My guest today, Sandra Stahl is from New York, who like me has worked in PR for many years. She has spent her career working in both New York and in various other places around the globe, including London.

Sandra talks about how she started her career as an intern while still at university, and at the end of the internship was offered a job. That job, working on research, was at an agency called Research and Forecast - part of a global agency called Ruder Finn. After leaving there, she moved around, working in many different places, eventually starting her own agency, which in 2020 was sold to Ruder Finn! The agency is called JacobStahl, a Ruder Finn company.

She talks about the types of work she has done, and about how the entrepreneurial skill sets within communications work whatever the situation -in both corporate or agency settings. We also talk about the importance of investing in good communications as messaging and presentation has always been critical in business. For many it’s what makes them stand out from their rivals. Particularly in the world today with uncertainties coming from all sides – both finance and politics.

Sandra talks with passion about AI - about how people in PR, comms, marketing and journalism are early adopters and this is true when it comes to AI. She thinks the best way to look at AI is to see it as a friend and a great efficiency tool. Embrace what it can do to help you in your work, but then use that information to add your own human spin. Add your humanity – your intuition, empathy using your distinctive voice.

Alongside her work, she writes for several publications, teaches and has written several books; 'The Art and Craft of PR’; ‘The Smart PR Book’, and ‘Shifting Sands’.

To contact Sandra:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-stahl-7b058a/

Website: www.JacobStahl.com

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

For today’s podcast, Lauren is talking to John Lewis, a mindset and performance coach at JL Mindset Performance.

After working as a holiday rep, on building sites and owning a courier company, John went into coaching because it was something that he realised he’d always done; helping other people and being interested in others’. He trained and qualified as a performance coach, and has training in first aid for mental health and NLP.

He works with businesses, sports teams and individuals to help them in their personal life, or helping them to achieve what they want to achieve, and to overcome any obstacles that are hindering them in reaching their goals.

John has a love of sport himself and regularly works with Swindon Town Football Club, delivering different training to their staff, alongside working with other international sports men and women. Presently he’s working with a lady who is ranked number two in Clay Pigeon shooting her in the UK. As with many sports people, it isn’t the technical or tactical things they need support with, but emotional barriers that sometimes get in their own way of success.

During and after Covid, John had to embrace his fear of technology and embrace online platforms to talk to people which was something he really didn’t want to do, but has embraced, although as you’ll hear, he far prefers face to face meetings. Flexibility is something that is important to John and so he offers clients a space to work where they feel comfortable.

Many people are uncomfortable about talking to people with problems, which is impacting on businesses, and John talks about how many days are lost due to people having poor mental health.

John’s passion for helping others’ shines through in his conversation, as he encourages people to ask for help to stay on top of things rather than seeing problems as a weakness.

To contact John:

Website: https://www.jlmindsetperformance.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-lewis-691917173/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JLmindsetperformance

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_m1nd5et/

Phone: 07947808675

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

My guest today is Georgina Fuller who has been a journalist for over 20 years. She mostly writes for national newspapers, like The Times, The Telegraph and magazines. Her subjects are broadly lifestyle topics, including parenting, travel and neurodiversity.

Georgina talks about how she started out in journalism, and how originally she worked on business to business articles, writing about trends in the workplace, HR, and interviews, whereas now, being freelance she can write about all sorts of different and wonderful things.

She also shares how she started writing first person articles; writing about her personal experiences. Writing about life without her Mum, and then about her brothers’ schizophrenia and death, and subsequently about her own autistic son she has touched so many other people’s lives. Because of her job, she has had access to people who are skilled and experienced in the fields of health she has been talking about. Georgina loves the fact that the world is beginning to open up and talking about, challenging and changing the stigmas surrounding mental health. Sharing her own experiences starts conversations with others.

We also talk about the trend with the rise in social media, for editors looking for stories that draw ‘clicks’, ie click bait. Although Georgina doesn’t like it, sadly working in journalism today it’s something you can’t really ignore.

Not surprisingly, Georgina has many great stories, some of which she shares. She also shares how at times she also receives negative responses – and how she deals with them.

To contact Georgina:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georginafullerwriter/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgina-fuller-6b785913/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009800910804

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my website: https://scottmedia.uk/ or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe