My first TV interview was on Business Rockstars, with Mark Lack in 2017. The show also featured my clients. Here’s what I said on air, what it was like, and how my clients got their own segments.

Quick answer

My first TV appearance was an interview on Business Rockstars with host Mark Lack in 2017. In November 2017 the show featured it on its homepage for 24 hours. The show also featured my clients: it ran Cat Howell’s story in January 2017, a feature on Ben Lee’s agency, Neon Roots, in July 2020, and an interview with Jeffrey Bunting.

Key facts

ShowBusiness Rockstars
Partnership announcedNovember 29, 2016
My interviewWith host Mark Lack, 2017 (exact date not on record)
LengthAbout 9 minutes, two segments
Homepage feature24 hours, from midnight November 21, 2017
What it wasMy first TV appearance
Clients we got on the showCat Howell, founder of Eight Loop Social (January 23, 2017); Ben Lee, founder of Neon Roots (July 22, 2020); Jeffrey Bunting
Reach the show claimed (Nov 2017)43 million+ TV households (500,000 viewers), 150+ radio markets, 5 million Delta seatbacks, 80 US airports

Watch on YouTube: My Business Rockstars interview with Mark Lack

How did I get on Business Rockstars?

I don’t remember exactly how the first booking came together, and my email doesn’t go back far enough to show it. I also don’t remember the date. It was 2017. What I do have is what I said on the show about how I got in front of people back then: help first, ask later.

“You’ve always got to provide the value firsthand. So for example, if I wanted to get on Business Rockstars, which I am now … I would help you out a ton … before I even ask you anything. And I wouldn’t ask you, you know, what do you need help with? I would just help you out.”

By January 2017 I was already telling people about the show. I pitched one entrepreneur that month:

“Would you want to be on an episode of Business Rockstars? They air the show on T.V. and have access to over 40 Million Households.”

Six days later, pitching an editor on a podcast I was launching, I described the relationship as a partnership:

“We have a partnership with Business Rockstars which allows us to send them content so they can share out to their +50,000 email list and Twitter following of over 600k.”

I’d announced the partnership publicly on Facebook on November 29, 2016. Whether my own interview came before or after that, I can’t say from the record.

How did I get in front of people before I had any press?

Mark asked what I was doing before Influencer Press. My answer was the same habit that got me on the show:

“I was just researching online marketing, so I would help out for free … Anybody will take you in if you help them out, but a lot of people, if you ask them, they’ll be like, oh no, you know, I don’t need anything. But I never really ask. I just help them out.”

I was also already writing for the outlets my clients wanted to be in:

“The way to dominate this space is to be in the space … I was already a writer, a contributor … and because of that I was already aware of the other writers there.”

That’s where the business came from. After one call where someone told me I could make money from those relationships:

“The very next day I did a whole email outreach and I made like two thousand bucks.”

“I always wanted to build that authority figure online … and I now can do it for others.”

What did I say on Business Rockstars?

Mark Lack asked what Influencer Press does, whether clients make money from press, what the hard part is, and what I’d tell someone starting out.

On what we did:

“Influencer Press is a PR firm and we work mainly with influencers, and we get them on these major publications, so like Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, HuffPost.”

On whether press makes sales:

“Making a sale from that, it’s difficult, and also you have to know what you’re doing … So we mainly do it for brand recognition. Most of our clients that do it, they just want their name in the lights. They want to be like, yeah, I’m the guy, I’ve been on Forbes.”

On guarantees:

“We don’t ever guarantee anybody any views, any clicks, any sales, because we can’t control that.”

When Mark asked if we could at least guarantee the placement itself:

“I can’t guarantee that either.”

On where the work actually is:

“The hard part is not doing the work … The hard part is not getting on the publications. That’s like the easiest part ever. The hard part is working directly with the client, what they want, what they need and what their expectations are. So I need to manage the expectations.”

On turning down clients:

“Whenever I get on a call with them, if they’re rushed or if they’re upset, anything like that, I won’t take the check.”

“For me it’s all about the customer experience.”

On advice for someone starting out:

“Don’t try to learn everything. I feel like as entrepreneurs we try to dip our hands into a bunch of different things, but once you start, double down on the 80/20 rule … and pay the people that know how to make you more money, and just pay them. Don’t try to learn it, because you’re wasting time. You might not even be good at it.”

What was it like to film Business Rockstars?

The interview runs about nine minutes and was cut as two segments. Mark opens each one with the show’s line, that Business Rockstars is there to inspire, inform and connect a community of entrepreneurs, then introduces me as founder and CEO of Influencer Press. In the second segment he asks me to recap what the company does before picking up where we left off. It ends on “we’ll be right back.”

Mark shared his own approach too. When I talked about helping people before asking, he called it the law of reciprocity and described what he called show swaps: you’ve been on my show, I’ve been on yours. When I said managing client expectations was the hardest part, he told me about the one-page client expectation form his companies send before taking anyone on, built around one question: what are your expectations for this engagement.

I wasn’t relaxed. I said so to the show a few months later:

“I was nervous on my first one which is why I’m like super eager to do it again lol.”

Where it was filmed is not on record.

What was Cat Howell’s Business Rockstars segment?

On January 23, 2017, Business Rockstars published “STORIES: Catherine Howell - The Wake Up Call,” a segment just under two minutes long with Cat Howell, founder and CEO of Eight Loop Social. Influencer Press arranged it.

In it she tells the story of starting her business around the time she first got pregnant, when she was a freelancer doing everything herself. Within about an hour of giving birth she was back on her laptop answering client emails and calls. That hospital bed was her wake-up call: she was burnt out and couldn’t sustain it. She says it pushed her toward seeking mentorship and health, and her advice is to hire the right team and step away, because you don’t have a business if it can’t run without you.

Watch Cat Howell’s segment. Business Rockstars also posted it on Instagram, and Cat shared it on Facebook.

How the booking came together beyond that is not on record. What is on record is that the segment came up again. In May 2017 we were preparing a Forbes interview with her, and I told her the writer wanted to use it:

“She also loves the story you have on Business Rockstars so we want to include that within the post.”

Whether that article ran is not on record here.

What was Ben Lee’s Business Rockstars feature?

On July 22, 2020, Business Rockstars published “Neon Roots | Officeland | Business Rockstars,” a feature on Neon Roots, the design and development agency founded by Ben Lee. Influencer Press got him on the show. The crew visited the “wave house,” Neon Roots’ studio and office, during a look-book photo shoot, and Ben walked them through the process and around the open-layout startup house. I shared the feature on Facebook.

Watch on YouTube: Neon Roots on Business Rockstars' Officeland

What was Jeffrey Bunting’s Business Rockstars interview?

Influencer Press also got Jeffrey Bunting on Business Rockstars for an interview of his own, and he posted about it on Facebook.

What happened after my interview aired?

The show featured it on its homepage for 24 hours, from midnight November 21, 2017, and asked me to share it. I wasn’t happy with how I came across. In December 2017, with a trip to Los Angeles planned, I asked to come back on:

“If possible I’d love to be on the show again.”

They weren’t filming the day I’d be there. When they offered past guests a paid re-edit in January 2018, I asked whether I could shoot a new one instead. That’s when I sent the line about being nervous. A new shoot was available as a paid package.

How big was Business Rockstars’ audience?

By its own numbers, big on reach and smaller on viewers. The show’s November 2017 one-pager called itself a daily television, radio and online show and listed 43 million-plus TV households, with 500,000 viewers on the same line. It also listed 150-plus radio markets, 5 million Delta Airlines seatbacks, 80 major US airports, 750,000 hotel rooms, a 40,000-subscriber newsletter and 1 million social followers. Households is how many homes could tune in. Viewers is how many did. Both numbers come from the show.

How did Business Rockstars work in 2017?

Guests didn’t pay for a normal interview. In December 2017 I asked whether the show charged, because I’d been told it did. It didn’t. The show charged only if a guest wanted a highly produced electronic press kit, a polished version of the interview made for their company. In January 2018 they offered past guests a paid re-edit, cut down to a shorter segment with B-roll and sent out across their network, and a paid re-shoot.

How do you get your first TV interview?

I can only answer from my own, and I don’t remember how mine was booked. What I said on air in 2017 is what I’d still say: help the person first, without asking what they need. Be in the space you want to be known for. And once you’re on, treat it as the start of a relationship, not the result.

What did Business Rockstars teach me?

Four things.

  1. Your first appearance is a door, not a result. The interview mattered less than the relationship it started.
  2. Help before you ask. It’s what I said on air and how I worked then.
  3. Ask how it works, don’t assume. I thought the show charged for interviews. In 2017 it didn’t.
  4. Bring your clients with you. Once you’re in, the relationship can work for the people you represent. Cat Howell, Ben Lee and Jeffrey Bunting all got segments of their own.

FAQ

Does Business Rockstars charge guests?

In 2017 it didn’t charge for a normal interview, only for a produced press kit or a re-edit of an interview.

Was Business Rockstars Ulyses Osuna’s first TV appearance?

Yes. His first TV interview was on Business Rockstars, with host Mark Lack, in 2017.

Who interviewed Ulyses Osuna on Business Rockstars?

Mark Lack, one of the show’s hosts. The interview is about nine minutes long, in two segments, and is on YouTube.

What did Ulyses Osuna say about guarantees on Business Rockstars?

That Influencer Press never guaranteed views, clicks or sales, because it can’t control them, and that it couldn’t guarantee the placement itself either.

Did Business Rockstars feature Cat Howell?

Yes. Business Rockstars published “STORIES: Catherine Howell - The Wake Up Call” on January 23, 2017. Influencer Press arranged it.

Did Business Rockstars feature Ben Lee?

Yes. On July 22, 2020, Business Rockstars published a feature on Neon Roots, Ben Lee’s design and development agency, filmed at its “wave house” studio and office. Influencer Press got him on the show.

Which Influencer Press clients have been on Business Rockstars?

Cat Howell, founder of Eight Loop Social, in January 2017; Ben Lee, founder of Neon Roots, in July 2020; and Jeffrey Bunting. Ulyses Osuna’s own first TV interview was on the show in 2017.

How many people watch Business Rockstars?

In November 2017 the show listed 43 million-plus TV households and 500,000 viewers, plus radio, Delta Airlines seatbacks and airport screens.

Who owns Business Rockstars?

By May 2022 Business Rockstars had been acquired by Invincible Entertainment.

Where does Business Rockstars film?

It has filmed in Los Angeles, at Nasdaq in New York and, by 2025, in Philadelphia, with remote interviews also available. It also mentioned San Francisco and New York studios in 2018 and interviews at Bloomberg in 2023.

Work with us

Influencer Press places founders and creators in major publications, on TV, on podcasts, on Times Square billboards and on stages, and makes sure what search engines and AI say about them is accurate. If you want help with any of it, you can apply to work with Influencer Press.

About the author

Ulyses Osuna founded Influencer Press at 19 and has run it for nearly a decade, placing founders and creators in major outlets, on TV, on podcasts and on Times Square billboards. He has appeared on The Dr. Phil Podcast, been a panelist on Nasdaq TradeTalks, and spoke at Harvard Kennedy School in 2026. More: about, methodology, transparency.

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