Under Embargo Podcast

You Are Not Running a Daycare: Meg Scheding on Treating Professionals Like Adults and Pricing Like It Matters w/ Meg Scheding

Meg Scheding joins the show to break down what it actually takes to build a fractional consulting practice—and why most people who say they want out of corporate life end up crawling back. We cover the psychology of corporate domestication, why the ability to sell is the single gate to independent work, how to structure engagements around outcomes instead of hours, the human moat that AI still cannot replicate, and why fractional doesn't have to be forever. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Nobody Builds Tools for Us: Michelle Masek on Why Comms Deserved Its Own AI Platform w/ Michelle Masek, Founder & CEO at Honeyjar

AI is coming for the mechanics of comms—media lists, briefing docs, visibility calendars—but it cannot replace strategy, judgment, or relationships. Michelle Masek, founder and CEO of Honeyjar, built an AI-powered operating system specifically for comms teams after watching the industry get ignored by tech for years. We cover how 60% of comms work is automatable mechanics, not the strategic value agencies actually get hired for; why the billable-hour agency model is already dead; what vibe coding unlocked for a comms pro turned founder; the looming junior-talent pipeline crisis as entry-level mechanics work disappears; and how EDU access and "robot wrangling" skills are the bridge for early-career pros. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Just enter the code UNDEREMBARGO at checkout to get your first month free ($0 today, then $250/month after that, with no obligation to continue after the free trial). The code expires May 25. As an Early Access partner, you’ll receive HoneyJar at a locked-in rate of $250 per user/month, guaranteed for a full year (even as pricing increases).

The R in PR Still Wins: Why Relationship-Led Media Matters More in an AI-Saturated World w/ Joseph Gallo, Director of Communications at PayPal

Joseph Gallo, Director of Communications at PayPal, breaks down how he makes regulated crypto and stable coin products understandable to everyday audiences, navigates multi-stakeholder approval grids that can stretch a single press release across months, and why relationship-driven earned media remains the most durable advantage in an AI-saturated landscape. In this episode, we explore: • Consumerizing stable coins by leading with fees, settlement speed, and access instead of blockchain jargon [09:53] • The real approval workflow behind a global crypto announcement, from legal and government relations to IR and regional teams [14:38] • Why GEO hype without volume, freshness, and format changes is overpromising on earned media's role [34:00] Joseph Gallo is a nine-year PayPal communications veteran who has led comms across B2B, consumer credit, crypto, and ads, and hosts the podcast Comms Confidential. Listen now to discover how to ship clearer messaging in regulated industries without compliance blowups, and why human relationships still outperform automation in media work.

Your Humanity Is the Strategy: Why AI Averages Everything Out and Communicators Are the Differentiator w/ Keith Berman, Director Internal Comms @ Vertafore

Keith Berman joins the show to talk about why internal comms is fighting its way back to the strategic table—and why that fight matters more now than ever. The conversation covers the global change-management moment created by AI and external chaos, the trust erosion happening when audiences assume everything is machine-generated, and the double standard that lets every other function own its expertise while comms gets redlined by committee. Keith makes the case that communicators already have the skills the C-suite says it wants—strategy, persuasion, narrative, emotional intelligence—and that the path from internal comms to CEO is shorter than most orgs realize. We also get into why LinkedIn still works as a trust-building platform, the human moat against AI-generated sameness, and why the first and last draft of anything that matters has to come from a person.

Fragmented Influence: Why PR Now Means Podcasts, Substacks, and Eight Revenue Streams Per Journalist w Brett Farmiloe, Founder at Featured.com

Brett Farlow, founder and CEO of Featured.com [http://Featured.com] and the person who brought Help A Reporter Out back from the dead, breaks down how his team rebuilt trust in journalist-source matching after AI-generated pitches and spam eroded the platform's quality. The conversation covers AI detection as a signal for journalists, the fragmentation of media influence toward creators and newsletters, and why email-based Harrow works precisely because it offers a rare, direct human channel in an overwhelmed landscape. In this episode, we explore: • How Featured.com [http://Featured.com] restored quality and trust after acquiring Harrow, including AI detection and source verification [00:03] • The two camps of journalists on AI-generated pitches and what that means for PR practitioners [00:08] • Why media influence is shifting from outlets to individuals, and what that means for earned media strategy [00:11] • Using AI as a thinking partner, not the pitch author, and the case for human-in-the-loop workflows [00:14] • The 2026 AI disillusionment thesis and how PR teams can do more with smaller teams [00:17] Brett Farlow is the founder and CEO of Featured.com [http://Featured.com], the company behind the resurrection of Help A Reporter Out. He writes for Inc and Fast Company on AI in the workplace and previously ran a 500-client marketing agency for a decade.