Smart in Public

What happens when your company moves so fast that your communications strategy is already outdated by the time you ship it?

That's the reality at Lovable — the AI-native company that's making software creation accessible to anyone, anywhere. And their Head of Communications, Senka Hadzimuratovic, is living it in real time.

In this episode, Boysen sits down with Senka for an honest conversation about what it actually takes t...

If you've been quietly doom-scrolling job boards and wondering if it's just you — it's not. The communications job market is genuinely hard right now, and nobody's being fully honest about why and what to do.

Daniel Méndez Aróstica built #CommsJobs because he lived it. After making the leap from Chile to the US, he found himself navigating an overwhelming system and decided to fix it for everyone else too. What s...

What does it actually take to build an AI product for an industry that's still figuring out what AI means for its future?

Michelle Masek and Nadia Jamshidi didn't wait around for someone else to answer that question. As co-founders of Honey Jar — an AI co-pilot built specifically for PR and communications — they're in the middle of one of the most interesting experiments in the industry right now: betting th...

This week, the Katies sit down with Michael O’Brien, CEO of Highwire, and Cortney Stapleton, Chief Strategy & Business Officer at Highwire (and former CEO of The Bliss Group), to unpack what really happens when PR agencies merge.

We go behind the January acquisition of The Bliss Group by Highwire and explore:

• Why agency consolidation doesn’t mean the agency model is dying
• How they managed talent through the transition (and avo...

In this episode of Smart in Public, The Katies sit down with Kerry Flynn, reporter at Axios, to unpack the seismic shifts reshaping media, marketing, and communications and try to understand what it all means for PR professionals, founders, and marketers trying to figure it all out.

Kerry brings a rare insider perspective on how the creator economy, AI, and media consolidation are colliding to create an entirely new playbook for com...

This week, Brooke Hammerling, founder of The New New Thing, joins the Katies for a Pop Culture Monday x Smart in Public mashup episode.

Brooke has seen the PR industry from every angle -- from building reputations for founders before "founder brand" was a thing, navigating crisis moments when social media didn't exist yet, being in the ear of some of the world's most important executives, and decoding culture wee...

In the spirit of Season 3's unofficial theme of 'are we helping or hurting', The Katies take to Reddit to uncover some of the questions that are on our fellow comm's folks minds. Did we give some good advice? Hopefully! Did we have fun pretending like we're not both individual contributors in our day jobs? Definitely!

Whether you're an intern trying to break into PR, a mid-level pro feeling stuck, or an...

What happens when one of tech's sharpest communications minds crosses over to the investment side? Ashley Mayer, co-founder and GP at Coalition, made the  leap from leading comms at some of the most talked-about startups to backing them and the Katies want to know what she's learned sitting in both seats. 

Ashley unpacks the messy reality of startup storytelling, why the "chief storyteller" title usually falls on...

We're back, baby. Season 3 kicks off with what we're now calling a Katie & Katie Special. We felt like the distinction was necessary considering how many guests we have coming your way, so sit back, relax, and listen to us argue about localizing events, AI, and a bunch of other shit.

We cover two case studies about the future of events without people in mind & what it actually means to build a personal brand when e...

Hello from down unda! We're on the same time zone for the first time for a year and wanted to take a quick moment to wrap up Season 2 with a gratitude bow. Thank you to everyone for tuning and chiming in -- we still can't believe that our little passion project has turned into the platform that it has! 

We'll be back for Season 3 mid-January 2026 with some guests that we're extremely excited about!! Until then, h...

Crisis communications expert Tara Goodwin has seen it all: executives freezing under pressure, companies making bad situations catastrophically worse, and the rare leaders who actually nail it when everything's on fire. In this no-BS conversation with the Katies, Tara shares why most organizations are dangerously unprepared for inevitable crises and what actually works when your reputation is on the line.

Most CEOs don't h...

Most PR professionals think they understand journalists—but Meredith Klein, the veteran communications strategist behind the rapidly-growing Meredith & the Media newsletter, is here to take us to school. In this no-holds-barred conversation with host Katie Boysen, Meredith pulls back the curtain on the massive disconnect (AND OPPORTUNITY) between what PR professionals think journalists want versus what actually lands coverage.

W...

Ever notice how when corporate giants go to war, they suddenly discover their deep concern for "customers" and "fairness"? 

This week on Smart in Public, the Katies dissect the Disney vs. Google/YouTube TV standoff and spoiler alert: neither company gives a damn about you. What they do care about? Leverage, market control, and making sure you think they're the good guys while they battle for billions. 

Most c...

Ever wonder why everyone in PR talks about measurement but nobody seems to have cracked it? Linda Zebian, VP of Communications at Muck Rack, just said the quiet part out loud—and it's exactly what you need to hear right now.

In this episode of Smart In Public, the Katies sit down with someone who's uniquely positioned to call out the industry's blind spots: a comms leader who works at the company that literally builds...

In an industry obsessed with job-hopping, Jess Aptman​, Chief Communications Officer at Zocdoc​, has been at the company for 13 years and she's here to tell you why loyalty isn't a dirty word. In this refreshingly honest conversation with The Katies, Jess breaks down what it actually takes to build a communications function from survival mode to strategic powerhouse, and why the best career move might be doubling down ins...

In the 50th episode of Smart in Public, The Katies unpack the fallout from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s recent controversial comments and what it reveals about the modern relationship between leadership, communication, and reputation.

They explore how Benioff’s remarks led to public backlash and even a Salesforce Foundation board member’s resignation, raising deeper questions about how powerful CEOs perceive risk, influence, and ac...

Think climate communications is all doom, gloom, and corporate greenwashing? Corina Standiford, VP of Communications at Elemental Impact, is here to flip that narrative. In this episode of the Smart In Public podcast, Corina sits down with The Katies to break down why the biggest climate week ever happened this year—despite what the political headlines want you to believe—and what that means for every communications professional wa...

In this week's episode of Smart in Public, The Katies dissect Jimmy Kimmel's media controversy involving FCC threats + Disney's response strategy and Australia's Optus telecommunications crisis that left customers unable to call emergency services. This episode unpacks what happens when crisis management goes right—and catastrophically wrong.

What we covered for Jimmy

• The FCC's unprecedented response: How...

The Katies are back from our Season 2 intermission to bring you a conversation that goes deep—because that's the only way that Christine Choi, Partner and Head of Brand Communications at M13, knows how (and we wouldn't change a thing). 

There's a reason why leaders like Sir Richard Branson have trusted Christine with their messaging, programs, and comms strategies over the years. She thinks deeply, considers all angle...