About me
Jill Salzman is a business and personal coach who helps clients make more money. By defying expectations and breaking the rules, she inspires entrepreneurs to discover what works for them through meaningful action that creates positive results. Jill is the author of The Best Business Book In The World* (*According To My Mom), Found It: A Field Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs, and her third book, The Big But Book: A Graphic Novel About the Detours That Shape Us was released on January 21, 2026.
She’s shared the speaker stage with Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg, Daymond John, Marilu Henner, and Desmond Tutu, among others, and professed her love of Eddie Vedder in her TEDx talk on 11/11/11. CNNMoney calls her a “mogul” and MSN Live says she’s a “Cool Entrepreneur We Love.” Forbes rated her a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer and voted her third business, The Founding Moms, one of the Top 10 Websites For Entrepreneurs. When she’s not speaking to audiences in patterned leggings or podcasting from her basement, she fruitlessly tries to convince her daughters that cassette tapes actually existed.
What do you do and why do you do it?
I am a business and personal coach. I do it because I find there’s nothing that gives me more purpose than supporting people who need to move forward and can’t figure out how to do it alone. I’ve spent 20+ years building businesses, and the one thread woven throughout all of my failures, mistakes, and successes has been my own evolution. That points me to the work I want to do with others now. It’s the BEST! I love my work.
What changed for you after age 50?
Since I’m filling this out 2 years before I turn 50, I don’t know yet. My guess? My hair, my hormones, and my continued not giving of a single fuck.
People… swing by in 2 years to see…
What would you tell the 20 or 30-year-old YOU?
Slow your roll. And, it’s all gonna be okay.
What do you think you’ll tell yourself in retrospect at the end of your life?
That I had a ball of a time! Can’t wait to do it again.
What impact do you think increased visibility can have on your business?
I used to think the impact was extraordinary — the more visibility, the more business, the more revenue, the more vacations. After spending 15 years building up a tremendous amount of visibility and not having that linear prediction come to fruition, I now know that it’s a “nice to have” but it’s not what I seek any longer.
Who or what inspires you and why?
At the moment of filling out this form, I’m wildly inspired by the work of both Will Guidara and Ky Dickens. Will’s unreasonable hospitality brand is incredible, and Ky’s work on the Telepathy Tapes has blown my mind.
Something else I’d like to share
So happy I made it to 50!
