On this episode of How Was I Supposed To Know That?, host Bernard A. Williams talks with Cass Bailey, CEO and founder of Slice Communications, a Philadelphia communications agency that helps high-risk and complex organizations communicate through change, crisis, and opportunity.

Cass Bailey shares her accidental path into PR and crisis communications, why she founded Slice in 2008 to bring social media and PR together, and how relentless networking carried the company through the recession. She and Bernard get real about selling the business in 2012, the acquisition that fell apart, and buying her own company back in just 23 days.

From there the conversation turns to Slice's growth-by-acquisition strategy: the red-flag/green-flag playbook, why buyer due diligence matters as much as seller due diligence, and why 70-80% of M&A communications should be aimed at internal audiences. If you are thinking about buying, selling, or scaling a company, this one is full of hard-won lessons.

In this episode:

• What Slice Communications does and the crisis calls that come in at 2 a.m.
• Founding a PR + social media agency in 2008
• The three reasons M&A deals fall apart
• Why internal communications drive M&A success
• Buyer due diligence: the questions sellers forget to ask
• Buying the company back in 23 days
• Cass Bailey's acquisition and integration playbook
• What is next for Slice, including AI and executive communications

Connect with Cass Bailey on LinkedIn (Cass Bailey, Slice Communications).

Presented by Company Counsel — fractional general counsel and business law for growing companies.