strategic-communications
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Heather Podesta Built a Firm. Then She Took Her Name Off the Door.
A law-firm partner left to build a business of her own. Nineteen years later, Heather Podesta’s story runs through tax policy, contemporary art, a borrowed word from The Crown, and the people trusted to carry the work forward.
Sean Cassidy and the Art of Staying Newsworthy
He joined DKC as an account executive in 1992. More than three decades later, Sean Cassidy is still there - asking what makes a story worth telling, and changing the business built around the answer.
Jonathan Rosen and the business of being heard
At 26, Jonathan Rosen helped start a communications firm with a plan to pay the rent. Two decades later, Orchestra brings hundreds of specialists together around a question he first encountered in politics: how do you get people to care?
David Barnhart and the Distance Between K Street and Everywhere Else
He arrived in Washington from a dairy farm and spent three nights sleeping in his car. The founder of LSG has spent the years since bringing people outside the capital into its conversations.
Valarie de la Garza and the business of being heard
Before she led Fenton, Valarie de la Garza made a decision at a student newspaper about whose stories belonged inside. Her career has kept returning to that question, from Los Angeles civic campaigns to the agency boardroom.
Doug Thornell Took the Long Way Back to Washington
An Iowa campaign, a Costa Rican beach, and a return to Capitol Hill: Doug Thornell’s route to running SKDK offers a lesson in how people find their work - and how they persuade others to act.
Richard Williams and the story after the rumble
As a child in Huntsville, Richard Williams felt rocket tests shake his house. At Media Fusion, his work has brought him back to the space program - helping technical ideas find an audience.
John Murray and the Art of the Next Move
From a presidential campaign to the Seattle stage, John Murray has spent his career thinking about audiences. At Monument Advocacy, that habit helped turn a public affairs assignment into the CEO’s job.
Chas Withers and the Value of Leaving
His mentor encouraged him to leave Dix & Eaton and come back with more to offer. Now Chas Withers is testing how an employee-owned firm can keep its history while changing its future.
Chris Matthews and the distance between saying and persuading
From congressional press offices to VOX Global, Chris Matthews has built a career around how people receive a message. His work offers a practical lesson in public affairs: the audience gets a vote, too.
Dave Smith and the Art of Reading a Room
He joined Penna Powers as an intern in 1993. Three decades later, its partner and CEO is still working out how to reach an audience - in an agency, at a public meeting and on a basketball court.
David Parkinson and the advantage of having been the client
Before he co-founded Method Communications, David Parkinson knew what it felt like to hire an agency and be disappointed. His answer began in Salt Lake City and grew through writing, relationships, and partnerships across borders.
Amanda Conschafter and the work before the headline
An English graduate became the chief executive of a Washington public affairs firm. Amanda Conschafter’s career follows the sentence from the classroom to the Senate, the client brief and the people who have to make it work.
Chris Bravacos Starts at the Finish Line
From congressional offices to a Harrisburg communications firm, Chris Bravacos has built a career around working backward from the result. Even the toy robots in his office belong in a story about picking your fights.
Shawn Sachs and the art of paying attention
Before he helped shape the public stories of actors, brands and causes, Shawn Sachs worked in Washington. Today, the communications CEO and landscape photographer has a deceptively small piece of career advice: stay curious.
Bill Davies and the long way back to a good idea
After 22 years at Jack Morton, Bill Davies returned to work with his early mentor, Larry Weber. At Racepoint Global, the former finance chief is putting a career of making ideas work behind a new bet on independent agencies.
Adam Clampitt and the business of letting go
A Navy public affairs officer brought a lesson from Kabul into a Washington communications firm: trust people to make decisions. Sixteen years after founding DCG, Adam Clampitt is still putting that idea to work.
Deana Haworth and the people outside the plan
Raised in rural southern Indiana, Deana Haworth noticed who conventional campaigns were missing. Now the CEO of Hirons, she brings that attention to audiences, employee-owners and the next generation of leaders.
Stewart Hall and the business of knowing how Washington works
A Senate legislative director became a builder of advisory firms. At PPHC, Stewart Hall is connecting the people who understand policy, public opinion and the places where decisions get made.
Tiffany Rafii and the Business of Going First
She started UpSpring with a childhood friend in the uncertain spring of 2009. Seventeen years later, Tiffany Rafii is still asking what a business could become - and who needs room to grow with it.
Phil Singer and the art of getting ahead of the story
A campaign spokesman learns quickly that the next question is already on its way. Phil Singer took that lesson from national politics into Marathon Strategies, where research, reputation, and the public argument share a desk.
Lyndsey Estin and the problem of the first answer
After two decades advising companies through consequential moments, Lyndsey Estin now leads Kekst CNC’s U.S. business. Her work in cybersecurity and AI asks a deceptively difficult question: what should a company say while it is still learning what happened?
Jacque Patterson and the work that begins when the applause ends
Before she became CEO of August Jackson, Jacque Patterson spent her career helping organizations work through change. Now she is applying that experience to the agency itself, with a particular interest in what happens after everyone leaves the room.
C.C. Fridlin and the art of making things make sense
A Huntsville communications CEO with two data-communications patents also teaches home cooks how dinner works. Follow C.C. Fridlin from a camp kitchen to NASA contracts, with a detour through a rather controversial sandwich.
Janet Chihocky and the Art of Making a Room Speak
Before Janet Chihocky helped military buildings tell their stories, she had to keep her own business from ending. The JANSON founder’s career runs through aerospace marketing, a financial reckoning, and a belief that listening is work.
Boyd Bailey and the Story Before the Headline
A television reporter became an airline marketer, then founded Reputable in Santa Barbara. Boyd Bailey’s career follows a persistent curiosity: how an issue becomes news, and who gets to explain it.
Jamie Diaferia and the uses of a second choice
He went to law school hoping to become the next Floyd Abrams. He built a communications firm instead - and Abrams became a client. For Jamie Diaferia, changing course was the beginning of the work.
Tom Snedeker and the arithmetic behind the message
From telecom and digital communications to SCOUT and The Herald Group, Tom Snedeker has worked where business plans meet people. His career offers a look at the financial and operational work behind a public-facing firm.
Andrew Bleeker and the trouble with being heard
He helped Barack Obama turn online attention into political action. Now BPI founder Andrew Bleeker is taking the campaign mindset into corporate boardrooms, European capitals, and the argument over AI.
Carina Davidson and the education of a trusted adviser
Before she became CEO of H/Advisors in the U.S., Carina Davidson learned to take the unfamiliar assignment. Her career connects boardroom communications with a family lesson about perseverance and the people who help you grow.