Welcome to Corazon Technologies, home of the Digital Executive Podcast. Do you work in emerging tech, working on something innovative, maybe an entrepreneur? Apply to be a guest at www.corazon.com-flashbrand. Welcome to the Digital Executive. Today's guest is Olivia Walker. Olivia Walker is a nationally recognized communications and PR strategies with more than a decade of experience serving as a media spokesperson and advising organizations across technology, fintech, health and wellness, and CEO thought leaders. Olivia began her career in 2002 with the United States Marine Poor, where she honed her leadership strategic planning and government communication skills. During her 10-year, 10-year with the federal government, including high-level executive work in Washington, DC, she successfully produced impactful communication materials such as congressional testimony, national press releases, agency talking points, and speeches for national press conferences, while serving as a trusted subject matter expert and national spokesperson for media interviews. We'll get afternoon Olivia. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, Brian. Absolutely, my friend. I appreciate it. And you're hitting out of the great San Diego County at Carl's Bed Area. I'm in Kansas City, so I know sometimes traversing time zones and calendars and all that is hard. So I appreciate that. And by the way, thank you again, sister for serving in the Marine Corps with me different times, but it's all good and I appreciate that. On the right of raw. URA. Olivia, let's jump right into your first question. You began your communications career in the US Marine Corps, and later worked in a high level federal roles in Washington, DC. Out of that early experience, shape your approach to strategic communication and leadership today. Well, this question. I think when you get your start by working immediately in these high profile, very visible positions, you have to learn really quick and adapt really fast. So there was a lot of trial and error in those early days, but what I did learn pretty quickly was that I had a knack for sharing messages that resonated in a way that apparently none of my predecessors were really able to do, but the audience loved them. So what I came to realize was that the way things were being done in the government was that they were talking about themselves a lot or sharing news that they thought was important, but avoiding kind of the elephant in the room. So they didn't want to talk about things that bother their public. They didn't want to talk about decisions that people are not standing behind or decisions that they had to make that people didn't like. They thought that by not disgusting these issues publicly, they were somehow shielding themselves from negative perception and publicity, and they never really considered what the audience wanted or needed. So when that happens and this goes for any industry, there becomes a disconnect and it leads to a lack of trust, public support, industry standing. So a lot of the media was choosing to go with competitor. I know it's hard to say that with the government agencies, but you know, other agencies, other people who could almost speak on our behalf and then talk about things that we should have been talking about. So over the course of a couple of years, and it did take a few years, we're able to change that narrative and we were able to be that professional, that leader, that authority, which amplified not just me professionally, but the reputation of the agencies that I was working with. So after working for five agencies, cryo and error five agencies, I realized that this is actually, there is on a fundamental level. I wanted to utilize that experience and put it into something new and meaningful, helping others to engage their audiences, similarly, and leveraging that publicity to transform how really the public sees them and amplify their bottom line. Finding your next car should be simple except, it's hard to know if you're getting a fair price. Car gurus is the only site in the UK that gives every eligible car a deal rating. 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What is the key to crafting messages that both influence policy and resonate with the public? The first thing that we need to understand is that what the audience is asking for, what they need to know. And then finding a logical, I always see logical and persuasive way to acknowledge that need. So when I was writing congressional testimony, I had to be very succinct, very dated driven and persuasive. So in some instances, maybe you fall back on performance, or policy, or accomplishments, but you always remain emotionless. You come back to those elements. When writing for today's audience from a business perspective, that's really something that needs to be put back into it. Because we're, we're humans and leading human companies and catering to other humans, right? We're not computers, stocking computers. And I mean, if you were, you would talk to a computer the way they'd want to be talked to, right? But humans need that human element. And I still believe that the date of focused argument, which was very common in congressional testimony, and especially from a government perspective, it's still very helpful to support your cause and get your point across. But I think remembering that you have to kind of bring it back to what your audience needs and what they need to hear and how they need to hear it. Even sometimes when it's a difficult conversation, it can still happen in a way that resonates. And one thing I say is your audience doesn't always have to agree with you. But they always are going to want to understand why you're choosing to say or to do something. And not a role can burn you a whole lot more support than really you could even imagine. Thank you. Appreciate that. And I like to just highlight a few things, which you said, really looking what the audience is asking for and finding a logical and persuasive message to meet that need. I thought it was interesting. Humans absolutely connect with other humans. And it's important that your message resonates with your audience. So again, really appreciate that. Olivia, you're known for securing top tier earned media and elevating CEO thought leadership with separates leaders who successfully build public influence from those who struggled to gain traction. Good question. I think very simply it's where you put your time, energy and money. If you compare two people, one who maybe stands in the public spotlight and one who is maybe just getting their starter or maybe hasn't gained that traction yet, what you're going to find, especially from an entrepreneur standpoint, is the two of them. There's very little in the way of experience or expertise that maybe one has over the other. I'm finding that the startup gurus are every bit is knowledgeable in some instances as those like large established CEO conglomerates. But where they kind of put their emphasis on is that they dedicate themselves to continuing to do this. I think besides obviously having a level of comfortability telling your story to larger audiences, understanding your unique value proposition, and knowing that building trust and recognition takes time. You hear all the times someone say, like, where did that guy come from? He came out of nowhere. He disappeared overnight. What you're probably not seeing, and this is clickable in almost every case, is that they're investing their time. You can't see when they just show up out of nowhere, how much time commitment they made to public appearances, how much did they invest in their PR campaign? How long did that publicity push take, especially to work them up to these top tier appearances? So everyone has to start somewhere, but not everyone maintains that dedication to their public image and pursuing it past that three month or six month when they're ready to throw in the towel. And I think that it's that dedication really that separates the two. Thank you. I appreciate that. We talked about elevating that CEO of out leadership and those who have truly successfully built that influence. And you named out right off the top is where are you putting your time, energy, and money in? And I know there's obviously some consistency in that messaging and continuing to do that day in and day out sometimes, but there are some metrics you need to track, of course, to see where your growth and or where your branding messaging is changing. So I appreciate that. Absolutely. Olivia, the last question of the day is we look ahead. How do you see the role of PR evolving in the age of AI powered content, decentralized media, and increasingly fragmented audiences? It's such a great question because it's something that gets asked all the time. And honestly, it's a really heavy conversation that's happening within the field. It's happening within everyone's field, right? But is PR evolves as the media landscape evolves? And there's a lot not happening on the back end of that. And PR practitioners have been seeing that change for years. It's where and how AI is being used. To our end, we know that most outlets and journalists, they decline the use of AI generated content and people are seeing that all over the place. So and that's even pitches, anything that they have that they believe is AI generated, they just won't use. And then secondly, of course, is how people are getting their news. So we're not relying on SEO and Google search anymore to kind of dominate what the public sees when they look for your company, right? They always have to account for AI generated search engines and platforms to some of these public opinion, but also to kind of tell people what they want to know about your company. So that means that PR professionals like me, we have to be on top of how a client is perceived, over earned, paid, and shared media outlets. So we have to ensure that there is authoritative coverage, obviously from reputable sources, like the news organizations, and niche trade publications. But also we're kind of considering what does the rest of the internet has to Wikipedia, Reddit, and reference sites like dot gov.edu because the AI engines will use these sources to grant weight, quote unquote, two cited facts. And then the old content, what are you putting out brand websites? Do you have messaging that is consistent, across all of your platforms? Stuff like this is how AI will take your content and use it to kind of tell the public what they need to know. So how your company has perceived does no longer just kind of handled by those news media outlets and the Google searches. There is really a lot happening in that spectrum and how we're seeing people get information from these AI generated sources to kind of understand or learn what they need to learn about your company. And so I think that there is a lot that is still yet to be seen about this. But we adapt this AI adapts and we stick to our fundamentals, I think, and the main points of PR and try to help companies overcome some of these little hurdles. Thank you. I appreciate that. Really do coming from a PR perspective. Generally, I'm interviewing Silicon Valley CEOs, but I like just to touch on a few things here. You mentioned PR evolves as the media landscape evolves. And I know, and I've seen this AI generated content or pitches, just really not being readily adopted in the PR media space. I know AI is getting better. I know the AI searches kind of taken over an SEO and that sort of thing. But as you mentioned, whether you're using urn page here at own media, there's just you got to try different things to get that message out there. And again, AI is kind of a double-edged sword. It's a necessary evil. And it's just being one more infuse in our everyday lives. So I think there's going to definitely be some changes in the future, of course, but appreciate your insights. Yeah. And now on that note, too, Brian, I think you had a couple of things there that are very valuable. It's the media data, the database of journalists who are covering a lot of these stories is shrinking, right? And they're getting more pitches than ever. People are trying to do all these things, with AI generated content. And here, actually using AI, journalists and media are to figure out who is using AI to pitch these content and these stories. And then they're throwing them out. So it's funny that they're using it a little bit different than the people on the other end. So a lot of a lot of things happening there. For sure, absolutely. Olivia, it was such a pleasure having you on today. And I look forward to speaking with you real soon. Thank you, Brian. This was great. Bye for now.
