rooms with people much smarter than you.

I’m 30. Single. Have a dog. Live in Colorado (for now).

And I run a ghostwriting + social selling training company (announcement coming SO soon).   I’m also a content creator who does brand partnership content every single week.  My day to day looks like this:

Wake up
Walk/Run
Coffee
Emails + slack replies
Write for exec clients
Make 1-2 demos for brands I am working with (using Consensus)
Update client dashboards in Notion
Record content before I lose the light
Write content for me
Emails again
Walk le pup
Forget I was supposed to eat at some point
Make dinner
Scroll/take notes for content ideas
Spend an hour working on the business (trying to build better systems, use Zapier, Notion + Slack to make my life easier)
Gym Watch something mindless
Eat a junk food snack because I am a trash raccoon at night
Go to bed

Repeat.



Some of my goals for 2026 revolve around leveraging tools to connect all the disparate systems and part of my business. Everything has historically been manual or a bit clunky.   I think in 2026 the business the tech that is blowing up are the tools that are connecting the dots for creators, founders and operators.   Clay did it for data. Zapier did it for tools. Consensus is doing it for the buyer journey.   As a new founder (and seller) I always want to be thinking about how to make my life (and my client’s lives) easier and more efficient. 

If you’re a seller, marketer or early founder in SaaS, I highly recommend checking out Consensus. Their AI powered a-sync demos allow your buyer to experience the full capabilities of your product when they’re the most motivated to solve their problem.   In 2026 you should be connecting the dots for your buyer.    And in 2026 I should really add “get a better calendar tool/time manager” to my to-do list because this is nuts. 



#consensuspartner  Ps. I have been traveling home from Tel Aviv for 22 hrs now. only 14 to go 👌🏼

i’m just here to say… 

post the content. 

stop over thinking it
don’t wait until tomorrow
stop doubting whether or not you have something valuable to say 

document your work, your life, your learnings… 




never know where it could take you:) 




… to dubai. 


it could take you to dubai…

i quit my job a few weeks ago to go all in on my business.
probably a year later than i should’ve.
why?

i was scared.
i wanted more cash in the bank.
more clients lined up.
and yeah… a $160k salary + health insurance was very comfy.

but i remember thinking:
“if i just had some runway… i could actually do this.”
one morning i checked my bank account and thought:
fck it. send it.

sometimes that’s all you need.
a little runway. a real dream. and some audacity.

that’s why this hit for me 👇
Stanley (Your Content Coach) is giving real $$$ to one person to cover their salary + cost of living for a full year so they can go all in on their dream.
not someday. not when you’re “ready.” now.

join dare to dream & enter to win $100k.


here’s how to enter:

sign up for stan (free)
post a 2-minute or less video on IG or TikTok sharing your dream + how you’ll bring it to life
use #standaretodream26 and tag Stanley 
complete the typeform after your video is live (link in comments)

winner is selected in feb.


also drop in the comments if/when you enter, I want to go watch it!

what’s your dream?



*no purchase necessary. void where prohibited. for official rules, visit daretodream.stan.store





ps. this is me this week closing my first new client since going solo. 

6 calls lined up for next week. 

if you’ve been thinking about going all in on you, let this be your sign.

whoever at apple decided the default file format for a photo should be .HEIC is a sociopath. and you know what…



actually that’s all. 

end of rant.

my senior year of high school i bat .488 but my junior year i bat .211. this one conversation with my coach changed my whole perspective:

“zoe, i know you want to be swinging for the fences- but waiting for perfect pitches keeps you from swinging at all. a single gets you in the game just as much as a home run does. Don’t you ever go down looking.” 


annnnnd then he told me that for every at bat i went down looking i owed him 10 laps at the next practice. 😬

fast forward to the next season: 

senior year i was league MVP, and bat just shy of .500 (developed a mean lefty slap bunt… iykyk)

All because i stopped waiting for the perfect pitches. 




This post is not about softball. 










(… its about starting your own thing/business/project/taking risks… in case i wasn’t clear)

headed to dubai to speak on stage at the largest social media and creator conference in the middle east. wtf is life! 
here’s all it took to get here: 

6+ years of tech sales, social selling and content creation experience
4 years of posting consistently on linkedin
3 years of ghostwriting experience 
2.5 years of social selling and personal branding training experience 
thousands of posts 
winding up in the back of a cab with the organizers of 1 Billion Followers Summit on our way to a happy hour in Cannes. 


i feel so lucky and i also know that so much work went into this. 

flight leaves in 8 hours- who am i seeing there? 


wish me luck 🖤

There was a time, not that long ago, where I found it extremely difficult to get out of bed in the morning… 

The world felt so big, and there was this weight in my chest that seemed to keep me pinned to the mattress. 

The anxiety ratting around in my head was constant. 

And there were moments that felt so dark and scary and lonely, it felt hard to imagine a life that was really worth living. 


I won’t pretend it magically got better over night. 

I won’t pretend to know the how or why of depression and how we get out of it 

But I will say with confidence… 

Dark nights give way to brighter mornings. It really does get better. 

Slowly, and then suddenly you’re up at 6a walking in the 20 degree chill and thinking… life is kinda beautiful. 


Idk who needs to hear this on a random sunday but, keep going. 

We need you here tomorrow 🖤

about to board my 7th flight of 2026. yep. 7 planes in two weeks. i often talk about all the pros of work travel, but here are some cons: 

- i’m sh*t at time zone math. 

and sometimes that means i pigeon hole myself into a 1a call on accident. constantly moving and shifting requires planning but also a ton of flexibility and grace for yourself when you don’t get it right. 

- airplane wifi is unreliable. 

of course my precious United Airlines  is almost always on it with the wifi but i’ve been on 2 flights with trip with 0 wifi and 3 with super spotty wifi on other airlines. this means i spent a solid 10 hrs of flight time with no connectivity and not a lot of ways to get real work done. annoying but is what it is. 

- jet lag. 

now i’m not totally convinced jet lag is real (she says as she types this into her notes app at 4a) but SOME people struggle to adjust to the new (or back to the old) time zone making productivity on the bookends of travel kind of rough. 

- lack of routine. 

it’s hard to maintain my “routine” abroad. sometimes because of conference schedules. sometimes because of logistics/lack of a car or maybe not being able to run in the area i’m staying in… you have to find ways to maintain normalcy within the confines of your situation. 




i mean… im reaching here. remote work and working while traveling is generally pretty awesome. travel delays, poor wifi and jet lag can be a bit of a pain but id have to say they’re well worth it for me to see the world. 

i hit dubai, tel aviv and nyc in the last 10 days, all while running the biz. 

it’s a pretty sweet gig if you ask me. :) 

please ignore the bags forming under my eyes. if i look tired it’s because i am. 

#remotework #worktravel #productivity

prospect: “but my last exec ghostwriter was 1/3 the cost.” 

me: “so why aren’t you working with them still?” 

prospect: “well they weren’t that good.” 

me: … 







the next time someone says “well the last guy was cheaper” remember… there is a reason they’re not the “current” guy.

A young woman came up to me after my talk at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai 2 weeks ago and asked “how do i get my first ghostwriting client?”: 

I told her she wouldn’t like my answer, but here’s how i did it. 


“do it for free” 

“free?” she asked? 

“yea, not forever, but if you have no experience, no portfolio and no social proof- then use this opportunity to build that up.” 


i wrote for 3 people for free in the very beginning. just for a month or two. then i asked them to pay me. 

2 said yes. 

all 3 became case studies. 

all 3 taught me something. 

i suddenly had a portfolio, customer quotes and confidence i didn’t have 2 months before. 

did i make any money in that time? no. but i credit that experience to all the money i’ve made ghostwriting since. 




sometimes you have to be willing to take a small short term loss in order to have future gain. 

take it from Costco Wholesale - they make $0 on their rotis chicken. in fact they lose money on them. 

but they place them in the back of the store KNOWING people have to walk the whole floor to get to them. people always end up seeing other interesting items and buying more. 

for me? i literally have a costco membership because i get a rotis every week. 

and i buy other stuff throughout the year as a result. 




the best businesses know when to take Ls as a strategic advantage. 



don’t mind me while i spend my afternoon doing client work and eating this thing straight out the bag with a fork.

Gila Shapiro 🖍️ is 25 followers shy of her first 3k and she told me when she hits it she will start posting weekly. she will also owe me $11. 

can you please go follow her and help her hit it? (and help me… i quit my job so i could use the $$$)

5 more hours on the plane… almost to dubai! but for now, this is my MUST have list of things to bring in my carry on: 

- laptop & chargers 
- extra headphones 
- hypoclorous acid 
- eye mask/face mask 
- extra change of clothes 
- hairbrush
- dry hair shampoo 
- current book
- mini pharmacy 
- tripod
- hand sanitizer 
- notebook & pen (cuz sometimes ya just gotta write stuff down 



what am i missing from my bag? 




ps. i filmed the whole experience of flying emirates to this event. (shout out 1 Billion Followers Summit ) 

this week is about to be insane. 

if you’re waiting on an email from me i’m on it- i just don’t know what time it is or where i am or when i am.  :)

I’m 30. Just quit my W2 job. Am renovating my house to rent it out. All while running my own business, completely remote. 

I’ve always been a fan of remote work. Maybe because I graduated college less than a year before "le Vid" hit and have spent 90% of my career completely working from "anywhere". 

But I think there are a few really critical systems every person or team needs in place to be effective when totally remote. 

These are 3 I’m focusing on as I build my business: 

- You need really strong a-sync communication systems. 
I don’t really care what you use, but pick a channel and stick to it. Trying to track down messages in 15 different places is a nightmare. 


- Strong SOP documentation + walk thrus.
This is critical for ANY remote team to get down EARLY. I use Tango to create quick walk thru’s of any process that needs to be done more than once. This allows me to do 2 things:

1. keep myself organized and honest when I am moving quickly… 

2. eventually delegate processes to other people (shoutout to my first part time hire!… you know who you are). 

Example, last week I showed her my exact process to take an interview transcript, parse it into posts, drop drafts into a client notion hub + how to ping the client in their hub to let them know content is ready. Now when she has questions, instead of asking me for 15 minutes, she has a step by step walk thru to help her if she gets stuck.

IF you need help with internal ops, staying organized, streamlining newhire training or just documenting SOPs as a founder or manager, give Tango a try.


-Finally you NEED a super portable work set up. 
I’ve got an iPhone, tripod, laptop, chargers, solid webcam, little laptop case that doubles as a stand, AirPods and I just got a sick portable monitor. Now I can work with my best set up anywhere in the world (I am literally typing this at 40,000 feet using 90% of that list). 

Once you have the right systems and tools in place, remote work becomes incredibly freeing. 

Never catch me working from an office again ✌🏼


Also can you guess how many hours I have been traveling for in this photo by the looks of my haggard face???

#tangopartner

i build executive and employee brands on linkedin | personal brand tips, social selling training + executive ghostwriting | ask me about optimizing your linkedin strategy across your team

one executive posting is a person with a Linkedin presence.

three executives and 5 employees posting is a brand you see eVeRYwHeRE.

think about it. 

if your CEO is posting, that's one connection point into a target account. one person someone might follow. one voice representing the company.

but if your CEO, your CRO, and your VP of Sales are all posting? Alongside 3 of your AEs an SDR and your head of marketing???

now you've got multiple different entry points. multiple different voices. multiple different ways for a buyer to stumble into your world.



most B2B deals have 8-12 people involved in the buying decision. different titles. different priorities. different content they care about.

your CEO might resonate with their CEO. but your CRO might be the one who actually connects with their CRO. your VP might be the one who gets the director's attention. and your SDR may be the one to convince your ultimate end user that the tool is worth giving a shot.

one executive posting creates maybe 5-10 connection points into a target company.

multiple executives and employees posting? that's 50+.

i've run this play at multiple companies now. it's never been "let's get one person going."

it's always been "let's get three-five people going and make your brand feel unavoidable."

one voice is a presence. three voices is a movement.

Best part about being a ghostwriter: You have no idea I am behind some of LinkedIn's top exec voices + brands.
Worst part?:

You have no idea I'm behind some of LinkedIn's top exec voices + brands 🥹

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Jen Allen-Knuth

zoë hartsfield

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The Battle

Jen Allen-Knuth

zoë hartsfield

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jen Allen-Knuth's LinkedIn Performance

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