Communications work often looks clean on paper. In practice, it rarely is.
Reflections, lessons learned and practical guidance drawn from real communications work. These insights focus on what actually helps, what holds up under pressure and what I’ve learned working alongside leaders, public safety professionals and communications teams.
Latest insights
The most comforting thing anyone said to me wasn’t a fact. It was a feeling. My dog Evie died recently. She was a 15-year-old pug who was diagnosed with a breathing condition around age 7. It’s safe to say she lived a lot longer than we ever though pos …
The media isn’t your adversary. They’re your most direct connection to the people you serve. When a wildfire burned through an area north of Two Harbors in May 2025, destroying homes and buildings and forcing hundreds of evacuations, one person on the …
Trust is built slowly, one small decision at a time. It can be spent in an instant. Target spent years building emotional trust with consumers — not just as a retailer, but as a company people felt reflected their values, communities and identity. Then …
Communicators are sometimes the worst at communicating. I have proof. My husband Mike is a former ski racer. I am not. When we met, I was a nervous, shaky skier who spoke to herself the entire way down a run and snowplowed where everyone else was carvi …
When crisis never stops, the way we communicate has to change. Most crisis plans assume an arc: incident → response → recovery. But for many public safety organizations and communicators today, there is no recovery phase. The next emergency arrives bef …
When a first responder is killed, how you communicate in the aftermath defines how a community heals. Line-of-duty deaths are among the most demanding communications challenges any public safety agency will face. The stakes are high, the grief is real, …
Have a question? Want to talk through a situation?
Reach out before you need it — or when you already do.