Today we’d like to introduce you to John Boitnott.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been in media for almost 30 years now, starting out in broadcast — local TV and radio, including stints at ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates like KPIX. Over time I moved into print and digital, and eventually built a career as a freelance journalist, writing for outlets like Entrepreneur, Inc., Fortune, Fast Company, and Business Insider. I’ve published over 1,300 articles at this point, mostly covering business, entrepreneurship, and technology.
Alongside the writing, I did a stint teaching after earning a teaching credential from UC Santa Barbara’s Graduate School of Education, which gave me a different lens on communicating ideas clearly — something that’s stuck with me in journalism.
These days I’m Business Development Director at Grit Daily Group, where I work on content strategy and press placement, and I also host a podcast, “From the Ground Up,” where I interview entrepreneurs and founders about how they built what they built. It’s been a natural extension of decades of asking people questions for a living — just with an online mic instead of a notebook now.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t always been smooth, no. I’ve dealt with the loss of family members along the way, which reshapes your priorities and your sense of time in a way nothing else quite does. I also picked up and moved hundreds of miles from where I grew up, which meant rebuilding a sense of place and community more or less from scratch. And then moved back, and rebuilding that all over again.
Career-wise, I’ve reinvented myself more than once — from broadcast to print to digital to business development — and each shift meant a stretch of feeling like a beginner again after years of feeling competent. That discomfort is real every time, but I’ve learned it’s temporary. You put in the work, you get your footing back, and usually you come out the other side better equipped than before. I’ve stopped expecting the discomfort to skip me and just try to move through it faster now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Grit Daily Group is a digital media company built around Grit Daily News, a startup and business publication, alongside a growing network of niche outlets covering everything from fintech to health tech to lifestyle and luxury. Beyond editorial content, we help entrepreneurs, brands, and PR professionals get their stories placed across a network of more than 1,200 publications — from major outlets to smaller trade and lifestyle sites — along with services like Wikipedia page creation and management, podcast features, and press strategy.
What sets us apart is the range: we’re not just one publication chasing the same handful of big stories everyone else is competing for. We give founders, executives, and brands real options to get covered on their own timeline, whether that’s a fast same-day placement or a longer-term strategy around building out a press history and public profile.
I lead business development for the group, working directly with PR firms, founders, and brands to figure out the right strategy — matching stories to the outlets and formats where they’ll actually land well, rather than a one-size-fits-all pitch. I also host our podcast “From the Ground Up” through CEO Official Magazine, where I get to sit down with entrepreneurs and talk through how they actually built what they built — the sacrifices, the pivots, the stuff that doesn’t usually make it into a press release.
What I’m proudest of is that Grit Daily gives people a real path to visibility regardless of whether they have a splashy funding announcement or a built-in news hook — that accessibility is the whole point.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
There’s been a lot of people along the way — mentors and friends I’ve worked with at different newsrooms and companies over the years who shaped how I think about media and storytelling. But right now, the two people most central to the Grit Daily side of things are Jordan French and Spencer Hulse.
Jordan is the founder and publisher of Grit Daily Group — he’s built the network from the ground up and has a real instinct for what makes a story or a brand worth covering. Spencer has been just as important to how things run day to day, and between the two of them, I’ve got the support to focus on the relationship and strategy side of the business, which is where I do my best work.
Pricing:
- Press placements – Paid editorial placements across our network of 1,200+ publications, ranging from around $150 for smaller outlets up to $4,000+ for major national publications.
- Wikipedia services – Page creation starts at $5,000, with ongoing monthly management available for $500/month.
- Article insertion – Getting a client mentioned in an existing high-ranking news articles starts around $900.
- Podcast features – Guest spots across our podcast lineup range from $250 to $500 depending on the show.
- Agency membership – For PR firms and agencies managing multiple clients, membership starts at $99/month for ongoing access to our owned outlets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gritdaily.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/gritdaily
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/GritDaily
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/gritdaily
- Twitter: twitter.com/GritDaily
- Youtube: youtube.com/@GritDaily
