How to Stop Being Overlooked & Start Getting What You Want With Top Business School Professor

Episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast · October 10, 2026 · 1 h 6 min

Mel Robbins talks with Emory marketing professor Marina Cooley about the attention economy, overcoming fear of rejection, communicating achievements, and building a portable reputation.

Summary

Mel Robbins hosted Marina Cooley, an award-winning marketing professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, for a conversation about how people can get their work and ideas noticed. Cooley recounted a winding career as a management consultant, failed peanut butter entrepreneur, Coca-Cola marketer and eventually professor, crediting her memorable 'peanut butter girl' story with helping her land the Coca-Cola job. She described her content marketing course on the attention economy, including a 'Go Viral, Get an A' assignment in which student groups posted daily for 30 days and reached 10 million impressions.

Cooley argued that fear of social rejection, including the fear of being ignored, is deeply wired, and that self-promotion feeling 'cringe' signals it is being done wrong. Citing Catalyst research on high-potential MBA graduates, she said the one tactic that raised women's pay was communicating achievements, while men benefited from leveraging outside offers and signaling willingness to work long hours. She recommended spending two hours a quarter assessing organizational priorities, building a 'portable reputation' online that passes a three-second test, and asking managers what success looks like.

The pair also covered practical workplace tactics such as turning cameras on in virtual meetings, preparing one or two talking points before meetings, arriving early, and going into the office more than required. Discussing a tough job market and AI, Cooley named critical reasoning as the scarcest skill and tied it to controlling one's attention, while Robbins urged job seekers to network because many jobs are never posted. Cooley closed by advising listeners to decide what they want and to take up a hobby as practice in looking foolish.

Chapters

0:00
Introduction
Robbins frames the episode around the fear of putting oneself out there and introduces Professor Marina Cooley.
3:27
Cooley's nine careers
Cooley describes moving from consulting to a failed peanut butter company, to Coca-Cola, and finally to teaching.
10:41
The attention economy
Cooley explains the attention economy and why telling one's own story matters for everyone.
13:47
Go Viral, Get an A
Cooley describes her class assignment of daily group posts and the concept of sticky ideas.
18:42
Fear of rejection and cringe
The two discuss social rejection, the fear of being ignored, and why self-promotion should not feel cringey.
26:40
Catalyst research on pay and promotion
Cooley explains research showing that communicating achievements is the key lever for women's advancement.
32:22
Strategic career reflection and portable reputation
Cooley recommends quarterly career reflection, sharing results early, and building an online reputation that passes a three-second test.
38:34
Asking what success looks like
Cooley shares stories of students who stood out by asking what success requires and offering to help with unglamorous work.
42:30
Getting noticed in meetings and the office
Cooley offers tactics including turning cameras on, preparing talking points, arriving early, and extra office days.
48:16
Preparation for introverts
Cooley and Robbins discuss using advance notes and competitive research to contribute confidently.
53:14
Job market, AI and critical thinking
They discuss networking in a brutal job market, experimenting with AI, and critical reasoning as the scarcest skill.
59:47
Final advice: know what you want and get a hobby
Cooley urges listeners to decide what they want and to take up a hobby as an identity outside of duty.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Marina Cooley
Cooley reported that her class's 30-day daily-posting experiment reached 10 million cumulative impressions on a new account.
“And by day 30, cumulatively, we had hit 10 million impressions, over 1 million likes”
Listen from 18:29 · Sticky ideas
Marina Cooley
Cooley said social rejection is processed by the same brain region that signals physical pain.
“It's literally the same part of your brain that tells you you're in physical pain”
Listen from 20:11 · Social rejection
Mel Robbins
Robbins said she avoided hosting her own events for years because she feared nobody would come, not because of judgment.
“Because it's not that I thought people would judge me if I did my own events. It's because I truly believed people wouldn't come”
Listen from 23:18 · Social rejection
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that if self-promotion feels cringey, it is being done the wrong way.
“And so you think cringe, but I think if that's how it feels, you're doing it wrong”
Listen from 24:59 · Self-promotion at work
Marina Cooley
Cooley said the research found men advanced by bringing in external offers and signaling willingness to work long hours.
“for men, it is... taking opportunities externally and showing them off internally, like, look what I'm worth”
Listen from 28:08 · Catalyst high-potential career study
Marina Cooley
Cooley said the only tactic that moved pay for women in the study was communicating their achievements.
“So for women, there's one... attribute that moves the needle, and that is communicating your achievements”
Listen from 29:40 · Catalyst high-potential career study
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that women's big mistake is believing great work alone will be noticed.
“We believe that if we do great work, that that is enough. And it's not”
Listen from 30:33 · Self-promotion at work
Marina Cooley
Cooley recommended spending two hours each quarter thinking strategically about one's career and organizational priorities.
“spending two hours solely dedicated to thinking about your career is not too much to ask for”
Listen from 33:02 · Self-promotion at work
Marina Cooley
Cooley cited data that people are looked up online before almost every meeting, making an online presence important.
“In fact, the data suggests that 98% of the time, somebody is going to look you up before they have a meeting with you”
Listen from 35:38 · Personal branding
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that shorter job tenures make a portable personal reputation necessary.
“And now the average job tenure is hovering around three to four years”
Listen from 36:07 · Personal branding
Marina Cooley
Cooley said a personal brand should communicate what problems one solves rather than amount to bragging.
“And again, I want to highlight that this is not about you bragging. This is about you showing what kind of problems you solve”
Listen from 38:03 · Personal branding
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that preparing one or two points before meetings puts a person ahead of nearly everyone.
“has thought through what are the one or two things that I am going to get into this meeting, you will be ahead of 98% of people”
Listen from 44:32 · Meeting preparation
Marina Cooley
Cooley recommended going into the office more often than a hybrid policy requires to gain face time with senior leaders.
“They tell you, you only have to show up on Wednesdays, but what if you're the one that shows up Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays?”
Listen from 46:06 · Self-promotion at work
Mel Robbins
Robbins said she had read that most jobs are never posted, so job seekers should network rather than only submit applications.
“80% of jobs that people are going to hire aren't even listed somewhere because the people that are working are too busy to write the job description”
Listen from 54:49 · Job searching and networking
Marina Cooley
Cooley advised experimenting with AI on every work task to see whether it can save time.
“I think each of them deserves an experiment to see whether AI can be a tool to save time”
Listen from 58:04 · Artificial intelligence
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that as AI makes tasks easy, critical thinking will become the rarest skill.
“Okay, but the flip side of that, for sure, is that critical thinking will be the most rare skill set”
Listen from 58:21 · Critical thinking
Linked moment · 59:39Skip to 59:39 using a listen link in the info box.
Marina Cooley
Cooley said critical reasoning is closely tied to attention span and controlling attention unlocks it.
“so the person that can control their attention span will unlock critical reasoning”
Listen from 59:39 · Critical thinking
Marina Cooley
Cooley argued that taking up a hobby provides practice in looking foolish that helps with putting oneself out there.
“that practice of looking stupid in front of people will go on to serve you when we talk about all of these other ways of putting yourself out there”
Listen from 1:02:17 · Hobbies

People

In the conversation

Mel RobbinsAmerican author, podcast host and former lawyer who hosts The Mel Robbins Podcast
Marina CooleyMarketing professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and former brand marketer at Coca-Cola, Honest Tea and IBM

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From the publisher

What are you not doing because you’re afraid nobody will notice? In this episode, you’re going to learn one of the most important career skills nobody teaches you: how to make sure your work, ideas, and contributions get seen. Today, Mel sits down with Professor Marina Cooley, an award-winning professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School who teaches marketing and the attention economy: how to break through the noise, make your ideas memorable, and get people to pay attention. Because doing great work is not enough if nobody knows you’re doing it. If you’ve ever felt like you’re working hard but no one seems to notice, watched someone else get the job, raise, or recognition you wanted, or hated the idea of talking about yourself because “self-promotion” feels gross, this conversation is for you. Professor Cooley will teach you how to move through that fear and put yourself out there anyway. This conversation is packed with small, practical strategies that work even if you’re quiet, introverted, hate attention, or have spent your entire career hoping your work would speak for itself. In this episode, you’ll learn: - How to stop being overlooked without becoming someone you’re not - How to communicate your wins without feeling like you’re bragging - Why great work alone won’t necessarily get you promoted - How to build a “portable reputation” that follows you throughout your career - The “3-second test” that reveals whether people understand what you do and the problems you solve - What to do before meetings so your ideas and contributions get noticed - How to get strategic about your work so your effort leads to real advancement - How to put yourself out there when you’re afraid nobody will care Whether you want to get hired, get promoted, grow your business, share your work, or finally get recognition for what you’re already doing, this episode will show you how to stop hiding and start making sure the right people know what you can do. For more resource…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on November 1, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Careers·Marketing·Self-Improvement