Olivia Walker Podcast Transcript
Olivia Walker joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to Coruzant 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.coruzant.com/brand.
Welcome to The Digital Executive. Today’s guest is Olivia Walker. Olivia Walker is a nationally recognized communications and PR strategist 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 Corps, where she honed her leadership, strategic planning, and government communication skills. During Olivia’s ten years, tenure 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.
Well, good afternoon, Olivia. Welcome to the show.
Olivia Walker: Thank you so much for having me, Brian.
Brian Thomas: Absolutely my friend. I appreciate it. And you’re hating out of the great San Diego County at Carlsbad 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.
Olivia Walker: Hi Brian. Oorah!
Brian Thomas: Oorah! 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.
How did that early experience shape your approach to strategic communication and leadership today?
Olivia Walker: Love 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 wanna talk about things that bother their public. They didn’t wanna talk about decisions that people were not standing behind or. Decisions that they had to make, that people didn’t like. They thought that by not discussing 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 were 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, trial and error, five agencies, I realize that that.
This is actually there’s, 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 what amplify their bottom line.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. I appreciate that. And of course, I love it. And you learned this, uh, in the Marine Corps. I’m sure you learned how to adapt fast, learn quickly with these comms, and you just had a knack about it. As you mentioned with comms and messaging, you learned a lot about how leaders got up and spoke, and it’s about building that trust.
And you said there was definitely a disconnect there, but you dialed it in and that’s what matters. You learned a lot, dialed it in, and turned some things around. So I really appreciate your message. And Olivia, you’ve written congressional testimony, national press releases and speeches for major press conferences.
What is the key to crafting messages that both influence policy and resonate with the public?
Olivia Walker: The first thing that 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 say logical and persuasive way to acknowledge that need.
So, when I was writing congressional testimony, I had to be very succinct. Very data-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 talking to computers. And I mean, if you were you would talk to a computer the way they’d wanna be talked to, right? But. Humans need that human element. And I still believe that the data 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 gonna wanna understand why you’re choosing to say or to do something.
And that alone can garner you a whole lot more support than really you could even imagine.
Brian Thomas: Thank you, appreciate that. And I liked, I’m just highlighting a few things, what you said. Really looking what the audience is asking for and finding a logical and persuasive message to meet that need I thought 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 are known for securing top tier earned media. In elevating CEO thought leadership. What separates leaders who successfully build public influence from those who struggle to gain traction?
Olivia Walker: 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, you know, maybe just getting their starter or maybe hasn’t gained that traction yet. What you’re gonna 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 as 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. Right? You hear all the time someone say like, where did that guy come from? He came out of nowhere.
It’s like he disappeared overnight. But what you’re probably not seeing, and this is. Applicable in almost every case, right? Is that they’re investing their time. We, 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.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. I appreciate that. You talked about elevating that CEO thought leadership and those who have truly successfully built that influence and you. Named off, right off the top is where are you putting your time, energy, and money.
And, 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.
Olivia Walker: Absolutely.
Brian Thomas: Olivia, the last question of the day as we look ahead, how do you see the role of PR evolving in the age of AI powered content, decentralized media in increasingly fragmented audiences?
Olivia Walker: Such a great question. ’cause 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 happening on the back end of that and PR practitioners happen. It’s seeing that change for years. It’s where and how AI is being used. On 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? Now we have to account for AI generated search engines and platforms to summarize this public opinion, but also to kind of tell people what they wanna 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, owned.
And shared media outlets. So we have to ensure that there’s authoritative coverage, obviously from reputable sources like major news organizations and niche trade publications. But also we’re kind of considering what does the rest of the, internet has to say, Wikipedia. Reddit and reference sites like.gov, dot edu because the AI engines will use these sources to grant weight, right?
Quote unquote to cited facts. And then the owned 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. It how AI will take your content and use it to kind of tell the public what they need to know. So how your company is perceived is no longer just kind of handled by those news media outlets and the Google searches.
There’s 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’s a lot that is still yet to be seen about this, but we adapt as 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.
Brian Thomas: 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, 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’s getting better. I know the AI search has kind of taken over and SEO and that sort of thing. As you mentioned, whether you’re using earned page, shared owned media there’s just, you’ve gotta try different things to get that message out there. And again, AI is kind of a double-edged sword.
It’s a necessary evil. Mm-hmm. And it’s just being more and more infused in our everyday lives. So, I think there’s gonna definitely be some changes in the future of course. But I appreciate your insights.
Olivia Walker: Yeah. And on, on that note too, Brian, I think we hit a couple of things there that were 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 they’re actually using AI journalists and media art to figure out who is using AI to pitch these content than these stories.
And then they’re throwing ’em out. So, it’s funny that they’re using it a little bit different than the people on the other end. So, it’s a lot of, a lot of things happening there.
Brian Thomas: For sure, absolutely. Olivia, it was such a pleasure having you on today, and I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Olivia Walker: Thank you, Brian. This was great.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Olivia Walker Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s Podcast Page.
