Sept. 29, 2025
Counting the Cost of Transparency in a Rage-Filled World
The player is loading ...
That Solo Life, Episode 315: Counting the Cost of Transparency in a Rage-Filled WorldEpisode Summary
In a world that demands brand transparency, is it possible to be too open? This week, Karen and Michelle discuss the complex landscape of modern communication, where the call for brands to be transparent can sometimes lead to backlash. They explore the challenges PR pros face in a culture lacking nuance, where every statement is scrutinized and outrage is just a click away. Learn how to advise clients on when to speak up, when to stay silent, and how to navigate the pressure to weigh in on every social issue. This episode provides strategic advice for helping brands remain authentic and effective without falling into the transparency trap, all while protecting your own mental health.
Episode Highlights- [01:18] Introduction to today's topic: The cost of transparency for brands.
- [02:21] Why the trend of full transparency can be costly for organizations and individuals in today's culture.
- [03:37] Discussing the public's tendency to immediately question a brand's motives and the lack of critical thinking.
- [05:21] The heroic role of communicators in lowering the temperature and bringing rationality to volatile situations.
- [06:05] Navigating the communication challenges presented by different generational perspectives and expectations.
- [07:15] How social media algorithms profit from rage and how that impacts brand communications.
- [09:00] The importance of being strategic with personal and CEO branding—deciding what hill you want to die on.
- [10:06] The difference between having brand values and feeling the need to have a voice in every public conversation.
- [12:12] The dangers of "cancel culture" and the high personal stakes for individuals who share opinions online.
- [13:12] A reminder that brands are not entitled to 100% of your attention or required to comment on every world problem.
- [14:35] Shifting the focus from having an opinion to taking meaningful action that supports your audience, like providing resources during a crisis.
- [15:34] Why nuance and genuineness are replacing the era of full transparency.
- [16:43] The power of being helpful and honest, rather than feeling pressured to weigh in on everything.
That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, founder of Words For Hire and President of Solo PR, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and advice for solo PR pros navigating today’s dynamic professional landscape.
Enjoyed this episode? Don't miss another conversation! Subscribe to "That Solo Life" on your favorite podcast platform today.
We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Join the conversation by visiting SoloPRPro.com and follow Solo PR Pro on all major social media platforms to stay connected with our community.
That Solo Life Episode 315: Counting The Cost Of Transparency In A Rage-Filled World
Michelle Kane (00:12):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane of Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR (00:26):
Hi, Michelle. I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you?
Michelle Kane (00:29):
Great. Yeah, I'm doing really well. Well, we're just rolling through September. Cannot believe it yet. Here we are.
Karen Swim, APR (00:40):
Yeah, I feel like this week, last week I felt like I had entered fall, and this week I feel like I'm celebrating the end of summer, which is weird, but the weather patterns are a little different, so it feels like that end of summer, like enjoy all of the outdoor things and that last bit of warm weather and sunshine.
Michelle Kane (01:04):
Yes. Something does kind of click in where you're like, Ooh, time to break out the darker colors.
Karen Swim, APR (01:12):
Yes,
Michelle Kane (01:12):
And all the good stuff. But no, we're just so happy to be here with all of our listeners today. And today we're going to talk about the cost of transparency. We often talk about how it's good for brands to be transparent. Of course, you want your brands and your clients to be as upfront as possible, certainly to just be as forthright as they can be about their product, their services, because that only helps people choose them to be honest. But as we have seen in society, sometimes that transparency can come at a cost, and sometimes that can be a genuine slip up. You might say something or release something and you don't realize the connotation it might have with some audiences, and sometimes it just comes out of left field and you're thinking, wait, what? No, we didn't mean that. So we're just going to talk about that today and how we as PR pros can help guide them, either help them avoid it, or if it happens, help guide them through it.
Karen Swim, APR (02:21):
Yeah. Sadly, this year, one of the key trends that communication professionals really touted was the need for transparency in our communications, because our audiences were wanting to know who we were and what we stood for. But in this instance, I'm going to say the audience isn't always right because it has had a huge cost to being fully transparent
Michelle Kane (02:52):
And
Karen Swim, APR (02:53):
A personal cost to human beings, human lives, and a cost to the organization in taking hits. We live in a culture that no longer has nuance. We're not allowed to make mistakes. We're not allowed to say something that people don't agree with. You can pay for it dearly. So I think it's time for us to rethink that and maybe go back to the decision grids that we were using during the pandemic
Michelle Kane (03:24):
Pull
Karen Swim, APR (03:24):
Those decisions grids out. They will come in handy now in helping organizations to know what to say and when to say it and when they should have a part in the conversation and when they should be silent.
Michelle Kane (03:36):
Agree, agree. And I think another aspect of this is it just feels like there's, and certainly this is not everyone, but there's an air out there of not wanting to believe someone right away or with almost anything, which is just ludicrous. But here we are. Oh, well, company A says this, but what's their real motive and what's the real story? And well, sometimes the story is just the story. Sometimes a bar of soap is a bar of soap. It's not an agenda, it's just, do you want to smell like this bar of soap or not? End of story. And we've just become, dare I say, trained in a way for these responses. And I just encourage not only us as PR practitioners to be aware of it so we can help solve for it somehow. But even us as humans, and I guess, gosh, am I talking about critical thinking, which our society is sorely lacking. When you're presented with information, take a beat. And first of all, do you even need to weigh in on something? Is it really going to impact you? Just think it through. I'm pretty sure the company just wants to sell their bar of soap.
Karen Swim, APR (05:01):
Yeah, there's a lot of volatility. Volatility, sorry, I can't speak this time. And that's unfortunate because I think that people are so quick to hit the rage button
(05:15):
And it really, somewhere, again, I always feel like communicators, we have such a tough job, but we truly are heroic in that we're the ones that bring down the temperature of the room. We always, no matter what, even when we are personally raging, offended, irritated, angry, for all of the right reasons, we have that ability to put those things aside and to walk into situations and think critically and to be rational and to bring balance, and that's sorely lacking. I also think that part of the issues that we're really facing today, and you guys can read all of the studies and comparisons, is that we have so many different generations to communicate to. And this is, I don't mean to be disparaging in any way, but this is turning out to be. It is what it is that the younger generation, as you just said, they immediately jump to mistrust. If you say no, they take it personally and everything is personal, it's very personalized, it's very highly charged. And they believe that the rest of the world exists to serve them. So for example, they believe in setting boundaries. That's a great thing. But boundaries are true for you. It doesn't mean that everybody else is supposed to set your boundaries for you or necessarily, so they take offense if you
Michelle Kane (06:50):
Don't
Karen Swim, APR (06:50):
Understand that. It's not my job to set your boundaries. It's your job to set boundaries for yourself and then to enforce them. But I may have a different view. I may have different boundaries. That's my job. So it's very, very tricky and in a lot of ways it's disheartening and very scary.
Michelle Kane (07:12):
Yes, agree. Agree. It's like you can blame social media, which certainly hasn't been that much of a helper. I remember the days when we were so excited, it's going to bring us all together. And all it does is, yeah, it does sometimes, maybe 10% of the time, but a lot of times it's Professor Galloway, that's what he was talking about recently, how the tech companies are complicit because they make money off of rage, and that rage makes them money. So the algorithms aren't going to show you your favorite dessert. They're going to show you something that's going to make you react. So that's what we say as well, even because sometimes those reactions are going to be aimed at your clients. So you just have to be hyper aware, which can be certainly exhausting and depleting in our profession. So we also encourage you to set those boundaries to keep yourself well in all of this. And sometimes I think maybe we should just have a rage room in every town with a day spa attached. So you can go have your smash up some old zenith televisions and then get a nice chair massage to come down. Maybe that would help us though. I dunno. But in all seriousness, it's truly a challenging time to be a communicator because we're busy on a lot of fronts that may not even be conscious to us. We want to make sure things are truthful, things are accurate. It's a difficult landscape to navigate that.
Karen Swim, APR (09:00):
Yes. And I don't think any of us should resort to being inauthentic, but I do think that it means that we have to be strategic, even more strategic in our communications and even with our own personal brands. And we live in an age where CEO branding is also necessary. CEOs need to have a personal brand for themselves. And so again, I think it comes down to really making those critical decisions. How much do I share my personal opinions? How transparent am I? What hill do I really want to die on? What's really essential in communicating? And what views are really mine that I may have in private conversations or that I may live out that are not as essential and critical and most important, how does that reflect on the brand and what's really important to the brand? So again, it goes back to really understanding brand values, brand values. What does the brand really value and how are you communicating that? It does not mean, and I think we've confused this, that what you value as a brand means that you have to have a voice in every public
Michelle Kane (10:18):
Conversation.
Karen Swim, APR (10:20):
Sometimes silence really is the answer. Does it impact your audience? Number one, it doesn't impact your audience and it's not essential to your brand. Then why are you even involving yourself in the conversation? So if your brand has built a foundation of being, for example, sustainable and eco-friendly, why would you have a voice in something that doesn't line up with that? Maybe you don't need to comment on social justice issues because that is not where your brand stakes its claim. And I know that we all feel like these big conversations that are happening in the world today are so important, but sometimes you just can't be a part of it. And I know that as communicators, and I've seen a lot of communicators choose to opt out and they just don't participate on social media as much. I love how Arik Hanson said this on LinkedIn recently, “it's heavy”. And that is true. Things are so heavy right now that even for our own piece, for our own mental health, we just have to back off. There's only so much that we can take in as a human being. I'm one of those people that I miss social media. I might not participate for months at a time
(11:43):
Because I don't need that in my life. I can't deal with the energy, the toxicity, the divisiveness, the hate. It takes a personal toll. So I mean, I think that we have to remember as communicators, yes, we get it. Our brands have to be present, they have to show up, but they don't have to show up in every conversation. And we have to help them to navigate that because again, the stakes are so high right now. It disturbs my soul that there are people out here encouraging doxing people and calling people's employment when they share an opinion that doesn't align with what you think that is
Michelle Kane (12:30):
Dangerous
Karen Swim, APR (12:31):
Across the line.
Michelle Kane (12:33):
It's dangerous, it's dangerous, it's unnecessary. It's not productive in a positive way. It may make you feel good in the moment, but yeah, and even with CEO branding, you are still, unless it is you as a solo, you are often still the CEO of a company or a brand. So in a way, while you're branding yourself, you're still doing it through that prism of representing an entity. So it's good to keep that in mind as well. And I just think of some situations, even personal relationships. Not everyone is entitled to a hundred percent of you. So think of that for yourself, for your brand. People aren't entitled to know what Coca-Cola, for instance, thinks about every last world problem. They're there to make fizzy drinks that you enjoy or don't enjoy. That's okay. And I think the pendulum has swung in such a direction that sometimes you look to these leading brands to take a stand for your thing, but your cause. And it's like, do we all have to weigh in on everything? Because some of these brands are not subject matter experts in the area. I
Karen Swim, APR (14:00):
Agree.
Michelle Kane (14:01):
And I think that's what we really have to keep in mind with this. Not just to be good advisors, but to just help all of us remain as mentally healthy as possible.
Karen Swim, APR (14:14):
And I think that brands need to hear that. I think that they need to know that it's okay not to speak up in every single situation, that it's OK sometimes to just be silent when it doesn't affect you. And sometimes it's really not even about you as a brand having an opinion. But if it does impact your audience, maybe it's about what your audience needs? Does your audience need a safe place to come together and have discussions about things? Are there ways that you can support with resources that will be meaningful? I think about the wildfires that broke out in California. If you're a brand and your audience is affected, are there things that you can do to help that community to heal? Can you provide housing for people who were displaced? Can you provide food and water, water for those that need it? Can you provide clothing? And if you're a boutique, can you open up a section where people can get the things that they need that's meaningful and that's acting in the best interest of your audience? It doesn't require a bunch of words. It just requires you to be present and to show up for the people who support you.
(15:28):
And I mean, we are all going to figure this out together, but I think nuance is going to replace this era of fall transparency. And people do dig. They did tell you what you did, what you thought, what you did 10 years ago. And again, we are not a culture anymore that accepts somebody saying something and it being taken in the wrong way. We take things out of context, we'll grab a soundbite and it's just like, but the person said something for a whole 20 minutes that puts that one sentence in the context. But that sentence will get pulled out and it will get MeMed and it will get blasted all over social media. So I think that just, readiness is critical. Having those crisis communication plans proactively, counseling brands, helping people to be genuine. Genuine. Exactly. Genuine is different than being
Michelle Kane (16:29):
Transparent. Exactly.
Karen Swim, APR (16:31):
Being true to their brand values by living those out in everything that they do. But not weighing in everywhere on everything.
Michelle Kane (16:42):
No, no. So brands we give you permission to not. And like you said, be helpful. I remember when the beer companies stopped production of beer and were canning water when certain tragedies struck and disasters arose. So I think the bottom line is we often say as communicators, and we hope as brands be helpful, be honest, and honestly, oh, this is going to sound so hokey. But be yourself. You can never go wrong. And with that, we hope you enjoyed this episode, and please do give us your feedback. Do you have any stories from the trenches of navigating something like this? We would love to hear about it. So hit us up at solopro.com. Please do share this around. That's how we get the word out. And we would love it if you would do that. And until next time, thanks for listening to “That Solo Life”.
Transcribing live conversations can be tricky, so please be forgiving of any typos or errors that you find. Love something here and want to share? Great, please read on.
You are more than welcome to share the transcript (up to 500 words) in media articles (e.g., PR News, O’Dwyers), on your personal website, in a non-commercial article or blog post (e.g., Substack), and/or on a personal social media account for non-commercial purposes, provided that you include attribution to “That Solo Life” and link back to the soloprpro/podcast URL. For the sake of clarity, media outlets with advertising models are permitted to use excerpts from the transcript per the above.
But please note that no one is authorized to copy any portion of the podcast content or use That Solo Life’s name, image or likeness for any commercial purpose or use, including without limitation inclusion in any books, e-books, book summaries or synopses, or on a commercial website or social media site (e.g., Facebook, X, Instagram, etc.) that offers or promotes your or another’s products or services.
Got questions? Email us at info@soloprpro.com.
Michelle Kane (00:12):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane of Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR (00:26):
Hi, Michelle. I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you?
Michelle Kane (00:29):
Great. Yeah, I'm doing really well. Well, we're just rolling through September. Cannot believe it yet. Here we are.
Karen Swim, APR (00:40):
Yeah, I feel like this week, last week I felt like I had entered fall, and this week I feel like I'm celebrating the end of summer, which is weird, but the weather patterns are a little different, so it feels like that end of summer, like enjoy all of the outdoor things and that last bit of warm weather and sunshine.
Michelle Kane (01:04):
Yes. Something does kind of click in where you're like, Ooh, time to break out the darker colors.
Karen Swim, APR (01:12):
Yes,
Michelle Kane (01:12):
And all the good stuff. But no, we're just so happy to be here with all of our listeners today. And today we're going to talk about the cost of transparency. We often talk about how it's good for brands to be transparent. Of course, you want your brands and your clients to be as upfront as possible, certainly to just be as forthright as they can be about their product, their services, because that only helps people choose them to be honest. But as we have seen in society, sometimes that transparency can come at a cost, and sometimes that can be a genuine slip up. You might say something or release something and you don't realize the connotation it might have with some audiences, and sometimes it just comes out of left field and you're thinking, wait, what? No, we didn't mean that. So we're just going to talk about that today and how we as PR pros can help guide them, either help them avoid it, or if it happens, help guide them through it.
Karen Swim, APR (02:21):
Yeah. Sadly, this year, one of the key trends that communication professionals really touted was the need for transparency in our communications, because our audiences were wanting to know who we were and what we stood for. But in this instance, I'm going to say the audience isn't always right because it has had a huge cost to being fully transparent
Michelle Kane (02:52):
And
Karen Swim, APR (02:53):
A personal cost to human beings, human lives, and a cost to the organization in taking hits. We live in a culture that no longer has nuance. We're not allowed to make mistakes. We're not allowed to say something that people don't agree with. You can pay for it dearly. So I think it's time for us to rethink that and maybe go back to the decision grids that we were using during the pandemic
Michelle Kane (03:24):
Pull
Karen Swim, APR (03:24):
Those decisions grids out. They will come in handy now in helping organizations to know what to say and when to say it and when they should have a part in the conversation and when they should be silent.
Michelle Kane (03:36):
Agree, agree. And I think another aspect of this is it just feels like there's, and certainly this is not everyone, but there's an air out there of not wanting to believe someone right away or with almost anything, which is just ludicrous. But here we are. Oh, well, company A says this, but what's their real motive and what's the real story? And well, sometimes the story is just the story. Sometimes a bar of soap is a bar of soap. It's not an agenda, it's just, do you want to smell like this bar of soap or not? End of story. And we've just become, dare I say, trained in a way for these responses. And I just encourage not only us as PR practitioners to be aware of it so we can help solve for it somehow. But even us as humans, and I guess, gosh, am I talking about critical thinking, which our society is sorely lacking. When you're presented with information, take a beat. And first of all, do you even need to weigh in on something? Is it really going to impact you? Just think it through. I'm pretty sure the company just wants to sell their bar of soap.
Karen Swim, APR (05:01):
Yeah, there's a lot of volatility. Volatility, sorry, I can't speak this time. And that's unfortunate because I think that people are so quick to hit the rage button
(05:15):
And it really, somewhere, again, I always feel like communicators, we have such a tough job, but we truly are heroic in that we're the ones that bring down the temperature of the room. We always, no matter what, even when we are personally raging, offended, irritated, angry, for all of the right reasons, we have that ability to put those things aside and to walk into situations and think critically and to be rational and to bring balance, and that's sorely lacking. I also think that part of the issues that we're really facing today, and you guys can read all of the studies and comparisons, is that we have so many different generations to communicate to. And this is, I don't mean to be disparaging in any way, but this is turning out to be. It is what it is that the younger generation, as you just said, they immediately jump to mistrust. If you say no, they take it personally and everything is personal, it's very personalized, it's very highly charged. And they believe that the rest of the world exists to serve them. So for example, they believe in setting boundaries. That's a great thing. But boundaries are true for you. It doesn't mean that everybody else is supposed to set your boundaries for you or necessarily, so they take offense if you
Michelle Kane (06:50):
Don't
Karen Swim, APR (06:50):
Understand that. It's not my job to set your boundaries. It's your job to set boundaries for yourself and then to enforce them. But I may have a different view. I may have different boundaries. That's my job. So it's very, very tricky and in a lot of ways it's disheartening and very scary.
Michelle Kane (07:12):
Yes, agree. Agree. It's like you can blame social media, which certainly hasn't been that much of a helper. I remember the days when we were so excited, it's going to bring us all together. And all it does is, yeah, it does sometimes, maybe 10% of the time, but a lot of times it's Professor Galloway, that's what he was talking about recently, how the tech companies are complicit because they make money off of rage, and that rage makes them money. So the algorithms aren't going to show you your favorite dessert. They're going to show you something that's going to make you react. So that's what we say as well, even because sometimes those reactions are going to be aimed at your clients. So you just have to be hyper aware, which can be certainly exhausting and depleting in our profession. So we also encourage you to set those boundaries to keep yourself well in all of this. And sometimes I think maybe we should just have a rage room in every town with a day spa attached. So you can go have your smash up some old zenith televisions and then get a nice chair massage to come down. Maybe that would help us though. I dunno. But in all seriousness, it's truly a challenging time to be a communicator because we're busy on a lot of fronts that may not even be conscious to us. We want to make sure things are truthful, things are accurate. It's a difficult landscape to navigate that.
Karen Swim, APR (09:00):
Yes. And I don't think any of us should resort to being inauthentic, but I do think that it means that we have to be strategic, even more strategic in our communications and even with our own personal brands. And we live in an age where CEO branding is also necessary. CEOs need to have a personal brand for themselves. And so again, I think it comes down to really making those critical decisions. How much do I share my personal opinions? How transparent am I? What hill do I really want to die on? What's really essential in communicating? And what views are really mine that I may have in private conversations or that I may live out that are not as essential and critical and most important, how does that reflect on the brand and what's really important to the brand? So again, it goes back to really understanding brand values, brand values. What does the brand really value and how are you communicating that? It does not mean, and I think we've confused this, that what you value as a brand means that you have to have a voice in every public
Michelle Kane (10:18):
Conversation.
Karen Swim, APR (10:20):
Sometimes silence really is the answer. Does it impact your audience? Number one, it doesn't impact your audience and it's not essential to your brand. Then why are you even involving yourself in the conversation? So if your brand has built a foundation of being, for example, sustainable and eco-friendly, why would you have a voice in something that doesn't line up with that? Maybe you don't need to comment on social justice issues because that is not where your brand stakes its claim. And I know that we all feel like these big conversations that are happening in the world today are so important, but sometimes you just can't be a part of it. And I know that as communicators, and I've seen a lot of communicators choose to opt out and they just don't participate on social media as much. I love how Arik Hanson said this on LinkedIn recently, “it's heavy”. And that is true. Things are so heavy right now that even for our own piece, for our own mental health, we just have to back off. There's only so much that we can take in as a human being. I'm one of those people that I miss social media. I might not participate for months at a time
(11:43):
Because I don't need that in my life. I can't deal with the energy, the toxicity, the divisiveness, the hate. It takes a personal toll. So I mean, I think that we have to remember as communicators, yes, we get it. Our brands have to be present, they have to show up, but they don't have to show up in every conversation. And we have to help them to navigate that because again, the stakes are so high right now. It disturbs my soul that there are people out here encouraging doxing people and calling people's employment when they share an opinion that doesn't align with what you think that is
Michelle Kane (12:30):
Dangerous
Karen Swim, APR (12:31):
Across the line.
Michelle Kane (12:33):
It's dangerous, it's dangerous, it's unnecessary. It's not productive in a positive way. It may make you feel good in the moment, but yeah, and even with CEO branding, you are still, unless it is you as a solo, you are often still the CEO of a company or a brand. So in a way, while you're branding yourself, you're still doing it through that prism of representing an entity. So it's good to keep that in mind as well. And I just think of some situations, even personal relationships. Not everyone is entitled to a hundred percent of you. So think of that for yourself, for your brand. People aren't entitled to know what Coca-Cola, for instance, thinks about every last world problem. They're there to make fizzy drinks that you enjoy or don't enjoy. That's okay. And I think the pendulum has swung in such a direction that sometimes you look to these leading brands to take a stand for your thing, but your cause. And it's like, do we all have to weigh in on everything? Because some of these brands are not subject matter experts in the area. I
Karen Swim, APR (14:00):
Agree.
Michelle Kane (14:01):
And I think that's what we really have to keep in mind with this. Not just to be good advisors, but to just help all of us remain as mentally healthy as possible.
Karen Swim, APR (14:14):
And I think that brands need to hear that. I think that they need to know that it's okay not to speak up in every single situation, that it's OK sometimes to just be silent when it doesn't affect you. And sometimes it's really not even about you as a brand having an opinion. But if it does impact your audience, maybe it's about what your audience needs? Does your audience need a safe place to come together and have discussions about things? Are there ways that you can support with resources that will be meaningful? I think about the wildfires that broke out in California. If you're a brand and your audience is affected, are there things that you can do to help that community to heal? Can you provide housing for people who were displaced? Can you provide food and water, water for those that need it? Can you provide clothing? And if you're a boutique, can you open up a section where people can get the things that they need that's meaningful and that's acting in the best interest of your audience? It doesn't require a bunch of words. It just requires you to be present and to show up for the people who support you.
(15:28):
And I mean, we are all going to figure this out together, but I think nuance is going to replace this era of fall transparency. And people do dig. They did tell you what you did, what you thought, what you did 10 years ago. And again, we are not a culture anymore that accepts somebody saying something and it being taken in the wrong way. We take things out of context, we'll grab a soundbite and it's just like, but the person said something for a whole 20 minutes that puts that one sentence in the context. But that sentence will get pulled out and it will get MeMed and it will get blasted all over social media. So I think that just, readiness is critical. Having those crisis communication plans proactively, counseling brands, helping people to be genuine. Genuine. Exactly. Genuine is different than being
Michelle Kane (16:29):
Transparent. Exactly.
Karen Swim, APR (16:31):
Being true to their brand values by living those out in everything that they do. But not weighing in everywhere on everything.
Michelle Kane (16:42):
No, no. So brands we give you permission to not. And like you said, be helpful. I remember when the beer companies stopped production of beer and were canning water when certain tragedies struck and disasters arose. So I think the bottom line is we often say as communicators, and we hope as brands be helpful, be honest, and honestly, oh, this is going to sound so hokey. But be yourself. You can never go wrong. And with that, we hope you enjoyed this episode, and please do give us your feedback. Do you have any stories from the trenches of navigating something like this? We would love to hear about it. So hit us up at solopro.com. Please do share this around. That's how we get the word out. And we would love it if you would do that. And until next time, thanks for listening to “That Solo Life”.
Transcribing live conversations can be tricky, so please be forgiving of any typos or errors that you find. Love something here and want to share? Great, please read on.
You are more than welcome to share the transcript (up to 500 words) in media articles (e.g., PR News, O’Dwyers), on your personal website, in a non-commercial article or blog post (e.g., Substack), and/or on a personal social media account for non-commercial purposes, provided that you include attribution to “That Solo Life” and link back to the soloprpro/podcast URL. For the sake of clarity, media outlets with advertising models are permitted to use excerpts from the transcript per the above.
But please note that no one is authorized to copy any portion of the podcast content or use That Solo Life’s name, image or likeness for any commercial purpose or use, including without limitation inclusion in any books, e-books, book summaries or synopses, or on a commercial website or social media site (e.g., Facebook, X, Instagram, etc.) that offers or promotes your or another’s products or services.
Got questions? Email us at info@soloprpro.com.