Under Embargo Podcast
Under Embargo is a no-nonsense podcast about PR and communications, hosted by Becca Chambers and Parry Headrick. They discuss the chaos of modern PR, from AI ruining brand voice to CEOs' hot takes mattering more than products. With decades of experience, they offer unfiltered insights and battle-tested wisdom from both agency and in-house perspectives.
Episodes
AI-For-Comms: Trading Grunt Work for Real Strategy with AI w/Jessen Gibbs, CEO & Co-Founder at Shadow, Inc and Dalyan Parker , Co-Founder at Shadow, Inc
We burn 40% of our time on research that AI can finish in 10 minutes, and that gap is where strategy dies.Jessen Gibbs, CEO and Co-Founder of Shadow, and Dalyan Parker, Co-Founder, join us to break down how AI-native narrative intelligence replaces the research grind that eats nearly half of every comms professional's working hours. We talk about compounding narrative graphs, why metered pricing b
Build the Infrastructure Now: How to Win LLM Visibility with Sarah Evans
Sarah Evans joins the show to break down how communicators and CMOs can earn real visibility inside LLMs—not by chasing dashboards, but by building machine-readable authority through owned media and what her team calls "AI notices." The conversation covers the shift from keywords to prompt clusters, why owned content outranks earned media as a primary LLM source, the 28-day recency cycle that keep
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 can
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
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:• Consumeriz
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 expe
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 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-b
Meredith in the Media: What Happens When a PR Veteran Flips the Model and Interviews the Journalists w/ Meredith Klein, Head of Consumer & Product Communications at Pinterest
Former Walmart and Pinterest comms leader Meredith Klein joins Perry Hedrick and Becca Chambers to break down how PR professionals can adapt to a fragmented media landscape where Substacks, podcasts, and independent journalists carry real influence. Klein shares how she built "Meredith & The Media" into a 3,500-subscriber resource by interviewing journalists directly, why visual brand consiste
Pushing Past Bureaucracy: Fast-Tracking Comms Strategy and AI in Public Affairs w/ Ian Bain, Communications Expert at ianbain.org
Struggling with adapting fast-paced communications strategies to public sector realities? Ian Bain, executive director of strategy and communications, reveals the mindset shifts and tactical approaches that helped bridge his transition from corporate comms to education governance with real community impact.In this episode, we explore:• Building effective communications in government environments a
Integrating AI Into PESO: Shattering Silos and Building the Future of Comms Talent w/ Gini Dietrich, Founder and CEO at Spin Sucks
Struggling with integrating AI into your communications strategy? Gini Dietrich, creator of the PESO Model and communications leader, reveals actionable ways to align paid, earned, shared, and owned media workflows with modern AI tools for better results.In this episode, we explore:• How the PESO Model evolved to bridge traditional silos and deliver message consistency [00:00]• Real-world examples
A Comms Recruiter Perspective: Shifting Skill Sets and the New Comms Career Playbook w/ Brooke Kruger, Communications Recruiter and Founder at KC Partners
Struggling with how to stand out in an evolving communications job market? Brooke Kruger, communications recruiter and founder of KC Partners, reveals critical skill shifts and career positioning strategies that helped comms professionals land roles as hiring trends rebound.In this episode, we explore:• Why AI proficiency and adaptability are now baseline requirements for PR and comms careers [00:
AI Isn’t Autopilot: Real Tactics for Upskilling Comms and Winning Earned Attention w/ Chris Gee
Struggling with how to translate AI buzz into meaningful, practical impact for your communications strategy? Chris Gee, CEO and AI strategist, reveals specific workflows and skill shifts that enable PR teams to boost productivity, shape reputation, and position brands for visibility in AI-driven search. In this episode, we explore:• How AI accelerates slide and content creation for PR pros [00:04:
Rewriting Corporate Culture: How Chili Piper Scales with Humans, AI Agents, and Radical Decision-Making w/ Alina Vandenberghe, Co-Founder at Chili Piper
Send us a textWhat happens when an engineer-turned-entrepreneur brings B2C energy to B2B enterprise software and a borderline obsession with fixing broken meetings? You get Alina Vandenberghe—co-founder and Co-CEO of Chili Piper, the woman who turned scheduling software into a billion-dollar empire while managing teams across 38 countries (and somehow still finds time to make her employees build A
It’s Not Just Strategy: Emotional Labor and the Need for Community in Comms with Gabrielle Ferree, Founder at Off the Record
Send us a textWhat happens when comms pros finally take their own advice—and build platforms for themselves?In this episode of Under Embargo, we sit down with Gabrielle Ferree—former VP of Global Comms at Bumble, Slack, and Salesforce—who's stepping off the corporate ladder to launch Off the Record, a new coaching and community space for comms professionals who are tired of doing it all in isolati
AR is Not Pay-for-Play: 25 Years in Comms w/ Alyssa Stone, Leading Analyst Relations at Wiz
Send us a textIn this episode of Under Embargo, Becca and Parry sit down with one of the best-kept secrets in enterprise comms—Alyssa Stone, head of Analyst Relations at Wiz (the cybersecurity darling recently acquired by Google).With 25 years across SAP, Okta, and Ariba, Alyssa's seen it all—massive analyst tours, impossible PR expectations, and the slow but steady evolution of how we engage the
Authenticity Isn’t a Tactic, It’s the Whole Damn Strategy with Ashley Faus, Head of Lifecycle Marketing at Atlassian
Send us a textThis episode is equal parts spicy comms truth and high-functioning marketing chaos (with a little ADHD sparkle on top).We’re joined by Ashley Faus, Atlassian’s Head of Lifecycle Marketing and the author of Human-Centered Marketing: How to Connect with Audiences in the Age of AI.We cover a lot of ground — and none of it is snackable. Modular, yes. Snackable, absolutely not. Human conn
Comms Shouldn’t Report to Marketing—Here’s Why with Roberto Munoz, CEO & Founder at Munoz Communications
Send us a textThe phrase “fractional comms leader” might sound like consulting fluff—but Roberto Muñoz is here to tell you it’s anything but.In this episode, Becca and Parry get real with Roberto about:— The rise of the fractional Chief Communications Officer — Why comms gets sidelined while marketing gets the glory — The C-suite’s collective misunderstanding of what comms actually does — How comm
PR for PR: The Meta Magic (and Madness) of Comms at Muck Rack with Linda Zebian, VP of Comms at Muck Rack
Send us a textIn this episode of Under Embargo, we’re joined by Linda Zebian, newly-minted VP of Communications at Muck Rack, for a conversation that’s equal parts insightful and unhinged—in the best way possible.Linda breaks down what it’s like to do PR for a PR tech company (spoiler: it’s very meta), how her time at The New York Times shaped her leadership, and why the work she’s doing now is th
Add a Zero: Bribes, Rankings, and the B2B Fame Game with Jeremy Boissinot, CEO of Favikon
Send us a textWhat happens when you create the only legit LinkedIn influencer ranking platform in the world… and then make the algorithm public?You get bribe offers. Hate mail from millionaires. And a viral loop so strong it powers a 6-person startup with zero outbound sales.In this episode of Under Embargo, we sit down with Jeremy Boissinot, CEO and co-founder of Favikon, the platform quietly tra
Leading with Empathy: A Comms Imperative with Robin Daniels, CBO of Zensai
Send us a textWhat is a Chief Business Officer, anyway?This week on Under Embargo, Parry and I sat down with Robin Daniels—Chief Business & Product Officer at Zensai—for a conversation that honestly left me thinking about everything from go-to-market strategy to workplace happiness to ethical leadership. (No big deal, right?)If you don’t know Robin, he’s held exec roles at LinkedIn, WeWork, Salesf
Crisis, Comms, and Cults—Oh My! with Chris Willis, CMO of Axios HQ
Send us a text✨ The Real Power of Strategic Comms: Chris Willis on "Under Embargo"The latest episode of Under Embargo was packed with gold. Chris Willis, CMO of Axios HQ, joined hosts Perry and Becca to talk about how strategic communications isn’t just a "nice-to-have"—it’s a business driver. Forget the corporate fluff. They dive into the real, actionable ways comms can push business objectives f
Introducing the 'Under Embargo' Podcast: No fluff, No F's Given
Send us a text### The Birth of "Under Embargo" Podcast: Cracking Through Industry NormsIn the inaugural episode of the "Under Embargo" podcast, hosts Becca and Parry explore their motives and expectations in launching a platform that promises to dissect, analyze, and potentially disrupt the communications industry. Their dialogue unfolds as a candid exploration of their personal and professional b
