Business Innovators Radio - Gabrielle Scout – Founder – Mark Stephen Pooler

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

Gabrielle Scout is an editor, strategist, and founder of Scout’s Agency, a leading podcast visibility firm that has booked nearly 6,000 interviews and executed over 400 Podcast Tours for founders, authors, and thought leaders. She pioneered the Podcast Tour model seven years ago, long before podcast guesting became mainstream PR. Client results include 150 high-ticket inquiries from a single interview, 7,000 books sold in one month, and 100% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. She is also Editor-in-Chief of REVUE and host of PODCAST by SCOUT. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Business of Fashion. She lives in San Diego with her daughter.Links:https://www.scoutsagency.com/https://www.instagram.com/scoutsagency/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/gabrielle-scout-founder-mark-stephen-pooler

Welcome to Business Innovators Radio, featuring industry influencers and trendsetters, sharing proven strategies to help you build a better life right now. Welcome to Brilliant Business Conversations with leading experts in business. I am your host, Mark Stephen Pula. We have an incredible guest today, Gabriel Scout. Gabriel is an editor, strategist, and founder of Scouts Agency. a leading podcast visibility firm. Gabriel, welcome to Brilliant's Business. Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored. Well, I've had my podcast for a long time now and a web television show as well, and I know the power of podcasting, and I've been doing my show now for about five years. I've interviewed over 200 guests as well. So I'm really looking forward to the knowledge

you're going to share today. And I want to know, the most qualified people in every industry are also the most invisible ones. And what's actually keeping them out of the room? You know, I think the thing that's keeping people out of the room is themselves. I think that visibility, especially in today's day and age where social media is so present and people are talking to the camera and people, you know, brands and founders need to be content creators. stepping out into visibility means stepping out to the possibility of judgment, criticism, right? And so it really is when I work with my clients, it is just them standing in their way. Typically, every almost, I would bet that almost every founder has such an incredible story and such an

incredible offer because they have a business, right? And the only thing that is keeping them out of the rooms is because they don't think that their story is worth being there or they don't think that they have enough credibility, revenue, etc to be in the room and it's just simply not true it's this it's this mental block that we each create that we need to get over I have to agree if you wait to be ready you'll never be ready and another one I find as well is oh but my website's not quite finished yet and I have to say to people a website is never finished it's an ongoing journey your website will never be ready if you're waiting for it to be ready. So let's talk about the compound effect

of a podcast guesting. Why one conversation can change your business for years. I love podcast guesting because I talk about it like planting seeds, right? One beautiful example is I was a guest on a podcast back in 2022 and by 2025 I had signed six figures and revenue from that one podcast opportunity. I did not sign six figures the next day after it went published. I didn't sign six figures within the month that it went live. I was getting consistent clients from that episode over three years. And that is the beauty of being a guest on podcasts. You are in front of an audience. You tell your story. And then it lives as an evergreen piece of content that people consume over years or they listen to you and make a mental note to come back six months,

a year later, two years, whatever they're ready. And so when you are, I guess, on podcasts, you are planting these little seeds that then compound into sales over years. I have to agree, even a year, two years down the line. People can find that interview. Then they want to get in touch review

so you can attract clients years down the line. But also the audio side of things is very, very powerful as well because there's a lot of AI at the moment and when people can hear you, It really builds trust because people like to know who you are. And hearing your voice, people can relate to you a lot more. So I have to agree with that.

Now, let's talk about why your pitch isn't working and the difference between a pitch that gets ignored and one that gets a yes. So the podcast guesting industry is so new, whereas the traditional PR industry is very solidified, right? There's etiquette. There's SOPs. There's ways to write things. There's AP style.

So many people are pitching themselves as a guest on podcast through this lens of professional PR press release style. That doesn't work for the podcast medium because podcast mediums are human. As you said, that trust factor, there is no other content medium or strategy that develops this level of intimacy when you are consuming this type of content. And so the pitch really needs to match the human part of what you are bringing to the table. The host needs to read and know who you are. is a human, not who you are as a resume. And that's where people go wrong. They try to button themselves

up and be quite professional in their pitches when really a podcast host wants to know what is that human piece that's going to create an episode that is going to be incredibly valuable for their audience. I love it. I love it. And let's talk a little bit how to turn podcast guesting into a lead generation machine. We all want lead generation in our businesses. That's the main thing. That's the main that keeps that flow of customers, that revenue. So it's so, so important and not just a one-time marketing hit. Such a good question. You know, my clients who make six figures off of one podcast tour,

I've made a collective of seven figures in revenue and my business based off a podcast guesting, the secret to getting that type of lead generation is not to come to the interview and then wait for the ROI. The secret is to take every single one of these interviews. and create content around them, repurpose. So, for example, for this one that I'm in right now with you, Mark, I did an Instagram story before. I'm going to do an Instagram story after. I'm going to pull quotes that I felt like I said really well, and I'm going to create a quote carousel. I'm going to email it out to my newsletter. I'm going to email you. I'm going to network with you.

I'm going to say, you know, can I send anyone your way? How can I support you, right? And so if you look at these interviews, not just as I'm going in front of an audience to gain clients, but as a full 360 marketing campaign and content repurposing strategy, that is how this turns into six to seven figures by being a podcast guest. And by the way, you don't even have to go on the biggest podcast to get that type of an ROI. And so I'm really passionate about helping my clients do that, especially those who don't want to be content creators in today, but want to be thought leaders and want to get into the rooms where people can really feel what they do. And then that translates into people doing business with them.

I love it. I love it. And this is just great for visibility. Make sure you tag me when you're doing all of that promo. I love it and I'll be sharing it all over as well. And also, Gabriel, be sure to stay on the call after this interview today because I am quite interested in getting on a few podcasts for myself. I'm always interviewing people, but I've just launched a new platform for myself for

all things manifestation and faith-based and identity. So I want to get the word out there via podcast as well. So I'm definitely interested in all of this as well. So let's talk about operations strategy of running a podcast tour, podcast guesting, strategy booking, how we match podcasts with our clients, how to be a good podcast guest, all of that in one question. Well, Mark, I'm sure you know I could talk about that one question for hours and hours and

hours. But here's the one thing that I want to give the audience that can really start to conceptualize operationally and how to be a good guest. One thing is that podcast downloads are private, which is a blessing and a curse. In my opinion, it's a blessing because we don't know the reach of these podcasts. So what that forces us to do is look at each opportunity from a holistic brand fit. So we're looking at the host. Who are they? What kind of business do they? have, we're looking at past guests, we're looking at demographic alignment, we're looking at networks, we're looking at ratings. That allows us to choose brand fits that aren't based off of vanity metrics, but based off of actual alignment. That's what creates a really, really good podcast tour.

I've been on one of the biggest podcasts, right? One of the biggest, and I thought I was going to go viral, and I thought I was going to be an influencer, and nothing happened. And then I was on a podcast that was a fraction of the size, and I saw the ROI immediately. And so I really, really, when coming up with a strategy and operational podcast tour. It's not about the podcast that you, quote, unquote, are fans of. It's about the podcast that are going to move the needle for you in alignment. And my team and I have been doing this for seven years. That's what we're excellent at. We could take a client and say, this is the podcast list that's going to get them booked, or else you're just running your wheels and pitching into the abyss. Now, to be a good podcast guest,

very similar to my last answer, it's about promoting the episode. It's about tagging the host. It's about rating the show. It's about connecting with the host. It is serving the host. just as much as the host is serving you. And then it is showcasing this interview and all this content to your existing audience. That is how you go from just being someone who shows up for an interview and someone who is using a podcast guesting strategy as a 360 marketing campaign.

True words, true words. I've been on radio shows. I've been on television to audiences of sometimes 3 million and a million. I'm thinking, oh, I'm going to rock it here. I'm going to get all these sales. and then nothing. And you're like, so I've been on a show where he's going like a million views and nothing's come. But then you can, you can even go on an interview and 200 people have been listening on and you get so much business from you.

It's more about the quality of the people that they're in your target audience and they're interested in who you are, rather than going viral and seeing a million people that have no interest in what you've got to offer. So true, true words. how to implement a podcast guesting and hosting strategy into your business. So why I love a podcast hosting and guesting strategy if my clients can do both, you know, some clients I say just do guesting first or just do hosting first. Other clients, I'm like, let's go full shebang, let's do both. I work with clients through a VIP day to help them.

They walk in wanting a podcast and they leave with a full custom podcast brand, your roadmap and a strategy to have that podcast make them their business money. The most amazing thing about a hosting and guesting strategy, if created and utilized properly, is not only are you getting visibility, right? You are getting in front of new audiences. You are borrowing trust from the host or you're borrowing the trust from the guest if you are the host. You're also gaining a network of a lifetime. This is something that people sleep on when you are a host and a guest. You are having conversations with people you never would have conversations with within your industry, and that leads to so much business collaboration post-recording.

You're also going to get amazing content, especially for those founders who don't want to go and do Talking Head Reels, podcast content is such gold on the internet. So now it becomes your content mothership. Then it becomes, especially if you host a podcast, the mothership of your content and brand where your community can come and you can go deeper with them. You can develop bigger trust with them. There's a place for them to go. where they really, really, really get to know you. So when you host and when you guessed, what happened is your network increases significantly. Sometimes you get in the rooms with people you have been mired for years and work with them. I've seen it happen to my clients. You gain revenue

because you're harnessing the purchasing power of new audiences as well as your audience on your podcast to come in and support your business. And you are getting a content and marketing machine where you are able to show up online without creating content, which for every founder is a dream. So when utilized properly, that is what is possible. I see the power of what you do. I know it works. I'm so passionate about podcasting. My web television show has just done so many phenomenal things for me, my radio broadcast as well. I've just set up my own new spin-off TV series from Brilliant Business as well called Brilliants Within, which is what I'm doing all about around God within.

and manifestation, faith and identity. So this stuff works, Gabriel. Now, anyone listening out there who really wants to get that visibility, they want to do the podcasting tour, who should reach out to you and how can people reach out to you, Gabriel? Excellent question. So if you are a business owner, a founder, a thought leader, an author, a coach, a service provider,

and you want to get yourself out there and step into your visibility, in a way that actually converts but doesn't make you a content creator. You are a fit to work with us. We are actually launching a podcast guesting operating system, calls the placement studio. It is a 12-month tool where we are giving you the agency creation and the agency strategy. So we are choosing those podcasts. We're writing your pitch. We're developing your brand strategy. And then you actually get access to our software, our proprietary software that we just built that is backed with seven years of doing this. You get group monthly coaching, new podcasts added to your list every single month, so your team can actually run your podcast tour internally in under an hour. If you would rather

just have us do the whole shebang, we do that too. So the best place to go is to scoutsagency.com. You can book a call with me there, or if you're interested in the placement studio, you can go to scoutsagency.com slash studio. We're launching in September and the wait list is currently up. I would encourage everyone to go to skatesagency.com. Gabriel, thank you so much for being my guest. I thoroughly enjoyed having a conversation with you. Thank you so much. It was such an honor.

The pleasure has been all ours. You have been listening to Brilliant Business, conversations with leading experts in business. Until next time, by for now. Thanks for listening to Business Innovators Radio. To hear all episodes featuring leading industry influencers and trendsetters, Visit us online at business innovators radio.com today.