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.

Meet Elsie ❤️

This 5 year old sweetheart LOVES every human and dog she meets. 

At 5 years old, she’s past all that puppy mischief, but still has plenty of joy and tail wags to share. 

She’s gentle, loving, and ready for a home with someone who will love her as much as she loves them. 

Not sure if you’re ready to adopt? Foster her! It’s completely free. 

Photo credit: Nicholas I. Knuth 📸 

Available at Many Paws Global Rescue in Palatine, IL.

(PS - if you’re looking for Saturday plans, I’ll be at Buffalo Creek Brewery in Long Grove, IL for a Many Paws adoption event today from noon-3. Come meet your future sidekick ❤️)

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zoë hartsfield 🌊

Airtop

Brand Consultant

the little ghost

influencer marketing, brand consulting + ghostwriting services

Owner

Slate

Content Creation and Brand Strategy partner for Slate.

Brand Strategist

Warmly,

Maximize the ROI of marketing.

Automate conversion of high-intent target accounts that visit your website. Ensure that no lead falls through the cracks.

DM me for an intro to their team:)

Strategic Advisor

Apollo.io

My job title is weird this is the stuff I own:

- Apollo's Youtube channel (content strategy, creation, editing, project management + analytics reporting)
- Executive Evangelism (Executive Brands)
- Employee Evangelism (Employee Advocacy)
- Influencer Collabs (Youtube, LinkedIn + MasterClass talent sourcing)
- Content Host (Youtube, LinkedIn, Webinars)

Sr. Manager, Product Evangelism + Video Content Strategy (Youtube)

My job is to bring you the most actionable tactical sales tips over Linkedin, Youtube, Instagram & Webinars. 

If you can’t walk away knowing how to make more money, I’m not very good at that job

Sales Trainer in Residence

Pioneering a new B2B Influencer marketing program for GTM pros.

Sr. Manager, Influencer Marketing + Evangelism

Building a world class b2b influencer marketing program. 

Creating sales + marketing content to help our users get the MOST out of our product.

Influencer relationship management.

Content creation. 

Public speaking.

Copywriting.

Sr. Manager, Evangelism, Executive Presence + Community

Stealth Startup

up the content, community & demand gen functions.
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^ 😏

Head of Marketing & Evangelism

Spekit 🐙

New biz is the name of the game.

Growth Marketing
Demand Generation
Community
Paid Ads
Pipeline Generation & Acceleration

Demand Generation (Growth Marketing) Manager

- generated first ever community influenced pipeline (30+ meetings in 60 days) to help the team hit pipeline goals in Q1
- grew social media (LinkedIn & IG) presence by 50% in first 90 days
- successfully executed series B social blitz and PR announcement first week on the job
- manage customer advocacy campaigns and initiatives
-grew social media following by 105% in 5 months
-increased G2 reviews by 30% in Q2 (took on 2 new leader badges as a result)
-Building our Marketing Advisory Council

More to come:)

Community Manager

Dooly

Sourced and onboarded 10 net new partners in first 90 days. 

Built out tracking/project management flow to store partner data and comms.

Ground up - built and scaled referral program for PLG product motion. Referrals convert at 7x the rate of those who find our site organically. Driving new users and revenue through the referral program.

Community/Partner Manager

BombBomb

-grew social media presence by 25% in first 3 months
-increased avg webinar registration (260%) and attendance (80%)
-guest on podcasts, webinars and LinkedIn Live to further brand awareness and train on video communication best practices
-explore new channels to bring education around video, BombBomb and Human-Centered Communication
-collaborate with content and design team to promote and create engagement around events, webinars and product launches 
-train and equip staff to engage on social platforms and enhance their personal brand
-write, host and Youtube/short-form podcast for the brand

Community Marketing Associate

-generated 3.1 mil in projected pipeline in 6 months
-87% hold rate
-set record for quickest outbound SAO after start date for the team
-writing sales copy & sequencing that incorporates personal video to start conversations and turn prospects into customers
-social media strategy, content creation, demand generation sequencing, data analytics

Business Development Representative- Mid Market

-Leveraged personal relationships to bring on new business
-Top Performer (4/6 months excluding ramp-up)
-Converted leads higher than expectations consistently throughout tenure
-onboarded and trained new reps
-highest hold rate on the team during tenure

***Clearly got bored of not working after one semester and found a new job 3 months later. continued to work full-time and attend college full-time.

BombBomb is helping teams rehumanize their communication by enabling people with easy to use video and tracking for email, text and social. Whether you need better touches with your clients, clearer communication between your remote teammates, or higher conversion rates, video is proven to help. Let us show you how!

Sales Development Representative

T. Rowe Price

Promoted to Specialist shortly after completing licensing. 
Trained and coached new reps. 
Worked 45 hrs + per week while doing school full time.
Had lowest errors on the team.
Was involved in leadership training and development.

***Left to focus on school full-time in the Spring Semester.

Financial Service Specialist

Asked to join team full time before completion of internship. 
Had highest interview score of incoming hire class.
Passed all licensing exams on the first try.

Financial Services Representative

Receiving, sorting and processing client requests regarding their 401k's. Completing high volumes of work with accuracy and attention to detail. Submitting client requests, allocating funds, updating client information and supporting leadership with various processing projects.

Participant Transactions Processing Intern

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.

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

Update on the starbucks gift cards for flight attendants. 

1. United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliners have 10 flight attendants, not 8. 

2. They will come up and individually thank you, and your seat mates might ask “why are these flight attendants coming by every 15 minutes?” 

3. It feels nice to do nice things and I feel selfish and weird for admitting it but it brought me a lot of joy to bring them joy. 

4. A fourth point… 


Anyway, was nice to spread a little holiday cheer. 

Also Janice kept the mimosas flowing for me on flight number 2 so that was a dubbbbb. 


happy turkey day:)

running influencer marketing @ fullenrich | personal brand, social selling + executive ghostwriting for B2B SaaS/AI | ask me about your LinkedIn strategy

6 reasons i will NEVER go back in office: 

- working from anywhere has allowed me to be more present with my family (especially my grandparents who are older than time itself. the extra moments with them are priceless

- the amount of money i have saved on commuting is astronomical. gas, lunch at or near the office, happy hour drinks with coworkers each friday… literally thousands a year saved 

- i get to hang out with my dog all day. which is way better than him hanging out with someone else all day… or alone. you want my dog to be alone all day you psychopath!? 

- i’m more creative. something about being home, going on walks, working from coffee shops or airplanes or hospital rooms (remember the line about my grandparents being older than time?) knocks me out of my routine and allows me to think more creatively

- i’m actually way more productive at home. i’m a yapper, so being in office is great a few days a month but i also get so much less done when im there. i’d rather blitz a productive few hours in the morning and spins. few meetings in the afternoon than lose my day catching up with chad about his boys fishing trip last weekend. 

- my house has a fireplace. does the office have a fireplace? no? cool. case & point. 




remote work offers flexibility, productivity& cost savings to many people. it may not be for everyone- but neither is being in office 5 days a week. 


employees crave flexibility. that’s worth its weight in gold. 



ps this is day eleventythousand/100. literally less than 30 days left in this challenge and im hype:)

running influencer marketing @ fullenrich | personal brand, social selling + productivity | ask me about ghostwriting + founder brands

i bareeeeely graduated college. to this day i believe i hold the lowest GPA of anyone to pass the Econ program at my Uni because i was given a medical exemption (pity degree) after failing stats for the 3rd time. 

took me 2.5 years longer than it should have to graduate college. 

my plans to head straight to law school were crushed. 

decided to work. 

took a job at a random little tech company (the only one that would even give me an interview) in 2019. 

sdr'd for 18 months

learned everything i know about sales and GTM from strangers on the internet

140% of quota

started following top sales + marketing voices on Linkedin

started posting my own content about what was working as a seller

watched hundreds of hours of youtube videos about marketing

read dozens of blogs

made besties with the VP of marketing so when an entry level role opened up i was the obvious choice for the job.

parlayed that experience + my personal brand into a community marketing role 

20% pay bump

left that job after a year for another community marketing role

80% pay bump

left that job for a head of marketing role

35% pay bump 

realized I made a terrible mistake and reached out to my network to find a role I was truly passionate about

took a pay cut to go to Apollo

incredible experience for almost 2 years

laid off

started consulting + doubling down on ghostwriting services

50% increase in my overall income

took a w2 because i missed it but kept the side stuff going




from sdr to... whatever the heck im doing now, in 5ish years. 

the relationships
the network
the experience

^ this is what's ultimately helped me 9x my income from 2019 zoe. 


say yes to stuff
let things be messy
figure it out as you go
try your best
fail
try again


if i could summarize this all into one thought:


girl... whatever. 



64/100

running influencer marketing @ fullenrich | personal brand, social selling + easy ai tips for corporate baddies | ask me about ghostwriting + founder brands

I just closed the largest ghostwriting contract of my life this week and it almost got pushed to 2026. This one question moved the deal up a whole quarter:

Me: “When do you need to start seeing that value from this initiative?” 

Them: “Well, ideally in January.” 

Me: “Okay, based on your brand today, we needed to start last month to have a chance at hitting that target. No worries though, we still have a good amount of runway to get things up and moving- I’d expect you to hit those goals Feb/March if we start next week.” 

Them: “Okay, let’s do it, can you send a contract today?” 



^ Christine Rogers at M3 Learning walked us through the idea of “uncovering urgency.”

No more trying to manufacture urgency that isn’t there- just thoughtful questions that get the prospect to reveal the urgency that already exists. 


This was one of the many tools she taught me in the past few months. 




I took the Proactive Selling Cohort training over the last 10 weeks and feel like I got a madterclass in sales. 

I wish I took this back when I was a rep, but now as a part time solopreneur, it’s helping me close more business than i ever pictured I could.  

If you’re: 
- an experience seller in need of a repeatable process
- a new seller in need of some guidance
- a founder or entrepreneur who needs help selling your services/product

I cannot recommend it enough.


So grateful to Christine & the whole M3 team for the course. Was career changing. 


(I’ll drop deets to sign up for their Jan cohort in the comments. I don’t get paid or anything for it, I just genuinely would recommend this training to ANY seller looking to level up.)

idk who needs to hear this but… 

put the pricing on your website 
put the pricing on your website 
put the pricing on your website 
put the pricing on your website 
put the pricing on your website 
put the pricing on your website 


and another thing! 


if a buyer needs a phd in quantum physics to understand how your weird credits work… your pricing model sucks and you should redo it 

(i’m lookin* at you… every ai/gpt company ever) 

make it simple to understand and people won’t be so intimidated by consumption based pricing 



end of rant 

69/100

the biggest lie corporate america ever told:

hard work gets your promoted...... no, it doesn't. you know what does?


good work + visibility. 


visibility beats ability

visibility beats effort

visibility beats title

visibility can EVEN beat results



i learned this the hard way when my VP promoted a teammate over me. 

on paper i was:

- in the office earlier
- stayed later
- booked more demos
- had a higher conversion rate
- was 5% better than her in every KPI


but you know what she had?

- a great relationship with the VP
- a great relationship with the AEs
- a CLEAR conversation with leadership that THIS was her next step


my VP pulled me aside the day he promoted her. he knew I was crushed. 

Him: "Go ahead Zoe, ask me."

ME: "Why her and not me?"

Him: "You left it too close to call. Never leave it up to the Umpire. You should make yourself the obvious choice."




promotions are not about who works harder... they are about who works louder

- throw those wins in the group slack
- share templates that work with the team to share success
- write about your learnings on Linkedin + highlight the team in the process


visibility >>> ability

I've posted 547 LinkedIn last 2 years. (yes i counted them all like a psychopath). anyway... here are my completely unfiltered thoughts on LinkedIn content: 

- stop asking "thoughts?" at the end of every post... it's implied.
- carousels are NOT actually better than text posts
- commenting "great post" has added approximately zero value to anyone, ever
- if you're reposting the same motivational quote everyone else is using... maybe skip it
- personal stories beat business advice 99% of the time in reach
- tactical business advice beats personal stories 99% of the time as lead gen
- using "we" when you reallllly mean "I" makes you sound like you're hiding + like a douche
- polls are annoying
- your morning routine is not revolutionary content (and i don't believe you really wake up at 5a and cold plunge everyday)
- stop humble bragging about your "failures" that were actually huge Ws
- if you wouldn't say it in real life don't type it on LinkedIn


after spending too much time here, these are my unfiltered thoughts.

but I want to hear your unhinged takes on Linkedin.

not the safe ones everyone obviously agrees with... the ones that might get you some angry comments.



what drives you absolutely insane about LinkedIn content?

75/100

i hit 70k followers yesterday here on LinkedIn 

shoulda been an IG content creator instead 😒




jk in all seriousness, thank you. 

i am so committed to sharing the real behind the frameworks, failures, learnings, wins and insights i gather along the way. 

i want to show you the real-real not just the sizzle-reel of my career + experience working in B2B tech + building a side hustle 


i really appreciate you sticking with me:)

document.pdf

Reason 617272817 i love remote work: 

this is my view right now as i clear my inbox 



does your office have that, chad? 

#remotework #workfromanywhere

In high school, my Trig teacher told me:
"You'll NEVER make it in the professional world if you don't learn to show your work."

Well, Mrs. Gordon... 

I am proud to say I have never needed to use Pythagorean Identities OR been asked to provide a Proof since college. 

Clients just care about results. 



While showing your work helps you generate opportunities + establish credibility...

Outcomes get you paid. 



If she'd weighted homework as much as exams, maybe I would have done it sometimes. 🤷🏻‍♀️


Lazy people with efficiency kinks rule the world.

POV: the guy inventing the LinkedIn algorithm

him: i’ve cracked the code. this new algorithm is going to revolutionize social media forever. 



me: amazing! so assuming people will see content timely relevant and timely for them? 

him: haha. no. they’ll see something from three weeks ago that starts with “I almost didn’t post this…”



me: oh. so you’ll reward helpful or insightful content with a longer shelf life?

him: god no. we’re optimizing for vague personal growth and airplane selfies. 



me: okay… what about links? can people use it to share valuable insights from other sources?

him: if they post a link, we make sure that content never sees the light of day. 



me: will hashtags help?

him: only if you use exactly three. or none. or too many. whatever. shut up. it’s completely unimportant.



me: and if the post sounds AI-generated?

him: those will pop offfff but if it has one too many em dashes it will flop.

also him: OH! but any post ABOUT em dashes will outperform actual thought leadership. we can’t explain it.



me: what about video?

him: omg video is everything. they MUST do video. which is exactly why they’ll perform the worst.



me: so… no one really knows what works.

him: exactly. that’s the point. no one wins, ah but everyone refreshes. mwahahaha.


65/100

graphical user interface, text, application

this post only exists to see who is on Linkedin at this ungodly hour

roll call

Me to my boss: "Did Finance look at my notes on the FY26 fiscal plan?
Him: "You didn't leave notes on the annual plan."
Me: "Exactly... so wtf is Brad from accounting doing in my copy doc?"


Why is this the most relatable image I've seen as a marketer ever?


AND why is it that eVeRyOnE thinks they're qualified to comment on (read: ruin) marketing?


I don't show up to your cubical and tell you how to do your spreadsheets, Karen! 



Marketing by committee is where good ideas go to die. 





Ps. This billboard from Clay was perfect. No notes. 



PPs. I shamelessly stole this graphic from the team at Draf because it literally made me want to cry. It's brilliant. Give your social media manager a raise.

No quippy post about the algo or social selling today. 

Just want to say thank you to all who serve. 

So many of the opportunities & freedoms we are afforded in this country were hard fought & defended by our nation’s military. 



But I also want to say a genuine thank you to the families of those who serve. 

-The parents holding down the fort while their partner is deployed. 

-The kids who had to move around every few years for the next assignment. 

-The parents who just sent their kids off to basic training. 



The sacrifice is felt beyond the person wearing the uniform. 

We are grateful to you. 




Veterans Day is also my favorite veteran’s birthday. 

Today, my grandfather, a former officer in the Navy, turns 94. 

We are taking him out to dinner & i’m baking him cookies. 



If you have a veteran in your life, bake them cookies. 

People like cookies.

trying to channel my inner Lana Ivory 🦋 and snagged some starbucks gift cards for the flight crew. 

traveling this time of year is wild. you get a range of super cheerful folks and some of the grumpiest humans i’ve ever encountered. 

i feel grateful that airport & airline staff are working so i can go be with the people i love most over the holidays. 

loved Lana’s idea of going the flight crew a little gift as a “thanks for getting us there safely!” 

i’ll let ya know how it goes:) 


happy holidays yall!


wish i’d held these right side up 🫠

I’m posting everyday for 100 days. After 71 of them, here are the 3 things that have made the MOST impact in the quality + performance of my content:

1. Consistency - which feels sort of meta.

Posting everyday for 100 days inherently bakes in a forced consistency but I have noticed a level of “anticipation” from my network. I will even get a “no post today?” from a connection if it’s late in the afternoon and my content hasn’t gone live.

Think of it like a TV series. People expect a new episode every Tuesday. They tune in at 7p on the dot.

Post at a similar time and similar frequency and your network will fall into that rhythm with you.


2. AI is GREAT for ideation 

100 days of posting is a recipe for “idk wtf to write about anymore.” So using AI to help you brainstorm hooks, and content ideas is a game changer. 

I personally use Stanley (Your Content Coach) which sends me a report every Sunday based on my top performing content from the week and breaks down “WHY” it worked or flopped which helps me think through my next batch of posts.


3. Speaking of batch of posts- I batch my content. 

I write most of it on Sundays after that Stanley email comes in.

I find that setting aside time to get into a creative flow is easier than waking up at 6a everyday and trying to be creative on demand.

I would HIGHLY recommend anyone getting into content creation or trying to double down on it in 2025 challenge themselves to posting 100 days in a row.

And if you need help staying consistent, understanding what your audience responds to and coming up with creative post ideas, I’d check out Stanley as your AI powered creative writing partner. 

Since I personally started using Stanley my average impressions are up 42% WoW. 

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/eHHzy8Gi)




Cheers to day 71/100. At the end of the challenge I’ll share my total growth stats. Stay tuned:)




PPS. I was supposed to post this on Friday but life... ya know. So the voice-over is all kinds of messed up BUT at least my vocal fry still makes everyone angry. 

#stanleypartner #contentassistant

i talk a lot of sh*t for someone who gets overwhelmed by 4 unread slack messages…

I used to use flights to crush through emails and clear my inbox, but now idk what to do with myself… 

I literally hate email. Like I hate it. Like I avoid my inbox at all costs and handle it in big batches because reading and replying to emails is the bain of my existence. 

I’ve tried literally EVERY email assistant under the sun… but none of them could draft email replies in my tone or could capture the context of the previous emails in the thread. 

I’d spend more time editing AI generated drafts than I would have just writing the d:)mn email myself…

Until now.

Fyxer AI  just dropped Drafts 2.0 and it’s actually fire. 

It fixed the problem of context and tone in a way that I didn’t think these AI email assistants would be able to do for months. 

I can set my own "tone" guidelines and it uses my previous emails to write in a voice that sounds like me... ANNNND in the context of the conversation so it's tailored to the recipient as well. 


Now I ship out replies with minimal edits and clear out my inbox in literally half the time.

There’s one hour and 52 minutes left on this flight still.




Anyone got any podcast recs?

#FyxerPartner

After posting 77 days in a row I gotta say I wouldn’t recommend it. 

Excellent experiment. Learning a ton. But for 99% of people it doesn’t make any sense.

hooks are 90% of a post's success
hooks are 90% of a post's success
hooks are 90% of a post's success
hooks are 90% of a post's success
hooks are 90% of a post's success
hooks are 90% of a post's success


that's the post. (and the hook i guess)

70/100

taplio

The Battle

Jen Allen-Knuth

zoë hartsfield

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJen Allen-Knuth's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Jen Allen-Knuth

zoë hartsfield

Followers

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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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJen Allen-Knuth's LinkedIn Performance