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 the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with Tara McDonagh. This week, we kick off a two-part series on navigating communications leadership through the lens of motherhood, bias, and systemic challenges. Tara shares her personal experiences navigating being in this field both as a mom - and as a child free woman for quite a long period of her career. And she ties it all to why we deal with it and what to do about it.
In this episode of the Communication Business Advisor Podcast, Tara McDonagh explains:
- The Motherhood Penalty & Gender Bias – Women face pay gaps, earning less than men for the same roles. The numbers reduce even worse when you become a mother - the motherhood penalty. Tara shares her own experience navigating workplace bias when she was a child-free woman, challenges in the workplace on the path to motherhood including fertility treatments, and the reality that she was unsupported in a system that made her choose between being a present parent or taking a role truly worthy of her expertise and leadership - but one would need to be sacrificed.
- Bridging the Mom vs. Non-Mom Divide – Workplace structures often pit mothers and non-mothers against each other. Tara highlights shared struggles and calls for collective action to create supportive, equitable environments.
- Fixing the System, Not Ourselves – Citing Nobel Prize-winning research, Tara advocates for systemic reforms like flexible policies and remote work, emphasizing that workplaces—not women—must adapt.
Tune in next week for Part 2, featuring candid insights from women in communications.
This episode is sponsored by Raise the Tide™, a program for women in corporate, healthcare, and higher education communications.
Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.
Share your thoughts by rating and reviewing! For more insights, subscribe to Level Up: Be Extra and elevate your Communications leadership game.