Episode 16: I Have a Comms Strategy -- Now What?
Communications Business Advisor
Release Date: 11/04/2024
Episode 39: Path to CCO with Anthony Farina
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , a seasoned global communications leader whose career spans journalism, government, and corporate communications at the highest levels. Anthony currently leads Corporate Communications for Fujifilm in the Americas and previously served as Chief Communications Officer at CSL, where he built a global communications function from the ground up. Together, Tara and Anthony explore what it really takes to grow into senior leadership in communications — not just in title, but in...
info_outline
Episode 38: Communicators’ Word for 2026
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara opens the new season with a declaration — not a trend forecast or resolution — naming the official word for communications professionals in 2026: authority. Building on last year’s word, no, Tara explains why the moment has shifted. While boundaries and discernment remain critical, communicators are facing a deeper challenge: being held accountable for outcomes without being empowered early enough to influence them. This episode unpacks why burnout, frustration, and stagnation persist...
info_outline
Episode 37: Bonus Episode: Life Admin – with Amy Lockmiller and Jessica Onick
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this bonus episode, Tara sits down with Raise the Tide™ members (and life admin evangelists) and to talk about something most senior communicators quietly struggle with: the invisible workload of running a life, a home, and a career all at once. Instead of another conversation about “doing it all,” they get honest about why it’s not sustainable, how they’ve built support systems like house managers, family assistants, and concierge services, and why getting help isn’t laziness or entitlement —...
info_outline
Episode 36: You Don’t Suck at Networking (Plus Some News)
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host, Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara gets real about one of the biggest myths she hears from women regularly: that they “suck at networking.” Spoiler alert, they don’t. They just don’t network like men. Tara explains how traditional, low-touch “networking” settings … PRSA or IABC events, chamber breakfasts,, award dinners, conference receptions … were built for how men connect and network, not women.. Instead of trying to “fix” women or force them to network like men, which doesn’t...
info_outline
Episode 35: What We’ve Learned from the Path to CCO+ Series
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara steps back to reflect on the biggest insights emerging from her ongoing Path to the CCO+ conversations — and speaks directly to communications professionals who may feel that the CCO seat, or even strategic influence, still feels out of reach. Drawing from her interviews with Judy Rader, Stephanie Roberts, Libby May, and Bianca Olson, Tara distills the common threads that define today’s most successful communications leaders. She explores how communicators can elevate their roles from...
info_outline
Episode 34: The Path to CCO+ with Bianca Olson
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with Bianca Olson, Chief Communications Officer at HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)—a learning company focused on the K–12 market—where she reports directly to the CEO. Bianca traces her path from agency PR during the dot-com era to leading a modern communications function inside a complex, mission-driven organization. She shares how she broadened from external PR to a full corporate scope (internal, external, CSR, and more), why relationship-building is the cornerstone of...
info_outline
Episode 33: The Path to CCO+ with Libby May
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)—the nation’s largest provider of nonprofit higher education, serving over 200,000 learners. Libby shares how she built and now leads a 65-person External Affairs and Communications team encompassing communications, events, alumni engagement, donor and community relations, and government affairs—reporting to the university president. She explains why SNHU intentionally...
info_outline
Episode 32: The Path to CCO+ with Stephanie Roberts
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , Chief Communications Officer at Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems, a global company within the Hitachi Ltd. family. Joining from Japan, Stephanie shares how she leads a 25+ person global function spanning Japan, the U.S., Europe, China, and Southeast Asia—and why Communications now reports directly to the CEO. Stephanie walks through how she evolved Communications from a department nested under “sustainability” into a centralized, C-suite–level function that...
info_outline
Episode 31: The Path to CCO+ with Judy Rader
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Constellation, the nation’s largest producer of clean energy. Judy shares what it takes to lead a 60-person corporate affairs function at a Fortune 200 company, why she holds both the CCO and SVP of Corporate Affairs titles, and how her team secured and maintains its critical seat at the executive table. For anyone aspiring to a leadership role in communications, this conversation is...
info_outline
Episode 30: The Path to CCO
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara kicks off a new season by tackling one of the most pressing questions for senior communications professionals: what does a clear career path look like in a field that often feels misunderstood, oversimplified, and muddy? The Reality of Q4 for Comms Teams Tara opens with a candid look at the fall and winter season—when benefit enrollments, IT security pushes, engagement surveys, and town halls collide with corporate restructuring, financial reporting, and external events. It’s a...
info_outlineWelcome to another episode of the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with your host, Tara McDonagh. This episode is all about taking that shiny new Communications Strategy off the shelf and turning it into something operational.
You’ve finally crafted that amazing Communications Strategic Plan. Congratulations! What do you do next? Tara shares her expertise to ensure your strategy doesn’t gather dust.
She walks listeners through:
- Engaging Your Team: Whether you created the plan solo or with a small team, it’s time to bring everyone on board on next steps. Learn how to involve your team to operationalize the strategy and make it part of your everyday work. Integrate it into all you do.
- Executive Alignment: Align your Communications Strategy with business areas’ goals looking for the common denominators that connect the priorities together. Reset leaders’ expectations of you and your team. Set those expectations higher. Tara explains why roadshows don’t work in this process and what to do instead.
- Open Dialogue: Understand the importance of being open to feedback and adjustments, emphasizing that buy-in requires a willingness to adapt your strategy to fit the needs of the business. Note: this does not mean throwing the plan in the trash and starting over because an executive doesn’t like hearing about new ways of doing things!
- The TMC process: Hear some of the components of the Tara McDonagh Communications (TMC) framework for creating, getting buy-in and operationalizing a Communications Strategic Plan - proven to work time and again.
Your Communications Strategy isn’t just a thoughtful document—it’s a tool for achieving business goals. Ensure it resonates with everyone, from your team to executives. Make it a core part of your decision-making and operational processes.
For those of you who want even more insight on Communications Business Advising, sign up for the Level Up: Be Extra emails. Visit taramcdonagh.com/levelup to sign up.
The Communications Business Advisor™ Podcast is brought to you by Raise the Tide™, the program that elevates our field and the women in it. For more info. Visit raisethetide.net.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share a rating or review. We can ignite a movement when we share a message.