Testimonial Tracker
Testimonial Tracker
Goal: Collect testimonials for learnwithoj.com and LinkedIn
Status: 4 finalized (Alexander, Kirk, Sobia, Susan), several in progress
Related chats: Testimonial drafting (Peter) | Original testimonial session (Mohammad, Tom, Geetha)
Pipeline
| Name | Connection | Options drafted? | Options sent? | Response? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad | Former Amex boss | Yes (2 options) | Yes (3/13) | Waiting | Technical credibility + leadership angles. Based on his performance reviews of you. |
| Tom | Former startup boss (Flicast) | Yes (2 options) | Yes (3/17) | Waiting | He said "send me something and I'll tweak it." Early talent + stayed-in-touch angles. He's a LinkedIn writer so he may rewrite entirely in his own voice. |
| Peter | Former Amex colleague (Lestat) | Yes (3 options) | Yes (3/18) | Waiting | Peer engineer, collaboration, and resilience angles. |
| Geetha | Former Amex colleague (automation platform) | Yes (3 options) | Yes (3/21) | Waiting | Welcome + technical, amplifier, and short/direct angles. Based on Zeus, ELF alerts, notification engine work. Follow up with interview ask after she responds. |
| Sylke | Former colleague (Women's Code and Coffee) | Yes (3 options) | No (she's writing her own) | Waiting | Options drafted as backup. Cross-functional collab, teaching, and initiative angles. Currently Senior UX Designer at Microsoft. |
| Ayhan | First paying client | No | Request sent (3/12) | No response | LinkedIn only, not super active. Don't spam. Should have gotten his cell. Lesson learned. |
| Kirk | Former client, former Amex colleague | No | No | — | Already did discovery conversation. Could ask for a testimonial based on his "she's not some consultant, she's your team member" quote. Strong candidate. |
| Lucie (Guiltless.ai) | B2B client | No | No | — | Hold until post-training + 1-2 weeks. Team still working on action items. She already said "more help in 1 hour than 9 months with an agency." Target a LinkedIn shoutout + screenshot for landing page. |
Finalized Testimonials
| Name | Date finalized | Where it's published | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Maher | Nov 3, 2025 | learnwithoj.com | 20251103-testimonial-alexander-maher.md |
| Kirk Whitehead | Feb 27, 2026 | learnwithoj.com | 20260227-testimonial-kirk-whitehead.md |
| Sobia Soomro | Mar 14, 2026 | learnwithoj.com | 20260314-testimonial-sobia-soomro.md |
| Susan Burgard | Mar 21, 2026 | — | 20260321-testimonial-susan-burgard.md |
Drafting Queue
People who agreed but still need options written:
- Kirk — Low-hanging fruit. You have his exact words from the discovery conversation to build from.
- Ayhan — Needs a response to initial outreach before drafting options.
Lessons Learned
- Always draft options for people instead of asking them to write from scratch. Removes the blank page barrier.
- Give 2-3 options at different angles so they can pick what feels authentic to them.
- Don't stack an interview ask on top of a long testimonial message. Let them respond first.
- Get people's cell numbers when you can. LinkedIn DMs are unreliable for follow-ups (Ayhan).
- Set a reminder when you tell someone "I'll send options later this week." The Geetha situation almost slipped (asked early in the week, sent Saturday).
- In-person handoff works. Susan combined both options and tweaked on the spot, same-day turnaround. If you can give someone the drafts face to face, do it.